riend of the rascal!" they shouted on all sides.

But he was not the man to be so easily frightened. He had seen many
a worse case during twenty years that he had practised law, and had
witnessed all the sinister comedies and all the grotesque dramas of
money. He knew how to speak to infuriated creditors, how to handle
them, and what strings can be made to vibrate within them. In the
most quiet tone,

"Certainly," he answered, "I was Favoral's intimate friend; and the
proof of it is, that he has treated me more friendly than the rest.
I am in for a hundred and sixty thousand francs."

By this mere declaration he conquered the sympathies of the crowd.
He was a brother in misfortune; they respected him: he was a skilful
business-man; they stopped to listen to him.

At once, and in a short and trenchant tone, he asked these invaders
what they were doing there, and what they wanted. Did they not know
to what they exposed themselves in violating a domicile? What would
have happened, if, instead of stopping to parley, Maxence had sent
for the commissary of police? Was it to Mme. Favoral and her
children that they had intrusted their funds? No! What did they
want with them then? Was there by chance among them some of those
shrewd fellows who always try to get themselves paid in full, to the
detriment of the others?

This last insinuation proved sufficient to break up the perfect
accord that had hitherto existed among all the creditors. Distrust
arose; suspicious glances were exchanged; and, as the old newspaper
woman was keeping up her groans,

"I should like to know why you should be paid before us," two women
told her roughly. "Our rights are just as good as yours!"

Prompt to avail himself of the dispositions of the crowd,

"And, moreover," resumed the old lawyer, "in whom did we place our
confidence? Was it in Favoral the private individual? To a certain
extent, yes; but it was much more to the cashier of the Mutual
Credit. Therefore that establishment owes us, at least, some
explanations. And this is not all. Are we really so badly burned,
that we should scream so loud? What do we know about it? That
Favoral is charged with embezzlement, that they came to arrest him,
and that he has run away. Is that any reason why our money should
be lost? I hope not. And so what should we do? Act prudently,
and wait patiently for the work of justice."

Already, by this time, the creditors had slipped out