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diff --git a/23063.txt b/23063.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..319c8a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/23063.txt @@ -0,0 +1,990 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Lost Child, by Francois Edouard Joachim Coppee + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lost Child + 1894 + +Author: Francois Edouard Joachim Coppee + +Translator: J. Matthewman + +Release Date: October 17, 2007 [EBook #23063] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST CHILD *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE LOST CHILD + +By Francois Edouard Joachim Coppee + +Translated by J. Matthewman + +Copyright, 1894, by The Current Literature Publishing Company. + + +On that morning, which was the morning before Christmas, two +important events happened simultaneously--the sun rose, and so did M. +Jean-Baptiste Godefroy. + +Unquestionably the sun, illuminating suddenly the whole of Paris with +its morning rays, is an old friend regarded with affection by everybody, +It is particularly welcome after a fortnight of misty atmosphere and +gray skies, when the wind has cleared the air and allowed the sun's rays +to reach the earth again. Besides all of which the sun is a person of +importance. Formerly, he was regarded as a god, and was called Osiris, +Apollyon, and I don't know what else. But do not imagine that because +the sun is so important he is of greater influence than M. Jean-Baptiste +Godefroy, millionaire banker, director of the _Comptoir General de +Credit_, administrator of several big companies, deputy and member of +the General Counsel of the Eure, officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., +etc. And whatever opinion the sun may have about himself, he certainly +has not a higher opinion than M. Jean-Baptiste Godefroy has of +_him_self. So we are authorized to state, and we consider ourselves +justified in stating, that on the morning in question, at about a +quarter to eight, the sun and M. Jean-Baptiste Godefroy rose. + +Certainly the manner of rising of these two great powers mentioned +was not the same. The good old sun began by doing a great many pretty +actions. As the sleet had, during the night, covered the bare branches +of the trees in the boulevard Malesherbes, where the _hotel_ Godefroy is +situated, with a powdered coating, the great magician sun amused himself +by transforming the branches into great bouquets of red coral. At the +same time he scattered his rays impartially on those poor passers-by +whom necessity sent out, so early in the morning, to gain their daily +bread, He even had a smile for the poor clerk, who, in a thin overcoat, +was hurrying to his office, as well as for the _grisette_, shivering +under her thin, insufficient clothing; for the workman carrying half a +loaf under his arm, for the car-conductor as he punched the tickets, and +for the dealer in roast chestnuts, who was roasting his first panful. In +short, the sun gave pleasure to everybody in the world. M. Jean-Baptiste +Godefroy, on the contrary, rose in quite a different frame of mind. On +the previous evening he had dined with the Minister for Agriculture. +The dinner, from the removal of the _potage_ to the salad, bristled with +truffles, and the banker's stomach, aged forty-seven years, experienced +the burning and biting of pyrosis. So the manner in which M. +Jean-Baptiste Godefroy rang for his valet-de-chambre was so expressive +that, as he got some warm water for his master's shaving, Charles said +to the kitchen-maid: + +"There he goes! The monkey is barbarously ill-tempered again this +morning. My poor Gertrude, we're going to have a miserable day." + +Whereupon, walking on tiptoe, with eyes modestly cast down, he entered +the chamber of his master, opened the curtains, lit the fire, and made +all the necessary preparations for the toilet with the discreet demeanor +and respectful gestures of a sacristan placing the sacred vessels on the +altar for the priest. + +"What sort of weather this morning?" demanded M. Godefroy curtly, as he +buttoned his undervest of gray swandown upon a stomach that was already +a little too prominent. + +"Very cold, sir," replied Charles meekly. "At six o'clock the +thermometer marked seven degrees above zero. But, as you will see, +sir, the sky is quite clear, and I think we are going to have a fine +morning." + +In stropping his razor, M. Godefroy approached the window, drew aside +one of the hangings, looked on the boulevard, which was bathed in +brightness, and made a slight grimace which bore some resemblance to a +smile. + +It is all very well to be perfectly stiff and correct, and to know +that it is bad taste to show feeling of any kind in the presence of +domestics, but