watched Wilkie, ascertained where he spent his evenings, contrived
a way of introducing himself into his society, and on their third
meeting was skilful enough to render him a service--in other
words, to lend him some money. From that moment the conquest was
assured; for M. de Coralth possessed in an eminent degree all the
attributes that were likely to dazzle and charm the gifted owner
of Pompier de Nanterre. First of all, there was his title, then
his impudent assurance and his apparent wealth, and last, but by
no means least, his numerous and fashionable acquaintances. He
was not long in discovering his advantage, and in profiting by it.
And without giving M. Wilkie an inkling of the truth, he succeeded
in obtaining from him as accurate a knowledge of his past career
as the young fellow himself possessed.

M. Wilkie did not know much concerning his origin or his early
life; and his history, so far as he was acquainted with it, could
be told in a few words. His earliest recollection was of the
ocean. He was sure, perfectly sure, that he had made a very long
sea voyage when only a little child, and he looked upon America as
his birthplace. The French language was certainly not the first
he had learned, for he still remembered a limited number of
English phrases. The English word "father" was among those that
lingered in his memory; and now, after a lapse of twenty years, he
pronounced it without the least foreign accent. But while he
remembered the word perfectly well, no recollection remained to
him of the person he had called by that name. His first
sensations were those of hunger, weariness, and cold. He
recollected, and very distinctly too, how on one long winter
night, a woman had dragged him after her through the streets of
Paris, in an icy rain. He could still see himself as he wandered