LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 SANTA CRUZ 
 
 H. EARLE WEST. 
 
<qdventuted of 
 
T15ookfi up 
 Dr. ft* 
 
 HUGH WYNNE. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS. 
 
 HEPHZIBAH GUINNESS. 
 
 IN WAR TIME. 
 
 ROLAND BLAKE. 
 
 FAR IN THE FOREST. 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 WHEN ALL THE WOODS ARE GREEN. 
 
 A MADEIRA PARTY. 
 
 DOCTOR AND PATIENT. 
 WEAR AND TEAR HINTS FOR THE 
 OVERWORKED. 
 
 COLLECTED POEMS. 
 
THE NETS WERE HUNG OVER FRANCOIS'S SHOULDERS." (See page 18.) 
 
V 
 
 cFoundling, ^kief, ofugglet, and cfendng- 
 z during ike cfitenck Devolution 
 
 * Sffiitcfiell, 
 
 , 2). B&arvard an^ Sdinbutgh 
 
 %-ck 
 (Sentuiy (o, 
 
Copyright, 1897, 1898, by 
 THE CENTURY Co. 
 
 THE DE VINNE PRESS. 
 
TO 
 
 PHILIP SCHUYLER 
 
 IN RECOGNITION OF 
 A CONSTANT FRIENDSHIP 
 
CONTENTS 
 I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of how Fra^ois the foundling was cared for by the good 
 fathers of the Benedictine Asylum for Orphans, and of 
 what manner of lad he was 1 
 
 II 
 
 In which Franois becomes a choir-boy, and serves two 
 masters, to the impairment of his moral sense . . 5 
 
 III 
 
 Of the misfortunes caused by loss of a voice, and of how a 
 cat and a damsel got Francois into trouble whereupon, 
 preferring the world to a monastery, he ran away from 
 the choristers of Notre Dame 13 
 
 IV 
 
 Of how the world used Fra^ois, and of the reward of virtue. 
 He makes his first friend 19 
 
 Of the immorality which may come of an empty stomach, 
 and of how Fran9ois became acquainted with a human 
 crab . . . . . . I- . . . . . 27 
 
 vii 
 
viii CONTENTS 
 
 VI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of how Franois regained a lost friend, and of his adventure 
 with the poet Horace and another gentleman . .32 
 
 VII 
 
 Wherein is told how Franois saved a man's neck and 
 learned to juggle 47 
 
 VIII 
 
 In which Franois discovers the mercantile value of 
 laughter, and the Crab takes toll of the jugglers with 
 the sad history of Despard, the partner . . . .57 
 
 IX 
 
 In which Francois tells the fortune of the Marquis de Ste. 
 Luce and of Robespierre, and has his own fortune told, 
 and of how Despard saw a man of whom he was afraid . 65 
 
 How Pierre became a Jacobin and how a nation became 
 insane . . . . 80 
 
 XI 
 
 The juggling firm of Despard, Franois & Co. is broken up 
 Despard goes into politics, and Fra^ois becomes a 
 fencing-master . 84 
 
 XII 
 
 In which Toto is seen to change his politics twice a day 
 the mornings and the afternoons quarrel In Which Jean 
 Pierre Andre Amar, u le farouche," appears . . . 103 
 
CONTENTS ix 
 
 XlII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Citizen Amar, meeting the marquis, is unlucky and vindic- 
 tive . 117 
 
 XIV 
 
 Franois escapes from Paris and goes in search of a father. 
 He meets a man who has a wart on his nose, and who be- 
 cause of this is unlucky . . ; . . . 136 
 
 XV 
 
 How Francois finds Despard and has a lesson in politics, 
 and of what came of it . 151 
 
 XVI 
 
 How Franois warns the Marquis de Ste. Luce, and of the 
 battle on the staircase between the old day and the new . 166 
 
 XVII 
 
 Of how Fran9ois, escaping, lives in the wood ; of how he 
 sees the daughter of the marquis dying, and knows not 
 then, or ever after, what it was that hurt him ; of how he 
 becomes homesick for Paris 179 
 
 XVIII 
 
 Wherein is told how Francois reenters Paris, and lodges 
 with the Crab ; and of how Toto is near to death by the 
 guillotine. Francois meets Despard and the marquis, 
 who warns him and is warned 190 
 
 XIX 
 
 Of the sorrowful life of loneliness, of Francis's arrest, and 
 of those he met in prison 215 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of how Fran9ois gave Amar advice, and of how the marquis 
 bought his own head 225 
 
 XXI 
 
 How Fran$ois, having made a bargain with Citizen Amar, 
 cannot keep it with the man of the wart How Despard 
 dies in the place of the marquis Of Francis's escape 
 from prison . .' . .. ' , 240 
 
 XXII 
 
 Wherein is told how Francois baits a crab-trap with the 
 man of the wart . . . 258 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Of how Francois found lodgings where he paid no rent 
 Of the death of Toto Of how his master, having no 
 friends on the earth, finds them underground . . 277 
 
 ' XXIV 
 
 Of how Francois got into good society underground Of 
 what he saw, and of the value of a cat's eyes From 
 darkness to light Of how Francois made friends for life 287 
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 Wherein is some further account of Francois and of those 
 who helped him . . -.. 312 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 THE NETS WERE HUNG OVER FRANCOIS'S SHOULDERS Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 / 
 FRANOIS AND TOTO IN THE LUXEMBOURG . .37 
 
 PIERRE TAUGHT FRANCOIS TO JUGGLE WITH BALLS . . 53 
 'T is A GARGOYLE COME DOWN FROM THE ROOF OF ST. 
 JACQUES . . .. . . . . . . 67 
 
 HE PAID IN ADVANCE THE CUSTOMARY DENIER A DIEU . 87 
 AND so A DOG is SENT TO FETCH THE SAFEGUARD THE 
 PEOPLE PROVIDE . . . . . . . .113 
 
 HE STAGGERED TO LEFT, TO EIGHT, AND AT LAST TUM- 
 BLED IN A HEAP . ... . . . . .131 
 
 HE HELD HIS WAY ALONG THE HIGHROAD .... 139 
 
 THE WANDERER TAPPED ON THE PANE . ,. . .181 
 HE SAW A WHITE FACE ON THE PILLOW .... 187 
 
 QUATRE PATTES .* . . . . . . 195 
 
 DEATH TO ROYAL RATS ! . ..'.*.' . . . . 207 
 
 AMAR CONSIDERED THIS NOVEL SPECIMEN OF HUMANITY . 229 
 HE PULLED THE BELL AT No. 33 Bis. . . . . 269 
 
 " THE LITTLE TRAP DID WORK," CRIED FRANgois, BEHIND 
 HIS SCREEN . . . . . . . ... 273 
 
 xi 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 FOUNDLING, THIEF, JUGGLER, AND FENCING-MASTER 
 DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 Of how Francois the foundling was cared for by the 
 good fathers of the Benedictine Asylum for Orphans, 
 and of what manner of lad he was. 
 
 the summer of the year 1777 a lad of 
 about ten years, clad in a suit of gray, 
 was playing in the high- walled garden of 
 the Benedictine Asylum for Orphans in 
 Paris. The sun was pleasant, the birds 
 sang overhead, the roses were many, for the month 
 was June. A hundred lads were noisily running 
 about. They had the look of being well fed, decently 
 clothed, and kindly cared for. An old priest walked 
 to and fro, at times looking up from his breviary to 
 say a pleasant word or to check some threatening 
 quarrel. 
 
 Presently he paused beside the boy who was at the 
 moment intently watching a bird on a branch over- 
 i 1 
 
2 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 head. As the priest turned, the boy had thrown him- 
 self on the grass and was laughing heartily. 
 
 " What amuses thee, my son I " said the father. 
 
 " I am laughing at the birds." 
 
 " And why do they make thee laugh, Franqois ? " 
 
 " I do not know.' 7 
 
 "And I/ 7 said the priest, "do not know why the 
 birds sing, nor why thou dost laugh. Thou hast a 
 talent that way. The good God grant thee always 
 cause "; and with his eyes on his breviary, and his 
 lips moving in prayer, he walked away. 
 
 The lad fell back again on the grass, and laughed 
 anew, as if overcome with some jest he shared with 
 no one but the birds overhead. This was a kindly 
 little waif brought hither from the Enfants Trouves, 
 nameless except for the card pinned on the basket 
 in which he lay when the unknown mother left him, 
 a red-faced baby, to the charity of asylum life. 
 
 His constant mirthfulness was a sad cross to some 
 of the good fathers, for neither punishment, fast, nor 
 penance got the better of this gaiety, nor served to 
 repress its instinctive expression. He had, too, 
 what is rare in childhood, quick powers of ob- 
 servation, and a certain joy in the world of nature, 
 liking to lie on his back and watch the birds at work, 
 or pleased to note the daily changes of flowers or the 
 puzzling journeys of the ants which had their crowded 
 homes beneath the lilacs in undisturbed corners of 
 the garden. His nearest mother, Nature, meant the 
 boy to be one of those rare beings who find happi- 
 ness in the use of keen senses and in a wakeful 
 mind, which might have been trained to employ its 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 3 
 
 powers for the partial conquest of some of her many 
 kingdoms. But no friendly hand was here to guide, 
 no example present to incite or lift him. The simple 
 diet provided for the intellect of these little ones was 
 like the diet of their table the same for one and 
 for all. 
 
 His head was high, his face long j all his features 
 were of unusual size, the mouth and ears of dispro- 
 portionate magnitude j altogether, a quaint face, not 
 quite of to-day, a something Gothic and medieval in 
 its general expression. 
 
 The dull round of matins and vespers, the routine 
 of lessons, the silent refectory meals, went on year 
 after year with little variation. The boy Frangois 
 simply accepted them as did the rest; but, unlike 
 some of his comrades, he found food for mirth, silent, 
 gentle, or boisterous, where no other saw cause for 
 amusement. 
 
 Once a week a sober line of gray-clad boys, with 
 here and there a watchful priest, filed through the 
 gay streets to mass at St. Eustache or Notre Dame. 
 He learned, as he grew, to value these chances, and 
 to look forward with eager anticipation to what they 
 brought him. During these walks the quick-minded 
 Fran9ois saw and heard a hundred things which 
 aroused his curiosity. The broad gardens of the Lux- 
 embourg, the young fellows at unrestricted play, the 
 river and the boats, by degrees filled him with keen 
 desire to see more of this outer world, and to have 
 easy freedom to roam at will. It was the first flutter 
 of wings longing for natural flight. Before they set 
 out on these journeys, a good father at the great 
 
4 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 gateway said to them as they went by : " Look neither 
 to the right nor to the left, my children. 'T is a day 
 of prayer. Remember ! " Alas ! what eyes so busy 
 as those of Fra^ois ? " Look at this at that/ 7 he 
 would cry to the lads close to him. " Be quiet, there ! " 
 said the priests' low voices; and on this Francis's 
 droll face would begin to express the unspoken de- 
 light he found in the outer world of men and things. 
 This naughty outside world kept calling him to share 
 its liberty. The boy liked best the choir, where his 
 was the most promising voice. Here was happiness 
 such as the use of dexterous hands or observant eyes 
 also gave him. Religion was to him largely a matter 
 of formal service. But in this, as in secular educa- 
 tion, the individuality of the creature may not be set 
 aside without risk of disaster. For all alike there 
 was the same dull round, the same instruction. 
 Nevertheless, the vast influence of these repeated 
 services, and of the constant catechism, he continued 
 to feel to his latest day. 
 
 He was emotional and imaginative, fond of color, 
 and sensitive to music j but the higher lessons of the 
 church, which should control the life of action, were 
 without effect on a character which was naturally one 
 of exceptional levity. Such a mind has small power 
 to apply to the conduct of life the mere rules laid 
 down for its guidance, and is apt to accept as per- 
 sonally useful only what comes from the lessons of 
 experience. 
 
II 
 
 In ivhich Francois becomes a choir-boy, and serves two 
 masters, to the impairment of his moral sense. 
 
 E was about fourteen, and the best of 
 the choir, when a great change took 
 place in his life. He was sent, with 
 a dozen others, to the vestry of Notre 
 Dame, and there carefully tested as to 
 the power and quality of his voice. The masters of 
 the choir were exacting, but, to his great delight, he 
 was thought the best of the four who were finally 
 selected to fill vacancies among the boy choristers of 
 the cathedral. This came about in the autumn of 
 the year 1781. 
 
 The next day he received a long lecture on how he 
 should behave himself; and thus morally provided, 
 was sent, with his small belongings in a bag, to the 
 house of certain of the choir-masters who lived in the 
 Rue des Chanteurs. One of the priests who escorted 
 the four boys stood at the door of the house of the 
 choir, and saying good-by to them as they went in, 
 bade them come, if they might, and visit their old 
 home; and so, with a benediction, sent them forth 
 into a larger world. 
 
 5 
 
6 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 It was not much larger, nor was it as agreeable. 
 When the good father left them, one Tomas, who 
 was steward of the choir-house, took the lads in 
 charge. 
 
 " Up with ye, singing-birds ! " he cried ; " up ! up ! " 
 And this at each story : " It will soon be your best 
 chance of heaven ; up ! up ! " until they reached a 
 large attic under the tiles. 
 
 It was a dismal place, and hospitable to every 
 wind that blew. Each of twelve choir-boys had a 
 straw mattress on the floor, and pegs where hung his 
 clothes and the white surplice he wore during ser- 
 vice. The four newcomers took possession, and were 
 soon informed by Tomas of their duties. They must 
 be up at five to sing before breakfast with the second 
 chanter. 
 
 " Before breakfast ! " cried one of the recruits. 
 
 " Little animal ! " said Tomas. " Before thou dost 
 eat there is room to fill thy chest; but after, what 
 boy hath room? Breakfast at six and a half; at 
 seven a lesson. Thou wilt intone with Pere Lalatte." 
 
 Thus the day was to be filled ; for here were les- 
 sons a-plenty in Latin, and all must learn to read and 
 to write, for they might be priests some blessed day. 
 
 Fran9ois reflected as Tomas packed the hours with 
 this and that as one packs a bag. He made his 
 face as grave as nature would let it be, and said 
 it was very nice, and that he liked to sing. Was 
 there anything else 1 ? Tomas replied that this first 
 day they might ask questions, but that after that he 
 (Tomas) had only one answer, because to have only 
 one saved thinking. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 7 
 
 This amused Francois, who was prematurely capa- 
 ble of seeing the fun of things. 
 
 When a duller boy who did not apprehend asked 
 to know more he received an illustration in the form 
 of a smart smack, which proved convincingly in- 
 structive, and silenced all but Fra^ois, who asked, 
 "Please, monsieur, when may we play?" and "Is 
 there anything more?" 
 
 Tomas replied that there was a free hour before 
 supper, and a little while somewhere about noon in 
 the garden ; also, they must wait on table j and oh, 
 he forgot the prayers ; and then went on to complete 
 the packing of the day with various small duties in 
 the nature of attentions to the comfort of Tomas. 
 With some last words as to the time of the next 
 meal, the steward left them. 
 
 The lads, silent and anxious, arranged their small 
 possessions. A little goldfinch in a wicker cage was 
 Frauqois's most valued property; he had taught it 
 many pretty tricks, and now he had been allowed to 
 bring it with him. Fra^ois put the cage on the 
 window-ledge, and fed his brightly tinted bird from 
 a small store of millet with which he had filled his 
 pocket. Then he looked out to see what prospect 
 the view from the attic afforded. 
 
 The home of the master-choristers was an ancient 
 house of the days of Henri IV, and leaned so far 
 over that as the boy looked out he had a sudden fear 
 lest it should be about to tumble. The street was 
 not more than twelve feet wide. The opposite dwell- 
 ings were a full story below the attic from which the 
 boy looked. The nearest house across the way had 
 
8 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 an ancient stoop. Others bent back from the line of 
 the street, and the open windows gave them a look of 
 yawning weariness which set the boy to gaping in 
 sympathy. 
 
 Above was a mottled wilderness of discolored tiles, 
 chimney-pots, and here and there gray corner turret?, 
 with vanes which seemed to entertain diverse views 
 as to the direction whence the wind blew. Below 
 was the sunless well of tlie street. As he gazed he 
 saw the broad hats of priests hiding the figures be- 
 neath them. It interested the boy. It was new and 
 strange. He was too intent to notice that all but he 
 had gone, obedient to an order of Tomas. 
 
 A woman at a window over the way let fall a skirt 
 she had been drying. It sailed to and fro, and fell 
 on the head of a reflective abbe*. The boy broke into 
 laughter. A cat climbed on to a chimney-pot, and 
 was met by a gust of smoke from the flue beside it. 
 She scrambled off, sneezing. 
 
 " What fun ! " cried the boy, and laughed again. 
 
 "Little beast!" shouted Tomas. "Must I come 
 for thee ? ? T is not permitted to laugh. It is forbid 
 to laugh. It spoils the voice" a queer notion 
 which, to his sorrow, the boy found to prevail in the 
 house of the choristers. 
 
 " How can that be ? " said Fra^ois, boldly. 
 
 The man gave him to understand that he was to 
 obey his betters without answering, and then, taking 
 the cage from the window, said: "Come quick, 
 too ! Thou art late for the dinner, and must do 
 without it. There is a singing-lesson. Off with 
 thee!" 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 9 
 
 He was leaving the room when, suddenly, a strange 
 fury of anger came on the boy. He snatched the 
 cage from the man's hand, crying , " My bird ! It is 
 my bird ! " 
 
 Tomas caught him, and began to administer a 
 smart cuffing,- but the lad was vigorous and of feline 
 agility. He used nails, teeth, and feet. Then, of a 
 sudden, he ceased to struggle, and fell on a mattress 
 in an agony of tears. The man had set his foot on 
 the fallen cage, crying : 
 
 " I will teach thee a lesson, little animal ! " 
 
 There lay in the crushed cage the dead bird, still 
 quivering, a shapeless mass of green and yellow with 
 a splotch of red. It was the first lesson of that 
 larger world toward which the foundling had been 
 so joyfully looking. 
 
 He made no further resistance to the discipline 
 which followed. Then came a dark cell and bread 
 and water for a weary day, and much profit in the 
 way of experience. It was a gentle home he had 
 left. He had known there no unkindness, nor had 
 he ever so sinned as to suffer more than some mild 
 punishment. The new life was hard, the diet spare. 
 As the winter came on, the attic proved to be cold. 
 The winds came in from the tiles above and through 
 the shrunken window-frames. Once within, they 
 seemed to stay and to wander in chilly gusts. The 
 dark suits worn by the choir-boys were none too 
 warm. If the white surplice were clean, little more 
 was asked in that direction. There were long ser- 
 vices twice a day at the great cathedral near by, and 
 three hours of practice under the eye of a junior 
 
10 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 chorister. The boys were abed at eight, and up at 
 five j and for play, there were two uncertain hours 
 after the noon meal and at seven in the evening 
 when they were free to move about a small court 
 behind the house, or to rest, if they pleased, in the 
 attic. Four days in the week there were lessons in 
 Latin and in reading and writing. Assuredly the 
 devil had little of the chance which idle hours are 
 presumed to give. But this fallen angel has also 
 the industry of the minute, and knows how to profit 
 by the many chances of life. He provided sugges- 
 tive lessons in the habits of the choristers who dwelt 
 in the stories above the wine-shop on the first floor. 
 Sounds of gay carouses reached the small garret saints 
 at night, and gay voices were heard which had other 
 than masculine notes. At meal-times the choir-boys 
 waited on their masters, and fetched their food from 
 the kitchen. The lads soon learned to take toll on 
 the way, and to comfort their shrunken stomachs 
 with a modest share of the diet of their betters. 
 
 " Little rats ! " said Tomas the steward, " you will 
 squeal in purgatory for this; and 7 t were better to 
 give you a dose of it here." And so certain of the 
 rats, on account of temporary excess of feed, were 
 given none for a day, and left in a cold cellar to such 
 moral aids as reflection might fetch. 
 
 Franqois sat with his comrades of mishap in the 
 gloom, and devised new ways of procuring food and 
 concealing their thefts. 
 
 " Rats we are," said Fra^ois, gaily ; " and rats had 
 need be smart ; and who ever heard that the ~bon Dieu 
 sent rats to purgatory?" Then he hatched queer 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 11 
 
 stories to keep up the spirits of the too penitent; 
 and whether full or empty, cold or warm, took all 
 that came with perpetual solace of good-humored 
 laughter. It was not in him to bear malice. The 
 choir-masters liked him, and with the boys he was 
 the leader. 
 
 Most of the dozen choir-boys were dull fellows; 
 but this sharp-witted Franqois was of other make, 
 and found in the table-talk of the choristers, and of 
 the cures who came now and then to share their 
 ample fare, food for such thoughts as a boy thinks. 
 He soon learned, as he grew older, how difficult is 
 complete sin; how many outlets there are for him 
 who, being penitent, desires to create new oppor- 
 tunities for penitence. Fra^ois was fast forming 
 his character. He had small need to look for ex- 
 cuses, and a meager talent for regret. When his 
 stomach was full he was good, and when it was 
 empty he must, as he said in after years, " fill it to 
 squeeze out Satan.' 7 
 
 There were singular books about, and for his edu- 
 cation, now that he read Latin fairly well, a manual 
 on confession. It was not meant for half -fed choir- 
 boys. More fascinating were the confessions of one 
 Rousseau a highly educative book for a clever boy 
 of sixteen. At this age Franqois was a long-legged, 
 active fellow, a keen-witted domestic brigand, expert 
 in providing for his wants, and eagerly desirous of 
 seeing more of the outside world, of the ways of 
 which he was so ignorant. The procession of closely 
 watched boys went to church and back again to the 
 old house at least once a day, and this was his only 
 
12 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 glimpse of the entertaining life of the streets. When 
 left to himself, he liked best in good weather to sit 
 at the open attic window and watch the cats on the 
 roofs across the way. So near were the houses that 
 he could toss a bone or a crust on to the roof oppo- 
 site, and delight to see these Ishmaelites contend for 
 the prize. He grew to know them, so that they 
 would come at dusk to the roof-edge, and contem- 
 plate dietetic possibilities with eager and luminous 
 eyes. Being versed in the Bible, as all good choir- 
 boys should be, he found names for his feline friends 
 which fitted their qualities ; for there, among the chim- 
 neys, was a small world of stirring life which no man 
 disturbed. He saw battles, jealousies, greediness, and 
 loves. Constancy was not there. Solomon of the 
 many wives was king of the tiles j a demure blue cat 
 was Susannah, for good reasons , and there, too, were 
 the elders. It might have seemed to some pitiful 
 angel a sad picture this poor lad in the grasp of 
 temptations, but made for better chances, finding his 
 utmost joy in the distant company of these lean Arabs 
 of the desert housetops. 
 
Ill 
 
 Of the misfortunes caused by loss of a voice, and of how 
 a cat and a damsel got Francois into trouble where- 
 upon, preferring the world to a monastery, he ran 
 away from the choristers of Notre Dame. 
 
 was in the month of June, in the year 
 1784, that a female got him into trouble, 
 and aided to bring about a decision as 
 to his future. This was, however, only 
 one of the distressing incidents which 
 at the time affected his career, and was not his final 
 experience of the perils to which attention to the 
 other sex may expose the unwary. A few days be- 
 fore the sad event which brought about a change in 
 Francois's life, he was engaged in singing one of the 
 noble Gregorian chants. Never had he used his voice 
 with greater satisfaction. He was always pleased 
 and eagerly ambitious when in the choir, and was 
 then at his best. This day it seemed to him, as he 
 sang, that his clear tones rose like a bird, and that 
 something of him was soaring high among the reso- 
 nant arches overhead. Of a sudden his voice broke 
 into a shrill squeak. The choir-master shook a finger 
 at him, and he fell into a dead silence, and sang no 
 
 13 
 
14 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 more that morning. The little white-robed proces- 
 sion marched out, and when it reached the gray old 
 house there was wrath and consternation over the 
 broken treble. He was blamed and beaten ; but, after 
 all, it was a too likely misfortune. If it chanced again 
 he must go to the Dominican convent at Auteuil, and 
 perhaps in a year or two would be lucky enough to get 
 back his voice. Meanwhile let him take care. Poor 
 Fran9ois did his best; but a week later, amid the 
 solemnity of a mass for the dead, came once more 
 that fatal break in the voice. He knew that his fate 
 was sealed. 
 
 Little was said this time, but he overheard the 
 head of the choir arranging with Tomas the steward 
 that the boy should go to Auteuil. Until then he was 
 no longer to serve in the choir. 
 
 Fran9ois had seen all this occur before, when, as 
 was common, some little singer lost control of his 
 changing voice. His case was hopeless. Yet here 
 was an idle time and no more singing-lessons. But 
 a part of the small joys of a life not rich in happy 
 moments was gone, to come back no more, as he knew 
 too well. Of late his fine quality of song had won 
 him some indulgence, and he had learned how much 
 a fine voice might mean. Dim visions began to open 
 before him, as he heard of how choir-boys had con- 
 quered fame and wealth in France or elsewhere. One 
 day the leader of the choir had praised him and his 
 diligence, and hoped he would never leave them. He 
 was told what a great possession was a voice like his, 
 and had even been envied by the less gifted. Now 
 this possession was taken from him, and he was at 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 15 
 
 once made sadly aware of his loss. His vanity, al- 
 ways great, was wounded to the quick. A little 
 kindness would have led him to go to the convent 
 and hopefully bide his time; but nobody cared, or 
 seemed to care, for him, or to pity what to his active 
 imagination was a fatal wreck of goodly chances. 
 
 For a day or two he went about disconsolate, and 
 was set to serve in the kitchen or to wait on the man 
 Tomas, who jeered at his squeaky voice, and called 
 him "little pig," with additions of some coarser 
 amenities of language, and certain information as 
 to the convent life of a lay servant ill calculated to 
 make Auteuil appear desirable. 
 
 In his leisure hours, which now were many, Fran- 
 c,ois took refuge from the jests of his fellows in the 
 lonely garret. The people across the way in their 
 rooms amused him. The cats were never long ab- 
 sent. He watched their cunning search for the nests 
 of the sparrows, and very soon began to feel again 
 the invincible lifting power of his comic nature. 
 Some remembrance of the alarm in the choir-master's 
 face when his voice broke came upon Francois, and 
 he 'began to laugh. Just then he saw Solomon on 
 the roof opposite. The master of a populous harem 
 was in the company of the two naughty elders. Su- 
 sannah, behind a chimney, was making her modest 
 toilet with a skilful tongue. He called her, and held 
 up a tempting bone. The shy maiden hesitated. 
 He called, " Suzanne, Suzanne ! " to bring her to the 
 edge of the tiled roof and near enough to make sure 
 that the elders would not capture her desired prize. 
 
 As he called, a little grisette who was hanging out 
 
16 THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 
 
 clothes to dry kissed her hand to the boy. Frai^ois 
 had seen her before. She was not attractive. He 
 liked his cats better. " Suzanne, Suzanne ! " he 
 called, as the virgin, looking about her, daintily 
 picked her way to the edge. High on the roof-top, 
 Solomon exhorted the elders, and in a moment backs 
 were humped, and claws out, and there was bad lan- 
 guage used, which may have been Hebrew, but at all 
 events appeared to be sufficiently expressive; for 
 the elders and Solomon, of a sudden rolling over in a 
 wild scuffle, disappeared on the farther side of the roof. 
 This was the maid's opportunity, and gratefully lick- 
 ing her anticipative chops, she crawled to the gutter. 
 
 " Bonne Suzanne ! Viens done I Come, come, Su- 
 zanne ! " cried the boy. 
 
 Of a sudden a smart box on the ear broke up this 
 pretty love-affair. There stood Tomas. 
 
 " A nice choir-boy ! Talking with that beast of a 
 grisette ! " Then there were more liberal whacks as 
 the boy, in a rage, was dragged away, and bidden to 
 come down-stairs and carry to market the nets used 
 in place of baskets. Tomas usually went alone to 
 buy provisions, but now the choir-boy was free and 
 could be made of use. 
 
 FranQois uttered no complaint. It was literally 
 the only time he had had a chance to be in the 
 streets, except as part of the procession to and from 
 the church. He was sore, angry, and resentful of the 
 ill usage which in the last few days had taken the 
 place of the growing respect his talent had created. 
 He took the nets and his cap, and followed Tomas. 
 " What a chance ! " he thought to himself. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 17 
 
 The boy concealed the delight he felt, and followed 
 the steward, who went down to the river and across 
 it to the open market on the farther bank. He 
 stopped here and there to buy provisions and to chat 
 with the market-women. When one of them, pleased 
 with the odd-looking lad, gave him an apple, Tomas 
 took it from him. Frangois laughed, which seemed 
 always to offend the saturnine steward. He could 
 not destroy the pleasure of the gay market for Fran- 
 9018, who made queer faces at the mistresses of the 
 stalls, teased the dogs and cats for sale in cages, and 
 generally made himself happy until they came home 
 again. 
 
 But from this time onward, except for these ex- 
 cursions, his life was made miserable enough. He 
 was the slave of Tomas, and was cruelly reminded 
 day after day of the misery of him who has a servant 
 for his master. 
 
 At last he learned that the time was near when he 
 must go to Auteuil. His voice had been tested again, 
 and he had been told that there was small hope of its 
 return. He began to think of escape. Once he was 
 sent alone on an errand to a shop near by. He 
 lingered to see some street- jugglers, and paid for it 
 with a day in a damp cellar. Within this sad home 
 he now found only reproaches and unthanked labor. 
 The choristers laughed at him, and the happier boys 
 mocked his changed voice. On the day after his last 
 experience of the cellar, he was told by Tomas to be 
 ready to go to Auteuil, and was ordered once again 
 to follow the steward to market. He took up the 
 nets and went after him. The lad looked back at 
 
 2 
 
18 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 the choir-house. He meant to see it no more. He 
 was now seventeen, and in the three years of his stay 
 had learned many things, some good and some bad. 
 
 They went past Notre Dame to the quai, and 
 through rows of stalls along the shores of the Seine. 
 Tomas soon filled the nets, which were hung over 
 Francois's shoulders. Meanwhile the chattering 
 women, the birds and cages, the flowers, the moving, 
 many-colored crowd, amused or pleased the boy, but 
 by no means turned him from his purpose. 
 
 "Come!" cried Tomas, and began to elbow his 
 way through the noisy people on the river-bank. 
 Presently Fra^ois got behind him, and noting his 
 chances with a ready eye, slipped through between 
 the booths and darted up the Seine. 
 
IV 
 
 Of how the world used Francois, and of the reward of 
 virtue. He makes his first friend. 
 
 HEN Tomas, having won his way out of 
 the press about a fortune-teller, looked 
 for Franqois, there was a lost choir-boy 
 and two days 7 diet gone none knew 
 whither least of all the fugitive. He 
 moved away with the speed of fear, and was soon in 
 the somber network of narrow streets which in those 
 days made a part of the lie de la Cite" the refuge of the 
 finest assortment of thieves, bravos, gypsies, and low 
 women to be found in any capital of Europe. 
 
 His scared looks and decent black suit betrayed 
 him. An old fellow issued from a doorway like a 
 spider. " Ha, ha, little thief ! he said j " I will buy 
 thy plunder." 
 
 Fran9ois was well pleased. He took eagerly the 
 ten sous offered, and saw the spider poke a long red 
 beak into the loaded nets as he passed out of sight 
 in the dark doorway. Frangois looked at the money. 
 It was the first he had ever owned. He walked 
 away in haste, happy to be free, and so over a bridge 
 to the lie St. Louis, with its pretty gardens and the 
 
 19 
 
20 THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 
 
 palaces of the great nobles. At the far end of the 
 isle he sat down in the sun and watched the red 
 barges go by, and took no more care for to-morrow 
 than does a moth just out of its cocoon. He caught 
 up the song of a man near by who was mending a 
 bateau. He whistled as he cast stones into the water. 
 It was June, and warm, and before him the river 
 playing with the sunset gold, and behind him the 
 dull roar of Paris. Ah, the pleasure to do as he 
 would! Why had he waited so long? 
 
 Toward night he wandered back into the Cite*, and 
 saw an old woman selling fried potatoes, and crying, 
 " Two sous, two sous ! " He asked for thus much, 
 and received them in the top of his cap. The hag 
 took his ten-sou piece, and told him to begone. 
 Amazed at this bit of villainy, poor Franqois en- 
 treated her to give him his change. She called him 
 a thief, and when a dreadful man sallied out of a 
 wine-shop and made murderous threats, the boy ran 
 as fast as he could go, and never ceased until he got 
 to the river again. There, like Suzanne, he kept 
 watch for the foes of property, and at last ate his 
 potatoes, and began to reflect on this last lesson in 
 morality. He had stolen many morsels, many din- 
 ners, and his fair share of wine; but to be himself 
 robbed of his entire means was calculated to enlarge 
 his views of what is possible in life, and also unde- 
 sirable. The night was warm; he slept well in an 
 abandoned barge, but woke up early to feel that lib- 
 erty had its drawbacks, and that emptiness of stomach 
 was one of the large family of needs which stimulate 
 the ingenuity of man or boy. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 21 
 
 Quite at a loss, lie wandered once more through 
 the slums of the Cite, and soon lost himself in the 
 network of narrow streets to the north of the cathe- 
 dral, hearing, as he went, strange slang, which his 
 namesake Fra^ois Villon would have better under- 
 stood than he. The filth of the roadways and that 
 of the tongue were here comparable. Some boys, 
 seeing his sober suit of the dark cloth worn by the 
 choir, pelted him with stones. He ran for his life, 
 and falling over a man who was sawing wood, re- 
 ceived a kick for remembrance. Far away he paused 
 breathless in a dark lane which seemed unpeopled, 
 and where the houses leaned over like palsied old 
 scoundrels who whisper to one another of ancient 
 crime. Even to a boy the place was of a sudden 
 terrible. There was murder in the air. 
 
 He felt, without knowing why, the danger of the 
 place. A painted creature, half clad, came out of a 
 house a base animal whom the accident of sex had 
 made a woman. She called to him to come in. He 
 turned and went by her in haste and horror. A man 
 in a red shirt ran toward him, crying out some or- 
 dures of speech. As he fled there was a sudden 
 peopling of window and doorway with half-naked 
 drunken men and women. He had never before seen 
 such faces. He was in that pit of crime and bestiality 
 which before long was to overflow and riot in a lim- 
 itless debauch of blood. The boy's long legs served 
 him well. He dodged and ran this way and that. 
 At the mouth of the cul-de-sac a lank boy caught him 
 by the arm. Fra^ois struck him fiercely, and with 
 a sense of joy in the competence of the first blow he 
 
22 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 had ever given one of his own years, he fled again j 
 nor did he pause until, free from foes, he stood pant- 
 ing in the open sunshine below the great buttresses 
 of Notre Dame. 
 
 He saw here that no one took notice of him, and, 
 once more at ease, crossed from the Cite to the right 
 bank of the Seine. Thus wandering he came at last 
 to one of the low bridges which spanned the broad 
 ditches then bounding the Place Louis XV, where 
 now is the Place de la Concorde. The ducks and 
 swans in these canals delighted him. He lingered, 
 liking the gaiety and careless joy of the children with 
 their nurses. The dogs, acrobats, musketeers, and 
 the pomp of heavy, painted carriages rolling by with 
 servants in liveries, the Swiss guards, the magnifi- 
 cence of the king's palace, were all to him as a new 
 world might have been. 
 
 He went on, and at last along the Rue St. Honore 
 and to the Palais Royal, where, amid its splendid 
 shops, cafes, jugglers, fortune-tellers, and richly clad 
 people, he forgot for an hour his poor little stomach 
 and its claims. By and by he took note of the suc- 
 cess of a blind beggar. He watched him for an hour, 
 and knew that he had in this time gathered in sous 
 at least a franc. The shrunken stomach of the boy 
 began to convert its claims into demands, and with 
 this hint he put on a sad face and began to beg. It 
 was not a very prosperous business; but he stated 
 his emptiness so pitifully, and his voice had such 
 sweet, pleading notes, that at last he thus acquired 
 six or eight sous, and retired to the outer gate to 
 count them. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 23 
 
 The imprudence of estimating wealth in public was 
 soon made clear to him. He was seated back of the 
 open grille, his cap on his lap, when a quick, clawlike 
 hand, thrust between the railings, darted over his 
 shoulder, and seized two thirds of his gains. He 
 started up in time to see that the thief was the blind 
 beggar, who was away and lost in the crowd and 
 among the horses and carriages, to all appearances 
 in excellent possession of the sense of sight. Pursuit 
 was vain. Fra^ois's education was progressing. Most 
 lads thus tormented by fate would have given way 
 to rage or tears. Fra^ois cried out, " Sathanas ! " 
 not knowing as yet any worse expletive, and burst 
 into a roar of laughter. At least there were three 
 sous left, and these he put into his pocket. His les- 
 sons were not over. The crowd thinned at noon, and 
 he rose to go in search of food. At this moment a 
 gentleman in very gorgeous dress, with ruffles, sword, 
 and a variety of dazzling splendors, went by, and at 
 the boy's feet let fall a lace handkerchief. Francois 
 seized it, and stood still a moment. Then he put it 
 in his breast, and again stood still. To take food is 
 one thing; to steal a handkerchief is quite another. 
 He was weak with hunger, but he had three sous. 
 He ran after the gentleman, and cried: 
 
 " Here is your handkerchief ! " 
 
 "A very honest lad," said its owner; "you will 
 do well in the world n ; and so went his way, leaving 
 to virtue the proverbial reward of virtue. This time 
 Fran9ois did not. laugh. In the Rue St. Honore he 
 bought some boiled beans for two sous, and retired 
 to eat them in peace on the steps of St. Eoch. Soon 
 
24 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 he saw a woman with a tin pan come out of a little 
 shop and after her a half -grown black poodle. She 
 set down the pan, and left the dog to his meal. 
 Franois reconnoitered cautiously, and giving the 
 dog a little kick, fled with the pan, and was shortly 
 safe in an unfrequented passage behind the church. 
 Here he found that he was master of a chop and a 
 half -eaten leg of chicken. He had eaten the chop and 
 some crusts, as well as the beans, when he became 
 aware of the black poodle, which, being young, still 
 had confidence in human nature, and now, with sense 
 of ownership, thrust his black nose in the pan of 
 lessening viands. 
 
 Fran9ois laughed gaily. The touch of friendly 
 trust gave the lonely boy a thrill of joy, and, with 
 some reluctance doubtless, he gave the dog what was 
 left, feeding him in bits, and talking as a comrade to 
 a comrade. The poodle was clearly satisfied. This 
 was very delightful society, and he was receiving 
 such attention as flatters a decent dog's sense of his 
 social position. The diet was less than usual, but 
 the company was of the best, and inspired the ex- 
 treme of confidence. There is a charm of equality as 
 between dog and boy. Both are of Bohemia. The 
 poodle stood up when asked to beg. He was invited 
 to reveal his name. He received with the sympa- 
 thetic sadness of the motionless tail the legend of 
 Francois's woes. 
 
 When at last Fra^ois rose, the dog followed him 
 a little way, saying plainly, " Where thou goest I will 
 go." But the unlicked pan needed attention; he 
 turned back to the fleshpots. Seeing himself de- 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 25 
 
 serted, a vague sadness came upon Fra^ois. It was 
 the shadow of an uncomprehended emotion. He 
 said, " Adieu, mon ami ! " and left the little black 
 fellow with his nose in the pan. 
 
 An hour of wandering here and there brought 
 Fra^ois to the palisades around the strong founda- 
 tions of the new church of the Madeleine. Beyond 
 were scattered country houses, the Pepinieres of the 
 king, and the great English garden of Monceaux 
 belonging to the Due d'Orleans. This fascinating 
 stretch of trees and green and boundless country 
 was like a heavenly land to the boy. No dream 
 could be more strange. He set out by the Rue de la 
 Pologne, and at last went with timid doubt through 
 the barri&re, and was soon in the open country. To 
 his surprise, he heard a yap at his side, and there 
 was the little black poodle, apparently as well pleased 
 as he. Francois had no scruples as to ownership. 
 Mon Dieu ! had he stolen the dog, or had the dog 
 stolen him ? They ran along happy, the boy as little 
 troubled as the dog by questions of conscience. The 
 country was not productive of easily won food, but 
 a few stolen plums were to be had. A girl coming 
 from milking gave a jug of milk, which Frangois, 
 despite keen hunger, shared with his friend. When 
 a couple of miles from Paris, he sat down to rest by 
 the roadside. The dog leaped on to his lap, and the 
 boy, as he lay in the sun, began to think of a name 
 for this new friend. He tried merrily all the dog- 
 names he could think of ; but when at last he called, 
 " Toto ! " the poodle barked so cordially that Fran- 
 sagaciously inclined to the belief that he must 
 
26 THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 
 
 have hit upon the poodle's name. " Toto it shall be/' 
 he cried. All that day they wandered joyfully, 
 begged a crust, and at night slept in an orchard, 
 the poodle clasped to the boy's bosom a pair of 
 happy vagabonds. 
 
 When, next day, the pair of them, half starved, 
 were disconsolately returning toward Paris, an old 
 woman bade Francois earn a few sous by picking 
 strawberries. But the dog must not range the garden ; 
 he should be tied in the kitchen. Fra^ois worked 
 hard at the matter in hand, taking good toll of the 
 berries, and at noon went back with the old dame to 
 her cottage. 
 
 "It is five sous, mon garqon, and a bowl of milk 
 thou shalt have, and a bit of meat ; and how merry 
 thou art ! " 
 
 Alas ! as she opened the door the poodle fled past 
 her with a whole steak in his mouth. Hot it was, 
 but of such delicate savor that it gave him courage 
 to hold on. The old woman threw a stool after him, 
 and cried out in wrath that they were both thieves. 
 Then she turned on poor Francois with fury and a 
 broom, so that he had scarce time to leap the fence 
 and follow the dog. He found him at last with his 
 rather dusty prize ; and seeing no better thing to do, 
 he went deep into a wood, and there filled himself as 
 he had not done for days. The brigand Toto had 
 his share, and thus reinforced, they set out again to 
 return to Paris. 
 
Of the immorality which may come of an empty stom- 
 ach, and of how Francois became acquainted with a 
 human crab. 
 
 HIS nomad life was sadly uncertain j but 
 Toto was a sharp forager, and what 
 with a sou begged here and there, and 
 the hospitality of summer, for a while 
 they were not ill contented. But at last 
 Frangois passed two days of such lean living as set 
 his wits to work. There was clearly no help for it, 
 and with a rueful face he entered the shop whence 
 Toto had followed his uncertain fortunes. 
 
 The owner was a pleasant little woman who took 
 honesty for granted. Yes, it was her dog ; and how 
 long he had been gone ! Here was a great piece of 
 twenty sous; and where did he find the poodle? 
 Frangois declared that he lived near by and knew 
 the dog. He had found him in the Rue du Faubourg 
 St. Lazare. And was it so far away as that? He 
 must be tired, and for his honesty should be well fed. 
 Thus, rich as never before, and with a full stomach, 
 he left Toto tied up, and went out into the world 
 again, lonely and sad. 
 
 27 
 
28 THE ADVENTUEES OF FEANQOIS 
 
 Needless is it to describe his wanderings, or to re- 
 late how the lonely lad acquired the sharp ways of a 
 gamin of the streets. For a while he begged or stole 
 what food he required. Some four months later, a 
 combination of motives led him into theft which was 
 not mere foraging. 
 
 On a cold November day he was again in the 
 crowded gardens and arcades of the Palais Royal. 
 He was shabby enough by this time, and was sharply 
 reminded by the cool nights of the need for shelter. 
 By chance his eye lighted on the man who shammed 
 blindness and had stolen his precious sous. The 
 beggar was kneeling, cap in hand, with closed eyes, 
 his head turned upward, entreating pity for his 
 loss of sight. There were some sous in his cap. As 
 Frangois passed he made believe to add another sou, 
 and as he did so deftly scooped up the greater part 
 of the coins. 
 
 The blind man cried out; but the boy skipped 
 aside, laughing, well aware that for the beggar to 
 pursue him would be hardly advisable, as he might 
 lose more than he could gain. 
 
 A few sous were of small account. They insured 
 a meal, but not a lodging. As he was thus reflecting, 
 he saw near by and presently beside him the gentle- 
 man who had so highly appreciated the return of his 
 handkerchief. The coat pockets were large in those 
 days, and the crowd was great. A little white corner 
 of lace besought Master Frangois, crying, " I am food 
 and lodging for thee ! " Whereupon it was done, and 
 a lace handkerchief changed owners. 
 
 It cannot be said that these downward steps cost 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 29 
 
 Francois any moral discomfort. He grinned as he 
 thought of the beggar's perplexity, and laughed out- 
 right as he felt how complete had been his own joy 
 in the satisfaction of possession could he have made the 
 owner of the kerchief understand that he had suffered 
 not merely a theft, but the punishment of injustice. 
 
 Fran9ois was now too well versed in the ways of the 
 street-boy, too dirty and too ragged, to fear the Cite. 
 Thither he went, and found a thieves' shop, where he 
 sold the handkerchief, and got ten francs for what 
 was worth thirty. 
 
 The question of a place where he could be sure of 
 a bed was his first consideration on coming into his 
 fortune. In the long, warm summers of France one 
 who was not particular could find numerous roost- 
 ing-places, but in winter a more constant home was 
 to be desired. 
 
 In the Cite Fra^ois had occasionally lodged here 
 and there when he could afford to pay, and had been 
 turned out when he had no more sous. Now, being 
 affluent, and therefore hard to please, he wandered 
 until he came upon the lodging-house of an old 
 woman in the Rue Perpignan. He knew of her as 
 a dealer in thieves' goods, and as ever ready to shelter 
 the lucky and, it was suspected, as willing to betray 
 those who were persistently unfortunate. 
 
 What drew him to this woman's house it were hard 
 to tell. She was repulsive in appearance, but, 
 strangely enough, was clean as to her person, dress, 
 and abode. Asylum life had taught Fra^ois to be 
 cleanly. He declares in his memoirs that he was by 
 habit neat, and that it was the absence of dirt which 
 
30 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 first tempted him into a relation which was so largely 
 to affect his after life. 
 
 When he became one of this woman's lodgers he 
 took a step which was for him of moment. Now for 
 the first time he was to be in the company of old and 
 practised thieves ; but he was not yet of an age to be 
 troubled as to the future or to reflect upon the past. 
 The horizon of youth is small. 
 
 He found plenty of masters to educate him in the 
 evil business into which he had been driven by re- 
 lentless fate. Never was pupil more ready. His 
 hostess appreciated the cleverness of her new lodger, 
 but it was long before he himself realized how 
 strange was the aspect and how sinister the nature 
 of this mother of evil. 
 
 Certain historical epochs create types of face. This 
 was a period which manufactured many singular 
 visages. None was more strange than that which 
 Mme. Quatre Pattes carried on a body quite as re- 
 markable. Fran9ois speaks of her over and over in 
 his memoirs, and dwells upon the peculiarities of her 
 appearance. I recall well what he said to me, one 
 evening, of this creature : 
 
 " You see, monsieur, I went to one den of thieves 
 and another until I chanced upon the Crab. It is 
 not to be described ; for here in a little room was a 
 witch, crumpled and deformed, sharply bent forward 
 as to the back from the waist, and ah, diablement 
 thin ! She was cleanly and even neat, and her room 
 was a marvel, because over there in the Cite men were 
 born and lived and died, and never saw a clean thing. 
 And she was of a strangeness consider, monsieur ; 
 imagine you a bald head, and a lean face below, very 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 31 
 
 red, and the skin drawn so tight over the bones as to 
 shine. Her eyes were little and of a dull gray j but 
 they held you. Her lips were lean, and she kept them 
 moving in a queer way as if chewing. I did laugh 
 when first I saw her, but not often afterward." 
 
 When he confided to this clean and horrible crea- 
 ture what he wanted, she made him welcome. She 
 rattled the two sticks which her bent form made 
 needful for support. She would hou'se him cheaply j 
 but he must be industrious and to sell a lace hand- 
 kerchief for ten francs tonnerre ! He needed cau- 
 tion. She would be a bonne maman to him she, 
 Quatre Pattes, "four paws"; the Crab, they called 
 her, too, for short, and because of her red leanness and 
 spite ; but what was her real name he did not learn 
 for many a day. At first her appearance excited in 
 his mind no emotion except amazement and mirth. 
 A terrible old crab it was when she showed her 
 toothless gums and howled obscenities, while her 
 sticks were used with strange agility. The quarter 
 feared her. M. Frangois had a fortune in his face, 
 she said; and did he know the savate, the art to 
 kick? There was a master next door. And again, 
 what a face ! With that face he might lie all day, 
 and who would disbelieve him ? Better to fetch her 
 what he stole. She would see that no one cheated 
 him but herself, and that would be ever so little. 
 One must live. When she laughed, which was not 
 often, Frangois felt that a curse were more gay. 
 There were devil- women in those days, as the mad 
 world of Paris soon came to know; and the Crab, 
 with her purple nose and crooked red claws, was 
 of the worst. 
 
VI 
 
 Of how Francois regained a lost friend, and of Ms 
 adventure with the poet Horace and another gentle- 
 man. 
 
 iHUS Frangois was launched on what he 
 was pleased to call the business of life, 
 and soon became expert in the transfer 
 of property. Strange to say, he had 
 little pleasure in the debauchery of suc- 
 cessful crime, and was too good-natured to like vio- 
 lence. When he had enough for his moderate wants 
 he wandered in the country, here and there, in an 
 aimless, drifting way. Simple things gave him plea- 
 sure. He could lie in the woods or on the highway 
 half a day, only moving to keep in the sun. He liked 
 to watch any living creature to see the cows feed, 
 to observe the birds. He had a charm for all animals. 
 When the wagons went by, dogs deserted them, and 
 came to him for a touch and a word. Best of all it 
 was to sit beside some peasant's beehive, finding there 
 no enmity, and smiling at the laborious li ves he had no 
 mind to imitate. Sometimes he yearned for the lost 
 poodle, and had a pang of loneliness. That this man 
 should have had gentle tastes, a liking for nature, a 
 
 32 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 33 
 
 regard for some of the decencies of life, will not sur- 
 prise those who know well the many varieties of the 
 young criminal class; neither will .these be amazed to 
 learn that now and then he heard mass, and crossed 
 himself devoutly when there was occasion. Children 
 he fascinated; a glance of his long, odd face would 
 make them leave nurse and toy, and sidle up to him. 
 In the Cite these singularities made him avoided, while 
 his growing strength caused him to be feared. He 
 sought no friends among the thieves. "Very pru- 
 dent, that,' 7 said Mme. Quatre Pattes; "the more 
 friends, the more enemies." 
 
 He was quick and active, and a shrewd observer ; 
 for the hard life of the streets had sharpened his natu- 
 rally ready wits, and he looked far older than his 
 years. Of a Sunday in May he was walking down 
 the Rue St. Honore, feeling a bit lonely, as was not 
 often the case, when he saw Toto. He whistled, and 
 the poodle ran to him, and would no more of the 
 shop or fat food he liked. 
 
 " Toto ! Mon Dieu ! " he laughed, hugging the dog, 
 his eyes full with the tears of joy. " Hast stolen me 
 again ? Wilt never return me f 'T is no honest dog. 
 Viens done. Come, then, old friend." Joyous in the 
 company of his comrade, who was now well grown, 
 he strolled out into the fields, where Toto caught a 
 rabbit a terrible crime in those days. 
 
 During the next two years the pair fairly pros- 
 pered. Fran9ois, as he used to relate, having risen 
 in his profession, found a certain pleasure in good 
 clothes, and being of a dramatic turn, could put 
 on an air of bourgeois sobriety, or, with a sword 
 
34 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 at his side and a bit of lace here and there, swag- 
 ger as a lesser gentleman. If things were very 
 bad, he sold Toto and all his fine tricks for a round 
 sum, and in a day or two was sure to find the dog 
 overjoyed and back again at the garret door. The 
 pair were full of devices. There was Toto, a plated 
 snuff-box in his mouth, capering before some old 
 gentle or some slow-pacing merchant ; appears Fran- 
 9ois, resistlessly smiling. 
 
 " Has monsieur lost a snuff-box? My dog? Yes, 
 monsieur. He is honest, and clever too." 
 
 Monsieur, hastily searching, produces his own 
 snuff-box the indispensable snuff-box of the day. 
 
 "No; thanks." And it is noted that the box he 
 shows is of gold, and into what pocket it falls. In 
 the next crowd Toto knows how to make a disturb- 
 ance with some fat lap-dog, and in the confusion 
 thus created the snuff-box changes owners. 
 
 " If the man be sorry, I at least am made happy," 
 says Fra^ois ; " and he hath been the better for a 
 lesson in caution. I got what I needed, and he what 
 he required. Things are very even in this world." 
 Francois had learned philosophy among the cures 
 and priests of the choir-house. As he avoided great 
 risks, and, as I have said, was averse to violence, he 
 kept clear of detection, and could deceive the police 
 of the king if by rare chance he were in peril of ar- 
 rest. When the missing property was some minor 
 article, such as a handkerchief, it was instantly hid 
 in Toto's mouth. The dog skipped away, the out- 
 raged master was searched; the bewildered owner 
 apologized, and the officers were shocked at such a 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 35 
 
 needless charge. Frai^ois talked about his offended 
 honor, and as he looked at twenty to be a strong 
 man of full age, the affair was apt to go no further. 
 
 Half the cleverness and thought thus devoted to 
 an ignoble pursuit would have given him success in 
 more honest ways. But for a long while no angel 
 chance tempted him, and it must be admitted that he 
 enjoyed the game he pursued, and was easily con- 
 tented, not eagerly caring to find a less precarious 
 and less risky mode of life. 
 
