CHAPTER V.
The dying peasant at last succeeded in eating a little food, and the old woman also ate some more, after which the boy and girl gleefully licked the plates and fell asleep in each other's arms.
The peasant and the old woman then related to Elissey how their present misfortune had been brought about.
"We have always been in moderate circumstances," they said; "but last season's crops were so very poor that when autumn came we were obliged to sell everything we had to obtain food. When all was gone, we begged from the neighbors and other good people. At first they supplied our immediate wants, but afterward refused, many of them being still willing to help us were their circumstances any better
