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The Mysteries of Paris V2

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"A protest and a warrant is legally set down as at 4 francs 35
centimes for the first, and 4 francs 70 centimes for the other, but is
generally increased by the warrant-officers to 10fr. 40c., and 16fr.
40c. respectively. Thus 26fr. 80c. illegally obtained for what should
have been but 9fr. 50c. The law sets down bailiff fees thus:--Stamp
and registry, 3fr. 50c.; hackney-coach, 5fr.; arresting and
imprisonment, 60fr. 25c.; turnkey's fee, 8fr. Total 76fr. 75c. One
bill of charges taken as the average of those sent in by sheriffs'
officers, swells the above to 240 francs!"

In the same paper is this paragraph:--

"M---, bailiff, has written to desire correction of the article on the
Hanged Woman. He did not kill her, he says. We did not say that he did
_kill_ that unfortunate woman. We reprint that article:--

"M---, bailiff, having writ out for a cabinet-maker in the Rue de la
Lune, was seen by the latter from the house windows. He called out to
his wife.--'I am lost, for there they come to arrest me!' His wife
heard this, and fastened the door, while her husband hid him self in
the loft. The bailiff called in a locksmith. The wife's room door was
forced, and they found the woman had hanged herself! The sight of
the corpse did not delay or prevent the officer hunting for the husband.
'I arrest you.' 'I have no money.' 'To prison, then.' 'Very well, let me
give my wife good-bye.' 'That be hanged, like she is herself. She's
dead.' What can you complain of, M---? we only print your own words,
which minutely and blackly paint this frightful picture."

This same paper quotes three or four hundred facts, of which the
following is a fair sample:--

"On collection of a 300 franc debt a warrant-officer charged 964
francs! The debtor, a workman with five children, lay seven months in
prison."

For two reasons, the present writer quotes from "_Le Pauvre
Jacques_," firstly, to show that the chapter just read falls below
reality; and again, to prove that, if merely in a philanthropic point
of view, the maintenance of such a state of things (the exorbitance of
extras, illegally extorted by public servants,) often paralyzes the
most generous intentions. For instance, with 1,000 francs there might
be three or four honest though unfortunate workmen restored to their
families from a prison whither petty debts of 250 or 500 francs had
driven them; but these sums being tripled by a shameful exaggeration
of costs, the most charitable persons often recoil from doing a good
deed at the thought of two-thirds of their bounty merely going to
sheriffs and their officers. And yet, there are few hardships more
worthy of relief than those befalling such unfortunate people as we
speak of.]

"Gracious heaven!" cried Louise; "I thought it was only thirteen
hundred francs in all! But, sir, we will very soon pay you the
remainder; this is a pretty good sum on account--is it not, father?"

"Soon!--very well; bring the money to the office, and we will then let
your father go. Come, let's be off."

"You will take him away?"

"At once. This is on account. When the rest is paid, he will be free.
Go on, Bourdin; let us get out of this."

"Mercy! mercy!" shrieked Louise.

"Oh, what a row! here it is--the old game over again: it is enough to
make one sweat in the depth of winter--on my honor!" said the bailiff,
in a brutal tone. Then advancing toward Morel, he continued: "If you
don't come along at once, I will take you by the collar, and bundle
you down. This wind-up is beastly!"

"Oh, poor father! when I had hoped to save you!" said Louise,
overwhelmed.

"No, no! hope nothing for me! Heaven is not just!" cried the lapidary,
in a voice of deep despair, and stamping his feet with rage.

"Peace! heaven is just! There is Providence for honest men!" said a
soft, yet manly voice.

The same instant Rudolph appeared at the door of the little recess,
from whence he had, unseen, witnessed the greater part of the scenes
we have just related. He was very pale, and deeply moved. At this
sudden interposition, the bailiffs drew back with surprise; while
Morel and his daughter stared at the prince vacantly. Taking from his
pocket a small parcel of folded bank notes, Rudolph selected three,
and giving them to Malicorne, said to him: "Here are two thousand five
hundred francs; give back to this girl the money you have just
received from her."

