Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 144 — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

F nat laug i 9 4! ae This dle of Louis XI. The 46 THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME, erless, in the hands of his irresistible antagonist, he began to laugh him >a gop mg in the face, with all the thoughtless gayety of a boy of sixteen. But he did long. Quasimodo was seen standing upon the parapet of the gallery, holding the scholar by the leg with one hand, and swinging him round over the abyss like @ sli Presently was heard a sound like that of acocoanut broken by being dashed against a wall; something was seen falling, but it was stopped one third of the way down by a projecting part of the building. It was a dead body that stuck there, bent double, the back broken, and the skull empty. A cry of horror burst from the Vagabonds. ‘ Re- venge |” shouted Clopim. ‘Sack! sack!’ responded the multitude. “Storm! storm!’ Then followed prodigieus yells, intermingled with all languages, all dialects, all accents. afury in thecrowd. They were filled with shame and indignation at having been 80 long held in check before a church by a hunchback. Rage found ladders and multiplied the torches; and, in a few moments, Quasi- modo beheld with consternation a fearful rabble mount- ing on all sides to the assault of Notre-Dame. Some had ladders, others knotted ropes, tear such as could not procure either scrambled up by the aid of sculp- tures, holding by each other's rags. There were no means of withstanding this rising tide of grim faces, to which rage gave a look of twofold ferocity, The per- spiration trickled down their begrimed brows; their _@yes flashed; all these hideous figures were now closing | in upon Quasimodo. You would have imagined that some other church had sent its gorgons, its demons, its dragons, its most fantastic monsters, to the assault of Notre-Dame. Me torches. scene of confusion, whic A flood of light suddenly burst upon the had till then been buried in darkness. The fire kindled on the platform was still | a pair of slender thighs and spindle-shanks, appareled burning, and illumined the city toa considerable dis- tance. The enormous outline of the two towers, pro- jected afar jen ee roofs of the houses, formed a large tch of shadow amidst all this light. The city med to. be in a bustle. Distant alarm-bells were Jaiming that there was something amiss. The | were shouting, yelling, swearing, climbing; nd Quasimodo, powerless against such a host of ene- mies, shuddering for the Egyptian, seeing so many ferocious faces approaching uearer and nearer to the gallery. prayed to Heaven for a miracle, at the same . e wringing his hands in despair. MONSIEUR LOUIS OF FRANCE SAYS HIS PRAYERS, THE reader has, perhaps, not forgotten that Quasi- modo, the moment before he perceived the nocturnal a of the Vagabonds, while surveying Paris from the of his tower, had discovered but a single light, iliumined a window in the uppermost floor of and gloomy pnieay the gate of St. Antoine. ilding was the Bastile. The light was the can- had actually been for two days t* in Paris. He wasto leave it again on the day a the morrow for his fortress of Montilz-lez-Tours, 4 visits to his good city of Paris were rare and short; for dare he felt that he had not trap-doors, gibbets, and archers enough about him. THE RETREAT WHERE _ He had come that day to sleep in thé Bastile. He disliked the at chamber which he had at the Louvre, five oms square, With its great chimney- | preonen er twelve t beasts and thirteen great prophets, and its great twelve.feet by eleven. samy Joss amidst all this grandeur. This burgher a the. Louyre. : occupied the topmost floor of a turret in the keep. It the preference tothe Bastile, with an humble er than - - , Which the king had reserved for him- was an apartmeat of circular form, the floor covered | and suitable bed. Besides, the Bastile was self in the famous state prison, was spacious, and , with araing piven matting; the rafters of the ceiling. + i , ‘ Oy \y :° ° adorned with fleurs-de-lis of pewter gilt, the spaces between them colored; wainscoted h rich woods, eprinkled with rosettes of tin, painted .a fine lively n composed of orpine and wood. Tee was but one long and pointed window, latticed with brass wire and iron bars and somewhat darkened besides by beautiful stained glass, exhibiting the arms of the king and those of the queen, each pane of which cost twenty-two sous. was but one entrance, a modern door, with elliptic arch, coyered on the inside with cloth, and having without one of those porches of Irish wood, _ frail. structures of curious workmanship, which were very commonin old buildings one hundred and ty “Though they disfigure and encum- , ber the eee, says Sauval, peevishly, *‘yet will not ur ent folk put them away, but they preserve a in spite of everyone.” this chamber was to be seen nove of the furniture of ordinary apartments, neither tables upon trestles, nor- benches, nor forms, nor common stools in the shape of a box, nor those of a better sort, standing upon pillars and counter-pillars, at four sous apiece. was to be seen there, save a very magnificent arm-chair; the wood-work was adorned with nted onared ground; and the seat was of nish leather, garnished with silk fringe, and athousand golden nails, This solitary on only had aright to sit air, and close. to cloth on which . On this e were 4 port- ) ‘parchments, pens, and distance a chafing- , purpose of prayer, covered mn yelvet embossed with studs of gold, ow? The death of poor Jehan kindled | while the Place was illumined with a thonsand | Lastly, at