meuse family is one of the oldest and most illustrious in France. It
must not be confounded with the ducal family of Sermeuse, whose name is
written with an 'e.' Leaving France at the beginning of the Revolution,
Anne de Sairmeuse began by serving in the army of Conde. Some years
later he offered his sword to Russia; and it is asserted by some of his
biographers that he was fighting in the Russian ranks at the time of the
disastrous retreat from Moscow. Returning to France with the Bourbons,
he became notorious by the intensity of his ultra-royalist opinions.
It is certain that he had the good fortune to regain possession of his
immense family estates; and the rank and dignities which he had gained
in foreign lands were confirmed. Appointed by the king to preside at the
military commission charged with arresting and trying the conspirators
of Montaignac his zeal and severity resulted in the capture and
conviction of all the parties implicated."

Lecoq sprang up with sparkling eyes. "I see it clearly now," he
exclaimed. "The father of the present Duc de Sairmeuse tried to have the
father of the present M. d'Escorval beheaded."

M. Tabaret was the picture of complacency. "You see the assistance
history gives," said he. "But I have not finished, my boy; the present
Duc de Sairmeuse also has his article which will be of interest to us.
So listen: Sairmeuse (Anne-Marie-Martial)--Son of the preceding, was
born in London toward the close of the last century; received his early
education in England, and completed it at the Court of Austria, which
he subsequently visited on several confidential missions. Heir to the
opinions, prejudices, and animosities of his father, he placed at the
service of his party a highly cultivated intellect, unusual penetration,
and extraordinary abilities. A leader at a time when political passion
was raging highest, he had the courage to assume the sole responsibility
of the most unpopular measures. The hostility he encountered, however
eventually obliged him to retire from office, leaving behind him
animosities likely to terminate only with his life."

The sick man closed the book, and with assumed modesty, he asked: "Ah,
well! What do you think of my little method of induction?"

But Lecoq was too much engrossed with his own thoughts to reply to this
question. "I think," he remarked, "that if the Duc de Sairmeuse had
disappeared for two months--the period of May's imprisonment, all Paris
would