p his mind, and showing himself just the
man the magistrate had expected to find, he said with a cynic laugh,--

"Upon my word, so much the worse for them! Since I am in the trap, let
the others be caught as well! Besides, who would have gotten the big
prize, if I had succeeded? Not I, most assuredly; and yet it was I who
risked most. Well, then, the man who hired me to 'do the lieutenant's
business' is a certain Justin Chevassat."

The most intense disappointment seized both Daniel and the surgeon. This
was not the name they had been looking for with such deep anxiety.

"Don't you deceive me, Crochard?" asked the lawyer, who alone had been
able to conceal all he felt.

"You may take my head if I lie!"

Did he tell the truth? The lawyer thought he did; for, turning to
Daniel, he asked,--

"Do you know anybody by the name of Chevassat, M. Champcey?"

"No. It is the first time in my life I hear that name."

"Perhaps that Chevassat was only an agent," suggested the doctor.

"Yes, that may be," replied the lawyer; "although, in such matters,
people generally do their own work."

And, continuing his examination, he asked the accused,--

"Who is this Justin Chevassat?"

"One of my friends."

"A friend richer than yourself, I should think?"

"As to that--why, yes; since he has always plenty of money in his
pockets, dresses in the last fashion, and drives his carriage."

"What is he doing? What is his profession?"

"Ah! as to that, I know nothing about it. I never asked him, and
he never told me. I once said to him, 'Do you know you look like a
prodigiously lucky fellow?' And he replied, 'Oh, not as much so as you
think;' but that is all."

"Where does he live?"

"In Paris, Rue Louis, 39."

"Do you write to him there? For I dare say you have written to him since
you have been in Saigon."

"I send my letters to M. X. O. X. 88."

It became evident now, that, so far from endeavoring to save his
accomplices, Crochard, surnamed Bagnolet, would do all he could to
aid justice in discovering them. He began to show the system which the
wretch was about to adopt,--to throw all the responsibility and all the
odium of the crime on the man who had hired him, and to appear the poor
devil, succumbing to destitution when he was tempted and dazzled by such
magnificent promises, that he had not the strength to resist. The lawyer
continued,--

"Where and how did you make the acquaintance of this Justin Chevassat?"

"