yself."

And taking the valise from the servant's hands, without letting it be
seen that it weighed heavily, he turned toward the dining-room, while
Baptiste made his way toward the nearest inn, sorting his notes as he
went.

As the stranger had said, the way was familiar to him, for he passed
down a corridor, opened a first door without hesitation, then a second,
and found himself before a table elegantly served. A cold fowl, two
partridges, a ham, several kinds of cheese, a dessert of magnificent
fruit, and two decanters, the one containing a ruby-colored wine, and
the other a yellow-topaz, made a breakfast which, though evidently
intended for but one person, as only one place was set, might in case of
need have sufficed for three or four.

The young man's first act on entering the dining-room was to go straight
to a mirror, remove his hat, arrange his hair with a little comb which
he took from his pocket; after which he went to a porcelain basin with
a reservoir above it, took a towel which was there for the purpose,
and bathed his face and hands. Not until these ablutions were
completed--characteristic of a man of elegant habits--not until these
ablutions had been minutely performed did the stranger sit down to the
table.

A few minutes sufficed to satisfy his appetite, to which youth and
fatigue had, however, given magnificent proportions; and when Baptiste
came in to inform the solitary guest that the carriage was ready he
found him already afoot and waiting.

The stranger drew his hat low over his eyes, wrapped his coat about him,
took the valise under his arm, and, as Baptiste had taken pains to lower
the carriage-steps as close as possible to the door, he sprang into the
post-chaise without being seen by the postilion. Baptiste slammed the
door after him; then, addressing the man in the top-boots:

"Everything is paid to Valence, isn't it, relays and fees?" he asked.

"Everything; do you want a receipt?" replied the postilion, jokingly.

"No; but my master, the Marquise de Ribier, don't want to be disturbed
until he gets to Valence."

"All right," replied the postilion, in the same bantering tone, "the
citizen Marquis shan't be disturbed. Forward, hoop-la!" And he started
his horses, and cracked his whip with that noisy eloquence which says to
neighbors and passers-by: "'Ware here, 'ware there! I am driving a man
who pays well and who has the right to run over others."

Once in the carriage the pret