All this had happened so quickly that Miretta hardly had time to grasp Ambroisine's hand and say: "Thanks! thanks! you have saved us! I shall come to see you, and to tell you how grateful I am!" "Come; you will ask for Ambroisine, the daughter of Master Hugonnet the bath keeper, on Rue Saint-Jacques." IX CAUSES AND EFFECTS Ambroisine's first care was to take the child back to its mother, a woman of the people, who was there by the merest chance, having come to find out why such a crowd had collected in front of the bath keeper's establishment, little dreaming that her child would be the means of adjusting that great quarrel. Hugonnet's daughter kissed the little fellow, put a coin in his hand with which to buy a cake, and returned to her home, curious to learn how the gentlemen had taken the conclusion of the affair. Sénange, La Valteline, Monclair, and their friends, were dazed for a moment by the sudden departure of Cédrille and his companion. Some of them were inclined to run after the peasant, others wanted to fight Jarnonville, whom they accused of betraying them; they were all displeased, and another battle was imminent perhaps, when general attention was attracted by shouts and oaths proceeding from the place recently occupied by Bourriquet. A battle with fists was in progress between Master Hugonnet and one of his neighbors, named Lambourdin, a dealer in ribbons, tags, fringes, and other toilet articles, whose shop was not more than fifty yards from the baths. The two neighbors were ordinarily very good friends; they met sometimes at the wine shop, which both were fond of frequenting; they laughed and talked and drank together, and no one would ever have supposed that they would one day entertain the inhabitants of the quarter with a genuine pugilistic bout. But who can foretell the future? The most trivial cause is sometimes sufficient to embroil ambassadors and to bring about war between two nations that could get along very well without it; and we too often see old friends suddenly become declared enemies. In our day, politics sometimes produces such revolutions by its gentle and benignant influence. In the good old times, there were sometimes conspiracies of great personages, nobles, and persons in high station, but the people paid little heed to their plots. They went to see them hanged at Montfaucon, but they were not tempted to meddle with matters that led to such results. In those days, the workman thought of nothing but working to support his family, to save a marriage portion for his daughter, and to make sure of a home in his old age. That was the sum total of his politics; it made him neither ill, nor infuriate, nor insane, nor sophistical, nor evil-minded! It made him happy! In that respect we may well regret the good old times. Let us return to the two neighbors.