auty and their
tact may secure an immense fortune to themselves and their comrades; and
according to chance, to their skill, or the whims or the folly of men,
they end by marrying some great personage in high life, or by keeping
a wretched gambling hell in the suburbs. They may fall upon the velvet
cushions of a princely carriage, or sink, step by step, to the lowest
depths of society.

"M. Elgin and Mrs. Brian had agreed that they would exhibit Sarah in
Paris; that she was to marry a duke with any number of millions; and
that they should be paid for their trouble by receiving an annual
allowance of some ten thousand dollars. But, in order to undertake the
adventure with a good chance of success, it was indispensable that Sarah
should lose her nationality as a Parisian; that she should rise anew, as
an unknown star; and, above all, that she should be trained and schooled
for the profession she was to practise.

"Hence the trip to America, and her long residence there.

"Chance had helped the wretches. They had hardly landed, when they
found that they could easily introduce the girl as the daughter of
Gen. Brandon, just as Justin Chevassat had managed to become Maxime
de Brevan. In this way, Ernestine Bergot appeared at once in the best
society of Philadelphia as Sarah Brandon. Not less prudent than Maxime,
M. Elgin also purchased, in spite of his limited means, for a thousand
dollars, vast tracts of land in the western part of the State, where
there was no trace of oil-wells, but where there might very well be a
good many, and had them entered upon the name of his ward.

"Of all these measures, I have the evidence in hand, and can produce it
at any moment."

For some time already, Daniel and Henrietta had looked at each other
with utter amazement. They were almost dumfounded by the prodigious
sagacity, the cunning, patience, and labor which the old dealer
must have employed to collect this vast mass of information. But he
continued, after a short pause,--

"Sir Thorn and Mrs. Brian found out in a few days how well they had
been served by their instincts in taking hold of Sarah. In less than six
months, this wonderful girl, whose education they had undertaken, spoke
English as well as they did, and had become their master, controlling
them by the very superiority of her wickedness. From the day on which
Mrs. Brian explained to her the part she was expected to play, she
had assumed it so naturally and so perfectly,