PEIVATE LIBEAR1 
 
 
 
 /^^<-^^M. 
 
 
 
 No. 
 
 
 
 
 
VIDOCQ 
 
 THE FRENCH POLICE SPY 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF 
 
 NEW YORK 
 GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS 
 
 9 LAFAYETTE PLACE 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 As a piece of Autobiography the present work has many peculiar 
 characteristics which stamp it as one of the most interesting and 
 powerful narratives ever penned. Replete with astonishing 
 incident, it affords for the lovers of * sensational ' reading all that 
 the wildest taste could desire of hair-breadth escapes, imminent 
 dangers, and thrilling horrors ; for the admirers of fun, there are 
 sketches as comic as humour can devise ; while for the reflective 
 reader, disposed to search into the motives, and to philosophize 
 on the wit or weakness, power or puerility, of the human mind, 
 ample scope will be found in these instructive pages for the 
 exercise of his meditation. Marvellous as many of the personal 
 deeds and perils of Vidocq may be deemed by some readers, it 
 is only fair and just to bear in mind that his veracity has never 
 been impugned, although many of the persons whom he has 
 handled with severity, and spoken of in no measured terms, were 
 living for several years after the first appearance of his Memoirs, 
 and would, doubtless, have been too happy to refute the charges 
 alleged against them, did not truth forbid denial. Of his wonder- 
 ful and multiplied escapes and adventures, it may be also safely 
 asserted, that no man in his senses would attempt to give fictitious 
 
 ",X<J2t 
 
iw PREFACE. 
 
 descriptions, abounding in minute details, of what could be easily 
 disproved, if false. 
 
 In translating these Memoirs, we have thought it needful to 
 omit or soften down pruriencies offensive to English taste, as well 
 as to suppress all such matter as appeared to us to be foreign to 
 the nature of the work as an Autobiography, or in any way 
 calculated to interrupt the continuous thread of its history. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE 
 
 My birth T become a journeyman baker First theft Stolen plate Prison 
 Quit Arras, and seek a ship M. Comus, the great physician I enter 
 a company of rope-dancersPunch and the Theatre of Y.irict ic-; A scene 
 of jealousy I enter the service of a quack doctor Return home Ac- 
 quaintance with an actress Another chase I join a regiment Deser- 
 tion I go over to the enemy A flogging Return to my old standard 
 A domestic robbery Wounded in a duel-- 1 join the war - - 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Joseph Lcbon Orchestra of the guillotine. The aristocr.u parrot The 
 Sans Culottes Imprisonment Gaoler i M. <le Bethune I 
 
 get my lil>crly I am made an officer The quarters of St. Sylvestrc 
 Capelle The revolutionary army Retaking of a vessel I marry 
 
 Anothei visit to the Baudets My emancipation 24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 els A forger The roving array The baroness and the baker-boy 
 
 Arrival at Paris 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Gypsies A Flemish fair Return to Lille The Bull's-eye Sentence of 
 
 punishment St. Peter's tower A forgery 47 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Three escapes The Chauffeurs The suicide I am accused of assassina- 
 tion Fresh escape Ostend Smugglers I am retaken - - - 56 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The pewter keys A hussar Retaken and condemned ... - 70 
 
 CHAFFER VII. 
 
 Departure from Douai Revolt of prisoners in the forest of Compiegne 
 The Bicetre The madhouse 82 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Captain Viez and Lieut. Thierry Complaint of the galley-slaves The 
 galley-sergeants encourage plundering Useless attempt to escape 
 The Bagne at Brest Another escape 92 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Pursuit of the galley-slave The hospital The mother of robbers - loo 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Cholet Arrival at Paris Captain Villedieu. - - IIO 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. PAGB 
 
 Journey to Arras Father Lambert Depart for Holland The mutiny- 
 Catastrophe 121 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Re-imprisoned at Douai Am I Duval or Vidocq ? Again at Bicetre 
 Captain Labbre Toulon Jossas, the robber Marquis St. Armand 
 The executioner of the Bagne 129 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Father Mathieu My new line of business Ecce Homo, or the psalm- 
 seller A fugitive convict My best contrived escape The gay lady and 
 
 the burial I detect a thief I get my dismissal 144 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A receiver of stolen goods First treaty with the police Departure for Lyons 156 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Again at Arras Disguises Rouen My Arrest 163 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Camp of Boulogne Recruiters of the ancien regime M. Belle-Rose - 171 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The daughters of Mere Thomas The Silver Lion Captain Paulet The 
 pirates The bombardment Lord Lauderdale I embark Sea-fight 
 Capture of a brig-of-war I change my name Death of Dufailli A 
 frigate sunk - - - - 188 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 I enter the marine artillery Become a corporal Secret military societies 
 'The Olympians' Singular duels I am betrayed, and again in 
 prison Piedmontese bandit Four murderers set at liberty - - - 212 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Sent to Douai My wife re-marries I travel as an officer, and go to 
 Paris The commissary of Melun Execution of Herbaux A robber 
 denounces me Galley-slaves at Auxerre Two fugitives from the Bagne 
 
 My wife again Receiving stolen goods 228 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 My wicker car Arrest of two galley-slaves Fearful discovery I offer to 
 serve the police My concealment Disguises Chevalier denounces me 
 Annette Passers of false money I am apprehended and sent to the 
 
 Bicetre 240 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Plan of escape My agreement with the police Coco-Lacour A band 
 of robbers The old clothes-woman and the assassins - ... 254 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 M. Henry, 'the Evil Spirit' Bertaux and Parisot My first capture 
 
 Arrest of Bouhin and Terrier 264 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 St. Germain proposes to me a murder The plunderers The grandson 
 of Cartouche Annette again aids me Attempt to rob the house of a 
 banker I am said to be killed Arrest of St. Germain and Boudin - 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 The inspectors betray me A receiver of stolen goods arrested by me 278 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. PAGE 
 
 Gueuvive's gang I pass for a fugitive galley-slave, and engage in a 
 plot against myself Robbery in the Rue Cassette Arrest of Gueuvive 282 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 I trip up GatTre Thief and spy incompatible trades Gaffre again - - 287 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 Destruction of three classes of thieves A new species The Brothers Del/eve 295 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 More thief-chasing Another 'mother of robbers' An admirable plot 
 Mother Noel sent to St. Lazare 299 
 
 R XXIX. 
 
 Vain pursuit of a robber by the police On the right scent I become a 
 r.nian Fright of a vintner and his wife Mademoiselle Tonneau A 
 search The thief takes me for his mate The jump from the window - 308 
 
 CHAIMT.K XXX. 
 
 Guillotin Double-Croche and the chicken-coop The Orientalists and the 
 1 >nauts The muttunof the salt inarches The cat's tail Riboulet and 
 .1 la Blonde The little black father The Children of the Sun - 319 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 A frequenter of La Petite Chaise A nocturnal abduction The jolly thief 
 Firt viMt to II:.' ic My life threatened The storm appeased - - 328 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 occurrence The swal'ows of La Greve Madame Bras, or the 
 scrupulous shopkeeper ' Vidocq caught,' a new piece I play the part 
 of Vidocij I let a robber escape- Accusing stocking* and cravat Fight 
 with the vintner I am apprehended My deliverance and recognition - 336 
 
 CHAPIT.K XXX I II. 
 
 Saint Cloud The aspiring spy The Faubourg Saint Marceau The tur- 
 key's claws Explanation of the word Jraiffe The man who arrests 
 himself The r.vw Kpictetus The mistress of a Russian prince Mother 
 i >le The invulnerable The picture of the Sabines The lottery 
 ticket IVnelope The beautiful mask Louison la Blagncust Kmilie 
 in the I'u.i: l-li .u-e Return to Bariole's The Sybil's tripod Jo.-.e^hine 
 Real Three arrests The traitor punished 348 
 
 i'TKR. XXXIV. 
 
 The mania for turning spy Self-denounced female thief The treacherous 
 ^herwoman's basket The stolen child The modern 
 Sappho Liberty not the first of blessings 371 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Our friends our enemies The jeweller and the clergyman The hiding- 
 place and the coffer The Cossicks innocent The false sol-lii The 
 ers wife at Livry -Local reputation I am a Jew My p,l ; . i ,;ige 
 with the nun of Dounlans My m> t;itnor;>hosis into a German servant 
 li'i' '1 The church rat -The flesh-colonred coat My history 
 
 Bat'.le of Montereau I have robbed my master Projects of escape 
 Journey to Germany The black hen My release Flight with an 
 unfortunate companion A great store of diamonds . 378 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. PAQB 
 
 The stolen looking-glasses The Turk and his odalisques General Boucher 
 Little Saint Jean The grand uniform, and the banknotes Capture of 
 twenty-two thieves What it is to be knowing The almoner of the regi- 
 ment Surprise at the Cafe Hardi T go to the Tuileries A great lord 
 The director of the police of the Chateau Assassination of the Due de 
 Berri The robber-giant A scene of Madame de Genlis I become 
 accoucheur Baptismof the child My gossip at St. Lazare The thieves' 
 alley The dangerous doctor Old friends A dinner at Capucin The 
 trap The Bohemians An exploit at a duchess's The moral hump- 
 backed lady Fair of Versailles Disturbed rest of a milliner Love 
 and tyranny Scenes of jealousy I vanish ...... 388 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 The jolly butcher A murder The magistrates of Corbeil Removal of 
 the body The criminating wound I hit upon the right man Arrest 
 of a suspected pair The goguettes, or the bards of the Quai du Nord 
 I become a scullion Removal to the prefecture Confession A dealer 
 in poultry, etc. Somnambulism The guilty parties confronted A 
 supper under lock and key Departure from Paris - - - -413 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Arrival at Corbeil Popular legends Poulailler and Captain Picard The 
 dealer in turkeys General Beufort Public opinion on myself Terror of 
 a sous prefet Assassins and their victim Important discoveries, etc. - 429 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 A journey to the frontiers A robber Mother Bardou A feigned recogni- 
 tion The false smuggler A brigand astonished I deliver the country 
 from a scourge Hercules with the skin of a bear .... 435 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 A visit to Versailles Resignation A criminal's agony Sleep of a mur- 
 derer New converts They invite me to witness their execution Reflec- 
 tions on a gold box The fatal hour The Carline The crucifixes I 
 embrace two death's-heads Spirit of vengeance A last adieu Eternity 442 
 
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 THE FRENCH POLICE SPY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 My birth I become a journeyman baker First theft Stolen plate Prison 
 Quit Arras, and seek a ship M. Comus, the ^r<.\it phyMciau - 1 < 
 company of rope-dancers I'unch and the Theatie uf \'.nuiu-> -A p 
 jealousy I enter the service of a quack doctor Return home Acquaint- 
 ance with an actress Another du>e 1 join a I \^\ 
 over to the enemy A flog^in^ Return to my old standard A duiu tic 
 robbery Wounded in a duel--! join the \ 
 
 I WAS born at Arras ; my continual disguises, the flexibility of my 
 features, and a singular power of grimacing, having cust some 
 doubt concerning my age, it will not be deemed superfluous to 
 declare here, that I was brought into the world on the 23rd of 
 July, 1775, in a house adjoining that in which Robespierre was 
 born sixteen years before. It was night ; the rain fell, lightning 
 flashed, the thunder rolled ; and a relation, who was both midwife 
 and fortune-teller, predicted that my career would be a stormy 
 one 
 
 However that may be, we will presume that the sky was not 
 troubled on my special account ; and although there is always 
 something very attractive in the marvellous, I am far from think- 
 ing that the turbulence of the elements had much reference to my 
 birth. I had a most robust constitution, and there was plenty of 
 me, so that as soon as I was born, they took me for a child of two 
 years of age; and I gave tokens of that athletic figure, that 
 colossal form, which have since struck terror into the most 
 hardened and powerful ruffians. My father's house being situated 
 in the Place d'Armes, the constant resort of all the blackguards 
 of the vicinity, I had my muscular powers early called into action, 
 
io MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 in regularly thrashing my comrades, whose parents were always 
 complaining of me to my father and mother. At home, nothing 
 was talked of but torn ears, black eyes, and rent garments ; at eight 
 years of age, I was the terror of all the dogs, cats, and children of the 
 neighbourhood ; at thirteen I handled a foil, with no little skill 
 and address. My father, preceiving that I associated chiefly with 
 the military of the garrison, was alarmed for me, and desired me 
 to prepare myself for the first receiving of the communion : two 
 devotees undertook to prepare me for this solemn duty. God 
 knows what fruit I have gathered from their lessons. I began at 
 the same time to learn the trade of a baker, which was my father's 
 business, in which he intended that I should succeed him, 
 although I had an elder brother. 
 
 My employment principally consisted in carrying bread through 
 the city. During my rounds, I made frequent visits to the 
 fencing-rooms, of which my parents were not long in ignorance ; 
 but the cooks all gave such testimony of my politeness and punc- 
 tuality, that they winked at this trifling prank. This went on until 
 they discovered a deficiency in the till, of which they never took 
 away the key. My brother, who visited it in the same manner as 
 myself, was detected in the very act, and sent off in a hurry to a 
 baker at Lille. The day after this event, which had not been 
 explained to me, I was about to explore, according to custom, the 
 convenient drawer, when I perceived that it was carefully closed. 
 The same day, my father desired me to use more alacrity in my 
 rounds, and to return at a certain hour. It was then evident that 
 from this day forward I should be equally deprived of liberty and 
 money. I bewailed this twofold calamity, and hastened to impart 
 it to a comrade named Poyant, older than myself. As a hole was 
 cut in the counter to drop the money through, he first advised me 
 to introduce a feather dipped in glue ; but this ingenious expedient 
 only produced me very small pieces of money, and it became 
 necessary for me to employ a false key, which was made for me 
 by a blacksmith's son. I then dipped again into the till, and we 
 spent together the fruits of these pilferings at a public-house, 
 where we had established our head-quarters. There assembled, 
 attracted by the master of the house, a great many well-known 
 rogues, and some unfortunate young fellows, who, to get re- 
 plenished pockets, used the same expedient as myself. I soon 
 joined the society of the most abandoned vagabonds of the 
 country, who initiated me into all their villainies. Such was the 
 honourable society in the bosom of which I spent iny leisure 
 hours, until one day my father surprised me, as he had done my 
 brother, took away my key. heartily thrashed me, and took such 
 
IN PRISON. 1 1 
 
 precautions as totally cut off all my hopes of ever again getting a 
 dividend from the receipts therein deposited. 
 
 My only resource was now, to take my tithes from the bakings. 
 Occasionally I pilfered a loaf or two ; but as in disposing of them 
 I was compelled to sell them very cheaply, I scarcely by their sale 
 obtained sufficient to regale myself with tarts and honey. Neces- 
 sity makes us active ; I had an eye for everything ; all was agree- 
 able to me, wine, sugar, coffee, and liquors. My mother had 
 never known her provisions to disappear so quickly, and perhaps 
 would not have discovered so soon, but two chickens which I had 
 resolved on disposing of to my own peculiar profit raised their 
 voices to accuse me. Hid in my breeches pocket, and concealed 
 by my baker's apron, they thrust out their heads and crowed : and 
 my mother, thus informed of their intended fate, came out to 
 prevent it. She gave me several cuffs of the head, and sent me 
 sun.ierless to bed. I did not sleep a wink, and it was, I think, the 
 evil spirit that kept me awake : all I know is, that I rose with the 
 determination to lay hands on all the plate. One thing alone 
 gave me uneasiness. On each piece the name of VIDCCQ was en- 
 graved in laige letters. Poyant, to whom I broached the matter, 
 overruled all difficulties : and the same day, at dinner time, I 
 swept off ten forks and as many coffee spoons. Twenty minutes 
 afterwards the whole was pawned, and the next day I had not a 
 farthing left of the hundred and fifty francs, which they lent me 
 on them. 
 
