pping at the wharves. Large vessels lay at anchor in the harbor,
looking to the boy like captives who panted for liberty, sunshine, and
space. Then he thought of Madou, of his flight and concealment among the
cargo in the hold. But this thought was gone in a moment, and he found
himself on shore between his two companions, whom he soon loses and
finds again. They cross one bridge, and then another, and wander with
neither end nor aim. They drink at intervals; night comes, and the
boy accompanies the sailors to a low dance-house, still in the strange
excitement in which he has been all day. Finally, he finds himself alone
on a bench, in a public square, in a state of exhaustion that is far
from sleep. The profound solitude terrifies him, when suddenly he hears
the well-known cry,--

"Hats! hats! Hats to sell!"

"Belisaire!" called the boy.

It was Belisaire. Jack made a futile effort at explanation. The man
scolded the boy gently, lifted him up, and led him away.

Where are they going? And who comes here? and what do they want of him?
Rough men accost him; they shake him and put irons on his wrists, and he
cannot resist, for he is still more than half asleep. He sleeps in the
wagon into which he is thrust; in the boat, where he lies utterly inert;
and how happy he is after being thus buffeted about to finally throw
himself on a straw pallet, shut out from all further disturbance by huge
locks and bolts.

In the morning a frightful noise over his head awoke Jack suddenly. Ah,
what a dismal awakening is that of drunkenness! The nervous trembling
in every limb, the intense thirst and exhaustion, the shame and
inexpressible anguish of the human being seeing himself reduced to the
level of a beast, and so disgusted with his tarnished existence that he
feels incapable of beginning life again.

It was still too dark to distinguish objects, but he knew that he was
not in his little attic. He caught a glimpse of the coming dawn in the
white light from two high windows. Where was he? In the corner he began
to see a confused mass of cords and pulleys. Suddenly he heard the same
noise that had awakened him: it was a clock, and one that he well knew.
He was at Indret, then, but where?

Could it be that he was shut in the tower where refractory apprentices
were occasionally put? And what had he done? He tried to recall the
events of the day before, and, confused as his mind still was, he
remembered enough to cover him with sha