'What, when you are this very moment a houseless wanderer, without
having done any wrong? How does your good character support you now?"

"For example, it has secured me your good offices," said I. "You would
not have given me this good turn if I had been a worthless villain."

"Well, perhaps not; supposing I had known you for such--though worthless
villains often escape deserved punishment, and sometimes are very
plausible, and pay very well. And sometimes not"--reflectively.

"You seem to remember a case in point," said I, smiling.

"Well, I do," said La Croissette. "There was a young lord who led a sad
course, and nearly fell into the hands of justice. He had a dashing,
off-hand manner, that made friends till he was found out for what he
was; and partly because he talked me over, and partly for high pay,
I smuggled him beyond the reach of his enemies. But the pay never came.
He won't get me to help him another time."

"He'll miss the want of a good character in the long run, then," said I.

"Oh, he has done so already; he lies in prison now. But so do many of
you Huguenots, who have done nothing amiss. It seems to me there is one
event to the good and to the wicked."

"Oh no, do not believe it," said I. "In the first place, none of us
are righteous; no, not one; our merits only comparative. Thus, there is
something in every one of us to punish; and sometimes the Lord sees fit
to chasten His best-loved servants so severely, that it is difficult to
distinguish their chastisement from His judgments on the wicked."