"_En avant! Halte la! Ah-h-h! bete_! O, 'tis monsieur," were the words which greeted Mr Sterne as he entered the sloping-roofed attic, one side of which was almost entirely window--old lead-framed lattice, mended in every conceivable way with pasted paper and book-covers; and there, in the middle of the worn floor, stood the thin, sharp-faced woman of the cellar, holding in one hand a whip, in the other a hoop; while two half-shaven French poodle-dogs crouched at her feet. Seated by the open window surrounded by birdcages, conspicuous among which was that of the lark whose notes enlivened the court, was a sallow, dark-haired, dark-eyed youth, eager-looking and well-featured, but sadly deformed, for his head seemed to rest upon his shoulders, and the leg twisted round the crutch which leaned against his chair was miserably attenuated. "_Bon jour_! How are the pupils, Madame la Mere?" said the curate, taking a broken chair and seating himself. "_Bete, bete, bete_!" hissed the woman, making feigned cuts with her little whip at the crouching dogs, which yelped miserably as they shrunk closer to the boards. "Ah, what you deserve!" she said. "And how are the birds, Jean?" continued the visitor, addressing the young man, who was looking at him half-askance. "Your lark gives me the heartache, and sets me longing for the bright country." The curate had touched the right chord, for the youth's face brightened into a pleasant smile directly. "Does he not sing!" he said, with a slight French accent; and he leaned towards the cage where the bird, with crest erect, was breasting the wooden bars, and gazing with bright bead-like eyes up at the blue sky; but as soon as the cripple's finger was inserted between the bars, the bird pecked at it playfully, fluttered its wings, and then, with head on one side, stood looking keenly at its master. "O yes, he sings," hissed the woman; "but he is obstinate, is Jean; he should sell his bird, and make money, and not let his poor _mere_ always keep him." "Pst, pst!" ejaculated Jean, frowning upon his mother; but she only stamped one foot angrily, and continued: "He is _bete_ and obstinate. The doll down-stairs with the needle-machine loves the bird, and she would buy it, and it is worth four shillings; but Jean will that his mother seek his bread for him in de street, wis de stupid dogs; and they are _bete_, and will not learn nosing at all. _Allez donc_!"