nd she was afraid of it now.

"When she thought of the life her mother had led,--a long series of
nights spent in orgies, and of days without bread; that life of distress
and disgrace, when she depended on the whims of a good-for-nothing, or
the suspicions of a police constable,--Sarah felt the cold perspiration
break out on her temples.

"She wanted her liberty; but she did not want it without money. Vice
attracted her irresistibly; but it was gorgeous vice, seated in a
carriage, and bespattering with mud the poor, honest women who had to
walk on foot, while it was envied by the crowd, and worshipped by the
foolish. She remained, therefore, and studied hard.

"Perhaps, in spite of everything, in spite of herself and her execrable
instincts, Sarah might have become a great artist, if the old German had
not been taken from her by a terrible accident.

"One fine afternoon in April, in the beginning of spring, he was smoking
his pipe at the window, when he heard a noise in the street, and leaned
over to see.

"The bar broke,--he tried in vain to hold on to the window-frame,--and
the next moment he fell from the fifth story to the ground, and was
killed instantly.

"I have held in my own hands the police report of the accident. It
states that the fall was unavoidable; and that, if no such calamity had
occurred before, this was due to the simple fact, that, during the bad
weather, nobody had thought of looking out of the window. The castings
of the little railing in front were found to be broken in two places,
and so long ago, that a thick layer of rust had filled up the cracks.
The wooden part had become perfectly loose, as the mortar that
originally had kept it in place had been apparently eaten away by the
winter frosts."

Daniel and Henrietta had turned very pale. It was evident that the same
terrible suspicion had flashed upon their mind.

"Ah! it was Sarah's work," they exclaimed simultaneously. "It was Sarah
who had broken the bar, and loosened the wooden rods; she had, no doubt,
been watching for months to see her benefactor fall and kill himself."

Papa Ravinet shook his head.

"I do not say that," he said; "and, at all events, it would be
impossible to prove it at this time,--I mean, to prove it against her
denial. It is certain that no one suspected Sarah. She seemed to be in
despair; and everybody pitied her sincerely. Was she not ruined by this
misfortune?

"The old artist had left no will. His rel