More and more surprised, the bailiff took the notes hesitatingly,
examined them very suspiciously, turning them over and over, and
finally pocketed them. But as his alarm and surprise began to subside,
so did his natural coarseness return, and eying Rudolph from head to
foot with an impertinent stare, he exclaimed, "Your notes are good;
but how came the likes of you with so large a sum? I hope, at least,
it is your own!" added he.

Rudolph was very humbly dressed, and covered with dust--thanks to his
stay in Pipelet's loft.

"I have bidden you restore that gold to the young girl," answered
Rudolph, in a sharp, stern voice.

"Bid me! Who gives you the right to order me?" cried the bailiff,
advancing toward Rudolph, in a threatening manner.

"The gold! the gold!" said the prince, seizing the fellow's wrist so
violently that he winced under the iron hold, and cried out,

"Oh, you hurt me! Hands off!"

"Restore the gold! you are paid. Take yourself off, without further
insolence, or I will kick you to the foot of the stairs."

"Very well; here is the gold," said Malicorne, giving it to the girl;
"but mind what you are about, young man--don't fancy you are going to
do as you like with me, because you happen to be the strongest."

"That's right. Who are you, to give yourself such airs?" said Bourdin,
sheltering himself behind his companion. "Who are you?"

"Who is he? He is my tenant, the king of tenants, you foul-mouthed
wretches!" cried Mrs. Pipelet, who appeared at last, quite out of
breath, still wearing the Brutus wig. In her hand she held an earthen
pot filled with boiling soup, which she was kindly taking to the
Morels.

"What does this old polecat want?" said Bourdin.

"If you dare to pass any of your blackguard remarks upon me, I'll make
you feel my nails--and my teeth too, if necessary!" screamed Mrs.
Pipelet: "and more than that, my lodger, my prince of lodgers, will
pitch you from the top to the bottom of the staircase, as he says! And
I will sweep you away like a heap of rubbish, as you are!"

"This old woman will rouse all the people in the house against us. We
are paid, and our expenses also; let us be off!" said Bourdin to
Malicorne.

"Here are your documents," said the last-named individual, throwing a
bundle of papers at Morel's feet.

"Pick them up, and deliver them properly! You are paid for being
civil," said Rudolph, seizing the bailiff with his vigorous hand,
while the other he pointed to the papers.

Convinced by this new and formidable grasp that he could not struggle
against so powerful an adversary, the bailiff stooped down grumbling,
picked up the bundle of papers, and gave them to Morel, who took them
mechanically. The lapidary believed himself under the influence of a
dream.

"Mind, young fellow, although you have an arm as strong as a porter's,
never come under our lash!" said Malicorne. Shaking his fist at
Rudolph, he nimbly jumped down the stairs, followed by his companion,
who looked behind him with fear.

Mrs. Pipelet, burning for revenge on the bailiffs, for the insults
offered to Rudolph, looked at her saucepan with an air of inspiration,
and cried out, heroically: "Morel's debts are paid; they will now have
plenty to eat, and no longer stand in need of my soup--heads!" Leaning
over the banisters, the old woman emptied the contents of her saucepan
on the backs of the bailiffs, who had just arrived at the first-floor
landing.

"Oh, you are caught, I see!" added the portress. "They are soaked
through like two sops! He! he! this is capital!"

"A thousand million thunders!" cried Malicorne, wet through with Mrs.
Pipelet's culinary preparation. "Will you take care what you are about
up there, you old baggage!"

