She rose.  She looked as tall as a flag pole with her cap which looked like a white skull cap.  She said in a drawling tone: 

“I was shelling beans.  Just then they came in.  I said to myself, ’What is the matter with them?  They do not seem natural, they seem up to some mischief.’  They watched me sideways, like this, especially Cornu, because he squints.  I do not like to see them together, for they are two good-for-nothings when they are in company.  I said:  ’What do you want with me?’ They did not answer.  I had a sort of mistrust——­”

The defendant Brument interrupted the witness hastily, saying: 

“I was full.”

Then Cornu, turning towards his accomplice said in the deep tones of an organ: 

“Say that we were both full, and you will be telling no lie.”

The judge, severely: 

“You mean by that that you were both drunk?”

Brument:  “There can be no question about it.”

Cornu:  “That might happen to anyone.”

The judge to the victim:  “Continue your testimony, woman Brument.”

“Well, Brument said to me, ‘Do you wish to earn a hundred sous?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, seeing that a hundred sous are not picked up in a horse’s tracks.  Then he said:  ‘Open your eyes and do as I do,’ and he went to fetch the large empty barrel which is under the rain pipe in the corner, and he turned it over and brought it into my kitchen, and stuck it down in the middle of the floor, and then he said to me:  ’Go and fetch water until it is full.’

“So I went to the pond with two pails and carried water, and still more water for an hour, seeing that the barrel was as large as a vat, saving your presence, m’sieu le president.

“All this time Brument and Cornu were drinking a glass, and then another glass, and then another.  They were finishing their drinks when I said to them:  ‘You are full, fuller than this barrel.’  And Brument answered me.  ’Do not worry, go on with your work, your turn will come, each one has his share.’  I paid no attention to what he said as he was full.

“When the barrel was full to the brim, I said:  ‘There, that’s done.’

“And then Cornu gave me a hundred sous, not Brument, Cornu; it was Cornu gave them to me.  And Brument said:  ’Do you wish to earn a hundred sous more?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, for I am not accustomed to presents like that.  Then he said:  ’Take off your clothes!

“‘Take off my clothes?’

“‘Yes,’ he said.

“‘How many shall I take off?’

“‘If it worries you at all, keep on your chemise, that won’t bother us.’

“A hundred sous is a hundred sous, and I have to undress myself; but I did not fancy undressing before those two good-for-nothings.  I took off my cap, and then my jacket, and then my skirt, and then my sabots.  Brument said, ‘Keep on your stockings, also; we are good fellows.’

“And Cornu said, too, ‘We are good fellows.’