"I acknowledge myself indebted to Honoré
Mirabel twenty thousand livres, which I
promise to pay on demand, acquitting him, moreover,
of forty livres which he owes me. Done
at Marseilles, this seventh of September.

(Signed) "Louis AUGUIER."

This little matter settled, Mirabel rejoined
Deleuil, and, next day, departed for his native
village. After starring it there for a few weeks,
the man of wealth revisited Marseilles, and,
having passed a jovial evening with his friend
and banker, Auguier, was on his way home,
when, at a dark part of the road, he was set
upon by a powerful ruffian, who dealt him
several blows with some sharp weapon, flung
him to the ground, and escaped. Fortunately,
the wounds proved superficial.

This incident begat a certain suspicion in the
mind of Mirabel. As soon as he was able, he
repaired to Marseilles, and demanded of Auguier
the return of his money, or liquidation of the
bond. His friend expressed his extreme
surprise. What an extraordinary application was
here! Money! What money? He indignantly
denied the whole transaction. Mirabel must be
mad.

To establish his sanity, and, at the same time,
refresh the memory of his friend, Mirabel, without
further ceremony, appealed to the law, and,
in due course, the Lieutenant-Criminal, with
his officer, made his appearance at the house of
Auguier, to conduct the perquisition. Search
being made on the premises, no money was
found; but there were discovered two bags
and a red ribbon, which were identified by
Mirabel as those which he had delivered to his
friend.

The account given by the latter differed, in
some material particulars, from that of Mirabel.
He had enjoyed, indeed, some casual acquaintance
with that gentleman. They had dined
together, once, at his (Auguier's) house. He
had accepted the hospitality of Mons. Mirabel,
as often, at a tavern. He had advanced that
gentleman a crown. Mirabel had spoken of a
ghost and money, and had talked of placing the
latter in his charge. At present, he had,
however, limited his confidence to the deposit of
two empty bags and a red ribbon. All the
other allegations he indignantly denied.

Deeply impressed with the marvellous history,
the Lieutenant-Criminal decided that the matter
should be sifted to the bottom. The process
continued.

Magdalene Paret deposed that Mirabel had
called on her one day, looking pale and agitated,
and declared that he had been holding converse
with an apparition, which had revealed to him
the situation of some buried treasure. She was
present when the parcel, apparently containing
money, was found; and she remembered Mirabel
stating, subsequently, that he had placed it for
safety in the hands of Auguier.

Gaspard Deleuil repeated the narrative told
by Mirabel of the ghost and the gold, adding,
that he had met him, on the seventh of September,
near the Porte des Fainéants (Idlers'-gate),
carrying two bags; that he saw him hand them
over to a man who appeared to be waiting for
him, and saw him receive in return a piece of
paper; and that, on rejoining him, Mirabel
stated that he had entrusted to Auguier some
newly-found treasure, taking his acknowledgment
for the same.

François Fournière, the third witness,
confirmed the relation of the spectre and the money
by Mirabel, who appeared deeply stricken by the
extraordinary favour shown him in this
supernatural visitation. On his pressing for a sight
of the treasure, Mirabel took the witness to
his chamber, and, removing some bricks from
the chimney, displayed a large bag filled with
gold coin. Having afterwards heard of Auguier's
alleged dishonesty, the witness reproached him
with it: when he became deadly pale, and
entreated that the subject might be dropped.

Other witnesses deposed to the sudden
intimacy, more noticeable on account of their difference
of station, that had sprung up between
Mirabel and Auguier, dating from the period of
the discovery of the gold. Sundry experts
bore testimony to the resemblance of the writing
of the receipt, signed "Louis Auguier," to
the autograph of the latter.

The ghost and Mirabel carried the day. In
fact, it was a mere walk over the course. The
Lieutenant-Criminal, entirely with them, decreed
that Auguier should be arrested, and submitted
to the "question."

Appeal, however, was made to the parliament
of Aix, and the matter began to excite
considerable notice. Persons were found to
censure the ready credence given by the Lieutenant-Criminal
to the story of the ghost, and, the
case coming to hearing, an able advocate of
the day buckled on his armour to do battle with
the shade.

Is it credible (he asked) that a spirit
should quit the repose of another world
expressly to inform Mons. de Mirabel, a gentleman
with whose existence it seems to have had
no previous acquaintance, of the hiding-place of
this treasure? How officious must be the
nature of that ghost which should select, in a
caprice, a man it did not personally know, to
enrich him with a treasure, for the due enjoyment
of which his social position made him so
unfit? How slight must be the prescience of a
spirit that could not foresee that Mirabel would
be deprived of his treasure by the first knave he
had the misfortune to trust! There could be no
such spirit, be assured.

If there were no spectre, there was, according
to all human probability, no gold; and, if
no gold, no ground for the accusation of
Anguier.

Descending to earthly reasoning, was it likely
that Mirabel should entrust to Auguier a
treasure of whose actual value he knew nothing,
or that he should take in return a receipt he
had not seen the giver write? How was it,
pray, that the woman Paret and Gaspard
Deleuil demanded no share in the treasure so