Delapine gave her his address and told her to call on him at his hotel the next morning, and if he found that her story were true, he would send her home well provided for.
When the party arrived at the Hotel des Anglais, Delapine emptied the contents of the bag on the table.
The counting and piling up in thousands of all their winnings occupied more than an hour, and when at last the task was finished they found themselves in possession of no less than three million seven hundred thousand and fifty francs (3,700,050 francs).
"Now," said the professor to his friend Payot, "do you still doubt my powers? Perhaps this will help to convince you," and after carefully counting them he handed him 1,000,000 francs in crisp notes. Payot, overcome with emotion and weeping tears of joy, wrung his benefactor's hand, but was powerless to speak.
"That is not all," continued Delapine, "here is five hundred thousand francs for Renée's 'dot,' she has fairly earned them by the admirable way in which she carried out my instructions. Without her I could not have succeeded, for had I placed the stakes myself I could not have concentrated my mind sufficiently to control the movements of the ball."
Then turning to Villebois he said. "Here, my dear friend, is a gift for you," handing him at the same time 350,000 francs, "out of this you will be able to provide for Céleste. For you, my dear friend Beaupaire, is another 350,000 francs, and pray see that Violette has half of it for her 'dot', so that Marcel may be able to display the latest fashions in embroidered waistcoats." One hundred thousand and fifty francs he divided among the rest of the party, and 50,000 frs. he kept for emergencies out of which he paid back Charley and Ridgeway all they had lost, on their promise that they would not gamble in the future, and sent the poor woman away rejoicing to her sick husband in Paris.
"And what are you keeping for yourself, professor?" they all asked.
"I have my salary, and that is quite enough for me. I am merely keeping the remaining one million three hundred and fifty thousand francs, the interest of which I shall devote to the purchase of scientific instruments to assist my poorer students, and to help the poor unfortunates whom I saw were on the verge of being ruined by this pernicious gambling concern. And now," he said, smiling, "you must excuse me as I am sadly in need of a rest to recover from the strain of my mental powers which this game has cost me. I think, ladies and gentlemen, the bank will be unable to declare a dividend at the next half-yearly meeting. By the way, Riche, did you find out the whereabouts of that gentleman I sent you to follow out of the Casino?"
"Oh! yes, we found out he was staying at the Metropole. We saw his name in the books under the signature of Monsieur et Madame Paradis."
"Could you find out nothing more?"