ace cost,
and who gave it to her; with the latest news from Prussia; and the name
of the bank chairman or cashier who has absconded during the day, and
the amount he has taken with him.

The crowd became more dense as the Faubourg Montmartre was approached,
but Wilkie made his way through the throng with the ease of an old
boulevardier. He must have had a large circle of acquaintances, for
he distributed bows right and left, and was spoken to by five or six
promenaders. He did not pass the Terrasse Jouffroy, but, pausing there,
he purchased an evening paper, retraced his steps, and about seven
o'clock reached the Cafe Riche, which he entered triumphantly. He did
not even touch the rim of his hat on going in--that would have been
excessively BAD form; but he called a waiter, in a very loud voice,
and imperiously ordered him to serve dinner on a table near the window,
where he could see the boulevard--and be seen.

"And now my little fighting-cock is going to feed," thought Chupin. He,
too, was hungry; and he was trying to think of some modest restaurant
in the neighborhood, when two young men passed near him and glanced into
the cafe.

"Look, there's Wilkie!" observed one of them.

"That's so, upon my word!" responded the other. "And he has money, too;
fortune has smiled upon him."

"How do you know that?"

"Why, by watching the fellow; one can tell the condition of his purse
as correctly as he could himself. If his funds are low, he has his meals
brought to his room from a cook-shop where he has credit; his mustache
droops despondingly; he is humble even to servility with his friends,
and he brushes his hair over his forehead. When he is in average
circumstances, he dines at Launay's, waxes his mustache, and brushes his
hair back from his face. But when he dines at the Cafe Riche, my boy,
when he has dyed his mustache, and tips his hat over his ear, and
deports himself in that arrogant fashion, why, he has at least five or
six thousand francs in his pocket, and all is well with him."

"Where does he get his money from?"

"Who can tell?"

"Is he rich?"

"He must have plenty of money--I lent him ten louis once, and he paid me
back."

"Zounds! He's a very honorable fellow, then." Thereupon the two young
men laughed, and passed on.

Chupin had been greatly edified. "Now I know you as well as if I were
your concierge," he muttered, addressing the unconscious Wilkie; "and
when I've followed you home, and lear