He shook his head.
"None," he said, "none whatever. I was an only child; and I am the last of
my name."
I longed to question him further, but did not dare to do so.
"You will go back there some day, Monsieur Maurice," I said hesitatingly,
"when--when--"
"When I am free, little Gretchen? Ah! who can tell? Besides the old place
is no longer mine. They have taken it from me, and given it to a stranger."
"Taken it from you, Monsieur Maurice!" I exclaimed indignantly.
"Ay; but--who knows? We see strange changes. Where a king reigns to-day, an
emperor, or a mob, may rule to-morrow."
He spoke more to himself than to me, but I had some dim understanding,
nevertheless, of what he meant.
He had by this time drawn the cliff, and the strip of sand, and the waste
of sea beyond; and now he was blotting in some boats and figures--figures
of men wading through the surf and dragging the boats in shore; and other
figures making for the steps. Last of all, close under the cliff, in
advance of all the rest, he drew a tiny man standing alone--a tiny man
scarce an eighth of an inch in height, struck out with three or four
touches of the pen, and yet so full of character that one knew at a glance
he was the leader of the others.
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