ALI RODOLPHE; OR, THE TURK PERFORCE Ostracized by an inhospitable proprietor, Rodolphe had for some time been leading a life compared with which the existence of a cloud is rather stationary.

He practiced assiduously the arts of going to bed without supper, and supping without going to bed.

He often dined with Duke Humphrey, and generally slept at the sign of a clear sky.

Still, amid all these crosses and troubles, two things never forsook him; his good humor and the manuscript of "The Avenger," a drama which had gone the rounds of all the theaters in Paris.
One day Rodolphe, who had been jugged for some slight choreographic extravagances, stumbled upon an uncle of his, one Monetti, a stove maker and smokey chimney doctor, and sargeant of the National Guard, whom he had not seen for an age.

Touched by his nephew's misfortunes, Uncle Monetti promised to ameliorate his position.