"Oh, _diable_! You are very grand with your grammar." "It is my profession, as a schoolmaster." "He made me, then, observe, that if he would not go on this 'lay,' he did not desire to discourage any other person, and that you would willingly lend a hand in the affair." "May I, without impertinence, ask why you appointed a meeting with the Chourineur at St. Ouen yesterday, which gave him the advantage of meeting the Chouette? He was too much puzzled at my question to give me a clear answer." Rodolph bit his lips imperceptibly, and replied, shrugging his shoulders: "Very likely; for I only told him half my plan, you must know, not knowing if he had made up his mind." "That was very proper." "The more so as I had two strings to my bow." "You are a careful man. You met the Chourineur, then, at St. Ouen, for--" Rodolph, after a moment's hesitation, had the good luck to think of a story which would account for the want of address which the Chourineur had displayed, and said: "Why, this it is. The attempt I propose is a famous one, because the person in question is in the country; all my fear was that he should return to Paris. To make sure, I went to Pierrefitte, where his country-house is situated, and there I learned that he would not be back again until the day after to-morrow." "Well, but to return to my question; why did you appoint to meet the Chourineur at St. Ouen?" "Why, you are not so bright as I took you for. How far is it from Pierrefitte to St. Ouen?" "About a league." "And from St. Ouen to Paris?" "As much." "Well, if I had not found any one at Pierrefitte,--that is, if there had been an empty house there,--why, there also would have been a good job; not so good as in Paris, but still well worth having. I went back to the Chourineur, who was waiting for me at St. Ouen. We should have returned then to Pierrefitte, by a cross-path which I know, and--" "I understand. If, on the contrary, the job was to be done in Paris?" "We should have gained the Barrier de l'Étoile by the road of the Rivolte, and thence to the Allée des Veuves--" "Is but a step; that is plain enough. At St. Ouen you were well placed for either operation,--that was clear; and now I can understand why the Chourineur was at St. Ouen. So the house in the Allée des Veuves will be uninhabited until the day after to-morrow?" "Uninhabited, except the porter." "I see. And is it a profitable job?" "Sixty thousand francs in gold in the proprietor's cabinet." "And you know all the ways?" "Perfectly." "Silence, here we are; not a word before the vulgar. I do not know if you feel as I do, but the morning air has given me an appetite." The Chouette was awaiting them at the door. "This way; this way," she said. "I have ordered our breakfast."