gure of M. Patterson, who had acted as his
guardian for ten years. None of M. Patterson's wise advice lingered
in the young fellow's mind. To use a familiar expression, "It went in
through one ear and came out through the other." Only two facts had made
an impression upon him: that he was to be his own master henceforth, and
that he had a fortune at his command. There it lay upon the table, five
thousand francs in glittering gold.

If M. Wilkie had taken the trouble to attentively examine the rooms
which had suddenly become his own, he would perhaps have recognized the
fact that a loving hand had prepared them for his reception. Countless
details revealed the delicate taste of a woman, and the thoughtful
tenderness of a mother. None of those little superfluities which delight
a young man had been forgotten. There was a box of choice cigars upon
the table, and a jar of tobacco on the mantel-shelf. But Wilkie did not
take time to discover this. He hastily slipped five hundred francs into
his pocket, locked the rest of his money in a drawer, and went out with
as lofty an air as if all Paris belonged to him, or as if he had enough
money to purchase it.

He had resolved to give a fete in honor of his deliverance, and so he
hurried off in search of some of his old college chums. He found two of
them; and, although it was very wounding to his self-love, M. Wilkie was
obliged to confess to them that this was his first taste of liberty,
and that he scarcely knew what to do with himself. Of course his friends
assured him that they could quickly make him acquainted with the only
life that it was worth while living; and, to prove it, they accepted
the invitation to dinner which he immediately offered them. It was a
remarkable repast. Other acquaintances dropped in, the wine flowed in
rivers; and after dinner they danced. And at day-break, having served
his apprenticeship at baccarat, M. Wilkie found himself without a penny
in his pocket, and face to face with a bill of four hundred francs, for
which amount he was obliged to go to his rooms, under the escort of one
of the waiters. This first experiment ought to have disgusted him, or at
least have made him reflect. But no. He felt quite in his element in the
society of dissipated young men and enamelled women. He swore that he
would win a place in their midst, and an influential place too. But
it was easier to form this plan than to carry it into execution, as he
discovered when, a