Louise uttered a piercing cry. "He is mad," cried she, "he is mad! and it is I--I--who am the cause. Oh, yet it Is not my fault; I did not wish to do wrong; it is this monster!" "Come, poor child, courage!" said Rudolph, "let us hope. This madness will be but momentary. Your father has suffered too much, his reason has become weakened, he will get better." "But my mother--my grandmother--my brothers and sister! what will become of them?" cried Louise. "See, they are deprived of both my father and myself. They will die with hunger, with poverty, and despair!" "Am I not here? Be calm, they shall want for nothing. Courage, I pray you: your revelation will cause the punishment of a great criminal. You have convinced me of your innocence; it shall certainly be known and acknowledged." "Oh, sir, you see dishonor--madness--death; these are the evils he has caused--this man; nothing can be done to him--nothing. Ah, this thought completes all my troubles!" "Far from that; let a contrary thought aid you in supporting them." "What do you say, sir?" "Carry with you the certainty that you shall be avenged." "Avenged!" "Yes, I swear to you," answered Rudolph, with solemnity, that, his crimes proved, this man shall severely expiate the dishonor, madness, and death he has caused. If the laws are powerless, if his cunning and address equal his misdeeds, to his cunning shall be opposed cunning-- to his misdeeds, misdeeds--but which shall be to them what the just and avenging punishment, inflicted on the culpable by an inexorable hand, is to the cowardly and concealed murder." "Ah, sir, may God hear you! It is not myself I wish to revenge, it is my crazy father; it is"--then, turning to her father, she cried, "Father, farewell. They take me to prison--I shall never see you more; it is your Louise who bids you farewell--father, father, father!" At this touching appeal nothing responded; nothing responded in this poor annihilated mind--nothing. The paternal cords, always the last broken, vibrated no more. The garret door opened, and the officer entered. "My time is up, sir," said he to Rudolph. "I declare to you, with regret, that it is impossible for me to wait any longer." "The conversation is terminated, sir," answered Rudolph bitterly, pointing to the artisan. "Louise has nothing more to say to her father; he has nothing more to hear from his daughter--he is mad." "Good God! just what I feared. Ah, it is frightful," cried the magistrate; and approaching quickly to the artisan, after a moment's examination he was convinced of the sad reality. "Ah, sir," said he, sadly, to Rudolph, "I have already made sincere wishes that the innocence of this young girl may be proved; but now I will not confine myself to wishes--no, no, I will tell of this last dreadful blow; and, do not doubt it, the judges will have a motive the more to find her innocent."