their experimental conquests, thus virtually enlarging

Oscar's skin was now bronzed by the sun of Africa; his moustache was

very thick and his whiskers ample; the hollows in his cheeks and his

strongly marked features were in keeping with his military bearing.

The rosette of an officer of the Legion of honor, his missing arm, the

strict propriety of his dress, would all have diverted Georges

recollections of his former victim if he had had any. As for Madame

Clapart, whom Georges had scarcely seen, ten years devoted to the

exercise of the most severe piety had transformed her. No one would