he mournful days
dragged on.

Jeanne and Lison got into the habit of going to church together without
letting the baron know; and a long time passed without any news from
Paul. Then, one morning they received a desperate letter which
terrified them.

"My Dear Mother: I am lost; I shall have no resource left but to
blow out my brains if you do not help me. A speculation which held
out every hope of success has turned the wrong way, and I owe
eighty-five thousand francs. It means dishonor, ruin, the
destruction of all my future if I do not pay, and, I say again,
rather than survive the disgrace, I will blow my brains out. I
should, perhaps, have done so already, had it not been for the
brave and hopeful words of a woman, whose name I never mention to
you, but who is the good genius of my life.

"I send you my very best love, dear mother. Goodbye, perhaps for
ever.

"Paul."

Enclosed in the letter was a bundle of business papers giving the
details of this unfortunate speculation. The baron answered by return
post that they would help as much as they could. Then he went to Havre
to get legal advice, mortgaged some property and forwarded the money to
Paul. The young man wrote back three letters full of hearty thanks, and
said they might expect him almost immediately. But he did not come, and
another year passed away.

Jeanne and the baron were on the point of starting for Paris, to find
him and make one last effort to persuade him to return, when they
received a few lines saying he was again in London, starting a steamboat
company which was to trade under the name of "Paul Delamare & Co." "I am
sure to get a living out of it," he wrote, "and perhaps it will make my
fortune, At any rate I risk nothing, and you must at once see the
advantages of the scheme. When I see you again, I shall be well up in
the world; there is nothing like trade for making money, nowadays."

Three months later, the company went into liquidation, and the manager
was prosecuted for falsifying the books. When the news reached Les
Peuples, Jeanne had a hysterical fit which lasted several hours. The
baron went to Havre, made every inquiry, saw lawyers and attorneys, and
found that the Delamare Company had failed for two hundred and fifty
thousand francs. He again mortgaged his property, and borrowed a large
sum on Les Peuples and the t