t
was no good to hunt in my pocket, and to turn it inside out; the small
bit of bone, which was no bigger than half a pin, had disappeared.

"You know, my dear little Abbe, that my faith is not very great, but, as
my friend, you are magnanimous enough to put up with my coldness, and to
leave me alone, and to wait for the future, so you say. But I absolutely
disbelieve in the relics of second-hand dealers in piety, and you share
my doubts in that respect. Therefore, the loss of that bit of sheep's
carcass did not grieve me, and I easily procured a similar fragment,
which I carefully fastened inside my jewel, and then I went to see my
intended.

"As soon as she saw me, she ran up to me, smiling and anxious, and said
to me:

"'What have you brought me?'

"I pretended to have forgotten, but she did not believe me, and I made
her beg me, and beseech me, even. But when I saw that she was devoured by
curiosity, I gave her the sacred silver box. She appeared over-joyed.

"'A relic! Oh! A relic!'

"And she kissed the box passionately, so that I was ashamed of my
deception. She was not quite satisfied, however, and her uneasiness soon
turned to terrible fear, and looking straight into my eyes, she said:

"'Are you sure that it is authentic?'

"'Absolutely certain.'

"'How can you be so certain?'

"I was caught, for to say that I had bought it through a man in the
streets, would be my destruction. What was I to say? A wild idea struck
me, and I said, in a low, mysterious voice:

"'I stole it for you.'

"She looked at me with astonishment and delight in her large eyes.

"'Oh! You stole it? Where?'

"'In the cathedral; in the very shrine of the Eleven Thousand Virgins.'

"Her heart beat with pleasure, and she murmured:

"'Oh! Did you really do that ... for me? Tell me ... all about it!'

"There was an end of it, and I could not go back. I made up a fanciful
story, with precise details. I had given the custodian of the building a
hundred francs to be allowed to go about the building by myself; the
shrine was being repaired, but I happened to be there at the breakfast
time of the workmen and clergy; by removing a small panel, I had been
enabled to seize a small piece of bone (oh! so small), among a quantity
of others, (I said a quantity, as I thought of the amount that the
remains of the skeletons of eleven thousand virgins must produce). Then I
went to a goldsmith's and bought a casket worthy of the relic; and I