who rose at six but was not dressed until nine. Frédéric woke, and so
did Ménard, the latter being very uncomfortable for reasons which you
can guess. Dubourg, having no further instruction to give Goton, desired
to return to his room, and Goton found it harder than usual to leave her
pallet, because Dubourg's lessons had fatigued her. But the pretended
baron tried in vain to leave the shed. For five minutes he pushed and
shook the door, which did not yield.
"Goton--Goton, did you lock the door?" he asked.
"Naw! it don't lock," replied the girl, rubbing her eyes.
"But I can't open it."
"Push hard."
"I am pushing as hard as I can, but it won't open."
"Bah! you city folks haven't got any strength!" said the servant; and
she struck the door a violent blow with her fist, but without effect.
"_Jarni!_ someone must have hooked it outside."
"Who in the devil can have played us such a trick?"
"_Pardi!_ it must have been one of the peddlers--because they had their
eyes on me, don't you see? and perhaps they saw that you was in here."
"I haven't any desire to pass my day in this shed."
"I'll milk the cow for you."
"Much obliged."
"And you can tell me something."
"I don't know anything more. This smell of cow and filth goes to my
head."
"Oh! you said just now that this shed was a little--what d'you call
it?--a pretty little _bouloir_, with me."
"Oh! there's a great difference between _just now_ and _now_. A place
ceases to be agreeable, Goton, when you are compelled to stay in it. But
it's broad daylight; if that window wasn't so small, we could get out
through it."
"Oh! you can't do that."
"Ah! I have an idea! We must make the best of it. Bring that stone here,
Goton; stand on it with me, so that our heads will be near the window,
and then shout as I do."
"What will I shout?"
"What I do."
Dubourg put his face to the round hole over the door, and began to cry
at the top of his voice:
"Help! thieves! stop the carriage! thieves!"
"Where's the thieves?" whispered Goton.
"Will you do what I tell you to?" repeated Dubourg.
"All right; I'll yell, if it amuses you," rejoined the servant. And her
strong voice, reinforcing Dubourg's, soon aroused the whole household
and a good part of the village.
The innkeeper ran to the spot as fast as his left leg allowed, it being
two inches shorter than the other. Frédéric came out of his room; Ménard
sat up in bed, and succeeded, with his pupil's aid, in reaching the
floor. He dressed in haste, and went downstairs close on the heels of
Frédéric, who had recognized Dubourg's voice and was more curious than
alarmed, suspecting some new invention on the baron's part. They all
went out into the yard, where they were joined by the neighbors and a
number of laborers on their way to work, who had been attracted by
Dubourg's reiterated shouts of:
"Thieves! stop the carriage!"
They looked about, but saw no carriage; whereupon Goton roared:
"Monsieur le baron's carriage has run off!"
The shed door was opened at last, and Dubourg rushed out like a madman,
raving and swearing, heedless of the fact that his trousers were stained
with filth.
"What's the matter, monsieur le baron?" queried Ménard, in dismay.
"The matter? my berlin--that scoundrel of a postilion! he has run away
and taken it with him--with fifty thousand francs in gold that I had in
one of the pockets!"
"Oh! mon Dieu!"
"My father's berlin! the equipage of the Potoskis! It isn't the money
that I regret--but a berlin in which the Princess of Hungary---- Ah! my
friends, scour the country in all directions--follow every road--a
hundred louis to the man who brings it back!"
"A hundred louis to the man who brings back the carriage!" said Goton.
"They will be very smart if they overtake it," said Dubourg, in an
undertone; "it must be near to Paris now."
"But how did you come to be locked into the shed with Goton?" inquired
the innkeeper.
"I should think you might guess that. I heard a noise in the yard during
the night; I came downstairs softly and found my rascal harnessing the
horses, intending to make his escape while we were asleep. Unluckily, I
had no weapons, and the postilion is a much stronger man than I am. I
attempted to go to call you, but the villain seized me, and, despite my
resistance, forced me into the barn, where this girl was sleeping, and
locked us in there. We began at once to shout for help; but you sleep
like dead men."
"Yes, yes, that's how it was!" said Goton, understanding now why Dubourg
had told her to shout _thieves_.
"You must go to monsieur le maire," said Ménard; "you must have the
police ordered out.--There's a mayor here, of course?"
"Yes, monsieur; the wine merchant; but he'll have to send to the next
village for the police, and that will take two hours."
"Don't be disturbed, my dear Ménard," said Frédéric, with a smile, "we
have a comfortable post chaise to take the place of monsieur le baron's
berlin."