 I did not return home for three days, and on the third evening 
 I was arrested by two police officers, who conveyed me to the 
 Baudets, a place in which mad persons are confined, together 
 with those committed for trial, and the rogues of the district. I 
 was kept in a dungeon for ten days, without being told the cause 
 of my arrest, and then the gaoler told me that I had been im- 
 prisoned at the desire of my father. This information a little com- 
 me : it was a paternal correction that was inflicted on me, 
 and I accordingly judged that its continuance would not be rigor- 
 ous. My mother came to see me the next day, and I was pardoned. 
 Four days afterwards I was set at liberty, and I returned to work with 
 a determination and promise of henceforward conducting myself 
 irreproachably. Vain resolve ! I soon resumed my old habits, 
 except extravagance ; and I had excellent reasons for no more play- 
 ing the prodigal, for my father, who had before been rather care- 
 less and regardless, now exercised a vigilance that would have 
 done credit to the commandant of an advanced guard. If he left 
 the post at the counter, my mother relieved guard ; it was im- 
 possible for me to approach it, although I was conslantly on the 
 
12 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 look out. This put me in despair. At last one of my tavern 
 companions took pity on me ; it was Poyant again, that thorough 
 rogue, of whose abilities in this way the citizens of Arras may still 
 preserve the memory. I confided my sorrows to his friendly 
 bosom. 'What a precious fool you are,' said he,' to remain thus ; 
 and what business has a lad of your age to be short of a farthing ? 
 Ah ! were I in your place, I know what I would do.' ' Well, 
 what?' 'Your parents are rich, and a thousand crowns, more or 
 less, would not hurt them. The old misers ! they are fair game, 
 and we must carry it off.' ' I understand, we must grasp at once 
 what we cannot get in detail.' ' You're right ; and then we will be 
 off, neither seen nor known.' 'Yes, but the police?' 'Hold your 
 tongue ; are you not their son ? and your mother is too fond for 
 that.' This consideration of my mother's love, united to the re- 
 membrance of her indulgence after my late freaks, was powerfully 
 persuasive; I blindly adopted a project which smiled on my 
 audacity ; it only remained to put it in execution, and an oppor- 
 tunity was not long wanting. 
 
 One evening whilst my mother was at home alone, a confidant 
 of Poyant came kindly to tell her, that, engaged in a debauch with 
 some girls, I was fighting everybody, and breaking and destroying 
 everything in the house, and that, if I were not stopped, there 
 would be at least a hundred francs to pay for the damage done. 
 
 At this moment my mother was seated in her chair knitting ; the 
 stockings dropped from her hand, she arose with haste, and ran 
 with great alarm to the place of the pretended affray, which had been 
 fixed on at the extremity of the city. Her absence could not be of 
 long continuance, and we hastened to profit by it. A key which 
 I had stolen from the old lady procured us admittance into the 
 shop. The till was closed ; I was almost glad to meet with this 
 obstacle. I recalled the memory of my mother's love for me, not 
 as an inducement to commit the act with impunity, but as ex- 
 citing feelings of coming remorse. I was going to retire ; Poyant 
 held me, his infernal eloquence made me blush for what he called 
 my weakness ; and when he presented me with a crowbar, with 
 which he had the precaution to provide himself, I seized it almost 
 with enthusiasm ; the chest was forced ; it contained nearly 2,000 
 francs (upwards of ;8o), which we shared, and half an hour after- 
 wards I was alone on the road to Lille. In the trouble which this 
 affair threw me into, I walked at first very quickly, so that when I 
 reached Lens I was much fatigued A return chaise passed, into 
 which I got, and in less than three hours arrived at the capital of 
 French Flanders, whence I immediately started for Dunkirk, being 
 excessively anxious to place myself beyond the reach of pursuit 
 
SEEKING A SHIP. 13 
 
 I had resolved on visiting the new world My fate forbade this 
 project. The port of Dunkirk was empty ; I reached Calais, in- 
 tending to embark immediately, but they asked me more than the 
 whole sum in my possession. I was induced to hope that at 
 Ostend the fare would be less ; and on going there found the 
 captains not more reasonable than at Calais. Thus disappointed, 
 I fell into that adventurous disposition which induces us to throw 
 ourselves voluntarily into the arms of the first enterprise that offers. 
 Whilst I was walking, I was accosted by a person whose benevolent 
 appearance gave me rather a favourable impression of him. The 
 first words he addressed to me were questions. He had learnt 
 that I was a stranger; he told me that he was a ship-broker; and 
 when he learnt the cause of my coming to Ostend, he offered his 
 services. ' Your countenance pleases me,' said he, * I like an open 
 face ; there is in your features the air of frankness and joviality, 
 which I like, and 1 will prove it to you by procuring for you a 
 .1$. for almost nothing.' I spoke of my gratitude. 'No 
 thanks, my friend, that will be soon enough when your business is 
 completed, which I hope will be soon ; but surely you will be tired 
 of waiting about in this manner?* I said that certainly I was not 
 very much amused. * If you will accompany me to Blakemberg, we 
 will sup there together, with some jolly fellows, who are very fond 
 of Frenchmen.' The broker was so polite, and asked me so 
 cordially, that I thought it would be ungentlemanly to refuse, and 
 therefore accepted his invitation. He conducted me to a house 
 where some very agreeable young ladies welcomed us with all that 
 ancient hospitality which did not confine itself only to feasting. 
 At midnight, probably I say probably, for we took no account of 
 hours my head became heavy, and my legs would no longer 
 support me; there was around me a complete chaos, and things 
 whirled in such a manner, that without preceiving that they had 
 undressed me, I thought I was stripped to my shirt in the same 
 bed with one of the Blakembergian nymphs ; it might be true, 
 but all that I know is, that I soon fell soundly asleep. On waking 
 I found myself cold ; instead of the large green curtains, which 
 had appeared to me in my sleep, my heavy eyes only gazed on a 
 forest of masts, and I heard the watchful cry which only echoes in 
 the sea-ports. I endeavoured to rise, and my hand touched a heap 
 of cordage, against which I was leaning. Did I dream, then, or 
 had I dreamt the previous evening ? I felt about, I got up, and 
 when on my feet I found that I did not dream, and what was 
 worse, that I was not one of the small number of those personages 
 whom fortune favours whilst sleeping. I was half naked, and 
 except two crowns and six livres, which I found in one of my 
 
14 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 breeches pockets, I was pennyless. It was then but too clear of 
 me, as the broker had said, ' my business had soon been done.' I 
 was greatly enraged, but what did that avail me? I was even 
 unable to point out the spot where I had been thus plundered. I 
 made up my mind and returned to the inn, where I had some 
 clothes which remedied the deficiencies of my attire. I had no 
 occasion to tell my misfortune to the landlord. * Ah, ah !' said he 
 to me, as far off as he could see me, ' here comes another. Do 
 you know, young man, that you have got off well ? You return 
 with all your limbs, which is lucky when one gets into such a 
 hornet's nest ; you now know what a land shark is ; they were cer- 
 tainly beautiful sirens ! All pirates are not on the sea, you 
 observe, nor all the sharks within it ; I will wager that they have 
 not left you a farthing.' I drew my two crowns from my pocket 
 to show them to the innkeeper. 'That will be,' said he, 'just 
 enough to pay your bill,' which he then presented. I paid it and 
 took leave of him, without, however, quitting the city. 
 
 The sea was open to me as a profession, and I resolved to 
 betroth myself to it, at the risk of breaking my neck thirty times 
 a day, by climbing, for eleven francs a month, up the rigging of a 
 ship. I was ready to enter like a novice, when the sound of a 
 trumpet suddenly arrested my attention ; it was not that of a 
 regiment, but of Paillasse (Merry-Andrew) and his master, who, 
 in front of a show bedecked with the emblem of an itinerant 
 menagerie, were awaiting the mob, which never hisses the vulgar 
 exhibitions. I saw the beginning ; and whilst a large crowd was 
 testifying its gratification by loud shouts of laughter, it occurred to 
 me that the master of Paillasse might give me employment. 
 Paillasse appeared to me a good fellow, and I was desirous of 
 securing his protection ; and as I knew that one good turn deserves 
 another, when he got down from his platform, on saying ' 'follow the 
 crowd,' thinking that he might be thirsty, I devoted my last 
 shilling in offering him half a pint of gin. Paillasse, sensible of 
 this politeness, promised instantly to speak for me, and as soon as 
 our half-pint was finished, he presented me to the director. He 
 was the famous Cotte-Comus : he called himself the first physician 
 of the world, and in traversing the country, had united his talents 
 to those of the naturalist Gamier, the learned preceptor of General 
 Jacquot, whom all Paris saw in the square of the Fountains before 
 and after the Revolution. These gentlemen had with them a troop 
 of rope-dancers. Comus, as soon as I appeared before him, asked 
 me what I could do. 'Nothing,' said I. 4 In that case,' said he, 
 ' they will teach you : there are greater fools than you, and then, 
 besides, you have not a clumsy appearance. We shall see if you 
 
A COMPANY OF ROPE-DANCERS. 15 
 
 have a taste for the stage ; then I will engage you for two years ; 
 the first six months you shall be well fed, and clothed ; at the end 
 of that time you shall have a sixteenth of the profits ; and the 
 year following, if you are bright, I will give you a share like the 
 others ; in the meantime, my friend, I will find occupation for you.' 
 
 Thus was I introduced, and then went to partake of the flock- 
 bed of the obliging Merry-Andrew. At the break of day we were 
 awakened by the sonorous voice of our master, who, leading me to 
 a kind of small room, said, whilst showing me the lamps and 
 wooden chandeliers ' There is your employment, you must clean 
 these and put them in proper order ; do you understand ? And 
 afterwards you must clean out the cages of the animals, and brush 
 the floors.' I went about my job, which did not greatly please me : 
 the tallow disgusted me, and I was not quite at my ease with the 
 monkeys, who, enraged to see a fool to whom they were not 
 accustomed, made inconceivable efforts to tear my eyes out. But 
 I yielded to iron necessity. My duty performed, I appeared 
 before the director, who said that I was an apt pupil, and that if I 
 was assiduous he would do something for me. I rose early, and 
 was very hungry ; it was ten o'clock, but no signs of breakfast were 
 visible, and yet it was agreed that I should have bed and board. I 
 was sinking from want, when they gave me a piece of brown bread, 
 so hard, that being unable to get through with it, although gifted 
 with sharp teeth, and a famous appetite, I threw the greater portion 
 amongst the animals. I was obliged to light up in the evening, 
 and as, from want of practice, I did not evince in my occupation 
 all possible despatch, the director, who was a brute, administered 
 to me a slight correction, which he renewed the next and following 
 days. A month had not elapsed, before I was in a wretched con- 
 dition ; my clothes, spotted with grease and torn by the monkeys, 
 were in rags ; I was devoured by vermin ; hard diet had made 
 me so thin, that no one would have recognised me ; and then it 
 was that there arose in all imaginable bitterness the regrets for 
 my paternal home, where good food, soft bed, and excellent 
 clothing were mine, and where I had no monkeys to make clean 
 and feed. 
 
 I was in this mood, when one morning Comus told me that 
 after due consideration he was convinced that I should make an 
 admirable tumbler. He then placed me under the tuition of 
 Sieur Balmate, called the ' little devil,' with orders' to train me. 
 My master just escaped breaking my loins at the first bend which 
 he compelled me to make. I took two or three lessons daily. In 
 less than three weeks, I was able to execute with much skill the 
 monkey's leap, the drunkard's leap, the coward's leap, etc. My 
 
16 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 teacher, delighted at my progress, took pains to forward me; a 
 hundred times I thought that in developing my powers he would 
 dislocate my limbs. At length we reached the difficulties of the 
 art, which became more and more complicated. At my first 
 attempt at the grand fling, I nearly split myself in two ; and in the 
 chair-leap, I broke my nose. Bruised, maimed, and tired of so 
 perilous a business, I determined on telling Comus that I had no 
 desire to become a vaulter. ' Oh, you do not like it/ said he, and 
 without objecting to my refusal, gave me a sound thumping. I 
 then left Balmate entirely and returned to my lamps. 
 
 Comus had given me up, and it was now for Gamier to give me 
 a turn. One day, after having beaten me more than usual (for he 
 shared this pleasing office with Comus), Gamier, measuring me 
 from head to foot, and viewing with a marked delight the dilapi- 
 dation of my doublet, through which my flesh was visible, said to 
 me, ' I like you : you have reached the point that pleases me. 
 Now, if you are obedient it remains with yourself to be happy : 
 from to-day you must let your nails grow ; your hair is already of 
 a sufficient length ; you are nearly naked, and a decoction of 
 walnut-tree leaves will do the rest' I did not understand what 
 Gamier meant, when he called my friend Paillasse and desired him 
 to bring the tiger skin and club. Paillasse obeyed * Now/ said 
 Gamier, ' we will go through the performance. You are a young 
 savage from the South Seas, and, moreover, a cannibal ; you eat 
 raw flesh, the sight of blood puts you in a fury, and when you are 
 thirsty, you introduce into your mouth flints which you crack; you 
 utter only broken and shrill sounds, you open your eyes widely, 
 your motions are violent ; you only move with leaps and bounds : 
 finally, take for your model the ourang-outang who is in cage 
 number one.' During this lesson, a jar full of small stones quite 
 round was placed at my feet, and near it a cock which was tired 
 with having its legs tied together ; Gamier took it, and offered it to 
 me, saying, ' Gnaw away at this.' I would not bite it ; he threatened 
 me. I rebelled, and demanded to be released ; to which he 
 replied by a dozen cuffs of the ear. But he did not get off scot- 
 free ; irritated at this usage, I seized a stake and should assuredly 
 have knocked the naturalist on the head, if the whole troupe had 
 not fallen on me, and thrust me out at the door with a shower of 
 blows from the fists and kicks of the feet. 
 
 Some days afterwards, I was at the same public-house, with a 
 showman and his wife who exhibited puppets in the open street 
 We made acquaintance, and I found that I had inspired them 
 with some feelings of interest. The husband pitied me for having 
 been condemned to what he termed the society of beasts. He 
 
THE THEATRE OF VARIETIES. 17 
 
 compared me with Daniel in the lions' den. We may see that he 
 was learned, and intended for something better than to play 
 'Punch.' At a later period he superintended a provincial 
 theatrical company, and perhaps superintends it still I shall con- 
 ceal his name. The embryo manager was very witty, though his 
 wife did not perceive it ; he was very ugly, which she plainly per- 
 ceived She was one of those smart brunettes with long eyelashes, 
 whose hearts are of the most inflammable material, which de 
 a better destiny than to light a fire of straw. I was young, and so 
 was the lady : she was only sixteen, her husband thirty-live. As 
 soon as I found myself out of place, I went to see this couple : it 
 struck me that they would advise me correctly. They gave me 
 some dinner, and congratulated me in having dared to free myself 
 from the despotic yoke of Gamier. * Since you are your own 
 master,' said the husband to me, ' you had better accompany us : 
 you will assist us ; at least, when we are three in number, we shall 
 have no lost time between the acts ; you will move the actors 
 whilst Eliza goes round with the hat ; thus the public will be 
 attracted and not go off, and the profits will be more abundant. 
 What say you, Eliza?' Eliza answered, that she would do in this 
 respect all he might desire, and besides, she entirely agreed with 
 him ; and at the same time gave me a look which bespoke that she 
 was not displeased, and that we should soon understand each 
 other. I accepted the new employ with gratitude, and at the next 
 representation I was installed in my office. The situation was 
 infinitely superior to that at Garnier's. Eliza, who, despite my 
 leanness, had discovered that I was not so badly made as I was 
 clothed, made a thousand secret advances, to which I was not 
 backward in reply : at the end of three days she said she loved 
 me. I was not ungrateful ; we were happy and constantly together. 
 At home we only laughed, played, and joked. Eliza's husband 
 took all that for child's sport ; when at work we were side by side 
 under a narrow cabin, formed of four cloth rags, dignified by the 
 splendid title of * Theatre of Amusing Varieties. 1 Eliza was on the 
 right of her husband, and I on her right hand, and filled her place 
 when she was not there to superintend the exits and entrances. 
 One Sunday the play was in full representation, and there was a 
 crowded audience round the stage. Punch had beaten everybody, 
 and our master having nothing more to do with one of his per- 
 sonages (the Serjeant of the Watch) wished it to be removed, and 
 called for his assistant. We heard him not. ' Assistant, assistant,' he 
 repeated with impatience, and at a third time turning round, he saw 
 us enfolding each other in a close embrace. Eliza, surprised, sought 
 for an excuse, but the husband without listening cried out again, 
 
 at 
 
i8 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 1 Assistant,' and thrust against his eye the hook which served to 
 suspend the serjeant. At the same moment the blood flowed, the 
 representation was interrupted, and a battle ensued between the 
 two married people ; the show was overturned, and we were ex- 
 posed in the midst of a numerous crowd of spectators, from whom 
 this scene drew a lengthened peal of applause and laughter. 
 
