zed that he had
discovered the secret skeleton hidden in every house. "What! what!" he
exclaimed, on fire with curiosity; "is there really anything in that? To
tell the truth, I was inclined to doubt it."

His companions were evidently about to tell him all they knew, or rather
all they thought they knew, when the front-door bell rang vigorously.

"There he comes!" exclaimed the concierge; "but he's in too much of a
hurry; hell have to wait awhile."

He sullenly pulled the cord, however; the heavy door swayed on its
hinges, and a cab-driver, breathless and hatless, burst into the room,
crying, "Help! help!"

The servants sprang to their feet.

"Make haste!" continued the driver. "I was bringing a gentleman
here--you must know him. He's outside, in my vehicle----"

Without pausing to listen any longer, the servants rushed out, and the
driver's incoherent explanation at once became intelligible. At the
bottom of the cab, a roomy four-wheeler, a man was lying all of a heap,
speechless and motionless. He must have fallen forward, face downward,
and owing to the jolting of the vehicle his head had slipped under the
front seat.

"Poor devil!" muttered M. Casimir, "he must have had a stroke of
apoplexy." The valet was peering into the vehicle as he spoke, and his
comrades were approaching, when suddenly he drew back, uttering a cry of
horror. "Ah, my God! it is the count!"

Whenever there is an accident in Paris, a throng of inquisitive
spectators seems to spring up from the very pavement, and indeed more
than fifty persons had already congregated round about the vehicle. This
circumstance restored M. Casimir's composure; or, at least, some portion
of it. "You must drive into the courtyard," he said, addressing the
cabman. "M. Bourigeau, open the gate, if you please." And then, turning
to another servant, he added:

"And you must make haste and fetch a physician--no matter who. Run to
the nearest doctor, and don't return until you bring one with you."

The concierge had opened the gate, but the driver had disappeared; they
called him, and on receiving no reply the valet seized the reins and
skilfully guided the cab through the gateway.

Having escaped the scrutiny of the crowd, it now remained to remove the
count from the vehicle, and this was a difficult task, on account of the
singular position of his body; still, they succeeded at last, by opening
both doors of the cab, the three strongest men uniting in their