"No, he shelled out himself two hundred francs, and he will come down with eight hundred more when I shall have--but enough; let us unload the boat; we can jaw afterward. Isn't Martial here?" "No," said the sister. "So much the better; we will lock up the booty without him; just as well he shouldn't know." "You are afraid of him, coward!" said Calabash, crossly. "Afraid of him? me!" He shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid he'll sell us, that's all. As to the fear, my sticker has too sharp a tongue." "Oh, when he is not here, you brag; let him but come, that shuts your bill." Nicholas appeared insensible to this reproach, and said, "Come, quick! quick! to the boat. Where is Francois, mother? He could help us." "Mother has shut him upstairs, after having dressed him nicely; he goes to bed without supper," said Calabash. "Good; but let him come and help us unload the boat all the same--eh, mother? Calabash, him, and me, in a twist, will have all housed." The widow pointed upward. Calabash understood, and went to look for Francois. The gloomy visage of Mother Martial had become slightly relaxed since the arrival of Nicholas; she liked him better than Calabash, but not as well as she did her Toulon son, as she called him; for the maternal love of this ferocious creature increased in proportion to the criminality of her offspring. This perverse preference sufficiently explains the dislike of the widow to her youngest children, who displayed no bad tendencies, and her profound hatred for Martial, her eldest son, who, without leading a blameless life, might have passed for a very honest man if he had been compared to Nicholas, Calabash, or his brother, the galley--slave at Toulon. [Illustration: THE PILLAGE ] "Where have you been plundering to-night?" asked the widow. "On returning from the Quai de Billy, I cast a sheep's-eye upon a barge fastened to the quay near the Invalides Bridge. It was dark; I said, no light in the cabin--the sailors are on shore--I'll go on board; if I meet any one, I'll ask for a piece of seizing to mend my oar. I went into the cabin--nobody; then I took what I could, some clothes, a large box, and, on the deck, four rolls of copper; for I returned twice. The barge was loaded with copper and iron. But here come Francois and Calabash. Quick, to the boat! Come, be moving--you, too, Amandine. You can carry the clothes. A dog learns to carry before he is taught hunting." Left alone, the widow busied herself in preparing the supper for the family, placing on the table glasses, bottles, plates, and silver forks and spoons. Just as she finished her preparation, her children returned heavily laden. The weight of the two rolls, which he carried on his shoulders, seemed almost to crush Francois. Amandine was hardly visible under the bundle of clothes which she carried on her head. Nicholas and Calabash carried between them a deal box, on the top of which was placed the fourth roll of copper.