Old Moses sighed as he said, “Yes, you have your full share of self-respect; you have been brought up in the schools of France, in which a great deal is related on the subject of honour. Listen, Elias, and remember all your life long, all this teaching is sheer nonsense. Honour consists in paying what one owes, and in meeting one’s bills when they fall due. Outside of that, believe me, everything is false. Patriotic legends have been invented to lead men to butchery and slaughter to the strains of the ‘Marseillaise.’ They consist merely of sounding words, with which mankind is deceived in the interests of rulers and states. One ought not to let one’s self be the dupe of such tricks and artifices. When it is all over, none of the sly rascals who have persuaded the rest to fight, and carefully kept out of the way themselves, will give you even a single word of pity for your misfortunes. I have seen the world, and I know life. Beware of enthusiasm, it is the most false and dangerous thing on earth.” There was a moment’s silence in the dark cellar, where the countenances of the two men showed red in the flickering flames of the candle. The dripping of the brandy, as it fell into the tub beneath the barrel tap, was the only sound audible. The dark, cold air which enveloped Elias began to calm the ardour, with which he was burning a few minutes before. The old man continued after a moment’s silence— “Besides, I well understand that you do not care to remain alone here when all your acquaintances are leaving the town. You shall leave, too. But there are other things for you to do than risk your skin, or try to endanger the lives of others. Great profits may now be made in food supplies. In a short time the whole of Alsace and Lorraine will be invaded. The armies will have to live—the French armies, I mean, for the Germans, who are the conquerors, will lack nothing. We must make it our duty to collect provisions on the side of Chalons, towards Paris. You are not yet of age, you owe nothing to any one; besides, the services you may render are a thousand times more important than those of these simpletons, who are intending to shoulder muskets. I will prove my confidence in you by giving you the means to show what you are worth. Come here; bring me the light.” Moses went to one corner of the cellar. Removing a couple of barrels, he took up a spade, and, digging a hole in the ground, laid bare an iron-bound box. Raising it with considerable difficulty, he took from his pocket a bunch of keys, opened the lock, and showed his son the interior full of carefully arranged rolls. Tearing away the paper envelope of one of these rolls, he poured the contents into his son’s hands. They were twenty-franc gold pieces.