ndre, it is I--your Sabine; help! I will give you two
louis.' Of course I agreed. He gave me the fifty francs, and I did as he
asked me."

"What was this man like?"

"He was tall, old, and very shabby and dirty, with glasses on. I never
set eyes on him before."

"Do you know," returned the _commissaire_ sternly, "that the words
you have uttered have caused the death of the poor fellow who has just
fallen from the house?"

"Why did he not take more care?" asked she indifferently.

Palot, with an angry gesture, handed her over to a police-constable.

"Take her to the station-house," said he, "and do not lose sight of her,
for she will be a most important witness at a trial that must soon come
on."

"What the woman says is true," muttered Palot. "She did not know what
she was doing, and it was Tantaine that gave her the two coins. He shall
pay for this; but certainly, if the whole gang are collared, it won't
bring the poor young fellow to life."

He had, however, not much time for reflection, for he had to gather up
every link of evidence. How was it that this accident had occurred? The
frame of the window had fallen out with Andre, and lay in fragments on
the pavement. He picked up one of the pieces, and at once saw what had
been done; the woodwork had been sawed almost in two, and the putty with
which the marks of the cuts had been concealed still clung to the wood.
Palot called one of the workmen, who appeared to be more intelligent
than his fellows, pointed out the marks to him, and bade him gather up
the fragments and put them in some place of security. This duty being
accomplished, Palot joined the crowd; but he was too late, for Andre had
been taken away to the hospital. He looked around to see if there was
any one from whom he could gain information, and suddenly perceived on a
bench some one whom he had often followed. It was Toto Chupin, no
longer clad in the squalid rags of a day or two back. He was dressed in
gorgeous array, but his face was livid, his eyes wild, and his lips kept
moving convulsively, for he was a victim to a novel sensation--the pangs
of remorse--and was meditating whether he should not go to the nearest
police-station and give himself up, so that he might revenge himself
on Tantaine, who had made him a murderer. For a moment the idea of
arresting Toto passed through Palot's mind, but he, after a moment's
thought, muttered,--

"No; that would never do. We should risk losing the whol