er your own heart, Monsieur Bonnet," added the banker, bowing
affectionately to the rector.

Gerard's external appearance was not prepossessing. He was of middle
height, stocky in shape, the neck sunk in the shoulders, as they say
vulgarly; he had yellow hair, and the pink eyes of an albino, with
lashes and eyebrows almost white. Though his skin, like that of all
persons of that description, was amazingly white, marks of the small-box
and other very visible scars had destroyed its original brilliancy.
Study had probably injured his sight, for he wore glasses.

When he removed the great cloak of a gendarme in which he was wrapped,
it was seen that his clothing did not improve his general appearance.
The manner in which his garments were put on and buttoned, his untidy
cravat, his rumpled shirt, were signs of the want of personal care with
which men of science, all more or less absent-minded, are charged. As
in the case of most thinkers, his countenance and his attitude, the
development of his bust and the thinness of his legs, betrayed a sort
of bodily debility produced by habits of meditation. Nevertheless, the
ardor of his heart and the vigor of his mind, proofs of which were given
in this letter, gleamed from his forehead, which was white as Carrara
marble. Nature seemed to have reserved to herself that spot in order to
place there visible signs of the grandeur, constancy, and goodness of
the man. The nose, like that of most men of the true Gallic race, was
flattened. His mouth, firm and straight, showed absolute discretion
and the instinct of economy. But the whole mask, worn by study, looked
prematurely old.

"We must begin by thanking you, monsieur," said Madame Graslin,
addressing the engineer, "for being willing to direct an enterprise in
a part of the country which can offer you no other pleasure than the
satisfaction of knowing that you are doing a real good."

"Madame," he replied, "Monsieur Grossetete has told me enough about your
enterprise as we came along to make me already glad that I can in any
way be useful to you; the prospect of living in close relations with
you and Monsieur Bonnet seems to me charming. Unless I am dismissed from
this region, I expect to end my days here."

"We will try not to let you change your mind," replied Madame Graslin,
smiling.

"Here," said Grossetete, addressing Veronique, whom he took aside,
"are the papers which the _procureur-general_ gave to me. He was quite
surp