rly as this----'

'Hush, hush!' said the shepherd, with a warning gesture to the child,
who seemed at once to see that the lunatic's vision was on him; for he
drew his little blouse close around his throat, and muttered a 'Bonjour,
Lazare,' and departed.

'Couldn't that boy guide me down to Spa, or some village near it?' said
I, anxious to seize an opportunity of escape.

He looked at me without seeming to understand my question. I repeated
it more slowly, when, as if suddenly aware of my meaning, he replied
quickly--

'No, no; little Pierre has a long road to go home; he lives far away in
the mountains. I 'll show you the way myself.

With that, he opened the sack, and took forth a loaf of coarse wheaten
bread, such as the poorest cottagers make, and a tin flask of milk.
Tearing the loaf asunder, he handed me one-half, which more from policy
than hunger, though I had endured a long fast, I accepted. Then passing
the milk towards me he made a sign for me to drink, and when I had done,
seized the flask himself, and nodding gaily with his head, cried, 'A
vous, camarade.' Simple as the gesture and few the words, they both
convinced me that he had been a soldier once; and each moment only
strengthened me in the impression that I had before me in the shepherd
Lazare an officer of the Grande Armee--one of those heroes of a hundred
fights, whose glory was the tributary stream in the great ocean of the
Empire's grandeur.

Our meal was soon concluded, and in silence; and Lazare, having
replenished his fire, went to the door and looked out.

'It will be wilder ere night,' said he, as he peered into the dense
mist, which, pressed down by rain, lay like a pall upon the earth; 'if
you are a good walker, I 'll take you by a short way to Spa.'

'I'll do my best,' said I, 'to follow you.'

'The mountain is easy enough; but there may be a stream or two swollen
by the rains. They are sometimes dangerous.'

'What distance are we then from Spa?'

'Four leagues and a half by the nearest route--seven and a half by the
road. Come, Tete-noir, bonne bete,' said he, patting the savage beast,
who with a rude gesture of his tail evinced his joy at the recognition.
'Thou must be on guard to-day; take care of these for me--that thou
wilt, old fellow; farewell, good beast, good-bye!'

The animal, as if he understood every word, stood with his red eyes
fixed upon him till he had done, and then answered by a long low howl.
Lazare smiled