rally conscious of her presence, and
smilingly opened his eyes to admire her toilette. And now he shuddered
as he thought of the change; and yet it was not altogether painful,
for the chevrons of his uniform delighted him, and he was happy in
concealing his long legs in the skirt of his tunic. He had made two or
three new acquaintances,--a thing very agreeable to most children; he
had found his fellow-pupils odd enough, but their oddities interested
him. They had snowballed each other in the garden, which, to a child who
had been living in the warm boudoir of a pretty woman, was a very novel
amusement.

One thing puzzled Jack: he had not yet seen his royal Highness. Where
was the little king of Dahomey, of whom M. Moronval had spoken so
warmly? Was he in the Infirmary? Ah! if he could only see him, talk with
him, and make him his friend. He repeated to himself the names of the
"eight children of the sun," but there was no prince among them. Then he
thought he would ask the boy Said.

"Is not his royal Highness in the school at present?" he asked.

The young man looked at him with wide-opened eyes, in astonished
silence. Jack's question remained unanswered, and the child's thoughts
ran on as he lay in his bed, listening to occasional gusts of music
that rang through the house from the lungs of Labassandre, and to the
perpetual sound of the pumps in the stable.

Moronval's guests were gone, with a final bang of the large gate, and
all was silent. Suddenly the dormitory door was thrown open, and the
small black servant entered, with a lantern in his hand.

He shook off the snow that lay thick on his black head, and crept
between the two rows of beds, with his head drawn down between his
shoulders, and his teeth chattering.

Jack looked at the grotesque shadows on the wall, which exaggerated all
the peculiarities of the black boy--the protruding mouth, the enormous
ears, and retreating forehead.

The boy hung his lantern at the end of the dormitory and stood there
warming his hands, which were covered with chilblains. His face, though
dirty, was so honest and kindly, that Jack's heart warmed toward him. As
he stood there the negro looked out into the garden. "Ah! the snow I the
snow!" he murmured sadly.

His way of speaking, and the sweet voice, touched little Jack, who
looked at the boy with lively pity and curiosity. The negro saw it, and
said, half to himself, "Ah! the new pupil! Why don't you go to sleep,
litt