"Alfred!" retorted Mrs. Pipelet, bawling in a voice sharp enough to
split the tympanum of a deaf man. "Alfred! have at 'em, old darling!
They wanted to behave improperly to thy 'Stasie! (Anastasia). Those
rascals would take liberties with me! Pitch into them with your broom!
call the oyster-woman and the potboy next door to help you. Quick!--
quick!--after them! Murder! police! thieves! Hish!--hish!--hish!
bravo! Halloo! go it, old darling! Broom!--broom!" By way of a
formidable finish to these hootings, which she had accompanied with a
violent stamping of her feet, Mrs. Pipelet, carried away by the
intoxication of her victory, hurled from the top to the bottom of the
staircase her earthenware saucepan, which, breaking with a loud,
crashing noise, the very moment the bailiffs, stunned by the frightful
cries, were taking the stairs four at a time, added greatly to their
fears.

"Ha! ha! I rayther think you have got enough for once!" cried
Anastasia laughing loudly, and folding her arms in an attitude of
triumph.

While Mrs. Pipelet was thus venting her rage upon the bailiffs, Morel,
overcome with gratitude, had thrown himself at Rudolph's feet.

"Ah, sir, you have saved our lives! To whom do we owe this
unlooked-for succor?"

"'_To HIM who watches over and protects honest men_,' as our
immortal Beranger says."




CHAPTER XXXIX.

MISS DIMPLETON.


Louise, the lapidary's daughter, was possessed of remarkable
loveliness; tall and graceful, she resembled the classic Juno for
regularity of features, and the huntress Diana for the finish of her
tall figure. In spite of her sunburned complexion, her rough and
freckled hands, beautifully formed, but hardened by domestic labor; in
spite of her humble garments, this girl possessed a nobility of
exterior.

We will not attempt to describe the gratitude and surprise of this
family, so abruptly snatched from a fearful fate; in the first burst
of happiness, even the death of the little girl was forgotten. Rudolph
alone remarked the extreme paleness of Louise, and the utter
abstraction with which she seemed oppressed, in spite of her father's
deliverance. Wishing to completely satisfy the Morels as to
apprehensions about the future, and to explain a liberality which
might otherwise betray suspicions as to the character he thought
proper to assume, Rudolph said to the lapidary, whom he took to the
landing (while Miss Dimpleton broke to Louise the news of her sister's
death):

"Yesterday morning a young lady came to see you."

"Yes, sir, and appeared much distressed at the situation in which she
found us."

"It is to her you must return thanks, and not to me."

"Is it indeed true, sir? That young lady--"

"Is your benefactress. I have often waited upon her with goods from
our warehouse. The day before yesterday, while I was here engaging an
apartment on the fourth story, I learned from the portress your cruel
position. Knowing this lady's charity, I went to her. She came, so
that she might herself judge of the extent of your misfortunes, with
which she was painfully moved; but as your situation might be the
result of misconduct, she begged of me as soon as possible, to make
some inquiries respecting you, as she was desirous of apportioning her
benefits according to your deserts."

"Good and excellent lady! I had reason to say--"

"As you observed to Madeleine: 'If the rich knew,' is it not so?"

"How, sir!--you know the name of my wife! Who told you that?"

"Since six o' clock this morning," said Rudolph, interrupting Morel,
"I have been concealed in the little loft which adjoins your garret."

"You, sir!"

"Yes, and I have heard all that passed, my honest man."

"Oh, sir! but why were you there?"

"I could employ no better means of getting at your real character and
sentiments. I wished to see and hear all, without your knowledge. The
porter had spoken to me of this little nook, and offered it to me that
I might keep my wood in it. This morning I requested him to permit me
to visit it; I remained there an hour, and I feel convinced that there
does not exist a character more worthy, noble, and courageously
resigned than yours."

"Nay, sir, indeed I cannot see much merit in my conduct; I was born
honest, and cannot act otherwise than I have done."

"I know it; and for that reason I do not praise your conduct but
appreciate it. I had quitted the loft to release you from the bailiffs
when I heard your daughter's voice. I wished to leave her the pleasure
of saving you; unhappily the rapacity of the bailiffs prevented poor
Louise from enjoying so sweet a delight. I then made my appearance.
Fortunately, I yesterday recovered several sums of money that were due
to me, and I was able to give an advance to your benefactress by
paying for you this unfortunate debt. But your misfortunes are so
great, so unmerited, so nobly sustained, that the interest felt for
you and deserved, will not stop here. I can, in the name of your
preserving angel, assure you of future repose with happiness to you
and yours."

