Page 60 - A Hero of Liége

CHAPTER VI

--THE OLD MILL

Sitting in the farm-kitchen, and eating the farmer's homely fare, Pariset
talked a little about the war, and led the way discreetly to the questions he

was eager to ask.

"The mill, monsieur? 'Tis twenty years since it was used. I used to send my
corn to it, but nowadays I send it to Charleroi, where a steam-mill grinds it
more cheaply. The old miller is a good friend of mine, but he retired twenty

years ago; he's a warm man, to be sure. That's his house yonder:" he
pointed to a cottage half a mile away across the fields. "We often have a

gossip over a mug of beer."

"It's just as well he made his money before steam-mills became so

common," said Pariset. "I suppose it wasn't worth any one's while to keep
the water-mill going?"

"No; there's no money in milling of the old sort now. But it goes to my
heart to see the old mill idle. Such a loss, too. But the miller can stand it;

he's a warm man, as I told you. And after all, he has made a little out of it
lately. But it's a come-down, that's what I say."

"It is idle, you said."

"Yes, to be sure, and always will be. But the miller has let it for two years
past. He makes a little out of it, and so do I, not so much as I should like,

for the gentleman is only there now and then. He's a Swiss gentleman that
keeps a hotel in Namur. A great fisherman, he is; he'll fish for hours in the
millpond, and I wonder he has the patience for it, for there's not much to be

caught there since the grinding stopped. Still, I don't complain; he buys my
eggs and butter when he comes there, two or three times a year perhaps.

He's there now, with a few friends of his."

"I should like to have a chat with your friend the miller," said Pariset.