ives had hitherto
been degraded by being employed in idiotic schemes of vengeance and
destruction; whereas it was in them possibly that lay the liberating
force which science was seeking, the lever which would change the face of
the world, when they should have been so domesticated and subdued as to
be only the obedient servants of man.

Throughout this familiar discourse Pierre could feel that Francois was
growing impassioned, quivering at thought of the vast horizon which the
master opened up. He himself had become extremely interested, for he
could not do otherwise than notice certain allusions, and connect what he
heard with what he had guessed of Guillaume's anxiety regarding that
secret which he feared to see at the mercy of an investigating
magistrate. And so as he, Pierre, before going off with Francois,
approached Bertheroy to wish him good day, he pointedly remarked:
"Guillaume will be very sorry that he was unable to hear you unfold those
admirable ideas."

The old _savant_ smiled. "Pooh!" said he; "just give him a summary of
what I said. He will understand. He knows more about the matter than I
do."

In presence of the illustrious chemist, Francois preserved the silent
gravity of a respectful pupil, but when he and Pierre had taken a few
steps down the street in silence, he remarked: "What a pity it is that a
man of such broad intelligence, free from all superstition, and anxious
for the sole triumph of truth, should have allowed himself to be
classified, ticketed, bound round with titles and academical functions!
How greatly our affection for him would increase if he took less State
pay, and freed himself from all the grand cordons which tie his hands."

"What would you have!" rejoined Pierre, in a conciliatory spirit. "A man
must live! At the same time I believe that he does not regard himself as
tied by anything."

Then, as they had reached the entrance of the Ecole Normale, the priest
stopped, thinking that his companion was going back to the college. But
Francois, raising his eyes and glancing at the old place, remarked: "No,
no, to-day's Thursday, and I'm at liberty! Oh! we have a deal of liberty,
perhaps too much. But for my own part I'm well pleased at it, for it
often enables me to go to Montmartre and work at my old little table.
It's only there that I feel any real strength and clearness of mind."

His preliminary examinations had entitled him to admission at either the
Ecole Polytechnique