Recollections of a Policeman

  Part VII.

  LEGAL METAMORPHOSES.

  The respectable agent of a rather eminent French house arrived onemorning in great apparent distress at Scotland Yard, and informed thesuperintendent that he had just sustained a great, almost ruinous loss,in notes of the Bank of England and commercial bills of Exchange,besides a considerable sum in gold. He had, it appeared, been absent inParis about ten days, and on his return but a few hours previously,discovered that his iron chest had been completely rifled during hisabsence. False keys must have been used, as the empty chest was foundlocked, and no sign of violence could be observed. He handed in fullwritten details of the property carried off, the numbers of the notes,and every other essential particular. The first step taken was toascertain if any of the notes had been tendered at the bank. Not one hadbeen presented; payment was of course stopped, and advertisementsdescriptive of the bills of exchange, as well as of the notes, wereinserted in the evening and following morning papers. A day or twoafterwards, a considerable reward was offered for such information asmight lead to the apprehension of the offenders. No result followed; andspite of the active exertions of the officers employed, not theslightest clue could be obtained to the perpetrators of the robbery. Thejunior partner in the firm, M. Bellebon, in the meantime arrived inEngland, to assist in the investigation, and was naturally extremelyurgent in his inquiries; but the mystery which enveloped the affairremained impenetrable. At last a letter, bearing the St. Martin le Grandpost-mark, was received by the agent, M. Alexandre le Breton, whichcontained an offer to surrender the whole of the plunder, with theexception of the gold, for the sum of one thousand pounds. The propertywhich had been abstracted was more than ten times that sum, and had beendestined by the French house to meet some heavy liabilities falling duein London very shortly. Le Breton had been ordered to pay the wholeamount into Hoare's to the account of the firm, and had indeed beenseverely blamed for not having done so as he received the differentnotes and bills; and it was on going to the chest immediately on hisreturn from Paris, for the purpose of fulfilling the peremptoryinstructions he had received, that M. le Breton discovered the robbery.

  The letter went on to state that should the offer be acceded to, amystically worded advertisement--of which a copy was enclosed--was to beinserted in the "Times," and then a mode would be suggested forsafety--in the interest of the thieves of course--carrying the agreementinto effect. M. Bellebon was half-inclined to close with this proposal,in order to save the credit of the house, which would be destroyedunless its acceptances, now due in about fourteen days, could be met;and without the stolen moneys and bills of exchange, this was, hefeared, impossible. The superintendent, to whom M. Bellebon showed theletter, would not hear of compliance with such a demand, and threateneda prosecution for composition of felony if M. Bellebon persisted indoing so. The advertisement was, however, inserted, and an immediatereply directed that le Breton, the agent, should present himself at theold Manor-house, Green Lanes, Newington, unattended, at four o'clock onthe following afternoon, bringing with him of course the stipulated sum_in gold_. It was added, that to prevent any possible treason(_trahison_, the letter was written in French,) Le Breton would find anote for him at the tavern, informing him of the spot--a solitary one,and far away from any place where an ambush could be concealed--wherethe business would be concluded, and to which he must proceedunaccompanied, and on foot! This proposal was certainly quite asingenious as it was cool, and the chance of outwitting such cunningrascals seemed exceedingly doubtful. A very tolerable scheme was,however, hit upon, and M. le Breton proceeded at the appointed hour tothe Old Manor-House. No letter or message had been left for him, andnobody obnoxious to the slightest suspicion could be seen near or aboutthe tavern. On the following day another missive arrived, which statedthat the writer was quite aware of the trick which the police hadintended playing him, and he assured M. Bellebon that such a line ofconduct was as unwise as it would be fruitless, inasmuch as if "goodfaith" was not observed, the securities and notes would be inexorablydestroyed or otherwise disposed of, and the house of Bellebon andCompany be consequently exposed to the shame and ruin of bankruptcy.

  Just at this crises of the affair I arrived in town from my unsuccessfulhunt after the fugitives who had slipped through my fingers at Plymouth.The superintendent laughed heartily, not so much at the trick by which Ihad been duped, as at the angry mortification I did not affect toconceal. He presently added, "I have been wishing for your return, inorder to intrust you with a tangled affair, in which success will amplycompensate for such a disappointment. You know French too, which isfortunate; for the gentleman who has been plundered understands littleor no English." He then related the foregoing particulars, with otherapparently slight circumstances; and after a long conversation with him,I retired to think the matter over, and decide upon the likeliest modeof action. After much cogitation, I determined to see M. Bellebon_alone_, and for this purpose I despatched the waiter of a tavernadjacent to his lodgings, with a note expressive of my wish to see himinstantly on pressing business. He was at home, and immediately accededto my request. I easily introduced myself; and after about a quarter ofan hour's conference, said carelessly--for I saw he was too heedless ofspeech, too quick and frank, to be intrusted with the dim suspicionswhich certain trifling indices had suggested to me--"Is Monsieur leBreton at the office where the robbery was committed?"

