house."

"Well, why not?" replied Camors, with the same voice and manner of
supreme indifference; and, throwing his bridle to the servant who
followed him, he passed through the gardengate, led, supported, caressed
by the trembling hand of Lescande.

The garden was small, but beautifully tended and full of rare plants. At
the end, a small villa, in the Italian style, showed its graceful porch.

"Ah, that is pretty!" exclaimed Camors, at last.

"And you recognize my plan, Number Three, do you not?" asked Lescande,
eagerly.

"Your plan Number Three? Ah, yes, perfectly," replied Camors, absently.
"And your pretty little cousin--is she within?"

"She is there, my dear friend," answered Lescande, in a low voice--and
he pointed to the closed shutters of a large window of a balcony
surmounting the veranda. "She is there; and this is our son."

Camors let his hand pass listlessly over the child's hair. "The deuce!"
he said; "but you have not wasted time. And you are happy, my good
fellow?"

"So happy, my dear friend, that I am sometimes uneasy, for the good
God is too kind to me. It is true, though, I had to work very hard. For
instance, I passed two years in Spain--in the mountains of that infernal
country. There I built a fairy palace for the Marquis of Buena-Vista, a
great nobleman, who had seen my plan at the Exhibition and was delighted
with it. This was the beginning of my fortune; but you must not imagine
that my profession alone has enriched me so quickly. I made some
successful speculations--some unheard of chances in lands; and, I beg
you to believe, honestly, too. Still, I am not a millionaire; but you
know I had nothing, and my wife less; now, my house paid for, we have
ten thousand francs' income left. It is not a fortune for us, living in
this style; but I still work and keep good courage, and my Juliette is
happy in her paradise!"

"She wears no more soiled cuffs, then?" said Camors.

"I warrant she does not! Indeed, she has a slight tendency to
luxury--like all women, you know. But I am delighted to see you remember
so well our college follies. I also, through all my distractions, never
forgot you a moment. I even had a foolish idea of asking you to my
wedding, only I did not dare. You are so brilliant, so petted, with your
establishment and your racers. My wife knows you very well; in fact, we
have talked of you a hundred thousand times. Since she patronizes the
turf and subscribes for 'The Sport',