Nevertheless, his hearty laughter continued to gladden
the house; he wearied neither his father nor his mother with the care of
his destiny, for he knew that he was already strong enough to fix it
himself.
There was no corner left for him at the farm where Gervais and Claire
took up all the room. At the Beauchene works Denis was all sufficient,
reigning there like a conscientious toiler, and nothing justified a
younger brother in claiming a share beside him. At the mill, too,
Gregoire was as yet barely established, and his kingdom was so small that
he could not possibly cede half of it. Thus an opening was only possible
with Ambroise, and Nicolas ended by accepting an obliging offer which the
latter made to take him on trial for a few months, by way of initiating
him into the higher branches of commerce. Ambroise's fortune was becoming
prodigious since old uncle Du Hordel had died, leaving him his commission
business. Year by year the new master increased his trade with all the
countries of the world. Thanks to his lucky audacity and broad
international views, he was enriching himself with the spoils of the
earth. And though Nicolas again began to stifle in Ambroise's huge
store-houses, where the riches of distant countries, the most varied
climes, were collected together, it was there that his real vocation came
to him; for a voice suddenly arose, calling him away yonder to dim,
unknown regions, vast stretches of country yet sterile, which needed to
be populated, and cleared and sowed with the crops of the future.
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