o have ignored the verdicts against them."

"I think," said Michaud, seeing that the general looked thoughtful,
"that if you are willing to spend a good deal of money you can still
protect the property."

"It is better to spend money than to act harshly," remarked Sibilet.

"What is your plan?" asked the general of his bailiff.

"It is very simple," said Michaud. "Inclose the whole forest with walls,
like those of the park, and you will be safe; the slightest depredation
then becomes a criminal offence and is taken to the assizes."

"At a franc and a half the square foot for the material only, Monsieur
le comte would find his wall would cost him a third of the whole value
of Les Aigues," said Sibilet, with a laugh.

"Well, well," said Montcornet, "I shall go and see the attorney-general
at once."

"The attorney-general," remarked Sibilet, gently, "may perhaps share the
opinion of his subordinate; for the negligence shown by the latter is
probably the result of an agreement between them."

"Then I wish to know it!" cried Montcornet. "If I have to get the whole
of them turned out, judges, civil authorities, and the attorney-general
to boot, I'll do it; I'll go the Keeper of the Seals, or to the king
himself."

At a vehement sign made by Michaud the general stopped short and said
to Sibilet, as he turned to retrace his steps, "Good day, my dear
fellow,"--words which the steward understood.

"Does Monsieur le comte intend, as mayor, to enforce the necessary
measures to repress the abuse of gleaning?" he said, respectfully.
"The harvest is coming on, and if we are to publish the statutes about
certificates of pauperism and the prevention of paupers from other
districts gleaning our land, there is no time to be lost."

"Do it at once, and arrange with Groison," said the count. "With such a
class of people," he added, "we must follow out the law."

So, without a moment's reflection, Montcornet gave in to a measure that
Sibilet had been proposing to him for more than a fortnight, to which
he had hitherto refused to consent; but now, in the violence of anger
caused by Vatel's mishap, he instantly adopted it as the right thing to
do.

When Sibilet was at some distance the general said in a low voice to his
bailiff:--

"Well, my dear Michaud, what is it; why did you make me that sign?"

"You have an enemy within the walls, general, yet you tell him plans
which you ought not to confide even to the secret police."