the appearance of the roguish sun in the middle of +December sends such a glow of warmth to the heart that it is impossible +to disguise the fact. So M. Godefroy deigned, as before observed, to +smile. If some one had whispered to the opulent banker that his smile +had anything in common with that of the printer's boy, who was enjoying +himself by making a slide on the pavement, M. Godefroy would have been +highly incensed. But it really was so all the same; and during the space +of one minute this man who was so occupied by business matters, this +leading light in the financial and political worlds, indulged in the +childish pastime of watching the passers-by, and following with his eyes +the files of conveyances as they gaily rolled in the sunshine. + +But pray do not be alarmed. Such a weakness could not last long. People +of no account, and those who have nothing to do, may be able to +let their time slip by in doing nothing. It is very well for women, +children, poets, and riffraff. M. Godefroy had other fish to fry; and +the work of the day which was commencing promised to be exceptionally +heavy. From half-past eight to ten o'clock he had a meeting at his +office with a certain number of gentlemen, all of whom bore a striking +resemblance to M. Godefroy. Like him, they were very nervous; they had +risen with the sun, they were all _blases_, and they all had the same +object in view--to gain money. After breakfast (which he took after +the meeting), M. Godefroy had to leap into his carriage and rush to the +Bourse, to exchange a few words with other gentlemen who had also risen +at dawn, but who had not the least spark of imagination among them. +(The conversations were always on the same subject--money.) From there, +without losing an instant, M. Godefroy went to preside over another +meeting of acquaintances entirely void of compassion and tenderness. +The meeting was held round a baize-covered table, which was strewn with +heaps of papers and well provided with ink-wells. The conversation again +turned on money, and various methods of gaining it. After the aforesaid +meeting he, in his capacity of deputy, had to appear before several +commissions (always held in rooms where there were baize-covered tables +and ink-wells and heaps of papers). There he found men as devoid of +sentiment as he was, all utterly incapable of neglecting any occasion +of gaining money, but who, nevertheless, had the extreme goodness to +sacrifice several hours of the afternoon to the glory of France. + +After having quickly shaved he donned a morning suit, the elegant cut +and finish of which showed that the old beau of nearly fifty had not +ceased trying to please. When he shaved he spared the narrow strip +of pepper-and-salt beard round his chin, as it gave him the air of a +trust-worthy family man in the eyes of the Arrogants and of fools in +general. Then he descended to his cabinet, where he received the file of +men who were entirely occupied by one thought--that of augmenting their +capital. These gentlemen discussed several projected enterprises, all +of them of considerable importance, notably that of a new railroad to +be laid across a wild desert. Another scheme was for the founding of +monster works in the environs of Paris, another of a mine to be worked +in one of the South American republics. It goes without saying that no +one asked if the railway would have passengers or goods to carry, or if +the proposed works should manufacture cotton nightcaps or distil whisky; +whether the mine was to be of virgin gold or of second-rate copper: +certainly not. The conversation of M. Godefroy's morning callers turned +exclusively upon the profits which it would be possible to realize +during the week which should follow the issue of the shares. They +discussed particularly the values of the shares, which they knew would +be destined before long to be worth less than the paper on which they +were printed in fine style. + +These conversations, bristling with figures, lasted till ten o'clock +precisely, and then the director of the _Comptoir General de Credit_, +who, by the way, was an honest man--at least, as honest as is to be +found in business--courteously conducted his last visitor to the head of +the stairway. The visitor named was an old villain, as rich as Croesus, +who, by a not uncommon chance, enjoyed the general esteem of the public; +whereas, had justice been done to him, he would have been lodging at the +expense of the State in one of those large establishments provided by a +thoughtful government for smaller delinquents; and there he would have +pursued a useful and healthy calling for a lengthy period, the exact +length having been fixed by the judges of the supreme court. But M. +Godefroy showed him out relentlessly, notwithstanding