here. The landlord doesn't want any thieves in his house. He's sold his
rubbish and started for America, with his old witch of a mother."

So saying he closed the door again, and Marguerite was so overwhelmed by
this last and unexpected misfortune, that she could hardly stagger back
to the vehicle. "Gone!" she murmured; "gone! without a thought of me! Or
does he believe me to be like all the rest? But I will find him again.
That man Fortunat, who ascertained addresses for M. de Chalusse, will
find Pascal for me."

XIII.

Few people have any idea of the great number of estates which, in
default of heirs to claim them, annually revert to the government. The
treasury derives large sums from this source every year. And this is
easily explained, for nowadays family ties are becoming less and less
binding. Brothers cease to meet; their children no longer know each
other; and the members of the second generation are as perfect strangers
as though they were not united by a bond of consanguinity. The young man
whom love of adventure lures to a far-off country, and the young girl
who marries against her parents' wishes, soon cease to exist for their
relatives. No one even inquires what has become of them. Those who
remain at home are afraid to ask whether they are prosperous or
unfortunate, lest they should be called upon to assist the wanderers.
Forgotten themselves, the adventurers in their turn soon forget.
If fortune smiles upon them, they are careful not to inform their
relatives. Poor--they have been cast off; wealthy--they themselves deny
their kindred. Having become rich unaided, they find an egotistical
satisfaction in spending their money alone in accordance with their own
fancies. Now when a man of this class dies what happens? The servants
and people around him profit of his loneliness and isolation, and the
justice of the peace is only summoned to affix the seals, after they
have removed all the portable property. An inventory is taken, and after
a few formalities, as no heirs present themselves, the court declares
the inheritance to be in abeyance, and appoints a trustee.

This trustee's duties are very simple. He manages the property and
remits the income to the Treasury until a legal judgment declares the
estate the property of the country, regardless of any heirs who may
present themselves in future.

"If I only had a twentieth part of the money that is lost in this way,
my fortune would be made,"