It had just received a new coating and dazzled the village when the sun shone on it at noon.
For twenty years Pere Merlier had been mayor of Rocreuse.

He was esteemed for the fortune he had acquired.

His wealth was estimated at something like eighty thousand francs, amassed sou by sou.

When he married Madeleine Guillard, who brought him the mill as her dowry, he possessed only his two arms.

But Madeleine never repented of her choice, so briskly did he manage the business.