ienne for Rose
and Blanche appeared to exercise so happy an influence on their
mysterious sorrow, that the marshal, forgetting for a moment his fatal
regrets, thought only of enjoying this blessed change, which, alas! was
but of short duration. Having now recalled these facts to the mind of the
reader, we shall continue our story.

CHAPTER XLV.

THE BLOCKHEAD

We have stated that Marshal Simon occupied a small house in the Rue des
Trois-Freres. Two o'clock in the afternoon had just struck in the
marshal's sleeping-chamber, a room furnished with military simplicity. In
the recess, in which stood the bed, hung a trophy composed of the arms
used by the marshal during his campaigns. On the secretary opposite was a
small bronze bust of the emperor, the only ornament of the apartment. Out
of doors the temperature was far from warm, and the marshal had become
susceptible to cold during his long residence in India. A good fire
therefore blazed upon the hearth. A door, concealed by the hangings, and
leading to a back staircase, opened slowly, and a man entered the
chamber. He carried a basket of wood, and advanced leisurely to the
fireplace, before which he knelt clown, and began to arrange the logs
symmetrically in a box that stood besides the hearth. After some minutes
occupied in this manner, still kneeling, he gradually approached another
door, at a little distance from the chimney, and appeared to listen with
deep attention, as if he wished to hear what was passing in the next
room.

This man, employed as an inferior servant in the house, had the most
ridiculously stupid look that can be imagined. His functions consisted in
carrying wood, running errands, etc. In other respects he was a kind of
laughing-stock to the other servants. In a moment of good humor,
Dagobert, who filled the post of major-domo, had given this idiot the
name of "Loony" (lunatic), which he had retained ever since, and which he
deserved in every respect, as well for his awkwardness and folly as for
his unmeaning face, with its grotesquely flat nose, sloping chin, and
wide, staring eyes. Add to this description a jacket of red stuff, and a
triangular white apron, and we must acknowledge that the simpleton was
quite worthy of his name.

Yet, at the moment when Loony listened so attentively at the door of the
adjoining room, a ray of quick intelligence animated for an instant his
dull and stupid countenance.

When he had thus listened for a