第66章

A SUDDEN CHECK.

Catenac seated himself at the writing-table without a word, concealing his anger and jealousy beneath a careless smile.Mascarin was no longer the plotter consulting with his confederates; he was the master issuing his orders to his subordinates.He had now taken from a box some of those square pieces of pasteboard, which he spent his time in reading over.

"Try and not miss one word of what I am saying," remarked he, bending his keen glance upon Paul; then, turning to Catenac, he continued, "Can you persuade the Duke de Champdoce and Perpignan to start for Vendome on Saturday?""Perhaps I may be able to do so."

"I want a Yes or No.Can you or can you not make these people go there?""Well, yes, then."

"Very well.Then, on going to Vendome, you will stop at the Hotel de Porte.""Hotel de Porte," repeated Catenac, as he made a note of the name.

"Upon the day of your arrival at Vendome," continued Mascarin, "you could do very little.Your time would be taken up in resting after your journey, and perhaps you may make a few preliminary inquiries.It will be on Sunday that you will go to the hospital together, and make the same inquires which the Duke formerly made by himself.The lady superior is a woman of excellent taste and education, and she will do all that she can to be useful to you.Through her you will be able to obtain the boy's description, and the date on which he left the hospital to be apprenticed to a tanner.She will tell you that, disliking the employment, he ran away from them at the age of twelve and a half years, and that since then no trace of him has been found.

You will hear from her that he was a tall, well-built lad, looking two years older than he really was, with an intelligent cast of feature, and keen, bright eyes, full of health and good looks.He had on, on the day of his disappearance, blue and white striped trousers, a gray blouse, a cap with no peak, and a spotted silk cravat.Then to assist you still further in your researches she will add that he carried in a bundle, enveloped in a red plaid cotton handkerchief, a white blouse, a pair of gray cloth trousers, and a pair of new shoes."Catenac watched Mascarin as he was speaking with an expression of ill-concealed enmity.

"You are well informed, on my word," muttered he.

"I think I am," returned Mascarin."After this you will go back to the hotel, and not until then--do you understand?--and you will consult as to the first steps to be taken.The plan proposed by Perpignan is an excellent one.""What! you know it then?"

"Of course I do.He proposed to divide Vendome and its suburbs into a certain number of circles, and to make a house-to-house visitation in each of them.Let him go to work in this manner.Of course, to do so, you will require a guide.""Of course we should require such a person.""Here, Catenac, I must leave a little to chance, for I am not quite omnipotent.But there are nine chances out of ten that your host will advise you to avail yourself of the services of a man called Frejot, who acts as commissioner to the hotel.It may be, however, that he may designate some one else; but in that case you must, by some means or other, manage to employ the services of one other man.""What am I to say to him?"

"He understands what he is to do completely.Well, these preliminaries being settled, you will commence on Monday morning to search the suburb called Areines, under the guidance of Frejot.Leave all the responsibility to Perpignan, but make sure that the Duke comes with you.Ask the denizens a series of questions which you have prepared beforehand, such as 'My friends, we are in search of a boy.A reward of ten thousand francs is offered to any one who will put us on his track.He must have left these parts in August, 1856, and some of you may have seen him.' "Here Catenac stopped Mascarin.

"Wait a moment.Your own words are excellent; I will write them down.""All Monday," continued Mascarin, "you will not make much progress, and for the next few days it will be the same, but on Saturday prepare yourself for a great surprise; for on that day Frejot will take you to a large, lonely farmhouse, on the shores of a lake.This farm is held by a man named Lorgelin, who cultivates it with the assistance of his wife and his two sons.You will find these worthy people at dinner.

They will offer you some refreshment, and you will accept.At the next word you utter you will find that they will glance at each other in a meaning manner, and the wife will exclaim, 'Blessed Virgin! Surely the gentleman is speaking of the poor lad we have so often talked about.' "As Mascarin went on describing his arrangements, his whole form seemed to dilate, and his face shone with the knowledge of mastery and power.

His voice was so clear and his manner so full of authority and command, that it carried conviction to the minds of all those who were seated listening to him.He spoke of what would happen as if he was dealing with an absolute certainty, and went on with such wonderful lucidity and force of reasoning that they seemed to be absolutely real.

"Oh! the farmer's wife will say this, will she?" demanded Catenac, in a tone of the utmost surprise.