From this I
selected such articles as I thought would be suitable or useful in a
small house, which at present contained nothing too good for a bonfire,
and ordered them sent immediately to the Frenchman's cottage.
I reached this wretched little house a few minutes before the arrival of
Walkirk and the wagon-load of mechanics. My under-study had entered
heartily into my scheme, and by his directions the men had brought with
them everything needed to carry out my plans, and in a very short time
he and I had set every man to work.
There were carpenters, plasterers, painters, paper-hangers, and a tinner
and glazier, and when they learned that I wanted that little house
completely renovated in the course of the afternoon, they looked upon
the business as a lark, and entered into it with great spirit. The
astonished woman of the house did not understand what was about to
happen, and even when I had explained it to her, her mind seemed to take
in nothing except the fact that the house ought to be cleaned before the
painting and paper-hanging began, but there was no time for delays of
this sort, and the work went on merrily.
When the furniture arrived, the woman gave a gasp, for the last time the
vehicle which brought them to her house had been there, it had taken
away her previous husband.
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