lower on the slippery ladder
of poverty. It is not possible to earn enough to feed three mouths with
a piano method and a box of pastels--or, at least, it does not hold out.
Louise has fewer pupils, and Pere Issacar has lessened his orders. Mamma
Gerard, who has become almost an old woman, redoubles her efforts; but
they can no longer make both ends meet. Amedee sees it, and how it makes
him suffer!

The poor women are proud, and complain as little as possible; but the
decay inside this house, already so modest, is manifested in many ways.
Two beautiful engravings, the last of their father's souvenirs, had been
sold in an hour of extreme want; and one could see, by the clean spots
upon the wall, where the frames once hung. Madame Gerard's and her
daughters' mourning seemed to grow rusty, and at the Sunday dinner
Amedee now brings, instead of a cake, a pastry pie, which sometimes
constitutes the entire meal. There is only one bottle of old wine in
the cellar, and they drink wine by the pot from the grocer's. Each new
detail that proves his friends' distress troubles the sensitive Amedee.
Once, having earned ten Louis from some literary work, he took the
poor mother aside and forced her to accept one hundred francs. The
unfortunate woman, trembling with emotion, while two large tears rolled
down her cheeks, admitted that the night before, in order to pay the
washerwoman, they had pawned the only clock in the house.

What can he do to assist them, to help them to lead a less terrible
life? Ah! if Maria would have it so, they could be married at once,
without any other expense than the white dress, as other poor people
do; and they would all live together. He has his salary of twenty-four
hundred francs, besides a thousand francs that he has earned in
other ways. With Louise's lessons this little income would be almost
sufficient. Then he would exert himself to sell his writings; he
would work hard, and they could manage. Of course it would be quite
an undertaking on his part to take all this family under his charge.
Children might be born to them. Had he not begun to gain a reputation;
had he not a future before him? His piece might be played and meet with
success. This would be their salvation. Oh! the happy life that the
four would lead together! Yes, if Maria could love him a little, if he
persisted in hoping, if she had the courage, it was the only step to
take.

Becoming enthusiastic upon this subject, Amedee deci