 This disaster again threw me on the wide world, without a home 
 to shelter my head If I had had a decent appearance, I might 
 have procured a situation in a respectable family, but my appear- 
 ance was so wretched that no one would have anything to say to 
 me. In my situation I had but one resource, that of returning to 
 Arras : but then how to exist on the road ? I was a prey to these 
 perplexities, when a person passed near me whom I took by his 
 appearance to be a pedlar. I entered into conversation with him, 
 and he told me he was going to Lille ; that he sold powders, 
 opiates, and elixirs, cut corns, relieved bunions, and sometimes 
 extracted teeth. ' It is a good trade,' added he, hnt I am getting 
 old, and want somebody to carry my pack ; it is a stiff-backed 
 fellow like you that 1 need, with a firm foot and steady eye ; so if 
 you like we will tramp it together.' 'Willingly,' was my reply, and 
 without any further stipulation, we went on our way together. 
 After an eight hours' walk, night drew on, and we could scarcely 
 see our way, when we halted before a wretched village inn. * Here 
 it is,' said the itinerant doctor, knocking at the door. ' Who is 
 there ?' cried a hoarse voice. ' Father Godard with his pack, 3 
 answered my guide; and, the door immediately opening, we found 
 ourselves in the midst of a crowd of pedlars, tinkers, quack doctors, 
 umbrella vendors, showmen, etc., who hailed my new master, and 
 ordered a plate to be brought for him. I thought they would do 
 me equal honour, and I was about to seat myself at table, when 
 the host, striking me familiarly on the shoulder, asked me if I was 
 not mountebank of Father Godard. ' Who do you call a mounte- 
 bank ?' said I with astonishment. 'The Merry- Andrew, then.' I 
 confess that, despite of the recent reminiscences of the menagerie, 
 and the ' Theatre of Amusing Varieties,' I felt mortified at such an 
 appellation. But I had a devil of an appetite, and as I thought 
 that supper would follow the interrogatory, and that, after all, my 
 situation with Father Godard had not been accurately defined, I 
 consented to pass for his mountebank. On my answering, the 
 host led me at once to a neighbouring spot, a sort of barn, where 
 a dozen of fellows were smoking, drinking, and playing at cards. 
 He said that they would send me in something to eat. Soon 
 afterwards, a stout wench brought me in a mess in a wooden bowl, 
 on which I fed with the utmost avidity. A loin of mutton was 
 
THE RETURN HOME. 19 
 
 swimming in a sea of pot-liquor with stringy turnips : I cleared the 
 whole up'in a twinkling. This done, I laid myself down with the 
 other packmen's valets on some piles of straw, which we shared 
 with a camel, two muzzled bears, and a crowd of learned dogs. 
 The vicinity of such bedfellows was not the most pleasing ; but it 
 was necessary to put up with it. I did not close my eyes, whilst 
 all the others snored away most gloriously. 
 
 Father Godard paid for all, and however bad were the beds and 
 the fare, as we drew near Arras, it was necessary that I should not 
 quit him. At length we reached Lille, which we entered on a 
 market day. By way of losing no time, Father Godard went straight 
 to the principal square, and desired me to arrange his table, his 
 chest, his vials, and his packets, and then proposed that I should 
 go and announce his arrival round the place. I had made a good 
 breakfast, and the proposition disgusted me : I could put up with 
 acting with a dromedary, and carrying his baggage from Ostend to 
 Lille, but to go round in parade, at ten leagues from Arras No \ 
 I bade adieu to Father Godard, and then set out towards my native 
 city, of which the clock soon became visible. Having reached the 
 foot of the ramparts, before the closing of the gates, I trembled at 
 the idea of the reception I should meet with : one moment I was 
 tempted to beat a retreat, but fatigue and hunger could not allow 
 that ; rest and food were vitally necessary : I wavered no longer, 
 and ran towards my paternal roof. My mother was alone in the 
 shop : I entered, and throwing myself at her feet, wept, whilst I 
 entreated her forgiveness. The poor old woman, who hardly re- 
 cognised me, so greatly was I altered, was softened She had not 
 power to repulse me, and even appeared to have forgotten all. She 
 reinstated me in my old chamber, after having supplied all my 
 wants. But it was necessary to tell my father of my return. She 
 did not feel courage to face his first bursts of anger : a priest of her 
 acquaintance, the almoner of the regiment of Anjou, garrisoned ai 
 Arras, undertook to be the bearer of the words of peace ; and my 
 father, after having vowed fire and flames, consented to pardon me. 
 I trembled lest he should prove inexorable, and when I learnt that 
 he had yielded, I jumped for joy. The almoner brought the news 
 to me, and followed it up with a moral application, which was no 
 doubt very touching, but 1 do not remember a word of it ; I only 
 recollect that he quoted the parable of the Prodigal Son, which 
 was in truth a history similar to my own. 
 
 My adventures had made some noise in the city; everybody was 
 anxious to hear them from my own lips. But no one, except one 
 actress of the Arras company, took more interest in them than two 
 milliners of the Rue de Trois Visages : I paid them frequent visits. 
 
 t --2 
 
20 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 However, the actress soon obtained the exclusive privilege of my 
 attention, and an intrigue followed, in which, disguised as a young 
 girl, I renewed at her house some scenes from the romance of 
 Faublas. A sudden journey to Lille with my conquest, her hus- 
 band, and a very pretty little maid-servant, who passed me off for 
 her sister, proved to my father that I had soon forgotten the 
 troubles of my first campaign. My absence was not of long con- 
 tinuance : three weeks had scarcely elapsed, when, from want of 
 money, Ihe actress refused any longer to allow me to form part of 
 the baggage. I returned quietly to Arras, and my father was con- 
 founded at the straightforward way with which I asked his consent 
 to enter the army. The best he could do was to comply, which 
 he did ; and the next day I was clad in the uniform of the Bourbon 
 regiment. My height, good figure, and skill in arms, procured 
 for me an appointment in a company of chasseurs. Some old 
 veterans took offence at it, and I sent two to the hospital in con- 
 sequence, where I soon joined them myself, on being wounded by 
 one of their comrades. This commencement gave me notoriety, 
 and they took a malicious pleasure in reviewing my past adven- 
 tures ; so that at the end of six months, Reckless for they be- 
 stowed that name on me had killed two men and fought fifteen 
 duels. In other respects I enjoyed all the pleasure of a garrison 
 life. I mounted guard at the cost of some good shopkeepers, 
 whose daughters took on themselves the charge of making me as 
 comfortable as possible. My mother added to these liberalities, 
 and my father made me an allowance ; and besides, I found means 
 to run in debt : thus I really cut a figure, and scarcely felt any- 
 thing of the troubles of discipline. Once only I was sentenced to 
 a fortnight's imprisonment, because I had not answered to three 
 summonses. I underwent my punishment in a dungeon beneath 
 one of the bastions, where one of my comrades was shut up with 
 me, a soldier in the same regiment. He was accused of various 
 robberies, which he had confessed. Scarcely were we alone when 
 he told me the grounds of his detention. Doubtlessly the regiment 
 would give him up, and this idea, joined to the dread of dishonour- 
 ing his family, threw him into despair. I pitied him, and seeing no 
 remedy for so deplorable a case, I counselled him to evade punish- 
 ment either by escape or suicide. He determined to try the former 
 ere he resolved on the latter ; and, aided by a young friend who 
 came to visit me, I prepared all for his flight. At midnight two 
 bars of iron were broken, and we conducted the prisoner to the 
 ramparts, and then I said to him 'Go : you must either jump or 
 hang.' He calculated the height, and hesitating, determined rather 
 to run the chance of his sentence than to break his legs. He was 
 
IN THE ARMY. 21 
 
 preparing to return to his dungeon : at a moment when he least 
 expected it, we gave him a push over : he shrieked out whilst I bid 
 him be silent. I then returned to my cell : when on my straw, I 
 tasted the repose which the consciousness of a good deed always 
 brings. The next day, on the flight of my companion being dis- 
 covered, I was questioned, and dismissed on saying that I knew 
 nothing of the affair. Some years afterwards, I met this unfortu- 
 nate fellow, who looked on me as his liberator. Since his tail 
 he had been lame, but had become an honest man. 
 
 I could not remain eternally at Arras ; war had been declared 
 against Austria, and I set out with the regiment, and soon after 
 resent at the route of Marquain, which ended at Lille by the 
 massacre of the brave and unfortunate General Dillon. After this 
 we were ordered against the ramp at Manlde, and then in that de 
 la Lime, when, with the infernal army under the command of 
 Killerman, I was engaged in the battle against tlu> Prussians of 
 the 3oth of October. The next day I was made corporal of 
 grenadiers; thereupon it became necessary to baptize my w<>rsi-d 
 lace, and I acquitted myself with much credit at the drinking 
 booth, when, I know not how or why, I quarrelled with the 
 serjeant-major of the regiment which I had just left. An honour- 
 able meeting, which I proposed, was agreed upon, but when on 
 the ground my adversary pretended that the difference from rank 
 would not allow of his measuring weapons with me. I sought to 
 compel him by violence, he went to make a complaint of me, and 
 the same evening I was, together with my second, placed under 
 arrest. Two days afterwards we were informed that we were to 
 be tried by court-martial, and I thereupon determined to desert. 
 My comrade in his waistcoat only, with a cap on his head, like a 
 soldier about to undergo punishment, walked before me, who had 
 on a hairy cap, my knapsack, and musket, at the end of which 
 was a large packet sealed with red wax, and inscribed ' To the 
 citizen commandant of the quarters at Vitry-le-Francois.' This 
 was our passport, and we reached Vitry in safety, and procured 
 citizens' habits from a Jew. At this period the walls of every city 
 were covered with placards, in which all Frenchmen were 
 invited to fly to the defence of their country. At such a juncture 
 the first comers were enrolled: a quarter-master of the nth 
 chasseurs received us, gave us our route, and we immediately 
 started for the depot at Philippeville. 
 
 My companion and self had but little cash, when fortunately a 
 lucky windfall was in waiting for us at Chalons. In the same inn 
 with us was a soldier of Beaujolais, who invited us to drink. He 
 was an open-hearted countryman of Picardy, and as I conversed 
 
22 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 with him in the provincial dialect of his country, whilst the glass 
 was circulating, we grew such great friends, that he showed us a 
 portfolio filled with assignats, which he said he had found near 
 Chateau-1' Abbaye. * Comrades,' said he, ' I cannot read, but if 
 you will tell me what these papers are worth, I will give you a 
 share.' The Picard could not have asked any one better able to 
 inform him, and in bulk he had much the greater quantity ; but he 
 had no suspicion that we had retained in value nine-tenths of the 
 sum. This little supply was not useless during the remainder of 
 our journey, which we finished with much glee. Arrived at our 
 place of destination, we had still enough left to keep the pot boil- 
 ing. A short time afterwards we were sufficiently skilled in horse- 
 manship to be appointed to one of the squadrons on service, and 
 we reached the army two days before the battle of Jemmappes. 
 It was not the first time that I had smelt powder, and I was no 
 coward ; indeed, I had reason to know that I had found favour 
 in the eyes of my officers, when my captain informed me, that 
 having been discovered to be a deserter, I should be most certainly 
 arrested. The danger was imminent, and that same evening 
 I saddled my horse, intending to go over to the Austrians. I 
 soon reached their outposts ; and on asking to be admitted, was 
 incorporated at once with the cuirassiers of Kinski. What I most 
 feared was lest I should be compelled next day to cross swords 
 with the French, and I hastened to avoid any such necessity A 
 pretended illness enabled me to be left at Louvain, where after 
 passing some days in the hospital, I offered to give the officers in 
 the garrison lessons in fencing. They were delighted with the pro- 
 posal, and supplied me with masks, gloves, and foils ; and an 
 assault in which I disarmed two or three pretended German 
 masters was enough to give them the highest opinion of my skill. 
 I soon had many pupils, and reaped a good harvest of florins 
 
 I was too much elated with my success, when at the end of a 
 brisk attack on a brigadier, I was condemned to undergo twenty 
 stripes of the cat, which, according to custom, were given to me 
 on parade. This transported me with rage, and I refused to give 
 another lesson. I was ordered to continue, with a choice of 
 giving lessons or a fresh flogging. I decided on the former ; but 
 the cat annoyed me, and I resolved to dare all to escape from it. 
 Being informed that a lieutenant was about to join the army under 
 General Schroeder, I begged to accompany him as a servant ; to 
 which he agreed, under the idea that I should make a St. George 
 of him ; but he was mistaken, for as we approached Quesnoi I 
 took French leave, and directed my journey towards Landrecies, 
 where I passed for a Belgian who had left the Austrian banner 
 
A DOMESTIC ROBBERY. 23 
 
 They wished me to enter a cavalry regiment, but the fear of being 
 recognised and shot, if ever I should be brigaded with my old 
 regiment, made me give the preference to the i4th light regiment 
 (the old chasseurs of the barriers). The army of the Sambre and 
 Meuse was then marching towards Aix-la-Chapelle ; the company 
 to which I belonged received orders to follow it. We set out, and 
 on entering Rocroi I saw the chasseurs of the nth. I gave 
 myself up for lost, when my old captain, with whom I could not 
 avoid an interview, gave me courage. This worthy man, who had 
 taken an interest in me ever since he had seen me cut away 
 amongst the hussars of Saxe-Teschen, told me that as an amnesty 
 would henceforward place me out of the reach of all pursuit, he 
 should have much pleasure in again having me under his order. 
 I told him how glad it would make me ; and he, undertaking to 
 arrange the affair, I was once more reinstated in the nth. My 
 old comrades received me with pleasure, and I was not less 
 pleased to find myself once again amongst them ; and nothing was 
 wanting to complete my happiness, when love, who is always busy, 
 determined on playing one of his tricks. It will not be thought sur- 
 prising that at seventeen I captivated the housekeeper of an old 
 gentleman. Manon, for that was her name, was near twice my 
 age, but then she loved me very tenderly, and proved it by making 
 every sacrifice to me unhesitatingly. I was to her taste, the 
 handsomest of chasseurs, because I was hers, and she wished that I 
 should also be the most dashing. She had already given me a watch, 
 and I was proudly adorned with various jewels, proofs of the love 
 with which I had inspired her, wrfen I learnt that Manon was 
 accused by her master of robbery. Manon confessed the fact, but 
 at the same time, to assure herself that after her sentence I should 
 not pass into another's arms, she pointed me out as her accom- 
 plice, and even asserted that I had proposed the theft to her. It 
 had the appearance of probability, and I was consequently impli- 
 cated, and should have extricated myself with difficulty if chance 
 had not brought to light some letters of hers, which established 
 my innocence. Manon, conscience-stricken, retracted. I had 
 been shut up in the house of confinement at Stenay, whence I was 
 set at liberty, and sent back as white as snow. My captain, who 
 had never thought me guilty, was delighted to see me again : but 
 the chasseurs could not forgive my being even suspected ; and in 
 consequence of various allusions and comments, I had no less 
 than six duels in as many days. In the last I was badly wounded, 
 and was conveyed to the hospital, where I remained for a month 
 before I recovered. On going put, my officer, convinced that 
 these quarrels would be renewed if I did not go away for a time, 
 
24 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 gave me a furlough for six weeks. I went to Arras, where I was 
 much astonished to find my father in a public employment. As 
 an old baker, he had been appointed to watch over the supplies 
 of the commissariat. He opposed the distribution of bread at a 
 time of scarcity ; and this discharge of his duty, although he per- 
 formed it gratis, was so offensive that he would assuredly have been 
 conducted to the guillotine, had he not been protected by Citizen 
 (now Lieu tenant-General) Souham, commandant of the 2d batta- 
 lion of Correze, into which I was temporarily drafted. 
 
