He woke up, however, several times, with his back or his stomach half frozen, according as he put one or the other against the animal’s flank.  Then he turned over to warm and dry that part of his body which had remained exposed to the night air, and soon went soundly to sleep again.  The crowing of a cock woke him; the day was breaking, it was no longer raining, and the sky was bright.  The cow was resting with her muzzle on the ground, and he stooped down, resting on his hands, to kiss those wide, moist nostrils, and said:  “Good-by, my beauty, until next time.  You are a nice animal.  Good-by.”  Then he put on his shoes and went off, and for two hours walked straight before him, always following the same road, and then he felt so tired that he sat down on the grass.  It was broad daylight by that time, and the church bells were ringing; men in blue blouses, women in white caps, some on foot, some in carts, began to pass along the road, going to the neighboring villages to spend Sunday with friends or relations.

A stout peasant came in sight, driving before him a score of frightened, bleating sheep, with the help of an active dog.  Randel got up, and raising his cap, said:  “You do not happen to have any work for a man who is dying of hunger?” But the other, giving an angry look at the vagabond, replied:  “I have no work for fellows whom I meet on the road.”

And the carpenter went back and sat down by the side of the ditch again.  He waited there for a long time, watching the country people pass and looking for a kind, compassionate face before he renewed his request, and finally selected a man in an overcoat, whose stomach was adorned with a gold chain.  “I have been looking for work,” he said, “for the last two months and cannot find any, and I have not a sou in my pocket.”  But the would-be gentleman replied:  “You should have read the notice which is stuck up at the entrance to the village:  ’Begging is prohibited within the boundaries of this parish.’  Let me tell you that I am the mayor, and if you do not get out of here pretty quickly I shall have you arrested.”

Randel, who was getting angry, replied:  “Have me arrested if you like; I should prefer it, for, at any rate, I should not die of hunger.”  And he went back and sat down by the side of his ditch again, and in about a quarter of an hour two gendarmes appeared on the road.  They were walking slowly side by side, glittering in the sun with their shining hats, their yellow accoutrements and their metal buttons, as if to frighten evildoers, and to put them to flight at a distance.  He knew that they were coming after him, but he did not move, for he was seized with a sudden desire to defy them, to be arrested by them, and to have his revenge later.