retake them at the head of a column of victorious French, I may as well
say good-bye to them. As for Terremonde, the revenue is falling every
quarter. If it were not for this secret service, I should be bankrupt,
for the Tuileries, perhaps, suspecting my good faith, pay me only in
pretty words--_a la française_. This bank which I hold tempts me sorely,
Césarine, but only if you will dip into it with me. Only once in a life
does a man have his great opportunity. Mine is the present. A fortune--a
beauty! Never will I have such an opportunity again to found a
principality in Florida or the South Seas or South America--wherever we
choose to come to a rest. Speak, Césarine, are you with me? After a
while, when the modern Attila has swept over France, perhaps we will
like to come and view the ruins and fill our gallery with the
art-treasures which the impoverished defeated ones will gladly sell."

"A large sum!" repeated the woman, frowning as her thoughts
concentrated.

"Enormous! I have been changing it into sight-drafts, and we can put on
our wings at a moment's notice."

"It belongs to a political organization, you say?"

"Have no qualms--it is a few drops out of a reptilian fund! No one can
claim what was handed over to me without witnesses, and no receipt
demanded. I make no secret: I am offering for your love the price of my
honor. Only let us flee to a distance for a while. The money could not
be claimed of me in a public court, but they might punish me with an
assassin's bullet."

"And for me, for my happiness, you would do this? I cannot doubt you any