"Is it possible? But at least tell me her name, sir--the name of this
preserving angel, as you have called her."

"Yes, she is an angel; and you have still reason to say that the great
and the lowly have their troubles."

"Is this lady, then, unhappy?"

"Who is there without their sorrows? But I see no cause to withhold
her name. This lady is called--"

Remembering that Mrs. Pipelet knew that Lady d'Harville had come to
her house to inquire for the Commander, Rudolph, hearing the
indiscreet gossiping of the portress, said after a moment's
reflection: "I will tell you the name of this lady on one condition--"

"Oh, pray, speak, sir!"

"It is, that you will repeat it to no one. You understand!--to no
one."

"Oh, I will solemnly promise that to you. But cannot I at least offer
my thanks to this savior of the unhappy?"

"I will ask Lady d'Harville, and I doubt not she will give her
consent."

"Then this lady is--"

"The Marchioness d'Harville."

"Oh, I shall never forget that name! It shall be my saint, my
adoration! To think that, thanks to her, my wife and children are
saved! saved!--no, not all, not all, my poor little Adele, we shall
never see her again. Alas! but it is necessary to remember that any
day we might have lost her, for she was doomed." Here the poor
lapidary brushed the tears from his eyes.

"As regards the last sad duties to be performed for this little one,"
said Rudolph, "trust to my advice; this is what must be done: I do not
yet occupy my room, which is large, wholesome, and well aired. There
is already a bed in it; we will convey thither all that is necessary
for yourself and family to be established there till Lady d'Harville
has arranged where to lodge you suitably. Your child's body will
remain in the garret, where it shall to-night, as is customary, be
attended and watched by a priest. I will go and request M. Pipelet to
undertake the management of these sad duties."

"But, sir, it is not necessary to deprive you of your room. Now that
we are in peace, and I no longer fear being taken to prison, our
humble apartment appears to me a palace, particularly if my dear
Louise remains with us, to attend to the family as formerly."

"Your Louise will not again leave you. You said not long ago it would
be a luxury to have her always with you; as some recompense for your
past sufferings, she shall never leave you again."

"Oh, sir, can it be possible? It surely cannot be a reality! My senses
seem lulled in a sweet dream. I have never thought much of religion,
but this sudden change from so much misery to so much happiness shows
the hand of an overruling Providence."

"And if a father's grief could be assuaged by promises of reward or
recompense," said Rudolph, "I should remind you, that although the
Almighty hand has removed one of your daughters from you, He has
mercifully restored another."

"True, true, sir. Henceforth we shall have our dear Louise to content
us for the loss of poor little Adele."

"You will accept my chamber, will you not? If you refuse, how can you
manage the mournful duties toward the poor child that is gone? Think
also of your wife, whose mind is already so distracted--to leave her
for four-and-twenty hours with such an afflicting spectacle before her
eyes!"

"You think of everything--of all! How kind you are, sir!"

"It is your benefactress you must thank, for her goodness inspires me.
I say to you as she would say, and I am sure she would approve of all;
so it is agreed that you will accept the offer of my room. Now tell
me, this Jacques Ferrand--"

A dark frown passed across Morel's face.

"This Jacques Ferrand," continued Rudolph, "is the same lawyer who
resides in the Rue du Sentier?"

"Yes, sir; do you know him?" Then, his fears newly awakened on the
subject of Louise, Morel exclaimed: "Since you have heard all that
passed, sir, say, say--have I not a right to hate this man? And who
knows, if my child, my Louise--"

He could not proceed; he hid his face with his hands. Rudolph
understood his fears.

"The lawyer's proceedings," said he to him, "ought to reassure you, as
he doubtless ordered your arrest to be revenged for the scorn of your
daughter; I have good reason, too, to believe that he is a dishonest
man. If he is so," resumed Rudolph, after a moment's silence, "let us
believe that Providence will punish him. If the justice of Heaven
often appears to slumber it awakens some time or other."

