'I'll be sworn that you have been pawning my goods and letting my room, you knave!' 'Never, your Excellency!' he answered.

'On the contrary, I have been expecting you.' 'How ?' I said.

'To-day ?' 'To-day or to-morrow,' he answered, following me in and closing the door.

'The first thing I said when I heard the news this morning was--now we shall have M.de Berault back again.

Your Excellency will pardon the children,' he continued, bobbing round me, as I took the old seat on the three-legged stool before the hearth.