y
bent on avoiding me; I was not mistaken in recognizing him.

I then began to pull the bell vigorously, being quite resolved to get
some answer at least to my demand. For some little time the besieged
took the racket I made patiently; then, all of a sudden, I noticed that
the bell had ceased to ring. Evidently, the wire was disconnected; the
besieged was secure, unless I kicked in the door; but that of course,
was not altogether the thing to do.

I returned to the porter and, without giving the reasons for my
discomfiture, I told him about it. In that way I won his confidence
and so obtained some little information about the impenetrable Monsieur
Jacques Bricheteau. Though readily given, this information did not
enlighten me at all as to the actual situation. Bricheteau was said
to be a quiet lodger, civil, but not communicative; though punctual in
paying his rent, his means seemed small; he kept no servant and took his
meals out of the house. Going out every morning before ten o'clock,
he seldom came in before night; the inference was that he was either a
clerk in some office, or that he gave music lessons in private houses.

One detail alone in the midst of this vague and useless information was
of interest. For the last few months Monsieur Jacques Bricheteau had
received a voluminous number of letters the postage on which indicated
that they came from foreign parts; but, in spite of his desires,
the worthy concierge had never, he said, been able to decipher the
post-mark. Thus this detail, which might have been very useful to me
became for the moment absolutely worthless.

I returned home, persuading myself that a pathetic letter addressed to
the refractory Bricheteau would induce him to receive me. Mingling with
my entreaties the touch of a threat, I let him know that I was firmly
resolved at all costs to get to the bottom of the mystery which weighed
upon my life; the secret of which he evidently knew. The next morning,
before nine o'clock, I went to his house, only to learn that after
paying the rent to the end of his term, he had packed up his furniture
and left the house in the early morning, without the porter being able
to discover from the men who removed his property (well-paid to keep
silence, no doubt) where they were ordered to carry it. These men being
strangers in the quarter, it was quite impossible to discover them
later.

I felt, however, that I still had a clue to him, through the organ at
Sa