paper fell to the floor out of the pocket of
the overcoat. Caillard picked it up; it was a visiting card, and he read
out:

"Rosselin-Deputy."

"You see how it is," said his wife.

He almost cried with joy, and, a week later, it was announced in the
Journal Officiel that M. Caillard had been awarded the Legion of Honor
on account of his exceptional services.

THE TEST

The Bondels were a happy family, and although they frequently quarrelled
about trifles, they soon became friends again.

Bondel was a merchant who had retired from active business after saving
enough to allow him to live quietly; he had rented a little house at
Saint-Germain and lived there with his wife. He was a quiet man with
very decided opinions; he had a certain degree of education and read
serious newspapers; nevertheless, he appreciated the gaulois wit.
Endowed with a logical mind, and that practical common sense which
is the master quality of the industrial French bourgeois, he thought
little, but clearly, and reached a decision only after careful
consideration of the matter in hand. He was of medium size, with a
distinguished look, and was beginning to turn gray.

His wife, who was full of serious qualities, had also several faults.
She had a quick temper and a frankness that bordered upon violence. She
bore a grudge a long time. She had once been pretty, but had now become
too stout and too red; but in her neighborhood at Saint-Germain she
still passed for a very beautiful woman, who exemplified health and an
uncertain temper.

Their dissensions almost always began at breakfast, over some trivial
matter, and they often continued all day and even until the following
day. Their simple, common, limited life imparted seriousness to the most
unimportant matters, and every topic of conversation became a subject of
dispute. This had not been so in the days when business occupied their
minds, drew their hearts together, and gave them common interests and
occupation.

But at Saint-Germain they saw fewer people. It had been necessary to
make new acquaintances, to create for themselves a new world among
strangers, a new existence devoid of occupations. Then the monotony of
loneliness had soured each of them a little; and the quiet happiness
which they had hoped and waited for with the coming of riches did not
appear.

One June morning, just as they were sitting down to breakfast, Bondel
asked:

"Do you know the people who live in th