name of Paris put her in a blue fear; and she
would have allowed her husband to keep a menagerie in the back garden,
let alone adopting a stable-boy, rather than permit the question of
return to be discussed.

About four of the afternoon, the mountebank rendered up his ghost; he had
never been conscious since his seizure. Doctor Desprez was present at
his last passage, and declared the farce over. Then he took Jean-Marie
by the shoulder and led him out into the inn garden where there was a
convenient bench beside the river. Here he sat him down and made the boy
place himself on his left.

'Jean-Marie,' he said very gravely, 'this world is exceedingly vast; and
even France, which is only a small corner of it, is a great place for a
little lad like you. Unfortunately it is full of eager, shouldering
people moving on; and there are very few bakers' shops for so many
eaters. Your master is dead; you are not fit to gain a living by
yourself; you do not wish to steal? No. Your situation then is
undesirable; it is, for the moment, critical. On the other hand, you
behold in me a man not old, though elderly, still enjoying the youth of
the heart and the intelligence; a man of instruction; easily situated in
this world's affairs; keeping a good table:--a man, neither as friend nor
host, to be despised. I offer you your food and clothes, and to teach
you lessons in the evening, which will be infinitely more to the purpose
for a lad of your stamp than those of all the priests in Europe. I
propose no wages, but if ever you take a thought to leave me, the door
shall be open, and I will give you a hundred francs to start the world
upon. In return, I have an old horse and chaise, which you would very
speedily learn to clean and keep in order. Do not hurry yourself to
answer, and take it or leave it as you judge aright. Only remember this,
that I am no sentimentalist or charitable person, but a man who lives
rigorously to himself; and that if I make the proposal, it is for my own
ends--it is because I perceive clearly an advantage to myself. And now,
reflect.'

'I shall be very glad. I do not see what else I can do. I thank you,
sir, most kindly, and I will try to be useful,' said the boy.

'Thank you,' said the Doctor warmly, rising at the same time and wiping
his brow, for he had suffered agonies while the thing hung in the wind. A
refusal, after the scene at noon, would have placed him in a ridiculous
light befo