In accordance with old-established custom, _Ferragus_ is a name taken
by the head of a guild of _Devorants_, _id est Devoirants_ or
journeymen. Every chief on the day of his election chooses a pseudonym
and continues a dynasty of _Devorants_ precisely as a pope changes his
name on his accession to the triple tiara; and as the Church has its
Clement XIV., Gregory XII., Julius II., or Alexander VI., so the
workmen have their Trempe-la-Soupe IX., Ferragus XXII., Tutanus XIII.,
or Masche-Fer IV. Who are the _Devorants_, do you ask?
The _Devorants_ are one among many tribes of _compagnons_ whose origin
can be traced to a great mystical association formed among the workmen
of Christendom for the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem.
_Compagnonnage_ is still a popular institution in France. Its
traditions still exert a power over little enlightened minds, over men
so uneducated that they have not learned to break their oaths; and the
various organizations might be turned to formidable account even yet
if any rough-hewn man of genius arose to make use of them, for his
instruments would be, for the most part, almost blind.
Wherever journeymen travel, they find a hostel for _compagnons_ which
has been in existence in the town from time immemorial. The _obade_,
as they call it, is a kind of lodge with a "Mother" in charge, an old,
half-gypsy wife who has nothing to lose. She hears all that goes on in
the countryside; and, either from fear or from long habit, is devoted
to the interests of the tribe boarded and lodged by her.
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