At the moment when he returned, the old woman was no longer to be seen; but the boy remained in the same place, seated upon a stone post, with his nose in the air, regarding the mansion of Madame de la Grenouillère very attentively. Lustucru approached him and addressed him in these terms:—
"What are you doing there, youngster?"
"I? Nothing. I am looking at that mansion."
"I believe that without difficulty; but why do you look at it?"
"Because I find it handsome, and would like to live in it; one ought to be happy there."
"Yes, indeed," answered the steward, with emphasis; "they pass the days there happily enough. Who is that woman with whom you were speaking a while since?"
"It was Madame Bradamor."
The Boy on the Stone Post.
"Madame Bradamor, the famous fortune-teller, who lives below, at the other end of the street?"