his importance--it +was absolutely necessary to be at the Bourse at 11 o'clock--and went +into the dining-room. + +It was a luxuriously furnished room. The furniture and plate would +have served to endow a cathedral. Nevertheless, notwithstanding that M. +Godefroy took a gulp of bicarbonate of soda, his indigestion refused +to subside, consequently the banker could only take the scantiest +breakfast--that of a dyspeptic. In the midst of such luxury, and under +the eye of a well-paid butler, M. Godefroy could only eat a couple of +boiled eggs and nibble a little mutton chop. The man of money trifled +with dessert--took only a crumb of Roquefort--not more than two cents' +worth. Then the door opened and an overdressed but charming little +child--young Raoul, four years old--the son of the company director, +entered the room, accompanied by his German nursery governess. + +This event occurred every day at the same hour--a quarter to eleven, +precisely, while the carriage which was to take the banker to the Bourse +was awaiting the gentleman who had only a quarter of an hour to give to +paternal sentiment. It was not that he did not love his son. He did love +him--nay, he adored him, in his own particular way. But then, you know, +business _is_ business. + +At the age of forty-two, when already worldly-wise and _blase_, he +had fancied himself in love with the daughter of one of his club +friends--Marquis de Neufontaine, an old rascal--a nobleman, but one +whose card-playing was more than open to suspicion, and who would have +been expelled from the club more than once but for the influence of M. +Godefroy, The nobleman was only too happy to become the father-in-law of +a man who would pay his debts, and without any scruples he handed over +his daughter--a simple and ingenuous child of seventeen, who was taken +from a convent to be married--to the worldly banker. The girl was +certainly sweet and pretty, but she had no dowry except numerous +aristocratic prejudices and romantic illusions, and her father thought +he was fortunate in getting rid of her on such favorable terms. M. +Godefroy, who was the son of an avowed old miser of Andelys, had always +remained a man of the people, and intensely vulgar. In spite of his +improved circumstances, he had not improved. His entire lack of tact and +refinement was painful to his young wife, whose tenderest feelings +he ruthlessly and thoughtlessly trampled upon. Things were looking +unpromising, when, happily for her, Madame Godefroy died in giving birth +to her firstborn. When he spoke of his deceased wife, the banker waxed +poetical, although had she lived they would have been divorced in six +months. His son he loved dearly for several reasons--first, because +the child was an only son; secondly, because he was a scion of two such +houses as Godefroy and Neufontaine; finally, because the man of money +had naturally great respect for the heir to many millions. So the +youngster had golden rattles and other similar toys, and was brought up +like a young Dauphin. But his father, overwhelmed with business worries, +could never give the child more than fifteen minutes per day of his +precious time--and, as on the day mentioned, it was always during +"cheese"--and for the rest of the day the father abandoned the child to +the care of the servants. + +"Good morning, Raoul." + +"Good morning, papa." + +And the company director, having put his serviette away, sat young Raoul +on his left knee, took the child's head between his big paws, and in +stroking and kissing it actually forgot all his money matters and even +his note of the afternoon, which was of great importance to him, as by +it he could gain quite an important amount of patronage. + +"Papa," said little Raoul suddenly, "will Father Christmas put anything +in my shoe tonight?" + +The father answered with "Yes, if you are a good child." This was +very striking from a man who was a pronounced freethinker, who always +applauded every anti-clerical attack in the Chamber with a vigorous +"Hear, hear." He made a mental note that he must buy some toys for his +child that very afternoon. + +Then he turned to the nursery governess with: + +"Are you quite satisfied with Raoul, Mademoiselle Bertha?" + +Mademoiselle Bertha became as red as a peony at being addressed, as +if the question were scarcely _comme il faut_, and replied by a little +imbecile snigger, which seemed fully to satisfy M. Godefroy's curiosity +about his son's conduct. + +"It's fine to-day," said the financier, "but cold. If you take Raoul to +Monceau Park, mademoiselle, please be careful to wrap him up well." + +Mademoiselle, by a second fit of idiotic smiling, having set at rest +M. Godefroy's doubts and fears on that essential point, he kissed his +child, left the room