same for a total stranger) la Peyrade undoubtedly owed his
life to him; for, at the moment when he was violently flung back by the
vigorous grasp of the worthy citizen, the wall fell with the noise of a
cannon-shot, and the stones rolled in clouds of dust almost to his very
feet.

"Are you blind and deaf?" said the workman whose business it was to warn
the passers, in a tone of amenity it is easy to imagine.

"Thank you, my dear friend," said la Peyrade, recalled to earth. "I
should certainly have been crushed like an idiot if it hadn't been for
you."

And he pressed Phellion's hand.

"My reward," replied the latter, "lies in the satisfaction of knowing
that you are saved from an imminent peril. And I may say that that
satisfaction is mingled, for me, with a certain pride; for I was not
mistaken by a single second in the calculation which enabled me to
foresee the exact moment when that formidable mass would be displaced
from its centre of gravity. But what were you thinking of, my dear
monsieur? Probably of the plea you are about to make in the Thuillier
affair. The public prints have informed me of the danger of prosecution
by the authorities which hangs above the head of our estimable friend.
You have a noble cause to defend, monsieur. Habituated as I am, through
my labors as a member of the reading committee of the Odeon, to judge of
works of intellect, and with my hand upon my conscience, I declare that
after reading the incriminated passages, I can find nothing in the tone
of that pamphlet which justifies the severe measures of which it is the
object. Between ourselves," added the great citizen, lowering his voice,
"I think the government has shown itself petty."

"So I think," said la Peyrade, "but I am not employed for the defence. I
have advised Thuillier to engage some noted lawyer."

"It may be good advice," said Phellion; "at any rate, it speaks well for
your modesty. Poor man! I went to him at once when the blow fell, but I
did not see him; I saw only Brigitte, who was having a discussion with
Madame de Godollo. There is a woman with strong political views; it
seems she predicted that the seizure would be made."

"Did you know that the countess had left Paris?" said la Peyrade,
rushing at the chance of speaking on the subject of his present
monomania.

"Ah! left Paris, has she?" said Phellion. "Well, monsieur, I must tell
you that, although there was not much sympathy between us, I regard her
depa