he
gave Clotilde very good advice, telling her that she must make allowance
for Maxime's sufferings, that he had undoubtedly a great deal of
affection and gratitude for her, in short that it was her duty to devote
herself to him to the end. When he signed the letter tears dimmed
his sight. It was his death warrant--a death like that of an old and
solitary brute, a death without a kiss, without the touch of a friendly
hand--that he was signing. Never again would he embrace her. Then
doubts assailed him; was he doing right in leaving her amid such evil
surroundings, where he felt that she was in continual contact with every
species of wickedness?

The postman brought the letters and newspapers to La Souleiade every
morning at about nine o'clock; and Pascal, when he wrote to Clotilde,
was accustomed to watch for him, to give him his letter, so as to
be certain that his correspondence was not intercepted. But on this
morning, when he went downstairs to give him the letter he had just
written, he was surprised to receive one from him from Clotilde,
although it was not the usual day for her letters. He allowed his own to
go, however. Then he went upstairs, resumed his seat at his table, and
tore open the envelope.

The letter was short, but its contents filled Pascal with a great joy.

* * * * *

But the sound of footsteps made him control himself. He turned round and
saw Martine, who was saying:

"Dr. Ramond is downstairs."

"Ah! let him come up, let him come up," he said.

It was another piece of good fortune that had come to him. Ramond cried
gaily from the door:

"Victory, master! I have brought you your money--not all, but a good
sum."

And he told the story--an unexpected piece of good luck which his
father-in-law, M. Leveque, had brought to light. The receipts for
the hundred and twenty thousand francs, which constituted Pascal the
personal creditor of Grandguillot, were valueless, since the latter was
insolvent. Salvation was to come from the power of attorney which the
doctor had sent him years before, at his request, that he might invest
all or part of his money in mortgages. As the name of the proxy was in
blank in the document, the notary, as is sometimes done, had made use
of the name of one of his clerks, and eighty thousand francs, which had
been invested in good mortgages, had thus been recovered through the
agency of a worthy man who was not in the secrets of his employer. If
Pascal had taken ac