e up and down my staircase at all hours of the day. I
had not yet met Theodore then, and fate was wont to smile on me.

As for M. le Duc d'Otrante, Minister of Police, he would send to me or
for me whenever an intricate case required special acumen,
resourcefulness and secrecy. Thus in the matter of the English
files--have I told you of it before? No? Well, then, you shall hear.

Those were the days, Sir, when the Emperor's Berlin Decrees were going
to sweep the world clear of English commerce and of English
enterprise. It was not a case of paying heavy duty on English goods,
or a still heavier fine if you smuggled; it was total prohibition, and
hanging if you were caught bringing so much as a metre of Bradford
cloth or half a dozen Sheffield files into the country. But you know
how it is, Sir: the more strict the law the more ready are certain
lawless human creatures to break it. Never was smuggling so rife as it
was in those days--I am speaking now of 1810 or 11--never was it so
daring or smugglers so reckless.

M. le Duc d'Otrante had his hands full, I can tell you. It had become
a matter for the secret police; the coastguard or customs officials
were no longer able to deal with it.

Then one day Hypolite Leroux came to see me. I knew the man well--a
keen sleuthhound if ever there was one--and well did he deserve his
name, for he was as red as a fox.

"Ratichon," he said to me, without preamble, as soon as he had seated
himself opposite to me, and I had placed half a bottle of good
Bordeaux and a couple of glasses on the table. "I want your help in
the matter of these English files. We have done all that we can in our
department. M. le Duc has doubled the customs personnel on the Swiss
frontier, the coastguard is both keen and efficient, and yet we know
that at the present moment there are thousands of English files used
in this country, even inside His Majesty's own armament works. M. le
Duc d'Otrante is determined to put an end to the scandal. He has
offered a big reward for information which will lead to the conviction
of one or more of the chief culprits, and I am determined to get that
reward--with your help, if you will give it."

"What is the reward?" I asked simply.

"Five thousand francs," he replied. "Your knowledge of English and
Italian is what caused me to offer you a share in this splendid
enterprise--"

"It's no good lying to me, Leroux," I broke in quietly, "if we are
going to work amicably