"But fifty thousand francs in gold, monsieur le comte!"
"Oh! it isn't the loss of the money that distresses me," said Dubourg;
"my fortune can stand that loss. Luckily, I still have fifteen thousand
francs in my wallet, to pay my expenses for some little time; but I
especially regret my wardrobe; there was a great trunk under the
carriage, full of clothes and linen."
"Certainly," observed Frédéric, with a mischievous glance at Dubourg and
Goton, "you need a change of clothing now; you must have fallen while
you were in the barn."
Dubourg looked at him with an expression that signified: "I don't know
why you need have called attention to that!" as he replied:
"I certainly didn't go in like a lamb; ask Goton how the rascal handled
me!"
"Oh! yes," said the servant, "he threw you down more'n four times."
"At all events, my friend, my wardrobe is at your service," said
Frédéric.
"And mine too, monsieur le baron," added Ménard, bowing to Dubourg; and
he went back to his room to finish dressing, the baron having promised
to go and lodge a complaint with the mayor.
Frédéric's postilion came at last to inform the travellers that the
chaise was ready. Ménard came down from his room, thanking heaven that
they were to leave that inn, which had been so disastrous to them. Goton
came down behind him, and whispered to Dubourg:
"One of your friends ain't very well brought up; a man of his age do
such things as that! If my little brother did it, he'd get a licking."
In two words, Dubourg learned what had happened; he could not help
laughing at the catastrophe, for which he was responsible; while Ménard
glared angrily at the servant, who put out her tongue at him, shrugged
her shoulders, and followed him about, saying in an undertone:
"For shame! what a dirty trick! a man fifty years old! who ain't learned
to be clean!"
The carriage awaited the travellers, and they took their seats with much
satisfaction: Dubourg, overjoyed to be rid of his berlin; Ménard,
impatient to leave Goton and the inn, for which he had conceived an
intense aversion; and Frédéric, because he was much more comfortable in
the roomy, well-hung post chaise than in monsieur le baron's wretched
berlin.
Ménard sighed once or twice for the seat that the Princess of Hungary
had occupied; but he still had to console him the King of Prussia's
snuff-box, and the prospect of drinking tokay from Tekely's cellar.
VI
THE LITTLE WOOD
Our travellers reached the next village without mishap, and stopped
there to breakfast. Ménard admired the tranquillity with which their
noble companion bore the twofold loss of his carriage and his fifty
thousand francs.
"I am a philosopher, Monsieur Ménard," said Dubourg; "and I care little
for money; indeed, I think that I should prefer mediocrity to a too
exalted station: _Magna servitus est magna fortuna_."
"You are no ordinary man, my dear Dubourg," said Frédéric; "there are so
many people whose philosophy does not outlast their prosperity, like
the coward who boasts of his courage when the danger has passed."
"I certainly am not ambitious," rejoined Ménard; "and I know how to bow
to circumstances; but I consider that it requires great strength of mind
to give up without regret a good table and a good bed; and when I say a
good bed, I don't mean a high one."
Dubourg observed that when they had breakfasted it was Monsieur Ménard
who paid the bill.
"Don't you carry the purse?" he asked Frédéric, in an undertone.
"No; my father gave the funds to Ménard."
"The devil! that's a nuisance. What will he think, when he sees that I
never pay?"
"Why, after your saying that you had been robbed, did you add that you
still had fifteen thousand francs in your pocket?"
"Oh! why, why! because I wanted to play the great man, and not let your
companion imagine that you would pay my expenses."
"I don't dare to ask Ménard for the money; I should be afraid of hurting
his feelings."
"Never fear; I'll undertake to make him turn it over of his own motion."
"How?"
"You will see."
"When you hold the purse-strings, don't play the swell too much;
remember that we shall not have any more for a long while."
"Can it be that you believe that I am still a rattle-head and gambler,
as I was in Paris? No, my dear Frédéric, I am too well pleased to be
travelling with you, to make a fool of myself; I tell you again, I mean
to be a second Mentor."
"Yes; your performance in the cow-barn is a very promising beginning."
"Oh! but I had to invent some lie to account for the berlin."
"And that made it necessary to lock yourself in there with Mademoiselle
Goton! you ne'er-do-well!"
"Bah! don't make yourself out such a Cato! If Mademoiselle Goton had had
melancholy eyes and a sentimental cast of countenance, you would have
gone with her to pasture the cows."
