was
absolutely
free.
Every day
or two I
strolled
to the
village to
hear some
of the
gossip
which is
incessantly
going on
there,
circulating
either
from mouth
to mouth,
or from
newspaper
to
newspaper,
and which,
taken in
homoeopathic
doses, was
really as
refreshing
in its way
as the
rustle of
leaves and
the
peeping of
frogs. As
I walked
in the
woods to
see the
birds and
squirrels,
so I
walked in
the
village to
see the
men and
boys;
instead of


