Penny Blood Serial Cover — page 105: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ALFRED DE ROSANN. 97 the greatest good humour, never suspecting that he was singled out as the sole object of their practical jo- cularities. At night-time he amused himself -with a thousand wild schemes, which he communicated to the others in the morning; and they with serious faces applauded his plans. Amongst these numerous de- _ vices was one for the formation of a joint-stock com- pany, or société en commandite, in order to make known to the world his cotelettes & la quadrille, for which he intended to take out a patent, and to esta- blish a restawrant, where they could be served up in every principal town of France. The capital was fixed at six hundred thousand franes;* and the institution was to be called “ Société pour exploitation des co- telettes ala quadrille, sous la Raison Sociale de Champignon et Cie.’’? The convicts declared this to be a most promising undertaking; and begged he would allow them to have the refusal of the first shares. The gastronomer thanked them with tears in his eyes, forgetting that scarcely one of his pro- mised supporters was blessed with a sow, and began racking his brains for suitable language in which “to dress-up a prospectus.”’ Shortly after the arrival of the prisoners at the bagne, the Commissary or Governor definitively di- vided them into couples,and every couple was attached together by a long chain fastened to the ancle of each individual. Fortunately for the execution of their designs, and the fulfilment of the mystic promises of Leblond, De Rosann and Belle-Rose were again suf- fered to be chained .together; and thus during their toils to which their condemnation compelled them to submit, were they enabled to discuss schemes and me- thods of escape. ‘The result of these deliberations was, however, anticipated by an accident which seemed singularly well adapted to favour the wishes of the . .two convicts. The circumstances alluded to will be faithfully detailed in their places : at present we must * Twenty-four thousand pounds sterling. VOL. I.—9 conmicbooks