st soothing accents, and appeared
utterly unconscious of having committed any breach of etiquette in
entering the room.

"Well, sir," said Paul, a flush of shame passing across his face, "you
see now how poverty can drag a man down. Are you satisfied?"

"Come, come, my young friend," answered Daddy Tantaine, "you should not
get angry; and if I did step in without any notice, it was because, as a
neighbor, I find I might venture on such a liberty; for when I heard how
embarrassed you were, I said to myself, 'Tantaine, perhaps you can help
this pretty pair out of the scrape they have got into.'"

The promise of assistance from a person who had not certainly the
outward appearance of a capitalist seemed so ludicrous to Rose that she
could not restrain a smile, for she fancied that if their old neighbor
was to present them with half his fortune, it might possibly amount to
twenty centimes or thereabouts.

Paul had formed a somewhat similar idea, but he was a little touched by
this act of friendliness on the part of a man who doubtless knew that
money lent under similar circumstances was but seldom returned.

"Ah, sir!" said he, and this time he spoke in softer accents, "what can
you possibly do for us?"

"Who can say?"

"You can see how hard we are pushed. We are in want of almost
everything. Have we not reached the _acme_ of misery?"

The old man raised his hand to heaven, as if to seek for aid from above.

"You have indeed come to a terrible pass," murmured he; "but all is not
yet lost. The pearl which lies in the depths of the ocean is not lost
for ever; for may not some skillful diver bring it to the surface? A
fisherman may not be able to do much with it, but he knows something of
its value, and hands it over to the dealer in precious stones."

He intensified his speech by a little significant laugh, the meaning
of which was lost upon the two young people who, though their evil
instincts led them to be greedy and covetous, were yet unskilled in the
world's ways.

"I should," remarked Paul, "be a fool if I did not accept the offer of
your kind assistance."

"There, then, that is right; and now the first thing to do is to have a
really good feed. You must get in some wood too, for it is frightfully
cold. My old bones are half frozen; and afterward we will talk of a
fresh rig out for you both."

"Yes," remarked Rose with a faint sigh; "but to do all that, we want a
lot of money."

"Well, how do you know