When they left
the house the morning was just dawning, and the air was fresh and
sharp. 'We shall soon have the frost here now,' said Michel, 'and
then there will be no more grass for the cattle.'
'I suppose they can have them out on the low lands till the end of
November. They always used.'
'Yes; they can have them out; but having them out and having food
for them are different things. The people here have so much stock
now, that directly the growth is checked by the frost, the land
becomes almost bare. They forget the old saying--"Half stocking,
whole profits; whole stocking, half profits!" And then, too, I
think the winters are earlier here than they used to be. They'll
have to go back to the Swiss plan, I fancy, and carry the food to
the cattle in their houses. It may be old-fashioned, as they say;
but I doubt whether the fodder does not go farther so.' Then as
they began to ascend the mountain, he got on to the subject of his
own business and George's prospects. 'The dues to the Commune are
so heavy,' he said, 'that in fact there is little or nothing to be
made out of the timber.
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