Caught In The Net | Page 8

soon, however, as the door was closed he bent down and listened.
The young people were as merry as larks, and their laughter filled the
bare attic of the Hotel de Perou. Why should not Paul have been in
good spirits? He had in his pocket the address of the man who was to
make his fortune, and on the chimney-piece was the balance of the
banknote, which seemed to him an inexhaustible sum. Rose, too, was
delighted, and could not refrain from jeering at their benefactor, whom
she stigmatized as "an old idiot."

"Laugh while you can, my dears!" muttered Daddy Tantaine; "for this
may be the last time you will do so."
With these words he crept down the dark staircase, which was only
lighted up on Sundays, owing to the high price of gas, and, peeping
through the glass door of the porter's lodge, saw Madame Loupins
engaged in cooking; and, with the timid knock of a man who has
learned his lesson in poverty's grammar, he entered.
"Here is my rent, madame," said he, placing on the table ten francs and
twenty centimes. Then, as the woman was scribbling a receipt, he
launched into a statement of his own affairs, and told her that he had
come into a little property which would enable him to live in comfort
during his few remaining years on earth; and--evidently fearing that his
well-known poverty might cause Madame Loupins to discredit his
assertions--drew out his pocketbook and exhibited several banknotes.
This exhibition of wealth so surprised the landlady, that when the old
man left she insisted on lighting him to the door. He turned eastward as
soon as he had left the house, and, glancing at the names of the shops,
entered a grocer's establishment at the corner of the Rue de Petit Pont.
This grocer, thanks to a certain cheap wine, manufactured for him by a
chemist at Bercy, had achieved a certain notoriety in that quarter. He
was very stout and pompous, a widower, and a sergeant in the National
Guard. His name was Melusin. In all poor districts five o'clock is a
busy hour for the shopkeepers, for the workmen are returning from
their labors, and their wives are busy in their preparations for their
evening meal. M. Melusin was so busily engaged, giving orders and
seeing that they were executed, that he did not even notice the entrance
of Daddy Tantaine; but had he done so, he would not have put himself
out for so poorly dressed a customer. But the old man had left behind
him in the Hotel de Perou every sign of humility and servility, and,
making his way to the least crowded portion of the shop, he called out
in imperative accents, "M. Melusin!"
Very much surprised, the grocer ceased his avocation and hastened to
obey the summons. "How the deuce does the man know me?" muttered
he, forgetting that his name was over the door in gilt letters fully six

inches long.
"Sir," said Daddy Tantaine, without giving the grocer time to speak,
"did not a young woman come here about half an hour ago and change
a note for five hundred francs?"
"Most certainly," answered M. Melusin; "but how did you know that?
Ah, I have it!" he added, striking his forehead; "there has been a
robbery, and you are in pursuit of the criminal. I must confess that the
girl looked so poor, that I guessed there was something wrong. I saw
her fingers tremble."
"Pardon me," returned Daddy Tantaine. "I have said nothing about a
robbery. I only wished to ask you if you would know the girl again?"
"Perfectly--a really splendid girl, with hair that you do not see every
day. I have reason to believe that she lives in the Rue Hachette. The
police are not very popular with the shopkeeping class; but the latter,
desirous of keeping down crime, generally afford plenty of information,
and in the interests of virtue will even risk losing customers, who go off
in a huff at not being attended to while they are talking to the officers
of justice. Shall I," continued the grocer, "send one of the errand boys
to the nearest police station?"
"No, thank you," replied Daddy Tantaine. "I should prefer your keeping
the matter quiet until I communicate with you once more."
"Yes, yes, I see; a false step just now would put them on their guard."
"Just so. Now, will you let me have the number of the note, if you still
have it? I wish you also to make a note of the date as well as the
number."
"Yes, yes, I see," returned the grocer. "You may require my books as
corroborative evidence; that is often the way. Excuse me; I will be