resources he would have when his last ducat was
melted up. He pursued his work and continued his purchases, apparently
unaware that he was now no more than the titular owner of his house and
lands, and that he could not, thanks to the severity of the laws, raise
another penny upon a property of which he was now, as it were, the legal
guardian.

The year 1818 ended without bringing any new misfortune. The sisters
paid the costs of Jean's education and met all the expenses of the
household out of the thirteen thousand francs a year from the sum placed
in the Grand-Livre in Gabriel's name, which he punctually remitted to
them. Monsieur de Solis lost his uncle, the abbe, in December of that
year.

Early in January Marguerite learned through Martha that her father had
sold his collection of tulips, also the furniture of the front house,
and all the family silver. She was obliged to buy back the spoons and
forks that were necessary for the daily service of the table, and
these she now ordered to be stamped with her initials. Until that day
Marguerite had kept silence towards her father on the subject of his
depredations, but that evening after dinner she requested Felicie to
leave her alone with him, and when he seated himself as usual by the
corner of the parlor fireplace, she said:--

"My dear father, you are the master here, and can sell everything,
even your children. We are ready to obey you without a murmur; but I am
forced to tell you that we are without money, that we have barely enough
to live on, and that Felicie and I are obliged to work night and day to
pay for the schooling of little Jean with the price of the lace dress
we are now making. My dear father, I implore you to give up your
researches."

"You are right, my dear child; in six weeks they will be finished;
I shall have found the Absolute, or the Absolute will be proved
undiscoverable. You will have millions--"

"Give us meanwhile the bread to eat," replied Marguerite.

"Bread? is there no bread here?" said Claes, with a frightened air. "No
bread in the house of a Claes! What has become of our property?"

"You have cut down the forest of Waignies. The ground has not been
cleared and is therefore unproductive. As for your farms at Orchies,
the rents scarcely suffice to pay the interest of the sums you have
borrowed--"

"Then what are we living on?" he demanded.

Marguerite held up her needle and continued:--

"Gabriel's income helps us, but it