steps were being
taken by Justice, the which narrowly concerned me. As he would denounce
no Accomplices, real or imaginary, the Police did their best to find out
his Confederates for themselves, and by diligent Inquiry made themselves
acquainted with all Damiens' movements for days before he committed his
Crime. They found out the Wine-shop where he had refused to pay his
Reckoning and made a Disturbance; and learning from the people of the
House what manner of Man had paid for him and taken him away, they were
soon on _my_ track. One night, just before the Ballet began, I was taken
by two Exempts; and, in the very play-acting dress as Cerberus that I
wore, was forced into a Sedan, and taken, surrounded by Guards, to the
Prison of the Chatelet. I thought of appealing to our Ambassador in
Paris, and proving that I was a faithful Subject of King George; but, as
it happened, I owed my safety to one who disowned that Monarch, and kept
all his Allegiance for King James. For old Mr. Lovell, hearing of my
Arrest, and importuned by poor Pretty Miss Lilias, who was kind enough
to shed many Tears on the occasion, hurried off to his Eminence the
Cardinal de ----, who was all but supreme at Court, and with whom he had
great Influence. The Cardinal listens to him very graciously, and by and
by comes down the President Pasquier to interrogate me, to whom I told a
plain Tale, setting forth how I had been unfortunate in Business in
Holland and Flanders, and was earning an honest Livelihood by playing a
Dog in a Pantomime. The people in the Wine-shop could not but bear me
out in stating that I had come across the Red-faced Man by pure
Accident, and was no Friend of his. It was moreover established by the
Police, that I had not been seen in Damiens' company after the Night I
first met him, and that I had a legitimate call to be at Versailles on
the day of the Assassination; so that after about a fortnight's
detention I was set at Liberty, to my own great joy and that of my good
and kind Mistress Lilias, who had now repaid ten-thousand-fold whatever
paltry Service I had been fortunate enough to render her. Nay, this
seeming Misadventure was of present service to me; for his Eminence was
pleased to say that he should be glad to hear something more concerning
me, for that I seemed a Bold Fellow; and at an Interview with him, which
lasted more than an Hour, I told him my whole Life and Adventures, which
caused him to elevate his Eyebrows not