the furthest part of the room there was a bed, of yellow and flesh-colored damask, without lace _orany trimmings but plain fringe. This bed, for having witnessed the sleep or sleeplessness of Louis-XI, was | to be seen two hundred years ago in the house of a councilor of state, Such was the chamber commonly called, ‘‘ The retreat where Monsieur Louis of France said his prayers.” At the moment of ushering the reader into this retreat, it was very dark, As he thus spoke, he cast a look at the silver mug which jaa upon the table. He coughed and then proceeded: “Master Olivier, the princes who rule over great countries, such as kings and emperors, ought never to suffer habits of expense to creep into their households, for that fire runs further and catches the provinces. Give me not occasion to repeut this, Master Olivier. - Our expenditure increases every year. The thing likes us not. “Why, Pasque Dieu’ till 'T9 it never exeeeded thirty: An hour had elapsed since | six thousand livres; in ‘S0 it amounted to forty-three the tolling of the curfew; it was night, and there | thousand six hundred and nineteen livres—I have the | was only one flickering wax-candle upon the table, to exact sum in my head—in ‘$1, to sixty-gix thousanibsix light five persons who tormed severul groups in the / hundred and eighty; an: this year, by the faith of my cham ber. | The first on whom the light fell was a personage | in four years! superbly dressed in hose, scarlet, close-bodied coat striped with siiver, and a surtout of cloth of gold with | black designs, and trimmed with fur. THis splendid | costume, upon which the light played, seemed to be | braided with flame at allits folds. The wear-r had his arms embroidered at the breast fu gan lv colors; a | chevron, with a deer passant in the base uf the shield. The escutcheon was supported on the dexter side by an olive-branch, and on thé sinister by a buck’s horn. This personage carried in his belt arich dagger, the hilt of which, of silver gilt, was chased in the form of _a crest, and terminated in a count’s coronet. He car- ried his head high, had a haughty bearing, and an ill- natured look., At the first glance you diseovered in seeond of cunning. He stood bareheaded, with a long paper in his hand, before the arm-chair, on which was seated a person, shabbily dressed, his body ungracefully bent, one kne@& crossed over the other, and lis elbow upon the table. Figure to yourself, on the seat of rich Cordova leather, in black, knitted woolen stuff; a body wrapped in the surtont of fustian, trimmed with fur, which showed more feather than hair; lastly, to crown all, an old greasy hat of the coarsest bluck cloth,in the band of which were stuck a number of small leaden figures. This, with a dirty xkull-cap, Which suffered scarcely a hair to straggle from beneath it, was all that could be seen of the seated personage. His head was so bent forward upon his breast as to throw into the shade the Whole of his face, excepting the tip of his nose, on whicli a ray of light fell; it was evidently a long one. The wrinkled, attenuated hand indicated that he was old. Tt was Louis XI. At some distancé behind the two persons we have déscribed, two men, dressed in the Flemish fashion, were conversing in a low voice. It Was not so dark where they stood but that one who attended the repre- sentation of Gringoire’s mystery would have recognized in them two of the principal Flemish envoys, Guil- laume Rym, the sagacious pensionary of Ghent, anil Jacques Coppenole, the popular hosier. It will be recollected that these two persons were mixed up with the secret politics of Louis XI. Lastly, at the opposite end of the room, near the door, in the dark, stood, motionless as a statue, ashort, thick- set man, in military até¢ire, with coat-of-arms embroid- ered on the breast, whose square face without brows, eyes on 4 level with the top of the head, and ears hid- den by two large penthouses of straight hair, partook at once of the dog's and the tiger's. All were uncoy-| tled ered excepting the king. The nobleman standing near the king was reading to him a long memorial, to which his majesty seemed to listen attentively. The two Flemings were whispering together. . . * « By the rood!” muttered Coppenole, “I am tired of standiny. Are no chairs allowed here ?’’ Rym answered by ashake ot the head, accompanied by a discreet smile. ‘* By the mass!" resumed Coppenole, who was quite miserable to be obliged to speak in so low a tone, “I have @ goodmind to clap myself down on the floor, as I might do at home.”’ ay, Master Jacques, prithee do no such thing.” ‘‘Hey-day, Master Guillanme! must one keep on one’s legs all the while one is here, then ?’’ ** Even 80, or on your knees,” replied Rym. At that moment the King raised his voice. were silent. “Fifty sous the gowns of our serving-men, and twelve livres the cloaks of the clerks of our crown ! Why, ‘tis throwing gold away by tons! Are yuu dis- traught, Olivier?” ~ ; As he thus spoke the old king raised his head. About his neck might be seen glistening the golden balls of the collar of St. Michael. The rays of the candle fell full upon his skinny and morose face, He snatched the paper trom the hand of the reader. “You will ruin us!” he gtied, running his hollow eye overit, “ What means a)l this? what need have we for such a prodigious establishment? Two chap- Jains, atthe rate of ten livres each por month, anda clerk of tha chapel at one hundred sous! A valet-de- chambre, at ninety livres by the year! Four esquires of the kitchen, at six score livres by the yeareach! An overseer of the roast, another of the vegetables, another of