"He is very rich, and very hypocritical, sir."

"In your deepest despair, a guardian angel came to your assistance,
and plucked you from inevitable ruin; so, at a moment when least
expected, the Almighty Avenger may call upon the lawyer to atone for
his past crimes if he be guilty."

At this moment Miss Dimpleton came from the garret, wiping her eyes.
Rudolph said to the young girl, "Will it not, my good neighbor, be
better that M. Morel should occupy my room, with his family, until his
benefactress, whose agent I am, shall have provided a suitable
lodging?"

Miss Dimpleton regarded Rudolph with a look of unfeigned surprise.
"Oh, sir! are you really in earnest when you make so generous an
offer?"

"Yes, but on one condition, which will depend on yourself."

"Oh, depend upon all that is in my power!"

"I had some accounts required in haste, to arrange for my employers;
they will come for them soon. Now, if you will be so neighborly as to
permit me to work in your room, on a corner of your table, I should
not disturb your work in the least, and the Morel family can, with the
assistance of M. and Mrs. Pipelet, immediately be settled in my room."

"Oh, if it be only that, sir, most willingly; neighbors ought to
assist each other. You have set so good an example by what you have
done for that poor Morel, that I am at your service, sir."

"No, no, call me neighbor. If you use any ceremony toward me, I shall
not have courage to intrude on you," said Rudolph.

"Well, then, it shall be so, I will call you 'neighbor,' because you
really are so."

"Father, father!" cried one of Morel's little boys, coming out of the
garret, "mother is calling you; come directly, pray do." The lapidary
hastily entered the room.

"Now, neighbor," said Rudolph to Miss Dimpleton, "you must render me a
still further service."

"With all my heart, if it be in my power."

"You are, I am sure, an excellent little housewife. It is necessary to
purchase immediately all that is wanted for Morel's family to be
properly clothed, bedded, and settled in my room, for there is only
sufficient for myself as a bachelor, that was brought yesterday. How
can we manage to procure instantly all I wish for the Morels?"

Miss Dimpleton thought for a moment, and answered: "In a couple of
hours you can have all your want; good clothes ready-made, warm and
neat, with good clean linen for all the family: two little beds for
the children, and one for the grandmother--in short, all that is
necessary; but it will cost a great deal of money."

"You don't say so! How much?"

"Oh, at least--at the very least--five or six hundred francs."

"For everything?"

"Yes, it is a great sum of money, you see," said Miss Dimpleton
opening her large eyes, and shaking her bead.

"And we can procure all these things--"

"In two hours."

"You must be a fairy, neighbor."

"Oh, no, it is quite easy. The Temple is only two steps from here,
where you will find all of which you are in want." "The Temple?"

"Yes, the Temple."

"What place is that?"

"Don't know the Temple, neighbor?"

"No."

"It is, nevertheless, here where people like you and I furnish our
rooms, and clothe ourselves, when we would be economical. Things are
cheaper there than elsewhere, and quite as good."

"Really?"

"I assure you. Come, now, I suppose--But what did you pay for this
great-coat?"

"I do not know exactly."

"What, neighbor, can't tell how much your great-coat cost you?"

"I acknowledge to you in confidence," said Rudolph, smiling, "that I
owe for it; now do you understand that I cannot know?"

"Oh, neighbor, neighbor, I fear you are a spendthrift!"

"Alas! neighbor!"

"You must alter in that respect, if you wish us to be good friends;
and I already see that we shall be such, you appear so kind! You shall
see that you will be glad to have me for a neighbor; for on that
account we can assist each other. I will take care of your linen, and
you will help me clean my room. I rise very early, and will call you,
so that you may not be late at your shop. I'll knock at the wall until
you say to me: 'Good-morning, neighbor.'"

"It is agreed; you shall wake me, take care of my linen, and I will
clean your room."

"And you will be very neat?"

