[R-a-bugs] nt occupies him

[Danchetz <me...@ew...>]

D cause her unnecessary pain. It seems to me that the length of our
acquaintance has made me incur a sort of tacit obligation to her; my
patronage has become her property. She has put the basket upon my table,
and as I want her husband, who is a joiner, to add some shelves to my
bookcase, she has gone downstairs again immediately to send him to me.
At first I did not notice either her looks or the sound of her voice:
but, now that I recall them, it seems to me that she was not as jovial
as usual. Can Mother Genevieve be in trouble about anything? Poor woman!
All her best years were subject to such bitter trials, that she might
think she had received her full share already. Were I to live a hundred
years, I should never forget the circumstances which made her known to
me, and which obtained for her my respect. It was at the time of my
first settling in the faubourg. I had noticed her empty fruit-shop,
which nobody came into, and, being attracted by its forsaken appearance,
I made my little purchases in it. I have always instinctively preferred
the poor shops; there is less choice in them, but it seems to me that my
purchase is a sign of sympathy with a brother in poverty. These little
dealings are almost always an anchor of hope to those whose very
existence is in peril--the only means by which some orphan gains a
livelihood. There the aim of the tradesman is not to enrich himself, but
to live! The purchase you make of him is more than an exchange--it is a
good action. Mother Genevieve at that time was still young, but had
already lost that fresh bloom of youth which suffering causes to wither
so soon among the poor. Her