e. Those articles were of great intrinsic
value, and some of them were precious souvenirs, of little worth to
any one else, yet to him beyond Would it not be worth while to make
an effort at least to regain possession of them? If it could be done,
it would represent so much money at the least, and that was a thing
which it was needful for him to consider. And, in any case, those
mementoes of the past were sufficiently valuable to call for some
effort and some risk. The more he thought of this, the more
resistless became the temptation to make this effort and run this
risk.

And what danger was there? What was the risk, and what was there to
fear? Only one person was in existence from whom any danger could
possibly be apprehended. That one was Black Bill, who had tracked him
to London, and afterward watched at his lodgings, and whom he had
feared so much that for his sake, and for his alone, he had given up
every thing. And now the question that arose was this, did Black Bill
really require so much precaution, and so great a sacrifice? It was
not likely that Black Bill could have given any information to the
police; that would have been too dangerous to himself. Besides, if
the police had heard of such a story, they would have given some
sign. In England every thing is known, and the police are forced to
work openly. Their detective system is a clumsy one compared with the
vast system of secrecy carried on on the Continent. Had they found
out any thing whatever about so important a case as this, some kind
of notice or other would have appeared in the papers. Gualtier had
never ceased to watch for some such notice, but had never found one.
So, with such opinions about the English police, he naturally
concluded that they knew nothing about him.

It was therefore Black Bill, and Black Bill only, against whom he had
to guard. As for him it was indeed possible, he thought, that he was
still watching, but hardly probable. He was not in a position to
spend so many months in idle watching, nor was he able to employ a
confederate. Still less was it possible for such a man to win the
landlord over to his side, and thus get his assistance. The more he
thought of these things the more useless did it seem to entertain any
further fear, and the more irresistible did his desire become to
regain possession of those articles, which to him were of so much
value. Under such circumstances, he finally resolved to make an
effort.

Yet, s