This happy frame of mind continued for some hours, indeed until after he had finished the excellent dinner he had partaken of by himself at home. Then a horrible recollection stirred in him, for he remembered suddenly that when Larose, at his invitation, had come and stood behind him to look over the good hand of cards he was holding, the latter’s clothes had smelt of burning! Yes, exactly as if he had just come from near some bonfire! Then Larose had been searching among the embers of that burnt-out shed! Hell, it seemed probable! God! What did it mean?
It was many hours before he got to sleep that night and for a long while his thoughts would give him no rest. One moment he was terror-struck that Larose had somehow got upon his track, and the next he was cursing himself for being such a
