and yet at one moment it gave the impression of resolution, at another it
suggested the wayward abstraction of the dreamer. He was well-figured,
with a hand of peculiar whiteness, suggesting in its breadth more the man
of action than of meditation. But it was a contradiction; for, as you
saw it rise and fall, you were struck by its dramatic delicacy; as it
rested on the railing of the veranda, by its latent power. You faced
incongruity everywhere. His dress was bizarre, his face almost
classical, the brow clear and strong, the profile good to the mouth,
where there showed a combination of sensuousness and adventure. Yet in
the face there was an illusive sadness, strangely out of keeping with the
long linen coat, frilled shirt, flowered waistcoat, lavender trousers,
boots of enamelled leather, and straw hat with white linen streamers. It
was a whimsical picture.

At the moment that the Cure and Medallion the auctioneer came down the
street together towards the Louis Quinze, talking amiably, this singular
gentleman was throwing out hot pennies, with a large spoon, from a tray
in his hand, calling on the children to gather them, in French which was
not the French of Pontiac--or Quebec; and this refined accent the Cure
was quick to detect, as Monsieur Garon the avocat, standing on the
outskirts of the crowd, had done, some moments before. The stranger
seemed only conscious of his act of liberality and the children before
him. There was a naturalness in his enjoyment which was almost boylike;
a naive sort of exultation possessed him.

He laughed softly to see the children toss the pennies from hand to hand,
blowing to cool them; the riotous yet half-timorous scramble for them,
and burnt fingers thrust into hot, blithe mouths. And when he saw a fat
little lad of five crowded out of the way by his elders, he stepped down
with a quick word of sympathy, put a half-dozen pennies in the child's