MOTHER ETIENNE’S FORTUNE
When she woke up the good woman thought
of her small fortune. She gave it for safe keeping
into the hands of her lawyer, M. La Plume, while she
was making up her mind how she should dispose of it.
She wanted plenty of time to think it over. She
had already decided to give Germaine a dowry, for
the whole thing was largely owing to her. She
knew that she and Petit-Jacques were in love.
“They will make a fine couple,”
she thought, “and later on how pleased I shall
be to have a nice family around me with
dear children who will love and care for me.”
Then she thought of Pere Gusson the
good old man could have no idea of all that had happened
at the farm. He was going his rounds, selling
his wares as best he could. It was three months
since he had appeared, he would be back again before
long he had already been away longer than
usual.
And, sure enough, two days later Neddy
announced his entrance into the courtyard with a loud
bray. If his master was glad to see Mother Etienne
who always received him so cordially, and who bought
so much from him, the donkey fully appreciated the
hours of rest and the good food he found in the paddock
with the cows.
Mother Etienne went forward to meet
the old man and gaily told him the whole story.
He, utterly astounded, could not at
first believe it. He made her repeat the wonder
over and over again. It certainly was a very
curious thing. He had always known his ointment
was effective, but as to making hair grow
on a hen that was quite another thing.
He was just petrified by it.
Mother Etienne told Germaine to serve
some good cider, and all three drank to one another’s
healths.
“That is not all,” said
Mother Etienne, “I want you to have a share
in my good fortune. That’s only fair.
You have worked all your life, you must think of taking
a rest. You have certainly earned it. Here
is a check for $2,000 which my lawyer, M. La Plume,
will cash for you. This sum, together with what
you have saved, will be enough to buy a little house
and garden and to keep you from want. If one
is wise and knows how to manage, one can live here
for very little.”
Father Gusson, quite upset and touched,
could not find words to thank dear, kind Mother Etienne.
It was as though he had unexpectedly won the big prize
in the lottery. He could hardly believe his eyes
and ears.
Soon he pulled himself together and
began to calculate.
“I have a few savings, it is
true, but I think it would be wise to take advantage
of the fame of the ointment and double my small fortune.
I hope that, thanks to the already widespread fame
of Yollande, if (with your kind permission) I were
to call my ointment, ‘Ointment of the Curly-Haired
Hen’ I should have considerable success.”
“Not only am I quite willing,
but I thoroughly approve of your idea and strongly
advise you to carry it out,” replied Mother
Etienne warmly.
No sooner said than done.
Father Gusson withdrew from the notary
the sum, so fairly But generously given him, and spent
his time henceforth in manufacturing (according to
the recipe of his ancestors) the wonderful ointment.
He filled a great quantity of jars of all sizes, and
like the good business man he was, having adorned them
with magnificent labels he doubled the price of the
ointment and put on a trade mark so as to prohibit
imitations. Then he bought a cart like Mother
Etienne’s and harnessed Neddy to it. On
the hood of the cart was a huge picture of a Curly-Haired
Hen, and under it was the inscription, “Ointment
of the Curly-Haired Hen.” Now the peddler
could go his rounds, selling only this specialty, without
need of further advertisement. The effect was
magic. Doors, hitherto too often closed against
him, opened wide at his coming and there was not a
soul who did not buy quite a lot of it.
In a month and without effort, Father
Gusson took in ten times more money than he had earned
in all his long and hardworking life before.