de Coralth's wife and the missive sent to the baroness.
And why should it not be so? Had they not both been written under
the influence of anger? Still he failed to perceive any possible
connection between the rich baroness and the poor tobacco dealer,
and his cogitations only made him more perplexed than ever.
However, his efforts to solve the mystery did not interfere with
the free use of his limbs, and he soon found himself on the Quai
de la Seine. "Here I am," he muttered. "I've come more quickly
than an omnibus."
The Quai de la Seine is a broad road, connecting the Rue de
Flandres with the canal de l'Ourcq. On the left-hand side it is
bordered with miserable shanties interspersed with some tiny
shops, and several huge coal depots. On the right-hand side--that
next to the canal--there are also a few provision stores. In the
daytime there is no noisier nor livelier place than this same
Quai; but nothing could be more gloomy at night-time when the
shops are closed, when the few gas-lamps only increase the
grimness of the shadows, and when the only sound that breaks the
silence is the rippling of the water as its smooth surface is
ruffled by some boatman propelling his skiff through the canal.
"The Viscount must certainly have made a mistake," thought Chupin;
"there is no such shop on the Quai." He was wrong, however; for
after passing the Rue de Soissons he espied the red lantern of a
tobacco-shop, glimmering through the fog.
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