Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-05-17

He asked me If I would like to know the X nd
OF character the man bore. replied that !
would like very much TO do 50; although had !
heard already too much Of him. He then wrote 4
the name down on piece OF paper. spike /
through tube TO some one in room be.oS.
and put the paper I'm q sort OF small lift viii n |
was in the wall by his side We went on
talking upon various matters for about five
minutes, when a sound was heard through
speaking pipe. The chief then opened the lift.
took IRON ? slip OF paper, and ~, ssaa out the
Of NJ. Treves:
"a msney-lender."
''Has dealings with young men of good fam !
''Usurious in the extreme"
Suspected Of receiving stolen bank notes
from England"
Never brought to justice"
"a character furnished In many ways"
'Has been twice bankrupt"
Now" continued the Chief of Police, ssI
know that you Englishmen like to take every
thing by storm. III you attempt to do this in
Paris you will never gain your ends. You don't
knew what the word detective (police secrete)
means, although none of your novels plays
are complete without one or more of that OccIi-
patton among its characters. You had not bet
ter be seen speaking TO any Of my people here;
but give me your address, and one of my best
menS (he called them employees) "shall call at
your hotel tonight. Leave the matter to him,
tell him all you know, and II the matter can be
lifted, depend il he will do so. ''We have" he
continued, s'in France, three branches Of secret
police-namely. the political, the criminal, and
the civil. Your affair comes under the latter
category, and will send you an individual who
Will be useful to you in France, and much more
useful than any of your pOlicemans detective,
in London, even if you take him there with
you"
The Chief was evidently too polite to cast
ridicule upon anything English before me, but
from his manner, more than his actual words,
/ could see that he did not hold secret police
in very great estimation.
CHAPTER IV.-STILL SEEKING.
Grand Hotel, drinking my after-dinner demie
tdsse, and smoking my after dinner cigar, the
card of Monsieur Bergnet was brought me by
the waiter, who said that stranger wished to
see the gentleman occupying room No. 20I,
which was certainly myself The card was
speedily followed by the owner thereof, who in
a half whisper told me he had come to me on the
part of Monsieur ie Chisf. AT first felt sure
Nj. Bergnet was a head clerk, or chief of some
department in the Rue de Jerusalem, but he
quickly undeceived me. He was, a. he said a
member of the secret police in the civil depart
ment, in other words, adjective. But anything
more utterly unlike our English conventional
notion of detective would be impossible to
imagine. He was a bright, dapper little fellow
OF, should say, about fifty years of age, well
dressed in q close fitting frOck coat, with hat
that must have come from fashionable maker,
good boots, well glOved hands, a mOrsel of red
ribbon at his button hole, and altogether look
ing like a French military man in plain clothes,
or the head clerk in a prosperous bank. My
first thoughts were to contrast him with the big
hOnest-faced, heavy-looking, biycOck hat and
policeman's- bootswearing men L had seen at
Scotland yard.
our coffee finished, we stroled out, and while
walking up and down the Boulevard des Capu-
Gins told him the whole story from first to last
of which the reader has already had an outline.
He seemed to take in the whole affair at once.
and TO recolect the most trivial details respect
ing il. He told me that he knew something of
Mr.. Nual and Monsieur Treves, having had
more than once to ''lOOk up the latter in the
way of business. In the work to be done he
seemed to determine at once what was the best
line of action. of this mention will be made
presently. One of his plans involved CHI ange
of costume and disguise, upon which remark
ed that rOgues who were never on the alert
would be pretty sure to discover any attempt
made by the same individual to disguise himself
in more than one character. Upon this Mon
sieur Bergnet laughed-like everything else he
did, his laugh was genial, gentle and in0ffen-
sive-and said: sLoOk here moncher Monsieur
you other Enghshmen are fond of betting. 7
will bet Monsieur one hundred francs that
within the next forty ght hours, although he
has been warned of what am going to do, 1
will speak to Monsieur four times, and for at
least five minutes each time, aud on every Oc.
casion in different COSTUME. If upon one of
these occasions Monsieur recognizes me, then
will / forfeit my one hundred francs"
As a matter of course 1 smiled at what NJ.
Bergnet said, believing at first that he was
merely joking, and afterward that he was mere
ly Boosting of the faculties he had in his own
peculiar mind. But he insisted upon holding to
the bet, and for the purpose of pleasing him,
net for any other reason, 1 agreed to stake the
u.
parted, agreeing to meet the following evening
and talk over matters.
After Nj. Bergnet had left me, / recollected
that ! wanted to purchase pair Of boots, my
and clean streets of Paris. 1 therefore walked
a far as shop Of a shoemaker with whom had
dealt formerly in the Rue de RivOli. 1t was
getting late, and the assistants were common
cling to put up the shutters. did not, there
fore. wait to get what wanted, but giving the
number of my room at the Grand Hotel, asked
fhart tn arArn hal IN .SHI
seiect nesi eozsn P' co%fd try
out of bed. one Of those male housemads who
do out Of the bedrooms of every French hotel
knocked at my door and told me that person
from my bother had called with shoes and bosts.
as directed the day before. jumped up, pulled
on my dressing gown, and admitted the man.
He was one of those very decidedly French
workmen that one only sees in Paris; and wore
one OF those curious blue aprons coming up
over his chest that are, believe, q speciality of
French operative shoemaker. On coming into
the room he called my attention to the hour,
$50, as indicated by the timepiece on the chin,
ney, remarking that he believed the pendule
was slow, but that the pendule in hotels yer
some Of which were too large, others too small,
and at last the bo0tmaker's man advised me to
have pair made, and proceeded to measure
me for them. Altogether, he was about twenty
minutes in the room, during which he stood he,
fore me, moved here and there, and gave me
every opportunity of looking at him sideways
VI Iuil III the race Wncn ne mad finished meas
uring me, and had gathered the various boots
and shoes he had brought into the bag, he
startled me by asking me whether knew a GER
tain Monsieur Bergnet Before 1 answered
and before 1 had the slightest glimmering of
the truth, the man pulled off a very natural
looking black wig, as well as an equally natu-
ral.looking hort-cropped beard and mustache,
and there stood my friend, the employe of the
police sserets in the civil department. He was
amused at the amazement depicted on nv
countenance, but merely said: eau reyoir
Monsieur, you will admit that have won one
point out of four toward gaining the bet" Be-
fore could reply he had gone.
CHATTER N.-THE WAGER
III may be supposed that / was naturally
somewhat out Of temper with myself for having
allowed myself to be taken in so soon after Berg
net had made the bet with me. / made a yery
determined resolution to look closely at every
one that should come near me for the next two
days Not that wished to win NJ. Bergnet's
money, nor would have taken if / had found
him out in disguise. But still no Englishman
hikes TO get worsted in a wager, more particu-
larry when the loss of it indicates that he is not
SO observant as he might be. When the man
chambermaid answered my bell looked at
him, half expecting that il was again NJ Berg
net IN disguise. This, however, only proved
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