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thefoghadinsensiblychangedintoadrizzlingrain；whichwasbeginningtowettheyoungclerkthrough；heseemedafraidofthedistancehehadstilltogo；andthehorseman；whosawhishesitation；invitedhimtoeintothefarmhouse。
ithadsomethingofthelookofafortress。surroundedbyaprettyhighwall；itcouldnotbeseenexceptthroughthebarsofthegreatgate；whichwascarefullyclosed。thefarmer；whohadgotoffhishorse；didnotgonearit；but；turningtotheright；reachedanotherentranceclosedinthesameway；butofwhichhehadthekey。
hardlyhadhepassedthethresholdwhenaterriblebarkingresoundedfromeachendoftheyard。thefarmertoldhisguesttofearnothing；andshowedhimthedogschaineduptotheirkennels；bothwereofanextraordinarysize；andsosavagethatthesightoftheirmasterhimselfcouldnotquietthem。
aboy；attractedbytheirbarking；cameoutofthehouseandtookthefarmershorse。thelatterbeganquestioninghimaboutsomeordershehadgivenbeforeheleftthehouse；andwenttowardthestabletoseethattheyhadbeenexecuted。
thusleftalone；ourclerklookedabouthim。
alanternwhichtheboyhadplacedonthegroundcastadimlightoverthecourtyard。allaroundseemedemptyanddeserted。notatracewasvisibleofthedisorderoftenseeninacountryfarmyard；andwhichshowsatemporarycessationoftheworkwhichissoontoberesumedagain。
neitheracartforgottenwherethehorseshadbeenunharnessed；norsheavesofcornheapedupreadyforthreshing；noraplowoverturnedinacornerandhalfhiddenunderthefreshly…cutclover。theyardwasswept；thebarnsshutupandpadlocked。notasinglevinecreepingupthewalls；everywherestone；wood；andiron！
hetookupthelanternandwentuptothecornerofthehouse。behindwasasecondyard；whereheheardthebarkingofathirddog；andacoveredwallwasbuiltinthemiddleofit。
ourtravellerlookedinvainforthelittlefarmgarden；wherepumpkinsofdifferentsortscreepalongtheground；orwherethebeesfromthehiveshumunderthehedgesofhoneysuckleandelder。verdureandflowerswerenowheretobeseen。hedidnotevenperceivethesightofapoultry…yardorpigeon…house。thehabitationofhishostwaseverywherewantinginthatwhichmakesthegraceandthelifeofthecountry。
theyoungmanthoughtthathishostmustbeofaverycarelessoraverycalculatingdisposition；toconcedesolittletodomesticenjoymentsandthepleasuresoftheeye；andjudging；inspiteofhimself；bywhathesaw；hecouldnothelpfeelingadistrustofhischaracter。
inthemeantimethefarmerreturnedfromthestables；andmadehimenterthehouse。
theinsideofthefarmhousecorrespondedtoitsoutside。thewhitewashedwallshadnootherornamentthanarowofgunsofallsizes；themassivefurniturehardlyredeemeditsclumsyappearancebyitsgreatsolidity。
thecleanlinesswasdoubtful；andtheabsenceofallminorconveniencesprovedthatawomanscarewaswantinginthehouseholdconcerns。theyoungclerklearnedthatthefarmer；infact；livedherewithnoonebuthistwosons。
ofthis；indeed；thesignswereplainenough。atablewiththeclothlaid；thatnoonehadtakenthetroubletoclearaway；wasleftnearthewindow。theplatesanddisheswerescattereduponitwithoutanyorder；andloadedwithpotato…paringsandhalf…pickedbones。severalemptybottlesemittedanodorofbrandy；mixedwiththepungentsmelloftobacco…smoke。
afterseatinghisguest；thefarmerlightedhispipe；andhistwosonsresumedtheirworkbythefireside。nowandthenthesilencewasjustbrokenbyashortremark；answeredbyawordoranexclamation；andthenallbecameasmuteasbefore。
〃frommychildhood；〃saidtheoldcashier；〃ihadbeenverysensibletotheimpressionofoutwardobjects；laterinlife；reflectionhadtaughtmetostudythecausesoftheseimpressionsratherthantodrivethemaway。isetmyself；then；toexamineeverythingaroundmewithgreatattention。
