pallor
overspread his once rubicund countenance; it wore the peculiarly
sinister and stony look of the mysterious visitor. The sullen glare of
his eyes was intolerable, the fierce light in them seemed to scorch. The
man who had looked so good-humored and good-natured had suddenly grown
tyrannical and proud. The courtesan thought that Castanier had grown
thinner; there was a terrible majesty in his brow; it was as if a dragon
breathed forth a malignant influence that weighed upon the others like a
close, heavy atmosphere. For a moment Aquilina knew not what to do.

"What has passed between you and that diabolical-looking man in those
few minutes?" she asked at length.

"I have sold my soul to him. I feel it; I am no longer the same. He has
taken my _self_, and given me his soul in exchange."

"What?"

"You would not understand it at all.... Ah! he was right," Castanier
went on, "the fiend was right! I see everything and know all
things.--You have been deceiving me!"

Aquilina turned cold with terror. Castanier lighted a candle and
went into the dressing-room. The unhappy girl followed him with dazed
bewilderment, and great was her astonishment when Castanier drew the
dresses that hung there aside and disclosed the sergeant.

"Come out, my boy," said the cashier; and, taking Leon by a button of
his overcoat, he drew the officer into his room.

The Piedmontese, haggard and desperate, had flung herself into her
easy-chair. Castanier seated himself on a sofa by the fire, and left
Aquilina's lover in a standing position.

"You have been in the army," said Leon; "I am ready to give you
satisfaction."

"You are a fool," said Castanier drily. "I have no occasion to fight.
I could kill you by a look if I had any mind to do it. I will tell you
what it is, youngster; why should I kill you? I can see a red line round
your neck--the guillotine is waiting for you. Yes, you will end in the
Place de Greve. You are the headsman's property! there is no escape for
you. You belong to a vendita, of the Carbonari. You are plotting against
the Government."

"You did not tell me that," cried the Piedmontese, turning to Leon.

"So you do not know that the Minister decided this morning to put down
your Society?" the cashier continued. "The Procureur-General has a list
of your names. You have been betrayed. They are busy drawing up the
indictment at this moment."

"Then was it you who betrayed him?" cried Aquilina, and with a hoarse