approached Andrea, some screaming, "La savate--La
savate!" [*] a cruel operation, which consists in cuffing a comrade who
may have fallen into disgrace, not with an old shoe, but with an
iron-heeled one. Others proposed the "anguille," another kind of
recreation, in which a handkerchief is filled with sand, pebbles, and
two-sous pieces, when they have them, which the wretches beat like a
flail over the head and shoulders of the unhappy sufferer. "Let us
horsewhip the fine gentleman!" said others.

* Savate: an old shoe.

But Andrea, turning towards them, winked his eyes, rolled his tongue
around his cheeks, and smacked his lips in a manner equivalent to a
hundred words among the bandits when forced to be silent. It was a
Masonic sign Caderousse had taught him. He was immediately recognized as
one of them; the handkerchief was thrown down, and the iron-heeled shoe
replaced on the foot of the wretch to whom it belonged. Some voices were
heard to say that the gentleman was right; that he intended to be
civil, in his way, and that they would set the example of liberty of
conscience,--and the mob retired. The keeper was so stupefied at this
scene that he took Andrea by the hands and began examining his person,
attributing the sudden submission of the inmates of the Lions' Den
to something more substantial than mere fascination. Andrea made no
resistance, although he protested against it. Suddenly a voice was heard
at the wicket. "Benedetto!" exclaimed an inspector. The keeper relaxed
his hold. "I am called," said Andrea. "To the visitors' room!" said the
same voice.

"You see some one pays me a visit. Ah, my dear sir, you will see whether
a Cavalcanti is to be treated like a common person!" And Andrea, gliding
through the court like a black shadow, rushed out through the wicket,
leaving his comrades, and even the keeper, lost in wonder. Certainly
a call to the visitors' room had scarcely astonished Andrea less than
themselves, for the wily youth, instead of making use of his privilege
of waiting to be claimed on his entry into La Force, had maintained
a rigid silence. "Everything," he said, "proves me to be under the
protection of some powerful person,--this sudden fortune, the facility
with which I have overcome all obstacles, an unexpected family and an
illustrious name awarded to me, gold showered down upon me, and the most
splendid alliances about to be entered into. An unhappy lapse of fortune
and the absence of