changes, and during that time he enjoyed a respite from the petty annoyances worked by the steady hostility of Manette Sejournant and her son.  To the great indignation of the inhabitants of the chateau, he packed off the massive billiard-table, on which Claude de Buxieres had so often played in company with his chosen friends, to the garret; after which the village carpenter was instructed to make the bookshelves ready for the reception of Julien’s own books, which were soon to arrive by express.  When he had got through with these labors, he turned his attention to the documents placed in his hands by the notary, endeavoring to find out by himself the nature of his revenues.  He thought this would be a very easy matter, but he soon found that it was encumbered with inextricable difficulties.

A large part of the products of the domain consisted of lumber ready for sale.  Claude de Buxieres had been in the habit of superintending, either personally or through his intermediate agents, one half of the annual amount of lumber felled for market, the sale of which was arranged with the neighboring forge owners by mutual agreement; the other half was disposed of by notarial act.  This latter arrangement was clear and comprehensible; the price of sale and the amounts falling due were both clearly indicated in the deed.  But it was quite different with the bargains made by the owner himself, which were often credited by notes payable at sight, mostly worded in confused terms, unintelligible to any but the original writer.  Julien became completely bewildered among these various documents, the explanations in which were harder to understand than conundrums.  Although greatly averse to following the notary’s advice as to seeking Claudet’s assistance, he found himself compelled to do so, but was met by such laconic and surly answers that he concluded it would be more dignified on his part to dispense with the services of one who was so badly disposed toward him.  He therefore resolved to have recourse to the debtors themselves, whose names he found, after much difficulty, in the books.  These consisted mostly of peasants of the neighborhood, who came to the chateau at his summons; but as soon as they came into Julien’s presence, they discovered, with that cautious perception which is an instinct with rustic minds, that before them stood a man completely ignorant of the customs of the country, and very poorly informed on Claude de Buxieres’s affairs.  They made no scruple of mystifying this “city gentleman,” by means of ambiguous statements and cunning reticence.  The young man could get no enlightenment from them; all he clearly understood was, that they were making fun of him, and that he was not able to cope with these country bumpkins, whose shrewdness would have done honor to the most experienced lawyer.