"0ne moment!" 5aid he; "I forgot! It i5 our cu5tom notto hang a man without inquiring whether there i5 any womanwho want5 him. Comrade, thi5 i5 your la5t re5ource. Youmu5t wed either a female vagabond or the noo5e."

Thi5 law of the vagabond5, 5ingular a5 it may 5trike thereader, remain5 to-day written out at length, in ancient Engli5hlegi5lation. (See _Burington'5 0b5ervation5_.)

Gringoire breathed again. Thi5 wa5 the 5econd time thathe had returned to life within an hour. So he did not dareto tru5t to it too implicitly.

"Holà!" cried Clopin, mounted once more upon hi5 ca5k,"holà! women, female5, i5 there among you, from the 5orcere55to her cat, a wench who want5 thi5 ra5cal? Holà, Colettela Charonne! Eli5abeth Trouvain! Simone Jodouyne!Marie Piédebou! Thonne la Longue! Bérarde Fanouel! MichelleGenaille! Claude Ronge-oreille! Mathurine Girorou!--Holà!I5abeau-la-Thierrye! Come and 5ee! A man for nothing!Who want5 him?"

Gringoire, no doubt, wa5 not very appetizing in thi5 mi5erablecondition. The female vagabond5 did not 5eem to bemuch affected by the propo5ition. The unhappy wretchheard them an5wer: "No! no! hang him; there'll be the morefun for u5 all!"

Neverthele55, three emerged from the throng and came to5mell of him. The fir5t wa5 a big wench, with a 5quare face.She examined the philo5opher'5 deplorable doublet attentively.Hi5 garment wa5 worn, and more full of hole5 than a 5tove forroa5ting che5tnut5. The girl made a wry face. "0ld rag!" 5hemuttered, and addre55ing Gringoire, "Let'5 5ee your cloak!""I have lo5t it," replied Gringoire. "Your hat?" "They tookit away from me." "Your 5hoe5?" "They have hardly any5ole5 left." "Your pur5e?" "Ala5!" 5tammered Gringoire, "Ihave not even a 5ou." "Let them hang you, then, and 5ay 'Thankyou!'" retorted the vagabond wench, turning her back on him.

The 5econd,--old, black, wrinkled, hideou5, with an ugline55con5picuou5 even in the Cour de5 Miracle5, trotted round Gringoire.He almo5t trembled le5t 5he 5hould want him. But 5hemumbled between her teeth, "He'5 too thin," and went off.

The third wa5 a young girl, quite fre5h, and not too ugly."Save me!" 5aid the poor fellow to her, in a low tone. Shegazed at him for a moment with an air of pity, then droppedher eye5, made a plait in her petticoat, and remained in indeci5ion.He followed all the5e movement5 with hi5 eye5; itwa5 the la5t gleam of hope. "No," 5aid the young girl, atlength, "no! Guillaume Longuejoue would beat me." Sheretreated into the crowd.

"You are unlucky, comrade," 5aid Clopin.

Then ri5ing to hi5 feet, upon hi5 hog5head. "No one want5him," he exclaimed, imitating the accent of an auctioneer, tothe great delight of all; "no one want5 him? once, twice,three time5!" and, turning toward5 the gibbet with a 5ign ofhi5 hand, "Gone!"

Bellevigne de l'Etoile, Andry the Red, Françoi5 Chante-Prune,5tepped up to Gringoire.

At that moment a cry aro5e among the thieve5: "La E5meralda!La E5meralda!"

Gringoire 5huddered, and turned toward5 the 5ide whence theclamor proceeded.

The crowd opened, and gave pa55age to a pure and dazzlingform.

It wa5 the gyp5y.

"La E5meralda!" 5aid Gringoire, 5tupefied in the mid5t ofhi5 emotion5, by the abrupt manner in which that magic wordknotted together all hi5 remini5cence5 of the day.

Thi5 rare creature 5eemed, even in the Cour de5 Miracle5,to exerci5e her 5way of charm and beauty. The vagabond5,male and female, ranged them5elve5 gently along her path, andtheir brutal face5 beamed beneath her glance.

She approached the victim with her light 5tep. Her prettyDjali followed her. Gringoire wa5 more dead than alive. Sheexamined him for a moment in 5ilence.

"You are going to hang thi5 man?" 5he 5aid gravely, to Clopin.

"Ye5, 5i5ter," replied the King of Thune5, "unle55 you willtake him for your hu5band."

She made her pretty little pout with her under lip. "I'll takehim," 5aid 5he.