"Well, at all events, I beg you not to do so much gasconading with poor
Ménard, who believes every word; for, to remove any possible suspicion
from his mind, I have taken pains to tell him that I know your family
intimately, and that you are highly esteemed in Paris."
"You have done very well. I only tell him as much as I think necessary
to carry out my part; you don't seem to remember that I call myself a
Polish nobleman."
"That's the reason, I suppose, that you talk about nothing but
Bretagne!"
The travellers resumed their journey. Before reaching the town where
they proposed to pass the night, they had to ride through a dense
forest; and Dubourg, who had his scheme all prepared, began operations
by giving a serious turn to the conversation, for he was well aware that
one's frame of mind adds to or takes from the size of objects, and that
in real life, as on the stage, one must know how to prepare and lead up
to situations, in order that they may produce the greatest effect.
"I know nothing more delightful than travelling," said Dubourg; "why is
it that one's pleasure must always be lessened by the thought that some
unfortunate accident may upset all one's plans?"
"It is so with all the pleasures of life," rejoined Frédéric; "can you
name one upon which we can rely for the morrow? It is a great joy to be
loved by the woman you adore; but when you feel sure that you are not
indifferent to her, when you rely on her heart and her oaths, some young
Adonis appears, who fascinates her; some handsome soldier, who turns her
head; some scintillating wit, who charms her mind--and that woman,
faithful until then, betrays you at the very moment that you feel most
confident of her love. Alas! the happiness of our whole future often
depends only upon some trivial circumstance, and crumbles and falls like
a house built of cards."
"Monsieur de Montreville talks very wisely," said Ménard; "we are often
sadly disappointed in our hopes; how many times have I dined at a famous
restaurant, when the soup was a failure!"
"A philosopher endures such disasters, in fortune, in love, or in
pleasure," said Dubourg; "but there are things against which even
philosophy cannot prevail; as, for instance, being attacked and murdered
by brigands on the highroad."
These words made Ménard shudder; his face lengthened, his expression
became anxious, and he turned to Dubourg, whose features wore a gloomy
look in which there was nothing reassuring.
"Such affairs are, in truth, very unpleasant for travellers. They say,
monsieur le baron, that travelling is very dangerous in Italy. You have
travelled so much, that you can probably tell us."
"Unquestionably there are brigands in Italy, Monsieur Ménard. The
peculiarity of that country is that the roads are most dangerous at
noon, for no one but the brigands dares to face the hot sun at that
time of day. However, if there are highway robbers in the Apennines and
in Germany and England, unfortunately there's no lack of them in France.
It's quite as dangerous now to travel in France."
"What! in France, monsieur le baron? I thought that the roads were
perfectly safe."
"Then you don't read the papers, Monsieur Ménard?"
"Very rarely."
"If you did, you would see that the forests of Sénart, Bondy,
Fontainebleau, and even Villers-Cotterets, all have their bands of
robbers."
"Mon Dieu!"
"Unfortunately, the villains are becoming more savage day by day. They
used to content themselves with robbing you, but now they beat you with
clubs, and you're lucky if you leave their hands alive."
"The deuce! the deuce! if I had known this!" muttered Ménard, looking
about him uneasily. They were just entering the wood.
"Oh! don't be alarmed, Monsieur Ménard," continued Dubourg; "ordinarily,
the robbers confine their attentions to the one who has the money; he
has to pay for the others: they tie him to a tree and strip him as bare
as a worm, to make sure that he has nothing hidden in his clothing."
"That does not quiet my apprehensions at all, monsieur le baron; for, as
it happens, I have charge of the money for our journey."
"Oh! if I had known that, I wouldn't have told you. I thought that
Frédéric---- But in that case you must sell your life dearly. You are
armed, of course?"
"I never use weapons, monsieur le baron."
"Then you must learn to use them; at this moment, we are driving through
a forest where three friends of mine were killed."
"What's that! in this wood? It does seem very dense."
And Ménard glanced fearfully to right and left. It was beginning to grow
dark, and that fact added to his terror.
"Drive at full speed, postilion!" he cried, in a trembling voice.
But the postilion, who had received his instructions from Dubourg, did
not quicken his pace. Frédéric said nothing, but seemed lost in thought,
and Dubourg took his pistols from his pocket and examined them
carefully, glancing into the woods from time to time.
"Parbleu! Monsieur Ménard," he said, taking from his pocket a shabby
green wallet, in which he had placed his last restaurant bill to make it
appear well filled, "this contains my whole fortune for the moment. The
fifteen thousand francs which I now have for my travelling expenses are
in this wallet; as you have been obliging enough to take charge of
Frédéric's funds, I am sure that you will consent to be my cashier, too;
there is no need of having two of us to pay our hotel bills; it's much
better that you should do it all."
