en on my cashier."

"To whom payable?"

Felix answered by pressing the check into the abbe's hand, while he
whispered in his ear:

"To the friendly representative."

The other shook his head, with a wounded look on his face. "You mean
to offer _me_ a present?" he said, haughtily.

"You do not understand," returned Felix. "This money does not come
from me; it forms part of the expenses of the company, and in all such
undertakings figures under the head of 'necessary expenses.'"

As he spoke, Felix lit another cigar, and looked slyly at his
companion, as who should say, "You see what a capital fellow I am!"
Round the abbe Samuel's mouth a contemptuous smile flickered as he
tore the check for forty thousand gulden into four pieces; then he
laid his hand upon the banker's shoulder.

"My dear boy," he said, "I had the whole Bondavara property in the
hollow of my hand; it was mine to do as I chose with it. I did with it
as I do with these pieces of paper." He threw the torn check into the
grate. "Know me, once for all. I am no begging monk. I am a candidate
for high honors; nothing will content me but to be ruler of a
kingdom."

The haughty air with which the abbe said these words impressed the
banker so much that he laid down his cigar and stared vacantly at his
visitor.

"That is a great word," he said, slowly.

"Sit down and listen to what I shall disclose to you," returned the
priest, who, with his hands behind his back, now began to walk up and
down the room, pausing from time to time before his astonished
listener, to whom he poured out a torrent of words.

"The whole world is in labor," he said, "and brings forth nothing but
mice. And wherefore? Because the lions will not come into the world.
Chaos rules everywhere--in finance, in diplomacy, in the Church. One
man who would have intellect enough to see clearly could be master of
the situation. But where is he to be found? Fools in embroidered coats
are the leaders; therefore we see a country governed by incapables,
who do not know even where to begin. They would fain force it to
submit, but are afraid to use the necessary means. They oppress it,
and at the same time live in dread of what it may do. And this same
country does not itself know what to-morrow may bring, whether it
shall submit, pay the demands of its oppressors, or appeal to arms
against their tyranny; neither does it know who is its foe, who is its
friend, with whom to ally itself, against