everything."

"That would not do, chevalier," said the captain. "I should not have
come to you three mornings before the police of that cursed Argenson
would have found us out. Luckily he has found some one as clever as
himself, and it will be some time before we are at the bar together. No,
no, chevalier, from now till the moment for action, the less we see of
one another the better; or rather, we must not see each other at all.
Your street is not a long one, and as it opens at one end on the Rue du
Gros-Chenet, and at the other on the Rue Montmartre, I shall have no
reason for coming through it. Here," continued he, detaching his
shoulder-knot, "take this ribbon. The day that you want me, tie it to a
nail outside your window. I shall understand it, and I will come to
you."

"How, captain!" said D'Harmental, seeing that his companion was
fastening on his sword. "Are you going without finishing the bottle?
What has the wine, which you appeared to appreciate so much a little
while ago, done to you, that you despise it so now?"

"It is just because I appreciate it still that I separate myself from
it; and the proof that I do not despise it," said the captain, filling
his glass, "is that I am going to take an adieu of it. To your health,
chevalier; you may boast of having good wine. Hum! And now, n--o, no,
that is all. I shall take to water till I see the ribbon flutter from
your window. Try to let it be as soon as possible, for water is a liquid
that does not suit my constitution."

"But why do you go so soon?"

"Because I know Captain Roquefinette. He is a good fellow; but when he
sits down before a bottle he must drink, and when he has drunk he must
talk; and, however well one talks, remember that those who talk much
always finish by making some blunder. Adieu, chevalier. Do not forget
the crimson ribbon; I go to look after our business."

"Adieu, captain," said D'Harmental, "I am pleased to see that I have no
need to preach discretion to you."

The captain made the sign of the cross on his mouth with his right
thumb, placed his hat straight on his head, raised his sword for fear of
its making a noise or beating against the wall, and went downstairs as
silently as if he had feared that every step would echo in the Hotel
d'Argenson.

CHAPTER XI.

PROS AND CONS.

The chevalier remained alone; but this time there was, in what had just
passed between himself and the captain, sufficient matter for refle