s merits. I knew him already for a hardy, reckless man, very capable
of striking a shrewd blow. I gave him credit for being trusty, as long
as his duty jumped with his interest.

Accordingly, as soon as it was light, having fed and groomed the Cid,
which was always the first employment of my day, I set out in search of
Fresnoy, and was presently lucky enough to find him taking his morning
draught outside the 'Three Pigeons,' a little inn not far from the north
gate. It was more than a fortnight since I had set eyes on him, and the
lapse of time had worked so great a change for the worse in him that,
forgetting my own shabbiness, I looked at him askance, as doubting the
wisdom of enlisting one who bore so plainly the marks of poverty and
dissipation. His great face--he was a large man--had suffered recent
ill-usage, and was swollen and discoloured, one eye being as good as
closed. He was unshaven, his hair was ill-kempt, his doublet unfastened
at the throat, and torn and stained besides. Despite the cold--for the
morning was sharp and frosty, though free from wind--there were half a
dozen packmen drinking and squabbling before the inn, while the beasts
they drove quenched their thirst at the trough. But these men seemed
with one accord to leave him in possession of the bench at which he sat;
nor did I wonder much at this when I saw the morose and savage
glance which he shot at me as I approached. Whether he read my first
impressions in my face, or for some other reason felt distaste for my
company, I could not determine. But, undeterred by his behaviour, I sat
down beside him and called for wine.

He nodded sulkily in answer to my greeting, and cast a half-shamed,
half-angry look at me out of the corners of his eyes. 'You need not look
at me as though I were a dog,' he muttered presently. 'You are not so
very spruce yourself, my friend. But I suppose you have grown proud
since you got that fat appointment at Court!' And he laughed out loud,
so that I confess I was in two minds whether I should not force the jest
down his ugly throat.

However I restrained myself, though my cheeks burned. 'You have heard
about it, then,' I said, striving to speak indifferently.

'Who has not?' he said, laughing with his lips, though his eyes were far
from merry. 'The Sieur de Marsac's appointment! Ha! ha! Why, man--'

'Enough of it now!' I exclaimed. And I dare say I writhed on my seat.
'As far as I am concerned the jest is a stale on