f his chief, the very thought of whom made him
tremble, he said:

"I must let them know at the office."

"Why?" she replied. "On occasions like this, it is always excusable to
forget. Take my advice, and don't let him know; your chief will not be
able to say anything to you, and you will put him in a nice fix.

"Oh! yes, that I shall, and he will be in a terrible rage, too, when he
notices my absence. Yes, you are right; it is a capital idea, and when I
tell him that my mother is dead, he will be obliged to hold his tongue."

And he rubbed his hands in delight at the joke, when he thought of his
chief's face; while upstairs lay the body of the dead old woman, with the
servant asleep beside it.

But Madame Caravan grew thoughtful, as if she were preoccupied by
something which she did not care to mention, and at last she said:

"Your mother had given you her clock, had she not--the girl playing
at cup and ball?"

He thought for a moment, and then replied:

"Yes, yes; she said to me (but it was a long time ago, when she first
came here): 'I shall leave the clock to you, if you look after me well.'"

Madame Caravan was reassured, and regained her serenity, and said:

"Well, then, you must go and fetch it out of her room, for if we get your
sister here, she will prevent us from taking it."

He hesitated.

"Do you think so?"

That made her angry.

"I certainly think so; once it is in our possession, she will know
nothing at all about where it came from; it belongs to us. It is just the
same with the chest of drawers with the marble top, that is in her room;
she gave it me one day when she was in a good temper. We will bring it
down at the same time."

Caravan, however, seemed incredulous, and said:

"But, my dear, it is a great responsibility!"

She turned on him furiously.

"Oh! Indeed! Will you never change? You would let your children die of
hunger, rather than make a move. Does not that chest of drawers belong to
us, as she gave it to me? And if your sister is not satisfied, let her
tell me so, me! I don't care a straw for your sister. Come, get up, and
we will bring down what your mother gave us, immediately."

Trembling and vanquished, he got out of bed and began to put on his
trousers, but she stopped him:

"It is not worth while to dress yourself; your underwear is quite enough.
I mean to go as I am."

They both left the room in their night clothes, went upstairs quite
noiselessly, opened th