ch the young men lived and the splendor of their intellectual wealth.
They looked upon the practical problems of existence simply as matter
for friendly jokes. The cold weather happened to set in early that year.
Five of d'Arthez's friends appeared one day, each concealing firewood
under his cloak; the same idea had occurred to the five, as it sometimes
happens that all the guests at a picnic are inspired with the notion of
bringing a pie as their contribution.

All of them were gifted with the moral beauty which reacts upon the
physical form, and, no less than work and vigils, overlays a youthful
face with a shade of divine gold; purity of life and the fire of thought
had brought refinement and regularity into features somewhat pinched
and rugged. The poet's amplitude of brow was a striking characteristic
common to them all; the bright, sparkling eyes told of cleanliness of
life. The hardships of penury, when they were felt at all, were born so
gaily and embraced with such enthusiasm, that they had left no trace to
mar the serenity peculiar to the faces of the young who have no grave
errors laid to their charge as yet, who have not stooped to any of the
base compromises wrung from impatience of poverty by the strong desire
to succeed. The temptation to use any means to this end is the greater
since that men of letters are lenient with bad faith and extend an easy
indulgence to treachery.

There is an element in friendship which doubles its charm and renders it
indissoluble--a sense of certainty which is lacking in love. These young
men were sure of themselves and of each other; the enemy of one was the
enemy of all; the most urgent personal considerations would have been
shattered if they had clashed with the sacred solidarity of their
fellowship. All alike incapable of disloyalty, they could oppose a
formidable No to any accusation brought against the absent and defend
them with perfect confidence. With a like nobility of nature and
strength of feeling, it was possible to think and speak freely on all
matters of intellectual or scientific interest; hence the honesty of
their friendships, the gaiety of their talk, and with this intellectual
freedom of the community there was no fear of being misunderstood; they
stood upon no ceremony with each other; they shared their troubles
and joys, and gave thought and sympathy from full hearts. The charming
delicacy of feeling which makes the tale of _Deux Amis_ a treasury
for g