ot
remember the colour of the hair, nor the appearance, nor the
peculiarities of his grandmother, who had accompanied the family in
its flight into Switzerland; and could not mention a single friend
with whom he had been intimate, either at Manosque, or Lausanne, or
Geneva.

One would have supposed that this remarkable display of ignorance
would have sufficed to convince all reasonable men of the falsity of
the story, but it was far otherwise. The relatives of de Caille were
called upon either to yield to his demands or disprove his identity;
and M. Rolland, whose wife, it will be remembered, had obtained a
large portion of the property, appeared against him. Twenty witnesses
were called, of whom several swore that the accused was Pierre Mege,
the son of a galley-slave, and that they had known him for twenty
years; while the others deposed that he was not the son of the Sieur
de Caille, in whose studies they had shared. The soldier was very
firm, however, and very brazen-faced, and demanded to be taken to the
places where the real de Caille had lived, so that the people might
have an opportunity of recognising him. Moreover, he deliberately
asserted that while he was in prison M. Rolland had made two attempts
against his life. He was conducted, according to his request, to
Manosque, Caille, and Rougon, and upwards of a hundred witnesses swore
that he was the man he represented himself to be. The court was
divided; but, after eight hours' consideration, twelve out of the
twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court of Provence pronounced in his
favour, and several of M. Rolland's witnesses were ordered into
custody to take their trial for perjury.

Three weeks after this decision the soldier married the daughter of
the Sieur Serri, a physician, who had privately supplied the funds for
carrying on the case. This girl's mother was a cousin of one of the
judges, and it soon came to be more than hinted that fair play had not
been done. However, the soldier took possession of the Caille
property, and drove out the poor persons who had been placed in the
mansion by Madame Rolland.

Honorade Venelle, the wife of Pierre Mege, who had preserved silence
during the proceedings, now appeared on the scene, all her fury being
roused by the marriage. She made a declaration before a notary at Aix,
in which she stated that she had unexpectedly heard that Pierre Mege
had been recognised as the son of the Sieur de Caille, and had
contracted