Whilst the unknown was viewing these lights with interest,and lending an ear to the various noises, Master Cropoleentered his apartment, followed by two attendants, who laidthe cloth for his meal.

The stranger did not pay them the least attention; butCropole approaching him respectfully, whispered " Monsieur,the diamond has been valued."

"Ah!" said the traveler. "Well?"

"Well, monsieur, the jeweler of S. A. R. gives two hundredand eighty pistoles for it."

"Have you them?"

"I thought it best to take them, monsieur; nevertheless, Imade it a condition of the bargain, that if monsieur wishedto keep his diamond, it should be held till monsieur wasagain in funds."

"Oh, no, not at all; I told you to sell it."

"Then I have obeyed, or nearly so, since, without havingdefinitely sold it, I have touched the money."

"Pay yourself," added the unknown.

"I will do so, monsieur, since you so positively requireit."

A sad smile passed over the lips of the gentleman.

"Place the money on that trunk," said he, turning round andpointing to the piece of furniture.

Cropole deposited a tolerably large bag as directed, afterhaving taken from it the amount of his reckoning.

"Now," said he, "I hope monsieur will not give me the painof not taking any supper. Dinner has already been refused;this is affronting to the house of les Medici. Look,monsieur, the supper is on the table, and I venture to saythat it is not a bad one."

The unknown asked for a glass of wine, broke off a morsel ofbread, and did not stir from the window whilst he ate anddrank.

Shortly after was heard a loud flourish of trumpets; criesarose in the distance, a confused buzzing filled the lowerpart of the city, and the first distinct sound that struckthe ears of the stranger was the tramp of advancing horses.

"The king! the king!" repeated a noisy and eager crowd.

"The king!" cried Cropole, abandoning his guest and hisideas of delicacy, to satisfy his curiosity.

With Cropole were mingled, and jostled, on the staircase,Madame Cropole, Pittrino, and the waiters and scullions.

The cortege advanced slowly, lighted by a thousandflambeaux, in the streets and from the windows.

After a company of musketeers, a closely ranked troop ofgentlemen, came the litter of monsieur le cardinal, drawnlike a carriage by four black horses. The pages and peopleof the cardinal marched behind.

Next came the carriage of the queen-mother, with her maidsof honor at the doors, her gentlemen on horseback at bothsides.

The king then appeared, mounted upon a splendid horse ofSaxon breed, with a flowing mane. The young princeexhibited, when bowing to some windows from which issued themost animated acclamations, a noble and handsomecountenance, illumined by the flambeaux of his pages.

By the side of the king, though a little in the rear, thePrince de Conde, M. Dangeau, and twenty other courtiers,followed by their people and their baggage, closed thisveritably triumphant march. The pomp was of a militarycharacter.

Some of the courtiers - the elder ones, for instance - wore traveling dresses; but all the rest were clothed inwarlike panoply. Many wore the gorges and buff coat of thetimes of Henry IV. and Louis XIII.

When the king passed before him, the unknown, who had leantforward over the balcony to obtain a better view, and whohad concealed his face by leaning on his arm, felt his heartswell and overflow with a bitter jealousy.

The noise of the trumpets excited him - the popularacclamations deafened him: for a moment he allowed hisreason to be absorbed in this flood of lights, tumult andbrilliant images.

"He is a king!" murmured he, in an accent of despair.

Then, before he had recovered from his sombre reverie allthe noise, all the splendor, had passed away. At the angleof the street there remained nothing beneath the strangerbut a few hoarse, discordant voices, shouting at intervals,"Vive le Roi!"

There remained likewise the six candles held by theinhabitants of the hostelry des Medici; that is to say, twofor Cropole, two for Pittrino, and one for each scullion.Cropole never ceased repeating, "How good-looking the kingis! How strongly he resembles his illustrious father!"

"A handsome likeness!" said Pittrino.

"And what a lofty carriage he has!" added Madame Cropole,already in promiscuous commentary with her neighbors of bothsexes.

Cropole was feeding their gossip with his own personalremarks, without observing that an old man on foot, butleading a small Irish horse by the bridle, was endeavoringto penetrate the crowd of men and women which blocked up theentrance to the Medici. But at that moment the voice of thestranger was heard from the window.

"Make way, monsieur l'hotelier, to the entrance of yourhouse!"

Cropole turned around, and, on seeing the old man, cleared apassage for him.

The window was instantly closed.

Pittrino pointed out the way to the newly-arrived guest, whoentered without uttering a word.

The stranger waited for him on the landing; he opened hisarms to the old man and led him to a seat.

"Oh, no, no, my lord!" said he. "Sit down in your presence?- never!"

"Parry," cried the gentleman, "I beg you will; you come fromEngland - you come so far. Ah! it is not for your age toundergo the fatigues my service requires. Rest yourself."

"I have my reply to give your lordship, in the first place."

"Parry, I conjure you to tell me nothing; for if your newshad been good, you would not have begun in such a manner;you go about, which proves that the news is bad."

