Excerpt from Seven Years, and Other Tales, Vol. 3 of 3 This happy existence was at length dis turbed by the introduction of a new desk and stool in the quiet bureau, where for years no stranger had appeared. The owner of these portentous signs added to Monsieur Theophile Durand's sense of dismay by his unofficial appearance; he was a very young man, with something resembling a moustache struggling into existence above his upper lip. He had a thin, sallow, and melancholy, not to say morose-looking, face, and a slender droop ing figure. All that Monsieur Theophile could ascertain of him was, that he rejoiced in the name of Auguste Tondu, and entered the office as surnumeraire that is to say that he belonged to the class of unpaid employes, condemned to wait for their salary until death or promotion shall make some place vacant in the ranks of their companions. The desk of the surnumeraire faced that of Theophile, to stare at whom seemed from the very first day his chief task and occupation. He did, indeed, occasionally vary it by sucking and nibbling every pen that came in his way. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.