  "No: he is gone to Greenwich on business, and will not return till latein the evening. But if you wish to re-examine the place, I can of courseenable you to do so."

  "It will, I think, be advisable; and you will, if you please," I added,as we emerged into the street, "permit me to take you by the arm, inorder that the _official_ character of my visit may not be suspected byany one there."

  He laughingly complied, and we arrived at the house arm in arm. We wereadmitted by an elderly woman; and there was a young man--a moustachedclerk--seated at a desk in an inner room writing. He eyed me for amoment, somewhat askance I thought, but I gave him no opportunity for adistinct view of my features; and I presently handed M. Bellebon a card,on which I had contrived to write, unobserved, "send away the clerk."This was more naturally done than I anticipated; and in answer to M.Bellebon's glance of inquiry, I merely said, "that as I did not wish tobe known there as a police-officer, it was essential that the minutesearch I was about to make should be without witnesses." He agreed; andthe woman was also sent away upon a distant errand. Every conceivableplace did I ransack; every scrap of paper that had writing on it Ieagerly perused. At length the search was over, apparently withoutresult.

  "You are quite sure, Monsieur Bellebon, as you informed thesuperintendent, that Monsieur le Breton has no female relations oracquaintances in this country?"

  "Positive," he replied. "I have made the most explicit inquiries on thesubject both of the clerk Dubarle and of the woman-servant."

  Just then the clerk returned, out of breath with haste I noticed, and Itook my leave without even now affording the young gentleman so clear aview of my face as he was evidently anxious to obtain.

  "No female acquaintance!" thought I, as I re-entered the private room ofthe tavern I had left an hour before. "From whom came, then, thesescraps of perfumed note-paper I have found in his desk I wonder?" I satdown and endeavored to piece them out, but after considerable trouble,satisfied myself that they were parts of different notes, and so small,unfortunately, as to contain nothing which separately afforded anyinformation except that they were all written by one hand, and that afemale one.

  About two hours after this I was sauntering along in the direction ofStoke-Newington, where I was desirous of making some inquiries as toanother matter, and had passed the Kingslaw Gate a few hundred yards,when a small discolored printed handbill, lying in a haberdasher's shopwindow, arrested my attention. It ran thus:--"Two guineas reward.--Lost,an Italian greyhound. The tip of its tail has been chopped off, and itanswers to the name of Fidele." Underneath, the reader was told inwriting to "inquire wi
thin."

  "Fidele!" I mentally exclaimed. "Any relation to M. le Breton's faircorrespondent's Fidele, I wonder?" In a twinkling my pocket-book wasout, and I reperused by the gas-light on one of the perfumed scraps ofpaper the following portion of a sentence, "_ma pauvre Fidele estper_"----. The bill, I observed, was dated nearly three weekspreviously. I forthwith entered the shop, and pointing to the bill, saidI knew a person who had found such a dog as was there advertised for.The woman at the counter said she was glad to hear it, as the lady,formerly a customer of theirs, was much grieved at the animal's loss.

  "What is the lady's name?" I asked.

  "I can't rightly pronounce the name," was the reply. "It is French, Ibelieve; but here it is, with the address, in the day-book, written byherself."

