"
At this Mathieu laughed gayly, as if to say that his son Nicolas at fifty
years of age had already proved a more valiant artisan of life than
himself.
"Well then, my boy," he said, "since you are the son of my son Nicolas,
come and embrace us to celebrate our wedding. And a cover shall be placed
for you; you are at home here."
In four strides Dominique made the round of the tables, then cast his
strong arms about the old people and embraced them--they the while
feeling faint with happy emotion, so delightful was that surprise, yet
another child falling among them, and on that day, as from some distant
sky, and telling them of the other family, the other nation which had
sprung from them, and which was swarming yonder with increase of
fruitfulness amid the fiery glow of the tropics.
That surprise was due to the sly craft of Ambroise, who merrily explained
how he had prepared it like a masterly coup de theatre. For a week past
he had been lodging and hiding Dominique in his house in Paris; the young
man having been sent from the Soudan by his father to negotiate certain
business matters, and in particular to order of Denis a quantity of
special agricultural machinery adapted to the soil of that far-away
region.
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