' With that idea in his mind you may be sure he
doesn't know which sex Modeste belongs to. No other men ever come
here,--for of course I don't count Butscha, poor little fellow; I love
him! He is your Dumay, madame," said the cashier to Madame
Latournelle. "Butscha knows very well that a mere glance at Modeste
would cost him a Breton ducking. Not a soul has any communication with
this house. Madame Latournelle who takes Modeste to church ever since
your--your misfortune, madame, has carefully watched her on the way
and all through the service, and has seen nothing suspicious. In
short, if I must confess the truth, I have myself raked all the paths
about the house every evening for the last month, and found no trace
of footsteps in the morning."
"Rakes are neither costly nor difficult to handle," remarked the
daughter of Germany.
"But the dogs?" cried Dumay.
"Lovers have philters even for dogs," answered Madame Mignon.
"If you are right, my honor is lost! I may as well blow my brains
out," exclaimed Dumay.
"Why so, Dumay?" said the blind woman.
"Ah, madame, I could never meet my colonel's eye if he did not find
his daughter--now his only daughter--as pure and virtuous as she was
when he said to me on the vessel, 'Let no fear of the scaffold hinder
you, Dumay, if the honor of my Modeste is at stake.
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