"But yet there are estimable men in this 'Third Estate,'" rejoined Vieuville. "Take that watchmaker, Joly, for instance. He was formerly a sergeant in a Flanders regiment; he becomes a Vendean chief and commander of a coast band. He has a son, a republican; and while the father serves in the ranks of the Whites, the son serves in those of the Blues. An encounter, a battle: the father captures the son and blows out his brains." [Illustration 010] "He did well," said La Vieuville. "A royalist Brutus," answered Boisberthelot. "Nevertheless, it is unendurable to be under the command of a Coquereau, a Jean-Jean, a Moulin, a Focart, a Bouju, a Chouppes!" "My dear chevalier, the opposite party is quite as indignant. We are crowded with plebeians; they have an excess of nobles. Do you think the sans-culottes like to be commanded by the Count de Canclaux, the Viscount de Miranda, the Viscount de Beauharnais, the Count de Valence, the Marquis de Custine, and the Duke de Biron?" "What a combination!" "And the Duke de Chartres!" "Son of Égalité. By the way, when will he be king?" "Never!" "He aspires to the throne, and his very crimes serve to promote his interests." "And his vices will injure his cause," said Boisberthelot. Then, after another pause, he continued,-- "Nevertheless, he was anxious to be reconciled. He came to see the king. I was at Versailles when some one spit on his back." "From the top of the grand staircase?" "Yes." "I am glad of it." "We called him Bourbon le Bourbeux." "He is bald-headed; he has pimples; he is a regicide. Poh!" And La Vieuville added:-- "I was with him at Ouessant." "On the 'Saint Esprit'?" "Yes." "Had he obeyed Admiral d'Orvillier's signal to keep to the windward, he would have prevented the English from passing." "True." "Was he really hidden in the bottom of the hold?" "No; but we must say so all the same." And La Vieuville burst out laughing. Boisberthelot continued:--