Pickwick Abroad; or, The Tour in France — page 62: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

PICKWICK ABROAD. 43 second, Emperor of the French! To your third, When I first established the Order /—And to your fourth, 4¢ the Luileries !” Dumont started at the solution of his first question, turned pale at the second, doffed his cap at the third, and sank upon his knees at the fourth. ‘““Mon Empereur—” he began; but his tongue clave to his mouth, and refused utterance to a syliable. He ventured to raise his head— the royal hero had passed on—and Dumont distinguished the Emperor hastily retracing his steps towards the palace, his arms folded across his breast, and his eyes inclined towards the ground. “Fool that I was!” cried Demont, rising—‘‘ not to have at once recognised Napoleon! But, as J live, he is much changed—and then I thought of nothing save mine own difhiculties—he has certainly grown fatter lately—how affable and kind he was! to think that I should have spoken so familiarly to the Emperor—certainly, he 7s changed!” Thus muttering to himself, Dumont hastily left the gardens of the Tuileries, and returned to his own humble dwelling, pondering in miugled fear and delight on his adventure with the greatest sovereign in the world! Three days elapsed, and no tidings arrived from the Tuileries, as Dumont had been led to expect. But onthe fourth morning, an aid- de-camp, followed by two men bearing a number of bags in their hands, entered our modest parlour, and enquired for “‘ one Hector Du- mont, late veteran in the Imperial Guard.” ““T am called by that name,” said the old soldier, rising from his -hair, and saluting the azd-de-camp. ‘“‘ His Majesty the Emperor sends you these,” observed the officer, wurning to the two men who accompanied him, and pointing to the bags, which were immediately placed upon the table: then, without waiting to be thanked, the atd-de-camp and his followers retired from the house. Dumont contemplated the bags for some time in mute astonishment. At length he arose, murmured a prayer to heaven to bless the source of such extraordmary bounty, and proceeded to examine his newly acquired wealth. In some of the bags were gold pieces called after the name of the royal donor; in others were silver coins of six francs each. The whole formed an aggregate of twenty thousand franes—being fifteen thousand times more than any sum Dumont had ever yet pos- sessed otherwise than in his dreams. Such is the early history of myself, and of the contemporary ad- ventures of my benefactor. A detailed account of the education he gave me, the universal kindness with which he treated me, and the various trifling changes that happened to us both on account of the successive political vicissitudes in France from time to time, would only _be tedious without affording you any extraordinary degree of interest. I shall therefore pass all this by—and, having skipped over the anec- dotes of many years, shall conclude this brief sketch with the ad- venture which decided my fature position _ life. # 3 % In the Faubourg Saint Antoine, not a very great distance from the Place de la Bastille, was a small house, remarkable, amongst all others in the immediate vicinity, for its extreme cleanliness, the tranquillity - (E() =) i CORNICE OOOkKS