assured me, my dear Sir, he possessed to the fullest degree. And I
believed him, Sir; I nurtured the scorpion in my over-sensitive bosom!
I promised him ten per cent. on all the profits of my business, and
all the remnants from my own humble repasts--bread, the skins of
luscious sausages, the bones from savoury cutlets, the gravy from the
tasty carrots and onions. You would have thought that his gratitude
would become boundless, that he would almost worship the benefactor
who had poured at his feet the full cornucopia of comfort and luxury.
Not so! That man, Sir, was a snake in the grass--a serpent--a
crocodile! Even now that I have entirely severed my connexion with
that ingrate, I seem to feel the wounds, like dagger-thrusts, which he
dealt me with so callous a hand. But I have done with him--done, I
tell you! How could I do otherwise than to send him back to the gutter
from whence I should never have dragged him? My goodness, he repaid
with an ingratitude so black that you, Sir, when you hear the full
story of his treachery, will exclaim aghast.

Ah, you shall judge! His perfidy commenced less than a week after I
had given him my third best pantaloons and three sous to get his hair
cut, thus making a man of him. And yet, you would scarcely believe it,
in the matter of the secret documents he behaved toward me like a
veritable Judas!

Listen, my dear Sir.

I told you, I believe, that I had my office in the Rue Daunou. You
understand that I had to receive my clients--many of whom were of
exalted rank---in a fashionable quarter of Paris. But I actually lodged
in Passy--being fond of country pursuits and addicted to fresh air--in a
humble hostelry under the sign of the "Grey Cat"; and here, too,