"The count could appoint Monsieur Margueron's son, and you haven't any
place to give,--remember that," said the inn-keeper.

"Of course I do; but if the count has the ministry on his side, I have
King Louis XVIII.," said Pere Leger, in a low voice. "Forty thousand
of his pictures on coin of the realm given to Moreau will enable me to
buy Les Moulineaux for two hundred and sixty thousand, money down,
before Monsieur de Serizy can do so. When he finds the sale is made,
he'll be glad enough to buy the farm for three hundred and sixty
thousand, instead of letting me cut it up in small lots right in the
heart of his property."

"Well done, bourgeois!" cried the inn-keeper.

"Don't you think that's good play?" said Leger.

"Besides," said the inn-keeper, "the farm is really worth that to
him."

"Yes; Les Moulineaux brings in to-day six thousand francs in rental.
I'll take another lease of it at seven thousand five hundred for
eighteen years. Therefore it is really an investment at more than two
and a half per cent. The count can't complain of that. In order not to
involve Moreau, he is himself to propose me as tenant and farmer; it
gives him a look of acting for his master's interests by finding him
nearly three per cent for his money, and a tenant who will pay well."

"How much will Moreau make, in all?"

"Well, if the count gives him ten thousand francs for the transaction