n by Monsieur Bernard about
his daughter's illness. From him Godefroid obtained the address of
Halpersohn.

This Polish doctor, since so celebrated, then lived in Chaillot, rue
Marbeuf, in an isolated house where he occupied the first floor. General
Romanus Zarnowski lived on the second floor, and the servants of the two
refugees inhabited the garret of this little house, which had but two
stories. Godefroid did not find Halpersohn, and was told that he had
gone into the provinces, sent for by a rich patient; he was almost glad
not to meet him, for in his hurry he had forgotten to supply himself
with money; and he now went back to the hotel de la Chanterie to get
some.

These various trips and the time consumed in dining at a restaurant in
the rue de l'Odeon brought Godefroid to the hour when he said he
would return and take possession of his lodging on the boulevard du
Mont-Parnasse. Nothing could be more forlorn than the manner in which
Madame Vauthier had furnished the two rooms. It seemed as though the
woman let rooms with the express purpose that no one should stay in
them. Evidently the bed, chairs, tables, bureau, secretary, curtains,
came from forced sales at auction, articles massed together in lots as
having no separate intrinsic value.

Madame Vauthier, with her hands on her hips, stood waiting for thanks;
she took Godefroid's smile for one of surprise.

"There! I picked out for you the very best we have, my dear Monsieur
Godefroid," she said with a triumphant air. "See those pretty silk
curtains, and the mahogany bedstead which hasn't got a worm-hole in
it! It formerly belonged to the Prince of Wissembourg. When he left his
house, rue Louis-le-Grand, in 1809, I was the kitchen-girl. From there,
I went to live as cook with the present owner of this house."

Godefroid stopped the flux of confidences by paying a month's rent in
advance; and he also gave, in advance, the six francs he was to pay
Madame Vauthier for the care of his rooms. At that moment he heard
barking, and if he had not been duly warned by Monsieur Bernard, he
would certainly have supposed that his neighbor kept a dog.

"Does that dog bark at night?" he asked.

"Oh! don't be uneasy, monsieur; you'll only have one week to stand those
persons. Monsieur Bernard can't pay his rent and we are going to put
him out. They are queer people, I tell you! I have never seen their
dog. That animal is sometimes months, yes, six months at a time withou