Michel Voss, the landlord, in person was at this time a tall, stout,
active, and very handsome man, about fifty years of age. As his son
was already twenty-five--and was known to be so throughout the
commune--people were sure that Michel Voss was fifty or thereabouts;
but there was very little in his appearance to indicate so many
years. He was fat and burly to be sure; but then he was not fat to
lethargy, or burly with any sign of slowness. There was still the
spring of youth in his footstep, and when there was some weight to
be lifted, some heavy timber to be thrust here or there, some huge
lumbering vehicle to be hoisted in or out, there was no arm about
the place so strong as that of the master. His short, dark, curly
hair--that was always kept clipped round his head--was beginning to
show a tinge of gray, but the huge moustache on his upper lip was
still of a thorough brown, as was also the small morsel of beard
which he wore upon his chin. He had bright sharp brown eyes, a nose
slightly beaked, and a large mouth. He was on the whole a man of
good temper, just withal, and one who loved those who belonged to
him; but he chose to be master in his own house, and was apt to
think that his superior years enabled him to know what younger
people wanted better than they would know themselves. He was loved
in his house and respected in his village; but there was something
in the beak of his nose and the brightness of his eye which was apt
to make those around him afraid of him. And indeed Michel Voss
could lose his temper and become an angry man.

Our landlord had been twice married. By his first wife he had now
living a single son, George Voss, who at the time of our tale had
already reached his twenty-fifth year. George, however, did not at
this time live under his father's roof, having taken service for a