befriended, and whose heart was not
inaccessible to emotions of pity, though he was above bribery, and
evidently determined to execute his duty to the letter.

"I have a favor to ask of you, my friend," said the prisoner, slipping
a golden louis into his hand.

"If it is one that I can grant without violating my duty," replied the
jailer, returning the money to Beauvallon, "I will do so for the sake
of old times, but not for gold."

Beauvallon explained that he wished to send a note to Mlle. Lasalle,
requesting her to visit him in prison--an interview which would
probably be their last, and the jailer undertook readily to see the
missive delivered, and to permit the visit. The note having been
despatched, Beauvallon sat down to wait for the arrival of his
mistress.

The sad hours passed away,--but though he learned from the jailer that
his errand had been performed, no Eulalie made her appearance.

"She forsakes me!" he muttered bitterly. "The wounded deer is
abandoned by the herd, and an unfortunate man is shunned by his
fellows. Well, the dream was pleasant while it lasted--the regret of
awakening can scarce be tedious--a few hours, and all the incidents of
this transitory life will be forgotten. But Eulalie--whom I loved
better than my life itself--it is hard to die without one word from
thee."

When on the following day Beauvallon was again taken before the
revolutionary committee, he looked anxiously around the court room to
see if he could discover the face of Eulalie among the spectators,
many of whom were women. But he was disappointed. Her absence
convinced him that she had abandoned him, and wholly absorbed by this
reflection, he paid no attention to the formula of his trial. He was
condemned to death, the sentence to be executed on the following day.

"Mr. President," said he, rising, "I thank you, and I have merely one
favor to ask. Anticipate the time of punishment--let it be to-day
instead of to-morrow--let me go hence to the scaffold."

"Your request is reasonable," replied the president, in a bland voice,
"and if circumstances permitted, it would afford me the greatest
pleasure to grant it. But the guillotine requires repair, and will not
be in a condition to perform its functions until to-morrow, at which
time, Citizen Beauvallon, at the hour of ten, A.M., you will have
ceased to exist. Good night, and pleasant dreams!"

This sally was received with roars of applause, and the unhappy
prison