During the day he carried his wallet from door to door in Agen,
or amongst the farmhouses in the neighbourhood; and when he came
home at eve he emptied his wallet and divided the spoil amongst
the family. If he obtained, during his day's journey, some more
succulent morsel than another, he bestowed it upon his grandson
Jacques, whom he loved most dearly.

Like all healthy boys, young Jasmin's chief delight was in the
sunshine and the open air. He also enjoyed the pleasures of
fellowship and the happiness of living. Rich and poor, old and
young, share in this glorified gladness. Jasmin had as yet
known no sorrow. His companions were poor boys like himself.
They had never known any other condition.

Just as the noontide bells began to ring, Jasmin set out with a
hunch of bread in his hand--perhaps taken from his grandfather's
wallet--to enjoy the afternoon with his comrades. Without cap
or shoes he sped' away. The sun was often genial, and he never
bethought him of cold. On the company went, some twenty or
thirty in number, to gather willow faggots by the banks of the
Garonne.

"Oh, how my soul leapt!" he exclaimed in his Souvenirs,
"when we all set out together at mid-day, singing. 'The Lamb
whom Thou hast given me,' a well known carol in the south.
The very recollection of that pleasure even now enchants me.
'To the Island--to the Island!' shouted the boldest, and then we
made haste to wade to the Island, each to gather together our
little bundle of fagots."