"
"That is something I like to hear," cried Simon, delighted; "there
will then be at least two of us to bear the tedium of imprisonment.
So go, Jenne Marie, take your place for the last time at the
guillotine, for I tell you, you will lose your bet; you will have to
furnish brandy and cakes, and stay with me here at the Temple to
bring up the little Capet. So go, I will go up to the platform with
the boy, and wait there for your return."
He called the little Louis Charles, who was sitting on the tottering
rush-chair in his room, and anxiously waiting to see whether "his
master" was going to take him that day out of the dismal, dark
prison.
"Come, little Capet," cried Simon, pushing the door open with his
foot--" come, we will go up on the platform. You can take your ball
along and play, and I advise you to be right merry to-day, for it is
a holiday for the republic, and I am going to teach you to be a good
republican. So if you want to keep your back free from my straps, be
jolly to-day, and play with your ball"
"Oh!" cried the child, springing forward merrily with his ball--"
oh! only be good, master, I will certainly be merry, for I like to
play with my ball, and I am ever so fond of holidays. What kind of
one is it to-day?"
"No matter about your knowing that, you little toad!" growled Simon,
who in spite of himself had compassion on the pale face of the child
that looked up to him so innocently and inquiringly.
Pages:
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632