hat there was nothing more to
be made, got themselves out of the scrape, but she had faithfully
tended the wounded man by night and day, and persuaded the host that he
was getting better, and would if secrecy were maintained reward him
liberally by-and-by. It was only when he had drawn his last breath that
she thought of herself with any anxiety, for during his illness she had
been obliged to spend all the money he had won at play, and the few
ornaments she had, she had sold to a Jew in hopes of getting him
quietly buried. As to her future maintenance, however, she continued
with brazen assurance, she should have no fear, as she was young
and--thank God!--not ugly, if only she were acquitted by us, and could
get to a country where people understood her. The dead man had, indeed,
treated her liberally as regarded dress, food, and presents, but she
had not had much pleasure with him, for he was of a sulky temper, and
not a thorough Frenchman, spite of his name. She rather thought he must
have been an Alsatian. He called himself Laporte, had travelled through
many lands, had served in the Dutch army, and was not fond of speaking
about his past. The idea of travelling in Switzerland occurred to him
when he had exhausted all his means. She had never found out whether he
had a treasure buried in this country, or friends who were in any way
bound to him, and at whose door he had only to knock in order to be set
on his legs again. This was the simple truth, and more she did not
herself know, and therefore could not tell us, even if she were put to
the torture.

"After this declaration of Fleurette,--which was the female's name--the
mayor ordered that the body should be moved from the inn (where as yet
the death had not transpired) to the hospital, and last night it was
borne upon a bier into the dead house, and a protocol was made previous
to the interment of the stranger--as such--close to the churchyard
wall. The foreign hussy was meanwhile confined for a season in the
tower of the hospital. When we betook ourselves this morning to the
dead house, and the inspector had given us his report, namely, that
the wound had been dealt by a German sword between the fourth and
fifth ribs, and that it was a marvel such a wound had been so long
survived--there came a judicial investigation of the clothes and few
effects found, the result of which in no way contradicted, but rather
confirmed, the young woman's statement. We found that in