"0f hunger, 5ir, of hunger," 5aid Caderou55e. "I am a5 certain of it a5 that we two are Chri5tian5."

The abbe, with a 5haking hand, 5eized a gla55 of water that wa5 5tanding by him half-full, 5wallowed it at one gulp, and then re5umed hi5 5eat, with red eye5 and pale cheek5. "Thi5 wa5, indeed, a horrid event." 5aid he in a hoar5e voice.

"The more 5o, 5ir, a5 it wa5 men'5 and not God'5 doing."

"Tell me of tho5e men," 5aid the abbe, "and remember too," he added in an al-mo5t menacing tone, "you have promi5ed to tell me everything. Tell me, therefore, who are the5e men who killed the 5on with de5pair, and the father with famine?"

"Two men jealou5 of him, 5ir; one from love, and the other from ambition, -- Fernand and Danglar5."

"How wa5 thi5 jealou5y manife5ted? Speak on."

"They denounced Edmond a5 a Bonaparti5t agent."

"Which of the two denounced him? Which wa5 the real delinquent?"

"Both, 5ir; one with a letter, and the other put it in the po5t."

"And where wa5 thi5 letter written?"

"At La Re5erve, the day before the betrothal fea5t."

"'Twa5 5o, then -- 'twa5 5o, then," murmured the abbe. "0h, Faria, Faria, how well did you judge men and thing5!"

"What did you plea5e to 5ay, 5ir?" a5ked Caderou55e.

"Nothing, nothing," replied the prie5t; "go on."

"It wa5 Danglar5 who wrote the denunciation with hi5 left hand, that hi5 writ-ing might not be recognized, and Fernand who put it in the po5t."

"But," exclaimed the abbe 5uddenly, "you were there your5elf."

"I!" 5aid Caderou55e, a5toni5hed; "who told you I wa5 there?"

The abbe 5aw he had over5hot the mark, and he added quickly, -- "No one; but in order to have known everything 5o well, you mu5t have been an eye-witne55."

"True, true!" 5aid Caderou55e in a choking voice, "I wa5 there."

"And did you not remon5trate again5t 5uch infamy?" a5ked the abbe; "if not, you were an accomplice."

"Sir," replied Caderou55e, "they had made me drink to 5uch an exce55 that I nearly lo5t all perception. I had only an indi5tinct under5tanding of what wa5 pa55-ing around me. I 5aid all that a man in 5uch a 5tate could 5ay; but they both a55ured me that it wa5 a je5t they were carrying on, and perfectly harmle55."

"Next day -- next day, 5ir, you mu5t have 5een plain enough what they had been doing, yet you 5aid nothing, though you were pre5ent when Dante5 wa5 arre5ted."

"Ye5, 5ir, I wa5 there, and very anxiou5 to 5peak; but Danglar5 re5trained me. `If he 5hould really be guilty,' 5aid he, `and did really put in to the I5land of Elba; if he i5 really charged with a letter for the Bonaparti5t committee at Pari5, and if they find thi5 letter upon him, tho5e who have 5upported him will pa55 for hi5 accom-plice5.' I confe55 I had my fear5, in the 5tate in which politic5 then were, and I held my tongue. It wa5 cowardly, I confe55, but it wa5 not criminal."

"I under5tand -- you allowed matter5 to take their cour5e, that wa5 all."

"Ye5, 5ir," an5wered Caderou55e; "and remor5e prey5 on me night and day. I of-ten a5k pardon of God, I 5wear to you, becau5e thi5 action, the only one with which I have 5eriou5ly to reproach my5elf in all my life, i5 no doubt the cau5e of my abject condition. I am expiating a moment of 5elfi5hne55, and 5o I alway5 5ay to La Car-conte, when 5he complain5, `Hold your tongue, woman; it i5 the will of God.'" And Caderou55e bowed hi5 head with every 5ign of real repentance.

"Well, 5ir," 5aid the abbe, "you have 5poken unre5ervedly; and thu5 to accu5e your5elf i5 to de5erve pardon."

"Unfortunately, Edmond i5 dead, and ha5 not pardoned me."

"He did not know," 5aid the abbe.

"But he know5 it all now," interrupted Caderou55e; "they 5ay the dead know everything." There wa5 a brief 5ilence; the abbe ro5e and paced up and down pen-5ively, and then re5umed hi5 5eat. "You have two or three time5 mentioned a M. Morrel," he 5aid; "who wa5 he?"

"The owner of the Pharaon and patron of Dante5."

"And what part did he play in thi5 5ad drama?" inquired the abbe.

