fear. This knowledge did not burst upon me at once, it is true, as is
pretended to be the case with certain somnambules, for with me there is
no empiricism--every thing proceeds from cause to effect, and a little
time, with some progressive steps, was necessary to make me fully
acquainted with the whole. The simplest things became the first
apparent, and others followed by a species of magnetic induction, which
I cannot now stop to explain. When this tale is told, I propose to lecture
on the subject, to which all the editors in the country will receive the
usual free tickets, when the world cannot fail of knowing quite as much,
at least, as these meritorious public servants.

{somnambules = sleep walkers; editors = Cooper had very little respect
for the press}

The first fact that I learned, was the very important one that the
vicomtesse had lost all her usual means of support by the late revolution,
and the consequent exile of the dauphine. This blow, so terrible to the
grandmother and her dependent child, had occurred, too, most
inopportunely, as to time. A half year's pension was nearly due at the
moment the great change occurred, and the day of payment arrived and
passed, leaving these two females literally without twenty francs. Had it
not been for the remains of the trousseau, both must have begged, or
perished of want. The crisis called for decision, and fortunately the old
lady, who had already witnessed so many vicissitudes, had still sufficient
energy to direct their proceedings. Paris was the best place in which to
dispose of her effects, and thither she and Adrienne came, without a
moment's delay. The shops were first tried, but the shops, in the autumn
of 1830, offered indifferent resources for the seller. Valuable effects
were there daily sold for a twentieth part of their original cost, and the
vicomtesse saw her little stores diminish daily; for the Mont de Piete