human
What is it, mistress?
gpt
I want you to get No. 14 ready for this little cherub; choose some fine dry sheets while I go and get him some milk porridge.
human
Do you understand German?
gpt
No, madame; but if I stay long in Strasbourg, as I expect to, I hope to learn it.
human
Do you know why I gave you No. 14?
gpt
Yes, I heard what you were saying in your monologue.
human
Goodness gracious! my monologue. What's that?
gpt
That, madame, is not a French word. It is derived from two Greek words--_monos_, which means alone, and _logos_, which signifies to speak.
human
My dear child, do you know Greek at your age?
gpt
A little, madame. I have come to Strasbourg to learn more.
human
You have come to Strasbourg to learn Greek?
gpt
Yes, with M. Euloge Schneider.
human
Oh, madame! he knows Greek as well as Demosthenes,
gpt
I don't say he doesn't. But I do say, that no matter how well he knows it, he won't have time to teach you.
human
Why, what does he do?
gpt
You ask me that?
human
Certainly, I ask you.
gpt
He cuts off heads,
human
He--cuts--off--heads?
gpt
Didn't you know that he is the public prosecutor? Ah! my poor child, your father has selected a strange master for you.
human
Was it he who cut off Mother Raisin's head to-day?
gpt
No, that was the Propagande.
human
What is the Propagande?
gpt
A society for the propagation of revolutionary ideas. Each one cuts off heads on his own account: Citizen Schneider as public prosecutor, Saint-Just as the people's representative, and Tétrell as the leader of the Propagande.
human
One guillotine is not much for so many people,
gpt
But each one has his own!
human
Surely, my father did not know that when he sent me here, murmured the boy. He reflected an instant; then, with a firmness that indicated precocious courage, he added:
gpt
Well! since I am here I shall remain. Then, passing to another train of thought, he said:
human
You remarked, Madame Teutch, that you had given me No. 14 because it was a small room, and the bed had curtains, and the chimney did not smoke.
gpt
And for still another reason, my pretty boy.
human
What is it?
gpt
Because you will find a young companion in No. 15, just a trifle older than you, whom you may be able to divert.
human
Is he sad?
gpt
Oh! very sad. He is only fifteen, but he is already a little man. He is here on a sorrowful errand. His father, who was general-in-chief of the army of the Rhine before Pichegru, has been accused of treason. Just think, he lodged here, the poor dear man! From all that I can gather he is no more guilty than you or I; but he is a ci-devant, and you know they don't trust them. Well, as I was saying, this young man is here for the purpose of copying documents which may prove his father's innocence. He is a good son, as you see, and he works at his task from morning till night.
human
Then I can help him, said Charles;
gpt
I write a good hand.
human
Now, that's what I call a good friend,
gpt
What is his name?
human
Citizen Eugene.
gpt
But Eugene is only his first name.
human
Why, of course, and he has another name, a very funny name. Wait, his father was Marquis--wait--
gpt
I am waiting, Madame Teutch, I am waiting,
human
That's only a manner of speaking: you know very well what I mean--a name like what they put on the backs of horses. Harness--Beauharnais; that's it! Eugene de Beauharnais. But I guess that it's on account of that _de_ that they call him plain citizen Eugene.
gpt
By the way, Madame Teutch, he said,
human
Yes, they came to reclaim your compatriot, the adjutant-general Perrin.
gpt
Will they give him to them?
human
Oh! he has done better than wait for the decision of Saint-Just.
gpt
What has he done?
human
He escaped last night.
gpt
And he hasn't been caught again?
human
No, not yet.
gpt
I am glad of that. He was a friend of my father's, and I was very fond of him also.
human
Don't boast of that here.
gpt
And what about my two compatriots?
human
Messieurs Ballu and Dumont?
gpt
Yes, why did they stay, since the man they came to rescue has escaped?
human
He is to be tried for contumacy, and they expect to defend him in his absence as they would have done had he been here.
gpt
Ah! murmured the child,
human
Then he said aloud:
gpt
Can I see them to-night?
human
Who?
gpt
Citizens Dumont and Ballu.
human
Certainly you can see them if you wish to wait, but they have gone to the club called the 'Rights of Man,' and will not be home until two in the morning.
gpt
I can't wait for them, I am too tired, replied the boy.
human
But you can give them a note from me when they come in, can't you?
gpt
Of course.
human
To them alone, into their own hands?
gpt
To them alone, into their own hands.
human
Where can I write it?
gpt
In the office, if you are warm now.
human
I am.
gpt
A fellow-countryman, who knows on good authority that you are in immediate danger of being arrested, begs you to leave for Besançon at once.
human
But you have not signed it!
gpt
That is not necessary. You can tell them who sent it.
human
I won't fail to do so.
gpt
If they are still here to-morrow morning, don't let them go until I have seen them.
human
Don't worry.
gpt
There! that's finished,
human
Is the bed made?
gpt
Yes, mistress,
human
And the fire lighted?
gpt
Yes.
human
Then heat the warming-pan and show citizen Charles to his room. I am going to make his porridge.