only forty-four.'

"I bowed to the three women as if I were being presented to some Royal
Highness, and turning to the priest I said: 'You are an excellent man,
Monsieur l'Abbe, and we all owe you a debt of gratitude.'

"Everybody was laughing, in fact, except Marchas, who seemed furious,
and just then Karl Massouligny cried: 'Sister Saint-Benedict, supper is
on the table!'

"I made her go first with the priest, then I helped up Mother Paumelle,
whose arm I took and dragged her into the next room, which was no easy
task, for her swollen stomach seemed heavier than a lump of iron.

"Stout Ponderel gave his arm to Mother Jean-Jean, who bemoaned her
crutch, and little Joseph Herbon took the idiot, La Putois, to the
dining-room, which was filled with the odor of the viands.

"As soon as we were opposite our plates, the Sister clapped her hands
three times, and, with the precision of soldiers presenting arms, the
women made a rapid sign of the cross, and then the priest slowly
repeated the 'Benedictus' in Latin. Then we sat down, and the two fowls
appeared, brought in by Marchas, who chose to wait rather than to sit
down as a guest at this ridiculous repast.

"But I cried: 'Bring the champagne at once!' and a cork flew out with
the noise of a pistol, and in spite of the resistance of the priest and
the kind Sister, the three hussars sitting by the side of the three
invalids, emptied their three full glasses down their throats by force.

"Massouligny, who possessed the faculty of making himself at home, and
of being on good terms with everyone, wherever he was, made love to
Mother Paumelle, in the drollest manner. The dropsical woman, who had
retained her cheerfulness in spite of her misfortunes, answered him
banteringly in a high falsetto voice which seemed to be assumed, and
she laughed so heartily at her neighbor's jokes that her large stomach
looked as if it were going to rise up and get on to the table. Little
Herbon had seriously undertaken the task of making the idiot drunk, and
Baron d'Etreillis whose wits were not always particularly sharp, was
questioning old Jean-Jean about the life, the habits, and the rules in
the hospital.

"The nun said to Massouligny in consternation: 'Oh! oh! you will make
her ill; pray do not make her laugh like that, Monsieur. Oh! Monsieur.'
Then she got up and rushed at Herbon to take a full glass out of his
hands which he was hastily emptying down La Putois's throat, while the
pr