at your service."

"Indeed!" said I, starting with surprise, not less at the unexpected
visitor himself than at the manner of his appearance. "Why, Abbe, you
must have passed the sentinel."

"And so I did, my dear boy," replied he, as he folded up his cloak
leisurely on one chair, and seated himself on another opposite me.
"Nothing wonderful in that, I suppose?"

"But the countersign; they surely asked you for it?"

"To be sure they did, and I gave it,--'Vincennes;' au easy word enough.
But come, come! you are not going to play the police with me. I have
taken you in, on my way back to St. Cloud, where I am stopping just now,
to pay you a little visit and talk over the news."

"Pardon me once more, my dear abbe; but a young soldier may seem
over-punctilious. Have you the privilege to pass through the royal park
after nightfall?"

"I think I have shown you that already, my most rigid inquisitor,
otherwise I should not have known the password. Give me your report for
to-morrow. Ah, here it is! What's the hour now?--a quarter to eleven.
This will save you some trouble."

So saying, he took a pen and wrote in a large free hand, "The Abbe
d'Ervan, from the chateau d'Ancre to St. Cloud."

"Monsieur Savary will ask you no further questions, trust me. And now,
if you have got over all your fears and disquietudes, may I take the
liberty to remind you that the chateau is ten leagues off; that I
dined at three, and have eaten nothing since. Abbes you are aware, are
privileged gastronomists, and the family of D'Ervan have a most unhappy
addiction to good things. A poulet, however, and a flask of Chablis,
will do for the present; for I long to talk with you."

While I made my humble preparations to entertain him, he rambled on
in his usual free and pleasant manner,--that mixture of smartness
and carelessness which seemed equally diffused through all he said,
imparting a sufficiency to awake, without containing anything to engage
too deeply, the listener's attention.

"Come, come, Lieutenant, make no apology for the fare: the pate is
excellent; and as for the Burgundy, it is easy enough to see your
Chambertin comes from the Consul's cellar. And so you tell me that you
find this place dull, which I own I'm surprised at. These little soirees
are usually amusing; but perhaps at your age the dazzling gayety of the
ballroom is more attractive."

"In truth, Abbe, the distinction would be a matter of some difficulty to
me, I