Lastly, we must mention the drilles, the narquois, or the people of the petite flambe, who for the most part were old pensioners, and who begged in the streets from house to house, with their swords at their sides (Fig. 377).  These, who at times lived a racketing and luxurious life, at last rebelled against the Grand Coesre, and would no longer be reckoned among his subjects—­a step which gave a considerable shock to the Argotic monarchy.

[Illustration:  Fig. 377.—­The Drille or Narquois.—­From painted Hangings from the Town of Rheims (Fifteenth Century).]

[Illustration:  Fig. 378.—­Perspective View of Paris in 1607.—­Fac-simile of a Copper-plate by Leonard Gaultier. (Collection of M. Guenebault, Paris.)]

There was another cause which greatly contributed to diminish the power as well as the prestige of this eccentric sovereign, and this was, that the cut-purses, the night-prowlers and wood-thieves, not finding sufficient means of livelihood in their own department, and seeing that the Argotiers, on the contrary, were always in a more luxurious position, tried to amalgamate robbery with mendicity, which raised an outcry amongst these sections of their community.  The archisuppots and the cagoux at first declined such an alliance, but eventually they were obliged to admit all, with the exception of the wood-thieves, who were altogether excluded.  In the seventeenth century, therefore, in order to become a thorough Argotier, it was necessary not only to solicit alms like any mere beggar, but also to possess the dexterity of the cut-purse and the thief.  These arts were to be learned in the places which served as the habitual rendezvous of the very dregs of society, and which were generally known as the Cours des Miracles.  These houses, or rather resorts, had been so called, if we are to believe a writer of the early part of the seventeenth century, “Because rogues ... and others, who have all day been cripples, maimed, dropsical, and beset with every sort of bodily ailment, come home at night, carrying under their arms a sirloin of beef, a joint of veal, or a leg of mutton, not forgetting to hang a bottle of wine to their belt, and, on entering the court, they throw aside their crutches, resume their healthy and lusty appearance, and, in imitation of the ancient Bacchanalian revelries, dance all kinds of dances with their trophies in their hands, whilst the host is preparing their suppers.  Can there be a greater miracle than is to be seen in this court, where the maimed walk upright?”

[Illustration:  Fig. 379.—­Cour des Miracles of Paris.  Talebot the Hunchback, a celebrated Scamp during the Seventeenth Century.—­From an old Engraving in the Collection of Engravings in the National Library of Paris.]