went out, and Jean Buvat appeared at the door.

"Come in, come in," said Dubois.

"You do me honor, monsieur," murmured Buvat, without moving from his
place.

"Shut the door, and leave us," said Dubois to the usher.

The usher obeyed, and the door striking the posterior part of Buvat,
made him bound a little way forward. Buvat, shaken for an instant,
steadied himself on his legs, and became once more immovable, looking at
Dubois with an astounded expression.

In truth, Dubois was a curious sight. Of his episcopal costume he had
retained the inferior part; so that he was in his shirt, with black
breeches and violet stockings. This disagreed with all Buvat's
preconceived notions. What he had before his eyes was neither a minister
nor an archbishop, but seemed much more like an orang-outang than a man.

"Well, monsieur," said Dubois, sitting down and crossing his legs, and
taking his foot in his hand, "you have asked to speak to me. Here I am."

"That is to say," said Buvat, "I asked to speak to Monseigneur the
Archbishop of Cambray."

"Well, I am he."

"How! you, monseigneur?" cried Buvat, taking his hat in both hands, and
bowing almost to the ground: "excuse me, but I did not recognize your
eminence. It is true that this is the first time I have had the honor of
seeing you. Still--hum! at that air of majesty--hum, hum--I ought to
have understood--"

"Your name?" asked Dubois, interrupting the good man's compliments.

"Jean Buvat, at your service."

"You are--?"

"An employe at the library."

"And you have some revelations to make to me concerning Spain?"

"That is to say, monseigneur--This is how it is. As my office work
leaves me six hours in the evening and four in the morning, and as
Heaven has blessed me with a very good handwriting, I make copies."

"Yes, I understand," said Dubois; "and some one has given you suspicious
papers to copy, so you have brought these suspicious papers to me, have
you not?"

"In this roll, monseigneur, in this roll," said Buvat, extending it
toward Dubois.

Dubois made a single bound from his chair to Buvat, took the roll, and
sat down at a desk, and in a turn of the hand, having torn off the
string and the wrapper, found the papers in question. The first on which
he lighted were in Spanish; but as Dubois had been sent twice to Spain,
and knew something of the language of Calderon and Lopez de Vega, he saw
at the first glance how important these papers were. Indeed