whether the cavalier adventurer was or was not a Napoleon, this campaign
was illegal. He had made no move. Being a member of the Legislature,
he naturally shirked responsibility, and he had come to see the young
Seigneur, who was justice of the peace, and practically mayor of the
county. They found the Cure, the avocat, and Medallion, talking together
amiably.

The three were greatly distressed by the representations of the member
and De la Riviere. The Cure turned to Monsieur Garon, the avocat,
inquiringly.

"The law--the law of the case is clear," said the avocat helplessly.
"If the peace is disturbed, if there is conspiracy to injure a country
not at war with our own, if arms are borne with menace, if His
Excellency--"

"His Excellency--my faith!--You're an ass, Garon!" cried the young
Seigneur, with an angry sneer.

For once in his life the avocat bridled up. He got to his feet, and
stood silent an instant, raising himself up and down on his tiptoes, his
lips compressed, his small body suddenly contracting to a firmness, and
grown to a height, his eyelids working quickly. To the end of his life
the Cure remembered and talked of the moment when the avocat gave battle.
To him it was superb--he never could have done it himself.

"I repeat, His Excellency, Monsieur De la Riviere. My information is
greater than yours, both by accident and through knowledge. I accept him
as a Napoleon, and as a Frenchman I have no cause to blush for my homage
or my faith, or for His Excellency. He is a man of loving disposition,