Just then they heard a confusion of cries, cheers and shouts. "Oh! what is that?" cried Charles, hiding his head on his friend's breast. "Nothing," replied Augereau, raising himself upon the tips of his toes. "Nothing, except that they are fastening him under the knife--doing to him just what he did yesterday to the mayor and the deputy at Eschau; each one in his turn. Fortunate are those, my good friend, who come from that place with their heads on their shoulders." "Terrible! terrible!" murmured Charles. "Terrible, yes; but we see that or worse every day. Say good-by to your worthy professor; you will probably never see him again, as they are going to send him to Paris as soon as they take him down from that platform, and I don't envy him his promotion. And now let us go and get some supper. You must be starved, my poor boy!" "I never thought of that," said Charles; "but now that you remind me of it, I remember that it is a far cry from breakfast." "All the more reason to return to the Hôtel de la Lanterne as soon as possible." "Come on, then." Charles glanced at the square a last time. "Farewell! poor friend of my father," he said. "When he sent me to you he believed that you were still the good and learned monk whom he had known. He did not know that you had become the bloody tyrant that I have found you, and that the spirit of the Lord had departed from you. _Quos vult perdere Jupiter dementat._ Come." This time it was the boy who hurried Pierre Augereau toward the Hôtel de la Lanterne. Two persons were anxiously awaiting Charles's return; Madame Teutch and Eugene. Madame Teutch, in her double rôle of hostess and woman, began by fondling Charles, and it was not until she had looked him all over, to convince herself that it was indeed he, and had kissed him to make sure that he was not a ghost, that she gave him to Eugene. The greetings of the two young friends were equally tender though less demonstrative. Nothing binds friendship so rapidly as dangers shared in common; and since they had known each other, events had not been wanting to lead their friendship to a point equalled only by the ancients. This friendship was further increased by the knowledge that they were soon to part. It was imprudent for Eugene, who had, moreover, nearly finished his researches, to remain longer in Strasbourg, where he was exposed to the vengeance of Tétrell, who might brood over the insult he had received for a certain time, but who would surely not forget it. As for Charles, there was no further reason for him to remain in Strasbourg once Schneider was no longer there, since he had come to the city for the sole purpose of studying under him. Eugene was, therefore, to return to Paris, where his mother and sister were working for the liberation of his father; and Charles, utilizing the second letter that his father had given him, was to enter upon his military apprenticeship, instead of becoming Euloge Schneider's pupil.