  I eagerly read--"Madame Levasseur, Oak Cottage; about one mile on theroad from Edmonton to Southgate." The hand-writing greatly resembledthat on the scraps I had taken from M. le Breton's desk; and the writerwas French too! Here were indications of a trail which might lead tounhoped-for success, and I determined to follow it up vigorously. Afterone or two other questions, I left the shop, promising to send the dogto the lady the next day. My business at Stoke-Newington was soonaccomplished. I then hastened westward to the establishment of awell-known dog-fancier, and procured the loan, at a reasonable price, ofan ugly Italian hound: the requisite loss of the tip of its tail wasvery speedily accomplished, and so quickly healed, that the newness ofthe excision could not be suspected. I arrived at the lady's residenceabout twelve o'clock on the following day, so thoroughly disguised as avagabond Cockney dog-stealer, that my own wife, when I entered thebreakfast parlor just previous to starting, screamed with alarm andsurprise. The mistress of Oak Cottage was at home, but indisposed, andthe servant said she would take the dog to her, though, if I would takeit out of the basket, she herself could tell me if it was Fidele or not.I replied that I would only show the dog to the lady, and would nottrust it out of my hands. This message was carried up stairs, and afterwaiting some time outside--for the woman, with natural precaution,considering my appearance, for the safety of the portable articles lyingabout, had closed the street-door in my face--I was readmitted, desiredto wipe my shoes carefully, and walk up. Madame Levasseur, a showylooking woman, though not over-refined in speech or manners, was seatedon a sofa, in vehement expectation of embracing her dear Fidele; but myvagabond appearance so startled her, that she screamed loudly for herhusband, M. Levasseur. This gentleman, a fine, tall, whiskered,moustached person, hastened into the apartment half-shaved, and with hisrazor in his hand.

  "Qu'est ce qu'il y a donc?" he demanded.

  "Mais voyez cette horreur la," replied the lady, meaning me, not thedog, which I was slowly emancipating from the basket-kennel. Thegentleman laughed; and reassured by the presence of her husband, MadameLevasseur's anxieties concentrated themselves upon the expected Fidele.

  "Mais, mon Dieu!" she exclaimed again as I displayed the aged beauty Ihad brought for her inspection, "why, that is not Fidele!"

  "Not, marm?" I answered, with quite innocent surprise. "Vy, ere is herwery tail;" and I held up the mutilated extremity for her closerinspection. The lady was not, however, to be convinced even by thatevidence; and as the gentleman soon became impatient of my persistence,and hinted very intelligibly that he had a mind to hasten my passagedown stairs with the toe of his boot, I, having made the best possibleuse of my eyes during the short interview, scrambled up the dog andbasket, and departed.

  "No female relative or acquaintance hasn't he?" was my exulting thoughtas I gained the road. "And yet if that is not M. le Breton's picturebetween those of the husband and wife, I am a booby, and a blind one." Ino longer in the least doubted that I had struck a brilliant trail; andI could have shouted with exultation, so eager was I not only toretrieve my, as I fancied, somewhat tarnished reputation for activityand skill, but to extricate the plundered firm from their terribledifficulties; the more especially as young M. Bellebon, with thefrankness of his age and nation, had hinted to me--and the suddenlytremulous light of his fine expressive eyes testified to the acutenessof his apprehensions--that his marriage with a long-loved and amiablegirl depended upon his success in saving the credit of his house.

  That same evening, about nine o'clock, M. Levasseur, expensively, butwithal snobbishly attired, left Oak Cottage, walked to Edmonton, haileda cab, and drove off rapidly towards town, followed by an English swellas stylishly and snobbishly dressed, wigged, whiskered, and moustachedas himself: this English swell being no other than myself, as prettilymetamorphosed and made up for the part I intended playing as heart couldwish.

  M. Levasseur descended at the end of the Quadrant, Regent Street, andtook his way to Vine Street, leading out of that celebratedthoroughfare. I followed; and observing him enter a public house,unhesitatingly did the same. It was a house of call and generalrendezvous for foreign servants out of place. Valets, couriers, cooks,of many varieties of shade, nation, and respectability, were assembledthere, smoking, drinking, and playing at an insufferably noisy game,unknown, I believe, to Englishmen, and which must, I think, have beeninvented in sheer despair of cards, dice, or other implements ofgambling. The sole instruments of play were the gamester's fingers, ofwhich the two persons playing suddenly and simultaneously uplifted asmany, or as few, as they pleased, each player alternately calling anumber; and if he named precisely how many fingers were held up byhimself and opponent, he marked a point. The hubbub of cries--"cinq,""neuf," "dix," &c.--was deafening. The players--almost every body in thelarge room--were too much occupied to notice our entrance; and M.Levasseur and myself seated ourselves, and called for something todrink, without, I was glad to see, exciting the slightest observation.M. Levasseur, I soon perceived, was an intimate acquaintance of manythere; and somewhat to my surprise, for he spoke French very well, Ifound that he was a Swiss. His name was, I therefore concluded, assumed.Nothing positive rewarded my watchfulness that evening; but I felt quitesure Levasseur had come there with the expectation of meeting some one,as he did not play, and went away about half past eleven o'clock with anobviously discontented air. The following night it was the same; but thenext, who should peer into the room about half past ten, and lookcautiously round, but M. Alexandre le Breton! The instant the eyes ofthe friends met, Levasseur rose and went out. I hesitated to follow,lest such a movement might excite suspicion; and it was well I did not,as they both presently returned, and seated themselves close by my side.The anxious, haggard countenance of Le Breton--who had, I should havebefore stated, been privately pointed out to me by one of the forceearly on the morning I visited Oak Cottage--struck me forcibly,especially in contrast with that of Levasseur, which wore only anexpression of malignant and ferocious triumph, slightly dashed bytemporary disappointment. Le Breton stayed but a short time; and theonly whispered words I caught were--"He has, I fear, some suspicion."

