Lawrence. If he had luck, he would reach it by the morning. As it
happened, he had the luck. Behind him, in the Manor Cartier, the man who
had had no luck and much philosophy, snored on till morning in
unconscious content.
It was a whole day before Jean Jacques discovered his loss. When he had
finished his lonely supper the next evening, he went to the cupboard in
his office to cheer himself with the sight of the six thousand dollars.
He felt that he must revive his spirits. They had been drooping all day,
he knew not why.
When he saw the empty pigeon-hole in the cupboard, his sight swam. It was
some time before it cleared, but, when it did, and he knew beyond
peradventure the crushing, everlasting truth, not a sound escaped him.
His heart stood still. His face filled with a panic confusion. He seemed
like one bereft of understanding.
CHAPTER XX
"AU 'VOIR, M'SIEU' JEAN JACQUES"
It is seldom that Justice travels as swiftly as Crime, and it is also
seldom that the luck is more with the law than with the criminal. It took
the parish of St. Saviour's so long to make up its mind who stole Jean
Jacques' six thousand dollars, that when the hounds got the scent at last
the quarry had reached the water--in other words, Sebastian Dolores had
achieved the St. Lawrence. The criminal had had near a day's start before
a telegram was sent to the police at Montreal, Quebec, and other places
to look out for the picaroon who had left his mark on the parish of St.
Pages:
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273