 My furlough being out, I rejoined my regiment at Givet, whence 
 we marched for the county of Namur. We were quartered in the 
 villages on the banks of the Meuse ; and as the Austrians were in 
 sight, not a day passed without some firing on both sides. At the 
 termination of an engagement more serious than usual, we were 
 driven back almost under the cannon of Givet : and in the retreat 
 I received a ball in my leg, which compelled me to go again to the 
 hospital, and afterwards to remain at the depot ; and I was there 
 when the Germanic legion passed, principally composed of a party 
 of deserters, fencing-masters, etc. One of the chief officers pro- 
 posed that I should enter this corps, offering the rank of quarter- 
 master. ' Once admitted,' said he, * I will answer for you, you 
 shall be safe from all pursuit.' The certainty of not being asked 
 for, joined to the remembrance of the disagreeables of my intimacy 
 with Manon, decided me ; I accepted the offer, and the next day 
 was with the legion on the road to Flanders. No doubt, in con- 
 tinuing to serve in this corps, where promotion was very rapid, I 
 should have been made an officer, but my wound opened afresh, 
 with such bad symptoms, that I determined to ask for leave again, 
 which on obtaining, I was six days afterwards once more at the 
 gates of Arras. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Joseph Lebon Orchestra of the guillotine The aristocrat parrot The Sans 
 Culottes Imprisonment Gaoler Beaupre M. de Bethune I get my 
 liberty I am made an officer The quarters of St. Sylvestre Capelle The 
 revolutionary army Retaking of a vessel I marry Another visit to the 
 Baudets My emancipation. 
 
 ON entering the city, I was struck with the air of consternation 
 which every countenance wore ; some persons whom I questioned 
 looked at me with contempt, and left me without making any 
 reply. What extraordinary business was being transacted ? Pene- 
 trating the crowd, which was thronged in the dark and winding 
 streets, I soon reached the fish-market. Then the first object 
 which struck my sight was the guillotine, raising its blood-red 
 
JOSEPH LEBON. 25 
 
 boards above the silent multitude. An old man, whom they had 
 just tied to the fatal plank, was the victim ; suddenly I heard the 
 sound of trumpets. On a high place which overlooked the 
 orchestra, was seated a man, still young, clad in a Carmagnole of 
 black and blue stripes. This person, whose appearance announced 
 monastic rather than military habits, was leaning carelessly on a 
 cavalry sabre, the large hilt of which represented the Cap of 
 Liberty ; a row of pistols ornamented his girdle, and his hat, 
 turned up in the Spanish fashion, was surmounted by a large tri- 
 coloured cockade : I recognised Joseph Lebon. At this moment 
 his- mean countenance was animated with a horrid smile ; he 
 paused from beating time with his left foot ; the trumpets stopped ; 
 he made a signal, and the old man was placed under the blade. 
 A sort of clerk, half-drunk, then appeared at the side of the 
 ' avenger of the people,' and read with a hoarse voice a bulletin of 
 the army of the Rhine and Moselle. At each paragraph the 
 orchestra sounded a chord ; and when the reading was concluded, 
 the head of the wretched old man was stricken off amidst shouts 
 of * Vive la rpublique !' repeated by the satellites of the ferocious 
 Lebon. I shall never forget, nor can I adequately depict, the 
 impression of this horrible sight. I reached my father's house 
 almost as lifeless as the miserable being whose agony had been so 
 cruelly prolonged ; and then I learnt that he was M. de Mongon, 
 the old commandant of the citadel, condemned as an aristocrat. 
 A few days before, they had executed at the same place M. de 
 Vicux-Pont, whose only crime was that of having a parrot, in whose 
 chatterings there were some sounds like the cry of * Vive le Roi !' 
 The parrot had escaped the fate of his master ; and it was said 
 that it had been pardoned at the entreaty of the citizeness 
 Lebon, who had undertaken to convert it. The citizeness Lebon 
 had been a nun of the abbey of Vivier : with this qualification 
 added to many others, she was the fitting consort of the ex curate 
 of Neuville, and exercised a powerful influence over the members 
 of the commission at Arras, in which were seated, as judges or 
 jurymen, her brother-in law and three uncles. The ex-nun was no 
 less greedy of gold than blood. One evening at the theatre, she 
 ventured to make this address to the crowded auditory : * Ah, 
 Sans Culottes, they say it is not for you that the guillotine is at 
 work ? What the devil, must we not denounce the enemies of the 
 country ? Do you know any noble, any rich person, any aristo- 
 cratical shopkeeper ? Denounce him and you shall have his 
 money-bags.' The atrocity of this monster was only equalled by 
 that of her husband, who abandoned himself to the greatest ex- 
 cesses. Frequently after his orgies he was seen running through 
 
26 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 the city making bestial propositions to one young person, brandish- 
 ing a sabre over another's head, and firing pistols in the ears of 
 women and children. 
 
 An old apple-woman, with a red-cap and sleeves tucked up to 
 the shoulders, carrying a long stick of hazel-wood, usually attended 
 him in his walks, and they were frequently met arm-in-arm together. 
 This woman, called Mother Duchesne, in allusion to the famous 
 Father Duchesne, figured as the Goddess of Liberty in several 
 democratic solemnities. She regularly assisted at the sittings of 
 the commissions, for which she prepared the arrests by her speeches 
 and denunciations. She thus brought to the guillotine all the 
 inhabitants of one street, which was left entirely desolated. 
 
 I have often asked myself how, in the midst of such deplorable 
 scenes, the taste for pleasure and amusement lost none of its relish. 
 The fact is, that Arras continued to offer to me the same dissipa- 
 tions as ever ; the ladies were accessible ; and I was easily con- 
 vinced of that, as in a very few days I rose gradually in my amours 
 from the young and pretty Constance, only child of Corporal 
 Latulipe, canteen-keeper of the citadel, to the four daughters of the 
 notary, who had an office at the corner of the Rue des Capucines. 
 Lucky should I have been had I confined myself to that, but I 
 began to pay my homage to a beauty of the Rue de la Justice ; 
 and one day I met my rival in my walks. He, who was the old 
 musician of the regiment, was one of those men who, without 
 boasting of the success which they have obtained, hint in plain 
 terms that they have experienced refusals. I charged him with 
 boasting in this way, and he became enraged ; I provoked 
 him the more, and the more angry he grew : I had forgotten my 
 own cause of anger with him, when I remembered that I had good 
 grounds of offence. I demanded an explanation, which was use- 
 less ; and he only consented to meet me after I had inflicted on 
 him the most degrading humiliation. The rendezvous was fixed 
 for the next morning. I was punctual ; but scarcely had I arrived 
 when I was surrounded by a troop of gendarmes and police- 
 officers, who demanded my sword and ordered me to follow them. 
 I obeyed, and was soon enclosed within the walls of the Baudets, 
 whose use had been changed since the terrorists had put the 
 population of Arras in a state of periodical decapitation. The 
 gaoler, Beaupre", covered with an enormous red cap, and followed 
 by two large black dogs, who never quitted him, conducted me to 
 a vast garret, where he held in his keeping the principal in- 
 habitants of the country. There, deprived of all communication 
 from without, they scarcely received nourishment, and not even 
 that until it had literally been overhauled by Beaupre, who carried 
 
M. DE BETHUNE. 27 
 
 his precaution so far as to plunge his filthy, dirty hands in the 
 broth, to assure himself that there were no arms or keys. If any- 
 body complained, he said to him, * Umph ! you are very difficult 
 to please for the time you have left to live. How do you know 
 that it will not be your turn to-morrow ? Oh, by the way, what is 
 your name ?' * So and so.' * Ah ! by my faith, it is your turn to- 
 morrow !' And the predictions of Beaupre were the less likely to 
 fail as he himself pointed out the individuals to Joseph Lebon, 
 who, after his dinner, consulted him, saying, * Who shall we bathe 
 to-morrow ?' 
 
 Amongst the gentry shut up with us was the Count de Bethune. 
 One morning they sent for him to the tribunal. Before leading 
 him out to the forecourt, Beaupre said to him abruptly, * Citizen 
 Bethune, since you are going down there, am not I to have all you 
 leave behind you?' 'Certainly, M. Beauprey answered the old 
 man tranquilly. ' There are no misters now,' said the grinning 
 wretch of a gaoler, ' we are all citizens ;' and at the gate he again 
 cried out to him, ' Adieu, Citizen Bethune !' M. de Bethune was, 
 however, acquitted. He was brought back to prison as a sus- 
 pected person. His return rejoiced us all ; we thought him saved, 
 but the next day he was again called up. Joseph Lebon, during 
 whose absence the sentence of acquittal had been passed, arrived 
 from the country : furious at bciiu,' deprived of the blood of so 
 worthy a man, he had ordered the members of the commission to 
 assemble immediately, and M. de Lethune, condemned at the next 
 sitting, was executed by torchlight. 
 
 This event, which Beaupre announced to us with ferocious joy, 
 gave me serious uneasiness ; every day they condemned to death 
 men who were ignorant even of the cause of their arrest, and 
 whose fortune or situation in society never intended them for 
 political commotion; and on the other hand, I knew that Beaupre, 
 very scrupulous as to the number, thought not of the quality ; and 
 that frequently, not seeing immediately the number of individuals 
 pointed out, sent the first who came to hand, that the service of 
 the state might suffer nothing from delay. Every moment then 
 might place me in the clutch of Beaupre, and you may believe that 
 this idea was not the most satisfactory in the world. 
 
 I had been already detained sixteen days, when a visit from 
 Joseph Lebon was announced ; his wife accompanied him, and he 
 had in his train the principal terrorists of the country, amongst 
 whom I recognised my father's old barber, and an emptier of wells, 
 called Delmotte or Lantilette. I asked them to say a word for me 
 to the representative, which they promised ; and I augured trie 
 better of it as they were both in good estimation. However, 
 
28 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 Joseph Lebon went through the rooms, questioning the prisoners 
 in a brutal manner, and pretending to address them with frightful 
 harshness. When he came to me, he stared at me, and said in a 
 tone half severe and half jesting, ' Ah ! ah ! is it you, Frangois ? 
 What, you an aristocrat you speak ill of the Sans Culottes you 
 regret your old Bourbon regiment take care, for I can send you 
 to be cooked (guillotined). But send your mother to me.' I told 
 him, that being so strictly immured (au secret} I could not see her. 
 * Beaupre,' said he to the gaoler, ' let Vidocq's mother come in ;' 
 and went away, leaving me full of hope, as he had evidently treated 
 me with marked amenity. Two hours afterwards I saw my mother, 
 who told me, what I knew not before, that the musician whom I 
 had challenged had denounced me. The denunciation was in the 
 hands of a furious Jacobin, the terrorist Chevalier, who, out of 
 friendship to my rival, would certainly have been much against 
 me, if his sister, at the persuasion of my mother, had not prevailed 
 on him to exert himself to procure my discharge. Having left 
 prison, I was conducted with great state to the patriotic society, 
 where they made me take the oath of fidelity to the republic and 
 hatred to tyrants. I swore all they desired. What sacrifices will 
 not a man make to procure his freedom ! 
 
 These formalities concluded, I was replaced in the depot, where 
 my comrades testified much pleasure at seeing me again. After 
 what had passed, I should have been deficient in gratitude had I 
 not looked on Chevalier as my deliverer ; I went to thank him, 
 and expressed to his sister how much I was touched at the interest 
 which she had so kindly testified to a poor prisoner. This lady, 
 who was the most amorous of brunettes, but whose large black 
 eyes did not compensate for their ugliness, thought that I was in 
 love because I was polite ; she construed literally some compli- 
 ments which I paid her, and from the first interview, she so greatly 
 misinterpreted my sentiments as to cast her regards upon me. Our 
 union was talked of, and my parents were questioned on the point, 
 who answered that eighteen was too young for marriage, and so 
 the matter went on. Meanwhile battalions were formed at Arras, 
 and being known as an excellent driller, I was summoned, with 
 seven other subaltern officers, to instruct the 2nd Battalion of 
 Pas-de-Calais, to which belonged a corporal of grenadiers of the 
 regiment of Languedoc, named Caesar, now garde champetre at 
 Colombre or Pateux, near Paris. Afterwards I was promoted to 
 the rank of sub-lieutenant on arriving at St. Sylvestre-Capelle, near 
 Bailleul, where we quartered. Caesar had been fencing-master in 
 his own regiment, and my prowess with the advanced guard of 
 Kinski's cuirassiers was well known. We resolved to teach the 
 
ST. * YL VES TRE- CAPELLE. 25 
 
 practice as well as the theory of fencing to the officers of the 
 battalion, who were much pleased at such an arrangement. Our 
 lessons produced us some money, but not enough for our wants, 
 or, if you please, the desire of men of our abilities. It was par- 
 ticularly in good living that we were found wanting. What increased 
 our regrets and appetites was, that the mayor, with whom we lodged, 
 kept an excellent table. We sought in vain the means of increas- 
 ing our supplies ; an old domineering servant, named Sixca, always 
 defeated our intentions, and disturbed our gastronomic plans. We 
 were disheartened and starving. 
 
 At length Caesar found out the secret of breaking the charm 
 which kept us from the table of the municipal functionary. At his 
 suggestion, the drum-major came one morning to beat the morning 
 call under the mayor's windows. Judge of the disturbance. It 
 may be surmised that the old Maegara did not fail to request an 
 intervention in putting a stop to this uproar. Caesar promised, 
 with mild air, to use all his influence to put a stop to the noise, 
 and then ran to beg the drum-major to renew the cause of com- 
 plaint ; and the next morning there was a row sufficient to awaken 
 the dead from the adjacent churchyard ; and at length, not to do 
 things by halves, he sent the drum-major to practise with his boys 
 at the back of the house ; a pupil of the Abbe Sicard could not 
 have endured it. The old woman came to us, and invited the 
 cunning Caesar and me very graciously ; but that was not enough. 
 The drummers continued their concert, which only concluded 
 when their respectable chief was admitted, as well as ourselves, to 
 the municipal banquet. From that time no more drums were 
 heard at St. Sylvestre-Capelle, except when detachments were 
 passing by, and everybody was at peace except myself, whom the 
 old woman began to threaten with her obliging favours. This 
 unfortunate passion brought on a scene which must still be re- 
 membered m that part of the country, where it made much noise 
 at the time. 
 
 It was the village feast : dancing, singing, drinking went on ; and 
 I bore my part so ably that they were compelled to lead me to 
 bed. The next day I awoke before daybreak : as after all similar 
 orgies, I had a giddy head, my mouth parched, and my stomach 
 disordered ; I wanted something to drink , and on rising 1 felt a 
 hand as cold as a well-rope encircling my neck ; my head was 
 still wandering and weak from the over-night's debauch, and I 
 shrieked out lustily. The mayor, who slept in an adjoining 
 chamber, ran with his brother and an old servant, both armed 
 with cudgels. Caesar had not returned, and reflectiun had con- 
 vinced me that the nocturnal visitor could only be Sixca ; and pre- 
 
30 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 tending to be greatly alarmed, I told them that some hobgoblin 
 had come to my side, and had glided out at the foot of the bed. 
 They then laid on several blows with their sticks ; and Sixca, 
 perceiving that she would soon be killed, cried out, ' Gentlemen, 
 do not strike, it is I it is Sixca. I walked in my sleep to the 
 officer's bed.' At the same time she showed her head, and did 
 well ; for although they recognised her voice, yet the superstitious 
 Flemings were about to renew the application of the bastinado. 
 This affair made much noise throughout the place. It spread 
 even to Cassel, and procured me many intrigues. I had, amongst 
 others, one with a pretty barmaid, whom I should not allude to if 
 she had not taught me that at the counter of some coffee-houses 
 a good-looking fellow may get change for cash which he has not 
 paid. 
 