"Certainly."

"And when you wish to make any purchase, you will go to the Temple,
because here is an example; your greatcoat cost, I suppose, eighty
francs; very well, you could have had it at the Temple for thirty."

"Why, that is marvelous! Then you think that with five or six hundred
francs, these poor Morels--"

"Will be stocked with everything, first-class, for a long time to
come."

"Neighbor, an idea has just struck me."

"Well, what is it about?"

"Do you understand household affairs--are you clever at making
purchases?"

"Yes--rather so," said Miss Dimpleton, with a look of simplicity.

"Take my arm, and let us go to the Temple and buy wherewith to clothe
the Morels; will that suit you?"

"Oh, what happiness! Poor creatures!--but where's the money?"

"I have sufficient."

"Five hundred francs?"

"The benefactress of the Morels has given me _carte blanche;_
nothing is to be spared that these poor people require. Is there even
a place where better things are to be had than at the Temple?"

"You will find nowhere better; then there is everything, and all
ready-made--little frocks for the children, and dresses for their
mother."

"Then let us go at once to the Temple, neighbor."

"Oh! but--"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing; but you see, my time is everything to me; and I am already a
little behindhand, in occasionally nursing the poor woman Morel; and
you may imagine that an hour in one way and an hour in another makes
in time a day; a day brings thirty sous, and if we earn nothing one
must still live all the same. But, pshaw! never mind; I must spare
from my nights; and then, again, parties of pleasure are rare, and I
will make this a joyful day; it will seem to me that I am rich, and
that it is with my own money I am buying such good things for these
poor Morels. Very well, as soon as I have put on my shawl and cap, I
shall be at your service, neighbor."

"Suppose, during the time, I bring my papers to your room?"

"Willingly, and then you will see my apartment," said Miss Dimpleton,
with pride; "for it is already put in order, and that will prove to
you that I am an early riser, and that if you are sleepy and idle so
much the worse for you, for I shall be a troublesome neighbor."

So saying, light as a bird, she flew down the stairs, followed by
Rudolph, who went to his room to brush off the dust he had carried
away from Pipelet's loft. We will hereafter disclose to the reader how
Rudolph was not yet informed of the abduction of Fleur-de-Marie from
Bouqueval farm, and why he had not visited the Morels the day after
the conversation with Lady d'Harville.

Rudolph, for the sake of appearances, furnished himself with a large
roll of papers, which he carried into Miss Dimpleton's room.

Miss Dimpleton was nearly of the same age as Goualeuse, her former
prison-friend. There was between these girls the same difference that
exists between laughter and tears; between joyful carelessness and
melancholy reverie; between daring improvidence and serious, incessant
anticipation of the future: between a nature exquisitely delicate,
elevated, poetic, morbidly sensitive, incurably wounded by remorse,
and a disposition gay, lively, happy, unreflective, although good and
compassionate; for, far from being selfish, Miss Dimpleton only cared
for the griefs of others; with them she sympathized entirely, devoting
herself, soul and body, to those who suffered; but, to use a common
expression, her _back turned_ on them, she thought no more about
them. Often she interrupted a lively laugh to weep passionately, and
checked her tears to laugh again. A real child of Paris, Miss
Dimpleton preferred tumult to quiet, bustle to repose, the sharp,
ringing harmony of the orchestra at the balls of the _Chartreuse_
and the _Colysee_, to the soft murmur of wind, water, and trees;
the deafening tumult of the streets of Paris, to the silence of the
country; the dazzling of the fireworks, the glittering of the flowers,
the crash of the rockets, to the serenity of a lovely night--starlit,
clear, and still. Alas! yes, this good girl preferred the black mud of
the streets of the capital to the verdure of its flowery meadows; its
pavements miry or tortuous, to the fresh and velvet moss of the paths
in the woods, perfumed by violets; the suffocating dust at the City
gates, or the Boulevards, to the waving of the golden ears of corn,
enameled by the scarlet of the wild poppy and the azure of the
bluebell.

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