Popinot, the admirable antipodes of du Tillet, apprenticed to Cesar by
one of those lucky chances which lead us to believe in a Sub-
Providence, plays so great a part in this history that it becomes
absolutely necessary to sketch his profile here. Madame Ragon was a
Popinot. She had two brothers. One, the youngest of the family, was at
this time a judge in the Lower courts of the Seine,--courts which take
cognizance of all civil contests involving sums above a certain
amount. The eldest, who was in the wholesale wool-trade, lost his
property and died, leaving to the care of Madame Ragon and his brother
an only son, who had lost his mother at his birth. To give him a
trade, Madame Ragon placed her nephew at "The Queen of Roses," hoping
he might some day succeed Birotteau. Anselme Popinot was a little
fellow and club-footed,--an infirmity bestowed by fate on Lord Byron,
Walter Scott, and Monsieur de Talleyrand, that others so afflicted
might suffer no discouragement. He had the brilliant skin, with
frequent blotches, which belongs to persons with red hair; but his
clear brow, his eyes the color of a grey-veined agate, his pleasant
mouth, his fair complexion, the charm of his modest youth and the
shyness which grew out of his deformity, all inspired feelings of
protection in those who knew him: we love the weak, and Popinot was
loved. Little Popinot--everybody called him so--belonged to a family
essentially religious, whose virtues were intelligent, and whose lives
were simple and full of noble actions. The lad himself, brought up by
his uncle the judge, presented a union of qualities which are the
beauty of youth; good and affectionate, a little shame-faced though
full of eagerness, gentle as a lamb but energetic in his work, devoted
and sober, he was endowed with the virtues of a Christian in the early
ages of the Church.

When he heard of a walk in the Tuileries,--certainly the most