Coictier tried to grin, shrugged his shoulders imperceptibly, and repeated in a low voice, —

“A madman!”

“And,” said Tourangeau suddenly, “the wondrous result, — have you attained it, have you made gold?”

“If I had made it,” replied the archdeacon, articulating his words slowly, like a man who is reflecting, “the king of France would be named Claude and not Louis.”

The stranger frowned.

“What am I saying?” resumed Dom Claude, with a smile of disdain. “What would the throne of France be to me when I could rebuild the empire of the Orient?”

“Very good!”