wn knows it is so, what would they think of
you? That you felt unable to endure poverty. It would be neither brave nor
Christian; for, at the very worst, what is there to frighten you? There
are plenty of people born poor, and who have never had either mother or
father to help them on. I know that we are not all alike, but, after all,
nothing is impossible to God. What would you do in such a case? Your
father was not born rich, far from it,--meaning no offence--and that is
perhaps what consoles him now. If you had been here, this last month, it
would have given you courage. Yes, sir, a man may be ruined, nobody is
secure from bankruptcy; but your father, I make bold to say, has borne
himself through it all like a man, though he did leave us so hastily. But
what could he do? It is not every day that a vessel starts for America. I
accompanied him to the wharf, and if you had seen how sad he was! How he
charged me to take care of you; to send him news from you!--Sir, it is a
right poor idea you have, that throwing the helve after the hatchet. Every
one has his time of trial in this world, and I was a soldier before I was
a servant. I suffered severely at the time, but I was young; I was of your
age, sir, and it seemed to me that Providence could not have spoken His
last word to a young man of twenty-five. Why do you wish to prevent the
kind God from repairing the evil that has befallen you? Give Him time, and
all will come right. If I might advise you, I would say, just wait two or
three years, and I will answer for it, you will come out all right. It is
always easy to go out of this world. Why will you seize an unlucky
moment?"

While Jean was thus exerting himself to persuade his master, the latter
walked in silence, and, as those who suffer often do, was looking this way
and that as though seeking for something which might bind him to life. As
chance would have it, at this juncture, Mademoiselle Godeau, the daughter
of the fermier-general, happened to pass with her governess. The mansion
in which she lived was not far distant; Croisilles saw her enter it. This
meeting produced on him more effect than all the reasonings in the world.
I have said that he was rather erratic, and nearly always yielded to the
first impulse. Without hesitating an instant, and without explanation, he
suddenly left the arm of his old servant, and crossing the street, knocked
at Monsieur Godeau's door.

II

When we try to picture to ourselve