onscientiously repeated the same signals,
which were finally transmitted to the Minister of the Interior. "Now you
are rich," said Monte Cristo.

"Yes," replied the man, "but at what a price!"

"Listen, friend," said Monte Cristo. "I do not wish to cause you any
remorse; believe me, then, when I swear to you that you have wronged no
man, but on the contrary have benefited mankind." The man looked at the
bank-notes, felt them, counted them, turned pale, then red, then rushed
into his room to drink a glass of water, but he had no time to reach
the water-jug, and fainted in the midst of his dried herbs. Five minutes
after the new telegram reached the minister, Debray had the horses put
to his carriage, and drove to Danglars' house.

"Has your husband any Spanish bonds?" he asked of the baroness.

"I think so, indeed! He has six millions' worth."

"He must sell them at whatever price."

"Why?"

"Because Don Carlos has fled from Bourges, and has returned to Spain."

"How do you know?" Debray shrugged his shoulders. "The idea of
asking how I hear the news," he said. The baroness did not wait for
a repetition; she ran to her husband, who immediately hastened to his
agent, and ordered him to sell at any price. When it was seen that
Danglars sold, the Spanish funds fell directly. Danglars lost five
hundred thousand francs; but he rid himself of all his Spanish shares.
The same evening the following was read in Le Messager:

"[By telegraph.] The king, Don Carlos, has escaped the vigilance of
his guardians at Bourges, and has returned to Spain by the Catalonian
frontier. Barcelona has risen in his favor."

All that evening nothing was spoken of but the foresight of Danglars,
who had sold his shares, and of the luck of the stock-jobber, who only
lost five hundred thousand francs by such a blow. Those who had kept
their shares, or bought those of Danglars, looked upon themselves as
ruined, and passed a very bad night. Next morning Le Moniteur contained
the following:

"It was without any foundation that Le Messager yesterday announced the
flight of Don Carlos and the revolt of Barcelona. The king (Don Carlos)
has not left Bourges, and the peninsula is in the enjoyment of profound
peace. A telegraphic signal, improperly interpreted, owing to the fog,
was the cause of this error."

The funds rose one per cent higher than before they had fallen. This,
reckoning his loss, and what he had missed gaining, made the difference