eroism in
little affairs. Not only did she refrain from the cheap revenge of
exposing the Doctor's errors to himself, but she did her best to remove
their ill-effect on Jean-Marie. When Desprez went out for his last
breath of air before retiring for the night, she came over to the boy's
side and took his hand.

'You must not be surprised nor frightened by my husband's manners,' she
said. 'He is the kindest of men, but so clever that he is sometimes
difficult to understand. You will soon grow used to him, and then you
will love him, for that nobody can help. As for me, you may be sure, I
shall try to make you happy, and will not bother you at all. I think we
should be excellent friends, you and I. I am not clever, but I am very
good-natured. Will you give me a kiss?'

He held up his face, and she took him in her arms and then began to cry.
The woman had spoken in complaisance; but she had warmed to her own
words, and tenderness followed. The Doctor, entering, found them
enlaced: he concluded that his wife was in fault; and he was just
beginning, in an awful voice, 'Anastasie--,' when she looked up at him,
smiling, with an upraised finger; and he held his peace, wondering, while
she led the boy to his attic.

CHAPTER IV. THE EDUCATION OF A PHILOSOPHER.

The installation of the adopted stable-boy was thus happily effected, and
the wheels of life continued to run smoothly in the Doctor's house. Jean-
Marie did his horse and carriage duty in the morning; sometimes helped in
the housework; sometimes walked abroad with the Doctor, to drink wisdom
from the fountain-head; and was introduced at night to the sciences and
the dead tongues. He retained his singular placidity of mind and manner;
he was rarely in fault; but he made only a very partial progress in his
studies, and remained much of a stranger in the family.

The Doctor was a pattern of regularity. All forenoon he worked on his
great book, the 'Comparative Pharmacopoeia, or Historical Dictionary of
all Medicines,' which as yet consisted principally of slips of paper and
pins. When finished, it was to fill many personable volumes, and to
combine antiquarian interest with professional utility. But the Doctor
was studious of literary graces and the picturesque; an anecdote, a touch
of manners, a moral qualification, or a sounding epithet was sure to be
preferred before a piece of science; a little more, and he would have
written the 'Comparative Ph