continued to be employed in the service, all the while predicting a
fatal end to a government which persisted in upholding religion. He
openly avowed his sympathy for Napoleon, now that the death of that
great man put an end to the laws enacted against "the partisans of the
usurper." Fleury, ex-captain of a regiment of the line under the
Emperor, a tall, dark, handsome fellow, was now, in addition to his
civil-service post, box-keeper at the Cirque-Olympique. Bixiou never
ventured on tormenting Fleury, for the rough trooper, who was a good
shot and clever at fencing, seemed quite capable of extreme brutality
if provoked. An ardent subscriber to "Victoires et Conquetes," Fleury
nevertheless refused to pay his subscription, though he kept and read
the copies, alleging that they exceeded the number proposed in the
prospectus. He adored Monsieur Rabourdin, who had saved him from
dismissal, and was even heard to say that if any misfortune happened
to the chief through anybody's fault he would kill that person. Dutocq
meanly courted Fleury because he feared him. Fleury, crippled with
debt, played many a trick on his creditors. Expert in legal matters,
he never signed a promissory note; and had prudently attached his own
salary under the names of fictitious creditors, so that he was able to
draw nearly the whole of it himself. He played ecarte, was the life of
evening parties, tossed off glasses of champagne without wetting his
lips, and knew all the songs of Beranger by heart. He was proud of his
full, sonorous voice. His three great admirations were Napoleon,
Bolivar, and Beranger. Foy, Lafitte, and Casimir Delavigne he only
esteemed. Fleury, as you will have guessed already, was a Southerner,
destined, no doubt, to become the responsible editor of a liberal
journal.

Desroys, the mysterious clerk of the division, consorted with no one,
talked little, and hid his private life so carefully that no one knew