 Temperament is merely a permanent mood. Fran- 
 9018 was like the month of June in his dear Paris. 
 There might be storms and changes, but his mental 
 weather had the pleasant insurance of what was in the 
 order of despotic nature. And yet to be owner of the 
 continual sunshine of cheerfulness has its drawbacks. 
 It deprives a man of some of the wholesome lures of 
 life. It dulls the spurs which goad us to resolve. It 
 may make calamity too easy of endurance. To be too 
 consistently cheerful may be in itself a misfortune. 
 It had for this vagrant all its values and some of its 
 defects. His simple, gay existence, and his flow of 
 effervescent merriment, kept him happy and thought- 
 less. Most persons of this rare type like company ; 
 but Fran9ois was an exception. He was better 
 pleased to be alone with his dog, and usually desired 
 no other society. As the poodle could not talk, his 
 master was given to making answer for him, and 
 finding no one to his taste among the Crab's villain- 
 ous lodgers, kept to himself, and was satisfied. Nor 
 did he ever appear to have imagined what the larger 
 world he knew not held of such human society as 
 
36 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANQOIS 
 
 would have comforted that sense of void in his heart 
 which he acknowledged at times, but had no way 
 to fill. When fortune played him some sorry trick, 
 he laughed, and unconsciously quoted La Rochefou- 
 cauld. " Toto, ah, my Toto, one can never be as cun- 
 ning as everybody." This was apropos of an incident 
 which greatly amused him. 
 
 He was in his favorite resort, the Palais Royal, one 
 June morning, and was at this time somewhat short 
 of cash. The Crab had preached him a sharp sermon 
 on his lack of industry, and he had liked neither the 
 sermon nor the preacher. At this moment a young 
 fellow in fine clothes came by. Frangois, producing, 
 as usual, a gaudy snuff-box worth some ten francs, 
 politely asked of monsieur had he lost this box. 
 Monsieur took it in his hand. Yes, yes ; he had just 
 missed it, the gift of his god-father, and was much 
 obliged. He let it fall into his pocket, and walked 
 away. Fra^ois looked after him. "Toto, nous 
 sommes voUs we are sold!" Then the fun of it, as 
 usual, overcame him, and he wandered away to the 
 garden of the Luxembourg, and at last threw himself 
 on a bench, and laughed as a child laughs, being for 
 moments quiet, and then given over to uncontrolled 
 mirth. Having feasted with honest comfort on all 
 the humorous aspects of the situation, his hand 
 chanced to fall on a little book left by some one on 
 the seat. He had long ceased to read, for no books 
 fell in his way, nor could he often have afforded to 
 buy them even had he had a keen appetite for their 
 contents. 
 
 The little vellum-bound volume opened to his 
 
FRANCOIS AND TOTO IN THE LUXEMBOURG. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 39 
 
 touch, as if used to be generous of what it held. It 
 was Latin, and verse. He knew, or had known, 
 more than most choir-boys needed of this tongue, 
 and the talk of the choir-house was, by stringent 
 rule, in Latin. But this book was not of a religious 
 kind; it half puzzled his mind as he read. Unac- 
 customed to profane Latin verse, and yet wholly 
 pleased, he began to murmur aloud the rhythmic 
 
 measures : 
 
 "Poscimus, si quid vacui sub umbra 
 Lusimus tecum, quod et hunc in annum 
 Vivat, et plures : age, die Latinum, 
 Barbite, carmen. 
 
 " It hath a fine sound, mon ami ; and who was this 
 Quintus ? " He went on reading aloud the delicious 
 rhythms for the joy of hearing their billowy flow. 
 Now and then he smiled as he caught the full mean- 
 ing of a line. 
 
 The keen-faced poodle sat on the bench beside 
 him, with a caressing head laid against his shoulder ; 
 the sun was sweet and warm, the roses were many. 
 The time suited the book, and the book the man. 
 He read on, page after page of the beautiful Aldine 
 type, now and then pausing, vexed to be so puzzled 
 by these half-guessed beautiful riddles. 
 
 "Toto, my dog, I would thou didst know Latin. 
 This man he loved the country, and good wine, and 
 girls ; and he had friends friends, which you and 
 I have not." 
 
 Then he was lost for an hour. At last he ceased 
 to read, and sat with a finger in the book, idly drift- 
 ing on the immortal stream of golden song. 
 
40 THE ADVENTUEES OF FKANgOIS 
 
 " That must have been a merry companion, Toto. 
 I did hear of him once in the choir-house. He must 
 be dead a mighty while ago. If a man is as gay as 
 that, it must be horrid to die." 
 
 My poor thief was one of the myriad who through 
 the long centuries had come into kindly touch of the 
 friend of Maecenas. For the first time in his uncer- 
 tain life he felt the charm of genius. 
 
 Indulgent opportunity was for Fra^ois always 
 near to some fatal enmity of chance. So does fate 
 deal with the unlucky. He saw coming swiftly to- 
 ward him a tall, strongly built man of middle age. 
 He was richly dressed, and as he drew near he smiled. 
 
 " Ah, monsieur," he said ; " I came back in haste to 
 reclaim my little Horace. I missed it only when I 
 got home. I am most fortunate.' 7 
 
 Francois rose. He returned the small volume, but 
 did not speak. 
 
 " Monsieur of course knows Horace," said the gen- 
 tleman, looking him over, a little curious and more 
 than a little interested. Too sure of his own posi- 
 tion to shun any intercourse which promised amuse- 
 ment, he went on : " No ; not know Horace ? Let us 
 sit awhile. The sun is pleasant." 
 
 Fran9ois, rather shy, and suspicious of a manner 
 of man he had never before encountered, sat down, 
 saying, " I was a choir-boy once. I know some Latin, 
 not much ; but this sounded pleasant to the ear." 
 
 "Yes; it is immortal music. A choir-boy, you 
 said ; and pardon me, but, mon Dieu, I heard you 
 laugh as I was searching for my book. You have a 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 41 
 
 fine gift that way, and there is little to laugh at now- 
 adays in France." 
 
 " Monsieur will excuse me ; I am so made that I 
 laugh at everything and at nothing. I believe I do 
 laugh in my sleep. And just now I laughed because 
 because " 
 
 " Well, why did you laugh ?" 
 
 Franqois glanced at the questioner. Something 
 authoritative in his ways made it seem needful to 
 answer, and what this or any man thought of him 
 he cared little perhaps because in his world opin- 
 ions went for nothing. And still he hesitated a 
 moment. 
 
 " Well ? " There was a note of strong surprise in 
 the voice, as if the owner felt it to be unusual that a 
 query he put should not evoke instant reply. 
 
 " I laughed because I was cheated." 
 
 "Charming, that! May I ask how? But per- 
 haps " 
 
 " No/' said Francois ; " if it amuse monsieur, why 
 should I care I " He calmly related his adventure. 
 
 The gentleman threw himself back on the seat in 
 an ecstasy of amusement. He was out of humor 
 with the time and with his own world, and bored by 
 the incessant politics of the day j here was a pleasant 
 diversion. 
 
 " By St. Denis ! my friend, you are like the great 
 Chicot that was fool to King Henry of merry 
 memory." 
 
 " And how, monsieur I n 
 
 "How? He had a long face that laughed ever, 
 
42 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 long legs, and a shrewd way of seeming more simple 
 than he was." 
 
 " Monsieur flatters me." 
 
 " Ah, and a smart rogue, too. I may conclude your 
 profession to be that of relieving the rich of their too 
 excessive luxuries." 
 
 Fra^ois was enchanted with this ingenious and 
 unprejudiced companion, who had, like himself, a 
 sense of the laughable aspects of life. 
 
 "Monsieur has hit it," he said gaily; "I am a 
 thief." 
 
 No one had taught him to be ashamed of anything 
 but failure in his illegal enterprises. 
 
 " Tiens ! That is droll ; not that you are a thief : 
 I have known many in my own world. They steal a 
 variety of things, each after his taste in theft the 
 money of the poor, the character of a man, a woman's 
 honor." 
 
 "I scarcely comprehend," said FranQois, who was 
 puzzled. 
 
 "They lack your honesty of confession. Could 
 you be altogether honest if a man trusted you ? " 
 
 "I do not know. No man ever trusted me, and 
 one must live, monsieur." 
 
 The gentleman hesitated, and relapsed into the in- 
 difference of a too easy life. He had been on the 
 point of offering this outcast a chance. 
 
 " Enfin, no doubt you are right. I wish you every 
 success. The deuce! Have you my snuff-box and 
 my handkerchief 1 " 
 
 " Both," said Fra^ois. 
 
 " Then don't run away. I could never catch you. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 43 
 
 Long legs must be of use in your profession. The 
 snuff-box I will ransom. Let us say fifty francs. It 
 is worth more, but it bears my name, and there are 
 risks." 
 
 "Certainly/' said Fra^ois. "And the handker- 
 chief. Monsieur is enrhume has a coldj I could 
 not deprive monsieur." 
 
 The gentleman thanked him, paid over the money 
 for the box, and, greatly pleased, rose, saying : " You 
 are a dangerous acquaintance j but I trust we may 
 meet again. Au revoir ! " 
 
 Fran9ois remained on the bench, Toto at his feet 
 in the sun. This meeting affected him strangely. It 
 had been the first touch of a world remote from his 
 own. He did not recognize the fact that he had gifts 
 which enable men to rise in life. At times he had had 
 vague ambitions, but he was at the foot of a ladder, 
 and the rungs above were broken or not to be seen. 
 These moods were brief, and as to their cause not 
 always clear to him. He was by nature social, and 
 able to like or to love ; but the people of the Cite 
 were dreadful, and if now and then some broken 
 refugee from a higher class delighted him for a time, 
 the eventful hand of justice or what not was apt to 
 separate them. 
 
 As he looked after the gentleman he felt his charm 
 and the courtesy of his ways as something to be de- 
 sired. His own form of attractiveness, the influence 
 of joyous laughter and frank approach, he had often 
 and usefully tested ; and perhaps this sense of his own 
 power to please made him intelligently apprehensive 
 of what he had just experienced. Had he seized 
 
44 THE ADVENTUEES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 eagerly the half -offered help the gentleman suggested 
 rather than offered, he had been wiser ; biit it was 
 literally true that, being when possible honest as to 
 speech, he had obeyed the moment's impulse. A bet- 
 ter man than the gentleman would have gone further. 
 He had lazily reflected, and concluded that to help 
 this poor devil might be troublesome, and thus the 
 jewel opportunity lay lost at their feet. They were 
 to meet again, and then it was to be the thief's turn. 
 
 Now he sat in thought, kicking the ground with 
 his boot. Out of the past came remembrances of the 
 asylum, and how he had been told to be good, and 
 not to kill or to steal, or to do certain other naughty 
 things less clear to him then than now. But this 
 was a far-away time. At the choir-house were the 
 same moral lessons, but they who taught were they 
 who sinned. Since then no one had said a word of 
 reproach to the waif ; nor had thts great gentleman, 
 and yet he had left him in the rare mood of thought- 
 filled depression. 
 
 " Wake up, Toto," he cried ; " thou art become too 
 fat. En avant aux champs ! " And, followed by the 
 poodle, he went away up the Seine, and was gone so 
 long that Quatre Pattes began to think he had taken 
 to honest courses and would return no more. 
 
 He came back in a fortnight, the better for certain 
 prosperous ventures. And thus the days ran on. If 
 fortune were against him, and even diet hard to get, 
 Toto went with the Crab to some distant market 
 after dusk, and, while she bargained, knew to steal 
 a cutlet, and to run away with his prize, and make 
 for home or the next dark lane. But these devices 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 45 
 
 failed at times, and thus Frangois's life consisted of 
 a series of ups and downs. When lucky he bought 
 good clothes, for which he had a liking ; when un- 
 lucky he pawned them, and went back to garments 
 no one would take in pledge. 
 
 It was in the year 1788 that this adventure oc- 
 curred. He was, as far as was to be guessed, fully 
 twenty-one years of age. His life of adventure, of 
 occasional hardships, and of incessant watchfulness 
 had already given him the appearance of being a far 
 older person. 
 
 Always an odd-looking lad, as he grew to maturity 
 his great length of limb, his long face, and ears of 
 unnatural bigness, gave him such singularity of as- 
 pect as made disguises impossible. 
 
 The poodle was an added danger, and for this 
 reason, when in pursuit . of prey, Francois was forced 
 to leave the dog with Mother Crab. Thus time ran 
 on with such perils as attend the life he led, but with 
 better fortune than could have been expected. As to 
 these later years up to 1790, Frangois, in his memoirs, 
 says little. Once indeed, twice he left the Crab's 
 house, only to be driven back by stress of circum- 
 stance. After 1790 his account is more complete, and 
 here it is that we take up again the fuller story of 
 his life. 
 
 The turmoil of vast governmental and social 
 changes was disturbing all ranks of life. If the 
 Revolution was nursed in the salons, as some say, 
 it was born in the furrows of the tax-tormented 
 peasant, and in the seething caldron of the Cite and 
 the quarters of the starving poor. 
 
46 THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 
 
 Fra^ois, who cared little what ruler was on top, 
 or who paid taxes, was aware of the uneasy stir in his 
 own neighborhood. Men were more savage. Murder 
 and all violent crimes were more common. That 
 hungry beast, the mob, began to show its fangs, soon 
 to be red with blood. The clubs of all opinions were 
 busy. The church was toppling to ruin, its centuries 
 of greedy gain at an end. Political lines were 
 sharply drawn. The white cockade and the tricolor 
 were the badges of hostile ranks, still more distinctly 
 marked by costume. The cafes were divided : some 
 were Royalist, some Jacobin or neutral. Too many 
 who were of the noble class were flying, or, if more 
 courageous or less forethoughtful, were gathering 
 into bitterly opponent camps. So much of that lower 
 Paris as felt, yearned, hated, and was hungry, glad 
 of any change, was pleased amid tumult to find its 
 chance to plunder and to kill. 
 
 The fall of the Bastille in the preceding year had 
 not seemed important to Francois. He had inter- 
 ested himself in the purses of the vast crowd which 
 looked on and was too much taken up with the event 
 to guard the contents of its pockets. The violence 
 which came after was not to Fra^ois's taste ; but 
 these street crowds were admirable for business until 
 money became scarce, and the snuff-box and the lace 
 handkerchief disappeared with armorial bearings, 
 and with the decree of the people that great dames 
 must no more go in fine carriages. 
 
VII 
 
 Wherein is told how Francois saved a man's neck and 
 learned to juggle. 
 
 the early spring of this year Francois 
 found himself, one day, in a crowd near 
 to the Porte St. Denis. He stood high 
 on his long legs, looking on, while men 
 on ladders broke up the royal escutcheon 
 on the stone archway. It amused him a little to see 
 how furious they were, and how crazy were the fool- 
 ish poissardes : these fishwomen, who had so many 
 privileges under the monarchy, at every blow of the 
 hammer yelled with delight j and behold, here was 
 the Crab, Quatre Pattes, far away from her quarter, 
 hoarse with screaming, a horrible edition of woman 
 as she stood under the arch, careless of the falling 
 fragments. On the edge of the more prudent crowd, 
 an old man was guilty of some rash protest in the 
 way of speech. Fra^ois heard the cry, " A has I'aris- 
 tocrate I d la lanterne I " and saw the Crab leap on 
 the man like some fierce insect, horribly agile, a thin 
 gray tress down her back. , Swift and terrible it was. 
 In a moment he swung writhing from the chain of 
 the street-lantern, fighting with vain hands to loosen 
 
 47 
 
48 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 the rope. A red-haired woman leaped up and caught 
 his leg. There was laughter. The man above her 
 hung limp. Fra^ois did not laugh. He tried to 
 get out of the crowd, away from this quivering hor- 
 ror. To do so was not easy. The crowd was noisy 
 and turbulent, swaying to and fro, intent on mischief. 
 As he moved he saw a small, stout man take, with 
 some lack of skill, a purse from the side-pouch of a 
 huge fish woman. Fra^ois, being close to the thief, saw 
 him seized by the woman he had robbed. In the press, 
 which was great, Fra^ois slipped a hand into the 
 thief s pocket, and took out the purse. Meanwhile 
 there were again wild cries of " To the lantern ! " 
 " Up with him ! " the woman lamenting her loss, and 
 denouncing the man who had stolen. His life was 
 like to be brief. Surrounded by these she-devils, he 
 stood, white, shaking, and swearing he was innocent. 
 The man's anguish of fear moved FranQois. " Dame ! " 
 he cried, " search the man before you hang him ! I 
 say, search him ! " While one of them began to act 
 on his hint, Fra^ois let the purse fall into the 
 pocket of the original owner an easy feat for a 
 practised hand. " The man has it not. Look again 
 in thy pouch, maman," he cried. " The man has it 
 not ', that is plain." When the dame of the market 
 found her purse, she turned on Fra^ois, amid the 
 laughter of her friends. "Thou art a confederate. 
 Thou didst put it back thyself." Indeed, things were 
 like to go ill. The crowd was of a mind to hang 
 some one. A dozen hands fell on him, while the 
 man he had aided slipped away quietly. Fra^ois 
 shook off the women, and with foot and fist cleared 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 49 
 
 a space, for he was of great strength of body. He 
 would have earned but a short reprieve had he not 
 seen the Crab. He called to her : " A moi ! Quatre 
 Pattes!" The ring of red-faced furies fell back 
 for a moment before the rage and power, of a man 
 defending his life. Half dismayed, but furious, they 
 shouted : " Hang him ! Kill him ! n and called to the 
 men to help them. Again Francois was hustled and 
 struck as the crowd closed in on him. He struggled, 
 and called to Toto, whom nothing so disturbed as to 
 see a rude touch laid on his master. In an instant 
 the dog was busy with the stout calves about him, 
 biting, letting go, and biting again. The diversion 
 was valuable, but brief ; and soon Toto, who was not 
 over-valiant, fled to his master, the crowd yelling : 
 " Kill him ! Hang him and the beast ! " Once more 
 FranQois exerted his exceptional strength, crying, 
 " Not while I live ! " and catching up the dog under 
 his arm. Then he heard the shrill voice of the Crab. 
 " A moi I " he shouted, and struck right and left as 
 Quatre Pattes, with her sticks, squirmed in under the 
 great arms of the flshwomen. 
 
 " A moi ! " she cried, " Frangois ! " "With her sticks, 
 and tongue of the vilest, she cleared a space as the 
 venomous creatures fell back from one more hideous 
 than themselves. 
 
 Meanwhile the accusing dame shook her purse at 
 the Crab, crying, " He put it back ; I felt him do it." 
 But the rest laughed, and the Crab faced her with so 
 fierce a look that she shrank away. 
 
 " Off with thee ! " said the Crab to Fran$ois j " thou 
 wert near to the lantern." 
 
50 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 " ; T is a Jacobin of the best," she cried to the mob ; 
 " a friend of mine. You will get into trouble you 
 cursed fools ! " 
 
 The crowd cheered her, and Francois, seizing the 
 chance, cried, laughing, " Adieu, mesdames," and in a 
 moment was out of the crowd and away. He turned 
 as many corners as possible, and soon, feeling it safe 
 to move more slowly, set down the dog and readjusted 
 his dress. 
 
 A minute later he saw beside him the man he had 
 saved. " Do not speak to me here," he said ; " follow 
 me at a distance." The man, still white and shaking, 
 obeyed him. At the next turn, as Francois paused in 
 doubt which way to go, he met Quatre Pattes. 
 
 " The devil nearly got thee, my little boy," she 
 said; "but a smart thief is worth some trouble to 
 save. Pay me for thy long neck, and quick, too." 
 She was full of eau-de-vie, and, as usual then, savage 
 and reckless. 
 
 " More! "she cried "more!" as he gave her a 
 franc. "More, more! Ungrateful beast, thou art 
 good to feed me, and for little else. More, more ! I 
 say, or I will call them after thee, and this time I 
 shall have a good pull at the rope. More, more!" 
 and she struck him with her stick. " Sacre, waif of 
 hell! More! more!" she screamed. "And that fel- 
 low who helped thee! I have seen him; I know 
 him." 
 
 Fran9ois turned without a word, and ran as fast as 
 his long legs would carry him. Two blocks away he 
 was overtaken by the other thief. They pushed on 
 in silence. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 51 
 
 At last Frangois, getting back his somewhat scat- 
 tered wits, said : " We can talk now." 
 
 "Ah, I understand," said the other j "thou didst 
 steal her purse from me, and put it back in her 
 pouch." 
 
 " Yes j I took it just as they caught thee ; then I 
 let it fall into her pouch." 
 
 " I thank thee, monsieur. Dieu ! I am all in a sweat. 
 We are of a trade, I perceive. Why didst thou help 
 me?" 
 
 " To keep it was a risk. My turn might have come 
 next. I pitied thee, too." 
 
 " I shall never forget it never." 
 
 Frangois laughed. The fat man looked up at him. 
 " Dame ! but thou hast a queer face, and ears like 
 wings. } T is a fortune. Let us have a little wine 
 and talk. I have a good idea." 
 
 " Presently," said Frangois ; " I like not the neigh- 
 borhood." 
 
 Soon they found a guinguette, or low liquor-shop, 
 in the Rue Neuve des Petits Champs, and, feeling at 
 last secure, had a long talk over a bottle of wine. 
 
 Fran9ois learned that his new acquaintance was 
 named Pierre Despard, and that he had, for the most 
 part of his means of living, given up the business of 
 relieving the rich of their purses. He explained that 
 he did well as a conjurer, and had a booth near the 
 Pont Neuf . He made clear to Francois that with his 
 quick fingers, and a face which none could see and 
 not laugh, he would be a desirable partner. 
 
 "Thou must learn to move those huge ears." 
 Would he be his assistant^ When times were bad 
 
52 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 they might profit by tempting chances in their old 
 line of life. 
 
 Fran9ois was just now as near to penitence as his 
 nature permitted him to "be, and his recent peril dis- 
 posed him to listen. The more he reflected as Des- 
 pard talked, the more he liked it. He ended by say- 
 ing, "Yes"; and before the Crab had reached home 
 he had taken away his slender store of garments, 
 and, with Toto at his heels, found his way to the 
 room of his new friend, in a little street which ran 
 into the Rue Basse du Rempart, not far from the 
 Madeleine. Thus began a mode of life which he 
 found fresh and full of satisfaction. 
 
 The pair so strangely brought together took a 
 room in the fifth story, and, with Toto, set up do- 
 mestic life on a modest scale. It was much to Fran- 
 cois's contentment. He had what I may call a side 
 taste for the respectable, and this new business 
 seemed to him a decided rise in life. It was varied 
 enough to amuse him ; nor was it so conventionally 
 commercial as to lack such adventure and incident 
 as this wild young reprobate of the Cite had learned 
 to like. The new business soon gave the partners 
 more than enough to live upon. After their lodging 
 and diet were provided for, Pierre Despard took two 
 thirds of what was left, and put it away in a stock- 
 ing, at first with some doubt as to his comrade, but 
 soon with the trust which Fra^ois was apt to in- 
 spire. From early morn until noon, Pierre taught 
 Frangois to do tricks with cards, to juggle with balls, 
 and to tell fortunes by the lines f>f the hand. Toto 
 was educated to carry a basket and collect sous, to 
 

 "PIERRE TAUGHT FRANCOIS TO JUGGLE WITH BALLS. 1 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 55 
 
 stand on his head with a pipe in his mouth, and to 
 pick out a card at a signal. The rest of the day was 
 spent in the booth, where they rarely failed to be 
 well paid. At evening there was a quiet cafe and 
 dominoes, and a modest petit verre of brandy. Mean- 
 while the peasants burned chateaux, and Protestant 
 and Catholic hanged one another in the pleasant 
 South. 
 
 Now and then the Paris mob enjoyed a like luxury, 
 and amid unceasing disorder the past was swept on 
 to the dust-heaps of history. 
 
 The little audience of children and nurses in front of 
 the booth was as yet nowise concerned as to these vast 
 changes ; nor was Toto disturbed when it was thought 
 prudent to robe him with a three-colored ribbon. 
 The politics of the masters of the show varied as their 
 audiences changed from the children of the rich at 
 noon to the Jacobin workmen at the coming of dusk. 
 Fran9ois personally preferred splendor and the finery 
 of the great. He was by nature a Royalist. Pierre 
 was silent or depressed, and said little as to his 
 opinions. But both had the prudence of men always 
 too near to poverty to take risks of loss for the sake 
 of political sentiments in which they had no immedi- 
 ate interest. 
 
 Despard was a somber little man, and nimble, as 
 some fat men are. He was as red-cheeked as a Nor- 
 man apple, and, at this time, of unchanging gravity 
 of face and conduct. Not even Franqois's gaiety could 
 tempt him to relate his history; and although at 
 times a great talker, he became so terrified when 
 frankly questioned as to his past, that Fra^ois 
 
56 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 ceased to urge him. That any one should desire to 
 conceal anything was to Fra^ois amazing. He was 
 himself a valuable possession to his morose partner. 
 
 " I do not laugh," said Pierre j " nay, not even as a 
 matter of business. Thou shalt laugh for two. Some 
 day we will go to see the little girl who is at Sevres, 
 in a school of nuns. 'T is there the money goes." 
 
 This was a sudden revelation to Fra^ois. Here 
 was a human being, like himself a thief, who was 
 sacrificing something for another. The isolation of 
 his own life came before him with a sense of shock. 
 He said he should be glad to see the child, and when 
 should they go ? 
 
vin 
 
 In which Francois discovers the mercantile value of 
 laughter, and the Grab takes toll of the jugglers with 
 the sad history of Despard, the partner. 
 
 ATE in the evenings, in the room they 
 shared, the practice of the early morning 
 was resumed, and, above all, Pierre was 
 overjoyed to see what tricks of feature 
 were within Fra^ois's control. He had, 
 in fact, some of the art of the actor, and was the mas- 
 ter of such surprises of expression as were irresistibly 
 comic. By and by the fame of his wonderful visage 
 spread, and very often the young nobles, with their 
 white cockades, came to see, or great ladies would 
 pause to have their palms read. When palmistry 
 was to be used, the booth was closed with black cur- 
 tains, between which was seen only this long face, 
 with the flaring ears and laughing eyes. Presently 
 a huge hand came out below, the rest of the figure 
 remaining unseen. Then, in the quaintest language, 
 Francois related wonderful things yet to be, his large 
 mouth opening so as to divide the merry face as with 
 a gulf. 
 
 It was a time eager for the new, and this astonish- 
 
 57 
 
58 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 ing mask had a huge success. The booth grew rich, 
 and raised its prices, so that soon these two pirates 
 of the Cite sat in wonder over their gains, and Pierre 
 began to store up a few louis for a bad day, and for 
 the future of the little maid at Sevres, where two or 
 three of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart had found a 
 new home, and taken again the charge of some of 
 their scattered flock. 
 
 Frangois was fast learning the art of the conjurer ; 
 but at times, sad to say, he yearned for a chance to 
 apply his newly acquired dexterity in ways which 
 were more perilous. He liked change, and had the 
 pleasure in risk which is common to daring men. 
 Indeed, he was at times so restless as to require the 
 urgent counsels of Pierre to keep him tranquil. 
 Once or twice he must needs insist on a holiday, 
 and went away with Toto for two days. They came 
 back dirty and happy, but to Pierre's relief. This 
 uneasy partner was now essential, and more and 
 more Jacobin and Royalist crowded about the booth 
 to get a laugh out of the sight of the face which, 
 appearing through the curtain with hair brushed up 
 and long brown beard combed down, suddenly grew 
 as broad as it had been long. The laugh into which 
 it broke was so cheery, so catching, so causeless, that 
 all who saw fell into fits of merriment such as were 
 not common in those days of danger and anxiety. 
 
 Then the partner appeared in front of the booth. 
 So many wished the man who laughed to read their 
 palms that Pierre declared it must be for the highest 
 bidder. A gay auction took place ; and the winner 
 heard his fate slyly whispered by the voice of many 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 59 
 
 tones, or it might be that it was loudly read for the 
 benefit of the crowd, and, amid cries and jeers, the 
 victim retired with promise of a wife with a negative 
 dowry in some unexistent section of Paris. Or, 
 again, it was an elderly dame who consulted the voice 
 of fate. She was to have three husbands, and die 
 young. Then another broad hand came forth, and 
 on it the black poodle upright, with a handkerchief 
 to his eyes, and his tail adorned with crape. It was 
 witty, innocent, and amusing, and delighted this 
 Paris, which was becoming suspicious, cruel, and 
 grimly devilish. 
 
 Very soon the business in which laughter was 
 sold for what it would bring in laughter, and for 
 what men were willing to pay for an honest grin, 
 began to have incidents which more than satisfied 
 Fra^ois's taste for adventure and greatly troubled 
 Pierre. The little room of the two conjurers had 
 flowers in the window, and a caged bird. These were 
 Francois's luxuries. Pierre did not care for them. 
 He had begun to read books about the rights of man, 
 and bits of " The Friend of the People," by Marat. 
 When Fran9ois first knew him he liked to gossip 
 gravely of what went on, as to the changing fashions, 
 or as to the new " baptism " of the streets, but of the 
 serious aspect of the tumbling monarchy was not 
 inclined to speak. At times, too, he let it be seen 
 that he was well educated; but beyond this, Fran- 
 qois still learned nothing of his past. One evening 
 Franqois, gaily whistling, and with Toto after him, 
 turned the knob of their chamber door. There was some 
 resistance. He called, " Pierre ! " and the door yielded. 
 
60 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 He went in. Two candles were burning on their 
 little dining-table. Facing him, in a chair, sat the 
 Crab, Quatre Pattes, the spine bent forward, the 
 head tilted up to get sight of Pierre, who was lean- 
 ing against the wall back of the door. Her eyes, 
 a dusky red, were wide open to enlarge the view 
 which the bend of her back limited. The beak 
 between them was purple. Her mouth, grim and 
 lipless, was set in deep, radiating wrinkles, and the 
 toothless gums were moving as if she were chewing. 
 Her two wrists rested on the curved handles of her 
 short canes, and her outstretched hands, lean, eager, 
 and deformed, were moving like the claws of some 
 ravenous creature of the jungle. 
 
 Fran9ois looked from her to his partner, Despard. 
 He was standing as if flattened, his eyes upon the 
 woman, his palms, outspread, set hard on the wall 
 behind him, a pitiful image of alarm and hatred. 
 
 " Mon Dieu ! " cried Fra^ois, " what is all this f 
 What does this she-devil want ? " 
 
 " Want ! I want money, vagabond thief ! I saw 
 thee in the booth yesterday. We are honest, are 
 we ? And I know him, too. Him ! " and she pointed 
 at Pierre, who murmured : 
 
 " Kill her ! Take her away ! 
 
 Fran9ois laughed. " Out of this, hag ! '* and 
 he laughed again. 
 
 " I know that man," she cried. " SacrS, but he is 
 scared, the coward ! I remind him of old times. He 
 must pay pay, or I will fetch the police. He knows 
 me. Out with the money ! Empty your pockets ! " 
 
 Fran9ois shouted: "What, Mother Puzzlebones, 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 61 
 
 dost thou think to scare an old dog of the Cit ? Art 
 fit to be mother-in-law of Satan. Out with thee ! 
 Out of this, I say ! Here is to buy flesh to cover thy 
 rattlebone carcass." He threw two francs before her. 
 
 The Crab stood up, and beat with her sticks on the 
 table. " No francs ! It is gold I will have red 
 louis, or I will set the police on thee, and on the fat 
 fool yonder. I will find that girl of his. She must 
 be fit to sell by this time. A beauty was her mother." 
 
 " Kill her ! Kill her ! " said Pierre, wrath in his 
 words, fear in their tremor. Of a sudden he seized 
 a stool, and, mad with some memory of wrong, 
 leaped forward. The Crab faced him with courage, 
 as Fran9ois tore away the stool, and pushed him 
 back. "No murder here. Keep quiet, idiot! And 
 as to thee, thou gutter Crab, out of this ! " 
 
 Upon this, Toto set up a dismal howl, and made 
 at the old woman. A rousing whack from her stick 
 sent him howling under the bed, where he sat pen- 
 sive. Then she turned on Frangois. 
 
 "Look here," she said; "thou hast some sense. 
 That ass has none. Let us talk. Thou canst give 
 me money or let it alone. You both know me. A 
 word to the police, and up goes the little show." 
 
 " Very likely." 
 
 " Then make a bargain. Pay me, and I hold my 
 tongue. No use to call me names." 
 
 " Well, let us have peace, and talk," said FranQois. 
 This threat of the Crab as to the oificers of the law- 
 might not be vain ; she was quite too well informed ; 
 and there was Pierre, white and furious. Frangois 
 foresaw tragedy ; comedy was more to his taste. 
 
62 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 "What wilt them have, Quatre Pattes? We are 
 poor. Why threaten thy old lodger?" He was 
 eager to get her away, in order to understand mat- 
 ters. Too much was dark. Pierre said no more, 
 but stood staring, angry and yet afraid. 
 
 " A louis a week," cried the Crab. 
 
 " Nonsense ! These good geese would soon die 
 of starvation, and then no more golden eggs. Here 
 are ten francs. Each week thou shalt have five." 
 
 " Nom de Dieu ! " groaned Pierre ; " and to kill her 
 were so easy ! " 
 
 " Not for thee, coward ! " shouted the Crab, knock- 
 ing her sticks together for emphasis. 
 
 " Kill her ! " said Pierre, faintly. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said Fran9ois. " Come to the booth 
 for it, Crab; not here, mind you, not here not a 
 sou here." 
 
 " Adieu, my jolly bankers," cried the hag. " For 
 the day this will do ; then we shall see." With this, 
 the sticks rattled on the tiled floor, and she pattered 
 out of the door, which Francois shut after her. 
 
 " Behold us, netted like larks ! " he said, and broke 
 into a laugh. 
 
 " It is not a thing to laugh at," said Pierre, the 
 sweat rolling down his face. 
 
 "No; perhaps not. Let us take counsel. But 
 what troubled thee? Shall a crippled old woman 
 ruin two strong men?" 
 
 Pierre groaned, and let his face fall on his palms, 
 making no reply. 
 
 " What is it, my friend ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell thee now. It were useless ; it would 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 63 
 
 not help. God has made the little one safe safe. 
 One of these days I may have the courage to tell 
 thee." 
 
 His natural reticence and some too dreadful past 
 combined to keep him silent. Frangois was puzzled. 
 He knew the man to be a coward ; but his timidity, 
 followed by this sudden outbreak of murderous fury, 
 was inexplicable j nor did he comprehend it fully 
 until later events revealed to him, as he looked back 
 at this scene, the nature of the morbid changes which 
 his partner's character had already begun to feel. 
 " What does it all mean ? " he demanded. 
 
 "Ask me no more," said Despard. "Not now 
 not now. She cannot hurt me or mine. It is hate, 
 not fear, I have. But thou ? Why didst thou pay ? n 
 
 " For good enough reasons," said Frangois j " but 
 I can take care of myself." He was by no means 
 sure of this. Nevertheless, he laughed as usual, and 
 said : " Let us have supper j I cannot think when I 
 am empty." 
 
 No more was said. They ate in silence, and then 
 Pierre turned to his " L'Ami du Peuple," and Fran- 
 gois to a pipe and to his thoughts. Must he give up 
 the booth, and wander? He knew the Crab well 
 enough to fear her. The price of her silence would 
 rise, and to deny her would bring about disaster. 
 He began to wish he had been honest. It was too 
 late nowj but France was large, and, after all, he 
 could laugh at his own embarrassment. There was 
 time to think j he had bought that. 
 
 They spoke no further of the Crab ; but from this 
 time Pierre became depressed and suspicious at every 
 
64 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 knock on the door. Quatre Pattes came to the booth 
 with her usual eagerness, and if she chanced to be 
 full of bad brandy, and too noisy and unappeasable, 
 Francois paid her something out of his own share of 
 their growing profits. Had he been alone, he might 
 have done otherwise ; but Pierre was timid, watchful, 
 and talked sadly of the little one at Sevres. How 
 should he manage if the show came to an end ? It 
 had not been worth much until Fra^ois joined him. 
 Before that he had been starving himself to keep 
 the child in careful hands. He became increasingly 
 melancholy, and this especially in the early mornings. 
 He was apt to say at night, "A day is gone, and 
 nothing has happened." 
 
 Fra^ois was courageous, and mocked a little at the 
 jade Fortune. "What could happen?' 7 And yet 
 this shrinking little man, fat, doleful, and full of 
 fears, sat heavily upon him ; and there, too, was this 
 child whom he had never seen. Peste ! The children 
 he had known at the asylum were senseless, greedy 
 little cattle, all of one make. Perhaps this girl at 
 Sevres was no better. 
 
IX 
 
 In which Francois tells the fortune of the Marquis de 
 Ste. Luce and of Robespierre, and has his own fortune 
 told, and of how Despard saw a man of whom he was 
 afraid. 
 
 RANQOIS was soon to be further amazed 
 by Pierre Despard. To the last of his life, 
 Fran9ois remembered that day. A cool 
 October had stripped the king's chest- 
 nut-trees of their glory as clean as the 
 king himself was soon to be shorn. The leaves were 
 rustling at evening across the Place Louis XV, and 
 covering the water of the canals. Here, of late, the 
 tent-booth had been set up for the benefit of the bet- 
 ter society, which still wore the white cockade of the 
 Bourbons. A merry group of the actors of the Gome- 
 die was waiting to see Franqois, the maker of faces. 
 There were Chenard of the Opera Comique ; Fleury 
 and Saint-Prix, whose gaiety no prison in after days 
 could lessen, and no fear of death abate. " Behold, 
 there is the great Talma/ 7 said Pierre, peeping out j 
 " and the aristos are many to-day. Art ready, Fran- 
 9ois * " 
 
 Fran9ois was delighted. The great Talma here, 
 65 
 
66 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 and actually to see him FranQois ! He had of late 
 been acquiring stage ambitions, and taking great 
 pains to improve the natural advantages of a face 
 quite matchless in Paris. 
 
 Despard peeped in again. "Yes, Fra^ois; they 
 talk of thee, and there are many in the crowd. They 
 gather to see Talma. There are Jacobins, and thy 
 friends the aristocrats. Make thou haste. Art 
 ready ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," said FranQois. He felt it to be a great, 
 an unusual occasion. He had a bright idea. He 
 struck with a stick three times on the floor of the 
 booth, the traditional signal at the Theatre Fran9ais 
 for the curtain to rise. A roar of applause outside 
 rewarded his shrewd sense of what was due to this 
 audience. 
 
 " Tiens ! That is good," said La Rive. 
 
 The slit in the curtain opened, and, framed in the 
 black drapery, appeared a face which seemed to have 
 come out of the canvas of Holbein. It was solemn, 
 and yet grotesque, strong of feature, the face, beard, 
 and hair white with powder ; the eyes were shut. 
 
 " Mon Dieu," said Talma, " what a mask ! 'T is stern 
 as fate." The crowd stayed motionless and silent. 
 
 "Look! look!" said Fleury. 'T is a study. To 
 smile with closed eyes ! Didst thou ever see a man 
 smile in sleep, Talma?" 
 
 It was pretty and odd. Little curves of mirthful 
 change crawled downward from the eyes over the 
 large, grave features; the ears moved; the eyes opened ; 
 and a storm of liberal laughter broke up the quiet 
 lines of cheek and mouth. 
 
"T IS A GARGOYLE COME DOWN FROM THE ROOF OF ST. JACQUES. 1 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 69 
 
 " Bravo ! bravo ! " cried Talma and the other 
 actors, while the crowd burst into a roar of applause 
 and responsive mirth. 
 
 " Angels of fun ! " cried Saint-Prix, " what a face ! 
 7 T is a gargoyle come down from the roof of St. 
 Jacques de la Boucherie. Does it go back of nights'? 
 I wonder what next will he do "? " 
 
 " Tiens ! Wait," said La Rive. 
 
 The white face seen above in the slit of the black 
 curtain became suddenly serious, with moveless eyes 
 looking past the audience as if into futurity. Below 
 appeared two large hands, scrupulously clean, while 
 the man's figure remained hidden. There was some- 
 thing impressive in this artful pose. 
 
 " Fortunes, fortunes, messieurs et dames ! " cried 
 Pierre. " Who will have his hand read I Avancez 
 come ! " 
 
 A shrill voice on the outskirts of the crowd cried, 
 " Bead Louis Capet's ! " The white cockades turned 
 to look. " It were easy to read/ 7 said a tall Jacobin. 
 A gentleman in the black garments of the unprogres- 
 sive noblesse turned : " Your card, citizen, or monsieur, 
 as you like. 7 ' The crowd was scarcely stirred by this 
 politely managed difference. It was the year of duels. 
 
 Two lads pushed forward their tutor, an abbe, as 
 was plain to see, although few clerics still ventured 
 to wear their old costume. He laughed awkwardly, 
 and timidly laid a fat, well-fed hand on that of Fran- 
 9ois 7 s. The grave face of the reader of palms fell 
 forward to see the fateful lines. For a moment 
 Francois was silent ; then the voice which came from 
 his stolid visage was monotonously solemn, and the 
 
70 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 words dropped from it one by one, as if they were 
 the mechanical product of some machine without 
 interest in the results of its own action. One long, 
 lean forefinger traversed the abbe's palm, and paused. 
 " An easy life thou hast had. A woman has troubled 
 it." The two pupils were delighted; the crowd 
 laughed. " The line of life is broken broken n 
 Fra^ois's hands went through the pantomime of the 
 snapping of a thread " like that." The abbe drew 
 back, and could not be persuaded to hear further. 
 Again there was a pause. A grisette advanced smil- 
 ing, and was sent away charmed with the gifts a 
 pleasant future held in store. Pierre exhorted for 
 a time in vain. Presently the crowd made way. A 
 slight man in breeches and silk stockings came for- 
 ward ; he was otherwise dressed in the extreme of the 
 fashion still favored by the court party, but wore no 
 cockade, and carried two watches, the heavy seals of 
 which Fran9ois greatly desired to appropriate. His 
 uneasy eyes were covered with spectacles, and around 
 them his sallow complexion deepened to a dusky, 
 dull green. Altogether this was a singular and not a 
 pleasant face, or so, at le?st, thought the palm-reader, 
 a part of whose cunning was to study the expressions 
 of those who asked his skill. The man who laid his 
 hand on Francois's looked up at the motionless visage 
 of thft ex-thief. Frangois said: "Is it for the citizen 
 alone to hear, or for all ? " 
 
 "For me for me." 
 
 Frangois's voice fell to a low whisper. 
 
 " Let the past go," said the listener ; " what of the 
 future ! 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 71 
 
 " It is dark. The lines are many. They are citi- 
 zen, thou wilt be a ruler, powerful, dreaded. Thou wilt 
 have admiration, fame, and at last the hatred of man." 
 
 "I I what nonsense ! Then ? " and he waited, 
 " then ? What then ? What comes after ! " 
 
 " I will tell thee " ; and Fra^ois whispered. 
 
 "No more no more; enough of such foolish- 
 ness ! " He was clearly enough disturbed by what 
 he had heard. " Thou must think men fools." 
 
 " Fate is always a fool, citizen 5 but the fools all 
 win, soon or late." 
 
 " That, at least, is true, Master Palraister." Then 
 a pair of sinister eyes, set deep behind spectacles, 
 sought those of Fra^ois. " Thou hast a strange face, 
 Master Palm-reader. Dost thou believe what thou 
 dost make believe to read on men's palms ? " 
 
 " Sometimes." 
 
 " Now now ? this time ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I believe." 
 
 " I shall not forget thee." 
 
 Fran9ois felt something like a chill between his 
 shoulders. The Jacobin stepped aside after deposit- 
 ing an ample fee in the basket which Toto presented. 
 
 There was a murmur in the crowd. Several per- 
 sons looked with curious eyes after the retreating 
 man, and the conjurer heard some one say : " Tiens I 
 C'est drole. It is Robespierre." His was at this time 
 not more than a well-known name. For a minute 
 no one else came forward. Francois saw Pierre slip 
 hastily into the tent j he knew not why. A gentle- 
 man came up gaily. He was dressed splendidly, 
 with no regard for the leveling tastes of the day. 
 
72 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 " The deuce ! n he said quickly ; " you are my 
 thief ! " 
 
 " De grdce, monsieur ! " exclaimed Fran9ois j " you 
 will get me into trouble." 
 
 " Not I. Happy to meet you. I am myself fond 
 of palmistry. Come, read me my hand." 
 
 Francois bent over the palm. He began aloud: 
 " Ah, here have been many loves." Then his voice 
 fell. " Monsieur is a good swordsman." 
 
 " So-so," said the gentleman. 
 
 " Monsieur has been unfortunate in his duels." 
 
 " Man Dieu ! Yes ; I always kill people." 
 
 " Monsieur has one remorse." 
 
 " Sapristi I Thou art clever, and I lucky to have 
 but one. Go on ; ? t is vastly amusing. Shall I live 
 to be old ? My people do." 
 
 "Monsieur will have troubles, but he will live to 
 be old very old." 
 
 " Will he, indeed ? I hardly like that. If I were 
 you, I would tell more agreeable fortunes. To out- 
 live the joys of life, to be left a stranded wreck, 
 while the world goes by gay and busy pshaw! I 
 like not that. You do it well. Let ine read your 
 own palm. I have a taste for this art." 
 
 Francois was at once interested. The gentleman's 
 strong left hand took that of the thief, and with a 
 wandering forefinger he ran over the lines of the 
 palm. He let it fall, and looked downward at his 
 own hand. " It is strange that we shall meet again, 
 and in an hour of danger. You will be fortunate, 
 and I shall not. You will have " 
 
 " Tenez, monsieur stop ! " cried Franqois ; " I will 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 73 
 
 hear no more n ; and he drew his hands within the 
 tent-folds. 
 
 " Dame ! and you are really a believer in it all, my 
 good thief? Belief is out of fashion. I hope you did 
 tell that cursed Jacobin he would go to a place he 
 does n't believe in, but which is a little like France 
 to-day. Come and see me if ever you are in trouble 
 and this trade comes to an end. I like men who can 
 laugh. 7 T is a pretty talent, and rather gone out 
 just now. I am the Marquis de Ste. Luce^ or was. 
 Come and laugh for me, and tell me your story." He 
 let fall a gold louis in Toto's basket, and elbowed his 
 way through the crowd, with " Pardon, monsieur," to 
 white cockades, and scant courtesy to the Jacobins 
 and the demi-constitutionnels, who were readily known 
 by their costumes. 
 
 As the marquis ceased to speak, Frangois heard a 
 singular noise in the tent back of him. He withdrew 
 his head to see the cause, and a moment later, reap- 
 pearing, said he must be excused, because his friend 
 was ill. The crowd broke up. Within the tent lay 
 Pierre on the ground, in a fit. Frangois, greatly 
 alarmed and utterly at a loss, threw water in his face, 
 and waited. In a few moments it was over, and the 
 man, flushed and breathing deeply, lay with red froth 
 on his lips, as if in a deep sleep. He was no longer 
 convulsed ; but what further to do the partner knew 
 not, and sat beside him, not more competent to deal 
 with this novel situation than was Toto, who walked 
 about, and scratched his nose, and gave it up. An 
 hour went by with Pierre's head resting on Frangois's 
 lap. 
 
74 THE ADVENTUKES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 At last Despard opened his eyes. "Take him 
 away/'' he said. The man was delirious. 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 "Take him away. Will he kill me! He killed 
 her." A half-hour he wandered in mind, while Fran- 
 9ois bathed his flushed face. Then he drew a deep 
 breath, and said : " What is this ? Where am I ? " 
 
 Francois replied : " Thou hast had a fit." 
 
 "A fit? Yes; I have them not often. I remem- 
 ber now. Has he gone, that devil ? that marquis ? " 
 
 "Who? Ste. Luce? Was it he that troubled 
 thee?" 
 
 "Yes; he." 
 
 " But what then 1 " 
 
 By and by Pierre sat up. Seeing him to be quite 
 himself, but staring about as if in fear, Fra^ois 
 said: 
 
 " Come, now ; I must have the whole story. What 
 the mischief has this fine gentleman done to thee? 
 I am out of patience with thy tiresome mysteries. I 
 know him ; we have met before. Perhaps I can help 
 thee." 
 
 "Thou?" 
 
 Pierre lay back on the floor, and covered his face. 
 
 "Mon Dieu ! " he cried, " why wilt thou force me to 
 talk of it? Oh, to hate, and to be afraid!" He 
 started up. "I am afraid." 
 
 "If I hated a man," said Frangois, " sacre bleu! I 
 would twist his neck." 
 
 " If I could ! if I could ! I am not like thee. I am 
 am a coward. That 's the truth." 
 
 "Dame! that is curious." He regarded the fat 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 75 
 
 little man with attentive eyes. "Suppose- we have 
 it all out, and get done with it." 
 
 "Done with it?" 
 
 "Yes j done with it! Hast thou often had these 
 fits before?" 
 
 " Yes j and then I am better for a while." 
 
 " Tell me all about this man. I will take care of 
 thee." 
 
 " No ; God did not : thou canst not." 
 
 " Then we must separate. I am tired of thy non- 
 sense, and I do not care a rap how soon this business 
 ends, what with your cursed melancholy and that 
 jade Quatre Pattes. Now, out with it ! " 
 
 Pierre, seated on the floor of the booth, red-eyed 
 and dejected, looked up piteously at his questioner. 
 u If I tell thee all, thou wilt despise me." 
 
 "Not I. Go on! If thou canst speak out like a 
 man, I may be able to help thee; but if thou art of a 
 mind to hold thy tongue, it were better we parted. I 
 am tired of thy folly." 
 
 Thus urged, Pierre told his story, reluctant, with 
 bowed head, and at times in tears. Fra^ois sat over 
 him on a stool, now and then asking a question, or 
 waiting patiently when Pierre, choked by overmaster- 
 ing emotions, was silent for a while. 
 
 "I have been unhappy and unlucky from the time 
 lean first remember," said Pierre. u My people -be- 
 longed to the lesser noblesse, but my father was poor 
 oh, very poor. We had been ruined folks away 
 there in Normandy for half a century, only a bit of 
 farm and vineyard left to us. My mother was of the 
 bourgeoisie, foolish and pretty. She died young, and 
 
76 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 I was left the only child. My father treated me ill. I 
 had no courage, he said. It was true. As I grew up, I 
 was timid like a girl, and fearful of quarrels. When 
 I was about twenty years old I had a trouble with a 
 brother of this marquis. He struck me with his whip 
 because of something I said. My father learned that 
 I had excused myself, and was wild with rage. It 
 was my bourgeois mother, he said; we had lost all 
 but honor, and now that too was gone. He died not 
 long after, and I, with a few hundred francs, was 
 driven out to care for myself. The marquis had a 
 mortgage on the farm. I went to a village near by, 
 and lived awhile as I could until I was down to my 
 lust sou. I worked like a peasant in the fields ; I was 
 the servant at an inn. At last a mountebank com- 
 pany attracted me, and in despair I went with them 
 to take care of the horses which served them in their 
 performances. By and by I learned sleight of hand, 
 and fared better. At last I married a girl who danced 
 in our company. She was pretty, oh, more than 
 pretty, and clever, too. When we came again to 
 our town, a notary offered me a petty clerk's place, 
 and I was well contented to settle down. My wife 
 was too eager for the society of the bourgeoisie, and 
 they would have none of that of the dancing-girl. 
 Then, unhappily, this marquis saw my wife, and how 
 I know not, but his fine clothes and cunning were too 
 much for one who was eager for a society she could 
 not have. I was busy, and often absent collecting 
 small debts. No one warned me. I was satisfied, 
 and even put by a little money. 
 
 " There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 77 
 
 a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life. She 
 might have been then some fifty years old. 'T is now 
 twelve years ago. At her house the marquis met my 
 wife. One day my Renee was gone, and this Quin- 
 tette with her. It is she who is this Quatre Pattes." 
 
 " The deuce ! " cried Fran9ois. " Now I see." 
 
 " More than a year went by. Thou wouldst have 
 killed the man. I could not. I am a coward, Fra^ois 
 a coward! God made me so; I can't help it. One day 
 an infant was brought to my door, with a note. Mon 
 Dim, such a note ! The dying mother in the hospital 
 with her last money paid a good sister to take the 
 child to me to me, of all men ! And would I. par- 
 don her? Fran9ois, it was that devil's babe and hers. 
 Would I forgive her, and keep it? Wouldst thou 
 have kept it f " 
 
 " No," said Frangois ; " not I." 
 
 " I did ! I did ! It was like her, all but the eyes. 
 I grew to love it. Then there was an accident, a fall, 
 and the little maid is crippled for life. It seemed 
 horrible, but now I thank God, because she is safe 
 from the baseness of men. I wanted to die, but I must 
 live; she has no other friend." 
 
 Fran9ois sat still, pitiful, and deep in thought. At 
 last he said: "Why were you so terribly afraid of 
 that woman? She could do no worse than ruin our 
 business." 
 
 "I hast thou ever been afraid thou wouldst mur- 
 der some one? I was. I would have done it in a 
 minute hadst not thou come in." 
 
 "Sac a papier! Afraid of thyself! How queer! 
 Thou wert afraid of thyself?" 
 
78 THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 
 
 "Yes; I am I was I am often afraid of my self ." 
 
 " Let us forget it." 
 
 " I cannot. What can I do ? " 
 
 " Do ? Nothing." 
 
 "But that man " 
 
 " Well, thou art helpless. I should not be. Forget. 
 Thy chance may come." He was at the end of his wis- 
 dom. He pitied this weak-hearted coward who so 
 frankly avowed his defect. " We will speak of it no 
 more, Pierre, or not now. But* what brought you to 
 Paris ? Let us have it all, and get done with it." 
 