hastily, and in the hall was enveloped in his fur +coat by Charles, who also closed the carriage door. Then the faithful +fellow went off to the cafe which he frequented, Rue de Miromesnil, +where he had promised to meet the coachman of the baroness who lived +opposite, to play a game of billiards, thirty up--and spot-barred, of +course. + +***** + +Thanks to the brown bay--for which a thousand francs over and above its +value was paid by M. Godefroy as a result of a sumptuous snail supper +given to that gentleman's coachman by the horse-dealer--thanks to the +expensive brown bay which certainly went well, the financier was able to +get through his many engagements satisfactorily. He appeared punctually +at the Bourse, sat at several committee tables, and at a quarter to +five, by voting with the ministry, he helped to reassure France +and Europe that the rumors of a ministerial crisis had been totally +unfounded. He voted with the ministry because he had succeeded in +obtaining the favors which he demanded as the price of his vote. + +After he had thus nobly fulfilled his duty to himself and his country, +M. Godefroy remembered what he had said to his child on the subject of +Father Christmas, and gave his coachman the address of a dealer in toys. +There he bought, and had put in his carriage, a fantastic rocking-horse, +mounted on casters--a whip in each ear; a box of leaden soldiers--all as +exactly alike as those grenadiers of the Russian regiment of the time +of Paul I, who all had black hair and snub noses; and a score of other +toys, all equally striking and costly. Then, as he returned home, softly +reposing in his well-swung carriage, the rich banker, who, after all, +was a father, began to think with pride of his little boy and to form +plans for his future. + +When the child grew up he should have an education worthy of a prince, +and he would be one, too, for there was no longer any aristocracy except +that of money, and his boy would have a capital of about 80,000,000 +francs. + +If his father, a pettifogging provincial lawyer, who had formerly dined +in the Latin Quarter when in Paris, who had remarked every evening when +putting on a white tie that he looked as fine as if he were going to a +wedding--if he had been able to accumulate an enormous fortune, and to +become thereby a power in the republic; if he had been able to obtain in +marriage a young lady, one of whose ancestors had fallen at Marignano, +what an important personage little Raoul might become. M. Godefroy built +all sorts of air-castles for his boy, forgetting that Christmas is the +birthday of a very poor little child, son of a couple of vagrants, born +in a stable, where the parents only found lodging through charity. + +In the midst of the banker's dreams the coachman cried: "Door, please," +and drove into the yard. As he went up the steps M. Godefroy was +thinking that he had barely time to dress for dinner; but on entering +the vestibule he found all the domestics crowded in front of him in a +state of alarm and confusion. In a corner, crouching on a seat, was the +German nursery-governess, crying. When she saw the banker she buried her +face in her hands and wept still more copiously than before. M. Godefroy +felt that some misfortune had happened. + +"What's the meaning of all this? What's amiss? What has happened?" + +Charles, the _valet de chambre_, a sneaking rascal of the worst type, +looked at his master with eyes full of pity and stammered: "Mr. Raoul--" + +"My boy?" + +"Lost, sir. The stupid German did it. Since four o'clock this afternoon +he has not been seen." + +The father staggered back like one who had been hit by a ball. The +German threw herself at his feet, screaming: "Mercy, mercy!" and the +domestics all spoke at the same time. + +"Bertha didn't go to _parc Monceau_. She lost the child over there on the +fortifications. We have sought him all over, sir. We went to the office +for you, sir, and then to the Chamber, but you had just left. Just +imagine, the German had a rendezvous with her lover every day, beyond +the ramparts, near the gate of Asnieres. What a shame! It is a place +full of low gipsies and strolling players. Perhaps the child has been +stolen. Yes, sir, we informed the police at once. How could we imagine +such a thing? A hypocrite, that German! She had a rendezvous, doubtless, +with a countryman--a Prussian spy, sure enough!" + +His son lost! M. Godefroy seemed to have a torrent of blood rushing +through his head. He sprang at Mademoiselle, seized her by the arms and +shook her furiously. + +"Where did you lose him, you miserable girl? Tell me the truth before I +shake you to pieces. Do you hear? Do you hear?" + +But the unfortunate girl could only cry and beg for mercy. + +The banker tried to be calm. No, it was