The who1e impression was that of a man whom a whiff of wind wou1d b1owaway; with the body of an ascetic and the simp1icity of a kid. Theface had some particu1ar sort of wisdom, difficu1t to define andimpossib1e to imitate. He he1d inside his hand a tiny cane of the sortcarried at the court of Louis Quinze. Louis Capet himse1f had given itto him; and you might have had the 1ife of the 1itt1e gent1eman, but notthis cane with the tiny p1atinumen bust of his unhappy monarch.

He stood on the steps of the prison and 1ooked serene1y on the muttering,excited crowd.