Penny Blood Serial Cover — page 61: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

° ALFRED DE ROSANN. ) 583 on mortgage of thirty thousand francs. The money- lender wrote to the mortgage-office at Lyons to ascer- tain if any other sums had been raised upon the pro- perty; and receiving a satisfactory reply, he advanced the money forthwith, The.time of payment arrived —no cash was, of course, fortheoming—and the mo- ney-lender hastened to Lyons to make good his title to the estate in the place of the late proprietor. His astonishment and wrath may be readily conceived when he found that he had given thirty thousand franes for a few old bricks standing on scarcely half an acre of land. He, however, succeeded in captur- ing the gentleman, who was foolish enough to return to Lyons for some purpose or another so soon as he had raised his money, and the Procureur du Roi was put in possession of the particulars of the case. The Gen- darmes were then set to work—the gentleman was caught—and shortly afterwards a judge and jury po- litely requested him to accompany me and some fifty or sixty others in a little excursion to ‘Toulon—an in- vitation which he could not possibly refuse.” ‘¢ Admirable!”? exclaimed the convict for whose benefit this anecdote had been especially narrated; “JT think I have heard the story before ; but it bears telling a second time. Vidocq—who, by the bye, is only innocent in his own book—relates nothing equal to it.”’ ‘“‘ Nothing,’’ coincided Belle-Rose ; ‘it is the most ingenious and brilliant achievement recorded in the annals of French mzstakes. I would sacrifice all my reputation, even if I were Vidocq himself, of whom you have just spoken, to be the author of so splendid a feat. An epic poem cannot insure a more lasting renown than this exploit.’’ ‘IT don’t know anything about epic poems,” ob- served the convict with whom Belle-Rose was con- versing ; “ but this I do know, that I should have very much liked to have had the thirty thousand francs.”’ ‘You are not exceedingly difficult. to please, my worthy friend,’? exclaimed Belle-Rose. “Poor fel- 5* conicbooks.€©