On this particular morning there were but two or three--a Parisian, who conceived himself injured by the provost of his guild, a peasant whose cow had been torn by a huntsman's dog, and a farmer who had had hard usage from his feudal lord.

A few questions and then a hurried order to his secretary disposed of each case, for if Louis was a tyrant himself, he had at least the merit that he insisted upon being the only one within his kingdom.

He was about to resume his way again, when an elderly man, clad in the garb of a respectable citizen, and with a strong deep-lined face which marked him as a man of character, darted forward, and threw himself down upon one knee in front of the monarch.
"Justice, sire, justice!" he cried.
"What is this, then ?" asked Louis.

"Who are you, and what is it that you want ?" "I am a citizen of Paris, and I have been cruelly wronged." "You seem a very worthy person.

If you have indeed been wronged you shall have redress.