f honesty to be so extremely suspicious. Would it not have been easier
to suppose that the deceased had placed the money somewhere else, and
that it will yet be found?"

The clerk had been even less disturbed than the magistrate. He also was
blase, having witnessed too many of those frightful and shameless dramas
which are enacted at a dead man's bedside, to be surprised at anything.
If he had deigned to glance at the escritoire, it was only because
he was curious to see how small a space would suffice to contain two
millions; and then he had begun to calculate how many years he would
be obliged to remain a clerk before he could succeed in amassing such
a fabulous sum. However, hearing his superior express the intention
of continuing the search for the will, and the missing treasure, he
abruptly abandoned his calculation, and exclaimed, "Then, I suppose, I
can commence my report, monsieur?"

"Yes," replied the magistrate, "write as follows:" And in a monotonous
voice he began to dictate the prescribed formula, an unnecessary
proceeding, for the clerk was quite as familiar with it as the
magistrate himself:--"On the 16th of October, 186-, at nine o'clock
in the morning, in compliance with the request of the servants of the
deceased Louis-Henri-Raymond de Durtal, Count de Chalusse, and in the
interest of his presumptive heirs, and all others connected with him,
and in accordance with the requirements of clauses 819 (Code Napoleon)
and 909 (Code of Procedure), we, justice of the peace, accompanied by
our clerk, visited the residence of the deceased aforesaid, in the
Rue de Courcelles, where, having entered a bedroom opening on to the
courtyard, and lighted by two windows looking toward the south, we found
the body of the deceased aforesaid, lying on his bed, and covered with a
sheet. In this room were----" He paused in his dictation, and addressing
the clerk, "Take down the names of all present," said he. "That will
require some little time, and, meanwhile, I will continue my search."

They had, in fact, only examined the shelf of the escritoire, and the
drawers were still to be inspected. In the first which he opened, the
magistrate found ample proofs of the accuracy of the information which
had been furnished him by Mademoiselle Marguerite. The drawer contained
a memorandum which established the fact that the Credit Foncier had lent
M. de Chalusse the sum of eight hundred and fifty thousand francs, which
had been remit