The man wept like a child when his daughter was brought to him prior to his departure for Toulon.
The little thing, who had lost her mother in her infancy, dwelt at this time with her grandfather at Chavanoz, a village in the passes of the Seille.

When the poacher was no longer there, the old man and the girl lived upon alms.

The inhabitants of Chavanoz, all sportsmen and poachers, came to the assistance of the poor creatures whom the convict had left behind him.

After a while, however, the old man died of grief, and Miette, left alone by herself, would have had to beg on the high roads, if the neighbours had not remembered that she had an aunt at Plassans.

A charitable soul was kind enough to take her to this aunt, who did not, however, receive her very kindly.
Eulalie Chantegreil, the spouse of _meger_ Rebufat, was a big, dark, stubborn creature, who ruled the home.