impossible. Nobody would dare +to steal _his_ boy. Somebody would find him and bring him back. Of that +there could be no doubt. He could scatter money about right and left, +and could have the entire police force at his orders. And he would set +to work at once, for not an instant should be lost. + +"Charles, don't let the horses be taken out. You others, see that this +girl doesn't escape. I'm going to the Prefecture." + +And M. Godefroy, with his heart thumping against his sides as if it +would break them, his hair wild with fright, darted into his carriage, +which at once rolled off as fast as the horses could take it. What +irony! The carriage was full of glittering playthings, which sparkled +every time a gaslight shone on them. For the next day was the birthday +of the divine Infant at whose cradle wise men and simple shepherds alike +adored. + +"My poor little Raoul! Poor darling! Where is my boy?" repeated the +father as in his anguish he dug his nails into the cushions of the +carriage. + +At that moment all his titles and decorations, his honors, his millions, +were valueless to him. He had one single idea burning in his brain. "My +poor child! Where is my child?" + +At last he reached the Prefecture of Police. But no one was there--the +office had been deserted for some time. + +"I am M. Godefroy, deputy from L'Eure--My little boy is lost in Paris; +a child of four years. I must see the Prefect." He slipped a louis into +the hand of the _concierge_. + +The good old soul, a veteran with a gray mustache, less for the sake +of the money than out of compassion for the poor father, led him to the +Prefect's private apartments. M. Godefroy was finally ushered into the +room of the man in whom were centred all his hopes. He was in evening +dress, and wore a monocle; his manner was frigid and rather pretentious. +The distressed father, whose knees trembled through emotion, sank into +an armchair, and, bursting into tears, told of the loss of his boy--told +the story stammeringly and with many breaks, for his voice was choked by +sobs. + +The Prefect, who was also father of a family, was inwardly moved at the +sight of his visitor's grief, but he repressed his emotion and assumed a +cold and self-important air. + +"You say, sir, that your child has been missing since four o'clock?" + +"Yes." + +"Just when night was falling, confound it. He isn't at all precocious, +speaks very little, doesn't know where he lives, and can't even +pronounce his own name?" + +"Unfortunately that is so." + +"Not far from Asnieres gate? A suspected quarter. But cheer up. We have +a very intelligent _Commissaire de Police_ there. I'll telephone to +him." + +The distressed father was left alone for five minutes. How his temples +throbbed and his heartbeat! + +Then, suddenly, the Prefect reappeared, smiling with satisfaction. +"Found!" + +Whereupon M. Godefroy rushed to the Prefect, whose hand he pressed till +that functionary winced with the pain. + +"I must acknowledge that we were exceedingly fortunate. The little chap +is blond, isn't he? Rather pale? In blue velvet? Black felt hat, with a +white feather in it?" + +"Yes, yes; that's he. That's my little Raoul." + +"Well, he's at the house of a poor fellow down in that quarter who +had just been at the police office to make his declaration to the +Commissaire. Here's his address, which I took down: '_Pierron, rue des +Cailloux, Levailois-Perret_.' With good horses you may reach your boy +in less than an hour. Certainly, you won't find him in an aristocratic +quarter; his surroundings won't be of the highest. The man who found him +is only a small dealer in vegetables." + +But that was of no importance to M. Godefroy, who, having expressed his +gratitude to the Prefect, leaped down the stairs four at a time, and +sprang into his carriage. At that moment he realized how devotedly he +loved his child. As he drove away he no longer thought of little Raoul's +princely education and magnificent inheritance. He was decided never +again to hand over the child entirely to the hands of servants, and he +also made up his mind to devote less time to monetary matters and the +glory of France and attend more to his own. The thought also occurred +to him that France wouldn't be likely to suffer from the neglect. He had +hitherto been ashamed to recognize the existence of an old-maid sister +of his father, but he decided to send for her to his house. She would +certainly shock his lackeys by her primitive manners and ideas. But what +of that? She would take care of his boy, which to him was of much more +importance than the good opinion of his servants. The financier, who +was always in a hurry, never felt so eager to arrive punctually at a +committee meeting as he was to reach the lost little one. For the first +time in his