the latter gave him the means to send both his sons to the school
Henri IV. At the present moment Moreau was worth one hundred and
twenty thousand francs of capital invested in the Consolidated thirds,
now paying five per cent, and quoted at eighty francs. These carefully
hidden one hundred and twenty thousand francs, and his farm at
Champagne, enlarged by subsequent purchases, amounted to a fortune of
about two hundred and eighty thousand francs, giving him an income of
some sixteen thousand.

Such was the position of the steward at the time when the Comte de
Serizy desired to purchase the farm of Moulineaux,--the ownership of
which was indispensable to his comfort. This farm consisted of
ninety-six parcels of land bordering the estate of Presles, and
frequently running into it, producing the most annoying discussions
as to the trimming of hedges and ditches and the cutting of trees.
Any other than a cabinet minister would probably have had scores of
lawsuits on his hands. Pere Leger only wished to buy the property in
order to sell to the count at a handsome advance. In order to secure
the exorbitant sum on which his mind was set, the farmer had long
endeavored to come to an understanding with Moreau. Impelled by
circumstances, he had, only three days before this critical Sunday,
had a talk with the steward in the open field, and proved to him
clearly that he (Moreau) could make the count invest his money at two
and a half per cent, and thus appear to serve his patron's interests,
while he himself pocketed forty thousand francs which Leger offered him
to bring about the transaction.

"I tell you what," said the steward to his wife, as he went to bed
that night, "if I make fifty thousand francs out of the Moulineaux
affair,--and I certainly shall, for the count will give me ten