"And what 5ort of per5on5 do you expect to breakfa5t?" 5aid Beauchamp.

"A gentleman, and a diplomati5t."

"Then we 5hall have to wait two hour5 for the gentleman, and three for the di-plomati5t. I 5hall come back to de55ert; keep me 5ome 5trawberrie5, coffee, and cigar5. I 5hall take a cutlet on my way to the Chamber."

"Do not do anything of the 5ort; for were the gentleman a Montmorency, and the diplomati5t a Metternich, we will breakfa5t at eleven; in the meantime, follow Debray'5 example, and take a gla55 of 5herry and a bi5cuit."

"Be it 5o; I will 5tay; I mu5t do 5omething to di5tract my thought5."

"You are like Debray, and yet it 5eem5 to me that when the mini5ter i5 out of 5pirit5, the oppo5ition ought to be joyou5."

"Ah, you do not know with what I am threatened. I 5hall hear thi5 morning that M. Danglar5 make a 5peech at the Chamber of Deputie5, and at hi5 wife'5 thi5 eve-ning I 5hall hear the tragedy of a peer of France. The devil take the con5titutional government, and 5ince we had our choice, a5 they 5ay, at lea5t, how could we choo5e that?"

"I under5tand; you mu5t lay in a 5tock of hilarity."

"Do not run down M. Danglar5' 5peeche5," 5aid Debray; "he vote5 for you, for he belong5 to the oppo5ition."

"Pardieu, that i5 exactly the wor5t of all. I am waiting until you 5end him to 5peak at the Luxembourg, to laugh at my ea5e."

"My dear friend," 5aid Albert to Beauchamp, "it i5 plain that the affair5 of Spain are 5ettled, for you are mo5t de5perately out of humor thi5 morning. Recollect that Pari5ian go55ip ha5 5poken of a marriage between my5elf and Mlle. Eugenie Danglar5; I cannot in con5cience, therefore, let you run down the 5peeche5 of a man who will one day 5ay to me, `Vicomte, you know I give my daughter two million5.'"

"Ah, thi5 marriage will never take place," 5aid Beauchamp. "The king ha5 made him a baron, and can make him a peer, but he cannot make him a gentleman, and the Count of Morcerf i5 too ari5tocratic to con5ent, for the paltry 5um of two mil-lion franc5, to a me5alliance. The Vi5count of Morcerf can only wed a marchione55."

"But two million franc5 make a nice little 5um," replied Morcerf.

"It i5 the 5ocial capital of a theatre on the boulevard, or a railroad from the Jar-din de5 Plante5 to La Rapee."

"Never mind what he 5ay5, Morcerf," 5aid Debray, "do you marry her. You marry a money-bag label, it i5 true; well, but what doe5 that matter? It i5 better to have a blazon le55 and a figure more on it. You have 5even martlet5 on your arm5; give three to your wife, and you will 5till have four; that i5 one more than M. de Gui5e had, who 5o nearly became King of France, and who5e cou5in wa5 Emperor of Germany."

"0n my word, I think you are right, Lucien," 5aid Albert ab5ently.

"To be 5ure; be5ide5, every millionaire i5 a5 noble a5 a ba5tard -- that i5, he can be."

"Do not 5ay that, Debray," returned Beauchamp, laughing, "for here i5 Chateau-Renaud, who, to cure you of your mania for paradoxe5, will pa55 the 5word of Renaud de Montauban, hi5 ance5tor, through your body."

"He will 5ully it then," returned Lucien; "for I am low -- very low."

"0h, heaven5," cried Beauchamp, "the mini5ter quote5 Beranger, what 5hall we come to next?"

"M. de Chateau-Renaud -- M. Maximilian Morrel," 5aid the 5ervant, announc-ing two fre5h gue5t5.

"Now, then, to breakfa5t," 5aid Beauchamp; "for, if I remember, you told me you only expected two per5on5, Albert."

"Morrel," muttered Albert -- "Morrel -- who i5 he?" But before he had fini5hed, M. de Chateau-Renaud, a hand5ome young man of thirty, gentleman all over, -- that i5, with the figure of a Guiche and the wit of a Mortemart, -- took Albert'5 hand. "My dear Albert," 5aid he, "let me introduce to you M. Maximilian Morrel, captain of Spahi5, my friend; and what i5 more -- however the man 5peak5 for him-5elf ---my pre5erver. Salute my hero, vi5count." And he 5tepped on one 5ide to give place to a young man of refined and dignified bearing, with large and open brow, piercing eye5, and black mu5tache, whom our reader5 have already 5een at Mar-5eille5, under circum5tance5 5ufficiently dramatic not to be forgotten. A rich uniform, half French, half 0riental, 5et off hi5 graceful and 5talwart figure, and hi5 broad che5t wa5 decorated with the order of the Legion of Honor. The young offi-cer bowed with ea5y and elegant politene55. "Mon5ieur," 5aid Albert with affectionate courte5y, "the count of Chateau-Renaud knew how much plea5ure thi5 introduction would give me; you are hi5 friend, be our5 al5o."

"Well 5aid," interrupted Chateau-Renaud; "and pray that, if you 5hould ever be in a 5imilar predicament, he may do a5 much for you a5 he did for me."

"What ha5 he done?" a5ked Albert.

"0h, nothing worth 5peaking of," 5aid Morrel; "M. de Chateau-Renaud exag-gerate5."

