LE NO. 113.
13
use.    You showed your shrewdness precisely ! and then ho locked the safe; and, yes, I am not
by staying to face the storm, instead of flying  mistaken, he went out!'                     .,,,,
the country.    Several recent suits have taught      He uttered these last words so quickly, that,
__j country.
dishonest cashiers that flight abroad is danger-
ous. Railways travel fast, but telegrams travel
faster. A French thief can be arrested in
London within forty-eight hours after his de-
scription has been telegraphed. Even America
is no longer a refuge. You remained prudently
and wiseiy, saying to yourself, ' I will manage
to avoid suspicion; and, even if I am found
out, I shall be .free again after three or five
years' seclusion, with a large fortune to enjoy.'
Many people would sacrifice five years of their
lives for three hundred and fifty thousand
francs."
"But, monsieur, had I calculated in the
manner you describe, I should not have been
content with three hundred and fifty thousand
francs; I should have waited for an opportunity
to steal half a million. I often have that sum
in charge."
" Oh! it is not always convenient to wait.
Prosper was buried in deep thought for
some minutes.
" Monsieur," ho finally said, "there is one
detail I forgot to mention before, it may be of
importance."
"Explain, if you please."
" The office messenger whom I sent to the
Bank of France for the money must have seen
me tie up the bundle, and put it away in the
safe. At any rate, ho knows that I left the
hank before he did."
"Very well; the man shall be examined.
Now you can return to your cell ; and once
more I advise you to consider the consequences
of your persistent denial."
M. Patrigent thus abruptly dismissed Prosper
because he wished to immediately act upon this
last, piece of information.
"Sigault," said he, as soon as Prosper had
left the room, ' ' is not this Antonin the man who
was excused from testifying because he sent a
doctor's certificate declaring him too ill to ap-
pear?"
-. "
1 It is, monsieur. "
" Where does he live?"
" Fanferlot says he was so ill   that he was
taken to the hospitalthe Dubois Hospital."
" Very well. I am going to examine him to-
day, this very hour. Take your pen and paper,
and send for a carriage."
Itwas some distance from the Palais de Jus-
tice to the Dubois Hospital; but the cabman,
urged by the promise of a large fee, made his
sorry jades fly as if they were blooded horses.
Would Antonin be able to answer any ques-
tions?
The physician in charge of the hospital said,
that, although the man suffered horribly from a
broken knee, his mind was perfectly clear.
"That being the case, monsieur," said the
judge, " I wish to examine him, and desire that
no one be admitted while ho makes his deposi-
tion."
"Oh! you will not be intruded upon, mon-
sieur; his room contains four beds, but they are
just now unoccupied."
When Antonin saw the judge enter, followed
by a little weazen man in black, with a portfolio
under his arm, he at once knew what he had
come for.
"Ah," he said, "monsieur comes to see me
about M. Bertomy's case?"
"Precisely."
M. Patrigent remained standing by the sick-
bed while Sigault arranged his papers on a little
table.
In answer to the usual questions, the messen-
ger swore that he was named Antonin Poche,
was forty years old, born at Cadaujac (Gironde),
and was unmarried.
"Now," said the judge, "are you well
enough to clearly answer any questions I may
put?"
" Certainly, monsieur."
"Did you, on the 27th of February, go to the
Bank of France for the three hundred and fifty
thousand francs that were stolen?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"At what hour did you return with the
money ?"
" It must have been five o'clock when I got
back."
"Do you remember what M. Bertomy did
when you handed him the notes? Now, do not
be in a hurry; think before you answer."
"Let me see: first he counted the notes, and
made them into four packages; then he put
them in the safe; and thenit seems to me
forgetting his knee, he half started up; but,
with a cry of pain, sank back in bed.
"Are you sure of what you say?" asked the
judge.                                                 ,      . ,
M. Patrigent's solemn tone seemed to frighten
Antonin.
" Sure?" he replied, with marked hesitation,
"I would bet my head on it, yet I am not sure I"
It was impossible for him to be more decided
in his answers. He had been frightened. Ho
already imagined himself in difficulty, and for
a trifle he would have retracted everything.
But the effect was already produced; and
when they retired M. Patrigent said to Sigault :
" This a very important piece of evidence."
VI.
The Archangel Hotel, Mme. Gipsy's asylum,
was the most elegant building on the Quai St.
Michel.
A person who pays her fortnight's board in
advance is treated with consideration at this
hotel.
Mme. Alexander, who had been a handsVime
woman, was now stout, laced till she could
scarcely breathe, always overdressed, and fond
of wearing a number of flashy gold chains
around her fat neck.
She had bright eyes and white teeth; but,
alas, a red nose. Of all her weaknessesand
Heaven knows she had indulged in every va-
rietyonly one remained; she loved a good
dinner, washed down with plenty of good wine.
She also loved her husband; and, about the
time M. Patrigent was leaving the hospital,
she began to be worried that her " little man "
had not returned to dinner. She was about to
sit down without him, when the hotel-boy cried
out:
" Here is monsieur."
And Fanferlot appeared in person.
Three years before, Fanferlot had kept a lit-
tle office of secret intelligence; Mme. Alexandre
was a trader without a license in perfumery and
toilet articles, and, finding it necessary to watch
some of her suspicious customers, engaged Fan-
ferlot's services; this was the origin of their
acquaintance.
If they went through the marriage-ceremony
for the good of the mayoralty and the church,
it was because they imagined it would, like a
baptism, wash out the sins of the past.
