aumiere," said the priest, turning to the miller,
"You are surely acquainted with the hermit, who is now the leader of a
troop against the Camisards?" "Oh, I know him very well," replied the
youth, "his cell is in a rocky valley, which is separated from our mill
only by a stony fence; we often visited him on holidays, when the
valley was passable on our side; he is a tall, athletic man, with a
grizly beard and large, grey eyes; he seemed peaceable and quiet until
the war made him a soldier again. Unheard of cruelties are asserted to
have been committed by him; he is said not to know what compassion is,
and must take pleasure in murder; but now his trade is over." "Is he
dead?" enquired the Counsellor. "No, not exactly that," continued the
young man, "but I heard a report on the Vidourla, that he was totally
defeated yesterday by Cavalier, and that, if he consults his own
advantage, he will creep into a cell, for the common people will not
surely trust to him again, when they perceive that he does not
understand his business."

"He has been a captain, however," said the huntsman.

"The combat against the rebels," said the priest, "is a difficult
affair, for _that_ courage and the ordinary discipline of a soldier do
not suffice; our Marshal Montrevel would perhaps prefer fighting
against Eugene and Marlborough than with these rag-o-muffins."

More wood was now piled on the fire. The father sat down, while Edmond
paced up and down the hall in visible inquietude, the priest drew his
chair towards the Counsellor, and said: "You are suffering from the
gout in your left foot, my lord."

"Why do you conclude so?" asked the old gentleman, "the leg does not
appear to me swoln, although you have guessed rightly."

"The swelling," continued the priest, "is certainly almost
imperceptible; but you often step lighter and more gently with this
foot, probably without being conscious of it, perhaps this joint is a
little contracted in proportion to the right, and therefore has not the
strength of the latter."

"That is very critically observed," said the Counsellor.

"My honoured sir," continued the priest, "it is incredible how
consistent and reasonable nature is in all her productions. To analyse
her in her minutest parts is instructive, however ridiculous it may
appear to the unpractised. More than a century ago, the Neapolitan, De
la Porte, wrote an excellent book on physiognomy comparing the human
and the brutal together; in