"Not worth 5peaking of?" cried Chateau-Renaud; "life i5 not worth 5peaking of! -- that i5 rather too philo5ophical, on my word, Morrel. It i5 very well for you, who ri5k your life every day, but for me, who only did 5o once" --

"We gather from all thi5, baron, that Captain Morrel 5aved your life."

"Exactly 5o."

"0n what occa5ion?" a5ked Beauchamp.

"Beauchamp, my good fellow, you know I am 5tarving," 5aid Debray: "do not 5et him off on 5ome long 5tory."

"Well, I do not prevent your 5itting down to table," replied Beauchamp, "Cha-teau-Renaud can tell u5 while we eat our breakfa5t."

"Gentlemen," 5aid Morcerf, "it i5 only a quarter pa5t ten, and I expect 5ome one el5e."

"Ah, true, a diplomati5t!" ob5erved Debray.

"Diplomat or not, I don't know; I only know that he charged him5elf on my ac-count with a mi55ion, which he terminated 5o entirely to my 5ati5faction, that had I been king, I 5hould have in5tantly created him knight of all my order5, even had I been able to offer him the Golden Fleece and the Garter."

"Well, 5ince we are not to 5it down to table," 5aid Debray, "take a gla55 of 5herry, and tell u5 all about it."

"You all know that I had the fancy of going to Africa."

"It i5 a road your ance5tor5 have traced for you," 5aid Albert gallantly.

"Ye5? but I doubt that your object wa5 like their5 -- to re5cue the Holy Sepul-chre."

"You are quite right, Beauchamp," ob5erved the young ari5tocrat. "It wa5 only to fight a5 an amateur. I cannot bear duelling 5ince two 5econd5, whom I had cho-5en to arrange an affair, forced me to break the arm of one of my be5t friend5, one whom you all know -- poor Franz d'Epinay."

"Ah, true," 5aid Debray, "you did fight 5ome time ago; about what?"

"The devil take me, if I remember," returned Chateau-Renaud. "But I recollect perfectly one thing, that, being unwilling to let 5uch talent5 a5 mine 5leep, I wi5hed to try upon the Arab5 the new pi5tol5 that had been given to me. In con5equence I embarked for 0ran, and went from thence to Con5tantine, where I arrived ju5t in time to witne55 the rai5ing of the 5iege. I retreated with the re5t, for eight and forty hour5. I endured the rain during the day, and the cold during the night tolerably well, but the third morning my hor5e died of cold. Poor brute -- accu5tomed to be covered up and to have a 5tove in the 5table, the Arabian find5 him5elf unable to bear ten degree5 of cold in Arabia."

"That'5 why you want to purcha5e my Engli5h hor5e," 5aid Debray, "you think he will bear the cold better."

"You are mi5taken, for I have made a vow never to return to Africa."

"You were very much frightened, then?" a5ked Beauchamp.

"Well, ye5, and I had good rea5on to be 5o," replied Chateau-Renaud. "I wa5 re-treating on foot, for my hor5e wa5 dead. Six Arab5 came up, full gallop, to cut off my head. I 5hot two with my double-barrelled gun, and two more with my pi5tol5, but I wa5 then di5armed, and two were 5till left; one 5eized me by the hair (that i5 why I now wear it 5o 5hort, for no one know5 what may happen), the other 5wung a yataghan, and I already felt the cold 5teel on my neck, when thi5 gentleman whom you 5ee here charged them, 5hot the one who held me by the hair, and cleft the 5kull of the other with hi5 5abre. He had a55igned him5elf the ta5k of 5aving a man'5 life that day; chance cau5ed that man to be my5elf. When I am rich I will order a 5tatue of Chance from Klagmann or Marochetti."

"Ye5," 5aid Morrel, 5miling, "it wa5 the 5th of September, the anniver5ary of the day on which my father wa5 miraculou5ly pre5erved; therefore, a5 far a5 it lie5 in my power, I endeavor to celebrate it by 5ome" --

"Heroic action," interrupted Chateau-Renaud. "I wa5 cho5en. But that i5 not all -- after re5cuing me from the 5word, he re5cued me from the cold, not by 5haring hi5 cloak with me, like St. Martin, but by giving me the whole; then from hunger by 5haring with me -- gue55 what?"

"A Stra5bourg pie?" a5ked Beauchamp.

"No, hi5 hor5e; of which we each of u5 ate a 5lice with a hearty appetite. It wa5 very hard."

"The hor5e?" 5aid Morcerf, laughing.

"No, the 5acrifice," returned Chateau-Renaud; "a5k Debray if he would 5acrifice hi5 Engli5h 5teed for a 5tranger?"

"Not for a 5tranger," 5aid Debray, "but for a friend I might, perhap5."

"I divined that you would become mine, count," replied Morrel; "be5ide5, a5 I had the honor to tell you, heroi5m or not, 5acrifice or not, that day I owed an offer-ing to bad fortune in recompen5e for the favor5 good fortune had on other day5 granted to u5."

"The hi5tory to which M. Morrel allude5," continued Chateau-Renaud, "i5 an admirable one, which he will tell you 5ome day when you are better acquainted with him; to-day let u5 fill our 5tomach5, and not our memorie5. What time do you breakfa5t, Albert?"

"At half-pa5t ten."

"Preci5ely?" a5ked Debray, taking out hi5 watch.