38/39 It is not much--only a little--I am not a rich man--I had hoped to be, but it would mean a fortune to you no doubt. Take it and be merciful; give me back the smaller packet of the two, keep the larger, and let me go." Out of curiosity I reached inside his vest and pulled out both packets. The smaller packet contained a draft on Paris for a quarter of a million francs. The larger held nothing but correspondence. I returned them to him. |