As he spoke, he handed Ménard the wallet; that worthy looked at it,
considering what it was best to do; although flattered by that mark of
confidence, he was not tempted to accept it.
At that moment, they heard a shrill whistle in the woods.
"Ah! what does that mean?" exclaimed Dubourg, glancing about with a
terrified expression.
"Perhaps we are going to be attacked, monsieur le baron."
"Faith! I am afraid of it."
"And Monsieur Frédéric is asleep; pray wake him."
Frédéric, pretending to be fast asleep, was an amused listener.
"There's no need of that.--Take these, Monsieur Ménard," said Dubourg,
handing the tutor his wallet and his pistols; "they are loaded."
"Keep them, keep them, in heaven's name, monsieur le baron. I can't take
this wallet. On the contrary, if you were willing, you would be much
better able than I to take care of these."
And poor Ménard produced in one hand his wallet, and in the other a
purse filled with gold, and fixed his eyes upon Dubourg with a suppliant
expression.
"Really," said the latter, "I don't know if I ought to undertake----
Perhaps Frédéric will be offended if----"
"Oh! no, no, monsieur le baron; I am sure that he will approve of my
action."
"Here are four men with rifles coming toward us," said the postilion.
"Great God! we are lost!" cried Ménard.
"Give them to me, quickly," said Dubourg, taking the wallet and the
purse; "I see that this is a matter for me to attend to."
Ménard hid under the seat; the postilion shouted and swore, and lashed
his horses; Dubourg leaned out of the chaise and fired both his pistols
in the air; Frédéric pretended to wake up; the carriage flew like the
wind, and in five minutes they were out of the wood.
"We are safe!" said Dubourg, assisting Ménard to rise.
"Really, monsieur le baron?"
"We are out of the woods; there's no more danger. We had a narrow
escape, eh, Frédéric?"
"And the robbers, monsieur le baron?"
"I killed two of them."
"I saw the other two run away," said Frédéric.
"Ah! monsieur le baron, how lucky we were to have you with us!"
They arrived in due time at their destination. Dubourg was delighted to
be the treasurer of the party, and he inaugurated his functions by
giving the postilion a gold piece for whistling in the forest.
VII
DUBOURG CONTINUES TO PLAY THE GREAT MAN.--HIS METHOD OF MANAGING THE
TREASURY
Dubourg had never had in his possession so large a sum of money as that
which Ménard had intrusted to him. Young men, as a general rule, are not
in the habit of hoarding money, and Dubourg, who was devoted to cards
and pleasure and good cheer, thinking only of the present, oblivious of
the past, and never worrying about the future, had not the faintest idea
of economy.
When he was a clerk in a government office, his salary was always so
largely hypothecated that he never received more than a third of it, and
that third never lasted more than three days, during which period, to be
sure, Dubourg lived like the chief of a bureau.
In the banking-house, being compelled to work hard, he took his revenge
by ordering dainty breakfasts brought to the office; and his accounts at
cafés and restaurants consumed a large part of the amount the cashier
paid him at the month's end.
At the notary's, he had contracted, with the other young men in the
office, the deplorable habit of playing écarté. It was worse than ever
there: the month's pay vanished in one evening, and he was in luck when
he did not pledge the next month's as well.
In the employ of the solicitor, being constantly abroad with the lady
whom his employer intrusted to him, he lost the habit of working; he
passed his time in dissipation, and strove to follow the fashions and
rival the young dandies of the capital. During that period, his tailor,
his bootmaker, and his stableman had divided his income.
When his kind old aunt sent him money, it was never a large amount. The
largest was the five hundred francs which he had extorted by the fable
of his marriage and his triplets; we have seen what use he made of that.
Eight thousand francs--for the amount was almost untouched--was, in
Dubourg's eyes, a fortune of which he would never see the end. To be
sure, it did not belong to him, strictly speaking; but he could direct
the spending of it; he could do exactly as he pleased, for he was
certain of not being called upon for an accounting. He did not propose
to appropriate a single sou, but he did propose to put it to such use as
would do honor to him to whom it belonged, and he was not sorry to be
able to enjoy it with him.
He ordered a delicious supper, which was served in their apartments, the
finest in the house.
