"I know," he replied, with a shrug of his shoulders which so blended into one of his shivers that it was almost imperceptible, "no more than you do. He comes when it pleases him, or, perhaps, I might more truthfully say, when he has time, and then he interrogates those whom, also, it pleases him. Sometimes it is our latest guest"--De Launey never by any chance used the word "prisoner"--"sometimes those who have been here for years. And some there are who have been here for many--but no matter!" Then, turning to the King's Lieutenant, he bade that officer give him Captain Elphinston's _mittimus_, or the stamped letter containing the order for his reception and security. This letter he read carefully, during which time it shook so in his palsied hands that Bertie could not but wonder how he could distinguish the characters in it; after which he looked up with his good-humoured smile and said: "Sir, I felicitate you. You are of the first class of guests; beyond restriction you will have little to complain of. The King"--and he raised his tottering white hand to his forehead as though saluting that monarch in person--"is, you know, your host; your pension will be of the best. Secretary," he said, turning round sharply to the man at the table, "read to the captain the bill of fare for the principal guests." This man, who seemed, at least, to derive no great good from his position, seeing that he was miserably clad in an old suit of ragged Nismes serge, a pair of old blue breeches loose at the knees, and a wig which had scarcely any hair left on it, began to read from a paper, when, to Bertie's astonishment, a very different voice from the soft tones he had recently been listening to issued from the Governor's lips; and in a harsh, commanding way De Launey exclaimed: "Fellow, stand up before gentlemen! _Mort de ma vie!_ do you dare to sit and read before us?" Whereon the wretched creature sprang up as though under the lash, and began hastily to gabble out: "_Dejeuner à lafourchette_. Potage. A quarter of a fowl or a slice of ox beef. A pie, a sheep's tongue or a ragout, biscuits, and rennets. A quarter septier of wine, to suffice also for dinner and supper. Dinner: A loaf, soup, petite pâté's, roast veal or mutton, pigeon or pullet, or beef and toasted bread. Supper: A fish of the season, or a bird and a chipped loaf. By order of the King, to the extent of 150 sols a day." As he read from his paper--to which the visitor paid but little attention, since he cared nothing about the meals he might receive--De Launey nodded and wagged his head with approbation, and, when he finished, exclaimed: "A noble King! Fellow," to the secretary, "begone! Go seek the turnkey, Bluet, and bid him prepare for Monsieur le Capitaine the second chamber of the chapel." "The second chamber of the chapel! The best apartment!"