 We had been quartered for three months when the division was 
 ordered to Stinward. The Austrians had given tokens of an in- 
 tention to proceed to Poperingue, and the 2nd battalion of the 
 Pas-de-Calais was placed in the first rank. The night after our 
 arrival the enemy surprised our outposts, and penetrated to the 
 village of Belle, which we occupied, and we formed in battle array 
 in the greatest haste. In this nocturnal manoeuvre our young 
 recruits evinced that intelligence and alacrity which are only to be 
 found in Frenchmen. About six o'clock in the morning, a squadron 
 of Wurmser hussars debouched on our left, and charged us without 
 being able to break through our ranks. A column of infantry 
 which followed them attacked us at the same time with the 
 bayonet ; and it was only after a brisk encounter that our inferiority 
 of numbers compelled us to fall back upon Stinward, our head- 
 quarters. 
 
 On arriving there I received the congratulations of General 
 Vandomme, and a billet for the hospital of St. Omer, for I had 
 had two sabre cuts in fighting with an Austrian hussar, who was 
 killed whilst crying, ' Ergib dich 1 ergib dich /' (surrender, sur- 
 render). 
 
 My wounds were not very severe, since at the end of two months 
 I was enabled to rejoin the battalion which was at Hazebrouek. 
 I then saw the strange corps called the Revolutionary Army. 
 
 The men with pikes and red caps, who composed it, took with 
 them everywhere the guillotine. The convention had not, they 
 said, found any better way of securing the fidelity of the officers 
 of the fourteen armies which it had on foot, than by placing before 
 their eyes the instrument of punishment reserved for traitors. All 
 that I can say is, that this mournful sight almost killed with fear 
 the inhabitants of the country through which it passed. It did 
 
RETAKING A VESSEL. 31 
 
 not much flatter the military, and we had many quarrels with the 
 Sans Culottes, who were called the body-guard of the guillotine. 
 I beat one of the party, who took upon himself to censure my 
 gold epaulettes, when the regulation only ordered those of worsted. 
 My fine array would have brought misfortune on me, and I should 
 have paid dearly for my disregard of the sumptuary law, if I had not 
 been allowed to start for Cassel, where I was joined by my batta- 
 lion, which was then arrayed like the other regiments : these officers 
 became plain soldiers, and it was in that capacity that I was 
 directed to enter the 28th battalion of volunteers, which formed 
 part of the army destined to drive the Austrians from Valenciennes 
 and Conde". 
 
 Shortly afterwards the battalion was quartered at Fresnes. In 
 the farm-house in which I was billeted, there arrived one day the 
 whole family of a pilot, consisting of the husband, wife, and two 
 children, one of whom was a girl of eighteen, who was remarkably 
 handsome. The Austrians had taken the boat, laden with grain, 
 which was their whole fortune ; and these poor people, reduced to 
 the garments which covered them, had no resource left but to take 
 refuse \vith my host, their relation. This circumstance, their 
 pitiable condition, and the beauty of the young girl Delphine, 
 touched my heart. 
 
 I Hiring a foraging party, I discovered their boat, which the 
 enemy were only gradually unlading and measuring out. I pro- 
 posed to a dozen of my comrades to carry off the spoils from the 
 Austrians. They acceded to the proposition ; our colonel gave us 
 consent ; and on a stormy night, we approached the vessel without 
 being observed by the officer in charge, whom we despatched to 
 feed the fish of the Escant with five strokes of the bayonet. The 
 will- of the pilot, who would follow us, instantly ran for a bag of 
 florins which she had concealed in the grain, and gave them to my 
 charge. We then loosened the boat, to let it float to a point 
 where we had an entrenched post, but at the moment it got into the 
 stream, we were surprised by the challenge of a guard, whom we 
 had not observed amongst the bulrushes which concealed him 
 At the report of his gun which accompanied his second call to ua 
 the next piquet flew to arms, and in a moment the bank wa\ 
 covered with soldiers who fired a shower of balls at the boat, 
 which we were compelled to quit. My comrades and I cast our- 
 selves on a sort of raft which we had, and the women did the 
 same; but the pilot, forgotten in the confusion, or stopping with 
 a hope of escape, was taken by the Austrians, who were not sparing 
 of their blows and kicks. This experiment had, besides, lost us 
 three men, and I had two finders broken by a musket ball. Del- 
 
32 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 phine loaded me with caresses. Her mother having set out foi 
 Ghent, where she knew her husband had been sent as prisoner of 
 war, we betook ourselves to Lille. I there passed my time of con- 
 valescence. As Delphine had a portion of the money found in the 
 grain, we led a very pleasant life. We talked of marriage, and 
 the affair was so far arranged that I started one morning for Arras, 
 whence I was to return with the license and my parents' consent. 
 Delphine had already procured that of her parents, who were still 
 at Ghent. A league from Lille, I remembered that I had forgotten 
 my hospital billet, which it was indispensably necessary to produce 
 before the municipality of Arras, and I returned for it. Arrived 
 at the hotel, I went to the room we occupied and knocked ; no 
 one answered. It was impossible that Delphine could be out so 
 early, it being scarcely six o'clock. I knocked again, and Delphine 
 opened the door, stretching her arms and rubbing her eyes like 
 some one who has been suddenly awakened. To prove her, I 
 proposed that she should go with me to Arras, that I might 
 present her to my parents, and she very tranquilly agreed. My 
 suspicions were disappearing, and yet something whispered to me 
 that she was deceiving me. I at length perceived that she fre- 
 quently glanced towards the wardrobe. I pretended a desire to 
 open it, which my chaste betrothed opposed, and gave me one of 
 those excuses which a woman always has ready. But I was deter- 
 mined ; and at length opened the closet, where I found concealed, 
 beneath a heap of dirty linen, the doctor who had attended me 
 during my convalescence. He was old, ugly, and misshapen. 
 The first feeling was the humiliation of having such a rival ; and 
 yet I should have been more enraged at finding a good-looking 
 fellow, but this I leave for the decision of the numerous lovers who 
 have been similarly circumstanced. As for me, I wished to begin 
 by knocking out the brains of the intriguing Esculapius, but 
 (which seldom happened to me) reflection restrained me. We 
 were in a town of war, where they might play me some trick about 
 my leave of absence. Besides, Delphine was not my wife ; I had no 
 right over her. I determined on kicking her out ; after which, I 
 threw her from the window her clothes, and money enough to take 
 her to Ghent. I allowed myself to retain the remainder of the 
 money, which I thought I had lawfully acquired, since I had 
 directed the splendid expedition which had rescued it from the 
 clutch of the Austrians. I forgot to say that I allowed the doctor 
 to return unmolested. 
 
 Having got rid of my faithless she, I determined on remaining 
 at Lille, until the time of my furlough should expire ; but it is as 
 easy to conceal one's self in tins city as at Paris, and my residence 
 
MARRIAGE. 33 
 
 would have been undisturbed but for an affair of gallantry of which 
 I shall spare the details. It will suffice to say, that being arrested 
 in female attire, at the moment I was flying from the rage of a 
 jealous husband, I was taken to the police office, where I at first 
 obstinately refused to give any account of myself; for in fact, by 
 speaking, I should either destroy the female who had been kind 
 to me, or announce myself as a deserter. Some hours' confine- 
 ment changed my resolution ; a superior officer, to whom I had 
 appealed to receive my declaration, and to whom I candidly stated 
 the facts, seemed to take some interest for me. The command- 
 ant-general of the division wished to hear from my own lips this 
 recital, which made him laugh to excess. He then gave orders 
 that I should be set at liberty ; and caused a line forthwith to be 
 given to me to rejoin the 28th battalion at Brabant ; but instead of 
 following this destination, I went to Arras, determined only to 
 enter the service again at the last extremity. 
 
 My first visit was to the patriot Chevalier. His influence with 
 Joseph Lebon made me hope that I should obtain through his 
 interest an extension of leave, which he procured for me, and I 
 was again introduced to the family of my benefactor. His sister, 
 whose kind intentions towards me are already known, redoubled 
 her kindness ; and, on the other hand, the habit of seeing her 
 daily familiarized me with her ugliness ; in short, matters came 
 to such a point that I was not at all surprised to hear one day that 
 she was pregnant She made no mention of marriage, not even 
 pronouncing the word ; but I saw but too clearly, that to this com- 
 plexion it must come at last, lest I should incur the vengeance of 
 her brother, who would not have hesitated to denounce me as an 
 aristocrat, and, moreover, a deserter. My parents, struck with all 
 these considerations, and conceiving the hope of keeping me near 
 them, gave their consent to the marriage, which the Chevalier 
 family were very anxious about. It was at last settled, and I 
 became a husband at eighteen years of age. I thought myself also 
 almost a father of a family, but scarcely had a few days elapsed, 
 when my wife confessed th'at her pretended pregnancy was the 
 result of a plan to induce me to marry her. The excessive satis- 
 faction which such an avowal gave me, may be conceived; but the 
 same motives which had decided me on contracting the alliance 
 compelled me to be silent ; and I determined to keep my own 
 counsel, enraged as I was. A mercer's shop which my wife had 
 opened, turned out very badly ; I thought that I found the cause 
 of it in the repeated absence of my wife, who was all day at her 
 brother's. I made my observations ; and received orders to rejoin 
 my regiment at Tournay. I might have complained of this expe- 
 
34 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 ditious mode of getting rid of a troublesome husband ; but I was 
 so much tired of the joke of Chevalier, that I resumed with joy my 
 uniform, which I had cast off with so much pleasure. 
 
 At Tournay, a veteran officer of the Bourbon regiment, then 
 adjutant-general, attached me to his office as a deputy, and 
 particularly in the serving out of clothing. Business soon de- 
 manded that a man of trust should be despatched to Arras. 
 I set out post, and arrived in the city at eleven o'clock at night 
 As I was charged with orders, the gates were opened to me, and 
 by an impulse, for which I cannot account, I was induced to run 
 to my wife's abode. I knocked for a long time and no one 
 answered. A neighbour at length opened the door, and I ran up 
 stairs with all speed to my wife's chamber. On approaching, I 
 heard the clank of a falling sabre, then a window opened, and a 
 man leaped out into the street. It is needless to say that they 
 recognised my voice. I went downstairs with great haste, and 
 soon overtook my Lovelace, in whom I recognised an adjutant- 
 major of the iyth Horse Chasseurs, quartered at Arras. He was 
 half-naked; I led him back to my conjugal domicile, when he 
 finished his toilette, and we then separated, on agreeing to fight 
 the next day. 
 
 This scene had roused the whole neighbourhood. The greater 
 part of the people assembled at their windows had seen me seize 
 on the guilty adjutant, who had been found guilty of the fact in 
 their presence. I had no lack of witnesses to prove and obtain 
 the divorce, and that was what I intended to do ; but the family 
 of my chaste wife, who were desirous of keeping a protector for 
 her, exerted themselves to check my measures, or at least para- 
 lyze them. The next day, before I could meet the adjutant-major, 
 I was arrested by the police and by gendarmes, who spoke of 
 placing me in the Baudets. Fortunately for me, I plucked up 
 courage, as I saw that there was nothing discouraging in my situa- 
 tion : I demanded to be carried before Joseph Lebon, which could 
 not be denied me. I appeared before the representative of the 
 people, whom I found surrounded by an enormous pile of letters 
 and papers : ' What, is it you,' said he to me, ' who come here with- 
 out permission and for maltreating your wife, too ?' I saw what 
 course I should pursue, I produced my orders, I called for the 
 testimony of my neighbours against my wife, and that of the 
 adjutant-major himself, who could not gainsay the facts. Indeed, 
 I so clearly explained the affair, that Joseph Lebon was forced 
 to confess that the wrongs were not of my committing ; but out of 
 regard, however, to his friend Chevalier, he made me promise not 
 to remain long at Arras ; and as I feared the wind might veer 
 
BRUSSELS. 35 
 
 against me, as I had seen it with many others, I undertook to 
 comply with his request as promptly as possible. Having com- 
 pleted my mission, I bade farewell to all my friends, and the next 
 morning found me on the road to Tournay. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Brussels A forger The roving army The baroness and the baker-boy 
 Arrival at Paris. 
 
 I DID not find the adjutant-general at Tournay ; he had set out for 
 Brussels, and I set out on the following day by the diligence to 
 join him there. At the first glance, I recognised amongst the 
 travellers those individuals whom I had known at Lille, as 
 passing the whole day at the public-houses, and living in a very 
 suspicious manner. To my great astonishment, I found them 
 clothed in uniforms of different regiments, one having the epau- 
 lettes of lieutenant-colonel, the others those of captain or lieutenant. 
 How can they have got them, thought I, for they have never seen 
 service ? I was lost in conjecture. On their side, they appeared 
 at first much confused at the rencontre ; but soon recovering, they 
 testified a mutual surprise at finding me only a plain soldier. 
 When I had explained to them how the regulation of the battalion 
 had deprived me of my rank, the lieutenant-colonel promised me 
 his protection, which I accepted, although scarcely knowing what 
 to think of my protector. I saw clearly, however, that he had 
 plenty of money, and paid for all at the table d'hote, where he 
 testified a violent republican feeling, at the same time affecting to 
 have sprung from an ancient family. 
 
 I was not more fortunate at Brussels than at Tournay ; the 
 adjutant-general, who seemed to fly from me, had gone to Liege, 
 for which place I set out, relying on not taking a useless journey 
 this time ; but on arriving, I learnt that my man had taken the 
 road to Paris on the previous evening, having been summoned to 
 appear at the bar of the Convention. His absence would not be 
 longer than a fortnight. I waited, but no one arrived. Another 
 month passed, and still no adjutant. My cash was sensibly di- 
 minishing, and I resolved on returning to Brussels, where I hoped 
 to find some means of extricating myself from my embarrassment. 
 To speak with that candour on which I pique myself in giving this 
 history of my life, I must confess that I had begun not to be over 
 scrupulous in my choice of these means ; my education had not 
 
 32 
 
36 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 made me a very precise man in such matters, and the injurious 
 society of a garrison, which I had been used to from my child- 
 hood, had corrupted a naturally honourable mind. 
 
 It was, then, without doing much violence to my delicacy, that I 
 saw myself installed, at Brussels, with a gay lady of my acquaint- 
 ance, who, after having been patronized by General Van-der-Nott, 
 had fallen a little lower into public society. Idle, as are all who 
 have but a precarious mode of existence, I passed whole days 
 and nights at the Cafe Turc, or the Caf de la Monnaie, the 
 rendezvous of knights of the post, and professed gamblers. These 
 fellows spent liberally, and played the devil's games ; and as they 
 had no ostensible means of living, I could not divine how they 
 managed to carry on the war. A young fellow with whom I had 
 associated myself, and whom I questioned on this subject, appeared 
 struck at my inexperience, and I had the greatest difficulty in per- 
 suading him that I was really a novice. ' The men whom you see 
 there every day, and all day,' said he, ' are sharpers ; those who 
 only come once, and do not appear again, are dupes, who lose 
 their money.' 
 
 Thus instructed, I made many remarks, which till then had 
 escaped me ; I saw tricks of sleight of hand almost incredible ; and 
 what proved that there was still something good within me, I was 
 often tempted to tell the pigeon whom they plucked. What hap- 
 pened to me will prove that my intentions were guessed. 
 
 A party was one evening engaged at the Cafe Turc ; the dupe 
 (le gonse) lost fifty louis, and, demanding his revenge on the next 
 day, went away. Scarcely had he gone out, when the winner, 
 whom I now see daily in the streets of Paris, approached me, and 
 laid with an air of simplicity, ' On my word, sir, we have played 
 with luck, and you were right to bet on me ; I have won ten games, 
 which, at four crowns a game, will make your share ten louis 
 here they are.' I told him that he was mistaken, and that I had 
 not interested myself in his play ; he made me no answer, but put 
 the ten louis in my hand. ' Take it,' said the young man who had 
 initiated me into these mysteries, and who was sitting next to me, 
 'take it and follow me.' I obeyed mechanically, and when we 
 reached the street, my mentor added, * They have discovered that 
 you watch the games, and fear lest you should blow the concern ; 
 and as there are no means of intimidating you, because they know 
 that you have a strong arm and a mischievous hand, they have 
 resolved on giving you a slice of the cake, so you have a good 
 means of existence before you : the two coffee-houses will be milch- 
 cows to you, whence you may draw your four or six crowns a day.' 
 In spite of the accommodating propensity of my conscience, I 
 
A NEW SOURCE OF INCOME. 37 
 
 was desirous of replying and making some observations ' You are 
 a child/ said my honourable friend ; ' we do not talk of robbery 
 here it is fortune only ; and believe me, matters pass in the 
 drawing-room as they do at the tavern there they bubble, that is 
 the word ; and the merchant, who in the morning whilst at his 
 desk would think it a crime to rob you of an hour's interest, would 
 very quietly cheat you at the gaming-table in the evening.' How 
 could I answer such unanswerable arguments ? I had nothing to 
 reply but to keep the money, which I did. 
 
