Part 13 (1/2)

2

Not o on, you will, I think, admit, and I Can assure you, Sir, that had I not possessed that unbounded belief in enius, I would at the outset have felt profoundly discouraged

As it was, I found just the right words of consolation and of hope ith to bow my brilliant client out of my humble apartments, and then to settle down to deep and considered , brisk walk through the crowded streets of Paris So I brushed le, and started on ht After that, feeling fatigued, I sat on the terrace of the Cafe Bourbon, overlooking the river There I sipped , and still thought, and thought, and thought After that I had soreeable bottle of wine--did I iven me a hundred francs on account?--then I went for a stroll along the Quai Voltaire, and I le side and tortuous street in its vicinity that I did not explore frootten evening

But still my mind re any plan What a quandary, Sir! Oh! what a quandary! Here was I, Hector Ratichon, the confidant of kings, the right hand of two e--for that is what I should have to do--fro of thieves whose identity, abode and methods were alike unknown to me Truly, Sir, you will own that this was a herculean task

Vaguely ood counsel, for he knew rateful wretch was out of the way on the one occasion when he ht have been of use to me who had done so much for him Indeed, my reason told me that I need not trouble my head about Theodore He had vanished; that he would come back presently was, of course, an indubitable fact; people like Theodore never vanish completely He would come back and demand I know not what, his share, perhaps, in a business which was so proue

Five thousand francs! A round suave Theodore five hundred the sure, unimportant Four thousand five hundred francs!--it did not even _sound_ well to my mind

So I took care that Theodore vanished from my mental vision as completely as he had done for the last two days fro , I turned s at Passy

All that night, Sir, I lay wakeful and tossing inplans for the attainoal--the recovery of M And the whole of the next day I spent in vain quest I visited every haunt of ill-fame known to me within the city I walked about with a pistol in rowing despair inMme la Coive her none She cried, Sir, and iot on to my nerves until I felt ready to fall into hysterics One ht and wealthy future would have vanished Unless thewould be destroyed, and with hih she still irradiated chared her not to coain, and promised that as soon as I had any news to impart I would at once presentSt Gerht I never slept one wink Think of it, Sir! The next few hours were destined to see me either a prosperous man for many days to coht o'clock I was at er dis had happened to him, I could have no doubt This anxiety, added to the otheron frenzy I hardly knehat I was doing I wandered all day up and down the Quai Voltaire, and the Quai des Grands Augustins, and in and around the tortuous streets till I was dog-tired, distracted, half crazy

I went to the Morgue, thinking to find there Theodore's dead body, and foundfor the mutilated corpse of Carissimo

Indeed, after a while Theodore and Carissimo became so inextricably mixed up infor the one or for the other and if M or my man-of-all-work to her exquisite bosom

She in the meanwhile had received a second, yet h the sainger-coloured hair, and wearing a black patch over one eye, had been seen by one of the servants lolling down the street where Madae discovered that an exceedingly dirty scrap of paper had been thrust under the door of his lodge The writer of the epistle demanded that Mme la Co at the corner of the Rue Guenegaud, behind the Institut de France Twoa blue blouse and peaked cap, would meet her there She must hand over the money to one of them, whilst the other would have Carissimo in his arms The missive closed with the usual threats that if the police were , Carissimo would be destroyed

Six o'clock was the hour fixed by these abominable thieves for the final doom of Carissimo It was now close on five In a little more than an hour ratitude froain to return A great access of righteous rage seized upon me I determined that those miserable thieves, whoever they were, should suffer for the disappoint If I was to lose five thousand francs, they at least should not be left free to pursue their evil ways I would communicate with the police; the police should aud

Carissimo would die; his lovely mistress would be brokenhearted I would be left to mourn yet another illusion of a possible fortune, but they would suffer in gaol or in New Caledonia the consequences of all their misdeeds

Fortified by this resolution, I turned endare my denunciation of those aboht was dark, the streets ill-lighted, the air bitterly cold A thin drizzle, half rain, half snoas descending, chillingthe river bank with my coat collar pulled up toup every narrow street which debouches on the quay Then suddenly I spied Theodore He was co with head bent in his usual way He appeared to be carrying so, not exactly heavy, but cumbersome, under his left arm Within the next few minutes he would have been face to face with le of the street, determined to have it out with the rascal then and there in spite of the cold and in spite of my anxiety about Carissimo

All of a sudden he raised his head and saw an to run up the street in the direction whence he had coave chase I ran after him--and then, Sir, he caht projected by a street lanthorn But in that one second I had seen that which turned 's tail, fluffy and curly, projecting fro! Carissi of Mme la Comtesse de Nole's heart! Carissimo, the recovery of ould mean five thousand francs into my pocket! Carissi in all the world; one dog and one spawn of the devil, one arch-traitor, one limb of Satan! Theodore!

How he had come by Carissimo I had not time to con-conjecture I called to hi appellations which fell far short of those which he deserved But the louder I called the faster he ran, and I, breathless, panting, ran after him, determined to run him to earth, fearful lest I should lose hiht All down the Rue Beaune we ran, and already I could hear behind endarive chase

I tell you, Sir, the sound lent wings tooffered me by a benevolent Fate to earn that five thousand francs, the keystone to th to seize and hold Theodore until the gendar, the five thousand francs could still be mine

So I ran, Sir, as I had never run before; the beads of perspiration poured down from my forehead; the breath ca breast

Then suddenly Theodore disappeared!

Disappeared, Sir, as if the earth had sed hih the veil of snow and rain ahead of ing the dog closely under his arht have touched hi and deserted street lay dark and mysterious before endarmes and their pere!”

But not in vain, Sir, as and emperors reposed confidence in my valour and my presence of mind In less time than it takes to relate I had already marked with my eye the very spot--down the street--where I had last seen Theodore

I hurried forward and saw at once that my surmise had been correct At that very spot, Sir, there was a low doorhich gave on a dark and dank passage The door itself was open I did not hesitate My life stood in the balance but I did not falter Iof desperate thieves, but I did not quake