s he picked himself up. "If I were not
Vagualame, I should know how to answer him," he muttered. "As it
is!"...

Juve rose, stumbling and staggering like a badly shaken old man, and
leaned against the hand railing of the steps.

Meanwhile de Loubersac was walking up and down, talking aloud, in a
state of extreme agitation.

"Disgusting creatures!... Low-minded wretches!... Degrading
occupation!... They respect nothing, and no one!... Insinuating such
abominations!... Wilhelmine de Naarboveck the mistress of Brocq!...
How vile!... Loathsome creatures!"

It was now obvious to the alert Juve, who drank in every word, each
gesture of de Loubersac's that the enraged lieutenant adored
Wilhelmine ... no doubt on that score!

When de Loubersac had calmed down somewhat, Juve cried softly:

"Oh, Monsieur Henri!"...

Roused from his reflections, de Loubersac shouted:

"Hold your tongue, you sicken me!"

"But," insisted Juve-Vagualame, "I have only done my duty. If I spoke
as I did, it was because my conscience."...

"Have you got consciences--your sort?" cried de Loubersac, casting a
glance of withering contempt at the supposed old man.

There was a silence. Then de Loubersac walked up to the old accordion
player and asked anxiously:

"Can you give me proofs of the truth of what you have just asserted?"

"Perhaps," was the evasive answer.

"You will have to give me proofs," insisted de Loubersac.

"Proofs?... I have none," replied the mysterious old fellow. "But I
have intuitions; better still, my confidence is grounded on a strong
probability."

This statement came to de Loubersac with the force of a stunning blow:
it came from one whom he considered his best agent: he knew Vagualame
always weighed his words: his information was generally correct.

"We cannot continue this conversation here," he said. "To-morrow we
must meet as usual--and remember--do not attempt to accost me without
using the password."

"Now, how the deuce am I to know what this famous word is?" Juve asked
himself. Then he had an inspiration.

"We must not use it again," he announced. "I have reason to think our
customary password is known ... I will explain another time ... it is
a regular story--a long one."

"All right," agreed de Loubersac. "What should it be?... Suppose I say
_monoplane_?"

"I will answer _dirigible_," said Juve-Vagualame.

"Agreed."

De Loubersac rapidly mounted the steps leading to the quay, glad to
close