 These small dividends, joined to a remittance of a hundred 
 crowns from my mother, enabled me to dash a little, and to show 
 my gratitude to Emily, whose devotion to me I was not insensible 
 of. Matters were in this agreeable train when I was one evening 
 arrested at the Theatre du Pare, by several police-officers, and 
 desired to produce my papers. This would have been a dangerous 
 exhibition, and I said that I had none. They conducted me to 
 the Madelonettes ; and the next morning, at my examination, I 
 found that I was unknown, and they had mistaken me for another 
 person. I said that my name was Rousseau, born at Lille, and 
 added, that I had come to Brussels on pleasure, and had not 
 thought it expedient to provide myself with papers. I then asked 
 to be conducted to Lille, at my own expense, by two gendarmes, 
 which was granted, and for a few crowns my escort agreed that 
 poor Emily should accompany me. 
 
 Having left Brussels, I was so far safe ; but it was still more 
 important that I should not reach Lille, where I should be cer- 
 tainly recognised as a deserter. Escape must be made at all risks, 
 and this was Emily's opinion wjien I communicated my intention 
 to her, and we executed our preconcerted plan on reaching 
 Tournay. I told the gendarmes that before they left me at Lille 
 the next day, where I should be at once set at liberty, I wished to 
 treat them with a good supper. Already taken with my liberality 
 and mirth, they accepted the invitation with much willingness, and 
 in the evening, whilst they were sleeping on the table, stupefied 
 with rum and beer, thinking me in the same condition, I descended 
 by the sheets from the second-floor window. Emily followed, and 
 we struck into the cross-roads, where they would not think of pur- 
 suing us. We thus reached the suburbs of Notre-Dame at Lille, 
 when I dressed myself in the cloak of the horse-chasseurs, taking 
 the precaution to put a black patch on my left eye, which made it 
 impossible to recognise me. But I did not judge it prudent to 
 remain long in a city so near my birthplace, and we started for 
 Ghent. There, by a rather romantic incident, Emily found her 
 father, which determined her to return to her family. It is true 
 
38 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 that she would not consent to part from me, but with an express 
 stipulation that I should rejoin her as soon as matters which 1 
 said called me to Brussels should be arranged. 
 
 My business at Brussels was to begin again to levy rates on the Cafe 
 Turc and the Cafe de la Monnaie. But to present myself at this 
 city, I wanted papers which should prove that I was really 
 Rousseau, born at Lille, as I had said at my examination before I 
 made my escape. A captain of Belgian carabineers in the French 
 service, named Labbre, undertook for fifteen louis to supply me 
 with the necessary credentials. At the end of three weeks he 
 brought me a copy of my register of birth, a passport, and a cer- 
 tificate of half-pay in the name of Rousseau, all done better than 
 I ever saw them executed by any other forger. Thus protected, I 
 went to Brussels ; the commandant of the place, an old comrade 
 of Labbre's, undertook to make all right. 
 
 Quieted in this particular, I hastened to the Cafe Turc. The 
 first persons whom I saw in the room were the pretended officers 
 with whom I had travelled. They received me with acclamation ; 
 and judging from the recital of my adventures that my situation 
 was not over splendid, proposed that I should take the rank of 
 sub-lieutenant of horse-chasseurs, doubtless because they saw the 
 cloak I wore. So advantageous a promotion was not to be re- 
 fused ; and it was then conferred on me: and when I said 
 Rousseau was only an assumed name, the worthy lieutenant- 
 colonel told me to take any one which I preferred. It was im- 
 possible to be more obliging. I resolved on keeping the name of 
 Rousseau, on which they gave me, not a brevet, but a line of route 
 for a sub-lieutenant of the 6th chasseurs, travelling with his horse, 
 and being entitled to lodgings and rations. 
 
 I thus found myself incorporated with the roving army (arm'ee 
 roulante) composed of officers without brevet, and without troops, 
 and who, furnished with false certificates and false lines of march, 
 imposed the more easily on the commissaries at war, as there was 
 less method at this period in the military arrangements. It is certain 
 that, during a tour which we made through the Netherlands, we got 
 all our allowances without the least demur. Yet the roving army was 
 not then composed of less than two thousand adventurers, who 
 lived like fishes in water. What is still more curious is, that they 
 promoted themselves as rapidly as circumstances would allow; an 
 advancement was the more profitable, as increase of rank brought 
 increase of allowances. I passed in this manner to be captain of 
 hussars ; one of my comrades became chief of a battalion ; but 
 what most astonished me was the promotion of Auffray, our 
 lieutenant-colonel, to the rank of brigadier-general. It is true 
 
THE BELGIAN BARONESS. 39 
 
 that if the importance of the rank and the notoriety of a promotion 
 of this kind rendered it more difficult to keep up the deception, 
 yet the very audacity of such a step bade defiance to suspicion. 
 Returned to Brussels, we showed our billets, and I was sent to 
 
 a rich widow, the Baroness d'l . I was received in the manner 
 
 in which all Frenchmen were welcomed at Brussels at this period 
 that is, with open arms. A very handsome bedchamber was 
 placed at my sole disposal, and my hostess, delighted at my re- 
 served conduct, assured me in the most gracious manner, that if 
 her hours suited me, a place at her table would always be prepared 
 for me. It was impossible to resist, such pressing politeness, and 
 I was profuse in my thanks, and I cook my seat at her board the 
 same day with three other guests, who were ladies, older than the 
 baroness, who was about fifty. They were all charmed with the 
 prepossessing manners of the captain of hussars. At Paris I should 
 have felt somewhat awkward in such society, but I did very well at 
 Brussels for a young man whose premature introduction to the 
 world had necessarily injured his education. The baroness doubt- 
 lessly made some such reflections, for she paid me such little 
 attention as gave me much food for thought. 
 
 As I was sometimes absent to dine with the general, whose in- 
 vitations I told her it was impossible to refuse, she desired me to 
 present him and my other friends to her. At first I was not over 
 desirous of introducing my associates to the society of this lady, 
 who saw much company, and might have guests at her house who 
 might guess our little speculations. But the baroness insisted on 
 it, and I consented, at the same time stipulating that the general 
 should only meet a small party, as he was desirous of keeping up 
 a sort of incognito. He came ; and the baroness, who received 
 him with marked attention, seated him near her and talked to him 
 for so long a time in an undertone that I was rather piqued. To 
 disturb this tcte-a-tcte, I imagined that it would be a good plan to 
 ask the general to sing us something, and accompany himself on 
 the piano. I knew that he could not make out a note, but I relied 
 that the usual persuasions which guests make on such occasions 
 would at least occupy his attention for some minutes. My stratagem 
 only half succeeded ; the lieutenant-colonel, who was of the party, 
 seeing that the general was so much pressed, kindly offered himself 
 as a substitute, and accordingly seated himself at the piano, and 
 sung some little ditties with sufficient taste to procure him universal 
 approbation, whilst I all the time wished him at the devil. 
 
 At last this interminable evening concluded, and each person 
 withdrew, I raging with anger and plotting revenge against the rival 
 who I imagined was about to carry off from me, I will not say the 
 
40 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 love, but the kind attentions of the baroness. Full of this idea, I 
 went to my general at his rising, who was much surprised to see 
 me so early. ' Do you know/ said he, without giving me time to 
 break in upon his conversation, ' do you know, my friend, that the 
 
 baroness is ' ' Who spoke of the baroness ?' interrupted I 
 
 abruptly, * it is no matter what she is or what she is not.' * So 
 much the worse,' he replied, ' if you are not speaking of her, I 
 have nothing to understand.' And, continuing thus to puzzle me 
 for some time, he ended by telling me that his conversation with 
 the baroness was concerning me only, and that he had so far 
 pushed my interest, that he believed that she was quite disposed 
 to to marry me. 
 
 I at first thought that my poor comrade's head was turned. 
 That one of the richest women of rank in the United Provinces 
 would marry an adventurer, of whose family, fortune, and ancestors 
 she knew nothing, was an idea that would have staggered the most 
 credulous. Ought I, moreover, to engage in a deceit which must 
 be discovered, sooner or later, and must ruin me ? Besides, was 
 I not really and actually married at Arras ? These objections, and 
 many others, which the remorse I must experience at deceiving 
 the excellent woman who had treated me so kindly excited in my 
 mind, did not for an instant stop my comrade, who thus answered 
 them : 
 
 * All you say is very fine, and I am quite of your opinion ; and 
 to follow my natural bias for virtuous behaviour, I only want 
 ;i 0,000 a-year. But I see no reason for being scrupulous in 
 your case. What does the baroness want ? A husband, and a 
 husband to her liking. Are you not that husband ? Are you not 
 determined to pay her every attention, and to treat her as a person 
 who is necessary to you, and of whom you have had no cause to 
 complain? You talk of the inequality of your fortunes the 
 baroness thinks not of that. You only want, to complete the 
 matter, one single thing a title of rank, which I will give you 
 yes, I will give it to you ! Why do you stare so ? Listen, and do 
 not interrupt me. You must be acquainted with some young 
 nobleman of your own age and country ; you are he, and your 
 parents have emigrated and are now at Hamburgh. You entered 
 France to endeavour to recover a third of the value of your 
 paternal property, and to carry off the plate and a thousand double- 
 louis concealed beneath the flooring of the drawing-room at the 
 breaking out of the revolution : the presence of some strangers, 
 the haste of departure, which an arrest issued against your father 
 would not allow you to delay, has prevented you from getting this 
 treasure. Arrived in this country, disguised as a journeyman 
 
THE COUNT DE B . 41 
 
 tanner, you were denounced by the very person who had pledged 
 himself to aid your enterprise; outlawed by the sentence of 
 the republican authorities, you were nearly losing your head on 
 the scaffold, when I fell in with you, half dead from inquietude 
 and necessity. An old friend of the family, I procured for you the 
 brevet of an officer of hussars under the name of Rousseau, until 
 an opportunity should offer of rejoining your noble parents at 
 Hamburgh. The baroness already knows all this ; yes, all, except 
 your name, which, for appearances' sake, I did not tell her , but in 
 fact, because I did not know what appellation you might choose 
 to assume. That is a confidence which I left for yourself to 
 communicate. Thus the affair is quite settled, and you are a 
 gentleman, nothing jean be said against that. Say nothing to me 
 of your jade of a wife; you were divorced at Arras under the name 
 of Vidocq, and you are married at Brussels under the name of 
 
 Count B . Now listen to me So far, our business has gone 
 
 on well, but that may be entirely marred at any moment. We 
 have already met with some very inquisitive commissaries, and we 
 may find others still less civil, who may cut off our supplies and 
 send us to the fleet at Toulon. You understand me, I know. The 
 best that can happen to you will be to take up your knapsack and 
 accoutrements in your old regiment, or else be shot for a deserter ; 
 but by marrying, you acquire the means of a splendid life, and will 
 be enabled to assist your friends. Since we have come to this point, 
 let us understand each other ; your wife has a hundred thousand 
 florins a-year ; there are three of us, and you shall give us each a 
 pension of a thousand crowns, payable in advance, and I shall 
 expect besides a premium of thirty thousand francs for having 
 made a count of a baker's son.' 
 
 I was quite stupefied ; but this harangue, in which the general 
 had so skilfully stated all the difficulties of my situation, overcame 
 all my opposition, which, to say the truth, was not very obstinate. I 
 agreed to everything, and then returned to the baroness. The 
 
 Count de B fell at her feet ; and the scene was so well played, 
 
 and, though it may be scarcely believed, I entered so completely 
 into the spirit of my part, that I even for a moment surprised 
 myself which I am told sometimes happens to impostors. The 
 baroness was charmed at the sallies and sentiment with which my 
 situation inspired me. The general was rejoiced with my success, 
 as was every other person. Several expressions escaped me which 
 savoured a little of the canteen, but the general had told the 
 baroness that political events had caused my education to be 
 strangely neglected, and this explanation was satisfactory to her. 
 Subsequently, Marshal Suchet was no less easily satisfied, when 
 
42 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Coignard, addressing him as ( M. le dfo^#<?d'Albufera,'excused himself 
 by the plea, that having emigrated when very young, he could conse- 
 quently have but a very imperfect knowledge of the French language. 
 
 We sat down to table and dined in high spirits. After the 
 dessert the baroness whispered me thus : * I know, my dear sir, 
 that your fortune is in the hands of the Jacobins, and your parents 
 at Hamburgh may be in some difficulty ; oblige me by remitting 
 to them a bill for three thousand florins, which my banker will 
 send you to-morrow morning.' I was about to express my thanks, 
 when she rose from the table and went into the drawing-room. I 
 took the opportunity of telling the general what had just occurred. 
 ' Well, simpleton/ said he, * do you think you are telling me any 
 news ? Was it not I who hinted to the baroness that your parents 
 must be in want of money. We are at this moment your parents 
 our funds are low; and to run any risk in procuring more, would 
 be to hazard too foolishly the success of this adventure ; I will 
 undertake to negotiate the bill. At the same time I suggested 
 to the baroness that a supply of cash was needed for you to make 
 some figure before your marriage, and it is understood that from 
 now until the consummation of the marriage you shall have five 
 hundred florins a month.' I found the next day this sum on my 
 dressing-table, where also was placed a handsome dressing-case and 
 some trinkets. 
 
 Yet the register of my birth, as Count de B , whose name I 
 
 had assumed, and which the general wished to procure, thinking 
 that the other credentials might be forged, did not arrive ; but the 
 baroness, whose blindness must appear inconceivable, to those who 
 are not in a situation to know to what an extent credulity can go, 
 and the audacity of some rogues, consented to marry me under 
 the name of Rousseau. I had all the necessary papers to justify 
 my claim to that. Nothing was wanting but my father's consent ; 
 that was easily procured through the instrumentality of Labbre, 
 whom we had under our thumb ; but although the baroness had 
 consented to marrying me under a name which she knew was not 
 my own, yet she felt some repugnance at being as it were an 
 accomplice in a falsehood, for which the only excuse was, that it 
 saved my head from the block. Whilst we were planning means 
 for avoiding this, we learnt the number of the armee roulante had 
 become so considerable, that the eyes of the Government were 
 opened, and that the most severe orders had been issued to check 
 the abuse. We divested ourselves of uniforms, believing that we 
 should have nothing to fear, but the inquiries were so active that 
 the general was compelled to set out suddenly for Namur, where 
 he thought he should be less liable to detection, I explained his 
 
A REVELATION. 43 
 
 abrupt departure to the baroness, by attributing it to the general's 
 having been in fear of a reprimand for having procured me a com- 
 mission under an assumed name. This circumstance made her 
 very uneasy for me, and I could only calm her fears by setting out 
 for Breda, to which place* she would accompany me. 
 
 I am not very well calculated to play the sentimental, and it 
 would compromise the tact and finesse, for which I have some 
 credit, if I made a parade and fuss, but I may be believed when 1 
 say so much attachment affected me. The whispers of remorse, 
 to which we cannot be always deaf at nineteen, were heard ; I saw 
 the abyss into which I was leading an admirable woman who had 
 been so generous towards me ; I pictured her as driving from her 
 with horror the deserter, the vagabond, the bigamist, the forger ; 
 and this idea determined me to tell her all. Away from those 
 who had drawn me into this imposture, and who had just been 
 arrested at Namur, I decided on the measures I would adopt ; and 
 one evening, after supper, I determined on breaking the ice. 
 Without detailing my adventures, I told the baroness, that circum- 
 stances which I could not explain compelled me to appear at 
 Brussels under the two names by which she knew me, but that 
 neither was the real one. I added, that events forced me to quit 
 the Netherlands without the power of contracting a union 
 which would have ensured my happiness, but that I should for 
 ever preserve the recollection of the kindness which she had so 
 generously evinced for me. 
 
