wind up Monsieur the Mayor's clock and that of the
Commandant. He returned laughing and said:

"All goes well, Joseph. Monsieur the Mayor and Monsieur the Commandant
know that you are lame; that is easy enough to be seen. They replied
at once, Eh, Monsieur Goulden, the young man is lame; why speak of him?
Do not be uneasy; we do not want the infirm; we want soldiers."

These words poured balm on my wounds, and that night I slept like one
of the blessed. But the next day fear again assailed me; I remembered
suddenly how many men full of defects had gone all the same, and how
many others invented defects to deceive the council; for instance,
swallowing injurious substances to make them pale; tying up their legs
to give themselves swollen veins; or playing deaf, blind, or foolish.
Thinking over all these things, I trembled at not being lame enough,
and determined that I would appear sufficiently forlorn. I had heard
that vinegar would make one sick, and without telling Monsieur Goulden,
in my fear I swallowed all the vinegar in his bottle. Then I dressed
myself, thinking that I looked like a dead man, for the vinegar was
very strong; but when I entered Monsieur Goulden's room, he cried out:

"Joseph, what is the matter with you? You are as red as a cock's comb."

And, looking at myself in the mirror, I saw that my face was red to my
ears, and to the tip of my nose. I was frightened, but instead of
growing pale I became redder yet, and I cried out in my distress:

"'Now I am lost indeed! I will seem like a man without a single
defect, and full of health. The vinegar is rushing to my head."

"What vinegar?" asked Monsieur Goulden.

"That in your bottle. I drank it to make myself pale, as they say
Mademoiselle Sclapp, the organist does. O heavens! what a fool I was."

"That does not prevent your being lame," said Monsieur Goulden; "but
you tried to deceive the council, which was dishonest. But it is
half-past nine, and Werner is come to tell me you must be there at ten
o'clock. So, hurry."

I had to go in that state; the heat of the vinegar seemed bursting from
my cheeks, and when I met Catharine and her mother, who were waiting
for me at the town-house, they scarcely knew me.

"How happy and satisfied you look!" said Aunt Gredel.

I would have fainted on hearing this if the vinegar had not sustained
me in spite of myself. I went upstairs in terrible agony, without
being able to move my tongue to rep