"I need help. I will teach thee to fence and to shoot. Canst thou be honest? I ask not if thou art."
"Can I? I do not know. I have never tried very long." Then he paused. To fence like a gentleman, to handle a sword, had its temptations. "Try me."
"Good! Canst thou be a Jacobin to-day and a Royalist to-morrow?"
"Why not?"
"The messieurs and their kind fence here in the morning; after our breakfast come the Jacobins about two. I ask not thy politics."
"Why not?" said François, who was the frankest of men—"why not? I am an aristocrat. I am at the top of my profession. I like naturally the folks who are on top."
"France is like a ball now, no top, no bottom, rolling. Let us be serious."
"Dieu! that is difficult. I want to quit thieving. It doesn't pay at present. I accept the citizen's offer. Does it include my dog?"
"Yes, indeed! Toto—a treasure! He will delight our pupils."
"Good! He must have a little sword and wear a white cockade till noon, and then a tricolor."