same tone that Archimedes cried "Eureka!" he exclaimed, "I understand.
The man's words were only an allusion."

"It is as you have said," remarked Lecoq, approvingly. "But I had
not finished. If the emperor was thrown into consternation by the
appearance of the Prussians, it was because he was momentarily
expecting the arrival of one of his own generals from the same
direction--Grouchy--with thirty-five thousand men. So if this man's
allusion was exact and complete, he was not expecting an enemy, but a
friend. Now draw your own conclusions."

Father Absinthe was amazed but convinced: and his eyes, heavy with sleep
a few moments before, now opened to their widest extent. "Good heavens!"
he murmured, "if you put it in that way! But I forget; you must have
seen something as you were looking through the shutters."

The young man shook his head. "Upon my honor," he declared, "I saw
nothing save the struggle between the murderer and the poor devil
dressed as a soldier. It was that sentence alone that aroused my
attention."

"Wonderful! prodigious!" exclaimed the astonished old man.

"I will add that reflection has confirmed my suspicions. I ask myself
why this man, instead of flying at once, should have waited and remained
there, at that door, to parley with us."

With a bound, Father Absinthe sprang again to his feet. "Why?" he
interrupted; "because he had accomplices, and he wished to give them
time to escape. Ah! I understand it all now."