his conduct, full of desires, in a hurry to enjoy, discontented
with everything and everybody, with others as with himself. And he will
go on to speak of the embezzlement of the forty-five francs as the
beginning of the crimes that led to the assassination. You may be sure if
the affair goes to the assizes that you will hear these words and more,
and I assure you that it will be difficult for us to destroy the
impression that he will produce on the jury. But I hope we shall
succeed."

He had to give up the idea of obtaining the 'ordonnance de non-lieu', and
to tell himself that the 'affaire' would come before the assizes; but it
does not follow that one is condemned for what one is accused of, and
Saniel persisted in believing that Florentin would not be. Assuredly, the
prison was hard for the poor boy, and the trial before the jury, with all
the ignominy that necessarily accompanies it, would be harder yet. But,
after all, it would all disappear in the joy of acquittal; when that time
came, there would be found, surely, some ingenious idea, sympathy,
effective support, to pay him for all that he would have suffered.
Certainly, things would come to pass thus, and the acquittal would be
carried with a high hand.

He said this to himself again and again, and from the day when he put the
affair in Nougarede's hands, he often went to see him, to hear him repeat
it.

"He cannot be condemned; can he?"

"One may always be condemned, even when one is innocent; as one may die
at any time, you know that, even with excellent health."

In one of these visits he met Madame Nougarede, who had then been several
days married, and on recognizing in her the young virgin with a child, of
whom Caffie showed him the portrait, he was strengthened in his idea that
conscience, such as it was understood, was decidedly a strange
weighing-machine, which might be made to say whatever one chose. Of what
good were these hypocrisies, and whom did they deceive?

Although he had told Phillis repeatedly that an acquittal was certain,
and that he had promised her he would do all he could for
Florentin--which he really did--she did not give entirely into his hands,
or into Nougarede's, the task of defending her brother, but worked with
them in his defence.

Nougarede believed that the delay in bringing the affair before the
assizes was caused by the attempts to learn if, during his residence in
America, Florentin had not worked in some large meat-