t wish to steal? No. Your situation then is
undesirable; it is, for the moment, critical. On the other hand, you
behold in me a man not old, though elderly, still enjoying the youth of
the heart and the intelligence; a man of instruction; easily situated in
this world's affairs; keeping a good table:--a man, neither as friend nor
host, to be despised. I offer you your food and clothes, and to teach you
lessons in the evening, which will be infinitely more to the purpose for
a lad of your stamp than those of all the priests in Europe. I propose
no wages, but if ever you take a thought to leave me, the door shall be
open, and I will give you a hundred francs to start the world upon. In
return, I have an old horse and chaise, which you would very speedily
learn to clean and keep in order. Do not hurry yourself to answer, and
take it or leave it as you judge aright. Only remember this, that I am no
sentimentalist or charitable person, but a man who lives rigorously to
himself; and that if I make the proposal, it is for my own ends--it is
because I perceive clearly an advantage to myself. And now, reflect."

"I shall be very glad. I do not see what else I can do. I thank you, sir,
most kindly, and I will try to be useful," said the boy.

"Thank you," said the Doctor warmly, rising at the same time and wiping
his brow, for he had suffered agonies while the thing hung in the wind. A
refusal, after the scene at noon, would have placed him in a ridiculous
light before Anastasie. "How hot and heavy is the evening, to be sure! I
have always had a fancy to be a fish in summer, Jean-Marie, here in the
Loing beside Gretz. I should lie under a water-lily and listen to the
bells, which must sound most delicately down below. That would be a
life--do you not think so too?"

"Yes," said Jean-Marie.

"Thank God you have imagination!" cried the Doctor, embracing the boy
with his usual effusive warmth, though it was a proceeding that seemed to
disconcert the sufferer almost as much as if he had been an English
schoolboy of the same age. "And now," he added, "I will take you to my
wife."

Madame Desprez sat in the dining-room in a cool wrapper. All the blinds
were down, and the tile floor had been recently sprinkled with water; her
eyes were half shut, but she affected to be reading a novel as they
entered. Though she was a bustling woman, she enjoyed repose
between-whiles and had a remarkable appetite for sleep.

The Doctor went throug