Madame went in, licking her lips like a wolf. The curtain of the tent swung to behind her. A peasant lad followed her, hesitating too over the half-crown, but then the spectacle was worth money. A soldier followed, then a butcher, and two stupid-looking servant-girls, with frightened faces, but still eager to see. Then there was a pause, and the showman began to shout once more; he had need to, for the bear was performing with unusual vivacity, and the danseuse displayed her pretty legs as she tripped on the rope.
“Half a crown, messieurs et mesdames,� cried the man of the black robe; “half a crown to see a dead and damned Huguenot!�
“Too much, monsieur!� said a voice behind him.
He started and looked back into the face of a little hunchbacked man who had been watching him curiously.
“You are not a good Catholic, M. le Bossu!� replied the showman, mocking, for the hunchback wore a poor suit of brown and a frayed hat.
“I am a good Catholic,� he replied calmly, “but your price is high—’tis only a dead Huguenot.�
“Dame! but live ones are too plenty,� retorted the other, with a loud laugh. “What are you to complain?� he added gayly,—“the hunchback!—le bossu!�
“Le Bossu—yes,� replied the hunchback, calmly; “that is what men call me.�
Again the showman mocked him, doffing his cap and grinning.
“Your Excellency’s name?� he demanded.