the Prince de Gonzague. But my third
reason is perhaps better."

As he spoke he took a well-filled purse from his pocket and tossed it
lightly from one hand to the other, looking at Breant with a sneering
smile. Breant would have been no true servant of the time if he had not
liked money for the sake of the pleasure that money could give; Breant
would have been no true servant of the time if he had not been always in
want of money. He eyed the purse approvingly, and his manner was more
amiable.

"What do you want?" he asked.

AEsop made his wishes clear. "There is a little lodge yonder in the
darkness at the end of that alley, hard by the small gate that is seldom
used. You know the gate, for you sometimes used to wait in that little
lodge when a late exalted personage chose to walk abroad incognito."

Breant frowned at him. "You know much, Master AEsop."

AEsop shrugged his shoulders. "I am a wizard. But it needs no wizard to
guess that, as the exalted personage is no longer with us, he will not
walk abroad to-night, and you will not have to yawn and doze in the lodge
till he return."

"What then?" asked Breant.

AEsop lowered his voice to a whisper. "Let me have the key of the little
lodge for to-night."

Breant lifted his hands in protest. "Impossible!" he said.

AEsop shook his head. "I hate that word, Monsieur Breant. 'Tis a vile
word. Come now, twenty louis and the key of the lodge for an hour after
midnight."

Breant looked at the purse and looked at the hunchback. "Why do you want
it?" he asked.

AEsop laughed mockingly. "Vanity. I wish to walk this ball like a
gentleman. I have fine clothes; they lie now in a bundle on the lodge
step. If I had the key I could slip inside and change and change again
and enjoy myself, and no one the worse or the wiser."

The purse seemed to grow larger to Breant's eyes, and his objections to
dwindle proportionately. "A queer whim, crookback," he said.

AEsop amended the phrase: "A harmless whim, and twenty louis would please
the pocket."

Breant slipped his hand into a side-pocket, and, producing a little key,
he handed it to AEsop. "There's the key, but I must have it back before
morning."

AEsop took the key, and the purse changed owners. "You shall," he
promised. "Good. Now I shall make myself beautiful."

Breant looked at him good-humoredly. "Good sport, AEsop the Second." He
turned and disappeared into the tent.

AEsop, looking at the key with satisfac