Industrial Chemistry 



The poor woman started ; and her astounded 

 eyes wandered from the open-handed swell 

 to the piece of silver and from the piece of 

 silver to the open-handed swell. What a sur- 

 prise ! What a windfall ! 



'Que lou hon Dieu ie done longo vido e 

 santa, pecdire!' she said, in her cracked voice. 



And, curtseying and nodding, she withdrew, 

 still staring at the coin in the palm of her 

 hand. 



'What did she say?' asked Duruy. 



*She wished you long life and health.' 



'And pecdiref 



'Pecdire is a poem in itself: it sums up all 

 the gentler passions.' 



And I myself mentally repeated the artless 

 vow. The man who stops so kindly when a 

 beggar puts out her hand has something better 

 in his soul than the mere qualities that go to 

 make a minister. 



We entered the station, still alone, as 

 promised, and I quite without misgivings. Had 

 I but foreseen what was going to happen, how 

 I should have hastened to take my leave I 

 Little by little, a group formed in front of us. 

 It was too late to fly; I had to screw up my 

 courage. Came the general of division and 

 his officers, came the prefect and his secretary, 

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