h I was
determined to play the hero and to ring down the curtain to the sound
of the wedding bells.

3.

I took on the work of odd-job man at 65 Rue des Pyramides. Yes, I!
Even I, who had sat in the private room of an emperor discussing the
destinies of Europe.

But with a beautiful bride and one hundred thousand francs as my goal
I would have worked in a coal mine or on the galleys for such a
guerdon.

The task, I must tell you, was terribly irksome to a man of my
sensibilities, endowed with an active mind and a vivid imagination.
The dreary monotony of fetching water and fuel from below and
polishing the boots of that arch-scoundrel Farewell would have made a
less stout spirit quail. I had, of course, seen through the
scoundrel's game at once. He had rendered Estelle quite helpless by
keeping all her papers of identification and by withholding from her
all the letters which, no doubt, the English lawyers wrote to her from
time to time. Thus she was entirely in his power. But, thank heaven!
only momentarily, for I, Hector Ratichon, argus-eyed, was on the
watch. Now and then the monotony of my existence and the hardship of
my task were relieved by a brief glimpse of Estelle or a smile of
understanding from her lips; now and then she would contrive to murmur
as she brushed past me while I was polishing the scoundrel's study
floor, "Any luck yet?" And this quiet understanding between us gave me
courage to go on with my task.

After three days I had conclusively made up my mind that Mr. Farewell
kept his valuable papers in the drawer of the bureau in the study.
After that I always kept a lump of wax ready for use in my pocket. On
the fifth day I was very nearly caught trying to take an impression of
the lock of the bureau drawer. On the seventh I succeeded, and took
the impression over to a locksmith I knew of, and gave him an order to
have a key made to fit it immediately. On the ninth day I had the key.

Then commenced a series of disappointments and of unprofitable days
which would have daunted one less bold and less determined. I don't
think that Farewell ever suspected me, but it is a fact that never
once did he leave me alone in his study whilst I was at work there
polishing the oak floor. And in the meanwhile I could see how he was
pursuing my beautiful Estelle with his unwelcome attentions. At times
I feared that he meant to abduct her; his was a powerful personality
and she seemed like a little bird f