 " My poor little humpback was hardly six years old 
 when she came to me, crying, to know why the village 
 children would not play with her. She was a hump- 
 back and a bastard. What was l bastard'? I have 
 always fled from trouble. One day I took the child 
 and what little I had, and was away to Paris. God 
 knows how it hurt me to hear every evening how she 
 had been mocked and tormented; one is so foolishly 
 tender. In this great city I sought work, and starved. 
 And when at last she was fading before my eyes, I 
 stole my God, I stole ! " 
 
 "Dame ! thou art particular. Must a man starve?" 
 
 " When I got money out of a full purse I took, I set 
 up our little business, and then I found thee. And 
 this is all. I dare say I shall feel better to have told 
 some one. I did not want to steal. I did not steal 
 after I began with the booth, unless I was in need 
 oh, sorely in need. It was so on that fortunate day 
 when I was saved by thee. In thy place I should 
 have kept the old fishwife's purse." 
 
 " And let me swing ? " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 79 
 
 "Yes perhaps; I don't know. I it is well for 
 me thou wert not a coward." 
 
 " Sacristie ! It appears that not to be a coward has 
 its uses. Now bon jour and adieu to the whole of this 
 business. Let the miserable past go. 'T is bad com- 
 pany, and not amusing. Have no fear; I will take 
 care of thee. Come, let us go home." 
 
 " Thou wilt look about a little before we go ? " 
 
 " Toto, he is mad, this man." 
 
 " I sometimes think I am. At night, in my dreams, 
 I have him by the throat, and he laughs, and I cannot 
 hold him. I wake up, and curse in the darkness be- 
 cause I cannot kill him. And then I know it is a debt 
 never to be paid never." 
 
 Fran9ois had had enough of the small man's griefs. 
 Contempt and pity were strangely mingled as he lis- 
 tened to his story. 
 
 "I shall let thee talk no more," he said. "But mille 
 tonnerres ! I cannot help thee to go mad. Let us go 
 and wander in the country to-morrow, thou and I and 
 Toto. It will comfort thee. But no more of this ; I 
 will not stand it." 
 
 The advice was wholesome, and, as usual, Pierre 
 accepted the orders of his more sturdy-minded friend. 
 
How Pierre became a Jacobin and how a nation became 
 insane. 
 
 [LTHOUGH the marquis was not again 
 upon the scene, as the months went 
 by Despard became by degrees more 
 gloomy. At night, in place of the gay 
 little cafe, he went out to the club of 
 the Jacobins, and fed full of its wild declamations 
 against the Emigres and the aristocrats. It amused 
 Fran9ois, who saw no further ahead than other men. 
 Despard came home loaded with gazettes and pam- 
 phlets, and on these he fed his excitement long after 
 his partner was asleep. 
 
 When, as time went by, Pierre's vagaries increased, 
 Frangois found in them less subject for mirth. The 
 fat little man sat up later and later at night. At 
 times he read ; at others he walked about muttering, 
 or moving his lips without uttering a sound. What 
 disturbed Frangois most was that the poodle now and 
 then showed fear of Pierre, and would no longer obey 
 him as he had been used to do. 
 
 Meanwhile, as Pierre still attended sedulously to 
 business, Fra^ois could find no fault. He himself 
 
 80 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 81 
 
 had become devoted to his art of palm-reading. He 
 bought at the stalls old books, Latin and French, 
 which treated of the subject, and tried to keep up the 
 name his odd ways had made so profitable. Deceit 
 was a part of his working capital; but deceit and 
 credulity are apt to go together, as a great man has 
 well said. Not for many louis would the conjurer 
 have let any one read again the lines of his own hand. 
 When Despard began to teach him the little he him- 
 self knew of palmistry, it had caused interest, and 
 after a while a half -belief. This grew as he saw the 
 evident disturbance to which the use of his art gave 
 rise m certain of those who at first appeared to look 
 upon it as an idle jest. The imaginative have need 
 to be wary, and this man was imaginative, and had 
 the usual notions of the gambler and thief as to omens 
 and luck. I have said he had no definite working 
 conscience. I have also said that he possessed an in- 
 born kindness of heart j he had a long memory for 
 benefits, and a short one for injuries. His courage 
 was of fine quality: not even Quatre Pattes could 
 terrify him. 
 
 The politics of the time were becoming month by 
 month more troublous to such as kept their heads 
 steady in the amazing tumble of what for centuries 
 had been on top, and the rise of that which had been 
 as long underneath. The increasing interest of Pierre 
 in all that went on surprised Fra^ois, and sometimes, 
 as I have said, amused him. He could not compre- 
 hend why he should care whether the king ruled, or the 
 Assembly. This mighty drama was nothing to him. 
 He paid no taxes ; he toiled not, nor spun, except nets 
 
82 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 of deceit ; and whether or not commerce died and the 
 plow stood idle in the furrow was to him of no moment. 
 Meanwhile, before the eyes of a waiting, wondering 
 world historic fate was shuffling the cards as neither 
 war nor misrule had shifted them for many a day. 
 Knave and king, spade and club, were now up, now 
 down. Every one was in a new place. The old sur- 
 names were replaced by classical appellations. Streets, 
 palaces, and cities were rebaptized with prenominal 
 republican adjectives. Burgundy, Anjou, Navarre, 
 and the other ancient provinces, knew no more their 
 great names heroically famous. 
 
 All men were to be equal ; all men were free to be 
 what they could. But the freedom of natural or ac- 
 quired inequality was not to be recognized. There 
 were new laws without end. The Jacobin added a 
 social creed. All men must tutoyer. " Your Majesty n 
 was no more to be used. Because the gentles said 
 "thou" and "thee" to one another and to an inferior, 
 all men must "thou" as a sign that all are on a level. 
 
 A bit of paper was to be five francs and take care 
 of thy head if thou shouldst venture to doubt its value. 
 As to all else, men accepted the numberless and be- 
 wildering decrees of the Assembly. But the laws of 
 commerce no ruler can break. These are despotic, 
 changeless, and as old as the act of barter between 
 man and man. The assignats fell in value until two 
 hundred francs would scarce buy a dinner. There, 
 too, was a new navy and a new army, with confusing 
 theories of equal rights for sailor, soldier, and captain. 
 
 A noble desire arose everywhere to exercise the new 
 functions. What joy to cast a ballot, to act the part 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 83 
 
 of officials, to play at soldiering ! All the cross dogs 
 in France are unchained and the muzzles off; and 
 some are bloodhounds. What luxury to be judge, 
 jury, and hangman, like the noble of long ago ! 
 
 Even childhood caught the temper of the time. It 
 played at being officer and prisoner, built and tore 
 down bastilles, and at last won attention and a law all 
 to itself when some young ruffians hung one of their 
 number in good earnest for an aristocrat. 
 
 However indifferent was Fran9ois at this time, the 
 shifting drama amused him as some monstrous bur- 
 lesque might have done. Its tragedies were as yet 
 occasional, and he was by nature too gay to be long 
 or deeply impressed. There was none he loved in 
 peril, and how to take care of Francois his life had 
 taught him full well. 
 
 " Allans zi gaiement!" he cried, in the tongue of his 
 old quarter; and kept a wondering, anxious eye on 
 Pierre. 
 
XI 
 
 The juggling firm of Despard, Francois & Co. is broken 
 up Despard goes into politics, and Francois becomes 
 a fencing-master. 
 
 January, 1791, Francois, having of late 
 found business slack, had moved to the 
 open place in front of the Palais Royal. 
 He had taught Toto new tricks to 
 shoulder a musket and to die pour la 
 patrie. Time was telling men's fortunes quite too fast 
 for comfort. Neither his old devices nor Toto's re- 
 cently acquired patriotism was of much avail. More- 
 over, Pierre was losing interest in the booth as he 
 became absorbed in politics. 
 
 " Thou wilt not go to thy sacre club, Pierre," said 
 
 Francois, one night late in February. " Here are two 
 
 days thou hast left us, the patriot Toto and me, to feed 
 
 thee and make sous for the poor little maid at Sevres." 
 
 u She is not at Sevres." 
 
 " Why not ? Thou hast not said a word to me of 
 this." 
 
 " No ; I had more important matters to think of." 
 Francois, who was tranquilly smoking his pipe, 
 84 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 85 
 
 looked up at his partner. The man had lately worn 
 a look of self-importance. 
 
 "Well, what else?" 
 
 11 The sisters are aristocrats. A good citoyenne hath 
 her. I shall give up the show. The country calls me, 
 Pierre Despard, to save her. The great Eobespierre 
 hath asked me to go into Normandy, to Musillon, 
 whence I came. I am to organize clubs of Jacobins." 
 He spoke with excitement, striding to and fro. He 
 declared that he was not afraid now of any one. To 
 serve France was to have courage. 
 
 " And how as to money ? " asked Francois. 
 
 He said his expenses would be paid by the clubs. 
 Barnave, Duport, and the deputies of the Right must 
 be taught a lesson. There must be no more kings. 
 The people must rule the people ! He declaimed 
 wildly. 
 
 " Fichtre! " cried Francois, laughing. " It does seem 
 to me that they rule just now." 
 
 Pierre went on with increasing excitement; and 
 would not Francois go with him ? 
 
 " Go with thee ? Thou sayest we shall be deputies 
 in the new Convention. A fine thing that! And 
 Toto too, I suppose ? Not I. I am an aristocrat. I 
 like not thy Eobespierre. As to the show, it pays no 
 longer, and I have greased the claws of the Crab until 
 there is no more grease left. I shall take to the streets, 
 Toto and I. And so thou art to be a great man, and 
 to play poodle on thy hind legs for Petion and the 
 mob?" 
 
 Pierre was offended. He rose and stood glaring at 
 Francois with wide-open eyes ; then he said, as if to 
 
86 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 himself: "The marquis is near Evreux. Let him 
 take heed ! " 
 
 " Mon Dieu! He will eat thee as he would the frogs 
 of his moat, that man ! I am not of those who fear, 
 but if I had angered him' 7 
 
 " I have named him to the great Robespierre, the 
 just, the good. He will remember him." 
 
 " Then go ; and the devil take the whole lot of you ! " 
 
 " I shall go. But do not say thou art an aristocrat, 
 for then I must hate thee." 
 
 " Grand merci! Thou poor, fat little pug, canst thou 
 hate?" 
 
 " Aye, as hell hates." Upon this Toto took refuge 
 under his master's bed. 
 
 Francois rose, and, standing in front of the flushed, 
 fat little man, set a hand on each of Pierre's shoulders 
 and stopped his excited march. 
 
 " I cannot understand thee. I never could contrive 
 to hate even a gendarme, and if hell hates, I know not. 
 Thou art helpless as a turtle that is on his back. What 
 use to kick? No; do not answer me. Hear me out. 
 I shall go my way thou thy way. I served thee a 
 good turn once, and thou hast helped me to a liv- 
 ing. Now I like not thy ways ; thou art going mad, 
 I think." 
 
 " Perhaps perhaps," returned Pierre, gloomily. 
 "Well, c'estfini't, is done. Now to settle." 
 
 They divided their spare cash ; and after that Pierre 
 went to his club, and Francois to bed and a dreamless 
 sleep. 
 
 In the morning he rose early, left his share of the 
 rent on the table, and with a little bag of clothes, and 
 
PAID IN ADVANCE THE CUSTOMAKY DENIER A DIEUV 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 89 
 
 Toto after him, walked away across the Seine, and soon 
 found a small room under the roof. He paid in ad- 
 vance the customary denier d Dieu, and settled down 
 to think. 
 
 He was tired of the show, and meant to resume his 
 old trade. His conscience, or so much as he had, was 
 at peace ; all France was plundering. Now the nobles 
 were robbed, and now the church. 
 
 " The world is on my side," he laughed, as he sat 
 with Toto on his knees, looking over a wide prospect 
 of chimney-pots and tiles. 
 
 Thus began again the life of the thief; but now, 
 thanks to his long training as a juggler, he was amaz- 
 ingly expert. He took no great risks, but the frequent 
 tumults of the streets were full of chances, although 
 it must be said that purses were thinner, watches and 
 gold snuff-boxes rarer, and caution less uncommon 
 than it had once been. If business prospered, he and 
 Toto took long holidays in the country, and did a little 
 hunting of rabbits ; for the gamekeeper was no longer 
 a person to be dreaded. Sometimes, lying on the turf, 
 he thought how pleasant would be a bit of garden, and 
 assurance of good diet and daily work to his taste. I 
 fear it would scarcely have been long to his taste. 
 When something like a chance came, he could not 
 make up his mind to accept the heaven-sent offer. 
 He was to see many things and suffer much before his 
 prosperous hour arrived. 
 
 One fine day in April, Francois, with whom of late 
 fortune had quarreled, was seated in the sun on a 
 bench in the now ill-tended garden of the Luxembourg. 
 The self-made difficulties of the country were affecting 
 
90 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 more and more the business of the honest, and of that 
 uncertain guild which borrows but never returns. 
 He had a way of taking Toto into his counsels. 
 " What shall we do, little devil ? " The poodle barked. 
 "No. These accursed Jacobins are ruining France. 
 What, knock a man on the head at night ! Bad dog, 
 hast thou no morals ? Va done! Go to. Thou hast 
 not my close experience of the lantern, and stone 
 walls for a home I like not. Work, thou sayest? 
 Too late ; there is work for no one nowadays. Thou 
 wilt end badly, little monster." 
 
 Toto whined, and having no more to say, fell asleep. 
 At this moment Francois, looking up, saw go by a 
 young woman in black, and with her a boy of perhaps 
 ten years. On the farther side was a tall, well-dressed 
 man of middle age, whom, as he was looking away, 
 Francois did not recognize. Some bright thing fell 
 unnoticed from the woman's wrist, and lay in the sun. 
 " Hist, Toto ! Look there quick ! " In a moment the 
 dog was away, and back again, with a small miniature 
 set in gold and surrounded by pearls. It was the por- 
 trait of a young officer. Francois hastily put it back 
 into the dog's mouth, saying : " Go to sleep ! Down ! 
 down quickly ! " The dog, well taught, accepted the 
 trust, and dropped as if in slumber, his head on his 
 paws, while his master studied the weathercocks on 
 the old gray palace. A moment later both the man 
 and the woman turned to look for the lost miniature. 
 Then Francois saw that it was his old acquaintance 
 the marquis. He had more than once seen him in 
 the garden, where he was fond of walking; but the 
 great seigneur had passed him always without notice. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 91 
 
 The boy ran back ahead of his grandfather, and com- 
 ing to Francois, said innocently : 
 
 " Monsieur, have you seen a little picture madame 
 let fall ? It is so big, and I saw it only just now on 
 her wrist. Please to help us to look for it. It is my 
 father j he is dead." 
 
 After the boy came the woman, looking here and 
 there on the gravel. 
 
 "Dame de Dieul she is beautiful," murmured 
 Francois j " and that sacre marquis ! " 
 
 The voice he heard was sweet and low, and tender 
 with regret at her loss. 
 
 " Has monsieur chanced to see a little miniature ? " 
 
 Monsieur was troubled, but his pocket and stomach 
 were both empty. Monsieur was distressed. He had 
 seen no miniature. 
 
 Next came the marquis. 
 
 " Ho, ho ! " he said pleasantly. " Here is the citi- 
 zen my thief again. Have you seen a small minia- 
 ture?" 
 
 Francois had not. 
 
 " Diable! >T is a pity, monsieur. Well, pardon a 
 ci-devant marquis, but I do think monsieur knows a 
 little too much of that miniature for his eternal salva- 
 tion. Also, monsieur does not lie as well as might be 
 expected from one in his line of life." 
 
 Francois rose. He was embarrassed as he saw the 
 tearful face of the woman. 
 
 " I was about to say I would look I would search." 
 
 Ste. Luce smiled. " Suppose we begin with you?" 
 
 " I have it not." 
 
 "Well, but where is it? I am not a man to be 
 
92 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 trifled with. Come, quick, or I must ask the gen- 
 darmes yonder for a bit of help." 
 
 Francois looked at him. There was menace in those 
 cold gray eyes. Should he trust to his own long legs I 
 At this instant he heard a sob, and glancing to the 
 right, saw the woman seated on the bench with her 
 face in her hands, the little fellow at her side saying : 
 "Do not cry, mama; the gentleman will help us." 
 The gentleman was ill clothed and seedy. He had 
 seen women cry, but they were not like this woman. 
 
 " M. le Marquis does me injustice. Permit that my 
 dog and I search a little." 
 
 The marquis smiled again. " Pardieu! and if you 
 search, and meanwhile take a fancy to run, your legs 
 are long ; but now I have you. How the deuce can I 
 trust a thief?" 
 
 The little lad looked up. " I will go with monsieur 
 to look and the dog; we will find it, mama." 
 
 " Monsieur may trust me j I will not run away," said 
 Francois. " If monsieur desires to search me ? " 
 
 " I do not search thieves." 
 
 Francois looked at this strangely quiet gentleman 
 with the large, light-gray, unpleasant eyes, and then 
 at the woman. 
 
 " Come, Toto ; we must take a look." 
 
 The marquis stood still, quietly watching thief, dog, 
 and boy. 
 
 " Eenee," he said, " don't make a fool of yourself." 
 
 Then from a distance the boy cried, "We found it, 
 mama ! " and ran to meet her. 
 
 The marquis took it as Francois rejoined the group. 
 
 " Ah, Master Thief, you are clever j but it is a little 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 93 
 
 wet, this trifle, and warm too. The dog had it all the 
 while in his mouth. He is well taught. Why the 
 deuce did you give it up ? " 
 
 The boy began to understand this small drama. He 
 had the courage of his breed, and the training. 
 
 " Did you dare to steal my mama's picture?" 
 
 " Yes ; when she let it fall." 
 
 " I know now why you were glad to give it back. 
 It was because she cried." 
 
 " Yes ; it was because she cried." 
 
 " Venire St. Gris! " exclaimed the marquis, who was 
 pleased to swear like Henry of Navarre. " You are a 
 poor devil for a thief. You have temptations to be 
 good. I never have them myself. I thank Heaven 
 I have reasonably well used my opportunities to be 
 agreeably wicked." 
 
 " Father ! " said the young woman, reproachfully ; 
 and then to Francois: "If you are a thief, still I 
 thank you ; I cannot tell you how much I thank you." 
 
 " And how many louis do you expect, most magnani- 
 mous of thieves ? " said the marquis. 
 
 The woman looked up again. " Come to me to-mor- 
 row ; I will find a way to help you." 
 
 Something of yearning, some sense of a void, some 
 complexity of novel distress, arose in the thief s mind. 
 
 " Mon Dieu! madame," he said, turning toward her, 
 without replying to the marquis, " you are a saint. I 
 I will think. I am not fit for such as you to 
 talk to." 
 
 " Quite true," said the marquis. " Hast thou thy 
 purse, Renee ? I forgot mine." 
 
 "No, no," she said. "Come and see us Eue des 
 
94 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Petits-Augustines a great house with a gilded gate. 
 Yon will come? I will say they are to let you in. 
 Promise me that you will come." 
 
 "And bring that poodle/' added the marquis 5 "I 
 will buy him.' 7 
 
 Francois laughed outright that merry laugh which 
 half Paris had learned to like, till Paris tired of it and 
 of its owner. 
 
 " Monsieur will pardon me. I cannot sell my only 
 friend. Good day." And he walked away, the boy 
 crying after him: "You will come? Oh, you must 
 come, because my mama says so." 
 
 The marquis muttered : "Animal ! If I had your 
 carcass no, if I had had you awhile ago in Nor- 
 mandy, your manners would have been bettered. But 
 now the world is upside down. He will come, Renee. 
 If thou art quit of him for two hundred francs and a 
 few lost spoons, thou mayest rest thankful." 
 
 Francois moved moodily away. Something was 
 wrong in his world ; an angel coming into his crude 
 life would not have disturbed him as this lady's few 
 kind words had done, and yet he had left her unan- 
 swered. He knew he had been a fool, but knew not 
 why. He had, too, a notion that he and this marquis 
 would meet again, but for this he was not eager. He 
 recalled the palm-reading. Had the woman been 
 alone, he would probably have said a glad " Yes " ; 
 but now his inclinations to obey her were sadly diluted 
 by feelings which he did not analyze, or perhaps could 
 not have analyzed. He did not accept the hand thus 
 stretched out to save him, but for many a day her 
 tender eagerness and the pleading face which had so 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 95 
 
 attracted him came before him at times with a look of 
 reproach. Is it strange that this glimpse of a nobler 
 nature and a better life than his own should have 
 had an influence on this man quite the reverse of 
 that which its good will sought to effect ? He cannot 
 be said to have been refined, but he had in him tastes 
 which are the germs of refinement, and which, when 
 I knew him, had no doubt produced results. Prob- 
 ably he was in 1791 a coarser person, but he must 
 always have been a man who could be forced by 
 circumstances to think. 
 
 It may have been that the sense of a great gulf be- 
 tween him and a world he was by nature inclined to 
 like caused one of those rare spells of despair to 
 which the gay and over-sanguine are liable. Of course 
 he had seen and for brief seasons shared the profligacy 
 of the Cite, his memoirs confess this with absolute 
 frankness, but these gross lapses had been rare and 
 brief. Now he plunged headlong into the worst vile- 
 ness of the most dissolute quarter, where few lived 
 who were not saturated with crime. I have no desire 
 to dwell on this part of his life. A month passed 
 away, and he was beginning to suffer in health. This 
 amazed him. He had not hitherto known a pang save 
 that of hunger. He began to drink eau-de-vie to re- 
 lieve his sense of impaired strength, and being off his 
 guard and under the influence of the temporary mood 
 of rashness which drink is apt to cause, he twice nar- 
 rowly escaped arrest. 
 
 Under the vivid impression thus created he was 
 wandering homeward late at night to some low resort 
 in the Cite, when in the Eue aux Feves he heard a cry 
 
96 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 in front of him. The moon was bright, and he saw a 
 man set upon by two fellows. The person assailed 
 was staggering from the blow of a club, and fell with 
 the cry which the thief heard. Both bandits threw 
 themselves upon him, and, as he unwisely struggled, 
 Francois saw the glitter of a knife. Clearly this was 
 no easy prey. As the three tumbled over in the mud 
 of the street there was small chance for a decisive use 
 of the blade. Francois, as I have said, had been al- 
 ways free from crimes of violence, but this affair was 
 none of his business, and had his pocket been full he 
 might have left the ruffians and their prey unmolested. 
 His purse, however, was down to the last sou, and 
 here was a chance. 
 
 He called, " Catch them, Toto ! " and, leaping for- 
 ward, seized one of the men by the throat and threw 
 him on his back. The poodle took a good nip of the 
 other rascal's leg, and when the man broke away and, 
 stumbling, ran, pursued him until recalled by Francois's 
 whistle. Meanwhile the assaulted man sat up, a bit 
 dazed. The other fellow it was he of the knife was 
 on his feet again, and at once turned furiously on 
 the rescuer. Francois darted to one side, and, catch- 
 ing him by the neck, throttled him savagely. His 
 great length of arm made it impossible for the scamp, 
 who was short and strong, to reach any vital organ. 
 But he stabbed Francois's shoulder over and over. 
 Francois's grip on the throat was weakening, when 
 the victim, now on his feet, struck the man under the 
 ear, and thus knocked him clean out of Francois's fail- 
 ing grip. He fell headlong, but was up and away in 
 a moment, while a crowd began to collect. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 97 
 
 " Hi ! it is Francois ! " some one cried. 
 
 " Quick ! " said the thief. " Room there ! Let us 
 get out of this." Seizing the man he had saved, he 
 hustled his way through the crowd and hurried him 
 toward the bridge. In a few minutes they were stand- 
 ing alone by the river, amid the tombs back of Notre 
 Dame. Then the man spoke : 
 
 " By Heaven ! thou hast saved my life. Hallo ! thou 
 art bleeding. Here ! n and he tied a handkerchief 
 about his shoulder. " We shall be in luck to find a 
 chaise. Wait ! " and he ran away. 
 
 Francois's head was dizzy. He sat on a tombstone, 
 well sobered now, but bleeding freely. It was long 
 before he heard a horse; and when in the chaise, 
 where To to promptly followed him, he fell back, and 
 knew little more until they stopped in the Rue St. 
 Honore. Here his new acquaintance got out, and 
 soon returned with a glass of eau-de-vie. With this 
 aid, and the arm of his host, Francois was able to 
 reach a large room in the second story. He fell on a 
 couch, and lay still while the other man ran out to 
 find a surgeon. 
 
 On his arrival, Francois was put to bed in an ad- 
 joining room, and for two weeks of care and good 
 diet had leave to meditate on the changeful chances of 
 this wretched world. For a while he was too weak to 
 indulge his customary keenness of curiosity. His 
 host, M. Achille Gamel, paid him brief visits, and was 
 singularly unwilling to talk one day, and the next 
 sufficiently so for the patient to learn that he had been 
 in the army as a maitre d'armes, and was now, in his 
 own opinion, the best fencing-master in France. 
 
98 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Through the partitions could be heard the click, click 
 of the foils, and now and then the crack of pistols. 
 After a fortnight Francois's wounds were fairly 
 healed, and he began to get back his rosy complexion 
 and his unfailing curiosity. 
 
 One pleasant evening in June, Gamel appeared as 
 usual. It was one of his days of abrupt speech. 
 
 " Art well?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Thou art soon mended." 
 
 "Yes." His brevity begot a like form of answer, 
 and Francois was now somewhat on his guard. 
 
 " I pay my debts." 
 
 " That is true." 
 
 " Now thou art well, what wilt thou do ? " 
 
 " I I I shall go away." 
 
 "Why didst thou help me?" 
 
 " My pocket and paunch were empty. It seemed a 
 chance." 
 
 " Thy two reasons are good. Who art thou ? " 
 
 " Who is every one in the Cite ? A thief." 
 
 " Dicible! but thou art honest in speech at least." 
 
 "Yes, sometimes. I was a conjurer too for a 
 while." 
 
 "Yes, yes, I remember now. Thou art the fellow 
 with a laugh. I see not yet why thou hast helped me. 
 Thou mightest easier have helped the rascals and 
 shared their gains." 
 
 Francois began to be interested, and laughed a 
 laugh which was the most honest of his possessions. 
 
 " I dislike clumsiness in my profession," he said. 
 " Why should the brutality of war be brought into a 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 99 
 
 peaceful occupation ? " He was half in earnest, half 
 in jest. 
 
 " That is a third reason, and a good one." It was 
 difficult to surprise Gamel. " Suppose we talk busi- 
 ness/' he added. 
 
 " Mine or thine ? " 
 
 "Mine. A moment, Citizen Francois permit me t 
 Pray stand up a moment." 
 
 Francois rose as the fencing-master produced a 
 tape-measure. " Permit me," and with no more words 
 he set one end of the tape on FranQois's shoulder and 
 carried the length of it to his finger-tips. 
 
 Francois stood still, wondering what it all meant. 
 
 " The deuce ! " said Gamel, slowly rolling up the 
 measuring-tape. 
 
 " Well, what is it ? What is wrong ? " 
 
 " Wrong ? Nothing. It is astonishing ! " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " This arm of thine." 
 
 "Why!" 
 
 " It is one and a half inches longer than mine." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " A gift ! To have the longest arm in Paris ! M on 
 Dieu!" 
 
 "What of that?" 
 
 " A fortune ! Phenomenal ! Superb ! And a chest 
 and muscles! By Hercules, they are as hard as 
 horn ! " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Liable! Thou art dull for a thief." 
 
 Francois had a high opinion of himself. He said : 
 "Perhaps. What next?" 
 
100 THE ADVENTUEES OF FBANgOIS 
 
 "I need help. I will teach thee to fence and to 
 shoot. Canst thou be honest ? I ask not if thou art." 
 
 " Can I ? I do not know. I have never tried very 
 long." Then he paused. To fence like a gentleman, 
 to handle a sword, had its temptations. " Try me." 
 
 " Good ! Canst thou be a Jacobin to-day and a 
 Royalist to-morrow ? " 
 
 " Why not?" 
 
 "The messieurs and their kind fence here in the 
 morning ; after our breakfast come the Jacobins about 
 two. I ask not thy politics." 
 
 "Why not'/" said Francois, who was the frankest 
 of men "why not? I am an aristocrat. I am at 
 the top of my profession. I like naturally the folks 
 who are on top." 
 
 " France is like a ball now, no top, no bottom, roll- 
 ing. Let us be serious." 
 
 u Dieu! that is difficult. I want to quit thieving. 
 It does n't pay at present. I accept the citizen's offer. 
 Does it include my dog ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed ! Toto a treasure ! He will delight 
 our pupils." 
 
 " Good ! He must have a little sword and wear a 
 white cockade till noon, and then a tricolor." 
 
 " And will five francs a week suffice until thou art 
 fit to teach? And thy board and lodging that goes 
 without saying. After a while we will talk again." 
 
 " 'T is a fortune ! " said Francois ; and upon this 
 agreement the pair fell to chatting about the details of 
 their future work. 
 
 "One moment," said Francois, as Gamel rose. 
 " What are thy own politics ? " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 101 
 
 "I will tell thee when I can trust thee," said the 
 fencing-master. " Now they vary with the clock." 
 
 " I see. But I have told thee mine.' 7 
 
 " Thou wert rash. I am not." 
 
 Francois laughed merrily, " Good night." He was 
 happy to be at rest, well fed, and with something to 
 do which involved no risk. Gamel went away, and 
 Francois fell to talking to the poodle. 
 
 " Toto ! Sit up, my sleepy friend ! Attention ! 
 What dost thou think of M. AchiUe Gamel?" The 
 poodle had been taught when questioned to put his 
 head on one side, which gave him an air of intelligent 
 consideration. " Ah, thou dost think he is as long- 
 legged as I ! Any fool of a cur can see that. What 
 else? 
 
 "He has great teeth big the better to eat thee, 
 my dear ! Curly hair, like thine, and as black ; a nose 
 of course he has a nose, Toto. Art perplexed, little 
 friend ? Oh, that is it ! I see. Thou art right. He 
 smiles ; he never laughs. 'T is that bothered thee. 
 Thou dost like him ? Yes. Thou art not sure ? Nor 
 I. We must laugh for two. The bones are good 
 here. That is past doubt. We will stay, and we will 
 keep onr eyes open. And listen now, Toto. We are 
 honest. Good ! Dost thou understand ? No more 
 purses, or out we go. No stealing of cutlets. Ah, 
 thou mayest lick thy chops in vain, bandit ! " 
 
 A few days later Gamel began to fence with Fran- 
 c.ois, who liked it well. He was strong, agile, and like 
 his old friends the cats for quickness of foot. Gamel 
 was charmed. 
 
 " We must make no mistakes. The foil held lightly 
 
102 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 so, so ! If you grasp it too strongly you will not 
 feel the other's blade. That is better. 'T is the fin- 
 gers direct the point. Thy hand a little higher so, 
 so!" 
 
 They fenced before the pupils came and in the inter- 
 vals when none was on hand. Francois was tireless. 
 
 It was June now, and Robespierre was the public 
 prosecutor, with Petion at his side. Gamel read aloud 
 the announcement with a coldly stern face. Fran- 
 c.ois heard it with indifference. 
 
 " Tiens! " he cried. " What matters it ? Dame! " as 
 he lunged at the wall, " I do believe my arm is an inch 
 longer." He was thinking, as he tried over and over 
 a new guard, of what a queer education he had had. 
 Gamel walked away into his own room. He was a 
 man who often liked to be alone. Apt to be mono- 
 syllabic with his pupils, he could at times become 
 seriously talkative at night over a pipe and a glass. 
 Francois began to like him, and to suspect that he in 
 turn was liked a matter not indifferent to this poor 
 devil, -who had himself an undeveloped talent for 
 affection. 
 
 " Mon ami, Toto ! Let us think. I might have been 
 a priest. What an escape ! Or a great chorister. 
 That is another matter. A thief, a street-dog, a jug- 
 gler, a mattre d'escrime. Parbleu! What next ? We 
 are getting up in the world. My palm, little rascal ? 
 Thou wouldst read it. Ah, bad dog, not I ! Let us 
 to bed ; come along. It seems too good to last." 
 
XII 
 
 In which Toto is seen to change his politics twice a day 
 the mornings and the afternoons quarrel In which 
 Jean Pierre Andre Amar, u le farouche," appears. 
 
 HE fencing-master took great pains with 
 his promising debutant, and now at last 
 thought he could trust him to give les- 
 sons. He gave him much advice, full 
 of good sense. He must dress simply, 
 not in any marked fashion. And here were the two 
 cockades, and two for Toto, who was fitted with a toy 
 sword, and had been taught to howl horribly if Fran- 
 c.ois said, "Citizen Capet/ 7 and to do the like if he 
 cried, " Aristocrat ! " 
 
 Francois, gay and a little anxious, followed Gamel 
 for the first time during the lesson-hours into the 
 salle d'armes. Toto came after them in full rig, with 
 a cap and a huge white cockade. A dozen gentlemen, 
 most of them young, were preparing to fence. 
 
 The poodle was greeted with " Bravo ! " and strutted 
 about on his hind legs with evident enjoyment of the 
 approval. 
 
 " Wait here," said Gamel to Francois. " I will by 
 and by give thee a chance." Francois had, of course, 
 
 103 
 
104 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 been constantly in the room when the patrons were 
 absent, and it was now familiar. It had been part of 
 the old hotel of some extinct nobleman, and was of 
 unusual height, and quite forty feet square, with tall 
 windows at each end j a cushioned bench ran around 
 the walls, and above it hung wire masks, foils, sabers, 
 and a curious collection of the arms of past ages and 
 barbarous tribes. Chiefly remarkable were the many 
 fine blades, Spanish or Eastern. At the side of the 
 hall, a doorway led into the shooting-gallery, a late 
 adjunct since the English use of the pistol had been 
 brought into the settlement of quarrels made savage 
 by the angry politics of the day. On one of the walls 
 of the fencing-room was a large sign on which was 
 painted : " Achille Gam el, ci-devant Maitre d'Armes, 
 Regiment du Due de Eohan-Chabot. Lessons in 
 the small sword, saber, and pistol." The word " Due " 
 was chalked over, but was still easily to be made 
 out. 
 
 Presently G-amel came to Francois in his shirt 
 and breeches, foil in hand. "This way, Francois." 
 As they slowly crossed the room, Gamel went on to 
 say in a low tone of voice: "Don't be too eager. 
 Take it all as a matter of course. Don't be nervous. 
 One must have had a serious affair or two before one 
 gets over the foil fever. Remember, you are here to 
 teach, not to triumph. There are few here you can- 
 not touch, but that is not business." 
 
 " I understand," said Francois. 
 
 " I will give you for your lesson the best blade in 
 Paris. You can teach him nothing. He is my foster- 
 brother, the Marquis de Ste. Luce." 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 105 
 
 " Ste. Luce ! " 
 
 " Yes ; he is here often." 
 
 As they approached, the great gentleman came to 
 meet them, separating himself from the laughing 
 group of younger men. 
 
 " Ma foi ! " he exclaimed. " Is this your new blade, 
 Gamel?" He caught Francois's appealing eye, and 
 showed no sign of having known the thief until they 
 were apart from the rest and had taken their foils. 
 Then he said quietly, "Does Gamel know?" 
 
 "Yes, monsieur. I saved his life in a row in the 
 Cite, and he gives me this chance." 
 
 " Good ! I shall not betray you. But beware ! 
 You must keep faith, and behave yourself." 
 
 "Monsieur may trust me." 
 
 " And you can fence ? " 
 
 " A little, monsieur." 
 
 " Well, then, on guard ! " The marquis was pleased 
 to praise the new teacher. "He has a supple wrist, 
 and what a reach of arm ! " At last he went away to 
 Gamel's room, where they were absent a half-hour. 
 These private talks, Francois observed later, were 
 frequent, especially with certain of the middle-aged 
 gentlemen who took here their morning exercise. 
 
 After this first introduction to business, Francois 
 sat still when the marquis had left him. By and by 
 the gentleman came back, and saying a word of en- 
 couragement to Francois, went away. 
 
 " Take M. de Lamerie, Francois," said Gamel ; and 
 turning to a gentleman near by, added, "A vous, 
 monsieur." Others began to select foils and to fence 
 in couples, so that soon the hall rang with the click, 
 
 7 
 
106 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 click of meeting steel. Francois was clever enough 
 to let his pupil get in a touch now and then, and 
 meanwhile kept him and those who looked on de- 
 lighted with his natural merriment. He was soon 
 a favorite. The dog was made to howl at a tricolored 
 cockade, and proved a great success. As to the fen- 
 cing-lessons, Gamel was overjoyed, and as time ran on 
 came to trust and to like his thief, who began speedily 
 to pick up the little well-mannered ways and phrases 
 he heard about him. He liked well to be liked and to 
 be praised for his skill, which week by week became 
 greater, until none except M. Gamel and the marquis 
 were able to meet him on equal terms. The master 
 of arms was generous ; the wages rose. The clothes 
 Francois now wore were better, and when Gamel asked 
 him to choose a rapier for wear in the street, which 
 was not yet forbidden, the poor thief felt that he was 
 in the full sunlight of fortune. 
 
 The afternoons were less to his taste. If a new 
 pupil arrived, the cook, an old woman, let him in, and 
 Gamel saw him in an anteroom and settled terms 
 and hours. The Jacobins came after two o'clock. 
 Then the room was unusually full. The poodle howled 
 at the name of Louis Capet. Tricolored cockades 
 were everywhere. The talk was of war and the fron- 
 tier, the ways of speech were guarded, the manners 
 not those of the morning. These citizens were awk- 
 ward, but terribly in earnest. The pistol-gallery was 
 much in favor : but at this deadly play Francois was 
 never an expert. He did not like it, and was pleased 
 when the Yicomte de Beausejour, a favored pupil, 
 said: "'T is a coarse weapon, Frangois. Ah, well 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 107 
 
 enough to enable bulldog English to settle their dis- 
 putes over a bone ; but, dame! quite unfit to be the 
 arm of honor of gentlemen," This uncertain property 
 of honor seemed to Francois a too insecure kind of 
 investment. It was enough to have to take care of 
 one's pocket ; and his being now well lined, Francois 
 began to resent the possibility of those sudden changes 
 of ownership which under other conditions he had 
 looked upon as almost in the nature of things. 
 
 During this summer, and in the winter of '91 and 
 '92, Gamel was at times absent for days. Whenever 
 he returned he was for a week after in his monosylla- 
 bic mood. Francois, who was keenly alive to his 
 present advantages, and who saw how these absences 
 interfered with their business, began to exercise his 
 easily excited inquisitiveness, and.to meditate on what 
 was beneath GamePs frequent fits of abstraction. His 
 own life had known disappointments, not always of 
 his own making. He dreaded new ones. The past of 
 the Cite, Quatre Pattes, Despard, those haunting eyes 
 of the marquis's widowed daughter, the choristers, the 
 asylum, the mad street life all the company of his 
 uncertain days were gone. Now, of late, he began 
 to have a feeling of uneasy belief that things were 
 once more about to change. Nor was the outer life 
 of the capital such as to promise tranquillity. A na- 
 tion was about to become insane. It was at this time 
 like a man thus threatened : to-day it was sane, to- 
 morrow it might be reeling over the uncertain line 
 which separates the sound from the unsound. Had 
 Francois been more interested and more apprehensive, 
 he was intelligent enough to have shared the dismay 
 
108 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 with which many Frenchmen saw the growth of tu- 
 multuous misrule. Indeed, the talk of the morning 
 fencing-school should have taught him alarm. But 
 he had formerly lived the life of the hour, even of the 
 minute, and as long as he was well fed, housed, and 
 clothed, his normal good humor comfortably digested 
 anxiety. 
 
 I should wrongly state a character of uncommon 
 interest if I were to give the impression of a man who 
 had merely the constant hilarity of a happy child. 
 He was apt to laugh where others smiled ; but, as he 
 matured, cheerful contentment was his usual mood, 
 and with it, to the last, the probability of such easily 
 born laughter as radiated mirth upon all who heard 
 it, like a companionable fire diffusing its generous 
 warmth. He was at this time doing what he most 
 fancied. The company suited him. He liked the 
 tranquil ways of these courteous gentlemen. In a 
 word, he was contented, and for a time lost all desire 
 to seek change or adventure. His satisfaction in the 
 life made him more quiet and perhaps more thought- 
 ful. He had every reason to be cheerful, and cheer- 
 fulness is the temperate zone of the mind. 
 
 At times, on Sundays, in the summer of '92, he 
 wandered into the country with Toto ; but these holi- 
 days were rare. Now and then the habits of years 
 brought again the longing for excitement ; with the 
 meal-hours he recovered his common sense, being a 
 big fellow of sharp appetite and a camel-like capacity 
 for substantial food. 
 
 The feud between the cockades broke out at this 
 time in duels, which it became the fashion to drive to 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 109 
 
 the Bois to see. Women of all classes looked on and 
 applauded, and few liked-it if the affair failed to prove 
 grave. Francois found it entertaining. The duels 
 were, in fact, many in the years of grace '91 and '92. 
 
 The morning pupils wore their hair in curls, dressed 
 in short clothes, and defied the new-fashioned repub- 
 lican pantaloons, which were rising up to the armpits 
 and descending the legs. They carried sword-canes, 
 or sticks like the club of Hercules ; a few still wore 
 the sword. Brown and gray wore the afternoon citi- 
 zens, with long straight hair, short waistcoats, and 
 long and longer culottes above large steel shoe-buckles, 
 all that were silver having been given to aid the funds 
 of a bankrupt government. The morning, which knew 
 very well who came in the later hours, abused the 
 afternoon, and this portion of the day returned those 
 compliments in kind. 
 
 Now and then the morning had a little affair with 
 the afternoon, for the Terror was not yet. In cafes 
 and theaters there were constant outbreaks, and men 
 on both sides eager enough to sustain opinion by the 
 sword or the pistol. When one of what Francois 
 called " our little domestic difficulties " was on hand, 
 there was excitement and interest among Royalists 
 and Jacobins, with much advice given, and huge dis- 
 gust when monsieur was pinked by Citizen Chose of 
 the Cordeliers or of the Jacobin Club. 
 
 If the re verse obtained, and some gentleman of ancient 
 name condescended to run Citizen Chose through the 
 lungs, there was great rejoicing before noon and black 
 looks after it. Here were a half-dozen affairs in a 
 month, for these were the first blades in France. 
 
110 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 There were laws against the duel, but the law changed 
 too fast for obedience, and fashion, as usual, defied it. 
 Hatred and contempt were ready at every turn. Two 
 abbes fought, and what was left of the great ladies 
 went to see and applaud. 
 
 This duel between morning and afternoon began to 
 amuse Paris. But pretty soon neither the master of 
 arms nor his assistant was as well pleased at the ex- 
 cessive attention thus drawn to the school of fencing. 
 Gamel disliked it for reasons which he did not set 
 forth, and Francois because he felt that his disturb- 
 ing readiness to turn back to a life of peril and dis- 
 comfort was like enough to be reinforced by coming 
 events. He adored good living, yet could exist on 
 crusts. He was intelligent, yet did not like to be 
 forced to think. An overmastering sense of the ludi- 
 crous inclined him to take the world lightly. He liked 
 ease, yet delighted in adventure. He distrusted his 
 own temperament. He had need to do so. Excite- 
 ment was in the air. The summer of '92 was unquiet, 
 and pupils were less numerous, so that Francois found 
 time to wander. The autumn brought no change in his 
 life, but Gamel became more and more self-absorbed, 
 and neglected his pupils. The gentlemen who fenced 
 in the mornings began to disappear, and the new year 
 of 1793 came in with war without and tumult within 
 distracted France. 
 
 For several days before the 21st of January, 1793, 
 strange faces were frequently seen in the morning 
 hours, or more often late at night. These passed into 
 Gamel's room, and remained long. The marquis, 
 more thoughtful than usual, came and went daily. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 111 
 
 Early on the 20th, Gamel told Francois that he should 
 be absent until after the 21st, the day set for the king 1 
 to die. Francois asked no questions, and was not 
 deeply grieved to be left in the dark as to what was in 
 contemplation. During the previous week there had 
 been sad faces in the morning hours. The pupils 
 were fewer; they were leaving Paris and too many 
 were leaving France. The Jacobins, with whom 
 Francois fenced in the latter part of the day, were 
 wildly triumphant. They missed Gamel when he was 
 absent, and asked awkward questions. It was plain 
 enough to his assistant that the master of this turbu- 
 lent school was a Royalist enrage, as men then said. 
 The assistant was much of his mind, but he was also 
 far more loyal to one Francois than to the unfortu- 
 nate king. 
 
 He was not surprised that at the hour of opening 
 on the 21st no one appeared. He sat thinking, and a 
 little sorry for the humbled Louis rumbling over the 
 crowded streets to his doom. The prisons were al- 
 ready becoming crowded ; the richer bourgeoisie had 
 become submissive. The more able and aggressive 
 Jacobins were about to seize the reins of power from 
 the sentimental Girondists. 
 
 " Let us think a little," said Francois to his friend 
 and counselor Toto. The poodle woke up, and sat 
 attentive. "It is disagreeable to have to think, mon 
 ami; but there are our heads. Without a head one 
 cannot eat or enjoy a bone. Shall we go to the frontier, 
 and be shot at, and shoot ? Dame! a thousand bullets 
 to one guillotine. We do not like that. Let us change 
 our opinions, Toto, join the clubs, and talk liberty. 
 
112 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Yes j that is thy opinion. Must we go back to the 
 streets ? 'T is good nowadays to be obscure, and thou 
 art becoming a public character, Toto." 
 
 He read the gazette awhile, practised with the pistol, 
 and taught the dog a new trick. Still no one came, 
 and the day wore on to noon. At this hour the bell 
 rang, and the poodle barked, as was his custom. 
 " Learn to hold thy tongue," said the master. The 
 servant had gone, like all Paris, to see a brave man die. 
 
 Francois opened the outer door. A strongly built 
 man he had never before seen entered, and, pushing by 
 him, went .without a word into the great room beyond. 
 
 " Hallo, citizen ! What dost thou want ? " said 
 Francois, following him. 
 
 "Art thou Citizen Gamel?" 
 
 Francois was not; and what could he do for the 
 citizen ? 
 
 The man for a moment made no reply, but glanced 
 searchingly about the hall, while the assistant looked 
 him over as keenly. He was a personage not easily to 
 be forgotten. 
 
 " No one else here ? " he asked. 
 
 " No one." 
 
 The questioner was a man not over thirty-five, of 
 colossal make, and with something about him which 
 Toto resented. He began to bark, and then, of a 
 sudden, fled under a bench, and watched the new- 
 comer. 
 
 His features were out of keeping with his height 
 and breadth. The Jacobin had small, restless eyes, 
 a diminutive nose, perhaps broken, and a large-lipped 
 mouth, which, as he talked, was drawn to one side as 
 
'AND SO A DOG IS SENT TO FETCH THE 
 SAFEGUARD THE PEOPLE PROVIDE ? ' " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 115 
 
 though from some loss of power on the other half of 
 the face. 
 
 " I am Jean Pierre Andre Amar," he said, with an 
 air of importance. 
 
 " Will the citizen be seated?" 
 
 He would not. He desired to see Citizen Gamel. 
 
 Francois regretted his absence on business. Amar, 
 later known as le farouche, desired to see the list of 
 pupils, in order to select an unoccupied morning hour. 
 Unluckily, the master had the keys. The citizen 
 wished to fence, and could come in the morning only ; 
 he was busy after that. Francois would mention his 
 name ; perhaps the hours of the morning were full, 
 but Citizen Gamel would no doubt arrange. 
 
 The man with the wandering mouth stood in 
 thought, said he would return, and then asked 
 abruptly : 
 
 " Art thou his assistant?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And thy name ? " 
 
 "Has Citizen Francois a carte-civiquea, certificate 
 of citizenship ? " 
 
 Francois knew better than to refuse. " Fetch me 
 the card, Toto. 'T is on the chair in my room. Va 
 -go!" 
 
 " Thou art careless, Citizen Francois." 
 
 Francois, on this, became short of speech. Toto 
 ran back. " Give it to the citizen." 
 
 Amar took it, saying: "It is correct. And so a 
 dog is sent to fetch the safeguard the people pro- 
 vide ? " 
 
116 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Francois laughed. " The citizen is particular. But 
 here we are good republicans, and have given our 
 useful arms to the army, and think to go soon our- 
 selves. Shall I give the citizen a lesson ? " 
 
 No ; he would call again. The section wished the 
 names of all who fenced here. As the citizen reached 
 the door, he said, turning : 
 
 " Thou art the man who used to laugh in the show. 
 Robespierre told me of what fortune was read on his 
 palm. A great man. Take care of thy own fortune. 
 Thou art not of the club. It may be thou wilt laugh 
 no more." This while the distorted mouth went to 
 left and came back, and the small eyes winked and 
 wandered. Francois thanked him. He would join 
 the club, the list should be ready, and so on. 
 
 When alone again, Francois began to reflect on 
 what was likely to happen. At any time, Amar might 
 return with a guard. On the 23d, as usual during 
 this sad week, there were no morning pupils; and 
 still Gamel came not, and Francois had to manage 
 the turbulent afternoon pupils alone. 
 
XIII 
 
 Citizen Amar, meeting the marquis, is unlucky and vin- 
 dictive. 
 
 FEAR vast and oppressive was upon the 
 great city. The white cockades were 
 gone. Francois burned all he could 
 find. For a week no one came to fence 
 in the morning. The afternoons were 
 full, and there was much inquiry for Citizen Gamel. 
 On the night of the 24th of this terrible January, 
 1793, Frangois went out. Paris was recovering, and, 
 as usual, forgetful, was eating and drinking and 
 dancing, while all Europe was ringing with the news 
 of this murder of a good man too weak for a mighty 
 task. 
 
 When, later, Francois returned to the school of 
 arms he smelt the odor of a pipe. " Ah ! " he cried, 
 " Toto, he has come. 'T is none too soon." Candles 
 lighted dimly the large hall and the rooms beyond 
 it. He heard no sounds, and, suddenly becoming 
 uneasy, hastened to enter the little salon. It was 
 empty, as were all the rooms. On the bedroom floor 
 lay scattered clothes. Scorched leaflets were flut- 
 tering like black crows over the ashes of a dying 
 
 117 
 
118 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 fire. They were fragments of burnt paper. An open 
 desk was on the table, and everywhere were signs of 
 haste. 
 
 Francois ran out to the kitchen, and called their 
 only servant, a shrewd old woman. She said: "I 
 heard thee, citizen. I was coming to tell thee that 
 Citizen Gamel has gone." 
 
 " Gone ! Mon Dieu! " 
 
 " He has paid me, and well ; and here is a box for 
 thee, Citizen Francois. I hid it under the mattress. 
 Oh, I have waited, but I am afraid." 
 
 Francois took the box and its key, and went to 
 his room. The box contained some five hundred 
 francs in gold, and as much more in assignats the 
 notes of the day, and really worth but little. In a 
 folded package were papers and a letter. It read 
 thus : 
 
 " I am sorry to leave thee. A business affair has 
 failed, and I go westward. I risk this to warn thee 
 to fly. For two days thou art safe, but not longer. 
 If a gentleman calls whom thou knowest, and asks for 
 Monsieur Achille Gamel, tell him all. I inclose for 
 thee a passport. No matter how I got it. It is good. 
 Use it soon. I divide with theo my small store. 
 Thou hast been honest; stay so. We may meet in 
 better times." 
 
 Francois laughed. " We must go, Toto. Well, it 
 has a good side; thou wilt get thinner." Then he 
 read the passport. It described him well : Jean 
 Francois, juggler ("Good ! "), returning to Normandy ; 
 affairs of family ; a father dying. " Good ! Now I 
 have one parent at least." It was in due order. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 119 
 
 " Thou hast no papers, Toto ; but thy black head is 
 secure." 
 
 At early morning on the 25th of January, he found 
 a vender of antiquities, and quickly sold him, for two 
 hundred francs, the antique arms in the fencing-room. 
 He must remove them that coming night. Next he 
 sought a maker of articles for the jugglers who were 
 still to be found in every town ; for neither at this 
 time nor during the Terror did the people cease to 
 amuse themselves. Francois bought a set of gaily 
 tinted balls and the conjuring apparatus with which 
 he was familiar. Once again in his room, he packed 
 his clothes in a knapsack and his juggler's material in a 
 bag that he could carry. A long cloak which his mas- 
 ter had left he set aside to take, and, thus prepared, 
 felt that on the whole he had better risk waiting until 
 the dawn of the following day before he set out on his 
 wintry journey. The old woman had already fled in 
 alarm. 
 
 On the following morning, at 9 A. M., Francois went 
 into the great hall to secure pistols and the fine Spanish 
 rapier which Gamel had given him. Here he paused, 
 and re-read the passport. A blank space had been 
 left for the insertion of the special locality to which 
 the bearer might wish to go in Normandy. 
 
 " Ah ! " he exclaimed, " that must do. I will go to 
 Musillon. Perhaps I shall find Despard. He will help 
 me to recover that desirable papa." He went back to 
 GamePs room, and carefully completed the passport 
 by inserting the name of the village Musillon. 
 
 After this he returned to the hall, talking to the 
 poodle as he went. " Toto, thou art uneasy," he said ; 
 
120 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 " and I too, my friend. Remember to howl no more 
 at Jacobins. Thou art of the Left, a dog of the Left. 
 Tiens! the bell." He caught up his rapier, and opened 
 the door. A powerful, broad-shouldered man entered. 
 He was clad in gray, and wore the red bonnet the 
 extreme Jacobins affected, and which Robespierre so 
 much despised. 
 
 " Ah, no one here. That is well. I trust Gamel has 
 gone." 
 
 "Ah! " exclaimed Frangois to himself. "'T is my 
 confounded marquis. Now for ill luck." 
 
