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 Millet passed through another bout of dangerous illness, of which his sturdy constitution got the better.

In 1860 Millet at last escaped from his position of indigence. He signed an agreement for three years, by which in return for a payment of a thousand francs monthly, he engaged to sell an art-patron all the pictures and drawings that he could produce in that space of time. He managed, however, to arrange his affairs so badly that, on the conclusion of the agreement, he owed nearly six thousand francs and undertook to pay the amount in paintings. This was, at least, a period of tranquillity in his life and the works belonging to this time reflect its peacefulness. In 1860 he painted, and in 1861 exhibited at the Salon, the Woman feeding her Child, La Becqueé, the Woman carrying Pails, Waiting, and