“What? tell me.”
“That gentleman on the third floor, when I had the loaf of sugar and the box of charcoal in my arms, insisted on putting all these little bundles of dried leaves in my pocket himself; and that’s the way he stuffed these five-franc pieces into my pocket! Oh! I am sure of it now! for he went into his bedroom alone, to get the money, no doubt. It was him, mother, it was him; indeed, who else could have given me all this?”
“You are right, Georget, it can’t have been anybody else; people who like to do good, think of everything, and it seems that he is very kind, this Bear!”
“Yes, indeed, he is kind, but I shall not keep his money. I will work to-morrow, and earn some; and he has put us under enough obligation by lending us sugar and charcoal. Mother, we mustn’t keep these twenty francs that he slipped into my pocket so slyly, so that I could not thank him, must we? But still, it was very nice of him, all the same; he isn’t like other people, that gentleman! I’ll bet that when he tosses a piece of money to a poor man, he doesn’t try to make it ring on the sidewalk when it falls.”
“No, my dear, we mustn’t keep the twenty francs, for it is quite a large sum, and it would be too hard to repay it.”
“I am going to take it back to the gentleman right away.”
“Oh! it must be quite late now; Monsieur Malberg has gone to bed, no doubt, and is probably asleep; if you wake him up, he won’t like it. Wait till morning, and when he’s up, you can take the money back to him, and thank him again for both of us.”
“After all, you are right, mother; it will be better for me to let the gentleman sleep, who has helped me to cure you. I will go to-morrow morning, when his negro is up.—But the water is still boiling; give me what I need for your tea.”
The invalid chose one of the herbs. Georget soon made the tea and carried his mother a cup smoking hot and well sweetened; and when she had drunk it, he filled the cup again and placed it on the table by the bed.
“If you are thirsty again in the night,” he said, “you must drink this; it will be all ready; now try to go to sleep.”