 " Is Monsieur Gamel at home ? Monsieur Achille 
 Gamel?" He emphasized the title. 
 
 Francois understood, with no great amazement, that 
 this was the man of whom GamePs letter spoke. He 
 replied, " This way, please, monsieur." 
 
 The gentleman followed without a word. 
 
 " Read this," said Francois ; " and, pardon me, but 
 read it quickly. My head appears to me to be less 
 securely attached to my body than common." 
 
 "Dame! You are as jolly as ever, my delightful 
 thief." 
 
 " I beg that monsieur will read this letter, and at 
 once. Norn de del! there is no time to be lost." And 
 still he laughed. " We are in a trap, monsieur." 
 
 The marquis was not to be hurried ; it was not his 
 way. "St. Gris! you can laugh. I envy you. In 
 France men grin, for they must ; but laughter is dead. 
 Ah ! " and he fell to considering the letter. Then he 
 folded it deliberately. " Burn it," he said. " So j that 
 is well; and now, my good thief, I came to warn 
 Gamel. He has wisely fled. Of course there was a 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 121 
 
 plot, and, as usual, it failed. You, who are not in it, 
 are like enough to pay other folks 7 debts. I have a 
 certain mild interest in honest rascality. You are 
 a marked man. No cabbage of the field is more sure 
 of the knife. Go, and soon." 
 
 " I have heard from Gamel, monsieur. He assured 
 me that I was safe here for a day or two I know not 
 how he knew that." 
 
 "I do-, but I scarcely share his confidence. Go 
 soon." 
 
 " I shall go at dawn to-morrow." 
 
 "No; go to-day this evening." 
 
 " I will. Monsieur will pardon me if I ask if 
 madame, monsieur's daughter, is well and safe? 
 There are few who have been kind to me, and" 
 
 " My child is well," said the marquis, " and in Nor- 
 mandy ; but if safe or not, who can say, while these 
 wolves destroy women and children ? Safe ! I would 
 give my soul to be sure of that." His face showed 
 the transient emotion he felt; and suddenly, as if 
 annoyed at his own weakness, he drew himself up and 
 said abruptly : " Go and go quickly ! I shall leave 
 at once" 
 
 At this moment the bell rang violently. 
 
 " The devil ! " cried the marquis. " Go and see, and 
 do not shut the inner door ; I must hear." With this 
 he entered the pistol-gallery and waited. Francois 
 obeyed, and, with the sheathed rapier still in his hand, 
 crossed the hall. Again the bell rang. 
 
 " He is in a mischief of a hurry. No noise, Toto ! " 
 
 As he opened the outer door, the man of the warped 
 face broke in, and, passing him at once, walked 
 
122 THE ADVENTUKES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 across the little reception-room and into the great hall 
 beyond. Again his height and massive build struck 
 the fencing-master. 
 
 " Where is Gamel, citizen? and no lies to me! 
 Where is Gamel, I say ? " 
 
 li He has gone away. Why, I do not know. Will 
 the citizen search his rooms ? " 
 
 " Search ! Not I. I will call the municipals. 
 What are those rooms over there ? And arms ! Why 
 have they not been sent to the committee for our 
 patriot children on the frontier?" 
 
 " Perhaps Citizen Amar would kindly inspect them, 
 and then, if required, we can send them. Many have 
 been already sent. Behold, citizen, a war-club of 
 Ashantee, a matchlock, a headsman's sword. ParUeu! 
 the guillotine is better." 
 
 " I see, citizen j I see. But now of Gamel. He was 
 to be here to-d?y- 1 he^r. I will return presently with 
 the officers ; and, friend citizen, it will be well for thee 
 to assist, and heartily. This Gamel was in some plot 
 to save the Citizen Capet. Like master, like man. 
 Have ready the lists of those aristocrats who fence 
 here in the morning. Thou canst save thy head by 
 making a clean breast of it. I shall return in half 
 an hour. Have everything ready." 
 
 At this the dreaded Jacobin, having looked over 
 the arms and duly impressed the fencing-master, 
 moved toward the door of exit. Should Amar leave 
 the room, Francois felt that his own fate was certain. 
 He had been too much with Gamel. Less things 
 every day cost the heads of men. There was death or 
 life in the next five minutes. Frangois was not one to 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 123 
 
 hesitate. Preceding the Jacobin, he quietly set his 
 back to the door, and, locking it, put the key in his 
 pocket. This action was so dexterous and swift that 
 for a moment the Jacobin did not perceive that he 
 was trapped. He was thinking if there was anything 
 more to be said. He looked up. " Well, open the 
 door, citizen." As he spoke, the two strangest faces 
 in Paris were set over against each other. Here was 
 comedy, with long lean features, twinkling eyes above, 
 and below the good humor of a capacious mouth set 
 between preposterous ears. And there was tragedy, 
 strong of jaw, long hair lying flat in black, leech-like 
 flakes on a too prominent brow, and small eyes, deep- 
 set, restless, threatening, seen like those of a wolf in 
 cave shelters a face no man trusted, a face on which 
 all expressions grew into deformity ; not a mere beast ; 
 a terribly intelligent bigot of the new creed, colossal, 
 alert, unsparing, fearless, full of vanity. 
 
 When the citizen commissioner said, " Open," Fran- 
 Qois replied : 
 
 " Not just yet, citizen." 
 
 " What is this ? " shouted Amar. " Open, I say, in 
 the name of the law ! " 
 
 " Not I." And Francois, with a quick motion, threw 
 off the sheath of the rapier. It fell with a great clat- 
 ter on the far side of the room. 
 
 " Open, I say ! 
 
 At this moment Ste. Luce came across the hall. 
 
 "What the deuce is all this, Francois?" 
 
 Amar turned his square shoulders, and looked at 
 the marquis. 
 
 "I presume thee, too, to be one of this rascal 
 
124 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 Gamel's band. If thou dost think I, Pierre Amar, 
 am afraid of thee, thou art going to find out thy mis- 
 take. What is thy name ? " 
 
 " Go to the devil ! " cried the marquis. The Jacobin 
 darted toward the window ; but Frangois was too quick 
 for him, and instantly had him by the collar, the point 
 of the rapier touching his back. " Move a step, and 
 thou art a dead man." The face, crooked with pas- 
 sion, half turned over the shoulder. 
 
 " Misery ! What a beauty ! Didst thou think I 
 valued my head so little as to trust thee, scum of the 
 devil's dish-water ? " For some reason this huge ani- 
 mal filled Francois with rage, and he poured out a 
 flood of the abusive slang of the Cite as the marquis 
 came up. 
 
 " Drop that window-curtain ! " said the thief. " And 
 now, what to do, monsieur ? " 
 
 The captured man showed the utmost courage, and 
 no small lack of wisdom. " Dog of an aristocrat ! I 
 know thee. It was thou didst kill Jean Coutier, last 
 month. I saw thee, coward ! We knew not thy 
 name. Now we shall take pay for that murder." 
 
 The marquis grew white to the eyes, with a certain 
 twitching of the lips to be seen as Francois again 
 asked : 
 
 " What shall we do with him ? Shall we tie him ? " 
 
 " No ; kill him. What ! you will not ? Give me your 
 rapier. 'T is but one wolf less." 
 
 Francois was more than unwilling. The intense 
 hatred of the noble for the Jacobin he did not share ; 
 indeed, he liked the man's fearlessness, but, neverthe- 
 less, meant to provide for his own security. His con- 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 125 
 
 science, such as it was, refused to sanction cold-blooded 
 murder. 
 
 " I cannot. Go away ! I will take care of this 
 rascal.' 7 
 
 " There is no time to lose/' said the marquis. 
 "Kill the brute." 
 
 " Not I," said Francois. 
 
 "Thou art coward enough to kill a man in cold 
 blood ! " cried Amar. " This is the fine honor you 
 talk of. Better go. All thy kind are running ; but, 
 soon or late, the guillotine will get thy hog-head, as it 
 did thy Jew-nosed king's." 
 
 "The face and the tongue are well matched," said 
 Ste. Luce, quietly. " It will take a good ten minutes 
 to tie and gag him. You will not kill him? Then 
 give the fellow a blade, and I will see to the rest. 
 Are you man enough to take my offer? Quick, 
 now ! " 
 
 " Try me. I am no weakling, like poor Coutier." 
 
 "Find him a blade, Francois. I will watch him. 
 Be quick ! " He took the rapier, and stood by the 
 motionless figure, whose uneasy eyes followed the 
 thief as he went and came again. 
 
 " The blades are of a length, Francois ? Yes. Lock 
 the door. Ah, it is done. Good ! Now, keep an eye 
 on him, Francois. Take care of yourself if he has the 
 luck to kill me. However, that is unlikely. Ah, you 
 have a sword, Francois." 
 
 " The citizen talks a good deal," said Amar, trying 
 his blade on the floor. 
 
 "Yes," said the marquis, negligently untying his 
 cravat. "It is so rare, in these democratic days, 
 
126 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 that one has a chance to talk with one of you gen- 
 tlemen." 
 
 " Bah ! " cried the Jacobin, " we shall see presently." 
 As he spoke, he laid his sword on a chair and began 
 to strip. As he took off his coat and waistcoat, he 
 folded them with care, and laid them neatly on a 
 bench. 
 
 The marquis also stripped to his waistcoat, but it 
 was with more haste. He threw his coat to Francois, 
 and took his place in the middle of the room, where 
 he waited until his slower antagonist, in shirt and 
 breeches, came forward to meet him. Both believed 
 it to be a duel to the death, but neither face showed 
 to Francois any sign of anxiety. The Jacobin said : 
 
 " The light is in thine eyes, citizen. If we were to 
 move so as to engage across the room 
 
 " It is of no moment," returned the marquis. " Are 
 you ready ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Francois saw no better method of disposing of an 
 awkward business. Nevertheless, he was uncomfort- 
 able. " What if this devil should kill the marquis ? " 
 He cried, " On guard, messieurs ! " and stepped aside. 
 
 The marquis saluted with grave courtesy ; but the 
 Jacobin, obeying the fashion of the schools of fence, 
 went through the formula of appearing to draw the 
 sword, and certain other conventional motions sup- 
 posed to be exacted by etiquette. The marquis smiled 
 as Amar led off in this ceremonious fashion. These 
 preliminaries of the salle d'armes were usually omitted 
 or curtailed in serious combats. The seigneur, 
 amused, and following Amar's lead, went through the 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 127 
 
 whole performance. Meanwhile Francois looked the 
 two men over, and was not ill pleased. This heavy fel- 
 low should prove no match for a practised duelist like 
 Ste. Luce. He was soon undeceived. 
 
 Both men were plainly enough masters of their 
 weapon, and for at least two minutes there was no 
 advantage. Then Ste. Luce was touched in the left 
 shoulder, and a distorted grimace of satisfaction ran 
 over the face of the Jacobin. The marquis became 
 more careful, and a minute or two later Francois saw 
 with pleasure that Amar was breathing a trifle hard. 
 He had half a mind to cry: "Wait! wait! He is 
 feeling the strain." He held his peace, and, with Toto, 
 looked on in silence. The marquis knew his business 
 well, and noted the quickening chest movements of 
 his adversary. He began to smile, and to make a 
 series of inconceivably quick lunges. Now and then 
 the point of either blade struck fair on the convex 
 steel shell-like guard which protected the hand. 
 When this chanced, a clear, sweet note as of a bell 
 rang through the great hall. The Jacobin held his 
 own, and Francois, despite his anxiety, saw with the 
 satisfaction of a master how lightly each rapier lay in 
 the grasp of the duelist, and how dexterously the fin- 
 gers alone were used to guide the blades. 
 
 Of a sudden the strange face was jerked as it were 
 to left, and a savage lunge in tierce came perilously 
 near to ending the affair. Ste. Luce threw himself 
 back with the quickness of a boy. The point barely 
 touched him. " St. Gris ! " he called out gaily. 
 " That was well meant. Now take care ! " 
 
 " By St. Denis ! 't is a master," muttered Francois. 
 
128 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 The marquis seemed of a sudden to have let loose 
 a reserve of unlooked-for power. He was here and 
 there about the massive and by no means unready 
 bulk of Amar, swift and beautifully graceful. 
 
 Then of a sudden the marquis's blade went out as 
 quick as lightning, and just at the limit of a nearly 
 futile thrust caught Amar over the right eye. " Dame! 
 I missed those lanterns of hell ! " 
 
 The Jacobin brushed away the blood which, run- 
 ning down his face, made his right eye useless for the 
 time. 
 
 The marquis fell back, and dropped his point. 
 " The deuce ! The man cannot see. Tie a handker- 
 chief around his head." 
 
 The Jacobin was not sorry to have time to breathe. 
 
 " Thou art more than fair, citizen," said Amar, get- 
 ting his breath. 
 
 "Thanks," returned the marquis, coldly. "Make 
 haste, Francois." 
 
 Francois took up a lace handkerchief which lay be- 
 side Ste. Luce's coat on the seat where he had cast his 
 clothes. While Francois bound the handkerchief 
 around the head so as to stop the flow of blood, Amar 
 turned to his foe. 
 
 " Citizen," said the Jacobin, " thou hast been a gal- 
 lant man in this matter. My life was thine to take. 
 Let it end here. Thou art a brave man and a good 
 blade." 
 
 Ste. Luce looked at him with an expression of 
 amused curiosity. 
 
 "What else?" 
 
 "I will not have thee pursued on my honor." 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 129 
 
 " Tie it firmly, Francois. You have just heard, my 
 Francois, of the last Parisian novelty a Jacobin's 
 honor ! Be so good as to hurry, Francois." 
 
 Had the stern Jacobin felt some sudden impulse of 
 pity or respect? In all his after days he was un- 
 sparing, and certainly it was not fear which now 
 moved him. 
 
 " As pleases thee," he said simply. Ste. Luce made 
 no answer. Again their blades met. And now the 
 marquis changed his game, facing his foe steadily, 
 while Francois gazed in admiration. Ste. Luce's rapier 
 was like a lizard's movements for quickness. Twice 
 he touched the man's chest, and by degrees drove him 
 back, panting, until he was against the door. Sud- 
 denly, seeming to recover strength, the Jacobin lunged 
 in quarte, and would have caught the marquis fair in 
 the breast-bone had he not thrown himself backward 
 as he felt the prick. Instantly he struck the blade 
 aside with his open left hand, and, as it went by his 
 left side, drove his rapier savagely through Amar's 
 right lung and into the panel of the door. It was 
 over. Not ten minutes had passed. 
 
 " Dame! " he cried, withdrawing his rapier, and re- 
 treating a pace or two. " He was worth fighting." 
 
 The Jacobin's face moved convulsively. He 
 coughed, spattering blood about him. His right arm 
 moved in quick jerks. His sword dropped, and stuck 
 upright in the floor, quivering. 
 
 " Dog of an aristocrat ! " he cried. His distorted 
 face twitched ; he staggered to left, to right, and at 
 last tumbled in a heap, a massive figure, of a sudden 
 inert and harmless. 
 
130 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 The marquis stood still and looked down at his foe. 
 
 " What the deuce to do with him ? " said Frangois. 
 
 " Take his head, and drag him into your room. We 
 can talk then." 
 
 " Will monsieur take his feet ? " 
 
 " What ! I touch the dog t No, not I." 
 
 Francois did not like it ; but making no reply, he 
 dragged the Jacobin's helpless bulk after him, and, 
 once in his room, pulled the mattress off the bed, and 
 without roughness drew the man upon it. 
 
 Amar opened his eyes, and tried to speak. He 
 could not ; the flow of blood choked him. He shook 
 his fist at Ste. Luce. 
 
 " Cursed brute," cried Francois, " be still ! He will 
 begin to howl presently. The sons of Satan are im- 
 mortal." 
 
 " We must gag him, Francois." 
 
 "But he will die; he will choke. See how ne 
 breathes how hard." 
 
 " Dicible! it is he or I. Would he spare me, do you 
 think? Don't talk nonsense. Do as I tell you." 
 
 Francois took up a towel. As he approached, 
 Amar looked up at him. There was no plea in his 
 savage face. 
 
 "Go on. What the deuce are you waiting for?" 
 said Ste. Luce. 
 
 " I cannot do it," said Francois. " End it yourself." 
 
 "What! I? Strangle a dog ! I! Dame! Let us 
 go. What a fool you are ! " 
 
 " Better go singly, then," said the thief. He had no 
 mind to increase his own risks by the dangerous so- 
 ciety of the nobleman. 
 
'HE STAGGERED TO LEFT, TO RIGHT, AND AT LAST TUMBLED IN A 
 HEAP." 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 133 
 
 Amar was silent. The handkerchief had fallen 
 from his head, but the wound bled no longer. 
 
 "What shall I do with the handkerchief, mon- 
 sieur ! " 
 
 " Do ? Burn it. Faugh ! " Franc, ois cast it on 
 the still glowing embers. "Now my clothes and my 
 cloak/ 7 said Ste. Luce ; " and do not lose any time over 
 that animal." 
 
 He washed off the little blood on his clothes, and 
 dressed in haste, saying : " Lucky that his point struck 
 on my breast-bone. 'T is of no moment. The fellow 
 has left me a remembrance. I am sorry I did not 
 have the luck to kill him. Good-by, Francois. May 
 we meet in better days." He was gone. 
 
 Francois locked the door after him, and went back 
 to his room. He sat down on the floor beside the 
 mattress. 
 
 " Now listen, Master Amar. Canst thou hear me ? 
 Ah, yes. Well, I have saved thy life. Oh, thou wilt 
 get well, more 's the pity ! and do some mischief 
 yet. Now if I should kill thee I would be pretty 
 safe. If I go away, and send thee a doctor, I am a 
 lost man. What is that thou art saying? Ah!" 
 and he leaned down to hear the broken whisper. " So 
 thou wilt have my head chopped off. Thou art less 
 afraid than I would be, were I thee. What shall we 
 do, Toto ? " and he laughed ; somehow the situation 
 had for him its humorous side. 
 
 " I can't murder a man," he said. " If ever I kill a 
 man, I trust it may be one who hath not thy eyes and 
 thy one-sided grin. To be haunted by a ghost like 
 thee ! The deuce ! Not I ! Sac a papier! I will 
 
134 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 take my chance." He sat down, and wrote a short 
 note to a surgeon on the farther side of Paris, one 
 whom he knew to have been much commended to his 
 pupils by Gamel. 
 
 " My unforgiving friend," he said, " I shall lock thee 
 in. Thou art too weak to move, and to try will cause 
 thee to bleed. This note will get thee a surgeon in 
 about six hours. I must leave thee. Be quiet, and be 
 good. Here is a flask of eau-de-vie. Art still of a 
 mind to give thy preserver to the guillotine ? " The 
 grim head nodded as the red froth leaked out over 
 the lips. " l Yes, yes/ thou sayest. Thou art in a fine 
 state of penitence. I hope we have seen the last of 
 each other. One more chance. Promise me not to be 
 my enemy. I will trust thee. Come, now. : ' 
 
 But the Jacobin was past speech. As Francois 
 knelt beside him, he beckoned feebly. 
 
 "What is it?" As he bent lower, a grim smile 
 went over the one movable side of Amar's face, and, 
 raising a feeble hand, he drew it across Francois's 
 neck. 
 
 " Mon Dieu! " cried he, recoiling, " thou art ripe for 
 hell. Adieu, my unforgiving friend ; and as thou hast 
 no God, au diable, and may Si Satan look after thee 
 for love of thy looks. Come, doggie ! " He put his 
 pistols in the back of his belt, set his rapier in the 
 belt-catch, threw his cloak over all, and picked up his 
 bag and knapsack. He took one last look at Amar, 
 and saying, "By-by, my angel," left him, locking 
 both doors as he went out. 
 
 Francois passed into the street, followed by the 
 black poodle. In the Rue St. Honore he paid the 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 135 
 
 boy of a butcher with whom Gamel dealt to take his 
 note when the midday meal should be over. And thus 
 having eased his conscience and regulated the busi- 
 ness of life, he set out to put between him and the 
 Jacobin as many miles as his long legs could cover. 
 
XIV 
 
 Francois escapes from Paris and goes in search of a 
 father. He meets a man who has a wart on his nose, 
 and who 'because of this is unlucky. 
 
 IE had been fortunate. Not more than an 
 hour and a quarter had gone by since 
 Amar's entrance, and the mid-hour of 
 breakfast had probably secured them 
 from intrusion of foe or friend. Fran- 
 c,ois, who knew Paris as few men did, strode on through 
 narrow streets and the dimly lighted passages which, 
 afforded opportunity to avoid the busier haunts of 
 men. The barriers were carelessly guarded, and he 
 passed unmolested into the country. Once outside of 
 the city, he took the highroad to Evreux, down the 
 Seine, simply because the passport of Jean Francois, 
 juggler, pointed to Normandy as his destination. 
 Naturally a man of f orethinking sense, he had assumed 
 that the village whence came Despard should be the 
 home of that father who was ill. He knew from his 
 former partner enough of the village to answer ques- 
 tions. It lay westward of Evreux. France was then 
 less full of spies and less suspicious than it became in 
 the Terror ; and until he arrived at a small town on the 
 
 136 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 137 
 
 north bank of the Seine, not far from Poissy, he had 
 no trouble. He saw no couriers. The post went only 
 once a week. He was safe, and, to tell the truth, 
 merry and well pleased again to wander. His money 
 was sewed in his garments. He wore his rapier under 
 his cloak, but with it he carried the conjurer's thin, 
 supple blade, which, when he feigned to swallow it, a 
 spring caused to coil into the large basket-hilt. His 
 pistols were strapped behind him, and on his back he 
 carried his knapsack and small bag of juggling ap- 
 paratus. Thus, clad in sober gray, with the tricolor 
 on his red cap and a like decoration on the poodle's 
 collar, he was surely a quaint enough figure. Long, 
 well built, and wiry, laughing large between his two 
 wing-like ears, he held his way along the highroad on 
 the bank of the winding Seine. 
 
 He avoided towns and people, camped in the woods, 
 juggled and told fortunes at farm-houses for a dinner, 
 and, as I have said, had no trouble until he came at 
 midday to the hamlet of lie Rouge. Here, being 
 tired, and Toto footsore, he thought he might venture 
 to halt and sleep at the inn. 
 
 It was a little gray French town in the noonday 
 quiet, scarce a soul in- sight, and a warmer sun than 
 January usually affords on street and steaming roof- 
 tiles. Hostile dogs, appearing, seemed to consider 
 Toto a Royalist. Francois tucked him under his arm, 
 and carelessly entered the stone-paved tap-room of 
 the "Hen with Two Heads." He repented too late. 
 The room was half full. One of the many commis- 
 sioners who afterward swarmed through France was 
 engaged with the mayor of the commune. Francois, 
 
138 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 putting on an air of humility, sought out the inn- 
 keeper, and asked meekly to have a room. As he did 
 so, a fat man in the red bonnet of the Jacobins called 
 out from the table where he sat, " Come here ! " 
 
 Franc, ois said, " Yes, citizen," and stood at the table 
 where this truculent person was seated. 
 
 He was sharply questioned, and his papers and 
 baggage were overhauled with small ceremony, 
 while, apparently at his ease, he liberally distributed 
 smiles and the kindly glances of large blue eyes. At 
 last he was asked why he carried a sword ; it was 
 against the law. He made answer that he carried two 
 tools of his trade would the citizen see ? And when 
 he had swallowed two feet of his juggler's blade, to 
 the wonder of the audience, nothing further was said 
 of the rapier. At last, seeing that the commissioner 
 still hesitated, he told, with great show of frankness, 
 whither he was going, and named Despard as one who 
 would answer for him. The mention of this name 
 seemed to annoy the questioner, who said Despard 
 was a busy fellow, and was stirring up the citizens at 
 Musillon. He, Gregoire, was on his way to see after 
 him. He should like to make the acquaintance of that 
 sick father, and, after all, Francois might be an emigre. 
 He must wait, and go with the commissioner to Musillon. 
 
 Francois smiled his best; and, when the citizen 
 commissioner had done with business, might he amuse 
 him with a little juggling? Citizen Gregoire would 
 see ; let him sit yonder and wait. After a few min- 
 utes the great man's breakfast was set before him j the 
 room was cleared, and the citizen ate, while Frangois 
 looked him over. 
 
, 
 
 
 
 -HE HELD HIS WAY ALONG THE HIGHROAD 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 141 
 
 Gregoire was a short, stout man with long hair, a 
 face round, red, chubby, and made expressionless by 
 a button-nose, which was decorated with a large 
 rugose wart. The meal being over, he went out, 
 leaving a soldier at the door, and taking no kind of 
 note of his prisoner. Francois sat still. He was 
 patient, but the afternoon was long. At dusk Citizen 
 Gregoire reappeared, and, as Francois noted, was a 
 little more amiable by reason of the vinous hospitality 
 of the mayor. He sat down, and ordered dinner. 
 When it came, Francois said tranquilly : 
 
 " Citizen Commissioner Gregoire, wouldst thou 
 kindly consider the state of my stomach ? Swallow- 
 ing of swords sharpens the appetite." 
 
 The commissioner looked up from his meal. He 
 was in the good-humored stage of drunkenness. 
 
 " Come and eat," he said, laughing. 
 
 " He hath the benevolence of the bottle," thought 
 Francois. " Let us amuse him." 
 
 The commissioner took off his red bonnet, poured 
 out a glass of wine, looked at a paper or two in his 
 hand-bag, and set it on a seat near by, while the 
 juggler humbly accepted the proffered place. Then 
 the poodle was made to howl at the name of Citizen 
 Capet, and to bark joyously at the mention of Jacobins. 
 Francois told stories, played tricks, and drank freely. 
 The commissioner drank yet more freely. Francois 
 proposed to make a punch, a juggler's punch, and 
 did make a drink of uncommon vigor. About nine 
 the commissioner began to nod, and Francois, who 
 had been closely studying his face, presently saw him 
 drop into a deep slumber. The open bag looked 
 
142 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 tempting. He swiftly slipped a dexterous hand into 
 its contents, and feeling a wallet of coin, transferred 
 it to his own pocket. The temptation had been great, 
 the yielding to it imprudent ; but there was no one else 
 about, except the careless guard outside the door. 
 Francois concluded to replace the wallet ; but at this 
 moment the great Gregoire of the committee woke up. 
 " That was funny/ 7 he said. " I did not quite catch 
 the end of it." 
 
 " No/ 7 said Francois ; " the citizen slept a little." 
 
 Gregoire became angry. 
 
 "I I asleep? I am on duty. I never sleep on 
 duty." The citizen was very drunk. He got up, and, 
 staggering, set a foot on Toto's tail. The poodle 
 yelped, and the Jacobin kicked him. " Sacree bete! " 
 The poodle, unaccustomed to outrage, retorted by a 
 nip at a fat calf. Then the great man asserted him- 
 self. 
 
 " Hallo, there ! Curse you and your dog ! Land- 
 lord ! landlord ! " The host came in haste, and two 
 soldiers. " Got a safe place ? Lock up this sc-scoun- 
 drel, and k-kill his dog ! " The landlord kindly sug- 
 gested a disused wine-cellar. " Now, no delay. I 'm 
 Gregoire. Lock him up ! " Having disposed of the 
 juggler, the citizen contrived to get out of the room 
 and to bed with loss of dignity and balance. 
 
 A few minutes sufficed to set FranQois in a chilly 
 cellar, the poodle at his heels ; for no one took seri- 
 ously the order to kill Toto. Of the two soldiers, one, 
 who was young and much amused, brought an old 
 blanket, and a lantern with a lighted candle set within 
 it. Yes, the prisoner could have his knapsack and 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 143 
 
 bag there were no orders; but he must give up his 
 sword. It was so dark that when Francois promptly 
 surrendered his juggler's blade it seemed to satisfy 
 the soldiers ; for who could dream that a man would 
 carry two swords ? With a laugh and a jest, Francois 
 bade them to wake him early. He called to the young 
 recruit, as they were leaving, that he would like to 
 have a bottle of wine, and gave him sufficient small 
 change to insure also a bottle for these good-humored 
 jailers. 
 
 They took the whole affair as somewhat of a prac- 
 tical joke. All would be well in the morning. 
 When Gregoire was drunk he arrested everybody. 
 The young soldier would fetch the wine in an hour. 
 Good night. 
 
 Frangois was alone and with leisure to consider the 
 situation. 
 
 " Attention, Toto ! " he said. This putting of 
 thought into an outspoken soliloquy, with the judicial 
 silence of the poodle to aid him, was probably a real 
 assistance j for to think aloud formulates conditions 
 and conclusions in a way useful to one untrained to 
 reason. To read one's own inind, and to hear one's 
 own mind, are very different things. 
 
 ' l Toto," he said, " we are in a bad way. Why didst 
 thou bite that fat beast's calf? It did thee no good, 
 thou ill-tempered brute. 'T is not good diet j a pound 
 of it would make thee drunk. I shall have to whip 
 thee, little beast of an aristocrat, if thou dost take to 
 nipping the calves of the republic." 
 
 Toto well knew that he was being scolded. He 
 leaped up and licked the thief's face. 
 
144 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 "Down, Citizen Toto ! Where are thy manners? 
 I like better Citizen Gregoire drunk than Citizen 
 Gregoire sober. How about my poor papa ? Oh, but 
 I was an ass to name Despard. Didst thou observe 
 that the commissioner's eyebrows meet ? And, Toto, 
 he has a great wart on his nose. 7 T is a man will 
 fetch ill luck. I knew a thief had a wart on his nose, 
 and he was broken on the wheel at Rouen. Besides, 
 there was the wallet. Toto, attention ! Thou dost 
 wander. It is all the doings of that sacre marquis. A 
 bas Us aristocratesl Let us inspect a little." Upon 
 this he pried about every corner, tried the heavy oaken 
 door, still gaily talking, and at^last sat on an empty 
 cask and considered the grated window and the 
 limited landscape dimly visible between its four iron 
 rods. The end of a woodpile, about four feet away, 
 was all that he could see. This woodpile set him to 
 thinking. 
 
 An hour later the young recruit returned with the 
 wine. " I came to see if thou wert safe," he said. 
 "Like as not Gregoire will forget all about thee to- 
 morrow. Wine hath a short memory." 
 
 Francois laughed. " Le Ion Dieu grant it. I can 
 tell fortunes, but not my own." And should he tell the 
 citizen soldier's fortune ? With much laughter it was 
 told, and the gifts of fateful time were showered on 
 the soldier's future in opulent abundance. He would 
 be with the army on the frontier soon. He would 
 marry dame! a woman rich in looks and lands. He 
 would be a general one day. And this, oddly enough, 
 came true ; for he became a general of division, and 
 was killed the morning after at Eylau. Seeing that 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 145 
 
 this young man had agreeable fashions, the thief 
 ventured to express his thanks. 
 
 "Monsieur n he began. 
 
 " Take care ! Mon Dieu! thou must not say that ; 
 'citizen/ please. The messieurs are as dead as the 
 saints, and the devil, and the Ion Dieu, and the rest." 
 
 As he did not seem displeased, Francois said : 
 
 "Oh, thou art no Jacobin. Hast a De to thy 
 name ? " 
 
 This recruit's manners appeared to Francois a good 
 deal like those of the young nobles whom he had 
 taught to fence. 
 
 " What I was is of no moment," replied the young 
 fellow. " The Dels are as dead as the saints. I am 
 a soldier. But, pardon me, the citizen may be as frank 
 as suits his appetite for peril. I have had my belly- 
 ful." 
 
 "Frank? Dame! why not? Up-stairs I was a 
 Jacobin ; down here I am a Royalist. I was an aide 
 in GamePs fencing-school, and, pardie! I came away. 
 Thou canst do me a little service." 
 
 " Can I help thee, and not hurt myself I We my 
 people are grown scarce of late. I am the last; I 
 take no risks." 
 
 " There will be none. Bring me a little steel fork 
 and a good long bit of twine." 
 
 " A fork ! What for ? " He had a lad's curiosity. 
 
 " To eat with." 
 
 " But there is nothing to eat." 
 
 " Quite true. But it assists one's imagination ; 
 and, after all, there may be to-morrow, and to eat with 
 decency a fork is needed. A citizen may use his bare 
 
146 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 paws, but a monsieur may not use the fingers of equal- 
 ity. Thou wilt observe how the thought of these tools 
 of luxury reminds one of messieurs and the like." 
 
 The lad he was hardly over twenty laughed 
 merrily. " Thou art a delightful companion. Gamel 
 thou didst say Gamel?" 
 
 " I did, monsieur. Gamel that was the master of 
 arms in the Rue St. Honore." 
 
 "My poor brother used to fence there. By St. 
 Denis ! thou must be Francois ! " 
 
 " I am." 
 
 "Then thou shalt have the tool of luxury. But, 
 good heavens ! take care. Thou hast a tongue which 
 well, I have learned to bridle mine." 
 
 "My tongue never got me into trouble; like my 
 legs, it is long, and, like them, it has got me out of a 
 good many scrapes. I thank thee for the warning. 
 One knows whom to talk to. I can be silent. Oh, 
 you may laugh. I did not speak for a day after I first 
 saw that juggler's tool, the guillotine, in the sun on the 
 Place de la Revolution. Dieu! behold there is a man 
 that talks and laughs j and, presto, pass ! there is eter- 
 nal silence." 
 
 " Ame de St. Denis! thou art not gay," cried the 
 soldier. 
 
 " Tete de St. Denis were better. He was a fellow 
 for these times a saint that could carry his head 
 under his arm when it was chopped off." 
 
 The young recruit laughed, but more uneasily. 
 Not to laugh in some fashion was among the impos- 
 sibilities of life when this face-quake of mirth broke 
 out between those wing-like ears. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 147 
 
 He would fetch the tools, and, in fact, did so in a 
 few minutes. Then he bade Francois good night, and 
 went away. As soon as he had gone, Frangois retired 
 to a corner with his lantern to inspect the wallet. 
 There were three louis, a few sous, and no more. The 
 risk was large, the profit small. In an inner pocket 
 was a thin, folded paper. When opened it seemed to 
 be a letter in due form, dated a month before, but 
 never sent. It was addressed to Citizen de la Vicom- 
 terie of the Great Committee. Francois whistled. It 
 was a furious attack on Robespierre and Couthon, 
 and an effort to sum up the strength which an assault 
 on the great leaders would command in the Conven- 
 tion a rash document for those days. Clearly the 
 writer, whose full signature of Pierre Gregoire was 
 appended, had wisely hesitated to send it. 
 
 " It seems to have been forgotten. Was he drunk, 
 Toto ? Surely now we must get out and away. ? T is 
 a letter of death ; 't is a passport worth many louis, 
 Toto." He pulled off a shoe, folded the paper neatly, 
 and pulling up a tongue of leather on the inside sole, 
 placed the letter underneath, and put on the shoe 
 again. He took the louis, threw the wallet under a 
 cask, and waited. 
 
 When the house was still he set to work. He had 
 found behind a barrel a long staff used to measure 
 the height of wine in casks. On the end of this he 
 tied securely, crosswise, the steel fork, and then began 
 to inspect the thin rods of the window, which were but 
 ill fitted to guard a man of resources. 
 
 "Art still too fat!" he said, as he lifted Toto and 
 managed to squeeze him between the bars. After that 
 
148 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 he began to fish with his stick and fork for a small 
 log which had fallen from the woodpile and was just 
 a foot or two out of reach. Twice he had it, and twice 
 it broke loose, but now Toto understood, and, seizing 
 the log, dragged it nearer. At last Francois had the 
 prize. The rest was easy. He set the log between 
 the thin bars, and threw on this lever all the power of 
 one of the strongest men in Paris. In place of break- 
 ing, the iron rod bent and drew out of its sockets. A 
 second proved as easy, and at last the window-space 
 was free. It seemed large enough. He concluded to 
 leave his bag; but the knapsack he set outside, and 
 also his weapons and the conjuring-balls. Next he 
 stripped off most of his clothes, and laid these too on 
 the far side of the window. Finally his legs were 
 through, and his hips. But when it came to the 
 shoulders he was in trouble. It seemed impossible. 
 He felt the poor poodle pulling at his foot, and had 
 hard work to restrain his laughter. " Dame ! would 
 I grin at Mere Guillotine f Who knows ? How to 
 shrink ? " He wriggled ; he emptied his chest of air ; 
 he turned on his side ; and, leaving some rags and a 
 good bit of skin on the way, he was at last outside. 
 Here, having reclothed himself, he broke up the wine- 
 measurer and threw the fork over the wall. In a few 
 minutes he was on the highway, and running lightly 
 at the top of his speed. At dawn he found a farm- 
 house which seemed to be deserted no rare thing in 
 those days. He got in at a window, and stayed for 
 two days, without other food than the crusts he had 
 carried from the cellar. The night after, weak and 
 hungry, he walked till dawn ; and being now a good 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 149 
 
 ten leagues from that terrible commissioner, he ven- 
 tured to buy a good dinner and to get himself set over 
 the Seine. Somewhat reassured, he asked the way to 
 Evreux, and, for once in his life perplexed and thought- 
 ful, went along without a word to Toto. 
 
 He had been three weeks on the way, owing to his 
 need to hide or to make wide circuits in order to avoid 
 the larger towns. It was now the February of northern 
 France, and there was sometimes a little snow, but 
 more often a drizzling rain. He had suffered much 
 from cold ; but as he strode along, with a mind more 
 at ease, he took pleasure in the sunshine. A night 
 wind from the north had dried the roads. It was calm, 
 cold in the shadows, deliciously warm on the sun-lit 
 length of yellow highway. He had lost time, quite 
 too much, but he still hoped to reach Musillon be- 
 fore that man with the wart arrived. If so, he would 
 see Despard, warn him as to Gregoire, and, with this 
 claim, and their old partnership, on which he counted 
 less, he might get his passport altered, and lose him- 
 self somewhere. If he had to remain in the town, he 
 must see, or be presumed to have seen, that sick 
 father, and must be promptly adopted if by cruel cir- 
 cumstances he became unable to journey far enough 
 from Paris to feel secure. The distorted face of Amar 
 haunted him the man who, to save Iris own life, 
 would not even make believe to forgive. He had no 
 power within him to explain a man like Amar ; and 
 because the Jacobin was to him incomprehensible, he 
 was more than humanly terrible. What possessed 
 that devil of a marquis to turn up ? And was he now 
 at his chateau? And why had Achille Gamel set 
 
150 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 down Normandy in the passport ? And why had he 
 himself been fool enough to fill up the vacant place 
 for the name of his destination with that of the only 
 small town he could recall in that locality ? He had 
 been in haste, and now a net seemed to be gathering 
 about him. He must go thither, or take perilous 
 chances. He was moving toward a fateful hour. 
 
 " Toto," he said, " let us laugh for I like not the 
 face of to-morrow." 
 
XV 
 
 How Francois finds Despard and lias a lesson in politics, 
 and of what came of it. 
 
 T evening he ventured to enter an inn 
 at Soluce. A good bed and ample diet 
 restored his courage ; but he learned that 
 the citizen with a wart, and an escort of 
 a dozen soldiers, had passed the day 
 
 before, on their way to Evreux. Would he remain 
 there, this friendly commissioner? No one knew. 
 Evreux was Jacobin to the core. Then he thought of 
 the marquis ; it was well to be informed. 
 
 Yes ; the Citizen Ste. Luce lived beyond Musillon. 
 
 The citizen juggler declared that he had once been in 
 his service, but now that all men were equal, he could 
 not lower the dignity of an equalized nation by serving 
 him longer. He learned that the chateau of the mar- 
 quis had not suffered, nor he, as he was never known 
 to be absent, and no one molested him. This did 
 not surprise Francois. In the South, at an earlier 
 date, the peasants had burned hundreds of chateaux, 
 but these riots had been mercilessly put down. The 
 Jacobins meant to have peace in France, and at cost 
 of blood, if that was requisite. To have peace at 
 
 151 
 
152 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 home was essential to the success of national defense 
 on the frontier. In many parts of France, through- 
 out the whole of the Terror, very many large land- 
 owners were undisturbed. In fact, the Terror, and its 
 precedent punishments, fell with strange irregularity 
 on the provinces. The Dukes de Bethune-Charost, de 
 Luynes, de Nivernais, and others who had not been 
 active in politics, remained unhurt on their estates. 
 For the emigres was reserved a bitter hatred. Nor can 
 we wonder at this result of the vast exodus which 
 took place from '89 to '91 " l> emigration joy euse," as it 
 was called by those who carried off means enough to 
 live gay lives in Brussels while their country was in 
 the convulsions of great social and political change. 
 
 Francois made haste to leave at dawn, and by night- 
 fall was close to the town of Musillon. He found a 
 wood road, and was soon deep in one of the marquis's 
 forests. In a quiet glade among rocks he put his 
 effects in security, and, charging Toto to guard them, 
 set out to inspect the town. The poodle did not like 
 it. He ran back and forth, whining. 
 
 " Oh, stop that ! " cried Francois. " Go back ! 
 Dost thou hear ? " 
 
 Toto lay down, and set himself to secure what com- 
 fort the situation afforded. 
 
 Meanwhile Francois took to the main road until 
 close to the village, and then left it for the fields, cau- 
 tiously nearing the town, a small place of some twelve 
 hundred souls. A monotonous double line of scattered 
 one-story stone houses lay along the highway. Avoid- 
 ing the village, Francois moved past and around the 
 red-roofed Norman farm-houses which lay off from 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 153 
 
 the main highway. Mounds of earth set around the 
 houses walled in an orchard and an inclosure of many 
 acres, so that, seen from the exterior, they had the 
 appearance of being fortified. The lights were out, 
 and Francois saw no one. Now and then a sentinel 
 dog barked as the wanderer went by the gateways, 
 in wonder at this unusual style of fence. At last 
 he turned again toward the road. 
 
 The town was quiet. It was after nine at night. 
 Having purposely lingered thus long, Francois ap- 
 proached the back of the inn, and became sure that it 
 was empty of guests. A little beyond it was the vil- 
 lage church, and as this was lighted, he approached 
 it with care. The crosses of the burial-ground were 
 gone. He stumbled over graves, and at last, standing 
 on a tomb, got a fair glimpse of the interior of the 
 church, for many of its windows were broken. It was 
 full of people, and the murmur of noisy debate came 
 to his ears. He felt that he must learn what was 
 going on. With this in view, he kept under the deep 
 shadow of the wall, and soon saw that the outer porch 
 was crowded with men and women, listening through 
 the open door. Favored by the darkness, he got un- 
 observed into this mass of deeply occupied people, 
 and was able at last to catch a little of what was going 
 on. Yes; this was the club of Jacobins which his 
 partner Despard had been sent to organize, one of the 
 hundreds which soon conquered and led opinion all 
 through the provinces. 
 
 He caught the usual denunciation of emigres and of 
 the ci-devant aristocrats. He had heard it all before ; 
 it did not help him. 
 
154 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Very soon an elderly man in peasant dress arose 
 near the door. He spoke of something which they 
 had considered as well to be done soon. He thought 
 it better to wait until Citizen Commissioner Gregoire 
 arrived. To arrest a ci-devant aristocrat like Ste. Luce 
 was of course proper but the people were excited, and 
 might do mischief, and they knew that the Great 
 Committee did not approve of riots. France must 
 have res^t. These outbreaks had ended elsewhere in 
 the deaths of hundreds of peasants. He bade them 
 wait, and, in fact, spoke with rare good sense. He 
 was roughly interrupted. His speech was received 
 with laughter and contemptuous cries, and, to Fran- 
 Qois's amazement, there was Despard on his feet, not 
 twenty feet away. His old partner was somber-look- 
 ing and red-eyed, but seemed to have lost his shy- 
 ness of speech. He broke out into violent invectives, 
 charging the previous speaker with indifference to 
 the good of France. This man was no doubt a traitor. 
 He had been in the service of the ci-devant. He had 
 advised the people to wait. Were they not the rulers ? 
 The Jacobin clubs would see to this rat of a commis- 
 sioner; let him come. Then, leaping on a chair, he 
 began to contrast the luxury in which Ste. Luce lived 
 with the meager life of the peasant. He talked of the 
 great noble's younger life, of his debauchery and 
 hardness. All knew what he meant. Not he alone 
 had suffered. How many of the children men liked 
 to call their own were of noble blood ? 
 
 His fluent passion, his ease of speech, his apparent 
 freedom from his usual mood of fear, astonished 
 Francois. At last Despard became more excited, 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 155 
 
 raved wildly, grew incoherent, paused, burst into hor- 
 rors of blasphemous allusion, and, utterly exhausted, 
 reeled, and dropped into his chair, amid wild applaud- 
 ing cries and a dozen vain efforts of speakers eager to 
 be heard. As if satisfied, the crowd waited no longer 
 to listen, and issued out in just the mood Despard 
 had desired to create. Francois stepped aside, un- 
 noticed. Among the last, surrounded by a gesticulat- 
 ing group, came Despard, silent, exhausted, his head 
 bent down. A voice cried out : " To-night ! Let us 
 do it to-night ! " Despard said slowly : " No, not to- 
 night. He is not there he is not there. Perhaps 
 to-morrow ; we shall see. I must have rest rest." 
 
 "Is he mad?" thought Francois. " Diable! How 
 he hates him ! Why is he not afraid ? " He had once 
 heard the choir-master tell of a feeble, timid nun who 
 had killed two people ; and this man, he supposed, 
 might be, like her, crazed. No matter ; he must use 
 him. The crowd dispersed, and, following Despard at 
 a distance, Francois saw him enter the house of the 
 village priest, who had long since said his last prayer 
 in the garden of the Carmelites. 
 
 For an hour, and until all was still, Francois 
 walked to and fro behind the house. Suddenly a 
 door opened and closed. Francois moved around the 
 house. He saw Despard go out on the road. After 
 looking about him, the Jacobin walked swiftly away, 
 and was soon past the farthest houses. 
 
 "Dame!" said Francois, "let us go after him. 
 What can he mean ? It becomes amusing." Moving 
 with care in the shadows at the side of the road, he 
 followed Despard, who walked down the middle of 
 
156 THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 
 
 the highway, now and then stopping short and crack- 
 ing his finger-joints, as he used to do when worried, 
 or clasping his hands over the back of his neck. 
 
 The thief smiled as he went. He was again the 
 savage of the streets, with all his keen wits in play, 
 and vaguely aware of pleasure in the use of his train- 
 ing. He looked about him, or stole noiselessly from 
 one depth of gloom to another across some less shad- 
 owed place. He put out with care one long leg and 
 then the other tentatively, like great feelers, and yet 
 got over the ground with speed, as was required, for 
 Despard walked at a rate which was unusual. The 
 great ears of his pursuer were on guard. Once, when 
 Despard stopped of a sudden, Francois was near 
 enough to hear him crack his knuckles as he pulled at 
 them. As Pierre stood, he threw up a hand as it were 
 in the eager gesture of a speech, or in silent, custom- 
 born attestation of some mentally recorded vow. 
 Then he went onward, silent, and was for a moment 
 lost to view in the aisles of the forest into which he 
 turned. Francois moved faster, dimly seeing him 
 again. The Jacobin hurried on. The man who fol- 
 lowed him was smiling in the darkness, and was feed- 
 ing curiosity with the keen satisfaction he felt in a 
 chase which was not without a purpose. 
 
 Despard seemed to know the great forest well. It 
 soon became more open. He came to a low garden 
 wall, and, climbing it, was heard to tumble on the 
 farther side with a crash of breaking earthenware. 
 He had come down on a pile of garden pots. The 
 thief reflected for a moment that his partner must 
 have lost the agility of his former business, and him- 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 157 
 
 self approached the wall with care. Moving to one 
 side, he dropped to the ground, as quiet as a prowling 
 cat. 
 
 There was no moon, but the night was clear, and 
 over against the star-lit space he saw the silhouette of 
 a vast chateau angles, gables, turrets with vanes. 
 The man whom he hunted moved across the garden, 
 through rose-hedges, under trees, as if reckless as to 
 being heard. Once he fell, but got up without even 
 an exclamation ; and so on and on in stumbling haste 
 until he stood upon the broad terrace in front of the 
 building. 
 
 Francois was for a little while at leisure to look 
 about him. Despard, with a sudden movement, strode 
 to the foot of the broad steps which led up to the 
 lofty doorway of the chateau. Here again he stayed 
 motionless. Francois, now used to the partial ob- 
 scurity of the night, took quick note of the white 
 gleam of vases, of a fountain's monotonous murmur, 
 of statues, dim gray blurs seen against the dark wood- 
 spaces beyond ; the great size of the house he saw, and 
 that three or four windows showed lights within. 
 
 What was Despard about to do I Francois waited. 
 Then he heard now and then, rising and falling, the 
 faint notes of a violoncello. At this moment he saw 
 that Pierre was gesticulating, and at last caught 
 sound of speech. He was too far away to be clearly 
 seen or distinctly heard. Francois sat down, took off 
 his shoes, tied them over his neck, and went down on 
 all fours. It was one of his old tricks to amuse thus 
 the children gathered before the show-booth. He 
 could become a bear or an elephant, and knew how to 
 
158 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 simulate the walk of beasts. Now he approached 
 Despard on his hands and feet, and, seen in the partial 
 gloom, would have seemed a queer-looking animal. 
 A closely clipped row of box lay between them and 
 bordered the broad roadway leading to the portal. 
 
 His approach was noiseless. Even if it had not 
 been, it is unlikely that Despard would have noticed 
 it. The quadruped knelt, and set his eyes to see and 
 his ears to hear, being now only six feet away. His 
 own fate was deeply involved. He cared little for the 
 marquis, but up out of the dark of memory came the 
 tender sweetness of the face of the widowed daughter. 
 No word of her brief pleading was forgotten by this 
 man who craved regard, affection, respect, considera- 
 tionall that he had not. It was only a flash of 
 thought, and again he was intently receptive. 
 
 Despard stood, shaking his arms wildly, looking 
 here and there, up and down. At last he spoke, and 
 so loud that Frangois watched him, amazed at his un- 
 natural lack of caution. 
 
 " To-morrow I, Pierre Despard, shall be master. I 
 shall no more be afraid. I shall see thee tremble on 
 the tumbrel. I shall see thee shudder at the knife." 
 
 Franc. ois had an uncontrollable shiver, predictive, 
 sympathetic. Could he trust this creature? There 
 was no help for it. He recalled with a smile one of 
 the Crab's proverbs: " Monsieur Must is a man to 
 trust." She had many and vile sayings j this was one 
 of the few that were not swine -wisdom. 
 
 As the man went on speaking, his hands threatened 
 the silent house or snatched at some unseen thing. 
 He stood again moveless for a moment, and then 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 159 
 
 threw out his hands as if in appeal, and called aloud : 
 "Renee! Renee! art thou here? Oh, could he not 
 have spared thee to me to me, who had so little? 
 And he had so much ! Oh, for the name he should 
 have spared thee ! For the shame the shame. Re- 
 nee, his own child's name. My Renee is dead, and 
 his his Renee lives j but not long not long.' 7 
 
 "Dieu!" murmured Francois. "Let him have the 
 man. Dame! I should have killed him long ago." 
 
 Pierre was raving, and was only at times to be under- 
 stood. He seemed to be seeing this lost Renee, and 
 was now rational and again incoherent or foolishly 
 vague. 
 
 Francois hesitated ; but at this moment a window 
 on the second floor was cast open, and a man, who 
 may have heard Despard, showed himself. Francois 
 looked up, and saw a slight figure framed in the win- 
 dow-space clear against the light behind him. 
 
 Despard cried out in tones of terror : " The mar- 
 quis ! the marquis ! " and, turning, fled down the ter- 
 race and along the avenue. 
 
 " Queer, that," muttered Francois. " He is afraid. 
 I must have him." He put on his shoes in haste, and 
 with great strides pursued the retreating figure, hear- 
 ing, as he ran, the servant crying from the window, 
 " Who goes there ? " 
 
 A hundred yards away from the house, Despard, 
 terrified at the nearing steps, turned into a side alley, 
 and at last tore through a thicket to the left. 
 
 In an instant Francois had him by the collar. The 
 captured man screamed like a child in a panic of alarm, 
 while Frangois shook him as a terrier shakes a rat. 
 
 10 
 
160 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 " Mille tonnerres! idiot, keep quiet ! Don't kick ; it 
 is no use. Thou wilt have the whole house after thee. 
 'T is I Francois. Keep quiet ! Look at me Fran- 
 C,ois. Dost not hear ? " At last he was quieted. 
 
 " What scared thee, mon ami? " 
 
 u I saw him I saw the marquis ! I saw him ! " 
 
 "Monsieur the marquis? He is thrice that fel- 
 low's size." 
 
 They were now seated on the ground, Despard 
 panting, and darting quick glances to right and left 
 like a frightened animal. 
 
 " Come, Pierre, tell me what all this means. Art 
 gone clean out of thy wits ? " 
 
 "Why dost thou ask? Thou dost know well 
 enough. I have waited waited. Now I have him." 
 
 " Dame ! Thou f Thou wilt never face him. Thou 
 art afraid." 
 
 "I am now. I shall not be to-morrow night. 
 There will be hundreds. I shall look ! I shall see ! " 
 
 " For Heaven's sake," cried Francois, " talk a little 
 sense. A man who fears a mouse to talk of killing 
 this terrible fellow ! " 
 
 " The law will kill him, not I. The law the knife." 
 
 " Stuff ! A certain commissioner, Gregoire, is after 
 thee, and, worse, after me. He hath a wart on his 
 nose. I ran away to avoid those cursed Jacobins. 
 Passport all right name of Jean Francois. Mind 
 thee ! My father is old and failing. Thou wilt have 
 to find me a papa. Gregoire has he has doubts, this 
 Gregoire. So have I. When I told him you were 
 my friend, he shut me up in a cellar, and that I liked 
 not. I was a fool to run away j but, mon Dieu! there 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 161 
 
 was my errand to see that poor father all set out 
 on my passport, and the man with the wart inquisi- 
 tive. I had to get here and find my papa." 
 
