212 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



and rattling purr. On the day of his death he was 

 lying panting upon his side, when suddenly, and as 

 though by a supreme effort, he arose and staggered 

 weakly towards me. His great eyes were wide- 

 stretched, and raised to mine with a look of agonized 

 supplication, as though they said : Save me, save 

 me, you who are a man ! Then they glazed ; he 

 took a few faltering steps and fell down, uttering 

 a cry so lamentable and full of anguish that I stood 

 staring, dumb and horror-stricken, at his little 

 corpse. He was buried in the garden under a white 

 rose-tree which still marks his grave. Three years 

 later, Seraphita died, and was laid by his side. 

 With her the White Dynasty became extinct.&quot; 



Of the Black Dynasty which succeeded, Gautier 

 has much to say ; but he never evinces for its small 

 autocrats the same tenderness of affection lavished 

 upon Pierrot and Madame Theophile. Nature, in a 

 jesting mood, had bestowed on Seraphita and her 

 mate three kittens, black as ebony. To indifferent 

 eyes they looked as much alike as three ink-spots ; 

 but, from their earliest infancy, Gautier distin 

 guished with ease the little faces, &quot;sooty as Harle 

 quin s mask, and lighted by discs of emerald with 

 golden gleams.&quot; These kittens offered striking con 

 trasts of character and disposition. Enjolras was 

 solemn, pretentious, aldermanic from his cradle ; 

 even theatrical at times in his vast assumption of 