〃belowtheguns；ihadremarkedonentering；somewolftrapsweresuspended；andtooneofthemstillhungthemangledremainsofawolfspaw；whichtheyhadnotyettakenofffromtheironteeth。theblackenedchimneypiecewasornamentedbyanowlandaravennailedonthewall；theirwingsextended；andtheirthroatswithahugenailthrougheach；afoxsskin；freshlyflayed；wasspreadbeforethewindow；andalarderhook；fixedintotheprincipalbeam；heldaheadlessgoose；whosebodyswayedaboutoverourheads。
〃myeyeswereoffendedbyallthesedetails；anditurnedthemagainuponmyhosts。thefather；whosatoppositetome；onlyinterruptedhissmokingtopourouthisdrink；oraddresssomereprimandtohissons。
theeldestofthesewasscrapingadeepbucket；andthebloodyscrapings；whichhethrewintothefireeveryinstant；filledtheroomwithadisagreeablefetidsmell；thesecondsonwassharpeningsomebutchersknives。ilearnedfromaworddroppedfromthefatherthattheywerepreparingtokillapigthenextday。
〃theseoccupationsandthewholeaspectofthingsinsidethehousetoldofsuchhabitualcoarsenessintheirwayoflivingasseemedtoexplain；whileitformedthefittingcounterpartof；theforbiddinggloominessoftheoutside。myastonishmentbydegreeschangedintodisgust；andmydisgustintouneasiness。icannotdetailthewholechainofideaswhichsucceededoneanotherinmyimagination；but；yieldingtoanimpulseicouldnotovere；igotup；declaringiwouldgoonmyroadagain。
〃thefarmermadesomeefforttokeepme；hespokeoftherain；ofthedarkness；andofthelengthoftheway。irepliedtoallbytheabsolutenecessitytherewasformybeingatmontargisthatverynight；andthankinghimforhisbriefhospitality；isetoffagaininahastewhichmightwellhaveconfirmedthetruthofmywordstohim。
〃however；thefreshnessofthenightandtheexerciseofwalkingdidnotfailtochangethedirectionsofmythoughts。whenawayfromtheobjectswhichhadawakenedsuchlivelydisgustinme；ifeltitgraduallydiminishing。ibegantosmileatthesusceptibilityofmyfeelings；andthen；inproportionastherainbecameheavierandcolder；thesestricturesonmyselfassumedatoneofill…temper。isilentlyaccusedmyselfoftheabsurdityofmistakingsensationforadmonitionsofmyreason。afterall；werenotthefarmerandhissonsfreetolivealone；tohunt；tokeepdogs；andtokillapig？wherewasthecrimeofit？
withlessnervoussusceptibility；ishouldhaveacceptedthesheltertheyofferedme；andishouldnowbesleepingsnuglyonatrussofstraw；insteadofwalkingwithdifficultythroughthecoldanddrizzlingrain。
ithuscontinuedtoreproachmyself；until；towardmorning；iarrivedatmontargis；jadedandbenumbedwithcold。
〃when；however；igotuprefreshed；towardthemiddleofthenextday；iinstinctivelyreturnedtomyfirstopinion。theappearanceofthefarmhousepresenteditselftomeunderthesamerepulsivecolorswhichtheeveningbeforehaddeterminedmetomakemyescapefromit。reasonitselfremainedsilentwhenreviewingallthosecoarsedetails；andwasforcedtorecognizeinthemtheindicationsofalownature；orelsethepresenceofsomebalefulinfluence。
〃iwentawaythenextdaywithoutbeingabletolearnanythingconcerningthefarmerorhissons；buttherecollectionofmyadventureremaineddeeplyfixedinmymemory。
〃tenyearsafterwardiwastravellinginthediligencethroughthedepartmentoftheloiret；iwasleaningfromthewindow；andlookingatsomecoppicegroundnowforthefirsttimebroughtundercultivation；andthemodeofclearingwhichoneofmytravellingpanionswasexplainingtome；whenmyeyesfelluponawalledinclosure；withaniron…barredgate。insideitiperceivedahousewithalltheblindsclosed；andwhichiimmediatelyrecollected；itwasthefarmhousewhereihadbeensheltered。ieagerlypointeditouttomypanion；andaskedwholivedinit。
〃nobodyjustnow；repliedhe。
〃butwasitnotkept；someyearsago；byafarmerandhistwosons？
〃theturreaus；saidmytravellingpanion；lookingatme；didyouknowthem？
〃isawthemonce。
〃heshookhishead。
〃yes；yes！resumedhe；formanyyearstheylivedtherelikewolvesintheirden；theymerelyknewhowtotillland；killgame；anddrink。thefathermanagedthehouse；butmenlivingalone；withoutwomento