ironsac.

"Mironsac?" I echoed. "Why, yes." And I was on the point of adding that
I knew the youth intimately, and what a kindness I had for him, when,
deeming it imprudent, I contented myself with asking, "You know him?"

"Pardieu!" he swore. "The fellow is my cousin. We are both Mironsacs; he
is Mironsac of Castelvert, whilst I, as you may remember I told you,
am Mironsac of Castelroux. To distinguish us, he is always known as
Mironsac, and I as Castelroux. Peste! It is not the only distinction,
for while he basks in the sunshine of the great world of Paris--they
are wealthy, the Mironsacs of Castelvert--I, a poor devil of a Gascony
cadet, am playing the catchpoll in Languedoc!"

I looked at him with fresh interest, for the mention of that dear
lad Mironsac brought back to my mind the night in Paris on which
my ill-starred wager had been laid, and I was reminded of how that
high-minded youth had sought--when it was too late to reason me out of
the undertaking by alluding to the dishonour with which in his honest
eyes it must be fraught.

We spoke of his cousin--Castelroux and I--and I went so far now as
to confess that I had some love for the youth, whom I praised in
unmistakable terms. This inclined to increase the friendliness which
my young Captain had manifested since my arrest, and I was presently
emboldened by it to beg of him to add to the many favours that I already
owed him by returning to me the portrait which his men had subtracted
from my pocket. It was my wish to return this to Marsac, whilst at the
same time it would afford corroboration of my story.

To this Castelroux made no difficulty.

"Why, yes," said he, and he produced it. "I crave your pardon for not
having done the thing of my own accord. What can the Keeper of the Seals
want with that picture?"

I thanked him, and pocketed the locket.

"Poor lady!" he sighed, a note of compassion in his voice. "By my soul,
Monsieur de Lesperon, fine work this for soldiers, is it not? Diable! It
is enough to turn a gentleman's stomach sour for life, and make him go
hide himself from the eyes of honest men. Had I known that soldiering
meant such business, I had thought twice before I adopted it as a career
for a man of honour. I had remained in Gascony and tilled the earth
sooner than have lent myself to this!"

"My good young friend," I laughed, "what you do, you do in the King's
name."

"So does every tipstaff," he answered impatiently, his moustac