ital; for she is singularly
beautiful, and gifted too; sings divinely, and improvises poetry with a
genius that seems inspiration.'

There was a degree of enthusiasm, blended with simplicity, in the poor
cure's admiration of his 'lost sheep' that touched me deeply. He had
been now three weeks in vain pursuit, and was at last about to turn
homeward, discomfited and unsuccessful. 'Lisette' was the very soul of
the little hamlet, and he knew not how life was to be carried on there
without her. The old loved her as a daughter; the young were rivals for
her regard.

'And to me,' said the pere, 'whom, in all the solitude of my lonely lot,
literature and especially poetry, consoles many an hour of sadness or
melancholy--to me, she was like a good angel, her presence diffusing
light as she crossed my humble threshold, and elevating my thoughts
above the little crosses and accidents of daily life.'

So interested had I become in this tale, that I listened while he told
every circumstance of the little locality; and walking along at his
side, I wandered out of the city, still hearing of 'La Marche,' as the
village was called, till I knew the ford where the blacksmith lived, and
the miller with the cross wife, and the lame schoolmaster, and Pierre
the postmaster, who read out the _Moniteur_ each evening under the elms,
even to Jacques Fulgeron the 'Tapageur,' who had served at Jemappes,
and, with his wounded hand and his waxed moustache, was the terror of
all peaceable folk.

'You should come and see us, my dear monsieur,' said he to me, as I
showed some more than common interest in the narrative. 'You, who seem
to study character, would find something better worth the notice than
these hardened natures of city life. Come, and spend a week or two with
me, and if you do not like our people and their ways, I am but a sorry
physiognomist.'

It is needless to say that I was much flattered by this kind proof of
confidence and good-will; and finally it was agreed upon between us that
I should aid him in his search for three days, after which, if still
unsuccessful, we should set out together for La Marche. It was easy to
see that the poor cure was pleased at my partnership in the task, for
there were several public places of resort--theatres, 'spectacles,' and
the like--to which he scrupled to resort, and these he now willingly
conceded to my inspection, having previously given me so accurate a
description of La Lisette, that I fa