 I spoke long and with an emotion which increased my utterance 
 and warmth of manner and I am now astonished at the facility 
 of my own eloquence when I think of it but I feared to hear the 
 reply of the bareness* Motionless, pale, and with a glazed eye, 
 she heard me without interruption ; then looking at me with a 
 glance of horror, she arose abruptly and ran to shut herself up in 
 her room. I never saw her again Enlightened by my confession, 
 and by some words which without doubt fell from me in the em- 
 barrassment of the moment, she saw the dangers from which she 
 had escaped, and unjustly suspected me perhaps of being more 
 culpable than I was ; she might think that she had escaped from 
 some vile criminal, whose hands might have been embrued in 
 blood ! On the other hand, if this complication of disguises might 
 render her more apprehensive, the spontaneous avowal that I had 
 made was sufficient to have quelled her fears ; and this idea pro- 
 bably took hold of her, for the next day when I arose, the landlord 
 gave me a casket, containing fifteen thousand francs in gold, which 
 the baroness had left for me before her departure, at one o'clock 
 in the morning, which I was glad to hear of, as her presence 
 
44 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 would have troubled me. Nothing now detaining me at Breda, I 
 packed my trunks, and some hours afterwards set out for Am- 
 sterdam. 
 
 I have already said, and now repeat, that certain portions of 
 this adventure may appear unnatural, and some may call them 
 altogether false, but nothing is more true. The initials I have 
 given will suffice to explain it to any person who knew Brussels 
 thirty years ago. Besides, there is nothing uncommon in the 
 affair, nothing more than is read of in the commonest romance. 
 If I have entered into minute details, it is not to ensure a melo- 
 dramatic effect, but with the intention of putting. too credulous per- 
 sons on their guard against a species of deception more frequently 
 employed, and with more success, than may be generally thought, 
 in all classes of society , and such is the aim of these Memoirs. 
 Let them be reflected on in every particular, and who knows but 
 some fine morning the duties of attorney-general, judge, gendarme, 
 and agent of police, may be discovered to have become sinecures. 
 
 My stay at Amsterdam was very short Having converted into 
 cash two bills of those left me by the baroness, I set out, and on 
 the 2nd of March, 1796, made my entrance into the capital, 
 where at a future day my name was destined to make some noise. 
 I put up at the Hotel du Gaillard-Bois in Rue de 1'Echelle, and 
 first employed myself in changing my ducats into French money, 
 and in selling a quantity of small jewellery and trinkets, now super- 
 fluous to me, as I resolved on establishing myself in some village 
 in the environs, and entering into some business ; but this project 
 was not to be realized. One evening, one of those persons who 
 are always to be found in hotels seeking acquaintance with travel- 
 lers, proposed to present me at a house where there was a party. 
 I unfortunately consented, confiding in my experience of the Cafe 
 Turc and Cafe de la Monnaie ; but I soon found that gamblers of 
 Brussels were but bunglers in comparison with these gentlemen, of 
 whose society I now formed one. Now the games of chance are better 
 managed and more equal ; but at this time, the police tolerating those 
 places, called etouffoirs, they were not contented with slipping a card 
 or managing the suits as they liked sometimes at M. Lafitte's, 
 
 Messrs, de S , jun., and A. de la Rock's the knowing ones 
 
 had conventional signs so combined that they must succeed. Two 
 sittings cleared me of a hundred louis : I had enough to spare still, 
 but it was decreed that the money of the baroness should soon 
 leave my company. The destined agent of its dissipation was a 
 very pretty woman, whom I met at a table d'hote which I sometimes 
 frequented. Rosine, for that was her name, at first showed an 
 exemplary disinterestedness. A month afterwards I was her 
 
ROSTNE. 45 
 
 acknowledged lover, without having spent anything but for dinners, 
 theatres, coach-hire, gowns, ribands, flowers, etc., all which things 
 cost nothing at Paris, when we do not pay for them. 
 
 More and more enamoured of Rosine, I never left her. One 
 morning, whilst at breakfast, I found her thoughtful ; I pressed 
 her with inquiries, which she resisted, and finished by avow- 
 ing to me that she was troubled about a little trifle due to her 
 milliner and upholsterer. I offered my services instantly, which 
 were refused with remarkable magnanimity, and I could not even 
 learn the names of her two creditors. Many very excellent people 
 would have left the matter here, but, like a true knight, I had not 
 a moment's rest until Divine, the waiting-maid, had given me the 
 desired addresses. From the Rue Vivienne, where Rosine lived, 
 who was called Madame de Saint Michel, I ran to the upholsterer, 
 in the Rue de Clery. I told him the purpose of my visit, and he 
 immediately overwhelmed me with politeness, as is usually the 
 case under such circumstances. He handed me the bill, which 
 to my consternation, amounted to twelve hundred francs ; but I 
 was too far gone to recede now. At the milliner's the same scene 
 took place, with an additional hundred francs ; it was sufficient to 
 have intimidated the boldest, and yet matters had not reached 
 their climax. Some days after I had paid the creditors, they 
 brought me jewels to purchase, to the amount of two thousand 
 francs, and other similar expenses perpetually occurred. I saw my 
 money fly away in this way, but fearing that it would not be so 
 easily replenished, I parted with it less freely from day to day. 
 However, I went on, and found that at the end of two months I 
 had spent the moderate sum of fourteen thousand francs. This 
 discovery made me serious, and Rosine immediately perceived it. 
 She guessed that my finances were getting low. Women have 
 great tact in this respect, and are but rarely deceived ; and without 
 being exactly cold towards me, she yet showed a kind of reserve, 
 and on my manifesting astonishment, she answered me with sin- 
 gular abruptness, 'that private matters put her out of temper.' 
 That was a trick, but I had been too deeply a sufferer already by 
 my interference in these private matters to proffer again to arrange 
 them, and I advised her with an air of coolness to have patience. 
 She became only more contemptuous, passed some days in pout- 
 ing, and then the storm burst. 
 
 At the conclusion of some trifling discussion, she said with a 
 very flippant tone ( that she did not choose to be crossed, and 
 that those who could not put up with her ways had better remain 
 at home.' That was plain speaking ; but I was weak enough to 
 appear not to understand her. New presents brought back a tern- 
 
46 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 porary renewal of kindness, which, however, could no longer in> 
 pose upon me. Then, knowing all that she could get from my 
 blind infatuation, Rosine soon returned to the charge for cash for 
 a letter of credit for two thousand francs, which she had to pay or 
 else go to prison. Rosine in prison ! The idea was insupportable, 
 and I was about to discharge the debt at once, when chance 
 placed in my way a letter which opened my eyes. 
 
 It was from the platonic friend of Rosine, who was staying at 
 Versailles, and this interesting personage asked ' when the pigeon 
 would be quite plucked,' that he might make his appearance. I 
 intercepted this agreeable missive in the hands of Rosine's porter. 
 I went to the perfidious woman, but she was absent : and enraged 
 and humiliated at the same time, I could not restrain myself. I 
 was in the bedroom, and at one kick I overthrew a stand covered 
 with china, and a cheval glass was shivered to atoms. Divine, 
 the waiting-maid who had followed me, went down on her knees 
 and begged me to pause from what would cost me so dear : I 
 looked at her and hesitated, and a remnant of common sense 
 induced me to think that she was right. I questioned her and 
 the poor girl, who had always been gentle and attentive, told me 
 all about her mistress. It is the more in place to mention her 
 statement, as the same things occur daily at Paris. 
 
 When Rosine met me she had not had anybody for two months : 
 and thinking me fair game, from the expensive way I got rid of 
 my money, conceived the plan of profiting by it \ and her lover, 
 whose letter I had intercepted, had consented, and went to Ver- 
 sailles to stay until my money should be exhausted. It was in the 
 name of this lover that the proceedings had been carried on for 
 the bill of exchange which I had formerly taken up, and the debts 
 of the milliner and upholsterer were equally false. 
 
 Although cursing my egregious folly, I was yet astonished not 
 to see the honourable lady, who had so well tricked me, return. 
 Divine told me that most probably the poiter had told her that I 
 had got the letter, and that she would not very speedily appear. 
 This conjecture was well founded. On learning the catastrophe 
 which had prevented her from plucking the last feather from my wing, 
 Rosine had set out in a hackney-coach for Versailles to rejoin her 
 friend. The finery which she had left in her furnished apart- 
 ments was not sufficient to pay for the two months' lodging due 
 to the landlord, who, when I was going out, compelled me to pay 
 for the china and cheval glass which I had broken in my first 
 transports of anger. 
 
 Such violent inroads had dreadfully reduced my finances. 
 Fourteen hundred francs alone remained of the ducats of the 
 
1HE TRA VELLING DOCTOR. 47 
 
 baroness ! I left the capital with horror, as it had been so unpro- 
 pitious to me, and resolved to regain Lille, where, knowing the 
 localities, I might at least find resources which I should in vain 
 seek for at Paris. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Gypsies A Flemish fair Return to Lille The Bull's eye Sentence of 
 punishment St. Peter's tower A forgery. 
 
 LILLE, as a fortified and frontier town, offered great advantages to 
 all who, like myself, were likely to find there useful acquaintances, 
 either amongst the military of the garrison, or that class of persons 
 who, with one foot in France and the other in Belgium, have really 
 no home in either ; and I relied a little on this for recovering 
 myself, and my hope was not groundless. In the i3th chasseurs 
 I met several officers of the south, and amongst the rest a lieu- 
 tenant named Villedieu, whom we shall presently hear more of. 
 All these persons had only known me in the regiment under one 
 of those noms de guerre which it was the custom at this time to 
 assume, and were therefore not astonished at seeing me bear the 
 name of Rousseau. I spent the day with them at the cafe or 
 fencing-rooms, but this was not lucrative, and I actually began to 
 be in want of money. At this juncture a visitor of the cafe, 
 whom they called Rentier, from his regular life, and who had 
 made me many compliments, of which he was very prodigal to 
 all the world, inquired with some interest into my affairs, and 
 asked me to travel with him. 
 
 To travel was all very well ; but in what quality ? I was no 
 longer of an age to engage myself as Merry Andrew or valet-de- 
 chambre of monkeys and bears, and nobody would doubtless make 
 me such a proposition : but yet it was necessary to know in what 
 capacity. I asked my new protector very modestly what duties I 
 had to perform in his service. * I am an itinerant doctor,' said 
 this man, whose bushy eyebrows and sunburnt skin gave him a singu- 
 lar physiognomy : * I cure secret diseases with an infallible recipe. I 
 cure animals, and lately restored the horses of a squadron of the 
 1 3th chasseurs, whom the veterinary surgeon had given over.' 
 4 Well,' said I to myself, * once more a doctor.' But there was no 
 receding : we agreed to start next morning, and to meet at five in 
 the morning at the gate leading to the Paris road. 
 
 I was punctual at the rendezvous, and my friend, who was 
 equally punctual, seeing my trunk strapped at the back of a lad, 
 gaid that it would be useless to take it, as we should be only three 
 
48 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 days away, and must go on foot At this observation I sent my 
 goods back to the inn, and we walked on at a brisk rate, having, 
 as my guide said, to make five leagues before mid-day. About this 
 time we reached a solitary farmhouse, where he was received with 
 open arms and saluted by the name of Caron, which was strange 
 to me, who had always heard him called Christian. After a few 
 words the master of the house went into his chamber and returned 
 with two or three bags of crowns, which he spread on the table. 
 My friend took them, and examining them singly with an attention 
 which appeared to me affected, put aside one hundred and fifty, 
 and counted out a like sum for the farmer in different money, with 
 a premium of six crowns : I understood nothing of this operation, 
 which was carried on in a Flemish dialect, of which I understood 
 but very little. I was then much astonished when on leaving the 
 farm, where Christian had said he would soon return, he gave me 
 three crowns, saying that I ought to have a share of the profits. I 
 could not learn what the profits were, and said so. ' That is my ' 
 secret,' said he, with a mysterious air ; ' you shall know it at a 
 future time, if I am satisfied with you.' I told him that he might 
 rely on my discretion, since I knew nothing, only that he had 
 changed crowns for another coin. He told me this was the only 
 point on which I ought to be silent, to avoid difficulties, and I, 
 therefore took the money without knowing what was to result from 
 all this. 
 
 For four days we made similar excursions to various farms, and 
 every evening I touched two or three crowns. Christian, whom 
 they all called Caron, was well known in this part of Brabant, but 
 only as a doctor ; for, although he everywhere carried on his 
 change of moneys, the conversation was always about healing man 
 or beast. I found besides that he had a reputation for removing 
 the charms cast on animals. A proposal which he made me as we 
 entered the village of Wervique, initiated me into this species of 
 magic : ' May I rely on you ?' said he to me, stopping suddenly. 
 'Certainly,' said I; 'but for what and how?' 'Listen, and 
 learn.' 
 
 He took from a sort of game-bag four square packets made up 
 like those of chemists, and apparently containing some specifics ; 
 he then said, ' You see those four farms, situated at some distance 
 from each other : you can enter them the back way, taking care 
 that no one sees you ; get into the stable, and throw into the 
 manger the powder of one of these packets. Take great care that 
 you are not discovered I will take care of the rest.' I objected 
 to this, as I might be surprised at the moment I was climbing the 
 gate, and they would seize me, and perhaps put some awkward 
 
THE GIPSY. 49 
 
 questions. I refused point-blank, in spite of the perspective of the 
 crowns, and all Christian's eloquence failed in persuading me. I 
 even said that I would quit him at once, unless he would disclose 
 to me his real condition and the mystery of his exchange of money, 
 which seemed to me extremely suspicious. This declaration seemed 
 to embarrass him, and, as we may learn, he endeavoured to draw 
 me off the scent, in making me a half-confidant. 
 
 * My country ?' said he, answering my latter question, ' I have 
 none. My mother, who was hanged last year at Temeswar, be- 
 longed to a gang of gipsies (Bohemiens) who were traversing the 
 frontiers of Hungary and Bannat, where I was born in a village on 
 the Carpathian mountains. I say Bohemiens that you may under- 
 stand, for this is not our proper name ; we call ourselves Roma- 
 michels, in a language which we are forbidden to teach to any 
 person ; we are also forbidden to travel alone, and that is the 
 reason why we are generally in troops of fifteen or twenty. We 
 have had a long run through France, curing charms and spells of 
 cattle, but this business is pretty well destroyed at present. The 
 countryman has grown too cunning, and we have been driven into 
 Flanders, where they are not so cunning, and the difference of 
 money gives us a finer opportunity for the exercise of our in- 
 dustry. As for me, I have been at Brussels on private business 
 which I have just settled, and in three days I rejoin the troop 
 at the fair of Malines. It is at your pleasure to accompany 
 me : you may be useful to us. But we must have no more non- 
 sense now.' 
 
 Half-embarrassed as to where I should shelter my head, and 
 half-curious to see the termination of this adventure, I agreed to 
 go with Christian, without at all understanding how I could be 
 useful to him. The third day we reached Malines, whence he told 
 me we should return to Brussels. Having traversed the city, we 
 stopped in the Faubourg de Louvain, before a wretched-looking 
 house with blackened walls, furrowed with wide crevices, and 
 many bundles of straw as substitutes for window-glasses. It was 
 midnight, and I had time to make my observations by the moon- 
 light, for more than half an hour elapsed before the door was opened 
 by one of the most hideous old hags I ever saw in my life. We 
 were then introduced to a long room, where thirty persons of both 
 sexes were indiscriminately smoking and drinking, mingling in 
 strange and licentious positions. Under their blue loose frocks, 
 ornamented with red embroidery, the men wore blue velvet waist- 
 coats with silver buttons, like the Andalusian muleteers ; the cloth- 
 ing of the women was all of one bright colour : there were some 
 ferocious countenances amongst them, but yet they were all feast- 
 
 4 
 
So MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 ing. The monotonous sound of the drum, mingled with the howl- 
 ing of two dogs tied under the table, accompanied the strange 
 songs, which I mistook for a funeral psalm. The smoke of tobacco 
 and wood, which filled this den, scarcely allowed me to perceive 
 in the midst of the room a woman who, adorned with a scarlet 
 turban, was performing a wild dance with the most wanton 
 postures. 
 
