e sets to you all. He
is not afraid of hard work, though he is noble by birth, and should not
soil his hands by labor.'"

A sudden lurch brought the Counsellor's eloquence to a sudden close, but
he speedily resumed again.

"I was watching you as you hefted the sacks. Heavens! what muscles! what
a pair of shoulders!"

At any other moment Norbert would have gloried in such laudation, but
now he felt displeased and annoyed, and vented his anger by a sharp cut
at his team.

"When people say that you are as innocent as a girl," continued Daumon,
"I always say that you are a sensible young fellow after all, and that
if you choose to lead a regular life, it is far better than wasting your
future fortune in wine, billiards, cards, or women."

"I don't know that I might not do something of the kind," returned
Norbert.

"What did you say?" answered his wily companion.

"I said that if I were my own master, I would live as other young men."

The lad paused abruptly, and Daumon's eyes gleamed with joy.

"Aha," murmured he to himself; "I have the game in my own hands. I will
teach his Grace to interfere with me."

Then, in a voice which could reach Norbert's ears, he continued,--

"Of course some parents are far too strict."

An impatient gesture from Norbert showed him that he had wounded him
deeply.

"Yes, yes," put in the wily Counsellor, "as the head grows bald, and the
blood begins to stagnate, they forget,--they forget the days when all
was so different. They forget the time when they were young, and when
they sowed their wild oats with so lavish a hand. When your father
was twenty-five, he was precious wild. Ask your father, if you do not
believe me."

At this moment the wagon passed the cross road, and Norbert pulled up.

"I cannot thank you enough, Marquis," said the Counsellor as he alighted
with difficulty; "but if you would condescend to come and taste my
brandy, I would esteem it a great honor."

Norbert hesitated for an instant: his reasoning powers urged him to
decline the offer, but he refused to listen to them, and, fastening his
horses to a tree, he followed Daumon down the by-road. The cottage was
an excellent one, and extremely well furnished. A woman, who acted as
Daumon's housekeeper, served the refreshments. The office--for he
called his room an office, just as if he was a professional man--was
a strange-looking place. On one side was a desk covered with account
books, and against the wall