"Opposite St. Ouen, at the end of the road of La Revolte, the plain is wide and open. Across the fields, one may see a long way. Come there to-morrow, quite alone, with your money in your hand; you will find me and the pocketbook ready. Hand me the cash, and I will hand you the pocketbook."
"But he"ll trap you, Chouette."
"Oh, no, he won"t; I"m up to him or any of his dodges. We can see a long way off. I have only one eye, but that is a piercer; and if the "cove"
comes with a companion, he won"t find anybody; I shall have "mizzled.""
A sudden idea seemed to strike Sarah, and she said to the brigand, "Will you like to gain some money?"
"Yes."
"Did you see, in the cabaret we have just left--for I know you again--the man whom the charcoal-man came to seek?"
"A dandy with moustaches? Yes, I would have stuck it into the fellow, but he did not give me time. He stunned me with two blows of his fists, and upset me on the table,--for the first time that any man ever did so.
Curses on him! but I will be revenged."
"He is the man I mean," said Sarah.
"He?" cried the Schoolmaster, "a thousand francs, and I"ll kill him."
"Wretch! I do not seek his life," replied Sarah to the Schoolmaster.
"What, then, would you have?"
"Come to-morrow to the plain of St. Denis; you will there find my companion," she replied; "you will see that he is alone, and he will tell you what to do. I will not give you one thousand, but two thousand, francs, if you succeed."
"_Fourline_," said the Chouette, in a low tone, to the Schoolmaster, "there"s "blunt" to be had; these are a "swell" lot, who want to be revenged on an enemy, and that enemy is the beggar that you wished to "floor." Let"s go and meet him. I would go, if I were you. Fire and smoke! Old boy, it will pay for looking after."
"Well, my wife shall be there," said the Schoolmaster; "you will tell her what you want, and I shall see--"
"Be it so; to-morrow at one."
"At one o"clock."
"In the plain of St. Denis?"
"In the plain of St. Denis."
"Between St. Ouen and the road of La Revolte, at the end of the road?"
"Agreed."
"I will bring your pocketbook."
"And you shall have the five hundred francs I promised you, and we will agree in the other matter, if you are reasonable."
"Now, you go to the right, and we to the left hand. Do not follow us, or else--"
The Schoolmaster and the Chouette hurried off, whilst Tom and the countess went in the other direction, towards Notre Dame.
A concealed witness had been present at this transaction; it was the Chourineur, who had entered the cellars of the house to get shelter from the rain. The proposal which Sarah made to the brigand respecting Rodolph deeply interested the Chourineur, who, alarmed for the perils which appeared about to beset his new friend, regretted that he could not warn him of them. Perhaps his detestation of the Schoolmaster and the Chouette might have something to do with this feeling.
The Chourineur resolved to inform Rodolph of the danger which threatened him; but how? He had forgotten the address of the self-styled fan-painter. Perhaps Rodolph would never again come to the _tapis-franc_, and then how could he warn him? Whilst he was conning all this over in his mind, the Chourineur had mechanically followed Tom and Sarah, and saw them get into a coach which awaited them near Notre Dame.
The _fiacre_ started. The Chourineur got up behind, and at one o"clock it stopped on the Boulevard de l"Observatoire, and Thomas and Sarah went down a narrow entrance, which was close at hand. The night was pitch dark, and the Chourineur, that he might know the next day the place where he then was, drew from his pocket his clasp-knife, and cut a deep notch in one of the trees at the corner of the entrance, and then returned to his resting-place, which was at a considerable distance.
For the first time for a very long while, the Chourineur enjoyed in his den a comfortable sleep, which was not once interrupted by the horrible vision of the "Sergeant"s slaughter-house," as, in his coa.r.s.e language, he styled it.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE WALK.
On the day after the evening on which the various events we have described had pa.s.sed, a bright autumnal sun shone from a pure sky; the darkness of the night had wholly disappeared. Although always shaded by the height of the houses, the disreputable neighbourhood into which the reader has followed us seemed less horrible when viewed in the light of open day.
Whether Rodolph no longer feared meeting with the two persons whom he had evaded the over-night, or did not care whether he faced them or not, about eleven o"clock in the morning he entered the Rue aux Feves, and directed his steps towards the tavern of the ogress.
Rodolph was still in a workman"s dress; but there was a decided neatness in his costume. His new blouse, open on his chest, showed a red woollen shirt, closed by several silver b.u.t.tons; whilst the collar of another shirt, of white cotton, fell over a black silk cravat, loosely tied around his neck. From under his sky blue velvet cap, with a bright leather peak, several locks of chestnut hair were seen; and his boots, cleaned very brightly, and replacing the heavy iron shoes of the previous evening, showed off to advantage a well-formed foot, which seemed all the smaller from appearing out of a loose pantaloon of olive velveteen. The costume was well calculated to display the elegant shape and carriage of Rodolph, which combined so much grace, suppleness, and power. The ogress was airing herself at her door when Rodolph presented himself.
"Your servant, young man; you have come, no doubt, for your change of the twenty francs," she said, with some show of respect, not venturing to forget that the conqueror of the Chourineur had handed her a louis d"or the previous evening. "There is seventeen francs ten sous coming to you; but that"s not all. There was somebody here asking after you last night,--a tall gent, well dressed, and with him a young woman in men"s clothes. They drank my best wine along with the Chourineur."
"Oh, with the Chourineur, did they? And what could they have to say to him?"
"When I say they drank, I make a mistake; they only just sipped a drain or so, and--"
"But what did they say to the Chourineur?"
"Oh, they talked of all manner of things,--of Bras Rouge, and the rain, and fine weather."
"Do they know Bras Rouge?"
"Not by no means; the Chourineur told "em all about him, and as how as you--"
"Well, well, that is not what I want to know."
"You want your change."
"Yes, and I want to take Goualeuse to pa.s.s the day in the country."
"Oh, that"s impossible!"
"Why?"
"Why? Because she may never come back again. Her things belong to me, not including as she owes me a matter of ninety francs as a balance for her board and lodging, for the six weeks as she has lodged with me; and if I didn"t know her to be as honest a gal as is, I should never let her go out of sight."
"Goualeuse owes you ninety francs?"