ing, and had no suspicion that the children
were abused. Ah! you were astonished just now when you saw me take the
bread out of the mud? I am used to that for I have picked up enough of it;
and crusts from the dust, and when they were too hard and dry, I would
soak them all night in my basin. I had windfalls sometimes, such as pieces
of bread nibbled at the ends, which the children would take out of their
baskets and throw on the sidewalks as they came from school. I used to try
to prowl around there when I went on errands. At last my time was ended at
this trade by which no man can support himself. Well, I did many other
things, for I was willing enough to work. I served the masons; I have been
shop-boy, floor-polisher, I don't know what all! But, pshaw; to-day, work
is lacking, another time I lose my place: Briefly, I never have had enough
to eat. Heavens! how often have I been crazy with hunger as I have passed
the bakeries! Fortunately for me; at these times I have always remembered
the good Sister at the Asylum, who so often told me to be honest, and I
seemed to feel her warm little hand upon my forehead. At last, when I was
eighteen I enlisted; you know as well as I do, that the trooper has only
just enough. Now,--I could almost laugh--here is the siege and famine! You
see, I did not lie, when I told you, just now that I have always, always,
been hungry!"

The young duke had a kind heart and was profoundly moved by this terrible
story, told him by a man like himself, by a soldier whose uniform made him
his equal. It was even fortunate for the phlegm of this dandy, that the
night wind dried the tears which dimmed his eyes.

"Jean-Victor," said he, ceasing in his turn, by a delicate tact, to speak
familiarly to the foundling, "if we survive this dreadful war, we will
meet again, and I hope that I may be useful to you. But, in the meantime,
as there is no bakery but the commissary, and as my ration of bread is
twice too large for my delicate appetite,--it is understood, is it
not?--we will share it like good comrades."

It was strong and hearty, the hand-clasp which followed: then, harassed
and worn by their frequent watches and alarms, as night fell, they
returned to the tavern, where twelve soldiers were sleeping on the straw;
and throwing themselves down side by side, they were soon sleeping
soundly.

Toward midnight Jean-Victor awoke, being hungry probably. The wind had
scattered the clouds, and a ray of moonl