h work then, my
lads; but I say, 'Yesterday, madame, I was unlucky enough to leave my
pocketbook in cab number so-and-so. Now, as I saw you hail the vehicle
immediately after I had left it, I have come to ask you if you saw my
pocketbook.' The lady flies into a rage, denies all knowledge of
the book, and threatens to have me turned out. Then, with the utmost
politeness, I say, 'I see, madame, that there is nothing to be done
but to communicate the matter to your husband.' Then she gets alarmed,
and--she pays."

"And you don't see any more of her?"

"Not that day; but when the funds are low, I call and say, 'It is I
again, madame; I am the poor young man who lost his money in such and
such a cab on a certain day of the month.' And so the game goes on. A
dozen such clients give a fellow a very fair income. Now, perhaps, you
understand why I am always so well dressed, and always have money in my
pocket. When I was shabbily attired, they offered me a five-franc piece,
but now they come down with a flimsy."

The young wretch spoke the truth; for to many women, who in a mad moment
of passion may have forgotten themselves, and been tracked to their
homes by some prowling blackmailer, life has been an endless journey of
agony. Every knock at the door makes them start, and every footfall on
the staircase causes a tremor as they think that the villain has come to
betray their guilty secret.

"That is all talk," said Polyte; "such things are never done."

"They _are_ done," returned Toto sulkily.

"Have you ever tried the dodge yourself, then?" sneered Polyte.

At another time Chupin would have lied, but the fumes of the drink he
had taken, added to his natural self-conceit, had deprived him of all
judgment.

"Well," muttered he, "if I have not done it myself exactly, I have seen
others practise it often enough--on a much larger scale, it is true;
but one can always do things in a more miniature fashion with perhaps a
better chance of success."

"What! _you_ have seen this done?"

"Of course I have."

"And had you a share in the swag?"

"To a certain extent. I have followed the cabs times without number, and
have watched the goings on of these fine ladies and gentlemen; only I
was working for others, like the dog that catches the hare, and never
has a bit of it to eat. No, all I got was dry bread, with a kick or a
cuff for dessert. I sha'n't put up with it any longer, and have made up
my mind to open on my own acco