“There were seven in the party of young gentlemen,—three on one side and four on the other.”
“How do you know there were seven?” inquired the officer.
“Because they stopped to give me a little charity. Five gave me something. Of the two others, one said, ‘I have no money,’ and the other, ‘I am not superstitious.’”
“How do you know they were young?”
“Because they walked quickly; and, you see, when one is old, one is not in a hurry to die.”
“How? to die?”
“Yes; since they came to fight.”
“Who told you that?”
“I learned that from their alms. Four of them gave me twenty sous each. They supposed that bit of charity would bring good luck to their friends. The fifth, a fine young man, who was going to fight, gave me a five-franc piece. One is generous when one is either very unfortunate or very fortunate, when one weeps or when one laughs. The sixth said, ‘I have no money:’ he was the surgeon. The doctors never give any thing to beggars, because it is of no importance to them whether we live or die. The seventh said, ‘It is a superstition:’ he is the one who committed the wrong.”