"But you, sir," said José, "you who are nearly as learned as Uncle Raoul, you could perhaps tell me something of this wicked king who so ungratefully put this poor M. Biron to death." "Kings, my dear José, never forget a personal offense, and, like a great many smaller people who can not overlook the faults of others, no matter how well atoned for, for faithful services, their memory is very short." "Well, now, but that seems very queer to me, when I was thinking that the good God had given them everything that heart could wish! A short memory! But that is droll." Smiling at his companion's innocence, Archie replied: "King Henry IV, however, had an excellent memory, although it failed him in that one instance. He was a good prince and loved his subjects as if they were his own children, and he did all he could to make them happy. It is not surprising that his memory is cherished by all good Frenchmen, even after a lapse of one hundred and fifty years." "By our lady," exclaimed José, "there's nothing surprising in that, if the subjects have a better memory than their princes! It was cruel of him, however, to hang this poor M. Biron." "The nobility of France were never hung," said Archie. "That was one of their special privileges. They simply had their heads cut off." "That was indeed a privilege. It may perhaps hurt more, but it is much more glorious to die by the sword than by the rope," remarked José. "To return to Henry IV," said Archie; "we must not be too severe in our condemnation of him. He lived in a difficult period, a period of civil war. Biron, his kinsman and former friend, turned traitor, and was doubly deserving of his fate." "Poor M. Biron!" said José; "but he speaks finely in his lament." "It is not always they who speak the best who have most right on their side," remarked Archie. "There is no one so like an honest man as an eloquent knave." "All very true, Mr. Archie. We have one poor thief in our district, and as he doesn't know how to defend himself, everybody is continually getting his teeth into him, while his brother, who is a hundred times worse than he, has so smooth a tongue that he passes himself off for a little saint. Meanwhile, yonder is Quebec! But no more the white flag waving over her," added José, sighing. To hide his emotion, he went searching in all his pockets for his pipe, grumbling to himself and repeating his old refrain: "Our good folk will come again." José spent two days in Quebec, and returned loaded with all the presents that Archie thought would find acceptance at D'Haberville Manor. Such rich gifts as he would have sent under other circumstances he dared not send now, for fear of wounding his friends. In bidding José farewell, he said: "I left my prayer-book at the manor house. Beg Miss Blanche to take care of it till I return. It was a keepsake." CHAPTER XVI. THE FAMILY HEARTH.