"My lord," said the old man, "do not hasten to alarmyourself, all is not lost, I hope. You must employ energy,but more particularly resignation."

"Parry," said the young man, "I have reached this placethrough a thousand snares and after a thousand difficulties;can you doubt my energy? I have meditated this journey tenyears, in spite of all counsels and all obstacles - haveyou faith in my perseverance? I have this evening sold thelast of my father's diamonds; for I had nothing wherewith topay for my lodging and my host was about to turn me out."

Parry made a gesture of indignation, to which the young manreplied by a pressure of the hand and a smile.

"I have still two hundred and seventy-four pistoles left,and I feel myself rich. I do not despair, Parry; have youfaith in my resignation?"

The old man raised his trembling hands towards heaven.

"Let me know," said the stranger, - "disguise nothing fromme - what has happened?"

"My recital will be short, my lord, but in the name ofHeaven do not tremble so."

"It is impatience, Parry. Come, what did the general say toyou?"

"At first the general would not receive me."

"He took you for a spy?"

"Yes, my lord, but I wrote him a letter."

"Well?"

"He read it, and received me, my lord."

"Did that letter thoroughly explain my position and myviews?"

"Oh, yes!" said Parry, with a sad smile; "it painted yourvery thoughts faithfully."

"Well - then, Parry?"

"Then the general sent me back the letter by anaide-de-camp, informing me that if I were found the next daywithin the circumscription of his command, he would have mearrested."

"Arrested!" murmured the young man. "What! arrest you, mymost faithful servant?"

"Yes, my lord."

"And notwithstanding you had signed the name Parry?"

"To all my letters, my lord; and the aide-de-camp had knownme at St. James's and at Whitehall, too," added the old manwith a sigh.

The young man leaned forward, thoughtful and sad.

"Ay, that's what he did before his people," said he,endeavoring to cheat himself with hopes. "But, privately - between you and him - what did he do? Answer!"

"Alas! my lord, he sent to me four cavaliers, who gave methe horse with which you just now saw me come back. Thesecavaliers conducted me, in great haste, to the little portof Tenby, threw me, rather than embarked me, into afishing-boat, about to sail for Brittany, and here I am."

"Oh!" sighed the young man, clasping his neck convulsivelywith his hand, and with a sob. "Parry, is that all? - isthat all?"

"Yes, my lord; that is all."

After this brief reply ensued a long interval of silence,broken only by the convulsive beating of the heel of theyoung man on the floor.

The old man endeavored to change the conversation; it wasleading to thoughts much too sinister.

"My lord," said he, "what is the meaning of all the noisewhich preceded me? What are these people crying `Vive leRoi!' for? What king do they mean? and what are all theselights for?"

"Ah! Parry," replied the young man ironically, "don't youknow that this is the King of France visiting his good cityof Blois? All those trumpets are his, all those gildedhousings are his, all those gentlemen wear swords that arehis. His mother precedes him in a carriage magnificentlyencrusted with silver and gold. Happy mother! His ministerheaps up millions, and conducts him to a rich bride. Thenall these people rejoice, they love their king, they hailhim with their acclamations, and they cry, `Vive le Roi!Vive le Roi!'"

"Well, well, my lord," said Parry, more uneasy at the turnthe conversation had taken than at the other.

"You know," resumed the unknown, "that my mother and mysister, whilst all this is going on in honor of the King ofFrance, have neither money nor bread; you know that I myselfshall be poor and degraded within a fortnight, when allEurope will become acquainted with what you have told me.Parry, are there not examples in which a man of my conditionshould himself - - "

"My lord, in the name of Heaven - - "

"You are right, Parry, I am a coward, and if I do nothingfor myself, what will God do? No, no, I have two arms,Parry, and I have a sword." And he struck his arm violentlywith his hand and took down his sword, which hung againstthe wall.

"What are you going to do, my lord?"

"What am I going to do, Parry? What every one in my familydoes. My mother lives on public charity, my sister begs formy mother; I have, somewhere or other, brothers who equallybeg for themselves; and I, the eldest, will go and do as allthe rest do - I will go and ask charity!"

And at these words, which he finished sharply with a nervousand terrible laugh, the young man girded on his sword, tookhis hat from the trunk, fastened to his shoulder a blackcloak, which he had worn during all his journey, andpressing the two hands of the old man, who watched hisproceedings with a look of anxiety, -

"My good Parry," said he, "order a fire, drink, eat, sleep,and be happy; let us both be happy, my faithful friend, myonly friend. We are rich, as rich as kings!"

He struck the bag of pistoles with his clenched hand as hespoke, and it fell heavily to the ground. He resumed thatdismal laugh that had so alarmed Parry; and whilst the wholehousehold was screaming, singing, and preparing to installthe travelers who had been preceded by their lackeys, heglided out by the principal entrance into the street, wherethe old man, who had gone to the window, lost sight of himin a moment.