asses for the soul of the dead Olivet, and for
the erection of a small cross to his memory in the Church of Ste.
Radegonde. Thus having fulfilled my promise to mademoiselle I spent
the next day or so in resting my arm, which grew rapidly better, and in
replacing sundry articles of apparel both for Pierrebon and myself.
All this made so considerable a gulf in the thirty-one Henris that I
resolved to transmute the diamond into gold.

I consulted Sarlaboux, who, to his disgust, had been left behind in
Poitiers. He looked at the diamond, and said he would buy it for a
hundred and twenty livres; but protested, with oaths, that he had but
ten crowns in the world, and would, therefore, not be able to pay me at
once. This I could not agree to; and I was very nearly involved in a
quarrel, as he thought that a slight was being put upon his parole.
The affair, however, passed off. Finally, I decided on the advice of a
new acquaintance of mine--a Capuchin named Grigolet--to seek the Jews'
quarter, where at any rate I would receive gold and not promises to
pay. This Capuchin, who was a jovial soul, obligingly said he would
accompany me, as he himself had a little business there, in connection
with the conversion of a young Jewess, whose eyes, he said in
confidence, were brighter than any diamond. I accepted the holy man's
aid, and we set forth, he showing me many places of interest on our way.

We left the priory by the western postern and went up the Rue des Trois
Piliers. The three pillars, which give its name to the street, mark
the boundary between the jurisdiction of the Chapter of St. Hilaire and
the town of Poitiers. They are set in the city wall, a few yards
apart, and the statue on the first pillar is that of the Emperor
Gallienus. On reaching the head of the road we turned up a narrow
alley, and found ourselves in the vast enclosure of the old arena--far
larger than those of Nimes and Aries in that it was capable of seating
fifty thousand persons, and was served for entrance or exit by a
hundred and twenty-four vomitories. Through this immense and deserted
ruin we passed, gaining the Rue d'Evreux by one of the entrances, in
the archway of which an inn was built. Then, passing the Colleges of
Ste. Marthe and Puygarreau, we took the Rue du Chat Rouge, and finally
came before the ogive arch, which formed the entrance to the Rue de
Penthievre, where the Jews were compelled to live and transact their
business. A si