of this sculptor by which to oust him--"

"I know," interrupted Rastignac; "he spoke to me about that idea, and
there's neither rhyme nor reason in it. Either this Sallenauve has some
value, or he is a mere cipher. If the latter, it is useless to employ
such a dangerous instrument as the man Maxime proposes to neutralize a
power that does not exist. If, on the other hand, this new deputy
proves really an orator, we can deal with him in the tribune and in the
newspapers without the help of such underground measures. General rule:
in a land of unbridled publicity like ours, wherever the hand of the
police appears, if even to lay bare the most shameful villany, there's
always a hue and cry against the government. Public opinion behaves like
the man to whom another man sang an air of Mozart to prove that Mozart
was a great musician. Was he vanquished by evidence? 'Mozart,' he
replied to the singer, 'may have been a great musician, but you, my dear
fellow, have a cold in your head.'"

"There's a great deal of truth in what you say," replied Franchessini;
"but the man whom Maxime wants to unmask may be one of those
honest mediocrities who make themselves a thorn in the side of all
administrations; your most dangerous adversaries are not the giants of
oratory."

"I expect to find out the real weight of the man before long," replied
Rastignac, "from a source I have more confidence in than I have in
Monsieur de Trailles. On this very occasion he has allowed himself to be
tripped up, and now wants to compensate by heroic measures for his own
lack of ability. As for your other man, I shall not employ him for the
purpose Maxime suggests, but you may tell him from me--"

"Yes!" said Franchessini, with redoubled attention.

"--that if he meddles in politics, as he shows an inclination to do,
there are certain deplorable memories in his life--"

"But they are only memories now; he has made himself a new skin."

"I know all about him," replied Rastignac; "do you suppose there are
no other detectives in Paris? I know that since 1830, when he took
Bibi-Lupin's place as chief of the detective police, he has given his
life a most respectable bourgeois character; the only fault I find is
that he overdoes it."

"And yet--" said the colonel.

"He is rich," continued Rastignac, not heeding the interruption. "His
salary is twelve thousand francs, and he has the three hundred thousand
Lucien de Rubempre left him,--also the proceeds of