ur the
abbe."

"Did you leave America when he did?"

"The evening before, monsieur. And we outsailed him."

"Did you leave Paris when he did?"

"Three days later, monsieur. But we passed him while he rested."

"Why do you call such an insignificant person a dangerous pretender?"

"He is not insignificant, monsieur: as you will say, when you hear what
he did in Paris."

"He was thrown into the prison of Ste. Pelagie, you told me."

"But he escaped, by choking a sacristan so that the poor man will long
bear the marks on his throat. And the first thing I knew he was high in
favor with the Marquis du Plessy, and Bonaparte spoke to him; and the
police laughed at complaints lodged against him."

"Who lodged complaints against him?"

"I did, monsieur."

"But he was too powerful for you to touch?"

"He was well protected, monsieur the abbe. He flaunted. While the poor
prince and myself suffered inconvenience and fared hard--"

"The poor prince, you say?"

"We never had a fitting allowance, monsieur," Bellenger declared
aggressively. "Yet with little or no means I tried to bring this
pretender to justice and defend his Majesty's throne."

"Pensioners are not often so outspoken in their dissatisfaction,"
remarked the priest.

I laughed as I thought of the shifts to which Bellenger must have been
put. Abbe Edgeworth with merciless dryness inquired,

"How were you able to post to Mittau?"

"I borrowed money of a friend in Paris, monsieur, trusting that his
Majesty will requite me for my services."

"But why was it necessary for you to post to Mittau, where this
pretender would certainly meet exposure?"

"Because I discovered that he carried with him a casket of the martyred
queen's jewels, stolen from the Marquis du Plessy."

"How did the Marquis du Plessy obtain possession of the queen's jewels?"

"That I do not know."

"But the jewels are the lawful property of Madame d'Angouleme. He must
have known they would be seized."

"I thought it necessary to bring my evidence against him, monsieur."

"There was little danger of his imposing himself upon the court. Yet you
are rather to be commended than censured, Bellenger. Did this pretender
know you were in Paris?"

"He saw me there."

"Many times?"

"At least twice, monsieur the abbe."

"Did he avoid you?"

"I avoided him. I took pains to keep him from knowing how I watched
him."

"You say he flaunted. When he left Paris for Mittau was the fact