lth had employed; and which
had, perhaps, prevented Pascal from yielding to Madame d'Argeles's
entreaties. Everybody applauded the sentiment--everybody, the baron
excepted. This rich man, whose passions had dragged him into the vilest
dens of Europe, was thoroughly acquainted with sharpers and scoundrels
of every type, from those who ride in their carriages down to the
bare-footed vagabond. He knew the thief who grovels at his victim's
feet, humbly confessing his crime, the desperate knave who swallows the
notes he has stolen, the abject wretch who bares his back to receive the
blows he deserves, and the rascal who boldly confronts his accusers and
protests his innocence with the indignation of an honest man. But never,
in any of these scoundrels, had the baron seen the proud, steadfast
glance with which this man had awed his accusers.

With this thought uppermost in his mind he drew the person who had
seized Pascal's hands at the card-table a little aside. "Tell me," said
he, "did you actually see that young man slip the cards into the pack?"

"No, not exactly. But you know what we agreed at supper? We were sure
that he was cheating; and it was necessary to find some pretext for
counting the cards."

"What if he shouldn't be guilty, after all?"

"Who else could be guilty then? He was the only winner."

To this terrible argument--the same which had silenced Pascal--the baron
made no reply. Indeed his intervention became necessary elsewhere, for
the other guests were beginning to talk loudly and excitedly around the
pile of gold and bank-notes which Pascal had left on the table. They
had counted it, and found it to amount to the sum of thirty-six thousand
three hundred and twenty francs; and it was the question of dividing it
properly among the losers which was causing all this uproar. Among these
guests, who belonged to the highest society--among these judges who had
so summarily convicted an innocent man, and suggested the searching of
a supposed sharper only a moment before--there were several who
unblushingly misrepresented their losses. This was undeniable; for on
adding the various amounts that were claimed together a grand total of
ninety-one thousand francs was reached. Had this man who had just fled
taken the difference between the two sums away with him? A difference
amounting almost to fifty-five thousand francs? No, this was impossible;
the supposition could not be entertained for a moment. However, the