y. He received the same fare of bread soaked in milk, the same
soft words. He allowed himself to be tempted. He came down from the
wall. The children were able to stroke his back. Goodness, how thin he
was!

It was the great topic of conversation. We discussed it at table: we
would tame the vagabond, we would keep him, we would make him a bed
of hay. It was a most important matter: I can see to this day, I shall
always see the council of rattleheads deliberating on the Cat's fate.
They were not satisfied until the savage animal remained. Soon he grew
into a magnificent Tom. His large round head, his muscular legs, his
reddish fur, flecked with darker patches, reminded one of a little
jaguar. He was christened Ginger because of his tawny hue. A mate joined
him later, picked up in almost similar circumstances. Such was the
origin of my series of Gingers, which I have retained for little short
of twenty years through the vicissitudes of my various removals.

The first of these removals took place in 1870. A little earlier, a
minister who has left a lasting memory in the University, that fine
man, Victor Duruy (Jean Victor Duruy (1811-1894), author of a number
of historical works, including a well-known "Histoire des Romains", and
minister of public instruction under Napoleon III. from 1863 to 1869.
Cf. "The Life of the Fly": chapter 20.--Translator's Note.), had
instituted classes for the secondary education of girls. This was the
beginning, as far as was then possible, of the burning question of
to-day. I very gladly lent my humble aid to this labour of light. I
was put to teach physical and natural science. I had faith and was not
sparing of work, with the result that I rarely faced a more attentive or
interested audience. The days on which the lessons fell were red-letter
days, especially when the lesson was botany and the table disappeared
from view under the treasures of the neighbouring conservatories.

That was going too far. In fact, you can see how heinous my crime was: I
taught those young persons what air and water are; whence the lightning
comes and the thunder; by what device our thoughts are transmitted
across the seas and continents by means of a metal wire; why fire
burns and why we breathe; how a seed puts forth shoots and how a flower
blossoms: all eminently hateful things in the eyes of some people, whose
feeble eyes are dazzled by the light of day.

The little lamp must be put out as quickly as possi