from my business. The arrangement suited him very well. I told you
that I picked him out of the gutter, and I heard subsequently that he
had gone through many an unpleasant skirmish with the police in his
day, and if I did not employ him no one else would.

After all, he did earn a more or less honest living by serving me. But
in this instance, since I had not even asked for his assistance, I
felt that, considering the risks of New Caledonia and a convict ship
which I had taken, a paltry four hundred francs could not by any
stretch of the imagination rank as a "profit" in a business--and
Theodore was not really entitled to a percentage, was he?

So when I returned I crossed the ante-chamber and walked past him with
my accustomed dignity; nor did he offer any comment on my get-up. I
often affected a disguise in those days, even when I was not engaged
in business, and the dress and get-up of a respectable commissionnaire
was a favourite one with me. As soon as I had changed I sent him out
to make purchases for our luncheon--five sous' worth of stale bread,
and ten sous' worth of liver sausage, of which he was inordinately
fond. He would take the opportunity on the way of getting moderately
drunk on as many glasses of absinthe as he could afford. I saw him go
out of the outer door, and then I set to work to examine the precious
document.

Well, one glance was sufficient for me to realize its incalculable
value! Nothing more or less than a Treaty of Alliance between King
Louis XVIII of France and the King of Prussia in connexion with
certain schemes of naval construction. I did not understand the whole
diplomatic verbiage, but it was pretty clear to my unsophisticated
mind that this treaty had been entered into in secret by the two