ight, I mean?"

"Neither by sight nor otherwise."

"Good! Excellent!" said the man, looking really pleased. "I dared hope
as much, when the woman at the cabaret said you were a stranger. What is
all this to me? you ask. Well, as I have taken the liberty to read your
thoughts, I will be frank with you in regard to my own. I also have a
desire to see the inside of that chateau, and, as I haven't the honour
of the Count's acquaintance, and he is very suspicious of strangers, I
must resort to my devices. My reasons for wanting to be admitted yonder
are my own secret, but I assure you they won't conflict with yours. So,
as I have been studying you a little, and think you a gentleman to be
trusted, I propose that we shall help each other, as far as our object
is the same. In other words, Monsieur, if you will do as I say, I
believe we may both find ourselves freely admitted to the Chateau de
Lavardin before this day is over. Once inside, each shall go about his
purposes without any concern for the other. What do you think of it,
Monsieur?"

CHAPTER V.

THE CHATEAU DE LAVARDIN

All that I could think was that, if genuine, the offer came as a most
unexpected piece of good luck, and that, if it was a trick, my
acceptance of it could not much add to the danger which attended my
purpose at best. In any case, this man already had me under scrutiny.
So, after some little display of surprise and doubt, I took him at his
word, inwardly reserving the right to draw back if I found myself
entering a trap. The man's very proposal involved craft as against the
master of the chateau, but toward me he seemed to be acting with the
utmost simplicity and honesty, so straightforward and free from
excessive protestation he was.

He led me away to a quiet, secluded place by the riverside, out of sight
of the chateau, that we might talk the matter over in safety. And first
he asked me what I knew of the disposition and habits of the Count de
Lavardin. I told him as much as the innkeeper had told me.

"Hum!" said he, reflectively; "it agrees with what I have heard. I have
been pumping people a little, in a harmless way. The first thing I
learned was the Count's churlish practice of closing his gates to
strangers, which forces us to use art in obtaining the hospitality we
are entitled to by general custom. So I had to discover some inclination
or hobby of the man's, that I could make use of to approach him. I don't
see how we can rea