g man had had no dinner and no supper, for his
pockets were empty and his last sou gone. If he had opened the
envelopes, he would have found money, and more than money, for he
would have learned that the doors of the Salon had opened to him and
the highest medal awarded him, and that for which he had toiled and
waited and hoped,--for which he had staked his last effort and
sacrificed everything, was won. He was recognized, and all Paris would
quickly know it, and not Paris only, but all the world. But when he
would open the envelope, his hands fell slack, and there it still lay
on the table concealed by the darkness.

Down three flights of stairs in the court a strange and motley group
were collecting, some bearing candles, all masked, some fantastically
dressed and others only concealed by dominoes. The stairs went up on
the outer wall of this inner court, past the windows of the basement
occupied by the concierge and his wife and pretty daughter, and
entered the building on the first floor above. By this arrangement the
concierge could always see from his window who mounted them.

"Look, mamma." The pretty daughter stood peering out, her face framed
in the white muslin curtains. "Look. See the students. Ah, but they
are droll!"

"Come away, ma fille."

"But the owl and the ape, there, they seem on very good terms. I
wonder if they go to the room of Monsieur Kater! I think so; for
one--the ghost in white, he is a little lame like the Englishman who
goes always to the room of Monsieur.--Ah, bah! Imbecile! Away with
you! Pig!"

The ape had suddenly approached his ugly face close to the face framed
in the white muslin curtains on the other side of the window, and made
exaggerated motions of an embrace. The wife of the concierge snatched
her daughter away and drew the curtains close.

"Foolish child! Why do you stand and watch the rude fellows? This is
what you get by it. I have told you to keep your eyes within."

"But I love to see them, so droll they are."

Stealthily the fantastic creatures began to climb the stairs, one,
two, three flights, traversing a long hall at the end of each flight
and turning to climb again. The expense of keeping a light on each
floor for the corridors was not allowed in this building, and they
moved along in the darkness, but for the flickering light of the few
candles carried among them. As they neared the top they grew more
stealthy and kept close together on the landing outside