the
figures and fall asleep at his desk. To oblige the Bishop, and obtain
money for him, he spared neither trouble nor fatigue. From the Lombards,
he learnt how to calculate both the simple and compound interest on a
sum of money for a day, week, month, or year; he feared not to visit
the filthy Jews in the black lanes of the Ghetto, in order to learn,
by mingling with them, the standard of metals, the price of precious
stones, and the art of clipping coin. Ultimately, with a little store
which he had accumulated by marvellous industry in Vervignole, in
Mondousiana, and even in Mambournia, he attended the fairs, tournaments,
pardons, and jubilees, to which people of all conditions flocked from
all parts of Christendom: peasants, burghers, clerics, and _seigneurs_;
there he changed their money, and every time he returned a little richer
than he had departed. Robin did not spend the money he had made, but
brought it to the Bishop.

St. Nicolas was extremely hospitable, and very liberal in almsgiving.
He spent all his property and that of the Church in making gifts to
pilgrims and assisting the unfortunate. Thus he continually found
himself short of money; and he was much obliged to Robin for the skill
and energy with which the young treasurer obtained the sums which he
required. The condition of penury in which the holy Bishop had placed
himself owing to his magnificence and liberality was greatly aggravated
by the condition of the times. The war which was ravaging Vervignole
also ruined the Church in Trinqueballe. The soldiery who were
fighting in the country-side about the town pillaged the farms, levied
contributions on the peasantry, drove out the religious orders, and
burned the castles and abbeys.

The clergy and the faithful could no longer contribute to the expenses
of their creed, and thousands of peasants, fleeing from the free-booters
came daily to beg their bread at the door of the episcopal palace. For
their sakes, the good St. Nicolas felt the poverty which he had never
felt for his own. Fortunately, Robin was always ready to lend him money,
which the holy pontiff naturally agreed to return in more prosperous
times.

Alas, the war was now raging throughout the kingdom, from north to
south, from east to west, attended by its two inseparable companions,
famine and pestilence. The peasantry turned robbers, and the monks
followed the armies. The inhabitants of Trinqueballe, having neither
wood for firing, n