“But, now I think of it, whom has this poor fellow talked to?”

Not one of the peasants could tell.  They inquired; but no answer came.  Perhaps Cocoleu had never said what he was reported to have said.

“The fact is,” said one of the tenants at Valpinson, “that the poor devil, so to say, never sleeps, and that he is roaming about all night around the house and the farm buildings.”

This was a new light for M. Galpin; suddenly changing the form of his interrogatory, he asked Cocoleu,—­

“Where did you spend the night?”

“In—­in—­the—­court—­yard.”

“Were you asleep when the fire broke out?”

“No.”

“Did you see it commence?”

“Yes.”

“How did it commence?”

The idiot looked fixedly at the Countess Claudieuse with the timid and abject expression of a dog who tries to read something in his master’s eyes.

“Tell us, my friend,” said the Countess gently,—­“tell us.”

A flash of intelligence shone in Cocoleu’s eyes.

“They—­they set it on fire,” he stammered.

“On purpose?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“A gentleman.”

There was not a person present at this extraordinary scene who did not anxiously hold his breath as the word was uttered.  The doctor alone kept cool, and exclaimed,—­

“Such an examination is sheer folly!”

But the magistrate did not seem to hear his words; and, turning to Cocoleu, he asked him, in a deeply agitated tone of voice—­

“Did you see the gentleman?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“Very—­very—­well.”

“What is his name?”

“Oh, yes!”

“What is his name?  Tell us.”

Cocoleu’s features betrayed the fearful anguish of his mind.  He hesitated, and at last he answered, making a violent effort,—­“Bois—­Bois—­Boiscoran!”

The name was received with murmurs of indignation and incredulous laughter.  There was not a shadow of doubt or of suspicion.  The peasants said,—­

“M. de Boiscoran an incendiary!  Who does he think will believe that story?”

“It is absurd!” said Count Claudieuse.

“Nonsense!” repeated the mayor and his friend.

Dr. Siegnebos had taken off his spectacles, and was wiping them with an air of intense satisfaction.

“What did I tell you?” he exclaimed.  “But the gentleman did not condescend to attach any importance to my suggestions.”

The magistrate was by far the most excited man in the crowd.  He had turned excessively pale, and made, visibly, the greatest efforts to preserve his equanimity.  The commonwealth attorney leaned over towards him, and whispered,—­

“If I were in your place, I would stop here, and consider the answer as not given.”

But M. Galpin was one of those men who are blinded by self-conceit, and who would rather be cut to pieces than admit that they have been mistaken.  He answered,—­