ble, and said, in an agitated tone:

"I think we have got them now!"

Throwing a five-franc piece on the table, and without saying a word to
Cavaillon, he seized Prosper's arm, and hurried from the room.

"What a fatality!" he said, as he hastened along the street: "we may
miss them. We shall certainly reach the St. Lazare station too late for
the St. Germain train."

"For Heaven's sake, where are you going?" asked Prosper.

"Never mind, we can talk after we start. Hurry!"

Reaching Palais Royal Place, M. Verduret stopped before one of the hacks
belonging to the railway station, and examined the horses at a glance.

"How much for driving us to Vesinet?" he asked of the driver.

"I don't know the road very well that way."

The name of Vesinet was enough for Prosper.

"Well," said the driver, "at this time of night, in such dreadful
weather, it ought to be--twenty-five francs."

"And how much more for driving very rapidly?"

"Bless my soul! Why, monsieur, I leave that to your generosity; but if
you put it at thirty-five francs--"

"You shall have a hundred," interrupted M. Verduret, "if you overtake a
carriage which has half an hour's start of us."

"Tonnerre de Brest!" cried the delighted driver; "jump in quick: we are
losing time!"

And, whipping up his lean horses, he galloped them down the Rue de
Valois at lightning speed.

X

Leaving the little station of Vesinet, we come upon two roads. One, to
the left, macadamized and kept in perfect repair, leads to the village,
of which there are glimpses here and there through the trees. The other,
newly laid out, and just covered with gravel, leads through the woods.

Along the latter, which before the lapse of five years will be a busy
street, are built a few houses, hideous in design, and at some distance
apart; rural summer retreats of city merchants, but unoccupied during
the winter.

It was at the junction of these two roads that Prosper stopped the hack.

The driver had gained his hundred francs. The horses were completely
worn out, but they had accomplished all that was expected of them; M.
Verduret could distinguish the lamps of a hack similar to the one he
occupied, about fifty yards ahead of him.

M. Verduret jumped out, and, handing the driver a bank-note, said:

"Here is what I promised you. Go to the first tavern you find on the
right-hand side of the road as you enter the village. If we do not meet
you there in an hour, you are at