ot fear, my lord; I keep these fine stories to put your
children to sleep with during the winter nights, in the chimney corner,
when the seawinds rage in the branches of your old walnut trees. All
that remains for me to say to you, my lord, is that I have made war ever
since I left you, first as a noncommissioned officer, and then as
lieutenant. I might have done it still, perhaps, if last year I had not
forgotten one of my legs at Mohiloff. The czar generously gave me the
capital of my pension, and I returned to France because, after all, it
is there that one dies best--when one is born there; I went on foot,
lounging along, regaining my paternal valley, lodging and sleeping in
the abbeys to spare my purse, when chance--this time, no," said the
chevalier, in a grave and penetrating tone which contrasted greatly with
his ordinary language, "oh, this time, no--it was not chance, but the
providence of the good God which caused me to meet with your children,
my lord; they have brought me here; I fell back in a swoon on a heap of
dry leaves on recognizing the duchess, and here I am.

"Now, here is my plan--at least, if you consent to it, my lord. My
paternal valley is very empty--my father and my mother are long since
dead; I should wish, of all things, to establish myself near you.
Although lame, I am still good for something, if only to serve as a
scarecrow to hinder the birds from eating your apples and cherries. I
will forget that you are 'my lord:' I will call you 'Master James,' I
will call the duchess, 'Dame James,' your children shall call me Father
Polypheme; I will tell them of my battles, and it will go on like that,
_vitam aeternam_."

"Yes! yes! we accept; you shall never leave us," said James and Angela
together, their eyes filled with tears.

"But on one condition," said the chevalier, drying his eyes also, "that
is, that I, who am as proud as a peacock, shall pay you, in advance, my
board; and that you will accept from me these two hundred louis that you
refused; total, six thousand livres; at five hundred francs a year,
twelve of board. In twelve years we will make another lease."

"But, my friend----"

"But, my lord, it is yes or no. If it is yes, I remain, and I am more
happy than I deserve to be. If it is no, I take again my stick, my
wallet, and I start for the paternal valley, where I shall die, in a
corner sadly and all alone, like an old dog who has lost his master."

Grotesque as were these wo