Auguste first of all went out into the yard to fetch a couple of jug-like cans full of pigs’ blood.  It was he who stuck the animals in the slaughter house.  He himself would carry away the blood and interior portions of the pigs, leaving the men who scalded the carcasses to bring them home completely dressed in their carts.  Quenu asserted that no assistant in all Paris was Auguste’ equal as a pig-sticker.  The truth was that Auguste was a wonderfully keen judge of the quality of the blood; and the black-pudding proved good every time that he said such would be the case.

“Well, will the black-pudding be good this time?” asked Lisa.

August put down the two cans and slowly answered:  “I believe so, Madame Quenu; yes, I believe so.  I tell it at first by the way the blood flows.  If it spurts out very gently when I pull out the knife, that’s a bad sign, and shows that the blood is poor.”

“But doesn’t that depend on how far the knife has been stuck in?” asked Quenu.

A smile came over Auguste’s pale face.  “No,” he replied; “I always let four digits of the blade go in; that’s the right way to measure.  But the best sign of all is when the blood runs out and I beat it with my hand when it pours into the pail; it ought to be of a good warmth, and creamy, without being too thick.”

Augustine had put down her needle, and with her eyes raised was now gazing at Auguste.  On her ruddy face, crowned by wiry chestnut hair, there was an expression of profound attention.  Lisa and even little Pauline were also listening with deep interest.

“Well, I beat it, and beat it, and beat it,” continued the young man, whisking his hand about as though he were whipping cream.  “And then, when I take my hand out and look at it, it ought to be greased, as it were, by the blood and equally coated all over.  And if that’s the case, anyone can say without fear of mistake that the black-puddings will be good.”

He remained for a moment in an easy attitude, complacently holding his hand in the air.  This hand, which spent so much of its time in pails of blood, had brightly gleaming nails, and looked very rosy above his white sleeve.  Quenu had nodded his head in approbation, and an interval of silence followed.  Leon was still mincing.  Pauline, however, after remaining thoughtful for a little while, mounted upon Florent’s feet again, and in her clear voice exclaimed:  “I say, cousin, tell me the story of the gentleman who was eaten by the wild beasts!”

It was probably the mention of the pig’s blood which had aroused in the child’s mind the recollection of “the gentleman who had been eaten by the wild beasts.”  Florent did not at first understand what she referred to, and asked her what gentleman she meant.  Lisa began to smile.

“She wants you to tell her,” she said, “the story of that unfortunate man—­you know whom I mean—­which you told to Gavard one evening.  She must have heard you.”