d blacksmiths by turns, regulating their occupations by
the grand doctrines of supply and demand.

Jack alone of the three was defective in steadiness; he only joined
Willis and his brother at mid-day. What he did with himself during the
forenoon was a profound mystery. He rose before daybreak, and
disappeared no one knew where, or for what purpose. His companions in
adversity endeavored in vain to discover his secret; he was determined
to conceal his movements, and succeeded in baffling their curiosity.
To judge, however, by the ardor with which he worked, he was engaged
in some one of those schemes that are termed follies before success,
but which, after success, are universally acknowledged to be brilliant
and praiseworthy instances of industrial enterprise.

If, after a hard day's work, when assembled together in the little
room that served them for parlor, kitchen, and hall, the power of
regret vanquished fatigue, and sadness drove away sleep, then Jack,
who compared himself to Peter the Great, when a voluntary exile in the
shipyards of Saardam, would endeavor to infuse a little mirth into the
lugubrious party. If all his efforts to make them merry failed, all
three would join together in a humble prayer to their Heavenly Father,
who bestowed resignation upon them instead.

If Willis and his two friends were not accumulating wealth, at all
events they were earning the bread they ate honestly and worthily.
They had all three laid their shoulders vigorously to the wheel and
kept it jogging along marvellously for a month. By that time, a
detailed report of the seizure of their property had been placed
before the director of the Domaine Extraordinaire, who was the
sovereign authority in all matters pertaining to the exchequer of the
empire. He saw at once that this capture was extremely harsh, and
probably thought that, if it became known, it would raise a storm of
indignation about the ears of his department. Here were two young
men--Moseses, as it were, saved from the bulrushes. Lost in the desert
from the period of their birth, and ignorant of the dissensions then
raging in Europe, they were unquestionably beyond the ordinary
operation of the law. This will never do, he probably said to himself;
the civilization which these two young men have come through so many
perils to seek ought not to appear to them, the moment they arrived in
Europe, in the form of spoliation and barbarism.

The name of this _extraordinar