But the luminous glance of the Colonel fascinated him, his legs trembled, he fell, and fancied that he saw Fougas and the black trunk rolling over each other.

When he came to, his old servant was chafing his hands, the trunk already had the slings around it, and the Colonel had disappeared.

The domestic swore that he had not seen anybody, and that he had himself received the trunk from the baggage agent's own hand.
Twenty minutes later, the millionnaire was in his own house, joyfully rubbing his face against the sharp angles of his wife.

He did not dare to tell her about his visions, for Frau Meiser was a skeptic, in her own way.

It was she who spoke to him about Fougas.
"A whole history has happened to me," said she.