uncing him? Neither would it have been possible to establish his
identity--burnt and mutilated as he was--with the daring felon of
Rochefort. He hoped, therefore, by continuing to act the part of a
madman, to be permitted to abide permanently at Bicetre; such was now
the only desire of the wretch, unable longer to indulge his appetite for
sinful and violent deeds.

During the solitude in which he lived in Bras Rouge's cellar, remorse
gradually insinuated itself into his strong heart; and, cut off from all
communication with the outer world, his thoughts fled inwards, and
presented him with ghastly images of those he had destroyed, till his
brain burned with its own excited torture.

And thus this miserable creature, still in the full vigour and strength
of manhood, before whom were, doubtless, long years of life, and
enjoying the undisturbed possession of his reason, was condemned to
linger out the remainder of his days as a self-imposed mute, and in the
company of fools and madmen; or if his imposition was discovered, his
murderous deeds would conduct him to a scaffold, or condemn him to
perpetual banishment among a set of villains, for whom his newly
awakened penitence made him feel the utmost horror.

The Schoolmaster was sitting on a bench; a mass of grizzled, tangled
locks hung around his huge and hideous head; leaning his elbow on his
knee, he supported his cheek in his hand. Spite of his sightless eyes
and mutilated features, the revolting countenance still expressed the
most bitter and overwhelming despair.

"Dear mother," observed Germain, "what a wretched looking object is this
unfortunate blind man!"

[Illustration: "The Schoolmaster Was Sitting on a Bench"
Original Etching by Porteau]

"Oh, yes, my son!" answered Madame Georges; "it makes one's heart ache
to behold a fellow creature so heavily afflicted. I know not when
anything has so completely shocked me as the sight of this deplorable
being."

Scarcely had Madame Georges given utterance to these words than the
Schoolmaster started, and his countenance, even despite its cicatrised
and disfigured state, became of an ashy paleness. He rose and turned his
head in the direction of Madame Georges so suddenly that she could not
refrain from faintly screaming, though wholly unsuspicious of who the
frightful creature really was; but the Schoolmaster's ear had readily
detected the voice of his wife, and her words told him she was
addressing her son.

"M