Providence! Human justice is, I
believe, the development of the divine thought which hovers over the
worlds." He seized Ursula and kissed her forehead. "Oh! my child, you
will be rich and happy, and all through me!"

"What is it?" exclaimed the abbe.

"Oh, monsieur," cried La Bougival, catching Bongrand's blue overcoat,
"let me kiss you for what you've just said."

"Explain, explain! don't give us false hopes," said the abbe.

"If I bring trouble on others by becoming rich," said Ursula, forseeing
a criminal trial, "I--"

"Remember," said the justice, interrupting her, "the happiness you will
give to Savinien."

"Are you mad?" said the abbe.

"No, my dear friend," said Bongrand. "Listen; the certificates in the
Funds are issued in series,--as many series as there are letters in
the alphabet; and each number bears the letter of its series. But the
certificates which are made out 'to bearer' cannot have a letter; they
are not in any person's name. What you see there shows that the day the
doctor placed his money in the Funds, he noted down, first, the number
of his own certificate for fifteen thousand francs interest which bears
his initial M; next, the numbers of three inscriptions to bearer; these
are without a letter; and thirdly, the certificate of Ursula's share in
the Funds, the number of which is 23,534, and which follows, as you see,
that of the fifteen-thousand-franc certificate with lettering. This
goes far to prove that those numbers are those of five certificates of
investments made on the same day and noted down by the doctor in case of
loss. I advised him to take certificates to bearer for Ursula's fortune,
and he must have made his own investment and that of Ursula's little
property the same day. I'll go to Dionis's office and look at the
inventory. If the number of the certificate for his own investment is
23,533, letter M, we may be sure that he invested, through the same
broker on the same day, first his own property on a single certificate;
secondly his savings in three certificates to bearer (numbered, but
without the series letter); thirdly, Ursula's own property; the transfer
books will show, of course, undeniable proofs of this. Ha! Minoret, you
deceiver, I have you--Motus, my children!"

Whereupon he left them abruptly to reflect with admiration on the ways
by which Providence had brought the innocent to victory.

"The finger of God is in all this," cried the abbe.

"Will they punish hi