sent, therefore, one by one, for
all the former passengers on board 'The Conquest,' whom I could find,
a hundred, perhaps; and I examined them. I soon found out that my
presumption was not unfounded.

"Almost every one of them had found out some detail of Bagnolet's
life, some more, some less, according to the degree of honesty or
demoralization which Bagnolet thought he discovered in them. I collected
all the depositions of these witnesses; I completed and compared them,
one by the other; and thus, by means of the confessions of the accused,
certain allusions and confidences of his made to others, and his
indiscretions when he was drunk, I was enabled to make up his biography
with a precision which is not likely to be doubted."

Without seeming to notice the doctor's astonishment, he opened a large
case on his table; and, drawing from it a huge bundle of papers, he held
it up in the air, saying,--

"Here are the verbal depositions of my hundred and odd witnesses."

Then, pointing at four or five sheets of paper, which were covered with
very fine and close writing, he added,--

"And here are my extracts. Now, doctor, listen,--"

And at once he commenced reading this biography of his "accused," making
occasional remarks, and explaining what he had written.

"_Evariste Crochard_, surnamed _Bagnolet_, was born at Bagnolet in 1829,
and is, consequently, older than he says, although he looks younger. He
was born in February; and this month is determined by the deposition
of a witness, to whom the accused offered, during the voyage, a bottle,
with the words, 'To-day is my birthday.'

"From all the accounts of the accused, it appears that his parents
were evidently very honest people. His father was foreman in a copper
foundry; and his mother a seamstress. They may be still living; but for
many years they have not seen their son.

"The accused was sent to school; and, if you believe him, he learned
quickly, and showed remarkable talents. But from his twelfth year he
joined several bad companions of his age, and frequently abandoned his
home for weeks, roaming about Paris. How did he support himself while he
was thus vagabondizing?

"He has never given a satisfactory explanation. But he has made such
precise statements about the manner in which youthful thieves maintain
themselves in the capital, that many witnesses suspect him of having
helped them in robbing open stalls in the streets.

"The positive result of th