They were friends in a friendship closer than brotherhood. Nello was a little Ardennois; Patrasche was a big Fleming. They were both of the same age by length of years; yet one was still young, and the other was already old. They had dwelt together almost all their days; both were orphaned and destitute, and owed their lives to the same hand. It had been the beginning of the tie between them,--their first bond of sympathy,--and it had strengthened day by day, and had grown with their growth, firm and indissoluble, until they loved one another very greatly.