, and when he had
ascertained what was the exact day fixed for the sale, he hurried out.
On the following morning he made his appearance at Frederick's house
with an embarrassed countenance.

"I owe you an apology."

"For what, pray?"

"You must take me for an ingrate, I, whom she is the----" He faltered.

"Oh! I'll see no more of her. I am not going to be her accomplice!" And
as the other was gazing at him in astonishment:

"Isn't your mistress's furniture to be sold in three days' time?"

"Who told you that?"

"Herself--the Vatnaz! But I am afraid of giving you offence----"

"Impossible, my dear friend!"

"Ah! that is true--you are so good!"

And he held out to him, in a cautious fashion, a hand in which he
clasped a little pocket-book made of sheep-leather.

It contained four thousand francs--all his savings.

"What! Oh! no! no!----"

"I knew well I would wound your feelings," returned Dussardier, with a
tear in the corner of his eye.

Frederick pressed his hand, and the honest fellow went on in a piteous
tone:

"Take the money! Give me that much pleasure! I am in such a state of
despair. Can it be, furthermore, that all is over? I thought we should
be happy when the Revolution had come. Do you remember what a beautiful
thing it was? how freely we breathed! But here we are flung back into a
worse condition of things than ever.

"Now, they are killing our Republic, just as they killed the other
one--the Roman! ay, and poor Venice! poor Poland! poor Hungary! What
abominable deeds! First of all, they knocked down the trees of Liberty,
then they restricted the right to vote, shut up the clubs,
re-established the censorship and surrendered to the priests the power
of teaching, so that we might look out for the Inquisition. Why not? The
Conservatives want to give us a taste of the stick. The newspapers are
fined merely for pronouncing an opinion in favour of abolishing the
death-penalty. Paris is overflowing with bayonets; sixteen departments
are in a state of siege; and then the demand for amnesty is again
rejected!"

He placed both hands on his forehead, then, spreading out his arms as if
his mind were in a distracted state:

"If, however, we only made the effort! if we were only sincere, we might
understand each other. But no! The workmen are no better than the
capitalists, you see! At Elboeuf recently they refused to help at a
fire! There are wretches who profess to regard Barbes as an aristocra