for plunder: they made, every where, great ravages; they passed no
habitation without exacting tribute: but in their ardour for pillage
they did not confine themselves to the surface, all belonged to them
to the centre of the globe; and that they might not be frustrated in
their pretensions, these intrepid geologists made a thousand
excavations, which, to the regret of the naturalists of the country,
proved to them, that in France the mines of gold or silver are not so
deep as in Peru. Such a discovery was well calculated to give them
additional energy; they dug with unparalleled activity, and the spoil
they found in many places of concealment threw the Croesuses of many
cantons into perfect despair. The cursed Cossacks! But yet the
instinct which so surely led them to the spot where treasure was
hidden, did not guide them to the hiding place of the Curè. It was
like the blessing of heaven, each morning the sun rose and nothing
new; nothing new when it set.

Most decidedly the finger of heaven must be recognised in the
impenetrability of the mysterious inhumation performed by Moiselet. M.
Senard was so fully convinced of it, that he actually mingled
thanksgivings with the prayers which he made for the preservation and
repose of his diamonds. Persuaded that his vows would be heard, in
growing security he began to sleep more soundly, when one fine day,
which was, of all days in the week, a Friday, Moiselet, more dead than
alive, ran to the Curè's.

"Ah, sir, I can scarcely speak."

"What's the matter, Moiselet?"

"I dare not tell you. Poor M. le Curè, this affects me deeply, I am