visible, on the left-hand button-hole of his
coat, the cross of the Legion of Honour, pendant
from its crimson attachment. He also
keeps on his gold-laced cap.

First enter by the mysterious door the two
accused, as closely attended as if they were
mice, to be tried by a cats' court-martial.
Levendeur, tall and elegant in manner,
is thinner than when at liberty; you guess
him to be supported by a secret presentiment
that the worst will not come to the
the worst, after all. Rougepain has an idea that
the worst will really happen to him; that he
shall have five, ten, or twenty years of forced
labour, dragging, perhaps, a cannon-ball
after him, in a convict's coat. His face is
swollen and red with weeping;  he weeps
still; he has evidently wept all night; not a
wink of sleep has healed those wretched eyelids.
He wears no gaudy uniform now; he
and his companion in disgrace, are clad in
suits of funeral black. He is in retreat; he
is no longer in employment as officer comptable.
Some one has said, "Make me an example
of these two men; my brave army
shall not be poisoned, that furnishers may
make a dishonest sou. The life of one private
is of more importance to Europe than the
pleasures, the villas, and the mistresses and
the debts, of a hundred negotiants and accountable
officers. Things may have been mismanaged
in Algeria; Rougepain, perhaps, has
taken lessons there. Algerian medical officers,
with appointments of only two thousand francas
a-year, could do no more than keep soul and
body together, although leading a quiet
bachelor life; while comptable officers drank
champagne, ate truffles, kept their carriages
and something else. It shall not be so in
France."

It seems curious to an Englishman that
many facts should be perfectly well known in
France, which are never mentioned, nor even
hinted at in the newspapers. All this passed
about, in whispers, which people felt as
unmistakeably as they feel the summer breeze
that dances far and wide over the face of the
land. Then there were counter-whispers,
from the friends of the parties implicated.
"Ah! this is something new. We have
always had our way with the provisions,
more or less, though other descriptions of
army materials have been difficult or impossible
to tamper with. He wants to curry
favour with the army; he is hunting after
popularity; he would like to show England how
just and energetic he is. He is going to sacrifice
poor Levendeur and Rougepain, who have
done no worse than other's have done before
them, on the altar raised to the idol of Gallia
Protectrix. Dear departed Louis Philippe
would never have dreamed of such unheard-of
harshness. And the matter, it seems, is to
be prosecuted, although Levendeur has offered
the minister of war a hundred thousand francs
of damages, to settle the business amicably!"
And then, again, there were rejoinder whispers
from people—not a few—who have
brothers, cousins, sons, and grandsons, at the
mercy of such worthies as Levendeur and
Rougepain. "He is right to insist that tricking
traders shall be punished.  Suppose that
he is endeavouring to ingratiate himself with
the army, what of that? The army has done
its duty to himself and to France; one good
turn deserves another; un plaisir en vaut un
autre. Why should my brother and my
child be dosed with destable drinks, while
Levendeur and Rougepain daily enjoy their
wine and coffee unadulterated? He is right.
I wish they may both of them be condemed.
We don't like fortunes made so fast; and
besides, the douaniers and the commissary of
police have hinted some anecdotes which do
not entirely belong to ancient history."

So the whispers buzzed about; sometimes
they were shot from eye to eye, without
distinct or audible utterance by the lips,
—when a side door in the altar opened; a
loud voice announced "La Cour;" everybody,
the audience included, rose, and remained
standing till the president had taken his seat,
and the actual business of the day began.
The jury, who had entered previously, rose,
answered to their names one by one, raised
their right hands as an oath to do their duty,
and re-seated themselves.  The accused also
rose, answered to their name, employment,
and dwelling, and resumed their places on
the penitential bench.  The greffier read a
long act of accusation, to the effect that provision
belonging to The State had been misapplied,
and that the parties indicted were
accomplices in the crime. Through another
mouthpiece, The State also put in a claim that
whatever might be the result of the criminal
trial, it should have the benefit of a civil
action against the same offenders, for damaged
interests.

Then came the shameful exposure that
Levendeur, the merchant, was possessed
of a stock of coffee which his customers
sent back as fast as he sent it out. Some
said it was abominable, others detestable,
others had at first suspected it derived
its flavour and smell from polluted water,
and had given it a second trial with the
result that it proved undrinkable. In short,
Levendeur was proved to be possessed of a large
amount of poison that nobody would swallow.
At the same time it was made manifest that
Rougepain, the officer, who kept the key of
the soldier's cupboard, had, in his stock in.
camp, an abundant supply of excellent coffee,
but that it suddenly changed its character,
becoming the very identical sample of
filth that Levendeur's clients had disdainfully
rejected. How the pantomime trick
was performed was sworn to by porters who
helped to transfer the good camp coffee, not
to Levendeur—oh, dear, no! that was too
bad—but to an accommodating widow lady at
Dunkerque, who gave Levendeur credit in her
books for upwards of six thousand francs, for