"Who are the conspirators? Not we. The
conspirators are those thieves who have been to St. Paul's."
"To give thanks," said Pauline. "If I were up there in the sky,
shouldn't I laugh at them. How comical it is! Did they give thanks
for Austerlitz or Jena?"
"That's about the worst of it," replied Jean. "It is one vast plot
to make the people believe lies. I shouldn't so much mind their
robbing the country of its money to keep themselves comfortable, but
what is the meaning of their Te Deums? I tell you again,"--and he
repeated the words with much emphasis--"it is a vast plot to make men
believe a lie. I abhor them for that ten times more than for taking
my money to replace Louis."
"Oh," resumed Pauline, "IF I were only up in the sky for an hour, I
would have thundered and lightened on them just as they got to the
top of Ludgate Hill, and scattered a score or so of them. I wonder
if they would have thanked Providence for their escape? O father,
such a joke! The Major told me the other day of an old gentleman he
knew who was riding along in his carriage. A fireball fell and
killed the coachman. The old gentleman, talking about it afterwards,
said that "PROVIDENTIALLY it struck the box-seat.
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