you will reply that you will not lose sight of him. I myself will answer
for his being in safe-keeping."

"Suppose he asks me about Gypsy?"

M. Lecoq hesitated for a moment.

"Tell him," he finally said, "that you persuaded her, in the interest
of Prosper, to live in a house where she can watch someone whom you
suspect."

Fanferlot was joyously picking up his hat to go, when M. Lecoq checked
him by waving his hand, and said:

"I have not finished. Do you know how to drive a carriage and manage
horses?"

"Why, patron, can you ask this of a man who used to be a rider in the
Bouthor Circus?"

"Very well. As soon as the judge dismisses you, return home immediately,
make yourself a wig and the complete dress of a valet; and, having
dressed yourself, take this letter to the Agency on Delorme Street."

"But, patron--"

"There must be no but, my friend; the agent will send you to M.
de Clameran, who is looking for a valet, his man having left him
yesterday."

"Excuse me if I venture to suggest that you are making a mistake. This
Clameran is not the cashier's friend."

"Why do you always interrupt me?" said M. Lecoq imperiously. "Do what I
tell you, and don't disturb your mind about the rest. Clameran is not a
friend of Prosper's, I know; but he is the friend and protector of
Raoul de Lagors. Why so? Whence the intimacy of these two men of such
different ages? That is what I must find out. I must also find out who
this forge-master is who lives in Paris, and never goes to attend to
his furnaces. A jolly fellow, who takes it into his head to live at the
Hotel du Louvre, in the midst of a tumultuous, ever-changing crowd, is
a fellow difficult to watch. Through you I will have an eye upon him. He
has a carriage, you are to drive it; and you will soon be able to give
me an account of his manner of life, and of the sort of people with whom
he associates."

"You shall be obeyed, patron."

"Another thing. M. de Clameran is irritable and suspicious. You will be
presented to him under the name of Joseph Dubois. He will demand your
certificate of good character. Here are three, which state that you have
lived with the Marquis de Sairmeuse and the Count de Commarin, and that
you have just left the Baron de Wortschen, who went to Germany the other
day. Now keep your eyes open; be careful of your dress and manners.
Be polite, but not excessively so. And, above all things, don't be
obsequious; it might arouse suspicion."