eveloped no unusual
characteristics, Jean took down all of his clothing and emptied the
closet of its contents to the last old shoe.

With the candle to assist him, he then carefully examined the rear
wall.

CHAPTER XVIII

Mlle. Fouchette had her reasons for not wishing to meet Inspector Loup
anywhere or at any time. These reasons were especially sound,
considering this particular time and place.

And that the knock on Jean's door was that of Inspector Loup she had
no more doubt than if she had been confronted by that official in
person.

Therefore her flight.

The visit of Inspector Loup had the same effect upon Mlle. Fouchette
that the unexpected appearance of the general of an army might have
upon a sleepy picket-guard or a man off post. Inspector Loup was to
her a sort of human monster--a moral devil-fish--that not even the
cleverest could escape if he chose to reach out for them.

Mlle. Fouchette had been seized by the tentacles of Inspector Loup in
her infancy, as has been seen, and from that moment had become the
creature of his imperial will,--had, in fact, finally become one of
the myriad infinitesimal tentacles herself, subservient to the
master-mind. Whatever scruples she had imbibed from the society of the
Rendez-Vous pour Cochers had been dissipated by the Jesuit sisters of
Le Bon Pasteur. In the select circle of the vagabonds of the Porte de
Charenton and robbers of the wood of Vincennes the police agent was
execrated, and the secret informer, or spy, was deemed the most
despicable of human creatures and worthy only of a violent death;
whereas the good Mother Superieure of Le Bon Pasteur encouraged the
tale-bearer and rewarded the informer with her favor and the
assurance of the Divine blessing. Even the good Sister Agnes--now
already a kind of shadowy memory--had taught the waif that spying out
and reporting to the constituted authorities was commendable and
honorable.

And to do Mlle. Fouchette full justice she so profited by these
religious teachings that she was enabled to impart valuable inside
information to Inspector Loup's branch of the government concerning
the royalist plottings at Le Bon Pasteur. The importance of these
revelations Mlle. Fouchette herself did not understand, but that it
was of great value to the ministry--as possibly corroborating other
facts of a similar nature in their possession--was evidenced by the
transfer of Mlle. Fouchette's name to a special list of