"Nothing, citizen. I had to go to Pantin once a month and have a look at
him and report to citizen Marat. But I always had the same tale to tell.
The child was looking more and more like a young reprobate every time I
saw him."

"Did citizen Marat pay the Leridans for keeping the child?"

"Oh, no, citizen! The Leridans make a trade of the children by sending
them out to beg. But this one was not to be allowed out yet. Citizen
Marat's orders were very stern, and he was wont to terrify the Leridans
with awful threats of the guillotine if they ever allowed the child out
of their sight."

Chauvelin sat silent for a while. A ray of light had traversed the dark
and tortuous ways of his subtle brain. While he mused the woman became
impatient. She continued to talk on with the volubility peculiar to her
kind. He paid no heed to her, until one phrase struck his ear.

"So now," Jeannette Marechal was saying, "I don't know what to do. The
ring has disappeared, and the Leridans are suspicious."

"The ring?" queried Chauvelin curtly. "What ring?"

"As I was telling you, citizen," she replied querulously, "when I went
to see the child, the citizen Marat always gave me this ring to show to
the Leridans. Without I brought the ring they would not admit me inside
their door. They were so terrified with all the citizen's threats of the
guillotine."

"And now you say the ring has disappeared. Since when?"