e. His yellow hair, cut
closely at the back of the head, as if to save the trouble of brushing,
was long in front and at the sides; being plastered down over his
forehead and advancing above his ears in extravagant corkscrew ringlets.

What with his attire, his affected jaunty step, his alternate raising of
either shoulder, and his way of holding his cigarette and of ejecting a
stream of saliva from between his teeth, Polyte Chupin, had he been
at liberty, would undoubtedly have proffered a paw, and greeted this
barriere beauty as a "pal."

It was the 14th of April; the weather was lovely, and, on the horizon,
the youthful foliage of the chestnut trees in the Tuileries gardens
stood out against a bright blue sky. The "ethereal mildness" of "gentle
spring" seemed to have a positive charm for the tattered "loafer" who
lazily loitered in the sunlight, dividing his attention between the
passers-by and some men who were hauling sand from the banks of the
Seine. Occasionally, however, he crossed the roadway, and, strange
to say, exchanged a few remarks with a neatly dressed, long-bearded
gentleman, who wore gold-rimmed spectacles over his nose and drab
silk gloves on his hands. This individual exhibited all the outward
characteristics of eminent respectability, and seemed to take a
remarkable interest in the contents of an optician's shop window.

Every now and then a policeman or an agent of the detective corps
passed by on his way to the Prefecture, and the elderly gentleman or
the "loafer" would at times run after these officials to ask for some
trifling information. The person addressed replied and passed on; and
then the "loafer" and the gentleman would join each other and laughingly
exclaim: "Good!--there's another who doesn't recognize us."

And in truth the pair had just cause for exultation, good reason to be
proud, for of some twelve or fifteen comrades they accosted, not one
recognized the two detectives, Lecoq and Father Absinthe. For the
"loafer" was none other than our hero, and the gentleman of such eminent
respectability his faithful lieutenant.

"Ah!" quoth the latter with admiration, "I am not surprised they don't
recognize me, since I can't recognize myself. No one but you, Monsieur
Lecoq, could have so transformed me."

Unfortunately for Lecoq's vanity, the good fellow spoke at a moment
when the time for idle conversation had passed. The prison van was just
crossing the bridge at a brisk trot.

"At