"Was I dreaming?" he continued. "No, it was certainly Lacheneur who
confronted me. I am sure of it, and the proof is, that he reminded me of
a circumstance which occurred in my youth, and which was known only to
him and me. It happened during the Reign of Terror. He was all-powerful
in Montaignac; and I was accused of being in correspondence with the
_emigres_. My property had been confiscated; and every moment I was
expecting to feel the hand of the executioner upon my shoulder, when
Lacheneur took me into his house. He concealed me; he furnished me with
a passport; he saved my money, and he saved my head--I sentenced him to
death. That is the reason why I have seen him again. I must rejoin him;
he told me so--I am a dying man!"

He fell back upon his pillows, pulled the sheet up over his face, and,
lying there, rigid and motionless, one might readily have supposed it
was a corpse, whose outlines could be vaguely discerned through the
bed-coverings.

Mute with horror, the servants exchanged frightened glances.

Such baseness and ingratitude amazed them. It seemed incomprehensible
to them, under such circumstances, that the marquis had not pardoned
Lacheneur.

Mme. Blanche alone retained her presence of mind. Turning to her
father's valet, she said:

"It is not possible that anyone has attempted to injure my father?"

"I beg your pardon, Mademoiselle, a little more and he would have been
killed."

"How do you know this?"

"In undressing the marquis I noticed that he had received a wound in
the head. I also examined his hat, and in it I found three holes, which
could only have been made by bullets."

The worthy _valet de chambre_ was certainly more agitated than the
daughter.

"Then someone must have attempted to assassinate my father," she
murmured, "and this attack of delirium has been brought on by fright.
How can we find out who the would-be murderer was?"

The servant shook his head.

"I suspect that old poacher, who is always prowling around, is the
guilty man--Chupin."

"No, it could not have been he."

"Ah! I am almost sure of it. There is no one else in the neighborhood
capable of such an evil deed."

Mme. Blanche could not give her reasons for declaring Chupin innocent.
Nothing in the world would have induced her to admit that she had met
him, talked with him for more than half an hour, and just parted from
him.

She was silent. In a few moments the physician arrived.

He removed the co