  The anxiety and impatience of M. Bellebon whilst this was going onbecame extreme, and he sent me note after note--the only mode ofcommunication I would permit--expressive of his consternation at thenear approach of the time when the engagements of his house would arriveat maturity, without anything having in the meantime been accomplished.I pitied him greatly, and after some thought and hesitation, resolvedupon a new and bolder game. By affecting to drink a great deal,occasionally playing, and in other ways exhibiting a reckless,devil-may-care demeanor, I had striven to insinuate myself into theconfidence and companionship of Levasseur, but hitherto without mucheffect; and although once I could see, startled by a casual hint Idropped to another person--one of ours--just sufficiently loud for himto hear--that I knew a sure and safe market for stopped Bank of Englandnotes, the cautious scoundrel quickly subsided into his usual guardedreserve. He evidently doubted me, and it was imperatively necessary toremove those doubts. This was at last effectually, and, I am vain enoughto think, cleverly done. One evening a rakish looking man, whoostentatiously and repeatedly declared himself to be Mr. Trelawney ofConduit Street, and wh
o was evidently three parts intoxicated, seatedhimself directly in front of us, and with much braggart impudenceboasted of his money, at the same time displaying a pocket-book, whichseemed pretty full of Bank of England notes. There were only a fewpersons present in the room besides us, and they were at the other endof the room. Levasseur, I saw, noticed with considerable interest thelook of greed and covetousness which I fixed on that same pocket-book.At length the stranger rose to depart. I also hurried up and slippedafter him, and was quietly and slyly followed by Levasseur. Afterproceeding about a dozen paces I looked furtively about, but _not_behind; robbed Mr. Trelawney of his pocket-book, which he had placed inone of the tails of his coat; crossed over the street, and walkedhurriedly away, still, I could hear, followed by Levasseur. I enteredanother public-house, strode into an empty back-room, and was just inthe act of examining my prize, when in stepped Levasseur. He lookedtriumphant as Lucifer, as he clapped me on the shoulder, and said in alow exulting voice, "I saw that pretty trick, Williams, and can, if Ilike, transport you!"

  My consternation was naturally extreme, and Levasseur laughed immenselyat the terror he excited. "Soyez tranquille," he said at last, at thesame time ringing the bell: "I shall not hurt you." He ordered somewine, and after the waiter had fulfilled the order and left the room,said, "Those notes of Mr. Trelawney's will of course be stopped in themorning, but I think I once heard you say you knew of a market for sucharticles?"

  I hesitated, coyly unwilling to further commit myself. "Come, come,"resumed Levasseur in a still low but menacing tone, "no nonsense. I haveyou now; you are, in fact, entirely in my power; but be candid, and youare safe. Who is your friend?"

  "He is not in town now," I stammered.

  "Stuff--humbug! I have myself some notes to change. There, now weunderstand each other. What does he give, and how does he dispose ofthem?"

  "He gives about a third generally, and gets rid of them abroad. Theyreach the Bank through _bona fide_ and innocent olders, and in that casethe Bank is of course bound to pay."

  "Is that the law also with respect to bills of exchange?"

  "Yes, to be sure it is."

  "And is _amount_ of any consequence to your friend?"

  "None, I believe, whatever."

  "Well, then, you must introduce me to him."

  "No, that I can't," I hurriedly answered. "He wont deal with strangers."

  "You _must_, I tell you, or I will call an officer." Terrified by thisthreat, I muttered that his name was Levi Samuel.

  "And where does Levi Samuel live?"

  "That," I replied, "I _cannot_ tell; but I know how to communicate withhim."

