Clergot the hundred thousand francs."

The old man tore the cravat from his swelling throat, and wiped the
beads of cold sweat that bedewed his brow.

"When this man recovers his self-command," thought Andre, "he will never
forgive me for having been the involuntary listener to this terrible
tale." But in this Andre was mistaken, for unsophisticated nature
requires sympathy, and Nichols Gandelu would have said the same to the
first comer.

"Before, however, delivering the hundred thousand francs, the usurer
wished to make himself more secure, and asked for a certificate from
some one who had seen me. This person was his friend. He spoke to me of
a medical man, a specialist, who would understand my case at once. Would
I not see him? Never had I seen my son so tender and affectionate. I
yielded to his entreaties at last, and one evening I said to him, 'Bring
in this wonderful physician, if you really think he can do anything for
me,' and he did bring him.

"Yes, M. Andre, he found a medical man base and vile enough to become
the tool of my son, and a money-lender; and if I choose, I can expose
him to the loathing of the world, and the contempt of his brethren.

"The fellow came, and his visit lasted nearly an hour. I can see him
now, asking questions and feeling my pulse. He went away at last, and my
son followed him. They both met Clergot, who was waiting in the street.
'You can pay him the cash; the old man won't last twenty-four hours
longer,' said the doctor; and then my son came back happy and radiant,
and assured me that I should soon be well again. And strange as it may
seem, a change for the better took place that very night. Clergot had
asked for forty-eight hours in which to raise the sum required. He heard
of my convalescence, and my son lost the money.

"Was it courage you lacked?" asked the old man, turning for the first
time to his son. "Did you not know that ten drops instead of one of the
medicine I was taking would have freed you from me for ever?"

Gaston did not seem at all overwhelmed. Indeed, he was wondering how the
matter had reached his father's ears, and how Catenac had discovered the
rough draft of the agreement.

The contractor had imagined that his son would implore forgiveness; but
seeing that he remained obdurate, his violence burst forth again. "And
do you know what use my son would make of my fortune? He would squander
it on a creature he picked up out of the streets,--a woman he