ise. Bitou carried a
great bull on his shoulders; the water-wagtails, the warblers, and the
buntings traverse the ocean."

CHAPTER II. TURN VAGABOND.

On re-entering the cloister, the archdeacon found at the door of his
cell his brother Jehan du Moulin, who was waiting for him, and who had
beguiled the tedium of waiting by drawing on the wall with a bit of
charcoal, a profile of his elder brother, enriched with a monstrous
nose.

Dom Claude hardly looked at his brother; his thoughts were elsewhere.
That merry scamp's face whose beaming had so often restored serenity
to the priest's sombre physiognomy, was now powerless to melt the gloom
which grew more dense every day over that corrupted, mephitic, and
stagnant soul.

"Brother," said Jehan timidly, "I am come to see you."

The archdeacon did not even raise his eyes.

"What then?"

"Brother," resumed the hypocrite, "you are so good to me, and you give
me such wise counsels that I always return to you."

"What next?"

"Alas! brother, you were perfectly right when you said to me,--"Jehan!
Jehan! _cessat doctorum doctrina, discipulorum disciplina_. Jehan,
be wise, Jehan, be learned, Jehan, pass not the night outside of the
college without lawful occasion and due leave of the master. Cudgel
not the Picards: _noli, Joannes, verberare Picardos_. Rot not like an
unlettered ass, _quasi asinus illitteratus_, on the straw seats of the
school. Jehan, allow yourself to be punished at the discretion of the
master. Jehan go every evening to chapel, and sing there an anthem
with verse and orison to Madame the glorious Virgin Mary."--Alas! what
excellent advice was that!"

"And then?"

"Brother, you behold a culprit, a criminal, a wretch, a libertine, a man
of enormities! My dear brother, Jehan hath made of your counsels straw
and dung to trample under foot. I have been well chastised for it, and
God is extraordinarily just. As long as I had money, I feasted, I lead a
mad and joyous life. Oh! how ugly and crabbed behind is debauch which
is so charming in front! Now I have no longer a blank; I have sold my
napery, my shirt and my towels; no more merry life! The beautiful candle
is extinguished and I have henceforth, only a wretched tallow dip
which smokes in my nose. The wenches jeer at me. I drink water.--I am
overwhelmed with remorse and with creditors.

"The rest?" said the archdeacon.

"Alas! my very dear brother, I should like to settle down to a better