the sauces, a head cook, a butler and two assistants, at ten livres each per month! Two scullions at eight livres! A groom and his two helpers at twenty-four livres the month! A porter, a pastry-cook, a baker, two carters, at sixty livres by the year 1! And the marshal of the forges, six score livres! And the mas- ter of the chamber of our exchequer, twelve hundred livres! And the comptroller, five hundred! And I know not how many more! ‘Tis enough to drive one mad! To pay the wages of our servants France is ae All the ingots in the Louvre will melt away before such « fire of expense! We will sell our late! And next year, if God and our Lady (here he lifted his hat) grant us life, we will take our et-drink out of a pewter pot.” | They his countenance an expression of arrogance, at the }- a TL —-S _ — — a —— body, it will not be under eighty thousand! Doubled Monstrous !” He paused to také breath, and then began again with warmth: ‘I see about me none but people who fatten upon my leanness. Ye suck crowns Out of me at every pore !”’ ‘ All present maintained profound silence. It was one of those paroxysins which must be left to them- selves, He continued: “It is like that petition in Latin from the nobles of France, that we would re-establish what they call the great charges of the crown! Charges, in good sooth! crushing charges! Ah, gentleman! yé say that we are not a king to reign dapifero nullo, buticulario nullo! We will show you, Pasque-Dieu! whether we are not a king !” Here he smiled in the feeling of his power: his wrath was softened, and he turned toward the Flemings. “Look you, Cémpere Guillaume, the grand niaster of the pantry, the grand chamberlain, the yranud sehesclial, are of less use than the nieanest ‘servinyg- man, Remember that, Compere Coppenole! They are good for tei 5 Such useless atteudants on a king are very like the four evangelists about the dial of the great chock of the Palace, which Philip Brille ‘has lately beautified.: They are gilt, but they mark not the hour, and the hand can go without them,’’ For a moment he appeared thoughtful, and then shaking his old head, he added: “No, no, by Our Lady, lam not Philip Brille, and I will not new-gild the grand yussalxs. Go on, Olivier.” The person’ to whom he spoke took up the paper, and beyan reading again with a loud voice. ‘*To Attam Tenon, clerk to the keeper of the seals of the provosty of Paris, for silver, making and en- graying said seals, which have been new madie, becatse he former could no longer be used, by reason of their being old and worn ont—twelve livers Purisis. “To Guillaume Frere, the sum ot jour'livres four sous Parisis, and his salary and wages lor feeding tlie pigeons in the two dovecotes of the Hotel des Tour- nelles, in the months of January February, and March of this present year; and for this there have been given seven quarters of barley. “fo a Gray Friar, for confessing a criniinal, four sous Parisis.” eh ‘ ‘The king listened insilence. He conghed from time to time; he would then litt the muy to his lipsand swallow @ mouthful, ut the same time making a wry face. ’ " : “In this year there have been made by order of justice, by sound of trumpet, in the public places of Paris, fifty-six proclamations—The,account to be set- “For having made quest and search in certain places, hoth in s and elsewhere, after moneys which ‘were said to be cencealed there; but none found— forty-five livres Parisis.” . " ‘Bury a crown-fo dig up a sou!” said the king. “For putting six panes of white glass in tue place where the iron cage is at the Hotel dus Tournelles thirteen sou. “For two new sleeves to the king's old doublet— twenty seus, “For a pot of grease to fifteen Ceniers. : : “Por new-making a sty for the king’s black hogs— thirty livres Parisis. ‘ae ‘‘ For sundry partitions, planks, and doors, made to shut up the Jions at St. Pelee ee y-two livres.” “Costly beasts those!’’ said Louis XI, “No mat- ter, tis a seemly magnificence in a king, There is a wreat red lion, which Lam, very fond of for ‘his en ay- ing ways. Have youseen him, Master Guillaume? It is right that princes should keep extraordinary ani- mals. We kings ought to have lions for our doys, and tigers for our cats. What is great befits crowns. In the time of Jupiters’s pagans, when the people offered to the churches @ hundred lions and a hundred sheep, the emperors gave @ hundred lions and a hundred eagles. That was proud and magnificent. The kings of France bave always had these bellowings around their throne; Nevertheless people must do me the justice to say that I spent less money in that way than my predecessors, and that] am exceedingly moderate on the score of lions, bears, elephauts, and leopards— Goon, Master Olivier. We wish to say thus much to our Flanders’ friends."’ : Guillaume Rym made a profound obeisance, while» Coppenole, with his sulky mein, looked like one of those bears which his majesty had been talking of. The king did not notice this. He sipped at the muy, and spitting. out the drink, exclaimed, “ Paugh ! tle horrid ptisan!’’ The reader proceeded : ‘‘ For the feed of a wher. 4 knave shut up for these six months in the lodge of the slaughter-house till it is settled what to do with him—six livres. four sous,” “ What is that?’’ said the king, ‘‘feed what ought to hang ! Pasque-Dieu ! not arfother sou will L give tor that feed+Olivier, settle that business with Monsieur d’'Estouteville, and this very night make me the need- ful preparations for wedding this gallant with the gal- lows—Go on.”’ . Olivier made a mark with his thumb-nail against the last item, and proceeded ; gréase the king's boots— GOMmiiGooOo