from here I can see all that passes--your
goings, your comings, your arts and snares. You will not suspect this
invisible eye--this watchful eye, which will surprise crime at the
moment it blooms. Oh, Justice, Justice! She marches slowly; but she
arrives."

Nothing could be more sinister than the den now spread out before me--a
great courtyard, the large slabs of which were covered with moss; in
one corner, a well, whose stagnant waters you shuddered to look upon; a
stairway covered with old shells; at the farther end a gallery, with
wooden balustrade, and hanging upon it some old linen and the tick of
an old straw mattress; on the first floor, to the left, the stone
covering of a common sewer indicated the kitchen; to the right the
lofty windows of the building looked out upon the street; then a few
pots of dried, withered flowers--all was cracked, somber, moist. Only
one or two hours during the day could the sun penetrate this loathsome
spot; after that, the shadows took possession; then the sunshine fell
upon the crazy walls, the worm-eaten balcony, the dull and tarnished
glass, and upon the whirlwind of atoms floating in its golden rays,
disturbed by no breath of air.

I had scarcely finished these observations and reflections, when the
old woman entered, having just returned from market. I heard the
grating of her heavy door. Then she appeared with her basket. She
seemed fatigued--almost out of breath. The lace of her bonnet fell to
her nose. With one hand she grasped the banister and ascended the
stairs.

The heat was intolerable, suffocating; it was precisely one of those
days in which all insects--crickets, spiders, mosquitoes, etc.--make
old ruins resound with their strange sounds.

Fledermausse crossed the gallery slowly, like an old ferret who feels
at home. She remained more than a quarter of an hour in the kitchen,
then returned, spread out her linen, took the broom, and brushed away
some blades of straw on the floor. At last she raised her head, and
turned her little green eyes in every direction, searching,
investigating carefully.

Could she, by some strange intuition, suspect anything? I do not know;
but I gently lowered the slate, and gave up my watch for the day.

In the morning Fledermausse appeared reassured. One angle of light
fell upon the gallery. In passing, she caught a fly on the wing, and
presented it delicately to a spider established in a corner of the
roof. This spider was so bloa