When Grand’mere, the Twins, and their Mother reached the stable they took their bundles from the hands of their friends, and went in to inspect their new home.  The stable had been swept and scrubbed until it was as clean as it could be made.  The large box stall served as a bedroom for Grand’mere and Grandpere.  Above their bed of hay, covered with old blankets and quilts, was hung a wooden crucifix.  This, with two boxes for seats, was all the furniture it contained.  A few articles of clothing hung about on nails, and in the open space before the stalls a stove was placed, the pipe running through a pane of glass in a window near by.

When Grandpere and Father Meraut arrived, Mother Meraut met them at the door.  “Behold our new apartment!” she said, and she led her husband to one of the clean stalls, where she had already begun to set up housekeeping.  The Twins were at that moment in the loft overhead, getting hay for their beds, and Jacqueline, exhausted by her journey, had been put to bed in the manger.

Father Meraut looked about.  “This is not bad for the summer,” he said, “and who knows what good luck may come to us by fall?  Perhaps the Germans will be driven out of France by that time, and surely we shall be able to do some planting even now.”

“We have dug up the ground for gardens as best we could with the few tools we have,” said Grandpere.  “The government would send us seeds, but the roads are very bad, and we have no horses, and supplies are hard to get even though we have money to pay for them.  The nearest town where provisions can be obtained lies six miles below, at the mouth of the river, and it is very little one can carry on one’s back.”

“Is there no way to get help from the soldiers’ camp?” asked Father Meraut.  “They must get supplies.”

“Yes, but they cannot of themselves at this time take care of the civilian population,” said Grandpere.  “There are many villages in the same condition, and the soldiers’ business is to fight for France.”

“True,” said Father Meraut.  Then he exclaimed:  “I have it!  The Ark!  It will indeed be our salvation as it was Father Noah’s.”

Grandpere looked anxiously at Mother Meraut and touched his forehead.  “He is not mad?” he asked.

She laughed.  “The name of our boat is the Ark,” she explained.  “We can use it to go down the river to buy provisions if there are any to be had.”

Grand’mere, who had been listening, looked cautiously about, then felt under the straw of her bed and brought out a stocking.  “See!” she said.  “I have money.  The others have money too, but of what use is money when there is nothing to buy and no place to buy it?”

“We must find a place to buy things,” said Mother Meraut with decision.  “Grandpere and Jacques can take the Ark and go down the river on a voyage of discovery, and bring back the supplies that we most need.”