about Charvet and Clemence, and whose only purpose was to alarm Lisa.

The mistress of the pork shop, however, never flinched. She seemed to be
absorbed in watching something of great interest in the market yonder.
Accordingly the old maid had recourse to stronger measures. "I think,"
said she, addressing herself to Madame Lecoeur, "that you ought to
advise your brother-in-law to be careful. Last night they were shouting
out the most shocking things in that little room. Men really seem to
lose their heads over politics. If anyone had heard them, it might have
been a very serious matter for them."

"Oh! Gavard will go his own way," sighed Madame Lecoeur. "It only wanted
this to fill my cup. I shall die of anxiety, I am sure, if he ever gets
arrested."

As she spoke, a gleam shot from her dim eyes. La Sarriette, however,
laughed and wagged her little face, bright with the freshness of the
morning air.

"You should hear what Jules says of those who speak against the Empire,"
she remarked. "They ought all to be thrown into the Seine, he told me;
for it seems there isn't a single respectable person amongst them."

"Oh! there's no harm done, of course, so long as only people like myself
hear their foolish talk," resumed Mademoiselle Saget. "I'd rather cut
my hand off, you know, than make mischief. Last night now, for instance,
Monsieur Quenu was saying----"

She again paused. Lisa had started slightly.