"On this assurance he described my character: it was that of a worthy business man, an honest merchant, an excellent husband, but of a man incapable of displaying any firmness, strength of mind, or energy. He went on to say that my timidity was excessive, and that my kindness of heart, to which he was fully alive, was always apt to degenerate into sheer feebleness. "It was not a flattering portrait; and it made me blush for myself. "'And now,' said I, hiding my mortification, 'you've told me what you think of my character: what do you think of my handwriting?' "'It's the exact opposite of your character,' he said quickly. 'It expresses every sentiment utterly opposed to your nature as I know it. In fact, I can't think of a more direct antithesis than your character and your handwriting. It must be, then, that you haven't the handwriting which goes with your actual character, but the handwriting of the Other.' "I might have been angry, if Signor Petito had not told me much the same thing; as it was, I exclaimed, 'Oh, this is very interesting! The Other, then, was a man of energy?' "I thought to myself that the Other must have been some great leader. Then Adolphe went on; and as long as I live I shall never forget his words, so painful did I find them: "'Everything shows, these thin strokes, the way they are joined to one another, their manner of rising, mounting, topping one another, energy, strength of will, pigheadedness, harshness, ardour, activity, ambition... for evil.' "I was dismayed; but in a flash of genius I cried: "'What is evil? What is good? If Attila had known how to write, he might have had the handwriting of Napoleon!' "'Attila was called "the flail of God,"' he said. "'And Napoleon was the flail of men,' I retorted on the instant. "I was hard put to it to restrain my anger; but I asserted that _Theophrastus Longuet could only be an honest man before this life, during this life, and after this life_. "My dear wife agreed with me, warmly. Adolphe saw that he had gone too far, and apologised." CHAPTER V THEOPHRASTUS SHOWS THE BLACK FEATHER From that day the conversations of Theophrastus, Marceline, and Adolphe were of fascinating interest to them. They pored and pored over the document; they discussed over and over again the "Cock," the "Gall," "Chopinettes," and the "Betrayal of April 1st" of the mysterious document. They soon left Azure Waves Villa and returned to Paris to ransack the libraries. Adolphe, the great reader, was much better adapted to historical research than either Marceline or Theophrastus; and their patience was exhausted long before his. One Sunday they were strolling along the Champs-Elysées; and both Theophrastus and Marceline had been complaining bitterly of their failure at the libraries, when Adolphe said thoughtfully: "What use would it be to us to find approximately the spot in which the treasures are buried _unless Theophrastus had his Black Feather_?"