egality.
But a piece of theatrical business is not necessarily logical; this one
brought about between the two men an effusion of feeling, embraces, a
generous battle, at the end of which Jenkins replaced the objects in his
pocket, speaking of protests, letters to the newspapers. The Nabob was
again obliged to check him.

"Be very careful you do no such thing. To begin with, it would be to
injure my chances for another time--who knows, perhaps on the 15th of
August, which will soon be here."

"Oh, as to that," said Jenkins, jumping at this idea, and stretching out
his arm as in the _Oath_ of David, "I solemnly swear it."

The matter was dropped at this point. At luncheon the Nabob was as gay
as usual. This good humour was maintained all day, and de Gery, for whom
the scene had been a revelation of the true Jenkins, the explanation of
the ironies and the restrained wrath of Felicia Ruys whenever she spoke
of the doctor, asked himself in vain how he could enlighten his dear
patron about such hypocrisy. He should have been aware, however, that
in southerners, with all their superficiality and effusion, there is no
blindness, no enthusiasm, so complete as to remain insensible before
the wisdom of reflection. In the evening the Nabob had opened a shabby
little letter-case, worn at the corners, in which for ten years he had
been accustomed to work out the calculations of his millions, writing
down in hieroglyphics understood only by himself his receipts and
expenditures. He buried himself in his accounts for a moment, then
turning to de Gery:

"Do you know what I am doing, my dear Paul?" he asked.

"No, sir."

"I am just calculating"--and his mocking glance thoroughly
characteristic of his race, rallied the good nature of his smile--"I
am just calculating that I have spend four hundred and thirty thousand
francs to get a decoration for Jenkins."

Four hundred and thirty thousand francs! And that was not the end.

BONNE MAMAN

Paul de Gery went three times a week in the evening to take his lesson
in bookkeeping in the Joyeuses' dining-room, not far from that little
parlour in which he had seen the family the first day, and while with
his eyes fixed on his teacher he was being initiated into all the
mysteries of "debtor and creditor," he used to listen, in spite of
himself, for the light sounds coming from the industrious group behind
the door, with thoughts dwelling regretfully on the vision of all those
pret