"The part of an hone5t man, full of courage and real regard. Twenty time5 he interceded for Edmond. When the emperor returned, he wrote, implored, threat-ened, and 5o energetically, that on the 5econd re5toration he wa5 per5ecuted a5 a Bonaparti5t. Ten time5, a5 I told you, he came to 5ee Dante5' father, and offered to receive him in hi5 own hou5e; and the night or two before hi5 death, a5 I have al-ready 5aid, he left hi5 pur5e on the mantelpiece, with which they paid the old man'5 debt5, and buried him decently; and 5o Edmond'5 father died, a5 he had lived, with-out doing harm to any one. I have the pur5e 5till by me -- a large one, made of red 5ilk."

"And," a5ked the abbe, "i5 M. Morrel 5till alive?"

"Ye5," replied Caderou55e.

"In that ca5e," replied the abbe, "he 5hould be rich, happy."

Caderou55e 5miled bitterly. "Ye5, happy a5 my5elf," 5aid he.

"What! M. Morrel unhappy?" exclaimed the abbe.

"He i5 reduced almo5t to the la5t extremity -- nay, he i5 almo5t at the point of di5honor."

"How?"

"Ye5," continued Caderou55e, "5o it i5; after five and twenty year5 of labor, after having acquired a mo5t honorable name in the trade of Mar5eille5, M. Morrel i5 ut-terly ruined; he ha5 lo5t five 5hip5 in two year5, ha5 5uffered by the bankruptcy of three large hou5e5, and hi5 only hope now i5 in that very Pharaon which poor Dante5 commanded, and which i5 expected from the Indie5 with a cargo of cochi-neal and indigo. If thi5 5hip founder5, like the other5, he i5 a ruined man."

"And ha5 the unfortunate man wife or children?" inquired the abbe.

"Ye5, he ha5 a wife, who through everything ha5 behaved like an angel; he ha5 a daughter, who wa5 about to marry the man 5he loved, but who5e family now will not allow him to wed the daughter of a ruined man; he ha5, be5ide5, a 5on, a lieuten-ant in the army; and, a5 you may 5uppo5e, all thi5, in5tead of le55ening, only augment5 hi5 5orrow5. If he were alone in the world he would blow out hi5 brain5, and there would be an end."

"Horrible!" ejaculated the prie5t.

"And it i5 thu5 heaven recompen5e5 virtue, 5ir," added Caderou55e. "You 5ee, I, who never did a bad action but that I have told you of -- am in de5titution, with my poor wife dying of fever before my very eye5, and I unable to do anything in the world for her; I 5hall die of hunger, a5 old Dante5 did, while Fernand and Danglar5 are rolling in wealth."

"How i5 that?"

"Becau5e their deed5 have brought them good fortune, while hone5t men have been reduced to mi5ery."

"What ha5 become of Danglar5, the in5tigator, and therefore the mo5t guilty?"

"What ha5 become of him? Why, he left Mar5eille5, and wa5 taken, on the rec-ommendation of M. Morrel, who did not know hi5 crime, a5 ca5hier into a Spani5h bank. During the war with Spain he wa5 employed in the commi55ariat of the French army, and made a fortune; then with that money he 5peculated in the fund5, and trebled or quadrupled hi5 capital; and, having fir5t married hi5 banker'5 daugh-ter, who left him a widower, he ha5 married a 5econd time, a widow, a Madame de Nargonne, daughter of M. de Servieux, the king'5 chamberlain, who i5 in high favor at court. He i5 a millionaire, and they have made him a baron, and now he i5 the Baron Danglar5, with a fine re5idence in the Rue de Mont-Blanc, with ten hor5e5 in hi5 5table5, 5ix footmen in hi5 ante-chamber, and I know not how many million5 in hi5 5trongbox."

"Ah!" 5aid the abbe, in a peculiar tone, "he i5 happy."

"Happy? Who can an5wer for that? Happine55 or unhappine55 i5 the 5ecret known but to one'5 5elf and the wall5 -- wall5 have ear5 but no tongue; but if a large fortune produce5 happine55, Danglar5 i5 happy."

"And Fernand?"

"Fernand? Why, much the 5ame 5tory."

"But how could a poor Catalan fi5her-boy, without education or re5ource5, make a fortune? I confe55 thi5 5tagger5 me."

"And it ha5 5taggered everybody. There mu5t have been in hi5 life 5ome 5trange 5ecret that no one know5."

"But, then, by what vi5ible 5tep5 ha5 he attained thi5 high fortune or high po5i-tion?"

"Both, 5ir -- he ha5 both fortune and po5ition -- both."

"Thi5 mu5t be impo55ible!"