Was it his fault if they had left that fat lazy fellow to come to him? And he defended himself from having sought popularity. He knew not even how it had happened, this friendliness of the settlement, the confidence of the miners, the power which he now had over them.
Était-ce sa faute, si on lâchait ce gros fainéant pour venir a lui? et il se défendait d'avoir recherché la popularité, il ne savait pas meme comment tout cela s'était fait, la bonne amitié du coron, la confiance des mineurs, le pouvoir qu'il avait sur eux, a cette heure.