I fancied I had said adieu for the last time;" and he gave a choked sigh, which Monsieur Crapaud could not be expected to understand.

In about five minutes he sprang up suddenly.

"Monsieur Crapaud, I have not long to live, and no time must be lost in making my will." Monsieur Crapaud was too wise to express any astonishment; and his master began to hunt for a tidy-looking stone (paper and cambric were both at an end).

They were all rough and dirty; but necessity had made the Viscount inventive, and he took a couple and rubbed them together till he had polished both.

Then he pulled out the little pencil, and for the next half hour composed and wrote busily.