"
Chupin felt decidedly crestfallen on hearing this. He had fancied
that Madame Ferailleur had merely announced her intention of
driving to the Havre railway station so as to set possible spies
on the wrong track, and he would have willingly wagered anything,
that after going a short distance she had given the cabman
different instructions. Not so, however, he had taken her
straight to the station. Was Mademoiselle Marguerite deceived
then? Had Pascal really fled from his enemies without an attempt
at resistance? Such a course seemed impossible on his part.
Thinking over all this, Chupin slept but little that night, and
the next morning, before five o'clock, he was wandering about the
Rue d'Amsterdam peering into the wine-shops in search of some
railway porter. It did not take him long to find one, and having
done so, he made him the best of friends in less than no time.
Although this porter knew nothing about the matter himself, he
took Chupin to a comrade who remembered handling the baggage of an
old lady bound for London, on the evening of the sixteenth.
However, this baggage was not put into the train after all; the
old lady had left it in the cloak-room, and the next day a fat
woman of unprepossessing appearance had called for the things, and
had taken them away, after paying the charges for storage. This
circumstance had been impressed on the porter's mind by the fact
that the woman had not given him a farthing gratuity, although he
had been much more obliging than the regulations required.
Pages:
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419