He
had left the Refuge at the first glimpse of dawn, because he was behind
his time, and it had been his intention to descend to Aoste that night, an
exertion that was necessary in order to repair the loss.
"This may be true," resumed the judge; "but how dost thou account for thy
poverty? In searching thy effects, thou art found to be in a condition
little better than that of a mendicant. Even thy purse is empty, though
known to be a successful and desperate trifler with the revenue, in all
those states where the entrance duty is enforced."
"He that plays deepest, Signore, is most likely to be stripped of his
means. What is there new or unlooked for in the fact that a dealer in the
contraband should lose his venture?"
"This is more plausible than convincing. Thou art signalled as being
accustomed to transport articles of the jewellers from Geneva into the
adjoining states, and thou art known to come from the head-quarters of
these artisans. Thy losses must have been unusual, to have left thee so
naked. I much fear that a bootless speculation in thy usual trade has
driven thee to repair the loss by the murder of this unhappy man, who left
his home well supplied with gold, and, as it would seem, with a valuable
store of jewelry, too.
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