 Another man's difficulties took off Pierre's mind 
 from his own. He was clear enough now, and asked 
 questions, some hard to answer, but all reasonable. 
 
 Francois related his story. The fencing-master had 
 fallen under suspicion and run away. He, Francois, 
 likewise suspected, had got a passport from a Jacobin 
 fencing-pupil, and come hither to fall on the neck of 
 his dear friend Pierre. It was neat, and hung together 
 well. It had many omissions, and as a whole lacked 
 the fundamental quality of truth, but it answered. 
 When a man's head is set to save his head, it may not 
 always be desirable to be accurate. 
 
 Pierre reflected; then he cried out suddenly: 
 "This Gregoire! That for him! Let him take 
 care. Art thou still a Royalist ? " 
 
 Frangois was a Jacobin of the best, unjustly sus- 
 pected. He was eager to know what deviltry was in 
 Pierre's mind as to this marquis ; and there, too, was 
 the daughter. If he meant to stir these peasants to 
 riot in order to gratify himself and his well-justified 
 hatred, that might sadly influence Francois's fate. 
 The central power in Paris was merciless to lawless 
 violence which did not aid its own purposes. 
 
 Francois talked on and on slackly, getting time 
 to think. Pierre's speech had troubled him. He 
 was puzzled as he saw more distinctly the nature 
 of the man whom he was forced to trust. He did 
 not analyze him. He merely apprehended and dis- 
 trusted one who was to-day a shrinking coward 
 
162 THE ADVENTURES OP FRANgOIS 
 
 and to-morrow a man to be feared less for what he 
 might do than for what he might lead others to do 
 when himself remote from sources of immediate phys- 
 ical fear. Francois did not could not fully know 
 that he was now putting himself in the power of one 
 who was the victim of increasing attacks of melan- 
 choly, with intervals of excitement during which the 
 victim was eagerly homicidal, and possessed for a 
 time the recklessness and the cunning of the partly 
 insane. 
 
 "Come," said Francois, at last; "you must hide 
 me until you can find me that papa, or until Citizen 
 Gregoire has come and gone. I like him not." 
 
 " Nor I," said Pierre. " But let him take care ; I am 
 not a man to be played with." 
 
 Francois said he should think not, but that if he 
 meditated an attack on that miserable ci-devant yon- 
 der, it were better to wait until Gregoire had come 
 and gone. 
 
 This caution seemed to awaken suspicion. Pierre 
 turned, and caught Francois's arm. " Thou art a spy 
 a spy of the Convention ! " 
 
 " Thou must be more fond of a joke than was once 
 thy way. Nonsense ! I could go back and warn the 
 marquis. That would serve the republic, and well, 
 too j for, by Heaven ! if thou art of a mind to burn 
 houses, Robespierre will shorten thee by a head in no 
 time." 
 
 " Who talks of burning houses ? Am I a fool ? I 
 Despard ? " 
 
 " No, indeed. Thou" Francois needed the man's 
 help, and felt that he was risking his own safety. He 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 163 
 
 must at least seem to trust him. " Dost thou mean 
 to arrest Ste. Luce?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 " But when?" 
 
 " Oh, in a day or two ; no hurry." 
 
 Francois knew that he was hearing a lie. " Good," 
 he said. " But I advise thee against violence." 
 
 " There will be none. I control these people. Thou 
 shouldst see ; thou shouldst hear me speak." 
 
 " Let us go," said Francois, and they returned to 
 the village without a word on either side. The hamlet 
 was quiet. At the priest's door Francois said : " Wait 
 for me. I must fetch my bundle and Toto. I left them 
 in the wood." Pierre would wait. In an hour his ex- 
 partner came back, and before he could knock was 
 admitted by the anxious Jacobin. 
 
 When they were within the house, ne told Francois 
 that he lived alone. An old woman cooked for him, 
 and came in the morning and went away at dusk. 
 He, Francois, should have the garret ; and, this being 
 settled, they carried thither cold meats, bread, cheese, 
 wine, and water, so as to provision the thief for a few 
 days. There would be time to talk later. Francois 
 asked a single question, saying frankly that he had 
 heard Pierre speak to his club. Certainly he had 
 power over the people. What was it he had meant to 
 do, and when? Despard hesitated. Then the cun- 
 ning of a crumbling mind came to his aid, and he re- 
 plied lightly : 
 
 " We shall wait till Gregoire has gone. I told thee 
 so already. Thy advice was good. I do not know. 
 We shall see we shall see." The door closed after 
 
164 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 him. The man, descending the stair, paused of a sud- 
 den, the prey of suspicion. Why did Francois come 
 hither? Was he a spy of the marquis of the Con- 
 vention? He feared Francois. To one in his state 
 of mind little obstacles seem large, great obstacles 
 small. He must watch him. He was in his power. 
 
 The man left within the room was not less suspi- 
 cious. He hung a cover over the single window, locked 
 the door, and lay down, with Toto at his feet, and at 
 his side his rapier and pistols. He slept a tranquil 
 sleep. Most of the next day he sat at the window, 
 watching through a slit in the curtain the street below 
 him. People came and went ; groups gathered about 
 the desecrated church; there was much excitement, 
 but he could hear nothing. At dusk he saw a num- 
 ber of men, some with sticks and pikes, come toward 
 the priest's house. Owing to his position, he lost 
 sight of them as they came nearer, but from the noise 
 below he presumed them to have entered. He was, 
 for many reasons, indisposed to remain uninformed. 
 He waited. The noise increased. Pierre had not 
 come to visit him, as he had said he would ; and where 
 was that much-desired father? He laughed. "Ah, 
 Toto, one must needs be his own papa." He had gone 
 about all day in his stocking-feet to avoid being over- 
 heard. Now he bade Toto be quiet, and, opening the 
 door, went cautiously down the stone stairway. It 
 was quite dark. On the last landing he stood, intently 
 listening. The hallway below was full of men, and 
 evidently the two rooms on the ground floor were as 
 crowded. He overheard Despard's voice, angry and 
 strenuous. The words he could not catch, but the 
 
THE ADVENTUEES OF FEANgOIS 165 
 
 comments of those in the wide hall were enough. The 
 commissioner was coming, and would interfere. Des- 
 pard was right. The marquis was about to fly, to 
 emigrate. He must be arrested. They poured out, 
 shouting, tumultuous, to join the. excited mob in the 
 street. 
 
 Francois went quickly up the stair. He cared 
 little for the marquis, but he cared much for the pale 
 lady whose face was stamped in his memory. More- 
 over, all this ruin and threatened bloodshed were not 
 to his mind. A day's reflection had enabled him to 
 conclude that, between Gregoire and Despard, the 
 situation was perilous, and that he had better disap- 
 pear from the scene. Meanwhile he would warn the 
 marquis, and then go his way. 
 
 He put on his shoes, took his bundle, his arms, and 
 Toto, and, with his cloak on his shoulder, slipped 
 quietly down-stairs. The house was empty. He went 
 out the back way unseen, observing that the church 
 was lighted, and seeing a confused mass of noisy 
 peasants about the door. 
 
XVI 
 
 How Francois warns the Marquis de Ste. Luce, and of the 
 battle on the staircase between the old day and the 
 new. 
 
 was now close to nine, and again a 
 bright, cold, starry night. A long cir- 
 cuit brought him to the highroad. A 
 mile away he struck into a broad avenue, 
 and, never pausing, pushed on. His 
 sense of locality was acute and like that of an animal. 
 Once or twice he was sure that he heard dull noises 
 behind him when the sharp night wind blew from the 
 village. 
 
 " Ah, Toto," he murmured, " keep thou close to heel. 
 This is our greatest adventure. I would we were out 
 of it. Ah, the chateau ! " He ran across the flower- 
 beds, and with long leaps up the steps, and sounded 
 a strong summons on the knocker of the great door. 
 A servant opened it. "Where is the marquis ?" 
 What the man said he did not wait to hear. The 
 lofty hall was dark, but the principal staircase was 
 lighted faintly from above. Without a word, Fran- 
 <?ois hurried past the servant and up the stairs. From 
 the broad landing he saw beyond him a lighted draw- 
 
 166 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 167 
 
 ing-room, and heard the notes of a violoncello. There 
 was the woman, pale and beautiful, in black, her face 
 upturned, the boy holding before her a sheet of music. 
 The human richness of the cello's tones sounded 
 through the great chamber. Where had he seen the 
 like ? Ah, that picture in the vestry of Notre Dame 
 the face of St. Cecilia ! He had a moment of in- 
 tense joy at having come. Till then he had doubted 
 if it were wise. As he stood, the marquis came to- 
 ward him quickly from the side of the room, and two 
 gentlemen left a card-table and started up. 
 
 Francois went in at once, meeting the marquis 
 within the room. The music ceased; the woman 
 cried, "Man Dieu! " Every one stared at this strange 
 figure. 
 
 " What is it, my man ? Venire St. Gris! 't is my 
 thief ! This way," and he led him aside into a little 
 room, while the rest, silent and troubled, looked after 
 them. 
 
 " Monsieur, to waste no words, these cursed peasants 
 are on their way to do here what mischief the devil 
 knows. It is you they want. There is a fool, one 
 Despard, who leads them. But, Dieu! there is small 
 time to think." 
 
 Francois, breathless, panting, stood looking about 
 him, now as always observant, and curious as to this 
 wonderful room and this impassive gentleman. Toto, 
 as well blown as his master, recognizing the value of 
 a soft rug, dropped, head on legs, meaning to have at 
 least the minute's luxury and rest. 
 
 The marquis stood still in thought a moment. " I 
 am greatly obliged to you; and this is twice twice. 
 
168 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 I expected trouble, but not so soon. Come this 
 way." 
 
 Francois followed. Toto kept one eye on him, and 
 slept with the other. As they reentered the great 
 salon, the two gentlemen and Mme. Renee, all visibly 
 agitated, came to meet them. "What is it?" they 
 asked. The marquis forestalled further inquiry. 
 
 " My daughter, our kindly peasants will be here in 
 an hour no, half an hour, or less. Resistance is use- 
 less. To fly is to confess the need to fly ; it is not to 
 my taste. You gentlemen are better out of this. Go 
 at once at once ! " 
 
 "Yes, go!" said madame. "You cannot help us, 
 and can only make bad worse." 
 
 They wasted no time, and few words passed. The 
 little drama played itself quickly. 
 
 " Adieu, madame ! " Madame courtesied. The boy 
 walked over and stood by his grandfather. He looked 
 up at his clear-cut face, with its cold smile, and then 
 at the backs of the retiring gentlemen. He had a 
 boy's sense of these being deserters. They were gone 
 in hot haste. 
 
 Mme. Renee came nearer. "We thank you I 
 thank you " ; and she put out her hand. Francois 
 took it awkwardly. A touch of the hand of this high- 
 bred, saintly lady, grande dame and true woman, sin- 
 gularly disturbed the man. The tremor of a strange 
 emotion ran over him. He let fall the soft hand, and 
 drew himself up to the full of his unusual height, 
 saying : " It is little very little." 
 
 "And now you must go," she said; "and at once." 
 
 " Of course of course," said Ste. Luce. " Out the 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 169 
 
 back way. Victor will show you." There were no 
 further thanks. All such common men had served 
 the great noble ; it seemed of the nature of things. 
 But the woman said : 
 
 " God protect you ! God will know to thank you. 
 I cannot fitly. Go go ! " 
 
 " I do not mean to go," said Francois. " Hark ! it 
 is too late.' 7 He knew not then, or ever, why he stayed. 
 The boy looked up at him. Here was another kind 
 of man, and not a gentleman, either. Why did he 
 not go? 
 
 An old majordomo came with uncertain steps of 
 nervous haste, crying: "The servants are gone, 
 monsieur ! The people are coming up the avenue ! 
 Mon Dieu ! " 
 
 " Indeed ! Now be off with you, Master Thief." 
 
 "No." His head said, "Go "5 his heart said, 
 " Stay." 
 
 " By St. Denis, but you are a fool ! " 
 
 Francois muttered that he had been that always, 
 and then felt the hand of the boy touch his own. He 
 called : " Toto ! Toto ! We will stay." And the dog, 
 at ease in all society, selected a yet softer rug. 
 
 The marquis troubled himself no further as to Fran- 
 c,ois. He went out of the room, and was back in a min- 
 ute, while the uproar increased, and Mme. Renee, at the 
 window, pleaded with the thief, urging him to fly, or 
 cried: "They are coming! Oh, a crowd a mob 
 with torches and arms ! The saints protect us ! Why 
 will you not go ? Oh, mon pere father ! thou hast thy 
 rapier. What canst thou against hundreds hun- 
 dreds?" 
 
170 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 The marquis smiled. " Costume de rigueur, my dear. 
 There will be no bloodshed, my child." 
 
 "And they will all run," cried the boy. " And if 
 grandpapa has to surrender, he must give up his 
 sword. When my papa was taken in America, he 
 had to" 
 
 " Hush ! " said the mother. The lad was singularly 
 outside of the tragic shadows of the hour. 
 
 Francois all this while stood near the window, his 
 cloak cast back, his queer, smile-lit face intent now on 
 the mob without, now on the woman, the boy, the 
 man. " Dame! '" he muttered. "We are in danger- 
 ously high society." He set his knapsack aside, cast 
 off his cloak, loosened his rapier in its sheath, looked 
 to the priming of his pistols, and waited to see what 
 would happen when this yelling thing out yonder 
 should burst into action. 
 
 " They must have made mad haste, madame." 
 
 " They are on the terrace. Mother of Heaven ! " 
 cried the woman. " They wait ! A man is speaking 
 to them. They have torches. Some go some go to 
 right around the house." A stone splintered the win- 
 dow-glass, and she fell back. " Wretches ! " 
 
 The marquis turned to her. " Stay here. I go to 
 receive our guests." 
 
 "No, no! " 
 
 " Do as I tell thee. Be still." She caught the boy 
 to her, and fell into a chair, sobbing. The marquis 
 called to the quaking majordomo : " Take those two 
 candelabra. Set them at the foot of the staircase 
 the foot." The old servant obeyed without words. 
 The marquis went by him. He seemed to have for- 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 171 
 
 gotten Francois, who glanced at Mme. Renee and fol- 
 lowed the master of the house. 
 
 There had been a moment's lull outside. The double 
 stairway swept down to a landing, and then in one 
 noble descent to the great deserted hall, where the 
 faded portraits of lord and lady looked down among 
 armor and trophies of war and chase. 
 
 " Put those lights there and there. Get two more 
 quick! Set them on the brackets below. One must 
 see. Put out the lights in the drawing-room. What, 
 you here yet, Master Thief ? What the devil are you 
 doing here ? The deuce ! n As he spoke they were 
 standing together on the broad landing, before them 
 the great stair which led down to the illuminated hall 
 below. The marquis had meant to meet these people 
 outside ; he was quiet, cool, the master of many re- 
 sources. Surprised at the suddenness of the outbreak, 
 he still counted, with the courage of habit, on his per- 
 sonal influence and address. As the marquis spoke, 
 the roar without broke forth anew. A shower of 
 stones clattered 011 door and wall and window with 
 sharp crash and tinkle of breaking glass. It was fol- 
 lowed by an indescribable tumult shouts, laughter, 
 the shrill voices of women, a multitudinous appeal to 
 fear, ominous, such as no man could hear unmoved. 
 The animal we call a mob was there the thing of 
 moods, like a madman, now destructive, now as a 
 brute brave, now timid as a house-fly. 
 
 They beat on the great doors, and of a sudden 
 seemed to discover that the servants, in flying, had 
 not secured them. The doors gave way, and those in 
 front were hurled into the hall by the pressure of 
 
172 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 those behind. In an instant it was half full of peas- 
 ants armed with all manner of rude weapons. A 
 dozen had torches of sheep's wool wrapped about 
 pitchforks and soaked with tar. Their red flames 
 flared up, with columns above of thick smoke. There 
 were women, lads. None had muskets. Some looked 
 about them, curious. Those without shouted and 
 pressed to get in; but this was no longer easy. A 
 few of the boldest began to move up the lower steps 
 of the great staircase. At the landing above, in par- 
 tial obscurity, stood the marquis and Francois. On 
 the next rise behind them were Mme. Renee and her 
 boy, unnoticed, unwilling to be left alone. The stair- 
 way and all above it were darker than the red-lighted 
 hall, where ravage was imminent. A man struck 
 with a butcher's mallet a suit of armor. It rang with 
 the blow, and fell with clang and rattle, hurting a 
 boy, who screamed. The butcher leaped on the ped- 
 estal and yelled, waving one of the iron gauntlets. 
 They who hesitated, leaderless, at the foot of the dark 
 ascent turned at the sound of the tumbled past. 
 
 The marquis cried aloud, " Halt, there ! " 
 
 Some mischievous lad outside cast a club at the 
 side window of the hall, and the quartered arms of 
 Ste. Luce, De Rohan, and their kin fell with sharp, 
 jangling notes on the floor and on the heads of the 
 crowd. 
 
 "Halt, I say ! " The voice rang out of the gloom, 
 strong and commanding. The marquis's sword was 
 out. " Draw, my charming thief. Morituri te salu- 
 tant ! " 
 
 " What ? " cried Francois " what is that ? " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 173 
 
 " Nothing. We are about to die ; that is all. Let 
 us send some couriers to Hades. You should have 
 gone away. Now you are about to die." 
 
 Francois drew his long rapier. He was strangely 
 elated. "We are going to die, Toto." The dog 
 barked furiously. " Keep back ! " cried his master. 
 Then he heard Pierre Despard's shrill voice cry out : 
 " Surrender, Citizen Ste. Luce, or it will be worse for 
 thee." The mob screamed : " Despard ! Despard ! " 
 He was hustled forward, amid renewed shouts, cries, 
 crash of falling vases, and jangling clatter of broken 
 glass. The reluctant leader tried to keep near to the 
 door. The mob was of other mind. He was thrust 
 through the press to the foot of the stair, with cries 
 of " Vive Despard ! Vive Despard ! " The people on 
 the stair, fearing no resistance, were pushed up, 
 shouting, " A bas les emigres! " 
 
 " Now, then ! " cried the marquis. " Get back there, 
 dogs ! " The two blades shot out. A man fell j an- 
 other, touched in the shoulder, screamed, and leaped 
 over the balustrade ; the rest fell away, one man on 
 another, with shrieks and groans. Francois caught a 
 lad climbing on the outside of the gilded rail, and, 
 with a laugh, threw him on the heads of those below. 
 A joy unknown before possessed the thief the lust 
 of battle, the sense of competency. He took in the 
 whole scene, heart, mind, and body alive as never 
 before. 
 
 " Sang de St. Denis! You are a gallant man. But 
 we are lost. They will be on our backs in a moment ; 
 I hear them." Amid a terrible din, stones and sticks 
 flew. A pebble struck the marquis in the face. 
 
174 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 " Dame! n he cried, furious, and darted down a step or 
 two, the quick rapier mercilessly stabbing here and 
 there. One madder than the rest set a torch to a 
 priceless tapestry. It flared up, lighting the great 
 space and the stair, and doing in the end no harm. 
 Despard, terrified, was pushed forward to the edge of 
 the fallen bodies on the staircase. 
 
 " Surrender ! n he called out in a shriek of fear, for 
 here before him were the two men he most dreaded 
 on earth. The noise was indescribable. The butcher 
 beat with the iron gauntlet on a shield beside him ; 
 then he threw the steel glove at Francois. It flew 
 high. There was a cry from the space behind. The 
 little boy screamed shrilly, "They have killed my 
 mama ! " 
 
 FranQois looked behind him. There was now light 
 enough, and too much. He saw the woman lying, a 
 convulsed, tumbled heap, on the stair. The marquis 
 glanced behind him, and lost his cool quietude. He 
 ran down the stair, stabbing furiously. A half-dozen 
 dead and wounded lay before him. In an instant he 
 was back again beside Francois, his face bleeding from 
 the stones and sticks thrown at him. Francois was 
 standing, tall and terrible in his anger, a pistol in his 
 hand. 
 
 "Shall I kill him, monsieur?" 
 
 " By Heaven, yes ! n 
 
 The pistol resounded terribly in the vaulted space, 
 and the brute who had thrown the gauntlet, swaying, 
 screamed shrilly, and tumbled dead. 
 
 " Give me your hand ! " cried the marquis. " Thank 
 you, monsieur ; the devil hath a recruit. Now fol- 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 175 
 
 low me. Let us kill and die. To hell with this 
 rabble ! " 
 
 "Wait/' cried Francois, and, running down the 
 steps, put out a long arm and caught Despard. He 
 hauled him savagely after him, calling out, " Hold the 
 stair a moment ! " In an instant he was on the land- 
 ing above, with his prey. His sword he let fall, and 
 set a pistol to Despard's head. The terror of the 
 trapped Jacobin was pitiful. He prayed for life. He 
 would let them all go ; he would he would. Fran- 
 c.ois swung him round to face the suddenly silenced 
 mob. " Keep still, or I will scatter your brains, fool ! 
 Tell them to go ! Tell them to go, or, sang de Dieu! 
 thou art a dead man ! n 
 
 Pierre screamed out his orders: "Go go all of 
 you. I order go ! " 
 
 The beast he had trained and led was of no such 
 mind. A man called out, " Die like a man, coward ! " 
 A stone or two flew. . One struck him. The storm 
 broke out anew. 
 
 " Say thy prayers. Thou art dead. Shall I kill him, 
 monsieur ? " 
 
 " No, no j not that man not him ! " 
 
 " Mercy ! n screamed Despard. 
 
 " The deuce ! " laughed Francois. " It gets warm, 
 monsieur. What to do with this coward ? Keep still, 
 insect ! " 
 
 The mob had for a little time enough of these ter- 
 rible swordsmen on the stair. It was awed, helpless. 
 Below lay, head down or athwart, three dead men, 
 and certain wounded, unable to crawl. The mob 
 shrank away, and, with eyes red in the glare, swayed 
 11 
 
176 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 to and fro, indecisive, swearing. For a moment no 
 more missiles were thrown. They awaited the expected 
 attack from the rear of the house. 
 
 Pierre hung, a limp, inert thing, one arm on the 
 balustrade, the thief s strong clutch on his neck, 
 making his shivering bulk a shield against stick and 
 stone. 
 
 "It will soon be over," said the marquis, quietly. 
 " There ! I thought so." 
 
 A dull roar was heard, and the crash of broken 
 glass from somewhere behind them. 
 
 This signal set loose the cowed mob. Clubs and 
 stones flew. Something struck Pierre. He squealed 
 like a hurt animal, pain and terror in the childlike cry. 
 More men crowded in, and the mass, with shout and 
 cry, surged forward, breaking mirrors and vases, with 
 frantic joy in the clatter of destruction. 
 
 " It is serious this time," cried the marquis. " Adieu, 
 my brave fellow." Another tapestry flared up, slowly 
 burning. " Let us take toll, Francois. Come ! " 
 
 " Good, monsieur ! But my fool here" 
 
 At this moment the crowd at the door divided. A 
 dozen soldiers broke in, and with them the man of the 
 wart Gregoire. 
 
 " Dame! " cried Francois ; " the Commissioner Gre- 
 goire ! The wart ! It is time to leave." 
 
 "Order, here," shouted Gregoire, "in the name of 
 the law ! " The guard pushed in and made a lane. 
 One or two persistent rioters were collared and 
 passed out. A dead silence fell on all. The shreds 
 of the tapestry dropped. The mob fell back. 
 
 " Help ! help ! " cried Pierre. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANQOIS 177 
 
 " Morbleu! dost thou want to die ? " 
 
 " It is over/' said the inarquis. " I prefer my peas- 
 ants." 
 
 Gregoire called out, "Where is the mayor?" A 
 reluctant little man appeared. 
 
 " Commissioner, these men have slain citizens," he 
 said. 
 
 "And they did well. France wants order. Out 
 with you all, or I shall fire on you. Citizens indeed ! 
 See to that stuff burning." 
 
 The peasants, awed, slunk away. Gregoire coolly 
 mounted the stairs. 
 
 " Hold ! " cried the marquis. 
 
 " I arrest thee in the name of the law ! Here is my 
 order." 
 
 The marquis took it. 
 
 "The light is bad," he said; "but I see it is in 
 good form. The law I obey and muskets"; and 
 then, in a half -whisper to Francois : " Run ! run ! I 
 will hold the stairs." 
 
 Gregoire overheard him. 
 
 " The citizen emigre! I arrest him ! " and he went 
 up a step. 
 
 " Back ! " cried the marquis, lunging fiercely at the 
 too adventurous commissioner, who leaped down the 
 stairway with the agility of alarm. 
 
 " Fire ! " he cried. 
 
 " Thanks, monsieur ; I can help you no more ! " cried 
 Francois. As he spoke, he hurled the unhappy Des- 
 pard on top of the commissioner. They fell in a 
 heap. The thief, catching up his rapier, was off and 
 away through the drawing-room, seeing, as he went, 
 
178 THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 
 
 the woman lying on the floor, her forehead streaming 
 blood. He picked up his cloak and knapsack, and, 
 followed by Toto, ran for his life down a long corri- 
 dor to the left. At the end, he threw open a window, 
 and dropped, with the dog under his arm, upon the 
 roof of a portico over a side door. No one was near. 
 He called the dog, and fled through the gardens and 
 into the woods of the chase. 
 
XVII 
 
 Of how Francois, escaping, lives in the wood; of how he 
 sees the daughter of the marquis dying, and Mows not 
 then, or ever after, what it was that hurt him; of how 
 he becomes homesicJc for Paris. 
 
 HE forest was of great extent, and inter- 
 sected by wood roads. Along one of 
 these Francois ran for an hour or more, 
 until he was tired, and had put, as he 
 believed, some miles between himself 
 and the citizen with the wart. The way became more 
 narrow, the forest more dense. At last there was 
 only a broad path. Now and then he saw the north 
 star, and knew that he was traveling southward. He 
 came out at dawn on an open space, rocky and barren, 
 a great rabbit-warren, as he knew by the sudden 
 stampede of numberless rabbits. He turned aside 
 into the woods, and a few hundred yards away found 
 a bit of marsh, and beyond it a brook, with leaf -cov- 
 ered space beneath tall plane-trees, now bare of foli- 
 age. He drank deep of the welcome water, and sat 
 down with Toto to rest and think. 
 
 "Mon ami," he said, "we like adventures; but this 
 was a little too much." Then he laughed at the 
 
 179 
 
180 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 thought of Pierre's terror ; but the man with the wart 
 was not so funny, and the poor lady who was St. 
 Cecilia, and that cold-blooded devil of a marquis 
 " What a man ! " 
 
 Here were rabbits for food, and only a forest bed, 
 but, on the whole, better than the Conciergerie or the 
 Chatelet. He slept long, and was cold, fearing to 
 make a fire. About eleven next morning he left Toto, 
 and went with care to the edge of the wood. He 
 heard noises, and saw boys setting traps ; for now my 
 lord's rabbits were anybody's rabbits. The traps 
 pleased him. He slipped away. At evening, being 
 dreadfully hungry, he went to the warren, took two 
 rabbits out of the traps, and went back. The man's 
 patience was amazing : not until late at night did he 
 make a fire to cook his meat j but Toto, less exacting, 
 was fed at once with the raw flesh. 
 
 A week went by, with no more of incident than I 
 have mentioned. He explored the woods day after 
 day, and a half-mile away found a farm, whence at 
 night he took toll of milk, having stolen a pail to aid 
 him. It was all sadly monotonous, but what else 
 could he do ? Once, after a fortnight, he was bold 
 enough to wander in daylight within the woods near 
 the chateau. It was apparently deserted ; at least, he 
 saw no signs of habitation ; nor, later at night, when 
 he went back, were there lights, except in one room on 
 the ground floor. 
 
 Francois approached with caution, and, looking 
 through a window, saw an old man seated by the fire. 
 Making sure that he was alone, the wanderer tapped on 
 the pane. The man at the hearthside looked up, and 
 
'THE WANDEREK TAPPED ON THE PANE.' 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 183 
 
 Francois saw, as he had suspected, that he was the 
 majordomo. Again Francois tapped, and observing 
 the inmate move toward the door, he hurried thither, 
 As they met, Francois hastened to say that he was the 
 man who aided the marquis, having himself had the 
 luck to escape. Once reassured, the old majordomo 
 urged Francois to enter. But this he would not do. 
 He had had enough of house-traps. In the forest they 
 would be secure. To this the servant agreed, and fol- 
 lowed him at once. When at last in the woodland 
 shelter, Francois asked: "What of the marquis?" 
 He had been taken by Gregoire toward Paris, but 
 was said to have made his escape. " A hard man to 
 hold is my master and as to the village, it has had 
 to pay right dearly, too." Pierre had been arrested, 
 but was soon set free. And the little gentleman? 
 He had been taken to a cousin's house in eastern 
 Normandy. Francois hesitated over his final question ; 
 he himself could not have told why. 
 
 " And Mme. Renee ? " he exclaimed, and bent for- 
 ward, intent. 
 
 "The countess?" 
 
 " I did not know. Is she a countess ? Mme. Renee 
 what of her? she who was hurt. I passed her; 
 she lay on the upper stair. There was blood blood. 
 The little boy cried to me to help her. My God ! I 
 could not. I tell me, was she badly hurt?" 
 
 " She is dying, monsieur. Something a gauntlet, 
 they say struck her head. She has known no one 
 since." 
 
 "Where is she?" 
 
 "In the chateau, with a maid and her aunt. She 
 
184 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 was too ill to be taken away. She is dying to-night. 
 They say she cannot last long. God rest her soul ! 
 'T is the end of everything." 
 
 The thief stood still a minute ; then he said reso- 
 lutely, "I must see her." This the old servant de- 
 clared impossible ; but when FranQois swore that he 
 would go alone, he finalty consented to show him 
 the way, insisting all the time that he would not 
 be let in. 
 
 In a few minutes they were moving down a long 
 corridor on the second floor. All was dark until the 
 majordomo paused at a door under which a line of 
 light was to be seen. Here he knocked, motioning his 
 companion to keep back a little. The door opened, 
 and a gaunt middle-aged lady came forth. 
 
 " What is it? "she said. 
 
 " This man this gentleman would see the countess." 
 
 "What do you want?" she said, facing Francois. 
 " My niece is dying murdered. You have done your 
 cruel work. Would you trouble the dead ? " 
 
 " Madame," said Francois, "I am he who held the 
 stair with the marquis. I am no Jacobin. I shot the 
 man who wounded the countess." 
 
 "You! He is dead." 
 
 " Thank God ! May I see the lady ? " 
 
 " She is dying 5 why should you see her?" 
 
 "Madame, I am a poor unhappy thief. Once this 
 lady offered me help a chance, a better life. I was 
 a fool ; I let it go by. I let me see her." 
 
 "Come in," said the gentlewoman 5 and, with no 
 more words, he entered after her, and approached the 
 bed, leaving his dog outside. What he beheld he 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 185 
 
 neither forgot nor, I believe, save in his memoirs, ever 
 spoke of to any one. 
 
 He saw a white face on the pillow ; a deep-red spot 
 on each cheek; eyes with the glaze of swift-coming 
 death. He fell on his knees beside her, and stayed 
 motionless, watching the sweat on the brow, the breath 
 quicken and then stop as if it would not come again. 
 At last he touched the hand. It was cold, and he 
 withdrew his own hand, shrinking back. He had seen 
 death, but no death like this. He said, " Madame." 
 There was no answer. He looked up at the older 
 woman. " She is dying ; she does not hear." 
 
 " No ; nor ever will in this world." 
 
 He turned, bent down, and kissed the fringe of the 
 coverlet. Then he arose, shaken by the strongest 
 emotion life had brought to him. 
 
 " I thank you," he said, and moved to the door. 
 He paused outside. 
 
 "Are you sure the beast is dead the man who did 
 that that?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I am sorry sorry." He shook his long arms in 
 the air. "I should like now to kill him again 
 again ! " He walked swiftly away, and, not waiting 
 for the servant, left the house and found his way back 
 to his forest shelter. 
 
 All night long he sat without a fire, indifferent to 
 poor Toto's efforts to get a little notice, not feeling the 
 cold, a sorely wounded man, with a scar on his mem- 
 ory which no after happiness could ever erase. 
 
 The next night he found the majordomo, and learned 
 that the countess was dead. He took away blankets 
 
186 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 and the provisions bountifully supplied, and once 
 more rejoined his dog. 
 
 In this manner the last days of February were 
 passed ; and in March the spring began to appear, but 
 with it a new peril. The woodmen went here and 
 there at work, and thrice he narrowly escaped being 
 seen. Early in April his friend the majordomo disap- 
 peared, and the great chateau was infested with men 
 who came and went for what he knew not. 
 
 He began to be troubled with a feverish desire to 
 see the streets of Paris. At last he made up his mind 
 to leave his forest shelter; and sometime in April, 
 having hesitated long, he set out. He hid all day in 
 woods, and walked at night, until he reached the 
 Seine. With this as a guide, he went on, robbing 
 hen-houses of eggs, and milking cows, until he was 
 close to Paris. How to enter it he did not know. 
 The times were doubly dangerous. Spies and suspi- 
 cion were everywhere to be dreaded. His papers had 
 no certifications from the places he was presumed to 
 have visited. Formidable in the background he saw 
 the man Gregoire, the commissioner with the wart of 
 ill luck. 
 
 How the thief and his dog lived near to Paris in 
 woods and fields, there is no need to tell in detail. 
 The month of June was come in this year of 1793. 
 Marat was ill, and Charlotte Corday on her way to 
 forestall the decree of nature. La Vendee was up. 
 The Girondists had fallen, the great cities of the South 
 were in uproar, the enemy was on the frontier, and 
 the rule of France in the competent and remorseless 
 hands of the Committee of Public Safety. All around 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 189 
 
 Paris the country was infested with wandering people 
 who, for the most part, like Francois, had good reason 
 to fear. There were beggars, thieves, persecuted 
 nobles, those who had no mind to face the foe as vol- 
 unteers. Now and then Francois, ever cautious, 
 picked up a little news on a scrap of gazette found by 
 the wayside. He read that Citizen Amar was of the 
 Great Committee of General Security. Frangois 
 laughed. 
 
 " Toto, dost thou think this will add to thy master's 
 security ? That was the gentleman with the emigra- 
 tive mouth. Ami, he is still alive. They must be 
 tough, these Jacobins. What fun, Toto ! I can see 
 him pinned to the door like a beetle, and that marquis 
 with a face, Toto, like a white plaster cast those Ital- 
 ians used to sell. 
 
 " I like not M. Amar. Toto, we are unhappy in our 
 acquaintances. But the man of the wart is the 
 worst." This was Francois's black beast; why, he 
 could not have said. Amar, le farouche, was really 
 a more fatal foe. The citizen who dressed neatly, and 
 wore spectacles over green eyes, and was in debt to 
 the conjurer for a not desirable forecast of fortune, 
 was a yet more sinister acquaintance. Yet it was 
 Citizen Gregoire who came to Francois in dreams, and 
 the bare thought of whom could chop short a laugh as 
 surely as Mother Guillotine, the merciless. 
 
XVIII 
 
 Wherein is told how Francois reenters Paris, and lodges 
 with the Crab; and of how Toto is near to death by the 
 guillotine. Francois meets Despard and the marquis, 
 who warns him and is warned. 
 
 FEW days later, when lying behind a 
 deserted hut at dusk, Francois heard a 
 noise of military music, and ventured 
 forth on the road leading to the barrier. 
 Many hundreds of the wounded from 
 the frontier were passing, in wagons or on foot. The 
 communes and clubs were out to meet them. The 
 cabarets outside of the gate poured forth a noisy 
 company. The road was full. Who should stop the 
 free citizens or the ladies of the fish-market, come 
 to welcome patriot volunteers ? Here was an escort 
 of troops, wild, triumphant greeting of captured 
 Austrian flags, many wounded in wagons, many 
 more afoot, marching wearily. Those who walked 
 the people must aid. The ranks were soon broken, 
 and all was good-natured tumult. Here was help for 
 heroes wine, bread, eager aid of an arm. Some 
 who were dragging along on crutches, to get a little 
 relief from jolting wagons, were hoisted, to their dis- 
 
 190 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 191 
 
 comfort, on the shoulders of friendly patriots not 
 eager to volunteer. 
 
 Francois, tucking Toto under his cloak, edged 
 himself into the broken ranks of the heroes of Hond- 
 schoote and Wattignies. "We are many," he said 
 to a man beside him, as tattered as he, for there was 
 scarcely a rag of uniform. " Jolly to get home again ! " 
 
 " Sacre ! not if they guillotined thy father a week 
 ago." 
 
 "Dame! is that so? But patience, and hold thy 
 tongue, citizen. Tonnerre ! my leg.' 7 He was limping. 
 
 " Thy shoulder, friend "to a blouse. " Tiens ! that 
 is better. The Austrian bullets have a liking for one's 
 bones. Crack ! crack ! I can hear them yet. They 
 do not spare the officers any more than they do the 
 privates." 
 
 Should they carry the citizen officer take care of 
 his sword ? Francois thanked them ; the citizens must 
 be careful of his leg ; and there was Frangois on the 
 shoulders of two big Jacobins, like a dozen more j for 
 it was who should help, and a shouting, good-humored 
 crowd. Francois was not altogether well pleased at 
 his elevation ; he dropped forward his too well-known 
 face. There was a jam at the barrier. Had these 
 citizen soldiers their passes, as provided! Francois 
 was weak ; he suffered, poor fellow ! The Jacobins and 
 the women roared derisively: "Passes for heroes?" 
 All order was lost. They were through, and in the 
 Rue d'Enf er. Would the good citizens let him walk ? 
 He was heavy, and they were pleased to be relieved 
 of one hundred and ninety-five pounds of wounded 
 hero. 
 
192 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Meanwhile there was some renewed order in the 
 broken formation; yet now and then men fell out 
 to meet sweethearts or friends, usually coming back 
 again to the ranks. The hint was good. 
 
 " del ! comrade, there is my mother ! " The crowd 
 gave way as the hero hobbled out of the line. He 
 called out: "Mere, mere mother ! Here! 'T is I 
 Adolphe. The deuce ! she is so deaf." 
 
 Where was she ? Citizens were eager to help him. 
 
 " Ah," he cried, " she saw me not " ; and, turning into 
 a side street near the asylum, limped painfully in 
 pursuit of the mother who was afflicted with deafness. 
 Toto followed. Once around a corner, the lameness 
 disappeared. In the gathering dusk he set out for 
 the Cite. 
 
 " It must be Quatre Pattes, Toto. Come along. A 
 bad year, my friend, to have lost a father and a 
 mother. No matter ; we are in Paris." 
 
 He loved the streets. "Ah, there is Notre Dame 
 and the river ! " He was happy, and went along 
 laughing, and at last turned into a small cafe near 
 to his old home in the Rue des Chanteurs. 
 
 He was tired and hungry, and, as he agreeably 
 remembered, well off, having had small chance to 
 spend the money with which he had been generously 
 provided by Achille Gamel. The bread and cheese 
 were good, and the wine was not bad. He asked for 
 tobacco and a pipe. Would the host find him " L'Ami 
 du Peuple"? He was a sublieutenant, wounded on 
 the frontier ; but, dame ! to get home was happiness. 
 
 Two men sat down by him, and talked. Good 
 Jacobins were these, in the dirty uniforms of the 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 193 
 
 sansculotte army which kept Paris in order at the 
 rate of forty sous a day. " Bad wages, citizen lieu- 
 tenant/ 7 they said. 
 
 The hero of the frontier was worse off no pay for 
 three months. He related his battles ; and now he 
 must go. 
 
 "Come, Toto." Toto had been wounded at Wat- 
 tignies; he was well now, and would be promoted. 
 "Bon soir, comrades." In fact, he was wildly gay, 
 glad to be back in Paris. 
 
 He paused, at last, before a house of the date of 
 Henri II. Its heavy, narrow door, and a slit in the 
 wall for a window, told of days when every man's 
 house was a fortress. 
 
 "It is our best chance, Toto ; but best may be bad. 
 We must do something." He jingled the bell. The 
 cord was drawn by the concierge within, so as to lift 
 the latch, and Francois entered the hall. To right 
 was the Crab's den, and there within was Quatre 
 Pattes. He saw the thin purple nose, the bleared red 
 eyes, the bearded chin, and the two sticks. 
 
 " Mttle tonnerres ! my child, it is thou. And where 
 hast thou been ? There is no thief like thee. Come 
 and laugh for thy old mother." She welcomed him 
 in thieves' slang, vile, profuse, and emphatic. Had 
 he any money ? Yes, a little ; business was good in 
 the provinces ; and would she house him ? Here was 
 a louis d'or for maman; and what was this abominable 
 carte de surete, this new trap? She explained. He 
 need have no fear ; she would get him one. He had 
 been in bad company, she had heard ; for a Jacobin 
 had told her of the fencing-school, and thither, too 
 
194 THE ADVENTURES OP FRANgOIS 
 
 late, she had gone to get a little help. He had nearly 
 killed A mar, le farouche, and that injured citizen was 
 said to desire his society. But that was long ago; 
 and Paris lived fast, and was gay, and forgot easily. 
 
 Francois had no wish to refresh Citizen Amar's 
 memory. He asked lightly if she had ever seen 
 Gregoire, the commissioner to Normandy ? 
 
 Mme. Quatre Pattes had never seen him. He was 
 of the Great Committee a patriot of the best, like 
 herself. Did he know Gregoire ? He told her frankly 
 that he had been arrested by Gregoire, and had 
 escaped. 
 
 " Thou art the first, my child ! " she cried, her jaws 
 champing as if she were eating. " Thou hast a fine 
 taste in the choosing of enemies. I would not be in 
 thy skin for a hundred louis ; and now a cat of the 
 night thou must be. I can hide thee awhile ; and if 
 thou dost feed me well, the mama-crab will care for 
 thee. No one need know thou art here. Come, get 
 thee a few louis, and we will buy a fine card of safety, 
 and christen thee to suit. Ha, ha ! my little one ! " 
 and she beat with her sticks on the floor. 
 
 Our thief was now back in his garret, having lost 
 as many fair chances of prosperity as did Murad 
 the Unlucky. He reflected much in these late au- 
 tumn months of 1793, being for his wants rich, and 
 therefore in no necessity to give a thought to meth- 
 ods of getting his daily diet. During the daytime 
 Quatre Pattes insisted on his secluding himself in 
 his garret. At night he left Toto with the Crab, 
 who fed him well, and was therefore liked by a 
 revolutionary dog without prejudices. From these 
 
QI7ATKE PATTES. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 197 
 
 night prowls Francois returned with sad complaints 
 of the way the republicans guarded their slim purses ; 
 in fact, at this time he avoided adventures, stole from 
 no one, and gave of his lessening store what barely 
 contented Mme. Quatre Pattes. Were I to say that his 
 goodness came from newly acquired views of life, I 
 should mislead. He was as honest as ever, which is 
 to say he took no thought at all as to ethical questions. 
 We are said to be children of circumstance, which 
 may be described as the environment of the hour. 
 This is true of the feeble ; but character was the more 
 despotic parent in this resolute man, who could wrestle 
 strenuously with circumstance. He was a Royalist 
 because he liked show and color and the fine manners 
 of the great ; in the past he stole because he knew no 
 other way to live. His admirable health was a con- 
 tribution to his natural cheerfulness. He still had 
 simple likings for the country, for animals, and 
 would have had for books had they been easy to 
 get, or had he known how to get those which would 
 have fed his mind and had sauce of interest. 
 
 His surroundings would have surely and hopelessly 
 degraded a less permanent character, and a nature 
 without his ingrained gaiety would have taken more 
 steadily some thought of the far future. He knew 
 too well how the thief s life ended : the galleys, the 
 wheel, the lonely death-bed in the hospital. If he 
 reflected on it at all, as he seems to have done at this 
 time, it was because of his long, weary days in the 
 attic. The immediate future at this period did dis- 
 turb him, but never long. He liked to talk, and, 
 
 lacking society, talked more and more to himself 
 12 
 
198 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 aloud, with Toto for an audience which never ceased 
 to attend. He who is pleased with his own talk can- 
 not easily be bored ; and so he talked, until Quatre 
 Pattes, who loved keyholes and to listen, thought he 
 must be out of his head. She herself was always 
 either silent or boisterous, and was as to this like 
 other beasts of prey. When in calamity Francois 
 was too busy to be serious. When at ease the mirth- 
 fulness of his natural man forbade argument as to 
 what the dice-box of to-morrow would offer; for to 
 laugh is to hope, and Francois, as we know, laughed 
 much, well, and often. 
 
 There were many times in his life when to have been 
 honestly loved by a woman capable of comprehending 
 both his strength and his weakness would, I think, 
 have given him the chance to live a better life. But 
 how was this possible to one who lived as he lived 
 who was what he was ? 
 
 To be merely liked was pleasant to Francois, and 
 appealed with the most subtle form of flattery to his 
 immense self-esteem. The man was sensitive, and in 
 after days, when in an atmosphere of refinement, 
 would never speak of the terrible women he had 
 known too well in the Cite. Having no longer the 
 distraction of the streets, he was at present condemned 
 to live long hours with no society but that of Toto 
 and the animal Quatre Pattes. He bought a small 
 field-glass, and studied the habits of his neighbors far 
 and near, and once more took interest in the feline 
 owners of the roof-tops. Quatre Pattes fed him well, 
 and brought him some of the old gazettes. 
 
 He read how, on that frightful 5th of September, 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 199 
 
 now past, one of the five complementary days of the 
 republican calendar, on motion of Barrere, " Terror 77 
 was decreed by the Convention to be the order of the 
 day. It was indeed the birth-hour of the Terror. The 
 Great Committee was in power. The revolutionary 
 tribunals were multiplied. The law of suspected per- 
 sons was drawn with care by the great jurist Merlin 
 of Douai. Behind these many man-traps was the 
 Committee of Public Safety, with despotic power 
 over the persons of all men, and in full control of the 
 prisons. To it the subcommittees reported arrests; 
 it secured the prisoners who were to be tried ; it saw 
 to the carrying out of all sentences ; it kept the peace 
 in Paris with an array of sansculottes, and fed the 
 guillotine daily. Of this stern mechanism, strong of 
 head and incapable of pity, was Pierre Andre Amar 
 as, one day, Francois read with his full share of the 
 Terror. There was soon enough of it to supply all 
 France. 
 
 Before November came, FranQois, pretending to 
 have been in luck, supplied the Crab with six louis. 
 She exacted two more, and how much she kept none 
 may know. He had very few left. 
 
 She was as good as her word. "Here, my little 
 one, is the carte de stirete from the committee of this 
 section. 77 The description was taken from his pass- 
 port. He was no more to be Francois, but Francois 
 Beau. If he would denounce one or two people, the 
 committee would indorse his card as that of " a good 
 patriot who deserved well of the country. 77 There 
 was the lame cobbler over the way, who talked 
 loosely, and to whom the Crab owed money; that 
 
200 THE ADVENTUEES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 would be useful and convenient. Francois shivered 
 all down his long back j he would see. Meanwhile, as 
 he considered, Quatre Pattes twisted her bent spine, 
 rattled her two sticks, and looked up at him sidewise 
 with evil eyes, bidding him have a care, and not get 
 his good mama into trouble, or else, or else Francois 
 felt that some night he might have to wring that 
 wrinkled neck. He was uneasy, and with good 
 reason. 
 
 He could bear the confinement no longer, and in 
 December began to find his cash getting low. He had 
 let his beard grow, and taken to long, tight pantaloons 
 and a red cap. He felt that, come what might, he 
 must take the risks of daylight. 
 
 The chances against him were small. The number- 
 less denunciations of the winter fell chiefly on the rich, 
 the rash in talk, the foes of the strong heads who were 
 ably and mercilessly ruling France. The poor, the ob- 
 scure, and the cautious bourgeoisie were as a rule safe 
 until, in the spring, something like a homicidal mania 
 took possession of Robespierre and others, who, al- 
 though they were the most intelligent of the Great 
 Committee, were never in control of a steady majority, 
 and began to fear for their own heads. 
 
 Outwardly Paris was gay. The restaurateurs made 
 money ; the people were fed by levies of grain on the 
 farmers ; and the tumbrel, on its hideous way, rarely 
 excited much attention. The autumn and winter of 
 '93 were not without peril or adventure for the thief. 
 The Palais d'figalite, once royal, was his favored re- 
 sort, and with his well-trained sleight of hand he 
 managed to justify the name of the place by efforts 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 201 
 
 to equalize the distribution of what money was left to 
 his own advantage and to the satisfaction of the Crab. 
 
 The dark drama went on ; but, except the tricoteuses 
 who, like Quatre Pattes, went daily to see the guillo- 
 tine at work, comparatively few attended this daily 
 spectacle. Paris, wearied of crime and too much 
 politics, was tired of the monotony of slaughter, which 
 had now no shadow of excuse. 
 
 " Would the citizen miss the death of the Austrian, 
 the ex-queen ? " He would not ; he knew better than 
 to say no to Quatre Pattes. Would he go with her ? 
 She could get him a good place, and all Paris would 
 be there. All Paris was not to his desire. He said 
 he would go alone. A walk with this four-footed 
 creature and the rattle of her becketing sticks he liked 
 not. He called his dog, and, avoiding the vast assem- 
 blage on the Place of the Revolution, found his way 
 to the Rue St. Honore. 
 
 He stood in a crowd against a house. The tumbrel 
 came slowly, and, because of the surging mass of 
 people, paused opposite to him. He looked about 
 him. In a group at a window on the far side of 
 the street he saw a man apparently sketching the sad 
 figure in the cart. It seemed devilish to this poor 
 outcast of the Cite. His face flushed ; he asked who 
 that was in the window, at which many were staring. 
 The man he addressed was in black, and looked to be 
 an ex-abbe. 
 
 " My son," he said quietly, and with no evidence of 
 caution "my son, 't is David the painter, he of the 
 Great Committee. He hath no heart ; but in another 
 world he will get it again, and then" 
 
202 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANQOIS 
 
 " Take care ! " said Francois. The shouting crowd 
 cried : " Messalina ! Down with the Austrian ! " 
 
 Francois looked, and saw the bent figure seated in 
 the cart. Pale it was, with a red spot on each cheek, 
 haggard; her gray hair cut close, pitiful; with pen- 
 dent breasts uncorseted, lost to the horrors of the in- 
 sults hurled at her abject state. Francois moved 
 away, and the tumbrel went rumbling on. An hour 
 later he was crossing the broad Elysian Fields amid 
 the scattered crowd. It was over, and few cared. 
 The booths were selling toy guillotines. Of a sudden 
 he missed Toto. He called him, and, hearing him 
 bark, pushed in haste into a large tent filled with 
 women and children and with men in blouses. 
 
 "The citizen has not paid," cried tbe doorkeeper. 
 Francois saw Toto struggling in the hands of a red- 
 bearded man who was crying out: "Enter! enter! 
 Trial and execution of an emigre dog. Voild, citizens ! 
 Range yourselves." There was the red guillotine, 
 the basket, the sawdust, and poor Toto howling. It 
 was a spectacle which much amused the lower class 
 of Jacobins. " A Ms le chien aristocrate! " 
 
 Francois advanced with his cheerful smile. " The 
 citizen is mistaken ; it is my dog." 
 
 " Where is his carte de stirete f " laughed the man. 
 " Up with him for trial ! " 
 
 Four monkeys were the judges. Jeers and laughter 
 greeted Francois : u No, no ; go on ! " 
 
 He caught the man by the arm. The fellow let fall 
 Toto, who made a hasty exit. 
 
 " I denounce thee for an enemy of the republic ! '> 
 cried the showman. " Seize him ! seize him ! " Fran- 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 203 
 
 c,ois broke away, and, using his long arms, reached 
 the entrance. There was no earnest desire to stop 
 him. The doorkeeper caught him by the collar. He 
 kicked as only a master of the savate knows how to 
 kick, and, free of the grip, called to Toto, and plunged 
 into a crowd which made no effort to recapture him. 
 He moved with them, and soon turned to cross the river. 
 
 Midway on the bridge he came face to face with 
 Despard. He was ragged and fleshless, the shadow 
 of the well-fed Jacobin he had last seen in the chateau 
 of Ste. Luce. 
 
 " del ! " exclaimed Francois, " thou art starved." 
 He had no grudge against his old partner, but he 
 fully appreciated the danger of this encounter. 
 
 He was comforted by the man's alarm. "Come," 
 said Francois, and took him into a little drinking-shop. 
 It was deserted at this time of day. He easily drew 
 out all he desired to know. Mme. Renee was assuredly 
 dead; and he who threw the gauntlet, the butcher, 
 dead also ; and three or more on the fatal stairway. 
 Gregoire had punished the village severely; heads 
 had fallen. Pierre's friend Robespierre had aban- 
 doned him, had even threatened him Pierre ! but he 
 had escaped any worse fate. He was half famished ; 
 and would Francois help him? Francois ordered 
 bread and cheese and wine. He would see what next 
 to do. And what of the marquis? He had not ap- 
 peared in the lists of the guillotined ; but he might 
 readily have died unnamed, and escaped Frangois's 
 notice. 
 
 " No," said Pierre, sadly ; " he lives. Of course he 
 lives. The devil cannot die. He got away from 
 
204 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Gregoire. Who could keep that man ? But for thee 
 and the accursed commissioner, I should have had 
 my revenge. We shall meet some day." 
 
 " Shall I find him for thee ? " 
 
 11 Dame! no. Let us go out. I am uneasy; I am 
 afraid." 
 
 "But of what?" 
 
