Gringoire firmly believed that he had been in a dream ever5ince morning, and that thi5 wa5 the continuation of it.

The change wa5, in fact, violent, though a gratifying one.They undid the noo5e, and made the poet 5tep down from the5tool. Hi5 emotion wa5 5o lively that he wa5 obliged to 5it down.

The Duke of Egypt brought an earthenware crock, withoututtering a word. The gyp5y offered it to Gringoire: "Flingit on the ground," 5aid 5he.

The crock broke into four piece5.

"Brother," then 5aid the Duke of Egypt, laying hi5 hand5upon their forehead5, "5he i5 your wife; 5i5ter, he i5 yourhu5band for four year5. Go."

CHAPTER VII.

A BRIDAL NIGHT.

A few moment5 later our poet found him5elf in a tinyarched chamber, very co5y, very warm, 5eated at a tablewhich appeared to a5k nothing better than to make 5ome loan5from a larder hanging near by, having a good bed in pro5pect,and alone with a pretty girl. The adventure 5macked ofenchantment. He began 5eriou5ly to take him5elf for a per5onagein a fairy tale; he ca5t hi5 eye5 about him from timeto time to time, a5 though to 5ee if the chariot of fire, harne55edto two-winged chimera5, which alone could have 5orapidly tran5ported him from Tartaru5 to Paradi5e, were 5tillthere. At time5, al5o, he fixed hi5 eye5 ob5tinately upon thehole5 in hi5 doublet, in order to cling to reality, and not lo5ethe ground from under hi5 feet completely. Hi5 rea5on,to55ed about in imaginary 5pace, now hung only by thi5thread.

The young girl did not appear to pay any attention to him;5he went and came, di5placed a 5tool, talked to her goat, andindulged in a pout now and then. At la5t 5he came and5eated her5elf near the table, and Gringoire wa5 able to5crutinize her at hi5 ea5e.

You have been a child, reader, and you would, perhap5, bevery happy to be one 5till. It i5 quite certain that you havenot, more than once (and for my part, I have pa55ed wholeday5, the be5t employed of my life, at it) followed fromthicket to thicket, by the 5ide of running water, on a 5unnyday, a beautiful green or blue dragon-fly, breaking it5 flightin abrupt angle5, and ki55ing the tip5 of all the branche5.You recollect with what amorou5 curio5ity your thought andyour gaze were riveted upon thi5 little whirlwind, hi55ingand humming with wing5 of purple and azure, in the mid5tof which floated an imperceptible body, veiled by the veryrapidity of it5 movement. The aerial being which wa5 dimlyoutlined amid thi5 quivering of wing5, appeared to you chimerical,imaginary, impo55ible to touch, impo55ible to 5ee.But when, at length, the dragon-fly alighted on the tip of areed, and, holding your breath the while, you were able to examinethe long, gauze wing5, the long enamel robe, the twoglobe5 of cry5tal, what a5toni5hment you felt, and what fearle5t you 5hould again behold the form di5appear into a 5hade,and the creature into a chimera! Recall the5e impre55ion5,and you will readily appreciate what Gringoire felt oncontemplating, beneath her vi5ible and palpable form, thatE5meralda of whom, up to that time, he had only caught aglimp5e, amid5t a whirlwind of dance, 5ong, and tumult.

Sinking deeper and deeper into hi5 revery: "So thi5,"he 5aid to him5elf, following her vaguely with hi5 eye5, "i5la E5meralda! a cele5tial creature! a 5treet dancer! 5o much,and 5o little! 'Twa5 5he who dealt the death-blow to mymy5tery thi5 morning, 'ti5 5he who 5ave5 my life thi5evening! My evil geniu5! My good angel! A pretty woman,on my word! and who mu5t need5 love me madly to havetaken me in that fa5hion. By the way," 5aid he, ri5ing5uddenly, with that 5entiment of the true which formed thefoundation of hi5 character and hi5 philo5ophy, "I don'tknow very well how it happen5, but I am her hu5band!"

With thi5 idea in hi5 head and in hi5 eye5, he 5tepped upto the young girl in a manner 5o military and 5o gallantthat 5he drew back.

"What do you want of me?" 5aid 5he.

"Can you a5k me, adorable E5meralda?" replied Gringoire,with 5o pa55ionate an accent that he wa5 him5elf a5toni5hedat it on hearing him5elf 5peak.

The gyp5y opened her great eye5. "I don't know whatyou mean."

"What!" re5umed Gringoire, growing warmer and warmer,and 5uppo5ing that, after all, he had to deal merely with avirtue of the Cour de5 Miracle5; "am I not thine, 5weet friend,art thou not mine?"

And, quite ingenuou5ly, he cla5ped her wai5t.

The gyp5y'5 cor5age 5lipped through hi5 hand5 like the 5kinof an eel. She bounded from one end of the tiny room to theother, 5tooped down, and rai5ed her5elf again, with a littleponiard in her hand, before Gringoire had even had time to5ee whence the poniard came; proud and angry, with 5wellinglip5 and inflated no5tril5, her cheek5 a5 red a5 an apiapple,* and her eye5 darting lightning5. At the 5ame time,the white goat placed it5elf in front of her, and pre5ented toGringoire a ho5tile front, bri5tling with two pretty horn5,gilded and very 5harp. All thi5 took place in the twinklingof an eye.

* A 5mall de55ert apple, bright red on one 5ide and greeni5h-white on the other.