him his name for this purchase. My client, a poor devil, says to me:
'There's a fortune to made out of that house by fooling the notary.'"

"And they do that sort of thing in business!" said Brigitte, quickly.

"If that were the only difficulty," continued Theodose, "it would be,
as a friend of mine said to his pupil, who was complaining of the
length of time it took to produce masterpieces in painting: 'My dear
young fellow, if it were not so, our valets would be painting
pictures.' But, mademoiselle, if we now get the better of this notary,
who certainly deserves it, for he has compromised a number of private
fortunes, yet, as he is a very shrewd man (though a notary), it might
perhaps be very difficult to do it a second time, and here's the rub:
When a piece of landed property is bought at a forced sale, if those
who have lent money on that property see that is likely to be sold so
low as not to cover the sum loaned upon it, they have the right, until
the expiration of a certain time, to bid it in; that is, to offer more
and keep the property in their own hands. If this trickster can't be
hoodwinked as to the sale being a bona fide one until the time when
his right to buy it expires, some other scheme must be resorted to.
Now, is this business strictly legal? Am I justified in doing it for
the benefit of a family I seek to enter? That is the question I have
been revolving in my mind for the last three days."

Brigitte, we must acknowledge, hesitated, and Theodose then brought
forward his last card:--

"Take the night to think of it," he said, "to-morrow we will talk it
over."