“Monsieur le sous-lieutenant,” said the governor, in a deep, solemn accent, “I have the honor to salute you, and bid you welcome to the Temple, in the name of my respectable and valued friends here about me. We rejoice to possess one of your cloth amongst us. The last was, if I remember aright, the Capitaine de Lorme, who boasted he could hit the Consul at sixty paces with a pistol bullet.” “Pardon, governor,” said a handsome man in a braided frock; “we had Ducaisne since.” “So we had, commandant,” said the governor, bowing politely, “and a very pleasant fellow he was; but he only stopped one night here.” “A single night, I remember it well,” grunted out a thick-lipped, rosy-faced little fellow near the bottom of the table. “You 'll meet him soon, governor; he 's at Toulon. Pray, present my respects--” “A fine! a fine!” shouted a dozen voices in a breath. “I deny it, I deny it,” replied the rosy-faced man, rising from his chair. “I appeal to the governor if I am not innocent. I ask him if there were anything which could possibly offend his feelings in my allusion to Toulon, whither for the benefit of his precious health he is about to repair.” “Yes,” replied the governor, solemnly, “you are fined three francs. I always preferred Brest; Toulon is not to my taste.” “Pay! pay!” cried out the others; while a pewter dish, on which some twenty pieces of money were lying, was passed down the table. “And to resume,” said the governor, turning towards me, “the secretary will wait on you after breakfast to receive the fees of initiation, and such information as you desire to afford him for your coming amongst us, both being perfectly discretionary with you. He who desires the privilege of our amicable reunion soon learns the conditions on which to obtain it. The enjoyments of our existence here are cheap at any price. Le Pere d'Oligny, yonder, will tell you life is short,--very few here are likely to dispute the assertion, and perhaps the Abbé, Thomas may give you a strong hint how to make the best of it.” “_Parbleu_, governor I you forget the Abbé, left us this morning.” “True, true; how my memory is failing me! The dear Abbé, did leave us, sure enough.” “Where for?” said I, in a whisper. “La Plaine de Grenelle,” said the person beside me, in a low tone. “He was guillotined at five o'clock.” A sick shudder ran through me; and though the governor continued his oration, I heard not a word he spoke, nor could I arouse myself from the stupor until the cheers of the party, at the conclusion of the harangue, awoke me. “The morning looks fine enough for a walk,” said the man beside me. “What say you to the gardens?”