Page:Colas breugnon.djvu/79

Rh "Come, now, do you believe in these relics, or do you not?"

"I believe in my own, not in theirs, of course,—I have here the shoulder-blade of St. Diétrine, a sovereign cure for the scurvy, and the skull of St. Etoupe, which drives devils out of the sheep.—Now what are you jeering at? I tell you I have documents here, signed parchments, to prove the truth of what I say; if you do not believe me, I will go and fetch them."

"Sit down, old man, I don't want to see your documents; now, Chamaille, honor bright, you have no more faith in these things than I have, I can see it in your eye. A bone is a bone, no matter where it comes from, and you are an idolater if you adore it. Everything has its place in this world, and corpses should stay in the graveyard; so for my part I believe in life, in the light of day. I know that I live and think—very clearly too,—I know also that two and two make four, and that the earth is a fixed star hung in infinite space.—I believe in our local customs, and could recite the whole list of them to you. Then there are books where man's knowledge and experience are distilled drop by drop! I believe firmly in them. Above all I trust my own understanding, and like any wise