tin and the coupe were waiting at the end of the
lane.

"A coupe!" said the principal to himself, in astonished admiration.

"Speaking of Augustin," said she: "he charged me with a commission. Have
you a pupil named Said?"

"To be sure--certainly--a delightful person," said Moronval.

"And a superb voice. You must hear him," interrupted Labassandre,
opening the door and calling Said in a voice of thunder.

A frightful howl was heard in reply, followed by the appearance of the
delightful person.

An awkward schoolboy appeared, whose tunic, like all tunics, and,
indeed, like all the clothing of boys of a certain age, was too short
and too tight for him; drawn in, in the fashion of a caftan, it told
the story at once of an Egyptian in European clothing. His features
were regular and delicate enough, but the yellow skin was stretched
so tightly over the bones and muscles that the eyes seemed to close of
themselves whenever the mouth opened, and _vice versa_.

This miserable young man, whose skin was so scanty, inspired you with a
strong desire to relieve his sufferings by cutting a slit somewhere. He
at once remembered Augustin, who had been his parents' coachman, and who
had given him all his cigar-stumps.

"What shall I say to him from you?" asked Constant, in her most amiable
tone.

"Nothing," answered Said, promptly.

"And your parents, how are they? Have you had any news from them
lately?"

"No."

"Have they returned to Egypt, as they thought of doing?"

"Don't know: they never write."

It was evident that this pupil of the Moronval Academy had not been
educated in the art of conversation, and Jack listened with many
misgivings.

The indifferent fashion with which this youth spoke of his parents,
added to what M. Moronval had previously said of the family influences
of which most of his pupils had been deprived since infancy, impressed
him unfavorably.

It seemed to the child that he was to live among orphans or cast-off
children, and would be himself as much cast off as if he had come from
Timbuctoo or Otaheite.

Again he caught the dress of his mother's servant. "Tell her to come and
see me," he whispered; "O, tell her to come."

And when the door closed behind her, he understood that one chapter
in his life was finished; that his existence as a spoiled child, as a
petted baby, had vanished into the past, and those dear and happy days
would never again return.

While he stood silently weepi