Never fear that I shall forget what I owe to you, or the modesty proper to my estate." At these words, he made a grand gesture, as if to banish the phantom that he had conjured up, and that fled away trembling with sorrow, shame, and indignation.

The peacock cried anew a mournful shriek.
"Stupid bird!" thought Samuel Brohl, quaking with sudden dread.
He looked at his watch, and reflected that the hour was advancing--that he was losing time with the spirits.

He rose hastily, and wended his way toward Cormeilles; thence he wished to come upon a sunny path that led to the banks of the Seine, and Sartrouville, the belfry of which was plainly visible.

When he reached the foot of the declivity, he turned his head and saw, on the summit of the hill, through the space left by the crooked branches of two plantains, a white wall, that seemed to laugh amid the verdure, and a little higher the pointed roof of the dove-cote, where Mlle.

Moriaz's doves had their nests.