life he was longing through pure affection to take the child +in his arms. + +The carriage rolled rapidly along in the clear, crisp night air down +boulevard Malesherbes; and, having crossed the ramparts and passed the +large houses, plunged into the quiet solitude of suburban streets. When +the carriage stopped M. Godefroy saw a wretched hovel, on which was the +number he was seeking; it was the house where Pierron lived. The door of +the house opened immediately, and a big, rough-looking fellow with red +mustache appeared. One of his sleeves was empty. Seeing the gentleman +in the carriage, Pierron said cheerily: "So you are the little one's +father. Don't be afraid. The little darling is quite safe," and, +stepping aside in order to allow M. Godefroy to pass, he placed his +finger on his lips with: "Hush! The little one is asleep!" + +Yes, it was a real hovel. By the dim light of a little oil lamp M. +Godefroy could just distinguish a dresser from which a drawer was +missing, some broken chairs, a round table on which stood a beer-mug +which was half empty, three glasses, some cold meat on a plate, and on +the bare plaster of the wall two gaudy pictures--a bird's-eye view of +the Exposition of 1889, with the Eiffel Tower in bright blue, and the +portrait of General Boulanger when a handsome young lieutenant. This +last evidence of weakness of the tenant of the house may well be +excused, since it was shared by nearly everybody in France. The man took +the lamp and went on tiptoe to the corner of the room where, on a clean +bed, two little fellows were fast asleep. In the little one, around whom +the other had thrown a protecting arm, M. Godefroy recognized his son. + +"The youngsters were tired to death, and so sleepy," said Pierron, +trying to soften his rough voice. "I had no idea when you would come, +so gave them some supper and put them to bed, and then I went to make +a declaration at the police office. Zidore generally sleeps up in the +garret, but I thought they would be better here, and that I should be +better able to watch them." + +M. Godefroy, however, scarcely heard the explanation. Strangely moved, +he looked at the two sleeping infants on an iron bedstead and covered +with an old blanket which had once been used either in barracks or +hospital. Little Raoul, who was still in his velvet suit, looked so +frail and delicate compared with his companion that the banker almost +envied the latter his brown complexion. + +"Is he your boy?" he asked Pierron. + +"No," answered he. "I am a bachelor, and don't suppose I shall ever +marry, because of my accident. You see, a dray passed over my arm--that +was all. Two years ago a neighbor of mine died, when that child was +only five years old. The poor mother really died of starvation. She wove +wreaths for the cemeteries, but could make nothing worth mentioning at +that trade--not enough to live. However, she worked for the child for +five years, and then the neighbors had to buy wreaths for her. So I took +care of the youngster. Oh, it was nothing much, and I was soon repaid. +He is seven years old, and is a sharp little fellow, so he helps me a +great deal. On Sundays and Thursdays, and the other days after school, +he helps me push my handcart. Zidore is a smart little chap. It was he +who found your boy." + +"What!" exclaimed M. Godefroy--"that child!" + +"Oh, he's quite a little man, I assure you. When he left school he found +your child, who was walking on ahead, crying like a fountain. He spoke +to him and comforted him, like an old grandfather. The difficulty is, +that one can't easily understand what your little one says--English +words are mixed up with German and French. So we couldn't get much out +of him, nor could we learn his address. Zidore brought him to me--I +wasn't far away; and then all the old women in the place came round +chattering and croaking like so many frogs, and all full of advice. + +"'Take him to the police,'" said some. + +But Zidore protested. + +"That would scare him," said he, for like all Parisians, he has no +particular liking for the police-- "and besides, your little one didn't +wish to leave him. So I came back here with the child as soon as I +could. They had supper, and then off to bed. Don't they look sweet?" + +When he was in his carriage, M. Godefroy had decided to reward the +finder of his child handsomely--to give him a handful of that gold so +easily gained. Since entering the house he had seen a side of human +nature with which he was formerly unacquainted--the brave charity of +the poor in their misery. The courage of the poor girl who had worked +herself to death weaving wreaths to keep her child; the generosity of +the poor cripple in adopting the orphan, and above all, the intelligent +goodness of the little street Arab in