"Yes," said Chalm, "Thaddeus the Jew advanced him five hundred thousand francs at the beginning of the winter."
"That's doing very well," said the marquis. "Have you paid the rent of your ancestral palace, Leoni?"
"Parbleu! yes, in advance," said Chalm; "would they have let it to him otherwise?"
"What do you expect to do when you have nothing left?" queried another of Leoni's trusty friends.
"Run in debt," replied Leoni with imperturbable tranquillity.
"That's easier than to find Jews who will leave you at peace for three months," said the viscount. "What will you do when your creditors take you by the collar."
"I will take a pretty little boat," replied Leoni with a smile.
"Good! and go to Trieste?"
"No, that is too near; to Palermo, I have never been there."
"But when you arrive anywhere," said the marquis, "you must cut something of a figure for a few days."