is my profession, as a schoolmaster."

"He made me, then, observe, that if he would not go on this 'lay,' he
did not desire to discourage any other person, and that you would
willingly lend a hand in the affair."

"May I, without impertinence, ask why you appointed a meeting with the
Chourineur at St. Ouen yesterday, which gave him the advantage of
meeting the Chouette? He was too much puzzled at my question to give me
a clear answer."

Rodolph bit his lips imperceptibly, and replied, shrugging his
shoulders:

"Very likely; for I only told him half my plan, you must know, not
knowing if he had made up his mind."

"That was very proper."

"The more so as I had two strings to my bow."

"You are a careful man. You met the Chourineur, then, at St. Ouen,
for--"

Rodolph, after a moment's hesitation, had the good luck to think of a
story which would account for the want of address which the Chourineur
had displayed, and said:

"Why, this it is. The attempt I propose is a famous one, because the
person in question is in the country; all my fear was that he should
return to Paris. To make sure, I went to Pierrefitte, where his
country-house is situated, and there I learned that he would not be back
again until the day after to-morrow."

"Well, but to return to my question; why did you appoint to meet the
Chourineur at St. Ouen?"

"Why, you are not so bright as I took you for. How far is it from
Pierrefitte to St. Ouen?"

"About a league."

"And from St. Ouen to Paris?"

"As much."

"Well, if I had not found any one at Pierrefitte,--that is, if there had
been an empty house there,--why, there also would have been a good job;
not so good as in Paris, but still well worth having. I went back to the
Chourineur, who was waiting for me at St. Ouen. We should have returned
then to Pierrefitte, by a cross-path which I know, and--"

"I understand. If, on the contrary, the job was to be done in Paris?"

"We should have gained the Barrier de l'Etoile by the road of the
Rivolte, and thence to the Allee des Veuves--"

"Is but a step; that is plain enough. At St. Ouen you were well placed
for either operation,--that was clear; and now I can understand why the
Chourineur was at St. Ouen. So the house in the Allee des Veuves will be
uninhabited until the day after to-morrow?"

"Uninhabited, except the porter."

"I see. And is it a profitable job?"

"Sixty thousand francs in gold in the proprietor's cabinet."

"A