d Paccard. "Did you see how he
kicked me? Well, we deserved to be sent to old Nick; for, after all, we
got him into this scrape."

"If only he does not drag us into some dirty job, and get us packed off
to the hulks yet," said the wily Prudence.

"Not he! If he had that in his head, he would tell us; you don't know
him.--He has provided handsomely for you. Here we are, citizens at
large! Oh, when that man takes a fancy to you, he has not his match for
good-nature."

"Now, my jewel," said Jacques Collin to his aunt, "you must take la
Gonore in hand; she must be humbugged. Five days hence she will be taken
into custody, and a hundred and fifty thousand francs will be found in
her rooms, the remains of a share from the robbery and murder of the old
Crottat couple, the notary's father and mother."

"She will get five years in the Madelonnettes," said Jacqueline.

"That's about it," said the nephew. "This will be a reason for old
Nourrisson to get rid of her house; she cannot manage it herself, and a
manager to suit is not to be found every day. You can arrange all
that. We shall have a sharp eye there.--But all these three things are
secondary to the business I have undertaken with regard to our letters.
So unrip your gown and give me the samples of the goods. Where are the
three packets?"

"At la Rousse's, of course."

"Coachman," cried Jacques Collin, "go back to the Palais de Justice, and
look sharp----

"I promised to be quick, and I have been gone half an hour; that is too
much.--Stay at la Rousse's, and give the sealed parcels to the office
clerk, who will come and ask for Madame _de_ Saint-Esteve; the _de_ will
be the password. He will say to you,'Madame, I have come from the public
prosecutor for the things you know of.' Stand waiting outside the door,
staring about at what is going on in the Flower-Market, so as not to
arouse Prelard's suspicions. As soon as you have given up the letters,
you can start Paccard and Prudence."

"I see what you are at," said Jacqueline; "you mean to step into
Bibi-Lupin's shoes. That boy's death has turned your brain."

"And there is Theodore, who was just going to have his hair cropped to
be scragged at four this afternoon!" cried Jacques Collin.

"Well, it is a notion! We shall end our days as honest folks in a fine
property and a delightful climate--in Touraine."

"What was to become of me? Lucien has taken my soul with him, and all my
joy in life. I have thirty year