"And then?..."

"I have some money, too,—a little money."

"Ah?"

"Yes, a little money. Why, one does not serve forty years in good houses without saving something. Is it not so?"

"Surely," I answered, more and more astonished by Joseph's words and manner. "And you have much money?"

"Oh! only a little."

"How much? Let me see."

Joseph gave a slight chuckle.

"You may know well that it is not here. It is in a place where it is making little ones."

"Yes, but how much?"