n the letter.

"Well, how is the translation of that letter from Dacca coming along?"
he asked.

"I have only just commenced it," replied Perrine timidly.

"M. Theodore interrupted you just now. What did he want?"

"A French and English dictionary."

"What for? He doesn't know English."

"He did not tell me why he wanted it."

"Did he want to know what was in the letter?" asked Talouel.

"I had only commenced the first phrase," said Perrine, evasively.

"You don't ask me to believe that you have not read it?"

"I have not yet translated it."

"I ask you if you have read it."

"I cannot reply to that."

"Why not?"

"Because M. Vulfran has forbidden me to speak of this letter."

"You know very well that M. Vulfran and I are as one. All of his orders
pass by me; all favors that he bestows are also passed by me. I have to
know all that concerns him."

"Even his personal affairs?"

"Does that letter relate to personal affairs then?" asked Talouel.

She realized that she had let herself be caught.

"I did not say that," she said. "I said that in case it was a personal
letter, ought I to let you know the contents?"

"I certainly should know," said Talouel, "if it relates to personal
affairs. Do you know that he is ill from worrying over matters which
might kill him? If he now received some news that might cause him great
sorrow or great joy, it might prove fatal to him. He must not be told
anything suddenly. That is why I ought to know beforehand anything that
concerns him, so as to prepare him. I could not do that if you read your
translation straight off to him."

He said this in a suave, insinuating voice, very different from his
ordinary rough tones.

She was silent, looking up at him with an emotion which made her very
pale.

"I hope that you are intelligent enough to understand what I am telling
you," he continued. "It is important for us, for the entire town, who
depend upon M. Vulfran for a livelihood, to consider his health. See
what a good job you have now with him; in time it will be much better.
We, every one of us, must work for his good. He looks strong, but he is
not so strong as he appears, so much sorrow has undermined his health;
and then the loss of his sight depresses him terribly. He places every
confidence in me, and I must see that nothing hurts him."

If Perrine had not known Talouel she might have been won by his words;
but after what she had heard the factory girls say a