, welcomed the detective and his companion--whom she
took for one of his colleagues--somewhat as the supernumerary of a
theatre would greet his manager if the latter chanced to pay him a
visit in his humble lodgings.

She was expecting them. When they rang, she advanced to meet them
in the ante-chamber, and greeted M. Lecoq graciously and smilingly.
She conducted them into her drawing-room, invited them to sit in
her best arm-chairs, and pressed some refreshments upon them.

"I see, dear Madame," began M. Lecoq, "that you have received my
little note."

"Yes, Monsieur Lecoq, early this morning; I was not up."

"Very good. And have you been so kind as to do the service I asked?"

"How can you ask me, when you know that I would go through the fire
for you? I set about it at once, getting up expressly for the
purpose."

"Then you've got the address of Pelagie Taponnet, called Jenny?"

"Yes, I have," returned Mme. Charman, with an obsequious bow. "If
I were the kind of woman to magnify my services, I would tell you
what trouble it cost me to find this address, and how I ran all
over Paris and spent ten francs in cab hire."

"Well, let's come to the point."

"The truth is, I had the pleasure of seeing Miss Jenny day before
yesterday."

"You are joking!"

"Not the least in the world. And let me tell you that she is a
very courageous and honest girl."

"Really!"

"She is, indeed. Why, she has owed me four hundred and eighty
francs for two years. I hardly thought the debt worth much, as
you may imagine. But Jenny came to me day before yesterday all out
of breath and told me that she had inherited some money, and had
brought me what she owed me. And she was not joking, either; for
her purse was full of bank notes, and she paid me the whole of my
bill. She's a good girl!" added Mme. Charman, as if profoundly
convinced of the truth of her encomium.

M. Lecoq exchanged a significant glance with the old justice; the
same idea struck them both at the same moment. These bank-notes
could only be the payment for some important service rendered by
Jenny to Tremorel. M. Lecoq, however, wished for more precise
information.

"What was Jenny's condition before this windfall?" asked he.

"Ah, Monsieur Lecoq, she was in a dreadful condition. Since the
count deserted her she has been constantly falling lower and lower.
She sold all she had piece by piece. At last, she mixed with the
worst kind of people, drank absinthe, t