ct. The Widow Chupin had recoiled from the expense of a
tiled floor, judging the bare ground upon which the cabin was built
quite good enough for the feet of her customers. This ground, which must
originally have been well beaten down, had, by constant use and damp,
become well-nigh as muddy as the soil outside.

The first fruits of Lecoq's search were a large salad-bowl and a big
iron spoon, the latter so twisted and bent that it had evidently been
used as a weapon during the conflict. On inspecting the bowl, it became
evident that when the quarrel began the victims were regaling themselves
with the familiar mixture of water, wine, and sugar, known round about
the barrieres as vin a la Frangaise. After the salad-bowl, the two men
picked up five of the weighty glasses ordinarily used in wine-shops, and
which, while looking as though they would contain half a bottle, are
in point of fact so thick at the bottom that they hold next to nothing.
Three of these glasses were broken, two were whole. All of them had
contained wine--the same vin a la Frangaise. This was plain, but for
greater surety, Lecoq applied his tongue to the bluish mixture
remaining in the bottom of each glass. "The deuce!" he muttered, with an
astonished air.

Then he examined successively the surfaces of the three overturned
tables. Upon one of these, the one nearest the fireplace and the window,
the still wet marks of the five glasses, of the salad-bowl, and even
of the spoons could be distinguished. Lecoq very properly regarded
this circumstance as a matter of the greatest importance, for it proved
clearly enough that five persons had emptied the salad-bowl in company.
Who were these five persons?

"Oh! oh!" suddenly exclaimed Lecoq in two entirely different tones.
"Then the two women could not have been with the murderer!"

A very simple mode of discovery had presented itself to his mind. It
was to ascertain if there were any other glasses, and what they had
contained. After a fresh search on the floor, a sixth glass was found,
similar in form to the others, but much smaller. Its smell showed that
it had contained brandy. Then these two women had not been with the
murderer, and therefore he could not have fought because the other
men had insulted them. This discovery proved the inaccuracy of Lecoq's
original suppositions. It was an unexpected check, and he was mourning
over it in silence, when Father Absinthe, who had not ceased ferreting
about, u