  Finally, it was settled by Levasseur that I should dine at Oak Cottagethe next day but one, and that I should arrange with Samuel to meet usthere immediately afterwards. The notes and bills he had to dispose of,I was to inform Samuel, amounted to nearly twelve thousand pounds, and Iwas promised L500 for effecting the bargain.

  "Five hundred pounds, remember, Williams," said Levasseur as we parted;"or, if you deceive me, transportation! You can prove nothing regarding_me_, whereas, I could settle _you_ off hand."

  The superintendent and I had a long and rather anxious conference thenext day. We agreed that, situate as Oak Cottage was, in an open spaceaway from any other building, it would not be advisable that any officerexcept myself and the pretended Samuel should approach the place. Wealso agreed as to the probability of such clever rogues having so placedthe notes and bills that they could be consumed or otherwise destroyedon the slightest alarm, and that the open arrest of Levasseur, and asearch of Oak Cottage, would in all likelihood prove fruitless. "Therewill be only two of them," I said in reply to a remark of thesuperintendent as to the somewhat dangerous game I was risking withpowerful and desperate men, "even should Le Breton be there; and surelyJackson and I, aided by the surprise and our pistols, will be too manyfor them." Little more was said, the superintendent wished us luck, andI sought out and instructed Jackson.

  I will confess that, on setting out the next day to keep my appointment,I felt considerable anxiety. Levasseur _might_ have discovered myvocation, and set this trap for my destruction. Yet that was hardlypossible. At all events, whatever the danger, it was necessary to faceit; and having cleaned and loaded my pistols with unusual care, and bademy wife a more than usually earnest farewell, which, by the way, ratherstartled her, I set off, determined, as we used to say in Yorkshire, "towin the horse or lose the saddle."

  I arrived in good time at Oak Cottage, and found my host in the highestpossible spirits. Dinner was ready, he said, but it would be necessaryto wait a few minutes for the two friends he expected.

  "_Two_ friends!" I exclaimed, really startled. "You told me last eveningthere was to be only one, a Monsieur le Breton."

  "True," rejoined Levasseur carelessly; "but I had forgotten that anotherparty as much interested as ourselves would like to be present, andinvite himself, if I did not. But there will be enough for us all, neverfear," he added with a coarse laugh, "especially as Madame Levasseurdoes not dine with us."

  At this moment a loud knock was heard. "Here they are!" exclaimedLevasseur, and hastened out to meet them. I peeped through the blind,and to my great alarm saw that Le Breton was accompanied by the clerkDubarle! My first impulse was to seize my pistols and rush out of thehouse; but calmer thoughts soon succeeded, and the improbability that aplan had been laid to entrap me recurred forcibly. Still, should theclerk recognize me? The situation was undoubtedly a critical one; but Iwas in for it, and must therefore brave the matter out in the best way Icould.

  Presently a conversation, carried on in a loud, menacing tone in thenext room between Levasseur and the new comers, arrested my attention,and I softly approached the door to listen. Le Breton, I soon found, wasbut half a villain, and was extremely anxious that the property shouldnot be disposed of till at least another effort had been made atnegotiation. The others, now that a market for the notes and securitieshad been obtained, were determined to avail themselves of it, andimmediately leave the country. The almost agonized intreaties of LeBreton that they would not utterly ruin the house he had betrayed, weretreated with scornful contempt, and he was at length silenced by theirbrutal menaces. Le Breton, I further learned, was a cousin of MadameLevasseur, whose husband had first pillaged him at play, and thensuggested the crime which had been committed as the sole means ofconcealing the defalcations of which he, Levasseur, had been theoccasion and promoter.

  After a brief delay, all three entered the dining-room, and a slightbut significant start which the clerk Dubarle gave, as Levasseur, withmock ceremony, introduced me, made my heart, as folk say, leap into mymouth. His half-formed suspicions seemed, however, to be dissipated forthe moment by the humorous account Levasseur gave him of the robbery ofMr. Trelawney, and we sat down to a very handsome dinner.

  A more uncomfortable one, albeit, I never assisted at. The furtive looksof Dubarle, who had been only partially reassured, grew more and moreinquisitive and earnest. Fortunately Levasseur was in rollicking spiritsand humor, and did not heed the unquiet glances of the young man; and asfor Le Breton, he took little notice of anybody. At last this terribledinner was over, and the wine was pushed briskly round. I drank muchmore freely than usual, partly with a view to calm my nerves, and partlyto avoid remark. It was nearly the time for the Jew's appearance, whenDubarle, after a scrutinizing and somewhat imperious look at my face,said abruptly, "I think, Monsieur Williams, I have seen you somewherebefore?"

