What of it ?" "Only this, that I have a letter for him," the student answered, groping with trembling fingers in his pouch.

"From my uncle, the Sieur de Beauvais of Nocle, by Dijon." "The Sieur de Beauvais ?" "Yes." "He is your uncle ?" "Yes." "So! Well, I remember now," Blondel continued, nodding.

"His name was Mercier.

Certainly, it was.

Well, give me the letter." His tone was still harsh, but it was not the same; and when he had broken the seal and read the letter--with a look half contemptuous, half uneasy--his brow cleared a little.