The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 1 of 6. Эжен Сю

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      "Well, well, go on."

      "We had drank together, Master Rodolph; I had drank, too, with the tall man and the little woman dressed in man's clothes, so you may believe my head was rather heavy, and, besides, nothing sends me off to sleep like a good fall of rain. I began then to snooze, but I had not been long asleep, I think, when, aroused by a noise, I sat up and listened. I heard the Schoolmaster, who was talking in a friendly tone with somebody. I soon made out that he was parleying with the tall man who came into the tapis-franc with the little woman dressed in man's clothes."

      "They in conference with the Schoolmaster and the Chouette?" said Rodolph, with amazement.

      "With the Schoolmaster and the Chouette; and they agreed to meet again on the morrow."

      "That's to-day!" said Rodolph.

      "At one o'clock."

      "This very moment!"

      "Where the road branches off to St. Denis and La Revolte."

      "This very spot!"

      "Just as you say, Master Rodolph, on this very spot."

      "The Schoolmaster! Oh, pray be on your guard, M. Rodolph," exclaimed Fleur-de-Marie.

      "Don't be alarmed, my child, he won't come; it's only the Chouette."

      "How could the man who, with the female in disguise, sought me at the tapis-franc, come into contact with these two wretches?" said Rodolph.

      "I'faith I don't know, and I think I only awoke at the end of the affair, for the tall man was talking of getting back his pocketbook, which the Chouette was to bring here in exchange for five hundred francs. I should say that the Schoolmaster had begun by robbing him, and that it was after that that they began to parley, and to come to friendly terms."

      "It is very strange."

      "Mon Dieu! it makes me quite frightened on your account, M. Rodolph," said Fleur-de-Marie.

      "Master Rodolph is no chicken, girl; but as you say, there may be something working against him, and so I am here."

      "Go on, my good fellow."

      "The tall man and the little woman have promised two thousand francs to the Schoolmaster to do to you – I don't know what. The Chouette is to be here directly to return the pocketbook, and to know what is required from them, which she is to tell the Schoolmaster, who will undertake it."

      Fleur-de-Marie started. Rodolph smiled disdainfully.

      "Two thousand francs to do something to you, Master Rodolph; that makes me think that when I see a notice of a dog that has been lost (I don't mean to make a comparison), and the offer of a hundred francs reward for his discovery, I say to myself, 'Animal, if you were lost, no one would give a hundred farthings to find you.' Two thousand francs to do something to you! Who are you, then?"

      "I'll tell you by and by."

      "That's enough, master. When I heard this proposal, I said to myself, I must find out where these two dons live who want to set the Schoolmaster on the haunches of M. Rodolph; it may be serviceable. So when they had gone away, I got out of my hiding-place, and followed them quietly. I saw the tall man and little woman get into a coach near Notre Dame, and I got up behind, and we went on until we reached the Boulevard de l'Observatoire. It was as dark as the mouth of an oven, and I could not distinguish anything, so I cut a notch in a tree, that I might find out the place in the morning."