"A fine general!" remarked Humphreys. "Why doesn't the Queen give him the command of the army? He would make short work of Conde." "Wait till the prince draws the sword," said Raoul, "and we shall see. Have you forgotten that at present we are all friends?" The Englishman declared it was scarcely worth remembering, as, in a day or two, we were just as likely to be enemies, and I thought there was a considerable amount of truth in his remark. We wandered along slowly, chatting together, but scanning the faces of the passers-by and keeping a sharp look-out for Pillot. There was, however, no sign of him, and I had just suggested going straight to the inn, when Raoul, suddenly taking a man by the arm, exclaimed, "Francois? How lucky! Why, you are just the fellow we want!" and turning round I saw that he was addressing the amiable spy of the Rue Crillon. Francois gazed at us with a beaming smile. He was not a bad-hearted fellow, and bore no malice in spite of all that had passed. "Where are your friends?" asked Raoul. "You should not be alone on such a night as this. Where have you left Pillot?" "Pillot?" echoed Francois wonderingly. "I have not seen him for weeks; he is in the country somewhere." "Oh, now, Francois, you are making fun of us! We know that our friend Pillot is in Paris." "Monsieur is wiser than I, then!" replied Francois. "They say, down in our quarter, that he went to bury his master and has not returned. I assure monsieur that not one of his old friends has set eyes on him for a long time past." The man spoke so straightforwardly that even Raoul believed he was telling the truth, though it seemed strange, if Pillot were really back again, that none of his acquaintances should be aware of it. Why had he kept himself hidden all this time? "We want to find him," said Raoul after a pause, "but not to do him any injury. Suppose he has returned to Paris--if he ever went away--where is he most likely to be? I assure you, Francois, that he has nothing to fear from us." "I cannot tell, monsieur. I think you must have made a mistake. If he were inside the walls I should have seen him. He has not been back to any of his usual haunts." Evidently there was no information to be obtained from Francois, so Raoul gave him some money and let him go. "Perhaps the fellow was right in saying you had made a mistake," remarked Humphreys, but this I would not admit. Not only had I seen Pillot, but he had recognised me. "Let us try at La Boule d'Or," Raoul suggested, "and, if that is useless, we will not bother any further. After all, it really is of small consequence one way or the other." The famous inn was crowded as usual, but Raoul conducted us to a private room, where, in a few minutes, we were joined by the landlord. He remembered me immediately, and began to speak of the trick I had played on the dwarf. "We have come to meet Pillot," interrupted Raoul playing a bold game; "tell him we are here."