 " I do not know. I am afraid. I am accursed with 
 fear. I am afraid as a man is in a dream. Some- 
 where else I shall cease to fear. Let us go." He 
 was in a sweat of pure causeless terror, the anguish 
 of an emotion the more terrible for its lack of reason. 
 It was the inexplicable torment of one of the forms 
 of growing insanity. Francois looked on, amazed and 
 pitiful. The man's eyes wandered here and there ; 
 he got up, and sat down again, went to the door, 
 looked about him, and came back. At last, as Fran- 
 c.ois began to consider how to be free of a dubious 
 acquaintance, Pierre said drearily : 
 
 " Is it easy to die ? I should like to die. If I were 
 brave like thee, I should drown myself." 
 
 " Ah, well," laughed Frangois, " there is the guillo- 
 tineshort and comfortable." 
 
 "Thou wilt not denounce me?" he cried, leaping 
 to his feet. " I have my carte; I will let thee see it." 
 He was like a scared child. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " cried Francois, with good-humored 
 amusement. "I must go. Here is a gold louis. 
 Why dost thou not rob a few Jacobins?" 
 
 " Hush ! I dare not ; I was brave once. Thou didst 
 save me once ; help me now. Thou wilt not let me 
 starve ? " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 205 
 
 " No, indeed. I ? Not I. Take care of thy louis ; 
 they are scarce. Meet me here at this hour in a week. 
 Adieu. At this hour, mind." 
 
 " Art thou going to leave me alone ? " 
 
 Francois was grieved, but could not remain, and 
 hastened away, while Pierre looked after him with 
 melancholy eyes. 
 
 " Come, Toto," he said, as he turned a corner. " The 
 man is mad. Let us thank the bon Dieu we never have 
 had a wife ; and the rest of our relatives we have buried 
 papa and mama, and all the family." 
 
 It was not in the man to forget, and a week later 
 he cautiously entered the little cafe to keep his engage- 
 ment. It was noisy. To his surprise, he saw Pierre 
 declaiming lustily to half a dozen blouses. 
 
 " Ah ! " he cried, seeing Francois, "man ami, here is 
 a seat. There is good news from the frontier. A 
 glass for the citizen." Clink, clink. " A vous. Death 
 to royal rats ! " He went on in a wild way until the 
 workmen had gone, and Francois stopped him with : 
 
 " What the deuce has come to thee ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing. I have had one of the fits you know 
 of; I am always better after them. Diable! no mar- 
 quis could scare me to-day. I saw him last week, I 
 did. I followed him. It is he who would have been 
 scared. I I missed him in a crowd. In a minute I 
 should have had him, like that," and he turned a 
 glass upside down so as to capture a fly which was 
 foraging on the table "like that," he repeated 
 triumphantly. 
 
 Francois watched him, and saw a flushed face, trem- 
 ulous hands, staring eyes. 
 
206 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 "He is afraid; he can't get out"; and the man 
 laughed low, pointing to his prisoner. 
 
 "And thou wouldst have denounced him?" said 
 Francois. 
 
 " Why not ? He is one of them. He is hell ; he is 
 the devil ! I saw no officers to help me." 
 
 " Thou art cracked ; thou wilt denounce me next." 
 
 Pierre looked at Francois with unusual steadiness 
 of gaze, hesitated, and replied : 
 
 " I thought of it ; you are all for these people." 
 
 Francois, in turn, looked his man over curiously. 
 He had now a queer expression of self-satisfied ela- 
 tion. " A good joke, that," said Francois. " Wait a 
 moment ; I left Toto outside." He went to the door, 
 and looked up and down the street. " Wait," he cried 
 to Pierre. " Hang the dog ! " And in an instant he 
 had left the citizen to abide his return. Once in his 
 garret, he cried: "Toto, thou hast no sense. The 
 sane scoundrels are bad enough, but why didst thou 
 fetch on me this crazy rascal? And so the marquis 
 got away, Toto. The man with the wart is not as 
 clever as I thought him. But some folks have luck." 
 
 The sad winter of the Terror wore on, while Fran- 
 cois continued to live unmolested, and pursued his 
 estimable occupation always with an easy conscience, 
 but often with an uneasy mind. 
 
 It was near the end of the pleasant month of May, 
 1794 the month Prairial of the new calendar. The 
 roses w^ere in bloom. The violets were seeking sun- 
 shine here and there, half hidden in the rare grasses 
 of the trampled space of the Place of the Revolution. 
 On the six bridges which spanned the canals, its 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOlS 209 
 
 boundaries, children were looking at the swans. In 
 the middle space, the scaffold and cross-beams of the 
 guillotine rose dark red against the blue sky of this 
 afternoon of spring. Two untidy soldiers marched 
 back and forth beside it. The every-day tragedy of 
 the morning was over; why should the afternoon 
 remember? The great city seemed to have neither 
 heart nor memory. The drum-beat of a regiment 
 going to the front rang clear down the Quai des 
 Tuileries. People ran to see; children and their 
 nurses left the swans. The birds in the trees listened, 
 and, liking not this crude music, took wing, and 
 perched on the beams of the monstrous thing in the 
 center of the Place. 
 
 Francois crossed the open ground, with Toto close 
 to heel. The keeper of the little cafe where he liked 
 to sit had just told him that the citizen with whom 
 he had twice come thither had been asking for him, 
 and that with this citizen had also come once a stout 
 man, who would know where Citizen Francois lived. 
 This last was of the fourth section, one Gregoire, a 
 man with a wart. 
 
 " Thou didst notice the man?" said Francois, much 
 troubled. 
 
 "Notice him? I should think so. Dame! I am 
 of the Midi. A wart on a man's nose is bad luck; 
 the mother of that man saw a cocatrice egg in the 
 barn-yard." 
 
 " A cocatrice egg ! What the mischief is that ? " 
 
 " Tiens! if you were of the Midi, you would know. 
 When a hen cackles loud, 't is that she hath laid a 
 great egg ; the father is a basilisk." 
 
210 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 " Tonnerre! a basilisk ? " 
 
 " Thou must crush the egg, and not look, else there 
 is trouble; thy next child will have warts, or his 
 eyebrows will meet, and then look out ! " Francois's 
 superstition was vastly reinforced by this legend. 
 
 "Mon DieMt" he cried; "he hath both." This 
 Francois was a bold man when he had to meet danger 
 face to face, but, like a child as to many things, afraid 
 where a less imaginative man would have been de- 
 void of fear. 
 
 Just now he had been turning over in his mind the 
 chance of the Crab's betraying him. She had been 
 prowling about his garret, and had stolen a well-hidden 
 score of francs. He dared not complain. What scant 
 possessions he had would fall into her claws if at any 
 minute she might choose to denounce him. Of late, 
 purses were too well guarded. The display of luxury 
 in lace handkerchiefs and gold seals no longer afforded 
 an available resource. Except Robespierre, who de- 
 fied popular sentiment, few men carried two watches. 
 Quatre Pattes had the appetite of a winter wolf, and 
 was becoming more and more exacting. She asked 
 why he did not sell his rapier. If it were known that 
 he withheld weapons such as the republic claimed, 
 there might be trouble. Why had he not given up 
 his pistols? They were gold-mounted, and had be- 
 longed to a grandee of Spain. Why not sell them? 
 They would fetch a deal of money. 
 
 He was not inclined to part with his arms, and 
 least of all with his rapier. At last he gave her one 
 pistol, which she sold ; the other he hung high up on 
 a peg set within the chimney, having hidden in its 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 211 
 
 barrel the precious little document he had captured 
 from Citizen Grogoire in that pleasant inn on the 
 Seine, where an agreeable evening had ended with 
 such unaccountable abruptness. 
 
 Next to the Crab's treachery, he feared most to 
 meet Despard when the Jacobin should chance to be 
 in one of those aggressive moods which were so 
 puzzling to Francois. But above all did he dread 
 Gregoire, and grew terrified as he reflected on that 
 business of the cocatrice egg and the basilisk. 
 
 It seemed as though he were doomed, and this most 
 cheery of men became distinctly unhappy. "That 
 sacre basilisk ! " he muttered, and, less on guard 
 than usual, wandered on, taking stock of his per- 
 plexities. 
 
 Near to the foundations of the Madeleine, where 
 work had long since ceased, he paused to recreate 
 himself with a puppet-show. The vanquished fiend 
 was Citizen Jean Boule. He was soon guillotined. 
 The crowd was merry, and FranQois, refreshed, con- 
 tributed his own share of appreciative mirth. In the 
 throng he unluckily set his big foot on the toes of a 
 little Jacobin dressed in the extreme of the fashions 
 these gentry affected. The small man was not to be 
 placated by Francois's abundant excuses, and de- 
 manded the citizen's card of safety. It was an every- 
 day matter. No one dared to refuse. There were 
 half-insane men, in those times, who satisfied their 
 patriotism by continually exacting cards from timid 
 women or from any well-dressed man. To decline 
 was to break the law. Francois obeyed with the 
 utmost civility. The little man returned the card. 
 
212 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 " The citizen is of the best of the sections, but, sacre! 
 he is heavy." 
 
 Much relieved, Frangois went on. In the Rue St. 
 Honore the corner of -a lace handkerchief invited a 
 transfer, and lace handkerchiefs were rare. As there 
 was a small, well-occupied group looking through a 
 shop-window at a caricature of Mr. Pitt, the occasion 
 appeared propitious, and the handkerchief changed 
 owners. 
 
 A minute later a man touched Francois's shoulder. 
 
 " Thy card, citizen ! " 
 
 " The deuce ! " said the thief, as he turned. " This 
 gets monotonous. Mon Dieu, the marquis ! " he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " Hush ! Your card. You are followed watched. 
 There is this one chance." Francois produced his 
 card. The marquis murmured, "Take care; obey 
 me." Holding the card in his hand, he called authori- 
 tatively to a municipal guard who was passing. The 
 man stopped, but no one else paused. Curiosity was 
 perilous. 
 
 " This good citizen is followed by that man yonder 
 the one with the torn bonnet. I know the citizen. 
 Here is his card and mine. Just tell that fellow to 
 be careful"; and he slipped his own card of safety 
 into the guard's hand, and under it three louis. The 
 guard hesitated ; then he glanced at the card. 
 
 " 'T is in order, and countersigned by Vadier of the 
 Great Committee. These spies are too busy; I will 
 settle the fellow. Good morning, citizens." 
 
 They moved away quietly, in no apparent haste. 
 As they were turning a corner, the thief looked back. 
 
 " I am a lost man, monsieur ! " He saw, far away, 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 213 
 
 the man of the torn red bonnet, and with him Quatre 
 Pattes. She was evidently in a rage. He understood 
 at once. In the thieves' quarter denunciations were 
 not in favor. She knew too well the swift justice of 
 this bivouac of outcasts to risk being suspected as a 
 traitor to its code. The night before, he had been 
 unable to give her money, a,nd had again refused to 
 sell his weapons. She had angrily reminded him that 
 he was in her power, and he had for the first time 
 declared that he would let the Cite settle with her. He 
 had been rash, and now, too late, he knew it. 
 
 He hastily explained his sad case to the disguised 
 gentleman, and was on the point of telling him that 
 this Quatre Pattes was that Mme. Quintette who had 
 once been his agent, and would probably be an enemy 
 not to be despised. He glanced at the marquis, and, 
 wisely or not, held his tongue. 
 
 " We must part here," said the gentleman. He had 
 hesitated when chance led him to the neighborhood of 
 the thief in trouble ; but he was a courageous man, 
 and disliked to owe to an inferior any such service as 
 Franc, ois had more than once rendered him. Vadier's 
 sign manual on his own card of safety was an unques- 
 tioned assurance of patriotism ; it had cost him a 
 round sum, but it had its value. 
 
 When he said, "I must leave you," the thief returned : 
 
 " I am sorry, monsieur ; I know not what to do or 
 where to go.' 7 
 
 "Nor I," replied Ste. Luce, coldly. "Nor, for that 
 matter, a thousand men in Paris to-day." He had 
 paid a debt, and meant to be rid of a disreputable 
 and dangerous acquaintance. " Better luck to you ! " 
 he added. 
 
214 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 "May I say to monsieur, who lias helped me, that 
 Despard is in Paris, and has seen him ? " 
 
 The marquis turned. " Why did not you kill him 
 when you had the chance ? " 
 
 " You forbade me." 
 
 " That is true quite true. Had you done it with- 
 out asking me, I had been better pleased." 
 
 " I had no grudge against him." 
 
 "Well, well, thank you, my man 5 I can look out 
 for myself." 
 
 " Will monsieur accept the gratitude of a poor devil 
 of a thief?" 
 
 "Oh, that is all right. One word more. It is as 
 well to tell you, my man, how I came to speak to 
 you. When first I observed you, as I fell behind, I 
 saw that terrible old witch with two sticks pointing 
 you out to the fellow with the torn cap j then he fol- 
 lowed you." 
 
 " It was Quatre Pattes, monsieur. I lodge in her 
 house." 
 
 "A good name, I should say. I wish you better 
 luck and safer lodgings. Adieu " ; and he went quietly 
 on his way. 
 
XIX 
 
 Of the sorrowful life of loneliness, of Francois's arrest, 
 and of those he met in prison. 
 
 RANQOIS stood still. He was alone, 
 and felt of a sudden, as never before, 
 the solitude of an uncompanioned life. 
 The subtle influence of the Terror had 
 begun to sap the foundations of even 
 his resolute cheerfulness. It was this constancy of 
 dread which to some natures made the terrible cer- 
 tainties of the prisons a kind of relief. He looked 
 after the retreating figure as it moved along the quai 
 and was lost to view in the Rue des Petits-Augustines. 
 " Toto," he said, " I would I had his clever head. 
 When 't is a question of hearts, mon ami, I would 
 rather have thine. And now, what to do ? " At last 
 he moved swiftly along the borders of the Seine, and 
 soon regained his own room. The Crab would go to 
 the afternoon market ; her net swung over her arm at 
 the time he had seen her ; and, as she always moved 
 slowly, he had ample leisure. 
 
 He packed his bag, and taking from his pistol the 
 paper he had secured when in company with Gregoire, 
 replaced it under the lining of his shoe. Its value he 
 13 215 
 
216 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 very well knew. After a moment's reflection, he put 
 his pistol back on the peg high up in the chimney. 
 He had been in the house nearly an hour, and was 
 ready to leave, when he heard feet, and a knock at 
 the locked door. A voice cried : 
 
 " In the name of the republic, open ! " He knew 
 that he was lost. 
 
 "Dame! Toto. We are done for, my little one"; 
 and then, without hesitation, he opened the door. 
 Three municipals entered. One of them said : 
 
 " We arrest thee, citizen, as an emigre returned." 
 
 " Emigre! n and he laughed in his usual hearty way. 
 "If I had been that, no one would have caught me 
 back in France. Ah, well, I am ready, citizen. Here 
 is an old rapier. The woman will sell it ; better to 
 give it to thee or to the republic." He took up his 
 slender baggage, and followed them. When they 
 were down-stairs, he asked leave to see the Crab. 
 The guard called her out of her den. 
 
 " Chere maman," said Francois, " this is thy doing. 
 These good citizens have my rapier, and the pistol is 
 gone. Not a sou is left thee. Thou hast killed the 
 goose that laid the golden eggs. Alas ! " 
 
 The Crab rattled her claws on the sticks, and these 
 on the floor, and spat vileness of thieves' slang, de- 
 claring it a wicked lie. Would they take the silver- 
 hilted sword? It was hers, and he owed her rent. 
 At last, laughing, the guards secured the thief's 
 hands behind his back, and marched him away to 
 the revolutionary committee of the section Franklin. 
 Here no time was lost with the 4migr6, who was sent 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 217 
 
 off in a hurry to the prison of the Madelonnettes, with 
 poor Toto trotting after him, much perplexed by the 
 performance. 
 
 Francois was astounded at the celerity and certainty 
 of the methods by which he, a free Arab of the streets, 
 was thus caged. As usual, it acted on his sense of 
 humor, and before the dreaded sectional tribunal and 
 with the municipals he was courageously merry. 
 When he heard that he was to be sent to the Made- 
 lonnettes, he said : 
 
 "But, citizens, I am not of the sex. Mon Dieu! 
 the Madelonnettes ! 'T is not respectable 't is not 
 decent " ; and he laughed outright. As no man was 
 ever so made as to be protected from the infection 
 of such mirth as the thief s, the judges laughed in 
 chorus. One of them, disturbed in his slumber, 
 awoke, and seeing no cause for this long-visaged flap- * 
 ear so to mock the justice of the republic, he said : 
 
 " Thou wilt not laugh long, miserable aristocrat ! " 
 
 This much delighted Francois. " By St. Jacobus, 
 citizen, I swear to thee I am only an honest thief. I 
 did not expect to be made of the fine nobility by a 
 good democrat like thee." 
 
 " Off with him ! " said the judge. " They laugh best 
 who laugh last." 
 
 "No, no," cried the incorrigible; "they laugh best 
 who laugh most. Au revoir" 
 
 " Take him away ! The next case." 
 
 The thief was gay, and amused the officers; but 
 his keen senses were now all on guard, and, too, like 
 others, he felt relieved at the ending of his life of 
 
218 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 suspense and watchful anxiety. His misfortune was 
 plainly due to the avarice and needs of the Crab, and 
 to her belief that he had ceased to be available as a 
 means of support. 
 
 There was a little delay at the front of the old 
 house of detention j some formalities were to be gone 
 through with. FranQois took careful note of it all. 
 The prison stood in the Rue des Fontaines: a gray 
 stone building, with a lofty story on the first floor, 
 and, above, three stories and an attic ; a high wall to 
 left shut in the garden. 
 
 On entering a long, dark corridor, his bonds were 
 removed, his bundle was searched, and what little 
 money he had was scrupulously restored to him. He 
 was stripped and examined, even to his shoes ; but as 
 the tongue of leather was loose only at the toes, the 
 precious document escaped a very rigorous search. 
 Poor Toto had been left outside, despite FranQois's 
 entreaties. In the cell to which he was consigned 
 were eight straw mattresses. He arranged his small 
 baggage, and was told he was free to go whither he 
 would above the rez-de-chauss6e, which was kept for 
 forgers of assignats and thieves. The corridor was 
 some fifty feet long, and smelt horribly. On the main 
 floor was the common dining-room. A separate stair- 
 case led to a garden of considerable size, planted with 
 box and a few quince- and other fruit-trees. At nig] 1 1 
 two municipals guarded this space, while, outside, tlic 
 steps of sentries could be heard when the hours of 
 darkness brought their quiet. At 9 P. M. the prisoners, 
 who assembled in the large hall, answered to their 
 names; a bell rang, and they were locked in their 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 219 
 
 cells, or slept as they could in the corridors. The 
 richer captives were taxed to support their poor 
 companions, and even to buy and feed the mastiffs 
 which roamed at night in the garden. 
 
 Much of all this Francois learned as he arranged 
 his effects and talked gaily with the turnkey, one 
 Vaubertrand, a watchful but not unkindly little man. 
 Thus informed, Francois, curious as usual, went down 
 the corridor, and out into the garden. Here were 
 quite two hundred men and women, some in careful, 
 neat dress, many in rags. He saw, as he looked, 
 cure's, ladies, seamstresses, great nobles, unlucky 
 colonels, and, as he learned later, musicians, poets j 
 and, to his surprise, for he knew the theaters, 
 actors such as Fleury, Saint-Prix, and Champville, 
 whose delicious laughter the Come'die Franchise knew 
 so well. Here, too, were Boulainvilliers, De Crosne, 
 and Dozincourt, the ex-kings and heroes of the comic 
 stage; and there, in a group apart, the fine gentles 
 and dames who had exchanged Versailles and the 
 Trianon for this home of disastrous fortunes. 
 
 " Yes," said the turnkey ; " the citizen is right j 't is 
 a droll menagerie," and so left him. 
 
 Francois looked at the walls and chained dogs, and 
 knew at once that the large numbers in the prison 
 made impossible that solitude in which plans of 
 escape prosper. For a while no one noticed him so 
 far as to speak to him. The ill-clad and poor kept to 
 one side of the garden ; on the other, well-dressed 
 people were chatting in the sun. Women were sew- 
 ing ; a young man was reciting verses ; and De Crosne, 
 with the child of the concierge on his lap, was telling 
 
220 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 fairy-tales. Ignorant of the etiquette of the prison, 
 Francois wandered here and there, not observing that 
 he was stared at with surprise as he moved among 
 the better clad on the sunny side of the yard. He 
 was interested by what he saw. How quiet they all 
 were ! what fine garments ! what bowing and cour- 
 tesying! He liked it, as he always liked dress and 
 color, and the ways of these imperturbable great folks. 
 Beyond this his reflections did not go ; nor as yet had 
 he been here long enough to note how, day by day, 
 some gentleman disappeared, or some kindly face of 
 woman was seen no more. What he did observe was 
 that here and there a woman or a man sat apart in 
 self-contained grief, remembering those they had lost. 
 The thief moved on, thoughtful. 
 
 At this moment he heard "D-idble!" and saw the 
 Marquis de Ste. Luce. " What ! and have they trapped 
 you, my inevitable thief? I myself was bagged and 
 caged just after I left you. We are both new arrivals. 
 Come aside with me." 
 
 Francois followed him, saying he was sorry to find 
 the marquis here. 
 
 "It was to be, sooner or later; and I presume it 
 will not last long. I was careless; and, after all, 
 Francois, it was my fate my shadow. A man does 
 many things to amuse himself, and some one of them 
 casts a lengthening shadow as time goes on. The 
 shadow my shadow well, no matter. We all have 
 our shadows, and at sunset they lengthen." 
 
 " 'T is like enough, monsieur. 7 T is like me. There 
 is a man with a wart I am afraid of, and it is because 
 of that wart. The man is a drunken fool." 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 221 
 
 "Despard is my wart," said the marquis, dryly. 
 "As to being afraid, my good Francois, I never had 
 the malady, not even as a boy." 
 
 " Dame! I have it now; and to get out of this is 
 impossible." 
 
 " I think so. Did you mention Despard ? " 
 
 " No ; it was monsieur spoke of him." 
 
 "Quite true quite true. He found me at last. 
 Confound the fellow! I did not credit him with 
 being clever." 
 
 " So this is his man with a wart ? " thought Francois, 
 but made no comment. He had not fully compre- 
 hended the simile with which this impassive seigneur 
 illustrated the fact that but one of his many misdeeds 
 had cast on his future a lengthening shadow of what 
 he would have hesitated to call remorse. 
 
 "Francois," he said, "you and I are new additions 
 to this queer collection. I may as well warn you 
 that even here spies abound. Why? The deuce 
 knows. Barn-yard fowls are not less considered 
 than are we. It is the tribunal one day; then the 
 Conciergerie ; and next day, affaire finie, the business 
 is over. Meanwhile, you are in the best society in 
 France. There are M. de la Ferte, the Comte de 
 Mirepoix, the Due de Levis, the Marquis de Fleury. 
 I used to think them dull ; calamity has not sharp- 
 ened their wits. Dialle! but you are welcome." The 
 marquis had all his life amused himself with small 
 regard to what was thought of him or his ways of 
 recreation. " 'T is a bit of luck to find you here in 
 this hole." Francois could hardly agree with the 
 opinion, but he laughed as he said so. 
 
222 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 "Here comes my old comrade, De Laval Mont- 
 morency. He is still a gay jester. He says we are 
 like Saul and that other fellow, Jonathan, except that 
 in death we shall both of us to a certainty be divided." 
 
 " del! 't is a ghastly joke, monsieur." 
 
 " It has decidedly a flavor of the locality. I must 
 not play telltale about you, or they will put you in 
 the rez-de-chaussee, and, by St. Denis ! I should miss 
 you. I shall have a little amusement in perplexing 
 these gentlemen. Your face will betray you ; it used 
 to be pretty well known. However, we shall see." 
 
 The nobleman last named threaded his way through 
 the crowd, excusing himself and bowing as he came. 
 
 "Ah," he said, "Ste. Luce, another new arrival. 
 The hotel is filling up. Good morning, monsieur. 
 Grand merci! 't is our old acquaintance who used to 
 tell fortunes on the Champs Elysees ; told mine once, 
 but, alas ! did not warn me of this. Well, well, we 
 have here some queer society. Take care, Ste. Luce ; 
 this citizen may be a spy, for all thou knowest. I 
 assure thee we have to be careful." 
 
 "I I a mouchard& spy?" 
 
 " M. de Montmorency has no such idea," said Ste. 
 Luce. " I shall ask him to respect your desire to be 
 known by a name not your own. Permit me to add 
 that I have less reason to thank some of my friends 
 than I have to thank this gentleman. He is pleased 
 to have mystified Paris for a wager, or no matter 
 what. Just now he is what the deuce is it you call 
 yourself at present ? " 
 
 Francois was delighted with the jest. " Allow me, 
 monsieur, to pass as Citizen Francois. My real 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 223 
 
 name But you will pardon me; real names are 
 dangerous." 
 
 "And what are names to-day," said the marquis, 
 "thine or mine? My friend here well, between us, 
 Montmorency, this is he who held the stair with me 
 in my ci-devant chateau. Thou wilt remember I told 
 thee of it. A good twenty minutes we kept it against 
 a hundred or so of my grateful people. He is the 
 best blade in Paris, and, foi d 'honneur, that business 
 was no trifle." 
 
 " Who you are, or choose to be, I know not," said 
 the older noble, " but I thank you and, pardieu! Ste. 
 Luce is free with your biography." 
 
 This was Francois's opinion. 
 
 No one knew distinctly who was this newcomer, 
 concerning whom, for pure cynical amusement, Ste. 
 Luce said so much that was gracious. Any freshly 
 gay companion was welcomed, if his manners were at 
 all endurable. The actors and actresses were pleas- 
 antly received. The few who remembered the long 
 face, and ears like sails, and the captivating laugh of 
 the former reader of palms, were so bewildered by 
 Ste. Luce's varied statements that the poor thief 
 found himself at least tolerated. He liked it. Never- 
 theless, as the days went by, and while seemingly 
 the gayest of the gay, Francois gave serious thought 
 to the business of keeping his head on his shoulders. 
 He told fortunes, always happy ones, played tricks, 
 and cut out of paper all manner of animals for the 
 little girl, the child of the turnkey. Toto he gave up 
 for lost ; but on the fourth day the dog, half starved, 
 got a chance when a prisoner entered. He dashed 
 
224 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 through the guards, and fled up stairs and down, 
 until, seeing his master in the big hall, he ran to him, 
 panting. The head jailer would have removed him, 
 but there was a great outcry ; and at last, when little 
 Annette, Francois's small friend, cried, the dog was 
 allowed to remain. 
 
 He was, as the marquis declared, much more inter- 
 esting than most of the prisoners, and possessed, as 
 he added, the advantage over other prisoners of being 
 permanent. In fact, they were not. Every day or 
 two came long folded papers. The ci-devant Baron 
 Bellefontaine would to-morrow have the cause of 
 his detention considered by Tribunal No. 3. Wit- 
 nesses and official defenders had been allowed; but 
 of late, and to emigres, these were often denied. Also, 
 witnesses were scarce and easily terrified, so that 
 batches of merely suspected persons were condemned 
 almost unheard. To be tried meant nearly always 
 the Conciergerie and death. All cases were supposed 
 to be tried in the order of their arrests ; but great sums 
 were spent in paying clerks to keep names at the foot 
 of the fatal dockets of the committee. The members 
 of this terrible government survived or died with 
 much judicial murder on their souls; but countless 
 millions passed through their hands without one man 
 of them becoming rich. Elsewhere, with the lower 
 officers, gold was an effective ally when it was desired 
 to postpone the time of trial. 
 
XX 
 
 Of how Francois gave Amar advice, and of how the 
 marquis bought his own head. 
 
 was now about May 26, when, at 
 evening, a commissioner in a cocked 
 hat, much plumed and scarfed, came 
 into the dining-hall. Toto was between 
 his master's knees, and was being fed. 
 Francois heard a gray-haired old lady exclaim to a 
 neighbor : " Mon Dieu! cherie, look ! 'T is the Terror 
 in person/ 7 
 
 The actor Champ ville cried out gaily: "I must 
 practise that face. 'T is a fortune for the villain of a 
 play. If ever I get out, it will be inestimable." Alas ! 
 he was in the next day's list, the corvee, they called 
 it, and came no more to table. Francois looked up, 
 caught a glimpse of that relentless visage, and dropped 
 his head again over the slender relics of a not bounti- 
 ful meal. It was Jean Pierre Amar ! 
 
 The marquis looked up from his plate, but made 
 no effort to conceal himself. Amar walked around 
 the table. Now and then his mouth wandered to 
 left. It was comical, and yet horribly grotesque. He 
 seemed to notice no one, and went out to make his 
 
 225 
 
226 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 inspection. Presently a turnkey came and touched 
 Francois's shoulder. 
 
 " The citizen commissioner would see thee." 
 
 "I am ruined done for!" murmured the thief; 
 and, followed by Toto, he went after the turnkey. 
 In the room used as a registering-office, Amar, le 
 farouche, sat handling a paper. 
 
 " Ah ! " he said. " Citizen turnkey, leave the sus- 
 pect with me, and close the door." The commissioner 
 laid a pair of pistols on the table, and looked up at 
 Francois. 
 
 " Well, citizen, we are met again. I am free to say 
 that I had careful search made for thee, and now 
 good fortune has brought hither not thee alone, but 
 that infernal ci-devant who pinned me like a butterfly." 
 As he spoke there was something fascinating in the 
 concentration of emotion on the active side of this 
 unnatural face. Francois felt the need to be careful. 
 
 " Why the devil don't you speak ? " 
 
 " Will the citizen kindly advise me what answer it 
 will be most prudent to make ? " And for comment 
 on his own words, which altogether pleased him, a 
 pleasant smile drifted downward over his large fea- 
 tures. 
 
 " Sacre! but thou art a queer one, and no fool," said 
 the Jacobin. " Thou wilt be dead before long ; a mon- 
 strous pity ! I would give my place for thy laugh." 
 
 " 7 T is a bargain to my mind. Let us change. I 
 shall set thee free at once at once, citizen commis- 
 sioner ; I bear no malice." 
 
 Amar, silent for a moment, stroked his nose with 
 thumb and finger. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 227 
 
 "Thou dost not remind me thou didst save my 
 life." 
 
 " No ; what is the use ? " 
 
 "Use? Why not?" 
 
 " Because men like the citizen commissioner do not 
 lightly change. I have a too plain recollection of 
 what I was promised in return for my benevolence. 
 I should regret it except for " 
 
 " For what ? " said Amar. 
 
 Then Francois rose to the height of his greatness. 
 
 " I am a Frenchman, even if I am not of thy party. 
 Had not the country needed thee, that day had been 
 thy last. Citizen, as a man thou wouldst set me free ; 
 as a patriot thou wilt bow to the law of the republic. 
 I am willing to die rather than soil the record of one 
 to whom France owes so much." An overwhelming 
 solemnity of aspect came upon this comedian's face 
 as it met the gaze of the commissioner. " Alas ! the 
 country has few such citizens." 
 
 u Tonnerre! True true; it is sad." The man's 
 vanity was excelled only by that of the prisoner be- 
 fore him. Francois had personal appreciation of the 
 influential value of the bait he cast. A great diplo- 
 matist of the older type was lost when Frangois took 
 to the war against society in place of that against 
 nations. 
 
 " If the citizen commissioner has no more need of 
 me, I will go. To waste his time is to waste the genius 
 of France." Not for nothing had Francois been of 
 late in the society of the Comedie Franchise. 
 
 " Tiens! Who told thee to go ? I desire to do my 
 own thinking. Why art thou here 1 " 
 
228 THE ADVENTUEES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Francois laughed, but made no other reply. 
 
 "Young man, art thou laughing at the Revolu- 
 tionary Tribunal?" 
 
 " Thou art also laughing, monsieur." When Fran- 
 c.ois laughed, he who looked at him laughed also. 
 
 "Dicible! yes. What right hast thou to make an 
 officer of the Great Committee laugh ? Thou wilt get 
 into trouble." 
 
 " I am in it now, monsieur up to the neck." 
 
 " No ' monsieur ' to me, aristocrat ! What brought 
 thee here ? " 
 
 "A greedy woman denounced me. Could not I 
 denounce her in turn ? " 
 
 " Mort du diable! that is a fine idea to let the 
 denounced also denounce. It would make things 
 move. I will mention that to Couthon." The half 
 of the face that was able to express emotion manu- 
 factured a look of ferocious mirth; but it was clear 
 that he took the proposition seriously. 
 
 " It appears that we do not go fast enough, citizen/ 7 
 said Francois. " In April, 257 ; in May, so far, only 
 308. So say the gazettes. What if we denounce 
 Citizens Robespierre and Vadier? We might go 
 faster. Let us denounce everybody, and, last, the 
 devil." 
 
 Amar set an elbow on the table, and, with his chin 
 in his hand, considered this novel specimen of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 Francois had a controlling idea that what chance 
 of safety there was lay in complete abandonment to 
 the natural recklessness of his ever-dominant mood 
 of humor. 
 

 - a ^ mm ^^ m - 
 
 CONSIDEKED THIS NOVEL SPECIMEN OF HUMANITY." 
 
THE ADVENTUKES OF FEANgOIS 231 
 
 " Art thou at the end of thy nonsense, idiot?" said 
 the Jacobin. 
 
 " Not quite ; the citizen might denounce himself." 
 
 " By all the saints ! Art making a jest of me me, 
 Jean Pierre Amar? Thou must value thy head but 
 little." 
 
 " Dame! it was never worth much ; and as to saints, 
 one Citizen Montmorency said yesterday that the 
 republic hath abolished the noblesse of heaven and 
 earth too. Droll idea, citizen"; and he laughed 
 merrily. 
 
 " Oh, quit that infernal laughing ! Thou must be 
 of the Comedie Franchise." 
 
 " No ; I am of the comedy of France, like the rest 
 like the commissioner ; but the citizen has two ears 
 for a joke." 
 
 "I I think so"; and he made it manifest by a 
 twisted, unilateral grin of self -approval. " That idea 
 of the citizen prisoners denouncing I shall not 
 forget that. Wilt thou serve the republic ? " 
 
 " Why not!" 
 
 " These common spies in the prisons are useless. I 
 will put an ' M ' to thy name on our list ; l M ? for mou- 
 chardspy. That will put thee down at the bottom 
 whenever the Committee of Safety comes to thy 
 case. I am not ungrateful." 
 
 " Very good," said Francois, promptly. " I am as 
 honest a Jacobin as the best. I will serve the republic, 
 citizen, to the best of my ability." 
 
 " Then thou wilt report once a week, especially on 
 the ci-devants. The head keeper will give thee pen, 
 ink, and paper, and a chance to write here alone. I 
 
232 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 will so order it. But beware, citizen! I am not a 
 man to trifle with j I do not forget." 
 
 " I should think not/' said Francois, humbly. 
 
 " And when Gregoire comes, in June, thou wilt re- 
 port to him." 
 
 " I Gregoire report " 
 
 " Certainly. What 's the matter? Off with thee 
 now. Ah, that sacre Citizen Ste. Luce ! I forgot him. 
 Tell him his case will come on shortly." 
 
 " I am sorry." 
 
 " That is to lack patriotism." 
 
 "But he and De Crosne are the only people who 
 amuse me, and it is dull in this bird-cage. He swears 
 thou art clumsy with the small sword." 
 
 " I I clumsy ! I should like to catch him some- 
 where. I was too fat ; but now ! " and he smote his 
 chest. "Didst thou think me clumsy me, Pierre 
 Amar ? " 
 
 "I? No, indeed. These aristocrats think no one 
 else can handle a rapier. Ah, if I could fence with 
 the citizen commissioner a little, and then ; 
 
 " Impossible." 
 
 "He swears thou art coward enough to use the 
 guillotine to settle a quarrel, and that thou dost fence 
 like a pigsticker." 
 
 Amar, le farouche, swore an oath too blasphemous 
 to repeat. The great thick-lipped mouth moved half 
 across so much of his face as could move at all. He 
 was speechless with rage, and at last gasped, as he 
 struck the table: "Me Amar? Ah, I should like 
 well to let him out and kill him ; and I would, too, 
 but there are Saint-Just, and Couthon, and the rest. 
 Goj and take care how thou dost conduct thyself. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 233 
 
 Go ! The sacre marquis must take Ms chance. Pig- 
 sticker indeed ! " 
 
 Thus terminated this formidable interview; but, 
 alas ! it was now close to the end of May, and in the 
 background of June was the man with the wart. 
 
 The next day, in the garden, Frangois related to 
 the marquis his interview with the dreaded Jacobin. 
 The gentleman was delighted. 
 
 " Mon. Dieu! Frangois, you are a great man j but 
 I fear it will do no good j my turn must be near. De 
 Crosne and poor Fleury got their little billets last 
 evening, and are off on a voyage of discovery to-mor- 
 row, along with M. de la Morne, and De Lancival, and 
 more. They will be in good society. Did you think 
 that Jacobin Apollo would be pricked into letting me 
 out for the chance of killing me ? " 
 
 "It came near to that, monsieur. I did say that 
 you were not much of a blade, after all ; that Citizen 
 Amar was out of condition when you last met ; and 
 that if he and I could fence a little, outside, of 
 course, M. le Marquis would regret the meeting." 
 
 " Delicious ! And he took it all ? " 
 
 "Yes, as little Annette takes a fairy-tale of M. 
 Fleury's who will tell no more, poor fellow ! " 
 
 " But, after all, we are still here. I envy you the 
 interview. Parbleu! these fellows do their best, but 
 they can't take the jests out of life. I hope the next 
 world will be as amusing." 
 
 As he ceased, Frangois exclaimed : 
 
 " By all the saints ! there is that crazy fool Despard." 
 
 "Despard Despard?" repeated the marquis. 
 " That is a contribution to the show. How the mis- 
 chief did he get here ? v 
 u 
 
234 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 The unlucky Jacobin was wandering about like a 
 lost dog, a shabby, dejected figure. Toto, at play, 
 recognized his master's former partner, and jumped 
 up in amiable recognition. Despard kicked him, and 
 the poodle, unaccustomed to rude treatment, fled to 
 Francois. The thief s long face grew savage and 
 stern ; to hurt Toto was a deadly offense. 
 
 "Pardon, monsieur," he said to the marquis, and 
 went swiftly to where Despard stood against the wall. 
 
 "Look here, rascal," said Francois; "if ever thou 
 dost kick that dog again, I will twist thy neck." 
 
 Despard did not seem to take in his meaning. 
 
 " It is thou, Francois. There is the ci-devant the 
 marquis. I followed him. I Pierre Despard I de- 
 nounced him. I did it. I am not afraid." 
 
 " Stuff ! Didst thou hear me ? "What have I to do 
 with ci-devant marquises ? Thou hast kicked Toto." 
 
 " I see him ; I must speak with him." 
 
 " Fichtre! he is mad," said the thief, and went after 
 him. 
 
 At the coming of Despard, ragged, wild-eyed, ex- 
 cited, the group about the tall gentleman turned. 
 
 Despard paused before him. " It is my turn now ! 
 I followed I followed I denounced thee I, Pierre 
 Despard. They will let me out when thou art to die ; 
 it will be soon. I will take thy child thy bastard 
 my wife's child. We will go to see thee I and thy 
 hunchback to see thee on the tumbrel at the guillo- 
 tine. She hath thy own cold eyes frozen eyes. Thou 
 wilt know her by those when thou art waiting wait- 
 ing shivering." 
 
 The marquis listened with entire tranquillity. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 235 
 
 "One or two more in the audience will matter 
 little " j and, smiling, lie walked away. 
 
 A strange tremor seized on the chin and lower lip 
 of Despard. He said to Francois, " Come with me," 
 and then, in a bewildered manner, " He is n't afraid 
 yet. I I want him to be afraid." 
 
 " Dame! thou wilt wait then till the cows roost and 
 the chickens give milk." 
 
 "No; it will come." 
 
 " Stuff ! How earnest thou here ? Didst thou de- 
 nounce thyself ? I have heard of men mad enough to 
 do that." 
 
 " No. Do not tell. I trust thee j I always did trust 
 thee. I am a spy. I am to stay here till I want to 
 be let out, when he he is tried. I wanted to watch 
 him. Some day he will have fear fear and I" 
 
 "Well, of all the mad idiots! A mouse to walk 
 into a trap of his own accord ! Dieul but the cheese 
 must have smelt good to thee." 
 
 "I shall go out when I want to go. Didst thou 
 know his daughter is dead ? I am sorry she is dead." 
 
 "Yes God rest her soul ! " 
 
 " I am sorry she is dead because she cannot be here. 
 I wish she were here. If only she were here, it would 
 be complete. Then he would be afraid." 
 
 "Bon Dieu!" cried several, "he will kill him!" 
 The thief had caught Pierre by the throat, and, scarce 
 conscious of the peril of his own strength, he choked 
 the struggling man, and at last, in wild rage, hurled 
 him back amid a startled mass of tumbled people. 
 
 "Beast!" muttered Francois, at his full height 
 regarding angrily the prostrate man. 
 
236 THE ADVENTURES OP FRANgOIS 
 
 In an instant the jailers were at his side. " What 
 is this?" said they. 
 
 " He he kicked my dog ! n 
 
 " Did he ? Well, no more of this, citizen." 
 
 " Then let him be careful how he kicks my dog ; 
 and take him away, or 
 
 Pierre needed no further advice. 
 
 Presently Ste. Luce came over to Francois. 
 
 " What is wrong ? " 
 
 " He kicked my dog ! " 
 
 11 Indeed ? Do you know this man well ? Once you 
 warned me about him. Where have you met ? " 
 
 "We juggled together, monsieur, when I used to 
 read palms. He is a bit off his head, I think." 
 
 " ; T is common in France just now, or else the re- 
 verse is. But he has a damnably good memory. We 
 of Normandy say, c As is the beast, so are his claws.' 
 The fellow is of good blood in a way ; but, mon Dieu! 
 he is a coward to be pitied. To be through and 
 through a coward does much enlarge the limits of 
 calamity. If I or if you were to hate a man, for rea- 
 sons good or bad, we would kill him. But a coward ! 
 What can he do ? He has his own ways, not mine or 
 yours. His claws are not of the make of mine. I 
 have no complaint to make as to his fashion of 
 revenging himself ; but really, revenge, I fancy, must 
 lose a good deal of its distinctness of flavor when it 
 waits this long. It is, I should say, quite twelve 
 years quite. There is a child, he says, or there was. 
 Do you chance to know anything about it ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Did you ever see it ? Is it male or female ? " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 237 
 
 " A girl, monsieur. I never saw it.' 7 
 
 "How old?" 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 " Penitence becomes a question of dates, Francois. 
 But it is true true that I never had the least talent 
 for regret ; and if a man is not capable of regret, why, 
 Francois, how the deuce can he achieve penitence? 
 Don't think I am joking, my most accomplished 
 thief. There are men here who there is M. de 
 well, no matter. There are men here who are honestly 
 bewailing their past well, amusements sins, if you 
 please. I cannot. There are some here who, because 
 they are noble by descent, are making believe not to 
 be afraid, and will make believe until the knife falls. 
 I am not penitent, because I am not ; and as to the 
 knife, I have had a most agreeable life, and should 
 never have gone on living if life had ceased to 
 amuse me." 
 
 He was now silent awhile, his strong, handsome 
 features clear to see, as they lay on the scant grass 
 in the sunshine. The thief had learned that at times 
 this great seigneur would talk, and liked to do so; 
 and that at other times he was to be left to the long 
 silences which were difficult to secure where this 
 morbidly gay crowd, of all conditions of men, was 
 seeking the distraction of too incessant chat. 
 
 He rose quietly, and went away to talk with Dom- 
 ville of the Comedie, who himself was always glad of 
 the company of Francois's cheery visage. 
 
 In the salon, which was now deserted, he saw 
 Despard. Pierre stood at an open window, and was 
 pulling at his fingers, as Francois had so often seen 
 
238 THE ADVENTUEES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 him doing. He was gazing at the people in the yard. 
 His eyes wandered feebly here and there, as if without 
 interest or purpose. His attitude of dejection touched 
 some chord of pity in his partner's heart. 
 
 "Dame! he must have thought I was rough with 
 him for a dog a dog." He had no mind to explain. 
 
 Pierre turned to meet him. He was not angry, nor 
 was he excited. The shifting phases of his malady 
 had brought to him again the horrible misery of such 
 melancholy as they who are sound of mind cannot 
 conceive. When this torture has a man in its grip, 
 the past is as nothing ; the present a curse ; duty is 
 dead j the future only an assurance of continued suf- 
 fering ; death becomes an unconsidered trifle ; life 
 continued life an unbearable burden. 
 
 Poor Pierre said no word of his ex-partner's recent 
 violence. The tears were running down his cheeks. 
 The man at his side was, as usual, gaily cheerful. 
 
 "What is wrong with thee?" said Francois. "I 
 was hard on thee, but thou knowest " 
 
 " What is it ? " replied Pierre. " I it is no matter." 
 
 Francois, surprised, went on: "Can I help thee?" 
 
 " No. I cannot sleep ; I cannot eat. I suffer. I am 
 in a hell of despair." 
 
 " But how, or why, mon ami f " 
 
 " I do not know. I suffer." 
 
 " Rouse up a bit. Why didst chance to come here ? 
 I asked thee that before. If thou canst get out, go at 
 once. Thou art not fit to be in this place. This devil 
 of a marquis excites thee. To be a spy thou shouldst 
 be ashamed. Canst thou really get out when it pleases 
 thee to go ? n 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 239 
 
 "Why not?" said Pierre, in alarm. "Dost thou 
 think they will not let me go ? I did not want to be 
 a spy, but I was half starved. All I could get I sent 
 to keep my his poor little hunchback. Vadier lent 
 me some money. I kept none, not a sou. I asked 
 him to let me come here as a spy. They say my re- 
 ports are useless. I can't help that. I will go out. 
 I want to see that man suffer; I want to see him 
 afraid. He is not afraid. Dost thou think he is afraid f " 
 
 "No." 
 
 For a moment there was a pause, when Pierre, in a 
 quiet, childlike manner, said : " Dost thou think he ever 
 will be afraid?" 
 
 " No, Pierre ; he never will be. What a fool thou 
 art to have come here ! 'T is not so easy to get out." 
 
 " Mon Dieu! don't say that. I they said" 
 
 "Dost thou believe a Jacobin and Vadier, the 
 beast, of all men ? " 
 
 " Hush ! " said Pierre, looking about him suspi- 
 ciously. "I must go I must go. I must walk; I 
 cannot keep still." 
 
 He remained in this mood of subdued terror and 
 the deepest melancholy for some days. Then for a 
 few hours he followed the marquis about, proclaiming 
 his own wrongs in a high-pitched voice. At last Ste. 
 Luce complained to the keeper, Vaubertrand, who 
 hesitated to interfere, being puzzled and fearful as to 
 the amount of influence possessed by this spy of the 
 Committee of Safety. He mustered enough courage 
 at last to tell Despard that he must not speak to the mar- 
 quis ; and, as he luckily caught him in his mood of de- 
 spair and depression, the man timidly promised to obey. 
 
XXI 
 
 How Francois, having made a bargain with Citizen Amar, 
 cannot keep it ivith the man of the wart Hoiv Despard 
 dies in the place of the marquis Of Francois's escape 
 from prison. 
 
 HE second week of June was over. The 
 keeper, who had taken a fancy to the 
 merry thief, called him aside one after- 
 noon, and said : 
 
 " Thou must write thy report, because 
 to-morrow comes Citizen Gregoire. Thou canst use 
 the office for an hour, as is permitted. But take care. 
 Thou dost know how they are treated in the prisons 
 who are suspected of making these reports to the 
 committee. I will come for thee at dusk." 
 
 Francois thanked him, and at the time mentioned 
 was locked up in the office ; for despite Vaubertraiid's 
 amiability, he was careful as to the security of his 
 prisoners. As it was now dark, the office table was 
 lighted by two candles. He found pen and ink and 
 paper, but no competent thoughts. What was he to 
 say whom to accuse? He had made a hasty con- 
 tract with Amar, and was of no mind to fulfil his 
 share of it. He got up from the desk, and walked 
 
 240 
 
THE ADVENTUBES OF FBANgOIS 241 
 
 about. " The deuce ! " he said to Toto, who never left 
 him. "'T is a scrape of our own making. I should 
 have told that scamp with the pretty face to go to 
 the devil with his spy business. Sacristie! doggie, I 
 am like that fellow in the play I once saw. He sold 
 his soul to the devil, and did n't want to pay up when 
 the time came. What to do?" He had told the 
 marquis, whom he trusted, of the difficulty he antici- 
 pated. 
 
 Ste. Luce, much amused, said: "Take me for a 
 subject. I am as sure to die as an abbot's capon. If 
 you have a conscience, it may rest easy so far as I am 
 concerned." 
 
 Francois took it seriously. "I beg of you, mon- 
 sieur 
 
 " Oh, a good idea ! " laughed the nobleman, breaking 
 in upon his remonstrance. " Tell them how you saw 
 me kill three good citizens that night on the stairs. 
 By Mars ! Francois, those twenty minutes were worth 
 living for. I was in a plot to rescue the king ; tell 
 them that." 
 
 "Not I," grinned the thief. 
 
 " Confound it ! you are difficult." 
 
 And now, as Francois recalled their talk, his task 
 was not more easy. He nibbled the end of his quill, 
 and looked around him. At last, as he walked to and 
 fro, he began to exercise his natural inquisitiveness. 
 It was never long quiet. He stared at the barred 
 windows. A set of pigeonholes attracted him. He 
 glanced hastily over their contents. "Tiens! " he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 Every day or two, about 3 P. M., a clerk of the 
 
242 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 Committee of Safety brought a great envelop 
 stamped with the seal of the republic. Within was a 
 paper on which were clearly set out the names and 
 former titles of the citizen prisoners selected for trial 
 the night before in joint counsel by the Great Com- 
 mittee and that of Security. The keeper copied each 
 name on to the space in the blank summons kept for 
 this use, and these fatal papers were then duly de- 
 livered after supper. 
 
 Francois looked at the packet. It was sealed. He 
 knew well what it meant. It was labeled : " Mandate 
 of the Tribunals Nos. 4 and 5." 
 
 " Toto, we may be among them ; we must see." He 
 looked about him. Here were all the writing-table 
 implements then in use. He heated a knife, and 
 neatly loosened the under wax of the seal. The 
 death-call lay before him. He ran over it with shud- 
 dering haste. 
 
 " Dieu! we are not there. But, mon ami, here is 
 the marquis ! " His was the last name at the foot of 
 the first page. Francois sat still, his face in his 
 hands. At any moment he might be caught. He 
 did not heed. 
 
 "I must do it," he said. He saw, as it were 
 before him, the appealing face of the dead woman, 
 and felt in remembrance the hand the great seigneur 
 had given him on the stair. He had a glad memory 
 of a moment which had lifted him on to the higher 
 levels of self-esteem and manhood. 
 
 "I will do it, Toto; 7 t is to be risked; and, mon 
 Dieu! the rest the rest of them ! n Some he knew 
 well. Some had been kind to him. One had given 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 243 
 
 him clothes when these were greatly needed. He 
 was profoundly moved. 
 
 " If I burn it, 't is but to give them a day, and no 
 more if I burn it ! " 
 
 He took scissors from the table, and carefully cut 
 off the half -inch at the foot of the paper. It was now 
 without the name " Ste. Luce, ci-devant marquis." He 
 tore up the strip of paper, and put the fragments in 
 the fireplace, behind the unkindled logs. 
 
 Next he casually turned the page. " del! this calls 
 for eleven. I have left but ten. They will think it 
 a blunder. One will be wanting j that is all." 
 
 He used a little melted wax under the large seal, 
 replaced the warrant in the outer cover, and returned 
 the document to the pigeonhole whence he had taken 
 it. This done, he sat down again, and began to write 
 his report. 
 
 He found nothing to say, except that those he would 
 have spoken of had been already disposed of; and 
 now he thought again that he would burn the fatal 
 paper. He rose resomte, but at this moment the head 
 keeper came back. 
 
 Francois was sorry, but he was not used to writing, 
 and made excuses until at last the man said impa- 
 tiently : 
 
 "Well, thou must settle all that with Amar and 
 Gregoire. I gave thee time enough." Could he have 
 another chance ? He was told that he should have it j 
 but now it was supper-time ; better not to be missing. 
 He went out and up-stairs to his place at table. 
 
 He had lost his gaiety. Here and there at the table 
 were the doomed men and women. He could not eat, 
 
244 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 and at last left the room to wander in the corridors. 
 Pierre soon found him. He was eager, anxious, and 
 full of strange news. 
 
 " When will that brute marquis be sent for ? I was 
 to go out to-day. They have forgotten. There is 
 trouble in the Great Committee. I hear of it from 
 Vaubertrand. Robespierre and Vadier think things 
 go not fast enough; and the rest the rest, except 
 little cripple Couthon and Saint- Just, are opposing 
 our great Robespierre." 
 
 Francois began to be interested, and to ask ques- 
 tions. The gazettes were no longer allowed in the 
 prisons. The outer world was a blank to all within 
 their walls. 
 
 Despard, flushed and eager, told him how daily the 
 exit of the prisoners for trial was met by a mob 
 clamorous for blood. Then he began to exhibit 
 alarm. Did Francois think that he, Pierre, might by 
 chance miss the execution of the marquis ? He would 
 speak to Gregoire, who was coming next morning. 
 They should learn not to trifle with a friend of Robes- 
 pierre. When Francois left him he was gesticulating, 
 and, as he walked up and down the deserted corridor, 
 was cracking his knuckles or gnawing his nails. 
 
 After supper the varied groups collected in the salon. 
 The women embroidered. A clever artist was busy 
 sketching the head of a girl of twenty for those she 
 loved, who were to see her living face no more. Some 
 played at cards. Here and there a man sat alone, wait- 
 ing, stunned by the sure approach of death. The mar- 
 quis was in gay chat with the Vicomte de Beausejour. 
 
 " Ah, here is my mysterious gentleman ! " cried Ste. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 245 
 
 Luce. " They have bets on you. Tell these gentle- 
 men who you really are. They are puzzled." 
 
 Francois smiled. He was pleased to do or say 
 anything which would take his thoughts off the near 
 approach of the messenger of doom. He said : 
 
 " M. le Marquis knows that I am under an oath." 
 
 " Pardie! true, true ; I have heard as much." 
 
 " The bets stand over/ 7 said a gray old man, M. de 
 PAntilhac. " We knew you as a juggler." 
 
 " Yes, and a fencing-master/ 7 said Du Pin. 
 
 " You are both right. These times and the king's 
 service set a man to strange trades. Well, gentle- 
 men, I am not to be questioned. Tales lose heads." 
 
 They laughed. " Pardon me," said a younger man. 
 " The marquis was a,bout to tell us of the delightful 
 encounter you had on his staircase. 'T is like a legend 
 of the days of Henri IV of blessed memory." 
 
 " Tell them," said Ste. Luce. 
 
 " The marquis does me much Dieu! " Francois 
 cried, and fell back into a chair, weak as a child. The 
 turnkey went by him with the fatal missives. 
 
 " Art thou ill ? " said De FAntilhac. " What is it t 
 
 "Yes," said Francois. "Excuse me. He he " 
 And, as it were fascinated, he rose and went after the 
 keeper. 
 
 Vaubertrand paused behind a gentleman who was 
 playing piquet. 
 
 u Citizen Ste. Michel," he said, and passed on, as he 
 laid the summons before the player. 
 
 " At last ! " said the man thus interrupted. " Quatre 
 to the king four aces. Let it wait." 
 
 Vaubertrand moved on. Francois followed him. 
 
246 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 The calls to trial and death were distributed. A man 
 rolled up the fatal paper without a word, and lighted 
 his pipe with it. One of those who sat apart took his 
 summons, and fell fainting on the floor. 
 
 " Nothing for me ? " said the marquis. 
 
 " Not yet, citizen." 
 
 " I was never before so neglected." 
 
 The game went on. Here and there a woman 
 dropped her embroidery and sat back, thinking of 
 the world to come, as she rolled the deadly call to 
 trial in her wet fingers, and took refuge in the strength 
 of prayer. 
 
 Francois felt as if it were he who had condemned 
 these people. He went to his cell, and tossed about 
 all night, sleepless. Rising early, he went out into the 
 garden. After breakfast the keeper said to him : 
 
 " Thou shouldst have had thy report ready. Gre- 
 goire is coming to-day. He is before his time. If he 
 is drunk, as usual, there will be trouble. That fool 
 Despard is wild to-day. He will be sure to stir up 
 some mischief. All the mouchards will be called." 
 
 " Despard is an idiot. He is raving one day, and 
 fit to kill himself the next. Get him out of this." 
 
 " Dame! I should be well pleased. He swears I keep 
 him here. He will ah, mon Dieu! the things he 
 threatens. I am losing my wits. My good Francois, 
 I have been kind to thee, and I talk rashly. I wish I 
 had done with it all." 
 
 " And I too, citizen ; but thou art safe with me." 
 
 As the jailer spoke, he looked over his list of those 
 summoned. "Sacre* bleu! here is a list which calls for 
 eleven, and there are only ten names ! " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 247 
 
 "Some one has made a mistake." 
 
 "No doubt. But Gregoire never listens. Pray 
 God he be sober. Be in the corridor at nine j Gre- 
 goire will want to see thee." 
 
 Francois would be on hand. As to the report, he 
 should wish to ask how to draw it up. He found a 
 quiet corner in the courtyard, and began to think 
 about the man with the wart the man of whom he 
 knew so little, and whom he feared as he had never 
 before feared a man. The every-day horror and dis- 
 turbance of the morning had begun. Officers were 
 coming and going; names were called; there were 
 adieus, quiet or heartrending. The marquis was 
 tranquilly conversing, undisturbed by the scene, which 
 was too common to trouble those who had no near 
 friend or relation in the batch of prisoners called for 
 trial. Francois had seen it all, day after day. It 
 always moved him, but never as now. 
 
 He stood looking at a young woman who was sit- 
 ting with the order in her lap, her eyes turned heav- 
 enward as if in dumb appeal. Now and then she 
 looked from one man to another, as if help must 
 come. 
 
 Francois glanced at the marquis ; he was the center 
 of a laughing group, chatting unconcerned. 
 
 " del! has the man no heart ? " he murmured. 
 " Why did I save him even for a day ? The good God 
 knows. It must make life easy to be like him." The 
 marquis would have been amazed to know that the 
 memory of a white, sad woman's face, and of one 
 heroic hour, had given him a new lease of life. 
 
 " Ah, Toto," said the thief to himself, " we held that 
 
248 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 stair together, he and I." The thought of an uplift- 
 ing moment overcame him. A sudden reflection 
 that he might have been other than he was flushed 
 his face. 
 
 "Ah, my friend Toto, we could have been some- 
 thing; we missed our chance in the world. Well, 
 thou dost think we had better make a fight for it. 
 Life is agreeable, but not here. Let us think. There 
 is one little card to play. Art thou up to it ? Yes ! 
 I must go now. Thou wilt wait here, and thou wilt 
 not move. In an hour I shall be with thee; and, 
 meanwhile, behold a fine bone. No, not yet, but when 
 I come. Attention, now ! " 
 
 He turned his back to the prison, took off a shoe, 
 and extracted a paper, which he folded so as to be 
 small and flat. Then he produced a bit of a kid 
 glove he had asked from Mme. Cerise of the Comedie 
 Fran^aise. In it he laid the paper, and put the little 
 packet, thus protected, in the dog's mouth. "Keep 
 it," he said. "It is death it is life." The dog lay 
 down, his sharp black nose on his paws, shut his eyes, 
 and seemed to be asleep. He had done the thing 
 before. 
 
 When Frangois entered the corridor he found the 
 keeper. 
 
 "Come/ 7 said Vaubertrand. "The commissioner 
 is in a bad way, and drunk, too. He is troubled, I 
 think, and the citizens who are outside reproach him 
 that the supply for the guillotine is small, and the 
 prisons full. What have I done to be thus tormented ? 
 There will be a massacre, del! I talk too much. I 
 have favored thee. Take care and thou canst laugh 
 
THE 'ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 249 
 
 yet." Whereupon Francois laughed anew, and went 
 after him. 
 
 The large hall on the first floor was unusually full. 
 There was much confusion. The great street door, as 
 it was opened wide and shut again in haste, gave a 
 not reassuring glimpse of men in red bonnets roaring 
 the Qa ira. Over all rose the shrill tongues of the 
 women of the markets. A new batch of prisoners 
 was pushed in, the keeper declaring he had no room. 
 Officers of the Committee of Safety untied the hands 
 of the newcomers, and ranged them on stone benches 
 to the left. On the right were those who were called 
 to trial. Francois stood aside, watchful. 
 
 Pierre Despard was waiting, flushed and anxious. 
 As a spy, he had leave from Vaubertrand to descend 
 in order to state his case to Gregoire. He went hither 
 and thither, noisy, foolish, gesticulating. He was now 
 in his alternate mood of excitement, and soon began 
 to elbow his way toward the office. 
 
 " Citizen La Vaque is summoned." 
 
 A tall man answered from the bench. Then another 
 and another was called. The officers went down the 
 line, and, paper in hand, verified the prisoners. They 
 were taken, one by one, into a side room by a second 
 officer, and their hands secured behind their backs. 
 
 At last the first officer said: "Here are but ten, 
 Citizen Vaubertrand, and the list calls for eleven. 
 The keeper must see the commissioner." The officer 
 in charge reproached Vaubertrand for neglect. The 
 man with the wart came out from the office. 
 
 " Silence ! " he cried. What is this 1 " 
 
 The matter was explained, or was being set forth, 
 
 15 
 
250 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 when the door opened, and another half-dozen unfor- 
 tunates were rudely thrust in, while the crowd made 
 a furious effort to enter. Gregoire turned pale. 
 
 "Thou shalt answer for this. Find another. I 
 shall hear of it, and thou, too." 
 
 Meanwhile, Despard, too insane to observe Gregoire's 
 condition, and lost to all sense of anything but his own 
 sudden wish to escape, was frantically pulling the 
 furious commissioner by the arm. 
 
 " Citizen," he cried, " I must be heard ! Dost hear ? 
 Thou wilt repent. I am the friend of Robespierre." 
 
 Gregoire paid no attention ; he was half drunk, and 
 raging at poor Vaubertrand. 
 
 " I will report thee," cried Despard. " I denounce 
 thee ! " 
 
 Gregoire turned upon him in a rage. 
 
 " Who is this ? " he cried. 
 
 "I am Despard of the fourth section. I will let 
 thee know who I am." In his madness he caught 
 Gregoire by the collar and shook him. 
 
 Gregoire called out : " Take away this fool ! What ! 
 threaten me me Gregoire ! Ah, thou art the rascal 
 who plunders chateaux. I know thee. Thou dost 
 threaten an officer of the Committee of Safety. Tie this 
 fellow ; he will do for the eleventh. Quick, quick ! " 
 
 There was no hesitation. The officers seized their 
 prey, and Gregoire, growling, went again into the office. 
 
 Pierre fought like the madman he was, but in a 
 minute was brought back screaming and added to 
 the corvee. It was complete. He was carried out 
 raving, amid the yells and reproaches of the mob, 
 which broke up and went along with the wagons. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 251 
 
 Again there was quiet in the hall, where the thief 
 stood in wonder, horror-stricken. "It is I that have 
 killed him he who did long to see another die. And 
 for him to die in the place of the marquis dame! it 
 is strange." 
 
 " del! " cried Vaubertrand, wiping the sweat from 
 his brow. " This is the second they took this way to 
 make up for some one's blunder. Come, and have a 
 care what you say. He is half drunk." 
 
 Francois entered the office. 
 
 " Who is this?" said Gregoire, facing him, with his 
 large, meaningless face still flushed and angry. 
 
 Vaubertrand pushed forward the reluctant Francois. 
 " It is one of the reporters, citizen commissioner." 
 
 " Ahem ! One of Citizen Amar's appointments," 
 said Gregoire. "Thou canst go, Citizen Vauber- 
 trand "$ and he looked up as he sat at the table. 
 
 "Thy name?" 
 
 " Frangois," said the thief. 
 
 " Thy occupation ? " 
 
 "Juggler." 
 
 The citizen commissioner was on the uncertain 
 line between appearance of sobriety obtained by 
 effort and ebriety past control. As he interrogated 
 Francois his head dropped forward. He recovered 
 himself with a sharp jerk, and cried sharply : 
 
 " Why dost thou not answer ? I said, How didst 
 thou get here, and who gave thee thy order to 
 report?" 
 
 " Citizen Amar ; he is a friend of mine." 
 
 " Is he ? Well, where is thy sacre report ? " 
 
 "I should like to tell the citizen commissioner 
 
252 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 what I have to say. I I did not know just how to 
 frame it." 
 
 Meanwhile Gregoire was considering him with un- 
 steady eyes. " Ah, now I have it ; now I remember 
 thee. Thou art an ex-emigre. I shall attend to thee. 
 It was thou who stole my wallet of papers ; and thou 
 couldst laugh, too. del! what a laugh ! Try it now." 
 
 Francois replied that he was no emigre; as to the 
 rest, he could explain 5 and leaning over, he said 
 quietly : 
 
 " You will do well to hear what I have to say." 
 
 " ' You will do well ' ! Idiot ! Why dost thou say 
 l you, you"* Cursed aristocrat that thou art! Say 
 1 thou ' when thou dost address me, or I shall where 
 is that report ? " 
 
 " If the citizen will listen. There was in that wallet 
 a little paper addressed to Citizen de la Vicomterie. 
 Dame! it was good reading, and I have it still." 
 
 " Thou hast it ? Thou wilt not have it long." 
 
 Gregoire was not over-intelligent, and had now the 
 short temper of drink. The prisoner tried to get a 
 moment in which to explain that another held the 
 document. 
 
 Gregoire was past hearing reason. " Officers, here ! 
 here ! " he cried. " Search this man ! Search him. 
 Strip him. Here ! here ! " 
 
 Francois did not stir. "When thou hast done we 
 can talk." 
 
 " Hold thy tongue ! Search him." 
 
 " Ma foij marquis," said the thief, later, " they did it 
 well. They even chopped up the heels of my shoes. 
 And my coat! Sacre! The good keeper gave me 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 253 
 
 another. In our cell, as I learned, they went through 
 the beds and Heaven knows what else. I was well 
 pleased, I can tell thee, when it was all over." 
 
 The commissioner had now cooled down. " Put on 
 thy clothes," said Gregoire, and himself shut the door. 
 It was FranQois's turn. 
 
 " Citizen," he said, " didst thou think me fool enough 
 to leave within reach that little letter of thine to the 
 good citizen of the committee to ah, yes, La Vicom- 
 terie is his name. I am not an emigre, only a poor 
 devil of a thief and a juggler. I do not love Citizen 
 Robespierre any better than some others love him 
 some I could name. But one must live, and the day 
 I go out to thy infernal tribunal, Robespierre will 
 have thy letter. A friend will go himself and lay it 
 before the committee." 
 
 Gregoire grew deadly pale, all but the wart, which 
 remained red. " I am betrayed ! " 
 
 " Wait a little. Thou art not quite lost, but thou 
 wilt be unless 
 
 "Unless what?" 
 
 " Unless thou wilt open that door and set me free. 
 I have no grudge against thee. I will arrange to have 
 for thee the letter, and must receive from thee a new 
 carte de sdrete, and a good passport on business of 
 the Committee of Safety." 
 
 The commissioner was partly sobered. " How shall 
 I know that thou wilt keep thy word ? " 
 
 "Thou wilt not know until I do. Why should I 
 not?" 
 
 " But the letter may be lost." 
 . "Well, what then? Thou wilt be safe, and have 
 
254 THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 
 
 one less life to answer for to the devil when he gets 
 thee." 
 
 11 Talk business. There is no devil." 
 
 " I don't agree with thee. His name is Robespierre. 
 The mischief is that it is I who do not trust thee. 
 Thou hast a wart, citizen. Men who have warts are 
 unlucky to meet. But take care, because I am a 
 desperate man, and most extremely value my head. 
 If thou shouldst fail to" 
 
 " No, no ; I promise." 
 
 " Good, then." 
 
 " Wait ; I will write out the papers." 
 
 " I shall not hurry thee. I must pack up. I will 
 be back in half an hour. Be so kind as to arrange 
 that I may return without hindrance." 
 
 Francois went at once to the garden, and called 
 Toto. Then he hastened to his cachot, or cell, and, 
 finding himself alone, shut the door, took the little 
 packet from Toto's mouth, and gave him the promised 
 bone. He placed the paper inside his stocking, and 
 secured it with a pin. Next he gathered up his 
 small effects, left his mangled coat on the bed of a 
 fellow-prisoner, and descended thoughtfully to the 
 office. 
 
 He was glad to see that the man of the wart was 
 sitting apparently inattentive to the piles of accounts 
 before him. "Clearly, the citizen is worried," said 
 Francois to himself. 
 
 "I have thy papers. One had to be sent out for 
 a signature. Here is thy card of safety, and reap- 
 proved as that of a citizen who has denounced an 
 ex-emigre. Also, behold a passport, and an order 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 255 
 
 from the Committee of Safety to leave Paris on busi- 
 ness of the republic. All are in the name of Citizen 
 Francois, juggler." 
 
 " The citizen has been thoughtful." 
 
 " Sacre! I never do things by halves ; I am thor- 
 ough. And now, as to the paper ? " 
 
 " It will be best for thee to come, at twelve to-day, 
 to No. 33 Ms Rue Perpignan. There I will take thee 
 to my old room, or another, and make good my side 
 of the bargain. After that, I have the agreeable hope 
 never to meet thee again." 
 
 " I will be there at noon." 
 
 Francois's watchful ear detected a certain emphasis 
 on the " I " of this phrase, which made him suspicious. 
 He said quietly : 
 
 " Citizen, thou hast sold me my head. I shall give 
 thee thine. Afterward I shall be in thy power." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; that might be so with Amar or Couthon, 
 but not with Andre Gregoire." 
 
 " Tiensl" said the thief, "what is this? 'Andre 7 ? 
 This order is signed l Alphonse Gregoire.' The citizen 
 must have been absent-minded. Look ! " 
 
 Gregoire flushed. "True, true. I will write a 
 second. I was troubled." 
 
 Francois stood still, received the second order, and, 
 saying, " Au revoir, citizen," was about to leave, when 
 a thought seemed to strike him. He paused. " There 
 is here a ci-devant marquis you may recall Ste. Luce." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Put his name at the foot of the file of the accused 
 and keep it there. Get a clerk to do it. The citizen 
 is aware that it is done every day." 
 
256 THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 
 
 " Impossible ! Art thou insane ? I run risk enough 
 with thy order and passport. But this I dare not do. 
 There are limits." 
 
 " Do it, or I throw up my bargain. By Heaven, I 
 am in earnest ! Come, what will it cost ? Will one 
 hundred louis d'or do the business ? " 
 
 Gregoire reflected. What more simple than to say 
 yes, pocket the money, and let things take their 
 course ? 
 
 "I will do it for that I mean I can have it done." 
 
 " Then give me ten minutes." 
 
 "I will wait." 
 
 The rich throughout these evil days were allowed 
 to have in prison as much money as they could get 
 from without. About March of this sad year they 
 were told that they must feed the poorer captives, 
 and were regularly assessed. Francois was aware 
 that the marquis was well provided. He found him in 
 the garden, and asked him to step aside. 
 
 " I am free, monsieur," he said. " No matter how. 
 And I have bargained for your own head." He 
 briefly related so much of his talk with Gregoire as 
 concerned the marquis. 
 
 Ste. Luce looked at him. " Pardie! You are an 
 unusual type of thief or man. I would thank you 
 if I considered my head worth much. But, after all, 
 it is a natural attachment one's body has for one's 
 head, or one's head for one's body, to put it correctly. 
 Will it be wasted money, my admirable thief, or will 
 the rascal keep his word ? " 
 
 " Yes; he will keep his word after we get through 
 with the affair." 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 257 
 
 "You are a great man, Francois, but I have not 
 the money. I lost it last night to Delavigne. I will 
 get the loan of it. Rather a new idea to borrow one's 
 head ! Wait a little." He came back in a few minutes. 
 " It pretty well cleaned out two of them. Good luck 
 to you ; and if ever we are out of this hole, we must 
 fence a little. By the way, I hear they took that 
 poor devil Despard to-day. It is a relief. He bored 
 me atrociously." 
 
 " Yes ; they took him in your place, monsieur. It 
 was to have been to-day' 
 
 " To-day ! In my place ? Tiens! that is droll." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "But how why?" 
 
 " No matter now. I will tell monsieur some day." 
 
 " Are you a magician, Master Francois ? " 
 
 " I was. But I did not desire this man's death." 
 
 " And the guillotine will have him, and he will not 
 be on hand to see me scared, del! but it is strange. 
 Alas ! the disappointments of this mortal life ! Good 
 luck to you, and au revoir. I thank you." 
 
 A few minutes later, Gregoire, having carefully 
 disposed of the gold about his ample person, escorted 
 Citizen Francois to the outer door. The look with 
 which the commissioner with the wart regarded the 
 retreating back and the big ears of Francois was un- 
 friendly, to say the least. 
 
XXII 
 
 X 
 
 Wherein is told how Francois baits a crab-trap ivith 
 the man of the wart. 
 
 understood the risks of his 
 position. For a time he was safe. After 
 he gave up that precious paper he would 
 be at Gregoire's mercy. " More or less," 
 muttered the thief, with a laugh which 
 set Toto to capering. He went toward the Seine, 
 looked in the shop-windows, and had a bite and a 
 good bottle of wine, for the marquis had insisted on 
 giving him ten louis for his own use. About half- 
 past eleven he turned into the Rue Perpignan, and 
 rang the bell at No. 33 bis. 
 
 " Come, Toto," he said, as he went in. " We owe 
 Mme. Quatre Pattes a little debt. Let us be honest 
 and pay." He closed the door behind him, and heard 
 the sharp voice of the concierge : " Who goes there ? 
 Speak, or I will be after thee." He drew back, and 
 looked in through the glassed door of the Crab's room. 
 He knew she would not sally out. Why should she ? 
 Her house was only a hive of thieves and low women, 
 who were driven away when they could not pay, and 
 who rarely plundered one another." 
 
 258 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 259 
 
 He had never before so carefully inspected his 
 landlady. She was seated at a table, about to drink 
 a cup of cocoa. The room, the table, the little well- 
 swept hearth, were all as clean as care and work could 
 keep them. The woman herself was no less neat than 
 her surroundings, yet she seemed one who belonged 
 to the sties of the Cite's lowest life. There was some- 
 thing strangely feline in the combination of animal 
 appearance with the notable cleanliness of her patched 
 clothes, her person, and her abode. Her back, bent 
 forward from the waist, and rigid, forced her to turn 
 her head up and to one side to attain a view of the 
 face of man. The same need kept her red eyes wide 
 open. The malady which caused this distortion had 
 ceased to be active. It had scarcely affected her gen- 
 eral health. Like many of those who have suffered 
 from the more common forms of the disease which 
 makes the hunchback, she possessed amazing strength. 
 
 Now, as Francois stood hesitating, watchful, she 
 sat at table before him, intent on her meal, looking 
 here or there for bread or salt, her head swaying 
 from side to side. 
 
 " If she were to bite a man, he would be as good as 
 dead," murmured the thief. " What is it she is like ? 
 Ah, 't is the vipers in the wood of Fontainebleau. Bon- 
 jour, maman," he cried gaily, as he went in. 
 
 Taken by a sharp surprise, she gripped at her two 
 sticks on the table, but missed them. They fell clat- 
 tering, and her shaky hands dropped on her lap. She 
 lacked not courage. As she sat crouched, the bald 
 head, red-eyed and vigilant, was held back to watch 
 this enemy. 
 
260 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 Toto ran in, and fawned at her feet. 
 
 " Enchanted to see you, maman." By this time she 
 had her wits about her, and, hearing no accusing 
 charges, felt more at ease. 
 
 "Come back again, art thou, my fine thief -bird? 
 Did he fly to his nest ? Ha ! he knows who will take 
 care of him. That sacre shoemaker it was who de- 
 nounced thee. Didst thou think it was thy little 
 maman f Thou didst scold me. But how didst thou 
 get out?" 
 
 "Ah, no matter now," said Francois. "I have 
 work on hand for thee. If I mistrusted thee, it 
 is not here I should have come. Sometime we will 
 have a little eau-de-vie and a pipe, maman, and I 
 will tell thee all about it. Wouldst thou serve 
 the republic, and be well paid for it? Here, take 
 thy sticks ; thou art fit for anything only when thou 
 hast all thy four legs. Listen, now; and, to begin, 
 thou canst read a little enough to understand this 
 passport, and this order from the Great Committee 
 of Safety?" 
 
 She looked eagerly over the papers. " Yes, yes." 
 
 "And thou canst read this still better." He let a 
 gold louis drop on the table. She put out a claw, 
 and, failing through tremor to pick it up, drew it to 
 the edge, and for a moment held it under her eyes ; then 
 she put it into her mouth, and, apparently satisfied, 
 chewed on it, moving her lower jaw from side to side. 
 
 "A good purse, maman. It would be a bold man 
 or a blind would steal thy head for the gold. Heads 
 always lose in our France to-day j thy own is none 
 too sure, maman." 
 
THE ADVENTUEES OF FEAJSTgOIS 261 
 
 "If thou art thinking to scare Quatre Pattes, it 
 won't do. Ha! it won't pay." She looked as if it 
 would not. 
 
 Francois saw that he had made a misplay. He 
 laughed his best. "Norn de (liable ! thou didst like a 
 joke once. No matter. My time is short. I ex- 
 pect a citizen in a few minutes. Is my old room 
 empty ? " 
 
 " Yes, and half the rest. I tell thee, monfils, I have 
 missed thee." 
 
 " Give me the key, and pen, ink, and paper. These 
 will do. Thy ink is dry. A little water so. I shall 
 come down in a minute or two, and take the citizen 
 up with me. After that I shall come down alone. 
 The citizen will be locked up." 
 
 " Gaod. Will he be alive ? I will have no tricks ; 
 they get one into trouble." 
 
 " Alive ! Yes ; he will howl." 
 
 " Ah, he will howl. What shall I get ? " 
 
 "'He will pay to get out." 
 
 " He will pay how much ? " 
 
 " One two three hundred francs." 
 
 "Pshaw! Paper?" 
 
 " No ; gold. At four to-morrow no later, no sooner 
 at four to-morrow thou wilt let him out j and, mind 
 thee, Dame Quatre Pattes, this is business of the re- 
 public. What happens to him after he is let out is of 
 no moment. He may very likely make a fuss j he is 
 bad-tempered. Wilt thou take the risk 1 " 
 
 " I Quatre Pattes ? Three hundred francs ! I ? " 
 
 " If I return not to give further orders before twelve, 
 thou mayst ask the municipals to be here at four. 
 
262 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 That will save trouble. He will then be in no way to 
 swear thou hast his money. That may be the best 
 plan. I have no mind to get thee into trouble. Now, 
 hold thy tongue ; and remember, it will be the little 
 cripple Couthon who will reckon with thee if in this 
 business thou dost fail." 
 
 " This is all very well if thou dost not return ; but 
 who will pay me if thou art of a mind to come and 
 take him away thyself ? " 
 
 " ; T is a sharp old Crab," laughed Francois. "If I 
 come for him, I promise thee he shall pay thee full 
 rent ; and here is his denier a Dieu, maman." He cast 
 another louis in her lap. "If I come not by noon, 
 get all you can, and denounce him as a suspect ; but 
 remember not till four." 
 
 " Queue du (Liable! 7 T is a fine transaction," cried 
 the Crab, and knocked her sticks together for emphasis. 
 " We will bleed him like a doctor ; we will send in the 
 bill under the door ; and then we will have some nice 
 municipals for sextons. Ha ! ha ! It is well to have 
 the credit on one's little carte de surete." 
 
 Francois assured her that the plan was good. At 
 this point, however, she became suddenly suspicious. 
 She stood crouching over her sticks, the snake-like 
 head slowly moving from side to side, her eyes search- 
 ing the thief's smiling face. " Why is the man to be 
 kept? What is it?" 
 
 He expected this. " Ask Couthon the palsied that, 
 thou imbecile. I will take him elsewhere. There are 
 a dozen houses where they ask no questions. Yes or 
 no?" 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " Caution was put to sleep by greed ; 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 263 
 
 or, more truly, by want, which was nearing its 
 extremity. 
 
 He felt secure. "If he should ring before I get 
 down-stairs, let him wait. Now, the ink and key." 
 
 "Is he to make his will? Thou wilt not be 
 long?" 
 
 " No ; I want something that I left." 
 
 " Ah ! thou didst leave something ? " 
 
 " Yes, and thou didst not find it, maman. Fie, fie, 
 for a clever woman ! Well, if thou didst not find it, 
 few could. Wait, now." 
 
 He went swiftly up-stairs with Toto, and unlocked 
 the door, leaving the key outside in the lock. He put 
 the writing-materials on a table. In the chimney, just 
 within reach of his farthest touch, he found his pistol. 
 It was not loaded, and he had no powder to recharge 
 it. He laughed as, putting it behind him in his waist- 
 belt, under his cloak, he descended the stair. 
 
 " All is right. Cordon, if you please," he cried from 
 the hall. He had not waited outside five minutes 
 when Gregoire appeared, in ordinary dress, without 
 the official feathered hat or the scarf of a functionary. 
 He was now sober enough, but uneasy, and looked 
 about him as if fearing recognition. 
 
 "Come," said Francois. They mounted the ill- 
 smelling stairway to the attic. Neither spoke. Once 
 they were within the room, Francois said: "Sit 
 down." He took a stool, placing himself between 
 Gregoire and the door. " To business," he said, and 
 slipped out the famous letter from Gregoire to De la 
 Vicomterie. He glanced at it, laughing. "There are 
 three or more heads in this," he said. " Robespierre 
 
264 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 
 
 would pay well for it, or Saint-Just. One might put 
 it up at auction. There would be high bidding." 
 
 Gregoire said : " I have paid for it. Give it to me 
 give it to me ! " 
 
 " No hurry, commissioner." The thief enjoyed the 
 situation. " Let us talk a little. Let us make things 
 a trifle safer. Have the kindness to write a receipt for 
 one hundred louis d'or accepted by thee as security for 
 the head of one Louis de Ste. Luce, ci-devant marquis." 
 
 " Not I ! " cried Gregoire, starting up. 
 
 " Ah, I think thou wilt " ; and, with this, Francois 
 drew his quite harmless pistol, and cocked it. 
 
 " Dost thou mean to murder me ? Help ! help ! 
 Murder ! " 
 
 Francois seized him by the throat and thrust him 
 down on to the chair. 
 
 "The devil! Fat fool! must I really kill thee? 
 Hold thy tongue. Toto," he said, "just look at this 
 gentleman. He is afraid, a coward he who has killed 
 so many so many brave men and women, who died 
 and showed no fear. Keep the door, Toto. There, 
 now, citizen ; write it, and quick, too, or" 
 
 " But it is my death." 
 
 " What do I care ? It is certain death unless thou 
 dost keep faith. Once the marquis is free, and I am 
 secure, I will burn it. That is all. Thou art forced 
 to trust me. The situation is simple, and rather 
 different from what it was at nine this morning. 
 Thou art trapped." 
 
 It was true, and Gregoire knew it. He drew his 
 chair to the table, and wrote a few lines as the thief 
 dictated. Franc, ois added a request for a date. "Thou 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FBANgOIS 265 
 
 art not clever with a pen," he said; "thy hand 
 shakes." 
 
 " I am a lost man ! n 
 
 " No ; by no means. But look out for my marquis. 
 He ought to be very precious to thee, because because 
 if there should be any accident to him or to me, my 
 friend will promptly place this harmless receipt in the 
 hands of Saint- Just j and then 
 
 Gregoire sat in a cold sweat, saying at intervals : 
 " I am lost. Let me go." 
 
 " Not quite yet. Give me ten louis." 
 
 "I I can't. I left the money at home." 
 
 "Thou art lying. I heard it rattle when I shook 
 thee. I might take it all. I am generous, just, like 
 the incorruptible man with the green around his eyes, 
 one Robespierre. Come, now." 
 
 Gregoire, reluctant, counted out the gold. "Let 
 me go," he said. There were scarce left in him the 
 dregs of a man. He rose, pale and tottering. 
 
 "Not quite yet, my friend. Thou wilt wait here a 
 little while. Then a citizen hag will come up and let 
 thee out. But be careful ; no noise. The gentlemen 
 who inhabit this mansion like not to be disturbed 
 in their devotions. Moreover, they are curious, and 
 generally inquisitive as to purses. Thou hast a few 
 hours for reflection on thy sins. Pray understand 
 that this little paper will be put in the hands of a 
 friend of the marquis ; I shall not keep it. The trap 
 will be well set. Am I clear ? " 
 
 The commissioner made no reply. 
 
 " I forgot," said Francois. " Here is thy letter. I 
 keep my word. The receipt is enough." 
 
 16 
 
266 THE AD VENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 The compromising document lay on the table, un- 
 noticed by Gregoire. He fell back, limp and cowed, 
 gripping the seat with both hands to save himself from 
 slipping out of the chair. The sweat ran down his 
 face. When Francois, calling to the poodle, left him 
 alone, he made no motion ; he was like a beaten cur. 
 
 " Come, To to," said Francois, as he locked the door. 
 " That for his wart ! It is not as big as it used to be, 
 and it is not in the middle of his nose." He went 
 down to the room of the concierge, and threw the key 
 of his room in her lap. 
 
 " He is very quiet, thy patient up-stairs ; he hath a 
 chill." 
 
 Quatre Pattes, standing by, nodded, and looked up. 
 " Is he alive ? No lies, young man." 
 
 "Alive? Not quite; only well scared. Imagine 
 thyself one day on the red stair, and the basket all 
 ready, and so neat, thou art fond of neatness, all 
 as clean as thy room ; and the knife" 
 
 " Shut up that big jaw ! I am Quatre Pattes. Dost 
 thou want to frighten me ? " 
 
 " I ? "By St. Fiacre, no ! I only want to let thee 
 understand how the citizen on the fourth floor feels." 
 
 "He will bleed the better, my dear." She rattled 
 the sticks, and looked up at Francois, her head sway- 
 ing as the head of the cobra sways. She was still in 
 some doubt as to this too ready pupil, whom she had 
 taught so much. "Art thou trying to fool Mother 
 Quatre Pattes ? " 
 
 "Oh, stuff! Go up and speak to the man. But 
 take care; this is no light matter to put thy claws 
 into. The man will rage ; but a day without diet will 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 267 
 
 quiet him a good bit. Then thou canst begin to make 
 thy little commercial arrangement." 
 
 "Two hundred three hundred. No rags, no as- 
 signats." 
 
 " Might get four hundred, Mother Crabby. There 
 will be two sides to the question." 
 
 The old woman laughed a laugh shrill and virulent. 
 
 " Two sides ? I see inside and outside. All right." 
 
 Francois stood in the doorway as she spoke. 
 
 " By-by, maman; and don't frighten him too much. 
 Thy style of beauty is not to the taste of all men. 
 Folks are really afraid of thee, maman. Don't make 
 it a part of the bargain that he marry thee." 
 
 " Good idea, that ! And when shall I see thee ? " 
 
 "Possibly to-morrow; certainly within a week or 
 so. I may have a few days' work for the committee 
 in Villefranche dirty country, filthy inns, not like 
 thy room " ; and he glanced at it. "I always do like 
 to see how neat it is, and how clean. It would please 
 Sanson. He is so particular j keeps things clean and 
 ready always ready." 
 
 " 'T is true," said Quatre Pattes, and clattered away 
 up the hall. 
 
 Francois heard her sticks on the stair, and her shrill 
 laughter. " Thy cheese is poisoned, old rat," he said. 
 
 Once secure of the absence of his too observant 
 landlady, Francois called to Toto and went out of the 
 house. It was now about half-past one. No suspi- 
 cious persons were visible. He had doubted this 
 Gregoire. He had no mind to leave Paris, but when 
 asking a passport he meant that Gregoire should think 
 he had done so. He moved away, with the dog at 
 
268 THE ADVENTUEES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 his heels, and presently stood awhile in deep thought, 
 at the end of the street. Gregoire was safe ; he could 
 harm no one for a day, and after that would be the 
 last man in Paris to trouble Francois. Amar was to 
 be feared, but that was to be left to chance and cau- 
 tious care. Quatre Pattes? He smiled. "'T is as 
 fine as a play, Toto. Here comes the last act. Can 
 we go away and not see it ? " He looked back. The 
 shoemaker whom the Crab had wished him to de- 
 nounce, with a view to the eternal settlement of her 
 debts, was standing at his door in the sun, just oppo- 
 site to No. 33 bis. It was a good little man, lame of 
 a leg, hard-working and timid. 
 
 "It is not to be resisted, Toto. Come, my boy." 
 He went back, and pulled the bell at No. 33 bis. No 
 one answered. He rang three times, and became sure 
 that, as he had anticipated, the Crab had at once 
 gone up to see how much of truth there was in his 
 statement. 
 
 Thus assured, he looked about him. He saw no one 
 he had need to fear. ^He crossed the street, and spoke 
 to the cobbler. 
 
 " Come into thy shop ; I want to speak to thee." 
 When within, he said : " I have been arrested, and 
 let out praise be to the saints ! I have just now seen 
 the old Crab. She owes thee money ? " 
 
 11 Not much." 
 
 " No matter. She has asked me to denounce thee, 
 my poor friend. I came to warn thee." 
 
 The cobbler gasped. " Dieu! and my little ones ! 
 I have done nothing I assure thee, nothing." 
 
 " Nor I, my friend. Now, listen. I am lucky enough 
 
HE TOLLED THE BELL AT No. 33 BIS.' 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 271 
 
 to be in a little employment for the Great Committee. 
 I mean to save thee." 
 
 " And canst thou do that ? " 
 
 "Yes, yes. Something will happen to-morrow, 
 about four o'clock ; and after that no fear of the hag. 
 I must see it j it is my business. Can I stay a day I 
 mean until then in the little room here above thy 
 shop?" 
 
 "Why not? The children are with my sister. They 
 shall stay till to-morrow night." 
 
 He followed the overjoyed cobbler up to the room 
 above his shop, sent him out to buy food and wine, 
 and sat down to await events. The cobbler came back 
 with a supply of diet and the gazettes. Francois sat 
 behind the slats of the green window-shades, and 
 laughed, or talked to Toto, or read, while at intervals 
 he watched No. 33 bis. He read of how Charleroi had 
 been taken, and of the recovery of Fleurus. It in- 
 terested him but little. 
 
 " They have cut off the head of the devil, and got 
 a new god, my good poodle. Tenez! Hold ! Atten- 
 tion ! " He saw Quatre Pattes clatter out. It was 
 about 4 P. M. She had no market-net. She was de- 
 cisively bent on some errand, and moved with unusual 
 celerity, her back bent, her head strained upward to 
 get a sufficient horizon. 
 
 "It is altogether pleasant, ami. She will not wait 
 till twelve to-morrow. She has gone to denounce him. 
 Get up. Here is a nice bite for thee. She is shrewd, 
 our snake. If she plunders M. Gregoire, and she 
 will, too, she knows what he will do when he is out. 
 He will denounce her. The play is good, Toto. The 
 
272 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 money she will have, if we know her. But, mon ami, 
 if he makes her believe through the door that he is 
 the great Gregoire of the wart, and she lets him out, 
 and is scared, and asks no pay, Toto, 7 t is neverthe- 
 less a scotched snake she will be. The Wart will want 
 to be revenged for low diet and loss of the republic's 
 time. Mordieu! Toto, let us bet on it." 
 
 He read his gazettes, and waited. At six that after- 
 noon the Crab came home. At nine Francois went to 
 bed. Twice he awakened, laughing ; he was thinking 
 about Gregoire. The cobbler came in at six with 
 breakfast, and Francois warned him to be careful. 
 
 At ten in the morning Quatre Pattes appeared at 
 her door, and chatted with one or two dames of the 
 fish-market. She rattled her sticks, and talked volubly. 
 She was in the best of humors. 
 
 No new thing took place till three o'clock, when 
 two municipal guards paused at her door. She came 
 forth, spoke to them, and went in, leaving the door 
 open. A third joined them. They loitered about. 
 Ten minutes went by. Francois grew more and more 
 eager as he watched. 
 
 " Ho, ho, Toto," he exclaimed, " there was a noise ! 
 The fool ! she has gone up alone to let him out." 
 
 It was true. Gregoire had yielded in all some three 
 hundred francs, and, as ordered, had slipped the money 
 under the door, piece by piece, while Quatre Pattes sat 
 and counted it with eyes of greed. She came down 
 and hid the last of it. Now she went up again, rather 
 liking the errand. She was absolutely fearless. She 
 opened the door, and stood aside. " Come out," she 
 said, " little man." 
 
'THE LITTLE TKAP DID WORK,' CRIED FRANCOIS, BEHIND HIS SCREEN.' 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 275 
 
 Gregoire was past restraining his rage. "She- 
 devil ! " he cried, and struck at her, in a fury of pas- 
 sion. He ran past her down the stairs, the terrible 
 woman after him. She was wonderfully quick, but 
 the man's fear was quicker. At the last stairway she 
 found him beyond her reach, and, cursing him in 
 fluent slang of the quarter, she threw one of her sticks 
 at him. It caught him on the back of the neck, and 
 he fell headlong into the hallway. In an instant he 
 was up and staggering into the street. As he came 
 forth two guards seized him. "In 'Lhe name of the 
 law ! " Quatre Pattes came swiftly after him, scream- 
 ing out : " Take him ! I denounce him ! He is an 
 aristocrat ! " 
 
 What she and Francois saw was unpleasant for her. 
 
 " Nom de del! 't is the Citizen Gregoire ! " cried the 
 third guard. 
 
 Gregoire was for an instant speechless and breath- 
 less. The guards fell back. 
 
 "Arrest me? me, Gregoire! Have you an order 
 to arrest me ? " He was not quite at ease. 
 
 " No, no, citizen. It is clearly a mistake. We were 
 to arrest a ci-devant." 
 
 Quatre Pattes stood up, pallid. 
 
 " Take this woman ! " cried Gregoire. " I will send 
 an order. The Chatelet, and quick ! " 
 
 " The little trap did work," cried Francois, behind 
 his screen. "How she squeals like a pig, a pig! 
 She will give up the money. The citizens and she 
 disappear within." 
 
 " This woman stole it ! " roared the great man, as 
 they came out. " Take her away." 
 
276 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 When they came to lay final hands on her, she 
 was like a cat in a corner. 
 
 " Chien de mon dme ! 't is a fine scrimmage," cried 
 Francois, "and the street full." 
 
 The sticks rattled; and when they were torn from 
 her, she used tooth and claw, to the joy of a crowd 
 appreciative of personal prowess. At last she was 
 carried away, screaming, and exhausted as to all but 
 her tongue. 
 
 The commissioner with the wart readjusted his 
 garments and his dignity. The crowd cried: " Vive 
 Gregoire!" and the hungry Jacobin went his way, 
 furious, in search of dietetic consolation. 
 
 " The show is over, Toto," said FranQois, as he sat 
 down. 
 
 Presently came the cobbler, curious, and much 
 relieved. 
 
 " Ask no questions,' 7 said Francois. " Here is a little 
 money." 
 
 " But, citizen, it is a gold louis." 
 
 " The show was worth the price of admission. Thou 
 art welcome. Hold thy tongue, if thou art wise. At 
 dusk I shall slip out. Thou art safe. The Crab will 
 denounce no more of her neighbors." 
 
 " Two she hath sent to the knife," said the cobbler. 
 
 " Dieu! how the tricoteuses will grin ! " 
 
XXIII 
 
 Of liow Francois found lodgings where he paid no rent 
 Of the death of TotoOf how M, master, having 
 no friends on the earth, finds them underground. 
 
 [T dusk Francois went out, and was soon 
 moving rapidly across Paris. He was 
 in search of lodging, food, and security. 
 In an hour or less he was in the half- 
 peopled quarter of St. Antoine. Near the 
 barrier he turned aside, and stood considering a little 
 house in what seemed to have been a well-kept garden. 
 On the gate was the large red seal of the republic. It 
 was safe for a night. If he took a lodging, he must 
 show all his papers, and have his name set out, with 
 his business, on a placard such as was nailed to the 
 outer door of every house in Paris. His name, as a 
 new lodger, must be reported to the sectional com- 
 mittee. He was widely known, and, alas ! too peculiar 
 to escape notice long. Now he needed time to think. 
 He wandered awhile, ate in a small cafe, bought wine 
 and bread, at night climbed the garden wall, and 
 without much trouble found his way into the house. 
 It was a sorry sight. The arrests must have been 
 sudden and pitiless. The kettle stood on the dead 
 
 277 
 
278 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 embers. The bread, burned black, was in the oven. 
 A half-knit stocking lay on a chair. Up-stairs and 
 down, it was the same. The open drawers showed 
 evidence of search. A dead bird lay starved in a cage. 
 The beds were unmade. The clock had stopped. He 
 found some scant provisions, unfit for use. It seemed 
 a gardener's house. The place oppressed him, but it 
 answered his purpose. His dog troubled him. Toto 
 was, like himself, conspicuous, and he felt forced 
 during the daytime to leave him locked up in the 
 house. But Toto was sagacious, and had learned to 
 keep quiet. For several days FranQois lived at day- 
 light in the streets and cafes, returning at night, to 
 get away again before dawn. In the quiet little 
 taverns where he went for food and shelter he made 
 himself small, and hid in corners ; nor, at this time, 
 did he laugh much. He bought the gazettes, and read 
 them with intelligent apprehension of the fact that 
 change was in the air. Robespierre had never had 
 with him a majority of his colleagues, and now he was 
 becoming more and more conscious of his insecure 
 hold on the Convention. As long as the ex-nobles or 
 the foes of the republic suffered, it was of little mo- 
 ment to the representatives ; but when the craving for 
 blood, not justified by any political reasons, sent too 
 many of their body to the block, the unease of the 
 Terror began to be felt within their own hall. To be 
 timid, cautious, or obscure had once been security. 
 It was so no longer. That terrible master still had 
 his way, and, one by one, the best brains of the oppo- 
 nents of the Jacobins were sent to perish on the 
 scaifold. The Convention began to feel the need for 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 279 
 
 associative self-defense. Revenge, fear, and policy 
 combined to aid the enemies of this extraordinary 
 person. Like Marat, he began to show physically 
 the effects of a life full of alarms 5 for this monster 
 dreaded darkness, trembled at unusual noises, and 
 remained to the last the most carefully dressed man 
 in Paris. To understand him at all, one must credit 
 him in his early political life with a sincere love of 
 country, and with willingness to sacrifice himself for 
 others. It is impossible to regard him as entirely 
 sound of mind at a later date. He became something 
 monstrous a mixture of courage, cowardice, blood- 
 madness, self-esteem, and personal vanity. But there 
 were men who loved him to the last. 
 
 It was now early in July, the month Thermidor. 
 Francois began, as usual, to weary of a life of monot- 
 onous carefulness. His supply of money was ample. 
 He was well fed and, so far, safe. He sat night after 
 night in darkness, and thought of the lady of the 
 chateau. He knew that her father was thus far se- 
 cure j his name was not in the daily lists of the victims ; 
 and these were many, for on the 22d Prairial (June 
 10) a decree deprived the accused of counsel, and of 
 the right to call witnesses. The end was near. 
 
 One evening about nine, as he came near to the 
 garden, he saw lights in the house. Toto was found 
 waiting outside of the gate. A girl came forth, and 
 soon returned with a net of vegetables. 
 
 " del! Toto," said Francois, " the poor things have 
 been released, and thou wert clever to get out. We 
 are glad, thou and I ; but they have our house." He 
 had left nothing at this lodging, having nothing to 
 
280 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 leave. He walked away, puzzled, and, wandering, 
 scarce aware of whither he went, found himself at 
 last in the Eue de Seine. It was getting late, and he 
 began to look about him for a new lodging. 
 
 " We must find an empty house, Toto. The seal of 
 this cursed republic is our best chance." He did not 
 need to look far. In the Rue de Seine he came upon 
 a small two-story shop. Beside it was a wide gate- 
 way, on which he saw with difficulty, but felt readily, 
 the seal no one dared to violate. He concluded that 
 there must be a deserted house beyond it, in a 
 garden. He passed around by the quai, and entered 
 the Rue des Petits-Augustines, and stood before the 
 mansion of Ste. Luce. A light was in an upper room. 
 Some one was in charge. On either side were railings 
 and a garden. It was now ten o'clock, and no one 
 visible in the long street of old houses, once the homes 
 of the great French nobles. He pushed the poodle 
 between the rails, and readily pulled himself up and 
 dropped at his side. Once within, he moved with care 
 across to the wall behind the mansion, and soon saw 
 that he was not in the garden of the marquis, but in 
 the larger domain of the Due de la Rochefoucauld- 
 Lian court. His object was to find his way into the 
 house which had an outlet on the Rue de Seine. As 
 he was arranging his clothing to climb a tree near to 
 the wall, he suddenly paused. " Toto," he exclaimed, 
 "we have been robbed, we first-class thieves, and 
 we know not when it was. Ah, it was at that cafe, 
 as we came out. Well done, too. Not a sou. Weep, 
 Toto ; we are broken." 
 
 He lost no more time in lamentation, but climbed 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOlS 281 
 
 the tree, looked over, came down, pulled up the dog, 
 and descended on the farther side of the wall. 
 
 He was now in a small garden. Near him, and 
 close to the wall, was a little plant-house. On the 
 farther side of a grassy space stood a hotel of moder- 
 ate size, with the front court, as he presumed, opening 
 on the Rue de Seine. On each side, as he saw clearly, 
 for the night was bright and the moon rising, there 
 were high flanking walls. After assuring himself that 
 the house was empty, Francois found a' trellis covered 
 with old vines, and, climbing this, entered the hotel by 
 a convenient balcony. He was safe for the night, and 
 at leisure to explore his new dwelling. He feared to 
 strike a light, but he could see dimly that there were 
 pictures, books, china. Evidently this had been the 
 home of people of wealth. As the moon rose higher, 
 he saw still better, and began to realize the fact that 
 here were evidences of hasty flight. In a room on the 
 second floor was a secretary, and this Francois readily 
 opened. 
 
 "Toto," he said, "we are rich again." He had 
 found forty louis in a canvas bag which comfortably 
 fitted his side pocket. In the larder he came upon 
 meat, cooked and uncooked, mostly unfit for use, stale 
 bread, and cheese. Once satisfied, he went over the 
 house, and then the garden, taking pains at last to 
 set a ladder against the wall of the Rochefoucauld 
 property. 
 
 The glass-house was in disorder, the plants lying 
 about, uncared for. His foot struck an iron ring at- 
 tached to a trap-door. There were staples for pad- 
 locking it, but no padlock. He concluded this to be 
 
282 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 the opening to a wine-cave or -cellar, and lifted the 
 trap. It was dark below. He ventured down the 
 steps a little way, and then stood still to listen. Hear- 
 ing noises below him, he retreated in haste. He was, 
 as has been said, superstitious. 
 
 " That is strange ! We will look about when it 
 is day, Toto not now." 
 
 Concluding to sleep out of doors, he accordingly 
 arranged for his comfort by taking a pillow and 
 blankets from the house j for now he had opened a 
 door below, and was in full possession. Suites of 
 apartments which he dared not use for sleep, and a 
 pretty little library, overlooked the small estate of the 
 garden. 
 
 No occupied dwelling was in view. Great trees in 
 the grounds of La Rochefoucauld and Ste. Luce par- 
 tially hid the houses, and, what was of more moment, 
 shut off the sight of Francois's refuge. It was, of 
 course, possible that at any time he might be dis- 
 turbed by the coming of the officers, or, what was to 
 be feared less, that of the owners. But he was not 
 a man to be continually anxious. The outer front 
 door had a bar, and this he dropped into its socket. 
 The side walls were high. He could hear any one 
 who attempted to enter. His way out at the back 
 was made easy by the ladder he had set in place. At 
 dusk he began to be fully at ease, and after a day or 
 two was hardly less so in the sun-lit hours. 
 
 On the morning of the third day, much at home, 
 he sat behind the little plant-house, with Toto at his 
 feet, and a book in his hand, for in the library he 
 found several which excited his interest. Now he 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 283 
 
 was deep in a French translation of the travels of 
 Marco Polo. Suddenly he heard a noise of steps. 
 He fell back, caught Toto with a warning grasp on 
 the jaw, and lay still. He was so hidden in the nar- 
 row space between the plant-house and the wall of 
 the garden as to be for the time secure. No longer 
 hearing anything alarming, he rose and looked cau- 
 tiously through the double glass and the sheltering 
 plants which were between himself and the mansion. 
 In a few minutes a tall man came out of the plant- 
 house, went into the dwelling, and by and by returning 
 with blankets and a basket, passed into the plant- 
 house, and was lost to sight. He soon came out 
 again with a lad, and after several such journeys to 
 the main house, whence each time he fetched some- 
 thing, they reentered the plant-house, and came forth 
 no more. 
 
 This incident greatly amazed the thief. " Toto," he 
 said, " there must be a trap below ! 'T is a lower 
 cellar it leads to, and there are people beneath. Helas, 
 Toto ! no sooner are we gentlemen with an estate 
 than, presto ! a change, and it is get up and go. It 
 were better we took to the woods and saw far countries, 
 like this M. Polo." Toto regarded his master with 
 attentive eyes, the long black tail wagging. He seemed 
 to comprehend Francois's difficulties, or at least to feel 
 some vague desire to help and comfort. 
 
 "Yes, yes; it is time we settled down, mon ami. 
 Behold, we get a little money and wherewithal to 
 live; we hurt no one; we cultivate our minds with 
 travel ; we start fresh, and are honest, having enough, 
 which is a good foundation for honesty, and then 
 
284 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 eh Uen! my friend; let us laugh"; and he lay on 
 his back, and tumbled the dog about. 
 
 He was in the garden, near to the dwelling, a day 
 later, when he heard noises as of steps in the La 
 Rochefoucauld grounds. He climbed the ladder, and, 
 without showing himself, listened. There were voices, 
 and now and then he caught a phrase. These were 
 municipal guards. He beckoned to Toto, and, cross- 
 ing the garden, entered the house, meaning to watch 
 his new neighbors from a window. 
 
 He went up-stairs to the third story under the roof. 
 As he moved toward a window, he heard a sound 
 below. He ran down the stair, and stood on the 
 lower landing-place, facing the front door. " We are 
 gone, Toto ! " For once he was at a loss, and stood 
 still, in doubt what to do. 
 
 There were voices outside. The hall door had been 
 unlocked, but the bar held it fast. After a minute or 
 two they seemed to have given up the idea of enter- 
 ing. Francois waited a few minutes, and began to 
 descend the stairs. Then he heard quick footfalls in 
 the room to the left on the level of the landing above 
 him. Some one must have entered by a window on 
 the second floor. He turned, perplexed, instinctively 
 drew his useless pistol, and began to go faster. Sud- 
 denly the steps above him quickened. 
 
 A man on the staircase landing behind him cried : 
 " Halloo ! Surrender, in the name of the republic ! " 
 Francois jumped, taking the stairs below him in one 
 leap, but, tripping over Toto, fell headlong in the hall. 
 The dog sprang after him, and alighted on his master's 
 back. A pistol-shot rang out. The dog fell dead with a 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 285 
 
 ball in his brain. Francois was on his feet. He cast a 
 glance at the faithful friend of many a day. His own 
 long, strange face became like that of a madman. 
 He dashed up the stair, a second ball missing him 
 narrowly. Through the smoke he bounded on his 
 enemy. He caught the man by the right arm, wrested 
 the pistol from him, and, scarce feeling a blow from 
 the fellow's left hand, struck him full in the face with 
 the butt of the pistol. The blood flew, and the man 
 staggered, screaming. A second blow and a third fell. 
 Twisting his victim around, Francois hurled him down 
 the stair. 
 
 " Beast ! " he cried ; and, leaping over him, stooped 
 a moment, kissed the quivering little body of his friend, 
 and, with tears streaming from his eyes, stood still. 
 Loud cries from beyond the wall of the garden recalled 
 his energies. The noise at the door was heard'again. 
 He ran out and across into the plant-house, pulled 
 up the trap, and, descending, closed it. Then he stood 
 puzzled. It was dark ; he could see nothing. He fell 
 on his knees, and began hastily to grope about until 
 he felt an iron ring attached to the trap-door of what 
 he presumed to be the entrance to a yet lower cellar. 
 
 " It is this or death," he muttered under his breath, 
 and stood reflecting, having heard no sounds ap- 
 proaching overhead. Thinking it better to see arid 
 be seen by those below, he struck his flint on the steel, 
 and, with the aid of a morsel of paper and his kindling 
 breath, soon had a light. Then he saw near by a 
 lantern with a candle within it. He lighted it, and held 
 it in one hand. This done, he knelt again, and with 
 a quick movement set open the trap-doorway. What 
 
 17 
 
286 THE ADVENTUEES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 he saw was a man and the muzzle of a pistol. The 
 man cried out : " If you move, you are dead ! " 
 
 "I am not a municipal, monsieur. I am only a 
 thief. Let me come down, for God's sake ! I am 
 flying from those rascals who are in the house." 
 
 " I have half a mind to blow your brains out." 
 
 " del ! I hope you will not have a whole mind. It 
 would only call those scoundrels. I stole a little from 
 the house I return it"; and he dropped the bag of 
 louis. It fell on the head of a small boy below, unseen 
 in the gloom. He howled lustily. 
 
 ^Diantre! keep quiet ! " cried the man. 
 
 " Oh, let him come down, duke ; he is welcome." 
 It was the voice of a woman out of the deep darkness. 
 Tender and clear it was. 
 
 " Be quick, then, rascal ! Down with you." 
 
 The thief waited for no second invitation. The 
 duke descended ; Francois's long legs came after. He 
 paused to arrange some loose staves, that, in falling, 
 they might conceal the trap. Then he blew out the 
 candle, and was in total darkness, but where or with 
 whom he knew not. 
 
 " Have a care how you move," said the voice of the 
 woman. "We are in great peril. Come down 
 quietly." 
 
 " May all the saints bless you ! " said Francois, and 
 sat down on the lower step. For a while all was 
 still 
 
XXIV 
 
 Of how Francois got into good society underground Of 
 what Tie saw, and of the value of a cat's eyes From 
 darkness to light Of how Francois made friends for 
 life. 
 
 was dark indeed; I had never imagined 
 such darkness," says Francois in his 
 memoirs. 1 He adds that he has heard 
 the story of this wonderful escape from 
 the catacombs told over and over by 
 M. des Illes. He does not consider that it did him 
 (Frangois), the principal person, sufficient justice. He 
 had also heard the old Duke Philippe relate the matter, 
 and it was incredible how crooked he got it. But, then, 
 Duke Philippe was a man who had no sense of humor. 
 As to his dear Mme. des Illes, when she did tell this 
 story, the baby was the chief hero. Duke Henri, 
 that is, the present man, although only a lad when 
 these events took place, remembered them well. 
 
 " When he was seventeen," says Francois, " we used 
 to fence together. I have often heard him relate to 
 the other young fellows how we made our escape ; but 
 Duke Henri has too much imagination, and that, you 
 see, makes a man inaccurate. I knew two very ac- 
 
 1 See Epilogue. 
 287 
 
288 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 complished thieves who were inaccurate. I am not. 
 Duke Henri's tale got stronger, like wine, as time 
 went on. The rats grew to be of the size of cats; 
 three of them pulled the baby out of madamc's lap. 
 And as to the people we killed, it would have satisfied 
 M. Dumas, who is the greatest and most correct of 
 such as write history." 
 
 The present author grieves that he has not the 
 narration of this famous escape at the hands of Mme. 
 des Illes and the two dukes, father and son. Those 
 who have found leisure to read " A Little More Bur- 
 gundy" have heard Des Illes's narrative as M. des 
 Illes related it. Those who have not read that ren- 
 dering may incline to hear Fran$ois's own statement 
 of what happened after he thus found himself in 
 darkness with people he had never seen. I have 
 followed his memoir pretty closely. It tells some 
 things of which the other people concerned did not 
 know. Evidently he considered it a less tragic affair 
 than did they. It has been needful to condense 
 Francois's account, and to do this especially where 
 he speaks of his own intermediate adventures, which 
 were singular enough. 
 
 When, as I have said, Francois, obeying Duke 
 Philippe, put out his lantern, he sat still awhile, and 
 said nothing. Like the rest, he was fearful lest the 
 officers he had disturbed so rudely should make a 
 too effective search. Their inspection of the upper 
 cellar would be perilous enough. The anxious people 
 beneath held their breaths when a man overhead 
 stumbled across the staves the thief had set to fall 
 on the trap-door. After a while all noises faded 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS -289 
 
 away, and in tho evening the duke proposed to rec- 
 onnoiter once more j but when he tried to lift the trap, 
 it was found impossible to do so. The municipals, in 
 their examination, must have rolled a full barrel of 
 wine upon the door. This discovery was ; or seemed, 
 an overwhelming calamity. 
 
 Francois during the day came to understand that 
 here in the darkness were Duke Philippe de St. Maur, 
 his son Henri, a lad, another rather older boy, Des 
 Illes, Mme. des Illes, and the baby, who made him- 
 self terribly well known by occasional protests in the 
 tongue of babyhood. As the thief became accustomed 
 to the gloom and the company, his usual cheeriness 
 returned ; and when they could not open the trap he 
 began to propose all manner of schemes. He would 
 bore a hole and let out the wine, and so lighten the 
 barrel. He would shoot a ball through the trap and 
 the barrel, and thus let out the weight of wine. The 
 duke, who never lost respect for his own dignity, was 
 disgusted, and would listen to none of his counsels. 
 
 Toward bedtime the baby began to wail dismally; 
 the boys sobbed ; and Mme. des Illes cried out to them 
 that they should be ashamed to complain, and then, 
 by way of comment, herself burst into tears; while 
 the duke stumbled about, and swore under his breath. 
 This was all very astonishing to Francois, who had 
 seen little of any world but his own, and to whom 
 calamity served only as a hint to consider some way 
 to escape its effects. He remained silent for a while, 
 after the duke had let him plainly understand that he 
 was a fool and had better hold his tongue. This 
 lasted for a half -hour, during which he sat still, think- 
 
290 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 ing, with full eyes, of his dead dog. By degrees the 
 children grew quiet, and the baby, having exhausted 
 his vocabulary and himself, fell asleep. Then the 
 duke said irritably: 
 
 "Why the deuce don't you do something, Master 
 Thief ? If you can get into places where you do not 
 belong, why cannot you get out of this abominable 
 box?" 
 
 Francois laughed. " Get out I would, and gladly ; 
 but how? We might wait, monsieur, till they drink 
 up the wine, or until it dries up, or' But here the 
 boys laughed, and even the duke forgot himself, and 
 said Francois was a merry fellow. Indeed, he was of 
 use to them all j for, soon becoming at ease, he regaled 
 the boys with his adventures ; but how many he in- 
 vented I do not know. Some were queer, and some 
 silly ; but all tales are good in the dark, for then what 
 can one do but attend ? 
 
 After a while, all being still, Francois lighted his lan- 
 tern, on which Duke Philippe said : i i Put out that light ; 
 we have too few candles as it is j and keep quiet. You 
 are prowling about like a cat on the tiles, and twice 
 you have stumbled over my legs." 
 
 " But I have twice said I was sorry," said Francois, 
 getting tired of this duke with an uncertain temper, 
 who repeated : " Put out that light, and sit down. 2 * 
 
 Then madame spoke : " He may have a reason to 
 want to see and to move about." 
 
 "'T is so," said Francois. "If I walk, my wits 
 walk; if I sit, they go to sleep; and as to cats, 
 madame, I am a street cat"; and, thinking of Suz- 
 anne, he laughed. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 291 
 
 "Ah, confound yonr laughing!" The duke felt 
 that to laugh at a joke he did not share was, to say 
 the least, disrespectful. " What is there to laugh at ? " 
 
 Francois, who had been moving as he spoke, was 
 suddenly elated. He said it was Suzanne he was 
 thinking of; and when madame would know if she 
 were his wife, the duke was silent out of lack of in- 
 terest for low company, and Francois began to tell 
 about the elders and the Hebrew maid, and of the 
 Amalekites who lived on the next roof. The boys 
 were charmed, and madame said, " Fie ! fie ! " but it 
 served to amuse. An hour later he began to move 
 about restlessly, and at last cried out, from the far end 
 of the cellar : 
 
 " This way, monsieur j what is this ? A candle and 
 quick ! " When they all came to see, he rolled aside 
 an empty cask, and showed a heavy planking. He 
 seized the decayed timbers and tore them away, so 
 that as they fell a black gap was to be seen. The 
 air blew in, cool and damp. 
 
 " Mon Dieu! 't is the catacombs. My husband's 
 grandfather cut off this end for a wine-cave. It is 
 strange I should have quite forgotten it." 
 
 "But what then?" said the duke. "It is only a 
 grave you have opened. You might as well have 
 kept quiet." 
 
 The thief s feelings were hurt; he began to care 
 less and less for this useless nobleman. 
 
 Madame said thoughtfully : " It may be a way out. 
 If it come to the worst, we can but try it." 
 
 " Madame is right ; and as to keeping quiet, I never 
 could. Sleeping cats catch no rats." He believed in 
 
292 THE ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 his luck. " We shall get out/ 7 he said, with cool assur- 
 ance. " I always do. I have been in many scrapes. 
 I got out of the Madelonnettes, and I was once near 
 to decorating a rope." 
 
 " A rope ! " exclaimed madame. 
 
 " Yes. Parbleu ! I wear my cravat loose ever since. 
 I like to have full swing, but not in that way." He 
 was gay and talkative. The boys liked it ; but not so 
 the duke, who said : 
 
 "Well, what next!" 
 
 " We must explore. I will enter and see a little." 
 
 "But," said the woman, "you will get lost; and 
 then, what to do f " She had come to trust the thief. 
 He saw this, and liked it. "If we lose you, what 
 shall we do ? what shall we do ? " 
 
 The thief turned to her as he stood, lantern in hand. 
 He was grave. " Madame, I am a poor thief of the 
 streets ; I have had to live as I could ; and since I was 
 a boy I can count the kind words ever said to me by 
 man or woman. I shall not forget." 
 
 Madame was moved, and said they were all alike 
 come upon evil days, and that perhaps now he would 
 turn from his wicked ways. 
 
 Poor Francois was not quite clear as to his ways 
 having been wicked. 
 
 " Well, if you are going," said the duke, " you had 
 better be about it." 
 
 It was then young Des Illes said he must have a 
 string, like people who went into caves, else he might 
 never find his way back. The thief thought it a fine 
 idea; and here was madame's big ball of knitting- 
 wool. With no more delay, he took it, and leaving 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS 293 
 
 an end in Des Illes's hand, boldly walked away 
 into the darkness with his lantern, and was soon lost 
 to view. 
 
 When he came back to this anxious company, he 
 had to report such a tangle of passages as caused him 
 to say that to try to escape through these must be a 
 last resort. He thought they might live on the rats 
 if provisions gave out, but they must eat them raw. 
 
 " Helas! what a fate ! " said madame. 
 
 The little Duke Henri spoke eagerly, and said the 
 Chinese ate rats. 
 
 " But not raw," cried the young Des Illes, which set 
 them all to laughing. 
 
 Soon again they were quiet, because talk in the dark 
 does not prosper. A little later madame called softly 
 to the thief to sit by her, and would hear of his life. 
 Francois related his exploits with pride. She made no 
 comment, but said at last : " Your name, my friend?" 
 And when he replied, " Francois," she declared that 
 he was no more to be any one's thief, but always Fran- 
 c. ois ; and this was a hint to the duke, who took it in 
 silence, and was evidently depressed. 
 
 After this, madame bade the boys say their prayers ; 
 and soon all were asleep, except Francois, who sat 
 against a cask, and saw Toto's brown eyes in the 
 darkness. 
 
 At last the morrow came. The provisions were 
 shared, and, as usual with Francois, his spirits rose 
 as he filled his stomach. He held the baby, and was 
 queerly interested in this mystery of unwinking eyes. 
 Might he give it of the bottle 1 He satisfied the child, 
 who seemed fearless of that long, good-humored face. 
 
294 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Might he hold it longer ? It would relieve madame. 
 He sang low to it a queer thief-song, and then another 
 none there could understand. 
 
 " Ciel! " said the duke, who had slept off his splenetic 
 mood ; " you have a fine voice." 
 
 "Ah, would it were a hymn," said madame, "or a 
 psalm of Clement Marot ! " 
 
 " I know no hymns," said Francois, " but only some 
 old choir chants." 
 
 Upon this he began to sing, low and sweet, one of 
 the old Latin songs : 
 
 Salve, mundi salutare, 
 Salve, salve, Jesu care ! 
 Cruci tusB me aptare 
 Vellem vere, tu scis quare, 
 Da mihi tui capiam. 
 
 The rich voice which in his boyhood days had soared 
 like a lark up among the arches of Notre Dame had 
 come again. He heard himself with wonder and with 
 sad thoughts of the chances his boyish haste had for- 
 ever lost for him. 
 
 " And you a thief ! " cried madame. " Where 
 where did you learn" 
 
 But at this moment noises overhead put an end to 
 all but listening. At last Francois said: "They 
 move the casks. It were well to take to the caves." 
 And this was hastily agreed to, when, of a sudden, 
 the noises ceased. 
 
 Francois still urged instant flight; but the duke 
 said, " No ; we must wait," and gave no reasons. The 
 thief did not agree, but held his tongue, as Mme. des 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANQOIS 295 
 
 Illes said nothing, and since, after all, this was a 
 duke. 
 
 An hour later he started up. "By Heaven, they 
 are at the trap ! " 
 
 The duke was no coward. He ran up the steps, 
 pistol in hand, and gave his second weapon to Fran- 
 c.ois, who stood below. The trap was cast wide open, 
 and a big municipal was seen stooping over the open 
 space ; for beyond him the cellar was well lighted up. 
 The duke fired without an instant's indecision. 
 
 " By St. Denis ! 't is a man, this duke," cried Fran- 
 c,ois, as the officer pitched head down into the cave. 
 The thief set a foot on him as he lay, and reached up 
 the second pistol to the duke, while young Des Illes, 
 too curious for fear, crawled up the broad stone stairs 
 to see. The thief heard a second shot, and followed 
 the lad. There were several candles set on casks, and 
 through the smoke he saw a municipal in a heap at 
 the far end of the upper cellar. He was groaning 
 piteously. 
 
 " Load again, monsieur," cried Francois. " Quick ! 
 there may be more." He himself went past the duke, 
 and young Des Illes after him. He turned the officer 
 over. 
 
 " He is not dead," he said. " Best to finish him." 
 
 But here was madame at his side, saying: "No, 
 no ! No more I will not have it. Mon Dieu! it is 
 bad enough. I will have no murder." 
 
 " Then let us go back ; he is as good as dead." 
 
 " Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! " cried the woman ; and so 
 in haste the upper trap was closed, and all went again 
 down to the cave. 
 
296 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 The officer below was dead, with a ball through his 
 head. Mother and children huddled away in the far 
 corner, scared. The duke said: 
 
 " What now must we do ? " 
 
 " We must go, and at once/' said Francois. " They 
 will soon come back, and then" 
 
 "Yes, yes/' cried madame; "you are right. You 
 were right; we should have gone before, and saved 
 aU this bloodshed." 
 
 The duke made no comment, except to mutter, " I 
 suppose so " j and at once began to assist Francois's 
 preparations for flight. 
 
 And now the thief's readiness and efficiency were 
 shown. He arranged every one's loads, filled baskets, 
 laughed over a shoulder at the boys as he strapped 
 blankets on the duke, and at last loaded himself with 
 all that was left. They took the arms of the dead 
 man, and soon trooped out into the darkness. The 
 duke, who at once went on ahead, carried a lantern. 
 
 At the first turn, Francois called out to wait, and 
 ran back. The duke swore. He was now eager to 
 go on, and declared that the thief would deliver them 
 up, and save his own head. But madame was of 
 other mind, and so they stood expectant. At last 
 came Francois, laughing. 
 
 " Ah, monsieur, this comes of honest company. I 
 forgot the bag of gold. And these these are price- 
 less. I have the fellow's clothes. When a man does 
 not resist, the temptation is great j neither did he 
 assist." 
 
 "Stop that talk, and come on. Are we going to 
 set up a shop for old clothes ? " 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 297 
 
 Francois fell behind. "The duke would make a 
 poor thief," he said to the boys. Young Henri de St. 
 Maur said : " You are insolent. My father a thief ! " 
 
 " Tiens! There are times when to steal is virtue. 
 Allons done! " and he strode on, laughing, and telling 
 the boys stories. 
 
 There were many little incidents that day, but the 
 worst was at evening, when they found a great cave, 
 lofty and wide, where had been cast, long before, the 
 bones out of the overfilled cemeteries. Here it was 
 that skulls fell from the great heap, and rolled away 
 on every side into the darkness, while the rats ran 
 out in armies. The thief was of all the most alarmed, 
 and stood still, saying paternosters and aves by the 
 dozen. After this they went on aimlessly, now and 
 then hearing overhead the roar and rumble of wagons. 
 Their nights proved to be full of sore trials. The rats 
 assembled, and grew bolder. One bit the baby, who 
 cried until the thief lighted a candle and watched 
 while the rest slept, or tried to do so. 
 
 The dismalness of these underground labyrinths 
 was such as no man could imagine. One day they 
 walked a half-mile through a wet cave-passage so 
 na.rrow that two persons could not move abreast. It 
 ended in a blank wall, and they were forced to go 
 back, over shoe-top in water. Or, again, they went 
 up rude stairs, stumbling, but hopeful, only to descend 
 once more into the depths of the earth. Now and 
 then a piitrid rain fell on them, and at every turn the 
 rats fled by them, now one and now a scurry of 
 countless troops. Twice a mass of rock fell in some 
 distant passage, and strange echoes reverberated in 
 
298 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 cavern spaces, so that the boys cried out in terror, and 
 even Francois shivered at the thought of how they 
 might be buried alive by one of these downfalls. Each 
 sad day of weariness had its incident of terror or dis- 
 appointment ; and still, with lessening hope, they 
 trailed on after the dim light which the duke carried 
 as he led them none knew whither. Each morning 
 they rose cold, wet, and unrefreshed, ate of their 
 lessening food, and after some little talk as to how 
 this day they should keep turning to left or to right, 
 set out anew, the duke still in advance, with an ever- 
 changing mind as to where they were or what they 
 should do. As day followed day, their halts became 
 more frequent. They lingered where the dripping 
 rain from the sewage of the great city overhead was 
 least ; or at times paused suddenly to listen to mys- 
 terious sounds, or to let the rats go by them, splashing 
 in the noisome puddles underfoot. The night was as 
 the day, the day as the night. They had no way to 
 tell the one from the other, except by the duke's 
 watch. 
 
 So confusing was this monotonous tramp under- 
 ground, the days so much alike, that at last these sad 
 people became bewildered as to how long they had 
 wandered. Their food was becoming less and less, 
 and on the evening of the fifth day the duke and 
 Francois knew that very soon their stock of candles 
 would be exhausted. These had, in fact, been of small 
 use, except to keep the scared children more cheerful 
 when night came on and the rats grew bold. 
 
 This evening of the fifth day, and earlier than usual, 
 Mme. des Illes declared of a sudden that she could 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 299 
 
 go no farther, and must rest for the night. The duke 
 had a new plan, and urged her to go on. 'She cried 
 over the baby on her lap, and made no answer. They 
 sat down to pass another night of discomfort. After a 
 little talk with the boys, Francois drew apart from the 
 rest, and began to think over the wanderings of the 
 day. Their situation this evening was somewhat better 
 than it had usually been, for they sat in a dry end of 
 one of the many excavations, and did not feel the 
 cold, moist winds which howled along these stony 
 caves, carrying a changeful variety of unwholesome 
 stenches. A silent hour went by in utter darkness. 
 At times Francois rose to drive away adventurous 
 rats. At last he lighted a candle, and set it at the 
 open end of the cul-de-sac. When he saw that the 
 rats would not pass the lantern, he whispered to 
 madame of this, and that he meant to explore a little, 
 and bade her have no fear. The duke had thus far 
 had his own way, and it had not been to Francois's 
 taste. He took a second lantern, and moved off around 
 a corner, resolute to find a means of escape. The duke 
 ordered him to return and to put out the candle. 
 Francois made no reply. He counted the turns as he 
 went on, and listened for the noise of vehicles above 
 him. 
 
 " A pretty duke, that ! " he said. " I should have 
 made as good a one. I like better that devil of a mar- 
 quis ; but diantre! neither is much afraid nor I, for 
 that matter." 
 
 Sometimes he turned back, at others went on boldly, 
 noting whence blew any current of warmer air. At 
 last he came upon an enormous excavation. In the 
 
300 THE ADVENTURES OF FKANgOIS 
 
 middle was a mass of partly tumbled stone, laid in 
 courses. This broken heap was large, and irregularly 
 conical. He moved around it in wonder, having seen 
 nothing like it in his explorations. He turned the 
 yellow and feeble lantern-light upon the heap, and at 
 first concluded that the old makers of these quarries 
 had here built for themselves a house, which had fallen 
 to ruin. 
 
 But where was he, and what part of Paris was over 
 his head ? He remembered at last to have heard that 
 these catacombs were once used as receptacles for the 
 dead, in order to relieve the overpeopled graveyards. 
 Had he been less alarmed, he might have guessed 
 where he was when they came upon the bones; for 
 that must have been near to the cemetery of the 
 Church of the Innocents. But while the duke had 
 led, Francois had taken less than his usual active 
 notice, and had been content to follow. Here, now, 
 was a new landmark. This before him could be no 
 dwelling of quarriers, but must be a house fallen into 
 the great cave. He had heard of such happenings. 
 To be certain where and on what street so strange a 
 thing had occurred would afford knowledge as to the 
 part of Paris under which he stood. He would ask 
 the duke ; he might know. Thus reflecting, he began 
 to walk around the tumbled mass. A vast amount of 
 earth must have come down with it. He pried here 
 and there, and at last found a gap in the ruin, and 
 crawled in between fallen timbers until he could stand 
 up. On one side was a wall and a wide chimney-place, 
 and on the top of this wall the great beams of the 
 ceiling still rested. Their farther ends lay on what 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 301 
 
 seemed the wreck of the opposite wall, thus leaving a 
 triangular space filled in at each side by broken stone. 
 Amid this were the crushed steps of a staircase, quite 
 blocked up. The lantern gave little light. Only close 
 to the fireplace could the tall thief stand erect. He 
 turned his lantern, and cried out : 
 
 " Ye saints ! " Close beside him were the remains 
 of a high-backed chair ; and on these, and beside them, 
 portions of the bones of a man. Two great jack-boots 
 lay beside him, gnawed by rats. His skull was broken, 
 and lay where the eager animals had dragged it. 
 
 Few could have stood here alone, and not felt its 
 terror and its mystery. Francois stood a moment, 
 appalled, and unable to think or to observe. At last 
 he began to study the place with care and increasing 
 interest. A rusty sword, sheathed, was caught in the 
 arm of the ruined chair. Here and there lay bits of 
 gold lace. He picked up the rusted clasp of a purse, 
 gnawed by the rats. Near it lay scattered a number 
 of gold and silver coins, a rosary, and a small ring set 
 with red stones. He put them all in his pocket. There 
 was scarce a remnant of the man's dress. 
 
 Francois looked at the tumbled bones. " Mon 
 Dieu! " said he ; " am I like that J ? " and turned to see 
 what else was here. On the lowest stair was a glint 
 of yellow a cross of gold. " Good luck ! " he cried. 
 On the hearth was a copper kettle, green with rust. 
 Soon he began to see better, and at last found a frag- 
 ment of wood less damp than the rest of the floor and 
 what lay upon it ; for a steady, slow, irregular rain 
 fell in drops, with dull patter here and there. He 
 shaved off some slivers of the wood, and, getting at 
 
 18 
 
302 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 the drier inside, soon, with paper from his pouch, made 
 a fire on the stone pavement. Presently he had a 
 bright little blaze, and in the brilliant glow began to 
 shed his terror. He found other wood, and nourished 
 the flame. But when he saw that the fragments were 
 from the end of a crushed cradle, he ceased to use 
 them ; because here were little bones lying scattered, 
 and the man guessed at the extent of the tragedy, and 
 was strangely stirred. He moved to and fro in the 
 tent-like space in awe and wonder, in thought recon- 
 structing the house, and seeming to share in the 
 horror of its story. 
 
 Before leaving, he looked again at the overturned 
 chair, the stones lying about it, and the moldering 
 remains of the man. He must have been asleep, and 
 died instantly when the house fell into the great cave. 
 There was no more to be seen. " God rest his soul ! " 
 said the thief, and crawled backward out of the tangle 
 of broken beams and stones. 
 
 In a few minutes he was again with those he had 
 left, and, saying only, " 'T is well, madame j we shall 
 get out," fell into a peaceful sleep. 
 
 The next day every one dragged on wearily, the duke 
 still leading, and Francois hoping that he would be 
 asked advice. The water rained on them a noisome 
 downfall, the rats came out in hordes j and still Fran- 
 gois cheered his companions, now carrying the baby, 
 and now encouraging the tired boys. 
 
 I have not given in full detail all the miseries of 
 these weary days and sorrowful nights. They have 
 been more fully told elsewhere by one who felt them 
 as more serious than did Francois, whose narrative I 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 303 
 
 now am following. These unhappy victims of the 
 Terror had been altogether six days in the cave, but 
 Francois not so long. By this time their spirit was 
 quite broken. The thief alone remained gay, hopeful, 
 and even confident, but saw clearly enough that these 
 people, used to easy lives, could not endure much 
 longer the strain of this unguided wandering in the 
 dark and somber alleys of this horrible labyrinth of 
 darkness and foul odors. The duke seemed also to 
 be of a like mind, for on the morning of the seventh 
 day he awakened Francois at six, and, of a sudden 
 grown sadly familiar, whispered low to him : 
 
 "Is there any hope? Madame and the boys are 
 failing. Soon we shall have to carry them." 
 
 " We shall get out," said Francois. 
 
 "But how? how? Why to-day any more than 
 yesterday ? Do you think of any way to help us ? " 
 
 " If monsieur will permit me to lead 
 
 " Good ! Why did you not say so before ? " 
 
 Francois made no direct reply, but asked: "Did 
 ever a house fall into these quarry-caves ? " 
 
 "A house? Why do you ask? Yes; it was long 
 ago. The house of the lieutenant of the guard it was. 
 I do not recall the date. A house in the Eue des 
 Peches." 
 
 " Will this help to know when it was ? " and Fran- 
 c.ois showed his coins and told his story. 
 
 " Yes, yes ; I see. How wonderful ! These are of 
 the time of Francis I." 
 
 "Rue des Peches?" 
 
 " Yes ; it is now the Rue des Bon Secours. It is 
 close to the Asile des Innocents." 
 
304 THE ADVENTUEES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 "Dieu! monsieur, then I know. I think we may 
 get out to-day; but it may be well not yet to tell 
 madame. I think we are still near to the fallen 
 house." 
 
 " Then you shall lead," said the duke. " Tiens! a 
 queer fellow, this thief," he muttered, and went to 
 waken the sleeping children. No word was said as 
 to the house of the lieutenant of the guard, but Fran- 
 c.ois refreshed the tired party by promising a speedy 
 glimpse of day. For, now that the candles were few, 
 they thought more of this than of the perils which 
 the daylight might bring. 
 
 The thief led, and all day long they went on and 
 on. Once he was quite dismayed to find that he had 
 lost his way, and once came to the very entrance of 
 the cave he had left the night before. The duke again 
 became querulous and dissatisfied ; but Francois only 
 laughed, and, resolutely concealing his mistake, re- 
 traced his steps. It was near to seven o'clock in the 
 evening of July 28 when the thief bade them rest, 
 and he would be back soon. The duke said some- 
 thing cross ; but Francois made no reply, and, turning 
 a corner, lost sight of his party. He took careful 
 note of the turns and windings of this maze, and now 
 and then found himself in a blind alley, and must of 
 need turn back. At the far end of one of these recesses 
 he saw in the gloom two great, green, phosphorescent 
 eyes. Like mighty jewels they were, set in the dark- 
 ness. They were soon lost to view, and came and 
 went. " They are cats," he murmured ; " and what a 
 hunting estate they have ! Ye saints ! if I had here 
 my poor Toto ! " He began to move toward these eyes, 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 305 
 
 which shot back the light his lantern gave. There were 
 three sets of the pale-green jewels, and now their 
 owners were maneuvering to escape. He began to 
 use caressing cat-talk, such as had won the heart of 
 Suzanne, and, falling on his knees, crept closer. Then 
 there was a quick rush past him of his feline game ; 
 but one cat was indecisive, and he had her by the leg. 
 He paid well for his audacity, but held on, and pretty 
 soon began to exercise the curious control he had over 
 all animals. At last pussy lay still and panting. 
 When the scared animal grew quiet, he set her down. 
 For a moment she hesitated, and then began to move 
 away. As he followed she ran. He cast the lantern- 
 light before her, and pursued her with all speed. 
 Once or twice she was nearly lost to view. Then she 
 turned a corner, and another, and of a sudden fled 
 toward a distant archway, through which he saw the 
 light of day. A great rush of warm air went by him. 
 He stood still, murmuring aves. To his surprise, he 
 was near to the place where he had left his com- 
 panions. He stood a moment in deep thought. " We 
 are out at last/ 7 he murmured. " But del! there is 
 much to think about. We may have too much light." 
 
 He went back and told of the discovery, but of the 
 cat not a word. The duke said : " I thought we should 
 soon get out ; come, let us be off." 
 
 Madame said gently : " Let us kneel before we go, 
 and thank the good God for this friend he sent us in 
 our trouble." Then they all knelt, and she prayed, 
 speaking her thankfulness to Heaven, with at the end 
 a word as to her husband, and also asking God's mercy 
 for him who had led them forth out of darkness into 
 
306 THE ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 light. When Francois heard her, he was disturbed as 
 he had never been in all his days. When a man like 
 Francois sheds tears, it is a great event in his life. 
 He rose from his knees, and asked the duke and the 
 rest to go with him ; and thus it was that in a few 
 minutes they stood fifty feet from an open archway, 
 through which came the level light from the western 
 sky. 
 
 The duke was moved at last to say how clever 
 Francois had been; and how had he managed it? 
 The thief declared it had been easy ; but the cat got 
 no credit, and never was praised, then or ever, for her 
 share of their escape. Set in this rocky frame before 
 them was a picture as it were of a disused quarry, 
 and beyond it vineyards, with yet farther a red-tiled 
 housetop. Here it was, as they paused, that madame 
 said solemnly, with tears in her eyes : 
 
 " l God said, Let there be light : and there was light. 
 And God saw the light, that it was good.' " 
 
 After the duke and Francois had peeped out, and 
 seen no one, the duke began to set forth a variety of 
 schemes as to what they should do. None of these 
 was very wise, and at last madame turned to Francois. 
 He had disappeared, but presently came again, dressed 
 in the clothes of the dead officer. He wore his sword 
 and pistols, and now, as seen clearly in the light of 
 day, was certainly a queer enough figure. The gar- 
 ments were too short below and too wide above, and 
 over them rose the long face, the broad mouth, and 
 fhe huge ears. The boys, who looked on their troubles 
 as at an end, set up a shout of laughter. 
 
 " The deuce ! I shall arrest you, citizens," cried 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANQOIS 307 
 
 Francois. " And first, monsieur." He explained that 
 he proposed to tie the duke's hands behind his back, 
 and with, as was usual, one end of the rope in his 
 hand, would conduct the ci-devant into Paris by the 
 Barriere d'Enfer. The weeping widow would follow, 
 with the two children, to see the last of their poor 
 papa. 
 
 The duke was disgusted, but pretended to be much 
 amused. "Well, it is a pretty comedy," he said, as 
 Mme. des Illes insisted. 
 
 " Dame! " said the thief, " but the tragedy is not far 
 away." 
 
 " And what is to come after ? " said she. " Had we 
 not better wait till night ? " 
 
 " No. The guards are doubled at night. It is bold- 
 ness which will win." 
 
 " And what then, Francois ? " 
 
 " I must find for you a refuge while I go to see if 
 M. des Illes may not have returned ; for, madame, you 
 have assured me that he would be released. Pray 
 God it is so. And what better is there ? " The duke 
 was forced to consent. 
 
 A rope found in the officer's pocket made part of 
 Francois's spoil. He tied the duke's hands, and 
 showed him how, at need, a pull would release them. 
 The gold was divided. All else they left. Francois 
 reported the way clear, and they set out. But the 
 boys giggled so much at the duke and his indignant 
 face that Francois paused. 
 
 " Dame! " he cried, " madame must weep." She was 
 already doing that, her mind on the fate of M. des 
 Illes. " If you boys are fools, and laugh, we are lost. 
 
308 THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 
 
 Cry, if you can ; but, for the love of Heaven, do not 
 look about you, or smile. Take a hand of madame 
 so. Cry, if ever you mean to get away safe." 
 
 The road beyond the quarry was little used, and 
 they went on, the duke furious. When they met any 
 one, Francois cried: "Get on, aristocrat! Pig of a 
 ci-devant, march ! " 
 
 Duke Philippe muttered : " Sacre, thief ! " and got 
 a smart jerk of the rope, and more abuse, until the 
 fun of it nearly upset the thief, who could scarce 
 contain himself. At the Barriere d'Enfer were but 
 two guards; nor were there as many people in the 
 streets as usual. 
 
 Suddenly Francois halted at the summons to leave 
 his prisoner with one of the two men, and to enter the 
 little office and exhibit his papers, as was needful. 
 
 " Dame! " muttered the thief, " one cannot know all 
 things. I forgot about the papers." He showed, 
 however, no indecision. " Guard this wretch, citizen," 
 he said. " Here, take the rope. He is a returned 
 emigrt." The man took the rope. "I shall not be 
 long." So saying, he went in after the second guard, 
 closing the door behind them. The man sat down 
 at a desk, and opened a blank-book, saying: "The 
 order, citizen." 
 
 "I am afraid it is lost," said Francois, eagerly 
 searching his acquired pockets. " The mischief ! 
 What to do?" 
 
 " To do ? Thou must wait till the lieutenant comes 
 back. He has gone to see the fun." 
 
 "Fun! What fun?" 
 
 At this moment the man rose hastily. " Didble ! 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOIS 309 
 
 thou art Francois ! I thought I knew thy voice. 
 There are orders to arrest thee. Citizen Amar de- 
 sires thy society. Best make no fuss. I arrest thee. 
 I am in luck. It is sure promotion. What trick art 
 thou up to ? And those folks outside, who are they ? " 
 
 " But thou, an old thief, to arrest a comrade ! Surely 
 thou wilt not." 
 
 " No use. Come ! no nonsense." 
 
 Francois put out a pleading hand. " But they will 
 kill me, comrade." He looked all the alarm needed. 
 
 " Bah ! " 
 
 In an instant the strongest grip of the Cite was on 
 the man's throat, and closed as a vise closes. A faint 
 cry escaped as the man struggled. Francois threw a 
 leg back of the fellow, and as he fell dropped on his 
 chest. It was brief. The man's heels clattered on the 
 floor ; he was still. The thief rose. The man was to 
 appearance dead. He would revive, perhaps. " Peste! " 
 cried Francois, " it is hard to keep one's head." 
 
 Seizing a paper from the table, Francois went out of 
 the door, closing it after him, and coolly caressing a 
 cat on the step. He said to the guard that his com- 
 rade would be out by and by, and that it was all 
 right. As he spoke he waved the paper, and, taking 
 the rope, went on, crying : " Get up, ci-devant! " As 
 they got farther away he hurried the duke. " Death 
 is behind us. Get on. Faster faster !" He twisted 
 and turned, and was not at ease until they were deep 
 in the sinuous, box-hidden paths of the Luxembourg. 
 
 Very few people were to be seen, and these looked 
 at or after them with curiosity. 
 
 " We must be a queer party. Get on, citizen. Thou 
 
310 THE ADVENTURES OF FEANgOIS 
 
 art lazy. Thou wilt soon have a fine carriage." He 
 was terribly anxious. " Sacre, monsieur ! For the 
 love of the saints, go on, and quicker ! " 
 
 " What the deuce is it ? " said the duke. 
 
 " That beast at the barrier knew me. He was an 
 old thief." 
 
 " And what then ? Why were we not stopped if he 
 knew you ? " 
 
 " He does not know me nor anybody now." 
 
 " Foi d'honneur, but you are a brave fellow ! " 
 
 "Thanks; but make^ haste." 
 
 At last they were in the long Rue de Varennes, 
 where they saw a great crowd filling the street, and 
 were soon in the midst of a mass of excited people. 
 
 Francois cried out : " Room, citizens, room ! " 
 
 An old woman shook her fist at him, yelling furi- 
 ously : " Cursed Jacobin ! " 
 
 The people were wild 5 and presently a man hustled 
 the supposed officer. Others cried fiercely: "Hang 
 him ! " Another screamed out : " Robespierre is 
 dead ! " and the crowd took up the cry. A dozen 
 hands seized on Francois. 
 
 " What the deuce is all this ? " he shouted. " Take 
 care, or the law will have you." 
 
 " Robespierre is dead ! A la lanterne! " 
 
 Upon this, the duke exclaimed : " Let him go ; it 
 is a good fellow, and not an officer " ; and then, amid 
 a maddening tumult, succeeded in hastily explaining 
 enough to secure the release of the officer. 
 
 " A ~bas la guillotine! " cried Francois. " Down with 
 the Terror ! " 
 
 The crowd thickened, and went its way with wild 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANgOlS 311 
 
 cries. Meanwhile the boy Des Illes was lost, and 
 madame in tears. They went on, asking questions, 
 and hearing of the execution of Robespierre, Couthon, 
 Saint- Just, and the rest. The thief said : " Let us go 
 straight to M. des Illes's house." 
 
 At the door madame fell into her husband's arms ; 
 and soon after dusk the boy came running back with 
 his father, who had gone out to search for him. 
 
 Then all was hastily made clear, and the long story 
 told of Des Illes's release, and how he had found the 
 dog, and in the cave the Jacobins both dead, and of 
 his vain efforts to discover his own people. They 
 were fed and reclothed ; and now, it being ten at night 
 of this 10th Thermidor, Francois rose. " I must go," 
 he said. 
 
 " You ? Never ! " said madame. " Our house is 
 your home for life. You will wander and sin no 
 more." 
 
 On this, Francois looked about him, from one kind 
 face to another, and sat down, and broke into tears. 
 
 " It shall be as madame desires. I am her servant." 
 
 And this is the end of the adventures of Frangois, 
 the thief. Let who will judge him. 
 
EPILOGUE 
 
 Wherein is some further account of Francois and of 
 those who helped him. 
 
 a little book which has found many friend- 
 ly readers I related a strange story of the 
 French Revolution. 1 In it was promised 
 some further account of the most remark- 
 able of the personages concerned. I 
 have now fulfilled my desire to relate the adventures 
 of Francois. The singular incidents I record are not 
 without foundation. 
 
 In the story above mentioned I have told how I 
 chanced to meet Franois and those with whom he 
 spent his days after the stormy period during which 
 they first came together. My acquaintance with M. 
 des Illes and the old Due de St. Maur slowly rip- 
 ened into friendship. I was a lonely student in the 
 Latin Quarter, and felt deeply the kindness which 
 never ceased insisting that their house should be to 
 me a home. In the summer, and often after that, I 
 was a guest at Des Illes's chateau in Touraine. There 
 I came to know Francois, as one may know a French 
 or an Italian servant. During these visits he acted 
 
 1 "A Madeira Party," The Century Co., which contains a tale 
 called "A Little More Burgundy/' to which the reader is referred. 
 
 332 
 
EPILOGUE 313 
 
 as my valet, serving me with admirable care, and 
 never better pleased than when I invited him to talk 
 about himself. He had long since shed his thief -skin, 
 but I fear that it was only the influence of fortunate 
 circumstances which left him without excuse to be or 
 to seem other than as honest as the rest of the world 
 aboulfhim. 
 
 I have known a great variety of disreputable folk 
 in my lifetime, but never one who had so many win- 
 ning qualities, or who was so entirely at his ease. A 
 scamp in the company of men of better morals usu- 
 ally becomes hypocritical or appears awkwardly 
 aware of breathing an atmosphere to which he is 
 unused. Francois had no such difficulties. For half 
 a century he had been for Des Illes something be- 
 tween friend and servant. His former life and habits 
 were well known to the few who came to his master's 
 house. He was comfortable, with some forty thou- 
 sand francs in the rentes, for his old acquaintance, the 
 marquis, had not forgotten his services. He had no 
 necessity to exercise what he still tranquilly called his 
 profession. Like a clever street-dog adopted by a re- 
 spectable family, though for a time uneasy, he ceased 
 by degrees to wander for the joy of stealing a bone, 
 and became contented with the better and less peril- 
 ous chances of a dinner at home. 
 
 I learned from M. de St. Maur, the duke's son, that 
 while Mme. des Illes lived Francois remained the most 
 domestic of animals. Her death caused him a grief 
 so profound that for a time his master was troubled 
 lest his reason might suffer. She herself would never 
 hear a word against him. Unlike her husband, she 
 
314 EPILOGUE 
 
 was a fervent Protestant, and had now and then 
 some vain hope of converting Francois. While she 
 lived he considered himself her special servant, but 
 after her death transferred his regard to young 
 Des Illes, the son. For many months Frangois 
 pined, as I have said. He then became restless, 
 disappeared for a week at a time, and it is to be 
 feared that once, or more often, he courted temp- 
 tation. When I knew him all this was in a remote 
 past. At the chateau he usually came to my bed- 
 room an hour before dinner to set out my evening 
 dress, and was pretty sure, when this was done, to 
 put his head in my little salon and ask if I needed 
 anything. Perhaps, like M. des Illes, I might desire 
 a petit verre of vermuth for the bettering of appe- 
 tite. As I soon found what this meant, I commonly 
 required this sustaining aid. When by and by he 
 returned, carrying a neat tray with vermuth and 
 cognac, it came to be understood that he should be 
 led into talk of himself over the little glass, which 
 would, I am sure, have paid toll before it got back 
 to the buffet. Pretty soon I got into the way of 
 making him sit down, while I drew from by no means 
 unwilling lips certain odd stories which much amused 
 me. With an English or Irish servant such familiar 
 intercourse would have been quite impossible j but 
 Frangois, who h'ad none of the shyness of other 
 races, soon came to be on as easy terms with me 
 as he was with M. des Illes. When I asked him one 
 evening to tell me his own story of the famous 
 escape through the catacombs, he said, "But it is 
 long, monsieur." When I added, "Well, sit down; 
 
EPILOGUE 315 
 
 I must have it," he replied simply, " As monsieur 
 wishes/' and, taking a chair, gave me an account of 
 their escape, in which he drew so mirthful a picture 
 of the duke's embarrassments that I saw how little 
 of the humor of the tale M. des Illes had allowed 
 himself to put into his recital. 
 
 Fraii9ois's long life amid people of unblemished 
 character had by no means changed his views. Yes, 
 he had been a thief j but now he was out of business. 
 He had retired, just as M. des Illes had done, there 
 being no longer any cause why he should relieve his 
 own necessity by lessening the luxury of others j 
 monsieur might feel quite secure. 
 
 As for politics, he was all for the Bonapartes, who, 
 he said, were magnificent thieves, whereas he had 
 never been able to rise to the very highest level of 
 his business. M. des Illes objected, and the last time 
 he had indulged himself in a prolonged absence 
 monsieur would comprehend that this was many 
 years ago there had been a serious quarrel; and 
 how could he annoy so good a master, even though 
 they disagreed as to matters political ? If monsieur 
 were still curious as to his life, he had a few pages in 
 which he had set down certain things worth remem- 
 bering, and would monsieur like to see them ? Mon- 
 sieur would very much like to read them. Thus 
 came into my possession this astonishing bit of auto- 
 biography, which at last I had leave to copy. It was 
 oddly written, in a clear hand, and in a quaint and 
 abrupt style, from which, in my use of it, I have 
 generally departed, but of which I fear some traces 
 may yet be seen. 
 
316 EPILOGUE 
 
 Two evenings later, and before I had found leisure 
 to read all of it, Francois said to me, " Does monsieur 
 think to give my poor little account to the world ? " 
 I said I did not. At this I saw his very expressive 
 face assume a look which I took to mean some form 
 of regret. As he spoke he was standing in the door- 
 way, and was now and then mechanically passing a 
 brush over my dress-coat. Presently he said: "I 
 only desired not to have set forth in France, when I 
 am gone, such things as might give concern to M. 
 des Illes, or trouble him if he should outlive me." 
 
 I replied that it should never be published; and 
 when, after this, he lingered, I added, "Is that as 
 you desire ? " It was not. His vanity was simple 
 and childlike, but immense. 
 
 " Monsieur will find it entertaining/' he said j and 
 I, that this was sure to be the case, and that it were 
 a pity the world should lose so valuable a work. 
 At this his lean face lighted up. Perhaps in English 
 it might some day be of interest to monsieur's 
 friends ; and as he understood that the English were 
 given to stealing whole countries belonging to feeble 
 folks, it might seem to them less unusual than it 
 would to people like those of France. But monsieur 
 was not English. He asked my pardon. I kept a 
 grave face, and inquired if it were a treatise on the 
 art of theft. 
 
 This embarrassed him a little, and he made answer 
 indirectly: did monsieur entirely disapprove this 
 form of transfer f He seemed to regard it as merely 
 a manner of commercial transaction by which one 
 man alone profited. I returned that as to this na- 
 
EPILOGUE 317 
 
 tions held diverse opinions, and that some Oriental 
 people considered it a creditable pursuit, but that 
 personally it did seem to me wrong. 
 
 M. des Illes was distinctly of that opinion ; but, 
 after all, his (Frangois's) account of what he had seen 
 and been was not limited to mere details of business, 
 and I might discover his adventures to have other 
 interest. When he heard at last that some day I 
 might, through his writings, enlighten the nations 
 outside of the pale of Gallic civilization, he went 
 away with the satisfied air of a young author who 
 has found a publisher with a just appreciation of his 
 labors a thing both rare and consolatory. 
 
 His personal history, as I have said, was well 
 known to the entire household; nor did he resent 
 a jest now and then as to his disused art, if it came 
 from one of a rank above his own. The old duke 
 would say, "Any luck of late in snuff-boxes, 
 Francois ? " 
 
 " M. le Due knows they are out of fashion." 
 
 " Eh lien; then handkerchiefs ? " 
 
 " Diable ! " says FranQois. " They are no more of 
 lace j what use to steal them I M. le Due knows that 
 gentlemen are also out of fashion. M. le Bourgeois 
 is too careful nowadays." 
 
 "True/ 7 says the duke, and walks away, sadly 
 reflective. 
 
 This Francois was what people call a character. 
 He had a great heart and no conscience j was fond of 
 flowers, of birds, and of children j pleased to chat of 
 his pilf erings, liking the fun of the astonishment he 
 thus caused. Had he really no belief in its being 
 
 19 
 
318 EPILOGUE 
 
 wrong to steal ? I do not know. The fellow was so 
 humorous that he sometimes left one puzzled and 
 uncertain. He went duly to mass and confession, 
 but " Mon DieUj monsieur ; nowadays one has so 
 little to confess, M. le Cure must find it dull." 
 
 When I would know his true ethics as to thine and 
 mine, he cried, laughing, "Le mien et le tien; 't is but 
 a letter makes the difference, and, after all, one must 
 live." It seemed a simple character, but there is no 
 such thing ; all human nature is more complex than 
 they who write choose to think it. If character were 
 such as the writer of fiction often makes it, the world 
 would be a queer place. 
 
 He is dead long ago, this same Frangois, as my old 
 friend Des Hies wrote me a few years later. He was 
 very fond of a parrot he had taught to cry, " Vive 
 Bonaparte ! " whenever the aged duke came by his 
 perch. One morning Poll was stolen by some adroit 
 purveyor of parrots. This loss Fra^ois felt deeply, 
 and vastly resented the theft, in fact, he described 
 himself as being humbled by the power of any one 
 to steal from a man bred up to the business, and so 
 missed his feathered companion that for the first time 
 he became depressed, and at last took to his bed. He 
 died quietly a few weeks after, saying to the priest 
 who had given him the final rites of the church: 
 " M. le Cure the gold snuff-box the duke gave 
 you " " Well, my son I " " The left-hand pocket is 
 the safer ; we look not there." Then, half wandering, 
 he cried : " Adieu, Master Time ! Thou art the best 
 thief, after all " ; and so died, holding Des Illes's hand. 
 
 I learned from the duke and his son, as well as 
 
EPILOGUE 319 
 
 from M. des Illes, many more facts as to Franqois 
 than he himself recorded; the good old Cure Le 
 Grand, who was a great friend of mine, also con- 
 tributed some queer incidents @f Francois's life j and 
 thus it was that, when years had gone by, and I be- 
 came dependent on my pen, I found myself able to 
 write fully of this interesting product of Parisian 
 life. 
 
 After considering the material in my possession, I 
 soon discovered that it would not answer my purpose 
 to let Francois's broken memoirs tell his story. There 
 were names and circumstances in them which it were 
 still unwise to print. Much of what I may call the 
 scenery of his somewhat dramatic adventures was 
 supplied by the singular knowledge of the Revolu- 
 tion which the cure delighted to furnish. The good 
 priest was by far the most aged of this group, and 
 yet to the last the most clear as to memories of a 
 tragic past. Thus it came that I was led to write 
 my story of Franqois in the third person, with such 
 enlightening aid as I obtained from those who knew 
 him better than I. 
 
 In his defense I may be permitted to quote the 
 cure's cautiously worded opinion: 
 
 " Oh, monsieur, no man knows another, and every 
 man is ever another to himself. For you Franqois is 
 a thief, strangely proud of an exceptional career and 
 of his victories over the precautions of those from 
 whom he stole. Is it not so, monsieur?" I said it 
 was. " But the bon Dieu alone knows all of a man. 
 I was not a priest until after the great wars. God 
 pardon me, but I like still to tell tales of Jena and 
 
320 EPILOGUE 
 
 Austerlitz, and of what we did in those days of vic- 
 tory. To kill men ! The idea now fills me with hor- 
 ror, and yet I like nothing better, as monsieur well 
 knows, than to talk of those days of battle. And 
 Fran9ois 't is much the same. How could one live 
 with these dear people, and get no lesson from their 
 lives'? Our gay, merry-minded Francois loved to 
 surprise the staid folks who came hither to visit us ; 
 but I know that ah, well, well, priests know many 
 things." 
 
 I thanked him, but still had doubts as to whether 
 the moral code of our friend Fra^ois was ever ma- 
 terially altered by precept, example, or by the lack 
 of necessity to carry on his interesting branch of 
 industry. 
 
 Before telling his story I like to let him say for 
 himself the only apologetic words I could discover in 
 this memoir : 
 
 " I have no wish to write my whole life. I want to 
 put down some things I saw and some scenes in which 
 I was an actor. I am now old. I suppose, from what 
 I am told, that I was wicked when I was young. But 
 if one cannot see that he was a sinner, what then? 
 The good God who made me knows that I was but a 
 little Ishmaelite cast adrift on the streets to feed as 
 I might. I defend not myself. I blame not the 
 chances of life, nor yet the education which fate gave 
 me. It was made to tempt one in need of food and 
 shelter. >T is a great thing to be able to laugh easily 
 and often, and this good gift I had $ and so, whether 
 in safety or in peril, whether homeless or housed, I 
 have gone through life merry. I had thought more, 
 
EPILOGUE 321 
 
 says M. le Cure, had I been less light of heart. But 
 thus was I made, and, after all, it has its good side. 
 I have always liked better the sun than the shadow ; 
 and as to relieving my wants, are the birds thieves I n 
 
 I noticed on the margins of Francois's memoirs re- 
 marks in a neat female handwriting, which he told 
 me were made by Mme. des Illes, who alone had read 
 his story. 
 
 At the end I found written : " If ever another 
 should read what is set down in these pages, let them 
 have the comment of charity. He who wrote them 
 was by nature gifted with affection, good sense, and 
 courage. He had many delicacies of character, but 
 that of which nature meant to make a gentleman 
 and a man of refinement, desertion and evil fortune 
 made a thief and a reprobate. She who wrote this 
 knew him as no one else did, and, with God's help, 
 drew him out of the slough of crime and into a long 
 life of honest ways. CLAIRE DES ILLES." 
 
THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ 
 
 This book is due on the last DATE stamped below. 
 
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