"He lost those suits of importance?"

"That is so, monsieur."

"And they cost him six thousand dollars--and over?" The Big Financier
seemed to be pressing towards a point.

"Something over that amount, monsieur."

"And he may lose the suit now before the Courts?"

"Who can tell, monsieur!" vaguely commented the little learned official.

M. Mornay was not to be evaded. "Yes, yes, but the case as it stands--
to you who are wise in experience of legal affairs, does it seem at all
a sure thing for him?"

"I wish I could say it was, monsieur," sadly answered the other.

The Big Financier nodded vigorously. "Exactly. Nothing is so
unproductive as the law. It is expensive whether you win or lose, and it
is murderously expensive when you do lose. You will observe, I know,
that your Jean Jacques is a man who can only be killed once--eh?"

"Monsieur?" M. Fille really did not grasp this remark.

M. Mornay's voice became precise. "I will explain. He has never
created; he has only developed what has been created. He inherited much
of what he has or has had. His designs were always affected by the fact
that he had never built from the very bottom. When he goes to pieces--"