Strangely enough, for the last few moments Dagobert was so completely absorbed in thought, that he paid no attention to the words of the magistrate, however important to him.  He did not even perceive the departure of M. de Gernande, who retired after promising Adrienne that he would neglect no means to arrive at the truth, in regard to the disappearance of the orphans.  Uneasy at this silence, wishing to quit the house immediately, and induce Dagobert to accompany her, Adrienne, after exchanging a rapid glance with Mother Bunch, was advancing towards the soldier, when hasty steps were heard from without the chamber, and a manly sonorous voice, exclaiming with impatience, “Where is he—­where is he?”

At the sound of this voice, Dagobert seemed to rouse himself with a start, made a sudden bound, and with a loud cry, rushed towards the door.  It opened.  Marshal Simon appeared on the threshold!

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Pierre Simon.

Marshal Pierre Simon, Duke de Ligny, was a man of tall stature, plainly dressed in a blue frock-coat, buttoned up to the throat, with a red ribbon tied to the top buttonhole.  You could not have wished to see a more frank, honest, and chivalrous cast of countenance than the marshal’s.  He had a broad forehead, an aquiline nose, a well formed chin, and a complexion bronzed by exposure to the Indian sun.  His hair, cut very short, was inclined to gray about the temples; but his eyebrows were still as black as his large, hanging moustache.  His walk was free and bold, and his decided movements showed his military impetuosity.  A man of the people, a man of war and action, the frank cordiality of his address invited friendliness and sympathy.  As enlightened as he was intrepid as generous as he was sincere, his manly, plebeian pride was the most remarkable part of his character.  As others are proud of their high birth, so was he of his obscure origin, because it was ennobled by the fine qualities of his father, the rigid republican, the intelligent and laborious artisan, who, for the space of forty years, had been the example and the glory of his fellow-workmen.  In accepting with gratitude the aristocratic title which the Emperor had bestowed upon him, Pierre Simon acted with that delicacy which receives from a friendly hand a perfectly useless gift, and estimates it according to the intention of the giver.  The religious veneration of Pierre Simon for the Emperor had never been blind; in proportion as his devotion and love for his idol were instructive and necessary, his admiration was serious, and founded upon reason.  Far from resembling those swashbucklers who love fighting for its own sake, Marshal Simon not only admired his hero as the greatest captain in the world, but he admired him, above all, because he knew that the Emperor had only accepted war in the hope of one day being able to dictate universal peace; for if peace obtained