Upon this momentous day, Fanferlot gave up
his secret intelligence office, and entered the
police, where he had already been occasionally
employed, and Mme. Alexandre retired from
trade.
Uniting their savings, they hired and fur-
nished the Archangel, which they were now
carrying on prosperously well, esteemed by
their neighbors, who were ignorant of Fanfer-
lot's connection with the police force.
" Why, how late you are, my little man!"
she" exclaimed, as she dropped her knife and
fork, and rushed forward to embrace him.
He received her caresses with an air of ab-
straction.
"Myback is broken," he said. "Ihave been
the whole day playing billiards with Evariste,
M. Fauvel's valet, and allowed him to win as
often as he wisheda man who does not know
what 'the pool ' is! I became acquainted with
him yesterday, and now I am his best friend.
If I wish to enter M. Fauvel's service in An-
tonin's place, I can rely upon M. Evariste's good
word. "
" What, you be an office messenger; you?"
" Of course I would.    How else am I to get
an opportunity of studying mjr characters, if I
am not on the spot to watch them all the
time?"
" Then the valet gave you no news?"
" He gave me none that I could make use of,
and yet I turned him inside out, like a glove.
This banker is a remarkable man; you don't
often meet with one of his sort nowadays.
Evariste says he has not a single vice, not even
a little defect by which his valet could gain ten
sous. He neither smokes, drinks, nor plays; in
fact, he is a saint. He is worth millions, and
lives as respectably and quietly as a grocer.
He is devoted to his wife, adores his children,
is lavishly hospitable, and seldom goes into so-
ciety."
"Then his wife is young?"
" She must be about fifty."
Mme.   Alexandre reflected   a minute,  then
asked.-
" Did you inquire about the other members
of the family?"
" Certainlv. The younger son is in the army.
The elder son, Lucien, lives with his parents.
and is as proper as a young lady; so good, in
deed, that he is stupid."
"And what about the niece?"
" Evariste could tell me nothing about her.'
Mme. Alexandre shrugged her fat shoulders
"If you have discovered nothing, it is be
cause there is nothing to be discovered. Still,
do you know what I "would do, if I were you?'
"Tell me."
" I would consult M. Lecoq."
Fanferlot jumped up as if he had been shot.
"Now, that's pretty advice!   Do you wan'
me to lose my place?   M. Lecoq does not sus-
pect that I have anything to do with the case,
except to obey his orders."
" Nobody told you to let him know you were
investigating it on your own account. You
can consult him with an air of indiflerence, as
if you were not at all interested; and, after yor
have got his opinion, you can take advantage
of it. "
The detective weighed his wife's words, an-
them said :
" Perhaps you are right; yet M. Lecoq is so
devilishly shrewd, that he might see through
me."
"Shrewd!" echoed Mme. Alexandre,
"shrewd! All of you. at the police office say
that so often, that he has gained his reputation
by it : you are just as sharp as he is."
" Well, we will see. I will think the matter
over; but, in the meantime, what docs the girl
say?"
The " girl" was Mme. Nina Gipsy.
In taking up her abode at the Archangel, the
poor girl thought she was following good ad-
vice; and, as Fanferlot had never appeared in
her presence since, she was still under the im-
pression that she had obeyed a friend of Pros-
per's. When she received her summons from
M. Patrigent, she admired the wonderful skill
of the police in discovering her hiding-place;
for she had established herself at the hotel un-
der a false, or rather her true name, Palmyre
Chocareille.
Artfully questioned by her inquisitive land-
lady, she had, without any mistrust, confided
her history to her.
Thus Fanferlot was able to impress the judge
with the idea of his being a skilful detective,
when he pretended to have discovered all this
information from a variety of sources.
"She is still up-stairs," answered Mme. Alex-
andre. "She suspects nothing; but to keep
lire in her present ignorance becomes daily
more difficult, I don't know what the judge
told her, but she came home quite beside her-
self with anger. She wanted to go and make
a fuss at M. Fauvel's: then she wrote a lettsi
which she told Jean to post for her; but I kept
it to show you."
"What!" interrupted Fanferlot, "you have
a letter, and did not tell me before? Perhaps
it contains the clue to the mystery. Give it to
me, quick."
Obeying her husband, Mme. Alexandre
opened a little cupboard, and took out a letter
which she handed to him.
"Here, take it." she said, "and be satisfied."
Considering that she used lo be a chamber-
maid, Palmyre Chocareille, since become Mme
Gipsy, wrote a good letter.
It bore the following address, written in a
free, flowing hand:
For M. L. de Clameran,
Forge-Master, Hotel du Imtme.
To be handed to SI.'Raoul de Lagors.
(In great haste.)
"Oh, ho!" said Fanferlot, accompanying his
exclamation with a little whistle, as was his
habit when he thought he had made a grand
discovery.    "Oh, ho!"
"Do you intend to open it?" questioned
Mme. Alexandre.
"A little bit," said Fanferlot, as he dexter
ously opened the envelope.
Madame Alexandre leaned   over   her   hus
band's shoulder, and they both read the follow '
ing letter:
"Monsieur Raotji,Prosper is in prison,
accused of a robbery which he never com-
mitteed.    I wrote to you three days ago."
"What!" interrupted Fanferlot, "Ibis silly
girl wrote, and I never saw the letter?"
"But, little man, she must have posted it
herself, the day she went to the Palais de Jus-
tice. "