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 within her, and the piercing joy of making Louis Bourcet look like a guy, were too much for her. Putting down her cup, therefore, and looking about her in a way to command attention, Fifi said, in a soft, low voice:

"Madame Bourcet—and dear Louis—" here Louis shuddered—"I have something to say to you, concerning that mysterious old woman with the limp and the basket. First, let me say, that until yesterday, I kept my fortune of nearly ninety thousand francs in my mattress, and my old shoes I kept in the bank. For people are always losing their money in banks, but I never heard of any one losing a franc that was sewed up in a mattress."

There was a pause. Louis Bourcet sat as if turned to stone, with his chocolate raised to his lips, and his mouth wide open to receive it, but he seemed to lose the power of moving his hand or shutting his mouth. Madame Bourcet appeared to be paralyzed where she sat.

"Yes," said Fifi, who felt as if she were once more on the beloved boards of the Imperial Theater. "I kept my money where I knew it would be safe. And then, seeing I had totally failed to captivate the affections of my fiancé, I determined to