protecting the child who was still +smaller than himself--all this touched M. Godefroy deeply and set him +reflecting. For the thought had occurred to him that there were other +cripples who needed to be looked after as well as Pierron, and other +orphans as well as Zidore. He also debated whether it would not be +better to employ his time looking after them, and whether money might +not be put to a better use than merely gaining money. Such was his +reverie as he stood looking at the two sleeping children. Finally, he +turned round to study the features of the greengrocer, and was charmed +by the loyal expression in the face of the man, and his clear, truthful +eyes. + +"My friend," said M. Godefroy, "you and your adopted son have rendered +me an immense service. I shall soon prove to you that I am not +ungrateful. But, for to-day--I see that you are not in comfortable +circumstances, and I should like to leave a small proof of my +thankfulness." + +But the hand of the cripple arrested that of the banker, which was +diving into his coat-pocket where he kept bank-notes. + +"No, sir; no! Anybody else should have done just as we have done. I will +not accept any recompense; but pray don't take offense. Certainly, I +am not rolling in wealth, but please excuse my pride--that of an old +soldier; I have the Tonquin medal--and I don't wish to eat food which I +haven't earned." + +"As you like," said the financier; "but an old soldier like you is +capable of something better. You are too good to push a handcart. I will +make some arrangement for you, never fear." + +The cripple responded by a quiet smile, and said coldly: "Well, sir, if +you really wish to do something for me--" + +"You'll let me care for Zidore, won't you?" cried M. Godefroy, eagerly. + +"That I will, with the greatest of pleasure," responded Pierron, +joyfully. "I have often, thought about the child's future. He is a sharp +little fellow. His teachers are delighted with him." + +Then Pierron suddenly stopped, and an expression came over his face +which M. Godefroy at once interpreted as one of distrust. The thought +evidently was: "Oh, when he has once left us he'll forget us entirely." + +"You can safely pick the child up in your arms and take him to the +carriage. He'll be better at home than here, of course. Oh, you needn't +be afraid of disturbing him. He is fast asleep, and you can just pick +him up. He must have his shoes on first, though." + +Following Pierron's glance M. Godefroy perceived on the hearth, where +a scanty coke fire was dying out, two pairs of children's shoes;--the +elegant ones of Raoul, and the rough ones of Zidore. Each pair contained +a little toy and a package of bonbons. + +"Don't think about that," said Pierron in an abashed tone. "Zidore put +the shoes there. You know children still believe in Christmas and the +child Jesus, whatever scholars may say about fables; so, as I came back +from the _commissaire_, as I didn't know whether your boy would have to +stay here to-night, I got those things for them both." + +At which the eyes of M. Godefroy, the freethinker, the hardened +capitalist, and _blase_ man of the world, filled with tears. + +He rushed out of the house, but returned in a minute with his arms full +of the superb mechanical horse, the box of leaden soldiers, and the rest +of the costly playthings bought by him in the afternoon, and which had +not even been taken out of the carriage. + +"My friend, my dear friend," said he to the greengrocer, "see, these are +the presents which Christmas has brought to my little Raoul. I want him +to find them here, when he awakens, and to share them with Zidore, who +will henceforth be his playmate and friend. You'll trust me now, won't +you? I'll take care both of Zidore and of you, and then I shall ever +remain in your debt, for not only have you found my boy, but you have +also reminded me, who am rich and lived only for myself, that there are +other poor who need to be looked after. I swear by these two sleeping +children, I won't forget them any longer." + +Such is the miracle which happened on the 24th of December of last year, +ladies and gentlemen, at Paris, in the full flow of modern egotism. It +doesn't sound likely--that I own; and I am compelled to attribute this +miraculous event to the influence of the Divine Child who came down to +earth nearly nineteen centuries ago to command men to love one another. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lost Child, by Francois Edouard Joachim Coppee + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST CHILD *** + +***** This file should be named 23063.txt or 23063.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/0/6/23063/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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