"Oh, yes! a great honor you did him!" "Take care, or I'll begin again." As Dubourg still had his cane in the air, the old jockey decided to lower his tone. He held his peace and looked about for the ass, in order to go his way; but the animal had disappeared while they were quarrelling; she had wandered into the underbrush that lined the road, and was nowhere to be seen. "Oh! mon Dieu! my ass! where is my ass?" cried Lunel, searching anxiously in every direction. "Faith! I have no idea. Find your ass, and I'll continue my journey. Give my compliments to your mistress, and tell your master that, if he ever comes to Paris, I'll give him a little reception, with fireworks." Lunel paid no heed; he ran to right and left, calling: "Madelon! ohé! Madelon!"--He rushed into a wooded path, and Dubourg, having lost sight of him, went his way, laughing heartily at the adventure. About half an hour after he had parted from Lunel, as he reached a place where the road left the woods for the open country, he saw Madelon within twenty paces, trotting slowly along with her pack on her back, following such roads as she pleased, and halting now and then to eat a thistle or a mouthful of wild briers. "Parbleu! this is a strange chance," said Dubourg; "can it be that this beast is sent to me by Providence? But I must be wary; the law may not approve of my receiving gifts from Providence. However, I had nothing to do with diverting this jenny from her road. Am I to blame because she left her master? Never mind; I will begin by trying to restore her to him." Thereupon he walked back some distance into the forest he had just left, and began to shout at the top of his lungs: "Lunel! holà, Lunel! here's your jenny!" There was no reply; Dubourg called again and again, to no purpose. Weary at last of calling, he returned to the ass, saying to himself: "It seems to me that I have done all I can, and my conscience is beginning to be less troublesome. I can't go back half a league, and I have no desire to present myself again at the house of my friend Chambertin, who is no longer my friend. But let us see what this creature has on her back; it is not probable that there's anything of much value." Dubourg began an examination of the two baskets, which were covered with stout canvas. In one he found two syringes, one mechanical, marked: _For madame_; the other plain: _For monsieur_; also, a large box containing a number of phials and small pasteboard boxes.