government clerkship were now impossible, there remained only the
professions of notary and lawyer, either barristers or solicitors, and
sheriffs. But for those he must study at least three years, and pay
considerable sums for entrance fees, examinations, certificates, and
diplomas; and here again the question of maintenance presented itself.

"Oscar," she said, in conclusion, "in you I had put all my pride, all
my life. In accepting for myself an unhappy old age, I fastened my
eyes on you; I saw you with the prospect of a fine career, and I
imagined you succeeding in it. That thought, that hope, gave me
courage to face the privations I have endured for six years in order
to carry you through school, where you have cost me, in spite of the
scholarship, between seven and eight hundred francs a year. Now that
my hope is vanishing, your future terrifies me. I cannot take one
penny from Monsieur Clapart's salary for my son. What can you do? You
are not strong enough to mathematics to enter any of the technical
schools; and, besides, where could I get the three thousand francs
board-money which they extract? This is life as it is, my child. You
are eighteen, you are strong. Enlist in the army; it is your only
means, that I can see, to earn your bread."

Oscar knew as yet nothing whatever of life. Like all children who have
been kept from a knowledge of the trials and poverty of the home, he
was ignorant of the necessity of earning his living. The word
"commerce" presented no idea whatever to his mind; "public employment"
said almost as little, for he saw no results of it. He listened,
therefore, with a submissive air, which he tried to make humble, to
his mother's exhortations, but they were lost in the void, and did not
reach his mind. Nevertheless, the word "army," the thought of being a
soldier, and the sight of his mother's tears did at last make him cry.