surprise, it was the
Minister of Public Instruction.

When Jules reached Paris, it was about a fortnight before the opening
of the Chambers, and the newspapers were all in full cry discussing
the various systems of education, and with every variety of opinion
pronouncing for and against the supposed views of the Government. Most
men, in his situation, would have sought out the Minister's residence,
and, restoring to him the lost paper, retired well satisfied with a very
modest recompense for a service that cost so little.

Not so Jules; he established himself in a cheap corner of the Pays
Latin, and spent his days conning over the various journals of Paris,
until, by dint of acute study and penetration, he had possessed himself
of every shade and hue of political opinion professed by each. At last
he discovered that the "Siecle" was the most decidedly obnoxious to the
Government, and the "Moniteur" most favourable to the newly projected
system. To each he sent an article: in one, setting forth a dim, but
suggestive idea, of what the Minister might possibly attempt, with a
terrific denunciation annexed to it; in the other, a half defence of the
plan, supported by statistic detail, and based on the information of the
manuscript.

These two papers both appeared, as assertion and rejoinder; and so did
the polemic continue for above a week, increasing each day in interest,
and gradually swelling in the number of the facts adduced, and the
reasons for which the opinion was entertained. Considerable interest was
created to know the writer, but although he was then dining each day,
and that his only meal, for four sous in the "Ilee St. Louis," he
preserved his _incognito_ unbroken, and never divulged to any one his
secret. At last came an announcement in the "Siecle," at the close of
one of the articles, that on the next day would appear a full disclosure
of the whole government measure, with the mechanism by which its views
were to be strengthened, and the whole plan of conception on which it
was based. That same evening a young man, pale, and sickly looking,
stood at the _porte-cochere_ of a splendid mansion in the Rue St.
George, and asked to see the owner. The rude repulse of the porter did
not abash him, nor did the insolent glance bestowed on his ragged shoes
and threadbare coat cost him a pang of displeasure: he felt that he
could bide his time, for it would come at last.

"His Excellency is at the Council!" at last