xcavation; whilst, with his other hand, he grasped the arm of Sarah, as
if in a vice. Before Tom could make the slightest struggle, the Chouette
had emptied his pockets with singular dexterity. Sarah did not utter a
cry, nor try to resist; she only said, in a calm tone, "Give up your
purse, brother;" and then accosting the robber, "We will make no noise;
do not do us any injury."

The Chouette, having carefully searched the pockets of the two victims
of this ambush, said to Sarah, "Let's see your hands, if you've got any
rings. No," said the old brute, grumblingly, "no, not one ring. What a
shame!"

Tom Seyton did not lose his presence of mind during this scene, rapidly
and unexpectedly as it had occurred.

"Will you strike a bargain? My pocketbook contains papers quite useless
to you; return it to me, and to-morrow I will give you twenty-five louis
d'ors," said Tom to the Schoolmaster, whose hand relaxed something of
its fierce gripe.

"Oh! ah! to lay a trap to catch us," replied the thief. "Be off, without
looking behind you, and be thankful that you have escaped so well."

"One moment," said the Chouette; "if he behaves well, he shall have his
pocketbook. There is a way." Then, addressing Thomas Seyton, "You know
the plain of St. Denis?"

"I do."

"Do you know where St. Ouen is?"

"Yes."

"Opposite St. Ouen, at the end of the road of La Revolte, the plain is
wide and open. Across the fields, one may see a long way. Come there
to-morrow, quite alone, with your money in your hand; you will find me
and the pocketbook ready. Hand me the cash, and I will hand you the
pocketbook."

"But he'll trap you, Chouette."

"Oh, no, he won't; I'm up to him or any of his dodges. We can see a long
way off. I have only one eye, but that is a piercer; and if the 'cove'
comes with a companion, he won't find anybody; I shall have 'mizzled.'"

A sudden idea seemed to strike Sarah, and she said to the brigand, "Will
you like to gain some money?"

"Yes."

"Did you see, in the cabaret we have just left--for I know you
again--the man whom the charcoal-man came to seek?"

"A dandy with moustaches? Yes, I would have stuck it into the fellow,
but he did not give me time. He stunned me with two blows of his fists,
and upset me on the table,--for the first time that any man ever did so.
Curses on him! but I will be revenged."

"He is the man I mean," said Sarah.

"He?" cried the Schoolmaster, "a thousand francs, and I'll kill