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The Butterfly-Chase.
The king, on retiring to his apartments to give some directions and to arrange his ideas, found on his toilette-glass a small note, the handwriting of which seemed disguised.

He opened it and read--"Come quickly, I have a thousand things to say to you." The king and Madame had not been separated a sufficiently long time for these thousand things to be the result of the three thousand which they had been saying to each other during the route which separated Vulaines from Fontainebleau.

The confused and hurried character of the note gave the king a great deal to reflect upon.

He occupied himself but slightly with his toilette, and set off to pay his visit to Madame.