Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 11, 2025
"Perhaps it was that same diamond earring that the accomplice came to seek," ventured Father Absinthe. "The supposition is scarcely admissible. In that case, he would not have sought for it in Mother Chupin's apron. No, he must have been seeking for something else a letter, for example." The older man was not listening; he had taken the earring, and was examining it in his turn.
As I passed through Saint-Pavin, on my return, I saw eight mounted soldiers, guided by a peasant, also on horseback. They declared that they knew you were concealed in the village, and they were going to search every house." These soldiers were none other than the Montaignac chasseurs, placed at Chupin's disposal by the Duc de Sairmeuse. It was indeed as Antoine had said.
"I don't say I won't," muttered he; "but, look here, will the old chap pay down smart?" "Yes, and besides, did I not tell you that he had given half down?" The boy's eyes glistened as the old man unpinned the tattered lining of his pocket, and holding the pin between his teeth, pulled out the banknotes, each one for a thousand francs. Chupin's heart rose at the sight of this wealth.
As the vehicle conveying Lecoq reached the quay, the young detective perceived that a large, excited crowd was gathered outside the building. The newspapers had reported the tragedy at the Widow Chupin's drinking-den, of course, more or less correctly, and everybody wished to see the victims. On drawing near the Pont Notre Dame, Lecoq told the driver to pull up.
A child might have followed the track of the wounded man, the blood-stains left in his passage were so frequent and so distinct. These tell-tale marks stopped at Chupin's house. The door was closed; Jean rapped without the slightest hesitation. The old poacher's eldest son opened the door, and Jean saw a strange spectacle.
He had climbed on to the piano and seated himself, with his feet on the keyboard; and there, as on a judgment seat, he listened and applauded, alternately taking Chupin's part, and then the viscount's. "Bravo, gamin!" or, "Give it to him, Coralth!" he shouted in turn. This irritated the viscount exceedingly.
When M. d'Escorval has completed his task at the Widow Chupin's house, he comes to the prison to examine the supposed murderer. The two men recognize each other. Had they been alone, mutual explanations might have ensued, and affairs taken quite a different turn. But they were not alone; a third party was present M. d'Escorval's clerk. So they could say nothing.
"Opposite the mills of the Oiselle, near the river, about a league and a half from here." "That is true. I remember now. Were you ever in the house?" "More than a hundred times while Chanlouineau was living." "Explain the topography of the dwelling!" Chupin's eyes dilated to their widest extent. "What do you wish?" he asked, not understanding in the least what was required of him.
It was not to be supposed that the women who had escaped from the Widow Chupin's drinking-den at the moment of the murder were utterly devoid of intelligence. Nor was it at all likely that these two fugitives, conscious as they were of their perilous situation, had gone straight to their real home in a vehicle hired on the public highway.
The Widow Chupin's daughter-in-law, a native of Auvergne, had been bitterly punished for preferring a rakish Parisian ragamuffin to one of the grimy charcoal-burners of the Puy de Dome. She was hardly more than twelve years of age when she first came to Paris and obtained employment in a large factory.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking