For my part I hoped to find you alone
and beg you to intercede for us. The fact is we should be very, very
grateful if our little Victor could only be taken on at the works."
"But he is only fifteen," exclaimed Beauchene. "You must wait till he's
sixteen. The law is strict."
"No doubt. Only one might perhaps just tell a little fib. It would be
rendering us such a service--"
"No, it is impossible."
Big tears welled into La Moineaude's eyes. And Mathieu, who had listened
with passionate interest, felt quite upset. Ah! that wretched toil-doomed
flesh that hastened to offer itself without waiting until it was even
ripe for work! Ah! the laborer who is prepared to lie, whom hunger sets
against the very law designed for his own protection!
When La Moineaude had gone off in despair the doctor continued speaking
of juvenile and female labor. As soon as a woman first finds herself a
mother she can no longer continue toiling at a factory. Her lying-in and
the nursing of her babe force her to remain at home, or else grievous
infirmities may ensue for her and her offspring. As for the child, it
becomes anemic, sometimes crippled; besides, it helps to keep wages down
by being taken to work at a low scale of remuneration.
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