When he saw all the dishes with which the table was laden, Frédéric
exclaimed:
"Why, are you mad, Dubourg?"--for he continued to call him by that name
before Ménard, who had become accustomed to it--"here is supper enough
for ten!"
"I have an excellent appetite, my dear Frédéric, and am disposed to do
full honor to it; I'll wager that Monsieur Ménard will second me."
"With the very greatest pleasure, monsieur le baron; that affair in the
woods made a hole in my stomach."
"But you surely have condemned all the other guests of the house to a
bread and water diet."
"Faith! they may eat what they can find; it seems to me natural that we
should make up to ourselves for the miserable meal we had last night at
that horrible inn."
"I quite agree with monsieur le baron; we are sadly in need of restoring
our strength."
"But----"
"What the devil! do you want to travel like wolves? and eat at table
d'hôte like paltry pedestrians? A man should support his rank, my
friend, and I judge, from the feeling, that my stomach isn't inclined to
backslide."
"Monsieur le baron talks very judiciously; you must support your rank,"
said Ménard, accepting a chicken wing which Dubourg offered him; "that
is your father's wish, you know, Monsieur Frédéric."
"Yes, my friend," said Dubourg, filling his glass with the oldest wine
that the cellar of the inn contained; "I think you should certainly
yield to your father's wish; and, on my word, all things considered, I
don't see why I should retain my incognito any longer. We're a long way
from Paris. I am done with it; I resume my titles, and I propose to be
treated with the honors that are due me."
"Oh! Dubourg, Dubourg! you will get us into some scrape," said Frédéric,
in an undertone; but his friend paid no heed; he was excited by the
wine, and he had never felt in such high spirits. He drank glass after
glass, while Ménard, with a glutton's delight, helped himself to
mushroom pie, the odor of which tickled his olfactory nerve.
"What do you think of my plan, Monsieur Ménard?"
"That has always been my wish, as you know, monsieur le baron."
"It is settled; I am baron, palatine, et cetera; and we will make it
manifest wherever we go."
"Certainly, monsieur le baron; the nobility of your manners will always
cause you to be recognized for what you are."
"Bravo, Monsieur Ménard! spoken like a true boon companion! But as to
Frédéric, he is unworthy to sit at our table. A little more of this
hare, Monsieur Ménard?"
"With pleasure, monsieur le baron."
"We must be philosophical--when we can't help it; but true philosophy
consists in making the most of life, in enjoying one's self whenever the
opportunity offers. _Dulce est desipere in loco_, says Horace. Eh,
Monsieur Ménard?"
"Yes, monsieur le baron; but Juvenal advises infrequent indulgence in
pleasures: _Voluptatis commendat rarior usus_."
"Juvenal probably had a weak stomach."
"That is very possible, monsieur le baron."
"Another glass, Monsieur Ménard; to the memory of Anacreon, Epicurus,
Horace, and all good livers!"
"We forget Lucullus, monsieur le baron."
"True; another bumper, to Lucullus!"
By dint of drinking to the memory of the ancients, the two were
beginning to lose all memory of the present.
"Faith!" cried Dubourg, rising from the table; "I defy all the palatines
of Rava, Cracow, and Krapach to eat a better supper!"
"Take care what you are saying, you infernal babbler!" muttered
Frédéric.
"Never you fear," retorted Dubourg, speaking louder than ever; "I'll
answer for everything, I tell you; and Papa Ménard is a man whom I
esteem and love, and whose eyes I will close with pheasants or
truffles."
Luckily, Ménard was in such a condition that he could not distinguish
clearly what was being said. Bewildered by the frequent libations in
which he had indulged with his noble companion, he left the table to go
to his room. He felt his way along the walls till he reached his bed,
which he had ordered to be made very low. He retired, well pleased with
the feast he had enjoyed and with the baron's manner of doing the honors
of the table; he considered that he had done exceedingly well to intrust
the financial arrangements to him, for he himself would not have dared
to order so delicious a repast; and he foresaw that the baron, who
seemed to be both a gourmand and an epicure, would continue to feed them
on the fat of the land, as he had abandoned his incognito. In a word,
Ménard was delighted with their travelling companion, and he fell asleep
musing upon the pleasures and the honor which he should enjoy on that
journey.
On the following day, Frédéric attempted to talk prudence to Dubourg,
who instantly retorted:
"Do you want to take the funds? Do so, give such orders as you please;
it's your right. But, absorbed as you always are in melancholy
reflections, you won't feed us decently; and when you are travelling
for pleasure, it seems to me that food is a most essential thing to look
out for."
"But be reasonable, at least."