  "Very likely," I replied with as much indifference as I could assume."Many persons have seen me before--some of them once or twice toooften."

  "True!" exclaimed Levasseur with a shout. "Trelawney, for instance!"

  "I should like to see Monsieur with his wig off!" said the clerk withincreasing insolence.

  "Nonsense, Dubarle; you are a fool," exclaimed Levasseur, "and I willnot have my good friend Williams insulted."

  Dubarle did not persist, but it was plain enough that some dimremem
brance of my features continued to haunt and perplex him.

  At length, and the relief was unspeakable, a knock at the outer doorannounced Jackson--Levi Samuel, I mean. We all jumped up, and ran to thewindow. It was the Jew sure enough, and admirably he had dressed and nowlooked the part. Levasseur went out, and in a minute or two returnedintroducing him. Jackson could not suppress a start as he caught sightof the tall, moustached addition to the expected company; and althoughhe turned it off very well, it drove the Jewish dialect in which he hadbeen practising completely out of his thoughts and speech, as he said,"You have more company than my friend Williams led me to expect?"

  "A friend--one friend extra, Mr. Samuel," said Levasseur; "that is all.Come, sit down, and let me help you to a glass of wine. You are anEnglish Jew I perceive?"

  "Yes."

  A silence of a minute or two succeeded, and then Levasseur said, "Youare of course prepared for business?"

  "Yes--that is, if you are reasonable."

  "Reasonable! the most reasonable men in the world," rejoined Levasseurwith a loud laugh. "But pray where is the gold you mean to pay us with?"

  "If we agree, I will fetch it in half an hour. I do not carry bags ofsovereigns about with me into _all_ companies," replied Jackson withmuch readiness.

  "Well, that's right enough: and now how much discount do you charge?"

  "I will tell you when I see the securities."

  Levasseur rose without another word, and left the apartment. He was goneabout ten minutes, and on his return, deliberately counted out thestolen Bank of England notes and bills of Exchange. Jackson got up fromhis chair, peered close to them, and began noting down the amounts inhis pocket-book. I also rose, and pretended to be looking at a pictureby the fire-place. The moment was a nervous one, as the signal had beenagreed upon, and could not now be changed or deferred. The clerk Dubarlealso hastily rose, and eyed Jackson with flaming but indecisive looks.The examination of the securities was at length terminated, and Jacksonbegan counting the Bank of England notes aloud--"One--two--three--four--FIVE!"As the signal word passed his lips, he threw himself upon Le Breton, whosat next to him; and at the same moment I passed one of my feet betweenDubarle's, and with a dexterous twist hurled him violently on the floor;another instant and my grasp was on the throat of Levasseur, and mypistol at his ear. "Hurrah!" we both shouted with eager excitement; andbefore either of the villains could recover from his surprise, or indeedperfectly comprehend what had happened, Levasseur and Le Breton werehand-cuffed, and resistance was out of the question. Young Dubarle wasnext easily secured.

  Levasseur, the instant he recovered the use of his faculties, which thecompleteness and suddenness of the surprise and attack had paralysed,yelled like a madman with rage and anger, and but for us, would, Iverily believe, have dashed his brains out against the walls of theroom. The other two were calmer, and having at last thoroughly pinionedand secured them, and carefully gathered up the recovered plunder, weleft Oak Cottage in triumph, letting ourselves out, for thewoman-servant had gone off, doubtless to acquaint her mistress with thedisastrous turn affairs had taken. No inquiry was made after either ofthem.

  An hour afterwards the prisoners were securely locked up, and I hurriedto acquaint M. Bellebon with the fortunate issue of our enterprise. Hisexultation, it will be readily believed, was unbounded; and I left himbusy with letters to the firm, and doubtless one to "cette chere etaimable Louise," announcing the joyful news.

  The prisoners, after a brief trial, which many readers of this narrativemay perhaps remember, were convicted of felonious conspiracy, and wereall sentenced to ten years' transportation. Le Breton's sentence, thejudge told him, would have been for life, but for the contrition he hadexhibited shortly before his apprehension.

  As Levasseur passed me on leaving the dock, he exclaimed in French, andin a desperately savage tone, "I will repay you for this when I return,and that infernal Trelawney too." I am too much accustomed to threats ofthis kind to be in any way moved by them, and I therefore contentedmyself by smiling, and a civil "Au revoir--allons!"