‘Braulard,’ pursued Vandeloup, in a calmer tone, ’also left the house of Adele Blondet.  She is found dead; one of her lovers cannot be found; the other, Braulard, is accused of the crime; he defies the police to prove it; she has been poisoned.  Bah! there is no trace.  Braulard will be free.  Stop! who is this man called Prevol, who appears?  He is a fellow student of Braulard’s, and knows the poison.  Braulard is lost!  Prevol examines the body, proves that poison has been given—­by whom?  Braulard, and none other.  He is sentenced to death; but he is so handsome that Paris urges pardon.  No; it is not according to the law.  Still, spare his life?  Yes.  His life is spared.  The galleys at Toulon?  No.  New Caledonia?  Yes.  He is sent there.  But is Braulard a coward?  No.  Does he rest as a convict?  No.  He makes friends with another convict; they steal a boat, and fly from the island; they drift, and drift, for days and days; the sun rises, the sun sets—­still they drift; their food is giving out, the water in the barrel is low—­God! are they to die of thirst and famine?  No.  The sky is red—­like blood—­the sun is sinking; land is in the distance—­they are saved!’ falling on his knees; ’they are saved, thank God!’

Meddlechip, who had recovered himself, wiped his face with his handkerchief, and sneered with his white lips at the theatrical way Gaston was behaving in.  Vandeloup saw this, and, springing to his feet, crossed to the millionaire.

‘Braulard,’ he continued, quickly, ’lands on the coast of Queensland; he comes to Sydney—­no work; to Melbourne—­no work; he goes to Ball’rat—­work there at a gold-mine.  Braulard takes the name of Vandeloup and makes money; he comes to Melbourne, lives there a year, he is in want of money, he is in despair; at the theatre he overhears a plan which will give him money, but he needs capital—­ despair again, he will never get it.  Aha!  Fate once more intervenes--he sees M. Kestrike, now Meddlechip, he will ask him for the money, and the question is, will he get it?  So the story is at an end.’  He ended with his usual smile, all his excitement having passed away, and lounging over to the supper-table lit a cigarette and sat down on the sofa.

Meddlechip sat silently looking at the disordered supper-table and thinking deeply.  The dishes were scattered about the white cloth, and some vividly red cherries had fallen down from the fruit dish in the centre, some salt was spilt near his elbow, the napkins, twisted into thin wisps, were lying among the dirty dishes, and the champagne glasses, half filled with the straw-coloured wine, were standing near the empty bottles.  Meddlechip thought for a few moments, and then looked up suddenly in a cool, collected, business-like manner.

‘As I understand you,’ he said, in a steady voice, ’the case stands thus:  you know a portion, or rather, I should say, an episode of my life, I would gladly forget.  I did not commit the murder.’