"No," said the widow, "no, it is the money of Judas; it would bring evil. I will not take that money for those poor children, innocent as they are."
"You are right; then give it all to the poor. The hands that receive alms cleanse everything, even crime."
"And he?" said the widow, motioning toward Courtin but not looking at him, "what is to be done with him?"
"He's well bound and gagged, isn't he?"
"He seems to be."
"Well, leave it to the man you have at your house to say what shall be done with him."
"So be it."
"By the bye, la Picaut, when you go for him, give him this roll of tobacco. I have no further use for it, and I think it will please him mightily. I declare, though," continued the master of warrens, "it makes me half sorry to die. Ha! I'd give my twenty-five thousand francs prize-money to see the meeting of our man and this one; droll enough, that will be!"
"But you must not stay here," said Marianne Picaut. "We have a little bedroom in the citadel, where I will carry you. There, at any rate, you can see a priest."
"As you please, widow; but first, do me the kindness to make sure that my scoundrel is securely bound. It would embitter my last moments, don't you see, if I thought he would get loose before the shaking up he is going to have presently."