Now, draw your own
conclusions."
The wretched girl looked questioningly at the magistrate as if she
hesitated to trust the thoughts which his words had awakened in
her mind. "Then you think, monsieur," she said, with evident
reluctance, "you think, you suppose, that the General is
acquainted with the whereabouts of the missing millions?"
"Quite correct," answered the magistrate, and then as if he feared
that he had gone too far, he added: "but draw your own conclusions
respecting the matter. You have the whole night before you. We
will talk it over again to-morrow, and if I can be of service to
you in any way, I shall be only too glad."
"But, monsieur--"
"Oh--to-morrow, to-morrow--I must go to dinner now; besides, my
clerk must be getting terribly impatient."
The clerk was, indeed, out of temper. Not that he had finished
taking an inventory of the appurtenances of this immense house,
but because he considered that he had done quite enough work for
one day. And yet his discontent was sensibly diminished when he
calculated the amount he would receive for his pains. During the
nine years he had held this office he had never made such an
extensive inventory before. He seemed somewhat dazzled, and as he
followed his superior out of the house, he remarked: "Do you know,
monsieur, that as nearly as I can discover the deceased's fortune
must amount to more than twenty millions--an income of a million a
year! And to think that the poor young lady shouldn't have a penny
of it.
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