The notary's nose;

198 UNCLE AND NEPHEW.
threshold of his baccalaureate, he stopped
by that great door which opens upon
everything, and stood rapt in contemplation before the seven or eight roads which
were lying before him. The bar seemed
to him too boisterous, medicine too devoid
of rest, a tutorship too arrogant, commerce too complicated, the civil-service
too constraining.
As to the army, it was useless to think
of that: not that he was afraid to fight,
but he trembled at the idea of wearing a
uniform. He remained, then, in his original way of life, not because it was the
easiest, but because it was the most obscure: he lived on his income.
As he had not earned his money himself, he lent it freely. In return for so rare
a virtue, Heaven gave him plenty of friends.
He loved them all sincerely, and acceded
to their wishes with very good grace.
When he met one of them on the Boule