“let us not get angry; we are old friends. ‘Tis very late. We have terminated our labors. Shave me.”

Our readers have not, without doubt, waited until the present moment to recognize in Master Olivier that terrible Figaro whom Providence, the great maker of dramas, mingled so artistically in the long and bloody comedy of the reign of Louis XI.

We will not here undertake to develop that singular figure. This barber of the king had three names. At court he was politely called Olivier l� Daim (the Deer); among the people Olivier the Devil. His real name was Olivier l� Mauvais.

Accordingly, Olivier l� Mauvais remained motionless, sulking at the king, and glancing askance at Jacques Coictier.

“Yes, yes, the physician!”