which adjoined his attic room into an atelier, and Madame Descoings
gave him a little money for the indispensable requirements of the
painter's trade;--in the minds of the two widows, the art of painting
was nothing but a trade. With the feeling and ardor of his vocation,
the lad himself arranged his humble atelier. Madame Descoings
persuaded the owner of the house to put a skylight in the roof. The
garret was turned into a vast hall painted in chocolate-color by
Joseph himself. On the walls he hung a few sketches. Agathe
contributed, not without reluctance, an iron stove; so that her son
might be able to work at home, without, however, abandoning the studio
of Gros, nor that of Schinner.

The constitutional party, supported chiefly by officers on half-pay
and the Bonapartists, were at this time inciting "emeutes" around the
Chamber of Deputies, on behalf of the Charter, though no one actually
wanted it. Several conspiracies were brewing. Philippe, who dabbled in
them, was arrested, and then released for want of proof; but the
minister of war cut short his half-pay by putting him on the active
list,--a step which might be called a form of discipline. France was
no longer safe; Philippe was liable to fall into some trap laid for
him by spies,--provocative agents, as they were called, being much
talked of in those days.

While Philippe played billiards in disaffected cafes, losing his time
and acquiring the habit of wetting his whistle with "little glasses"
of all sorts of liquors. Agathe lived in mortal terror for the safety
of the great man of the family. The Grecian sages were too much
accustomed to wend their nightly way up Madame Bridau's staircase,
finding the two widows ready and waiting, and hearing from them all
the news of their day, ever to break up the habit of coming to the