 On our entrance there was a pause in the festivity ; the men 
 came to shake hands with Christian and the women to embrace 
 him, and then all eyes were turned on me, who felt much em- 
 barrassed at my present situation. I had been told a thousand 
 strange stories of the Bohe'miens, which did not increase my com- 
 fortable feelings : they might take offence at any scruples I should 
 make, and might get rid of me before it was ever known where I 
 had gone to, since no one could trace me to such a haunt. My 
 disquietude became sufficiently apparent to attract the attention of 
 Ctiristian, who thought to assure me by saying that we were at the 
 house of the duchess (a title which is equivalent to that of mother 
 amongst such comrades), and that we were in perfect safety. My 
 appetite decided me on taking my part at the banquet. The gin 
 bottle was often filled and emptied, when I felt an inclination to 
 go to bed. At the first word that I said Christian conducted me 
 to a neighbouring closet, where were already on clean straw several 
 Bohemiens. Tt did not suit me to be particular ; but I could not 
 prevent myself from asking my patron why he, who had always 
 before selected such good quarters, had made choice of so bad a 
 sleeping place. He told me that in all towns, where there was a 
 house of the Romamichels, they were constrained to lodge, under 
 pain of being considered as a false brother, and as such punished 
 by a council of the tribe. Women and children all slept in this 
 military bed; and the sleep which soon overtook them, proved 
 that it was a familiar couch. 
 
 At break of day everybody was on foot, and the general toilet 
 was made. But for their prominent features, without their raven- 
 black tresses and that oily and tanned skin, I should scarcely have 
 recognised my companions of the preceding evening. The men 
 clad in rich jockey holland vests, with leathern sashes like those 
 worn by the inhabitants of Poissy, and the women covered with 
 ornaments of gold and silver, assumed the costume of Zealand 
 peasants : even the children, whom I had seen covered with rags, 
 were neatly clothed, and had an entirely different appearance. All 
 soon left the house and took different directions, that they might 
 not reach the market-place all together, where the country people 
 were assembling in crowds. Christian, seeing that I was preparing 
 
MALGARET. 51 
 
 to follow him, told me that he should not have need of me the 
 whole day, and that I might go wherever I pleased until evening, 
 when we were to meet at the house of the duchess. He then put 
 some crowns in my hand and left me. 
 
 As in our conversation of the previous evening he had told me 
 that I was not compelled to lodge with the troop, I began by 
 ordering a bed at the inn. Then, not knowing how to kill time, I 
 went to the fair, and had scarcely gone round it four or five times, 
 when I met face to face an old officer of the recruiting battalions, 
 named Malgaret, whom I had known as making one of the 
 gambling set at the Cafe Turc at Brussels. After the first saluta- 
 tions, he asked me why I was staying at Malines. I told him a 
 history, and he was equally communicative about his travels ; and 
 we were thus content, each thinking that he had imposed on the 
 other. Having taken some refreshments we returned to the fair, and 
 every part where there was a crowd I met some of the lodgers of 
 the duchess. Having told my companion that I had no acquaint- 
 ance at Malines, I turned my head that they might not recognise 
 me, for I did not much care to confess that I had such friends; 
 but I had too cunning a fox to deal with. ' Look,' said he to me, 
 looking me full in the face, ' look at those people who are regard- 
 ing you so attentively. Pray do you know them ?' Without turning 
 my head, I replied that I had never seen them before, and did not 
 even know who they were. * Who they are !' replied my com- 
 panion, ' I will tell you supposing you to be ignorant they are 
 robbers !' * Robbers !' I replied. * How do you know it ?' * In 
 the same way that you shall soon know if you will follow me, for it 
 is a fair bet that we shall not have far to go without finding them 
 at work. Come along here they are.' 
 
 Raising my eyes towards a crowd in front of a menagerie, I per- 
 ceived one of the false jockeys taking the purse of a fat grazier 
 whom we saw the next moment seeking for it in his pockets : the 
 Bohe'mien then entered a jeweller's shop, where were already two 
 of the pretended Zealand peasants, and my companion assured me 
 that he would not come out until he had pilfered some of the 
 jewels that were shown to him. We then left our post of observa- 
 tion to go and dine together : and, at the end of the repast, seeing 
 my companion disposed to talk, I pressed him to tell me precisely 
 who the people were whom he had pointed out to me, assuring him 
 that, in spite of appearances, I knew but very little of them. He 
 complied, and told me as follows : 
 
 ' It was in the prison (Rasphuys) of Ghent, where I passed six 
 months, some years since, at the end of a game at which some 
 doctors (loaded dice) were discovered, that I made acquaintance 
 
 4 2 
 
52 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 with two men of the troop now at Malines. We were in the same 
 cell, and as I passed myself off for an accomplished thief, they 
 told me, without distrust, all their light-fingered tricks : and even 
 gave me the minutest details of their singular existence. These 
 people come from the country about Moldavia, where a hundred 
 and fifty thousand of them vegetate, like the Jews in Poland, 
 without the power of fulfilling any office but that of executioner. 
 Their name changes with their change of country ; they are 
 ziguiners in Germany, gipsies in England, zingari in Italy, gitanos 
 in Spain, and Bohemiens in France and Belgium. They thus 
 traverse all Europe, exercising the lowest and most dangerous 
 trades. They clip dogs, tell fortunes, mend crockery, repair 
 saucepans, play wretched music at the public-house doors, specu- 
 late in rabbit-skins, and change foreign money which they find out 
 of the usual circulation. 
 
 ' They sell specifics against the illness of cattle, and to promote 
 the business, they despatch trusty envoys, who, under pretences of 
 making purchases, get into the stables, and throw drugs into the 
 mangers, which make the cattle sick. They then present them- 
 selves, and are received with open arms, and knowing the nature 
 of the malady, they easily remove it, and the farmer hardly knows 
 how to be adequately grateful. This is not all ; for before they 
 quit the farm, they learn whether the husbandman has any crowns 
 of such and such a year, or such and such a stamp, promising to 
 give a premium for them. The interested countryman, like all 
 persons who but seldom find an opportunity of getting money, 
 spreads his coin before them, of which they invariably contrive to 
 pilfer a portion. What is almost incredible is, that they are seen 
 to repeat with impunity the same trick frequently at the same 
 house. Indeed, what is most villainous of all in their transactions, 
 is, that they profit by these circumstances, and their knowledge of 
 the localities of the country, to point out to burglars the detached 
 farms in which there is money, and the means of getting at it, and 
 it is needless to add that they come in for their share of the 
 spoil.' 
 
 Malgaret gave further details concerning the Bohemiens, which 
 determined me on quitting their dangerous society as speedily as 
 possible. 
 
 He was speaking thus, looking into the streets from time to 
 time from the window near which we were seated, when suddenly 
 I heard him exclaim, ' Oh, the devil ! My friend of the Rasphuys 
 at Ghent !' I looked out, and saw Christian walking very fast, 
 and with an air of busy import. I could scarcely help exclaiming 
 aloud. Malgaret, profiting by the trouble into which his explana- 
 
THE BULUS-h YE. 53 
 
 tion had thrown me, had not much difficulty in extracting from me 
 how I was associated with the Bohemiens. Seeing me resolved 
 on quitting their company, he proposed that I should accompany 
 him to Coutrai, where, he said, he had some game in view. After 
 having taken from the inn the few things I had brought from the 
 house of the duchess, I set out with my new associate, but we did 
 not find at Coutrai the friends Malgaret had relied on meeting 
 there, and it was our cash, and not theirs, that was spent. Des- 
 pairing of their appearance, we returned to Lille ; I had still one 
 hundred francs left, and Malgaret gambled with them on our 
 mutual account, and lost them, together with what he had of his 
 own, and I afterwards learnt that he had confederated with his 
 antagonist to cheat me out of what I had left. 
 
 In this extremity, I had recourse to my abilities : and some 
 fencing-masters, to whom I spoke of my situation, gave me a 
 benefit at a fencing-match, which produced me a hundred crowns. 
 Set up with this sum, which for a time secured me from want, I 
 frequented public places, balls, etc. I then formed an intimacy, 
 of which the circumstances and consequences decided the destiny 
 of my whole life. Nothing could be more simple than the com- 
 mencement of this important episode of my history. I met at the 
 Bal de la Montagne with a young lady, with whom I was soon on 
 good terms. Francine, for that was her name, appeared much 
 attached to me, and at every moment made me protestations of 
 fidelity, which did not, however, prevent her from giving private 
 interviews to a captain of engineers. 
 
 I one day surprised them supping at a tavern in the Place 
 Riourt, and, transported with rage, I heartily thumped the 
 astonished pair. Francine, with her hair hanging loose, fled : but 
 her partner remained, and making a charge against me, I was 
 arrested and conducted to prison of Petit Hotel. Whilst my trial 
 was preparing, I was visited by many females of my acquaintance, 
 who made it a duty to offer me their consolations. Francine 
 learnt this, and, her jealousy aroused, she dismissed the unfortu- 
 nate captain, withdrew the charge against me which she had made 
 at the same time with his, and beseeching me to receive her, I 
 weakly consented. The judges heard of this fact, which was 
 tortured into a premeditated plan between me and Francine, and 
 I was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. From the Petit 
 Hotel I was transferred to St. Peter's Tower, where I obtained a 
 chamber called the Bull's-eye. Francine remained with me there 
 for a part of the day, and the remainder I passed with the other 
 prisoners, amongst whom were two old sergeant-majors, Grouard 
 and Herbaux, the latter son of a bootmaker at Lille, both con- 
 
54 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 demned for forgeries ; and a labourer, named Boitel, condemned 
 for six years' confinement for stealing garden-tools ; this latter, who 
 was the father of a large family, was always bewailing his imprison- 
 ment, which, he said, deprived him of the means of working a 
 small farm, which he only knew how to turn to advantage. In 
 spite of the crime he had committed, much interest was evinced 
 in his favour, or rather towards his children, and many inhabitants 
 of his district had drawn up and presented petitions in his favour, 
 which were as yet unanswered, and the unfortunate man was in 
 despair, often repeating that he would give such and such a sum 
 for his liberty. Grouard and Herbaux, who were in St. Peter's 
 Tower, waiting to be sent to the galleys, thought they could get 
 him pardoned by means of a memorial, which they drew up, or 
 rather plotted together ; a plan which was ultimately so injurious 
 to me. 
 
 Grouard began to complain that he could not work quietly in 
 the midst of the uproar of the common room, in which were 
 eighteen prisoners singing, swearing, and quarrelling all day. 
 Boitel, who had done me some little kind offices, begged me to 
 lend my chamber to the compilers of his memorial, and I con- 
 sented, although very unwillingly, to give it up to them for four 
 hours a day. From the next morning they were there installed, 
 and the gaoler frequently went there secretly. These comings and 
 goings, and the mystery which pervaded them, would have awakened 
 suspicions in a man accustomed to the intrigues of a prison, but, 
 ignorant of their plans, and occupied in drinking with the friends 
 who visited me, I interested myself but too little with what was 
 going on in the Bull's-eye. 
 
 At the end of eight days, they thanked me for my kindness, 
 telling me that the memorial was concluded, and that they had 
 every reason to hope for the pardon of the petitioner, without 
 sending it to Paris, from the influence of the representations of 
 the people at Lille. All this was not very clear to me, but I did 
 not give it much attention, thinking it no business of mine ; and 
 there was no occasion for me to concern myself. But it took a 
 turn which throwed blame on my carelessness, for scarcely had 
 forty-eight hours elapsed after the finishing of the memorial, when 
 two brothers of Boitel arrived by express, and came to dine with 
 him at the gaoler's table. At the end of the repast, an order 
 arrived, which being opened by the gaoler, he cried, * Good news, 
 by my faith ! It is an order for the liberation of Boitel ;' at these 
 words they all arose in confusion, embraced him, examined the 
 order, and congratulated him ; and Boitel, ^vho Lad sent away his 
 clothes, etc., the previous evening, immediately left the prison without 
 bidding adieu to any of the prisoners. 
 
THE FORGED ORDER. 55 
 
 Next day, about ten o'clock in the morning, the inspector of the 
 prisons came to visit us ; and on the gaoler's showing him the 
 order for Boitel's liberation, he cast his eye over it, said that it 
 was a forgery, and that he should not allow the prisoner to depart 
 until he had referred to the authorities. The gaoler then said 
 that Boitel had left on the previous evening. The inspector testified 
 his astonishment that he should have been deceived by an order 
 signed by persons whose names were unknown to him, and at 
 last placed him under a guard. He then took the order away 
 with him, and soon made himself certain that, independently of 
 the forgery of the signatures, there were omissions and errors in 
 form which must have struck any person at all familiar with such 
 papers. 
 
 It was soon known in the prison that the inspector had placed 
 the gaoler under arrest, for having allowed Boitel to go out under 
 a false order, and I began to surmise the truth. I desired 
 Grouard and Herbaux to tell me the whole, observing indistinctly 
 that the affair might compromise me ; but they swore most solemnly 
 that they had done nothing but draw up the memorial, and were 
 themselves astonished at its prompt success. I did not believe a 
 word of this, but having no opposing proofs, I was compelled to 
 wait for the event. The next day I was summoned to the court, 
 before the judge, and answered, that I knew nothing of the 
 framing of the forged order, and that I had only lent my room, as 
 the only quiet place in the prison, for the preparation of the 
 justificatory memorial. I added, that all these facts could be 
 corroborated by the gaoler, who frequently went into the room 
 during their work, appearing to be much interested for Boitel. 
 Grouard and Herbaux were also interrogated, and then placed in 
 solitary confinement, whilst I returned to my chamber. Scarcely 
 had I entered it, when Boitel's bed-fellow came to me, and told 
 me the whole plot, which I had only before suspected. 
 
 Grouard, hearing Boitel so often repeat that he would willingly give 
 a hundred crowns to procure his liberty, had planned with Herbaux 
 the means of getting him out, and they had devised no mode so 
 simple as that of forging a false order. Boitel was let into the plot, 
 as may be supposed : they only told him, that as there were many 
 persons to gain over, he must give four hundred francs. It was 
 then that they applied for my chamber, which was indispensable 
 for the due concoction and forging of the order, without being 
 perceived by the other prisoners ; moreover, the gaoler was in 
 their confidence, to judge by his frequent visits, and the circum- 
 stances which had preceded and followed the departure of Boitel. 
 The order had been brought by a friend of Herbaux, named 
 
56 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Stofflet. He appeared besides only to decide Boitel on giving 
 four hundred francs, which the forger had persuaded him was to be 
 shared with me, although I had rendered him no other service than 
 that of lending my room. 
 
 Thus instructed, I at first wished the person who had given me 
 these particulars to make a declaration of them, but he obstinately 
 refused, saying that he would not reveal to justice a secret confided 
 to his oath ; and, besides, he did not feel desirous of being knocked 
 on the head by the prisoners for turning nose (pour avoir mange le 
 morceau). He dissuaded me even from informing the judge, telling 
 me that I was in no danger. But on arresting Boitel in the country, 
 and bringing him to Lille, and putting him into solitary confine- 
 ment, he named as the aiders and abettors in his escape, Grouard, 
 Herbaux, Stofflet, and Vidocq. On this confession, we were ques- 
 tioned at the Tower, and I persisted in my first declaration, 
 although I could have extricated myself in a moment, by disclos- 
 ing all that Boitel's bed-fellow had told me ; but I was so fuljy 
 convinced that it was impossible to substantiate any charge against 
 me, that I was thunderstruck when, at the expiration of my three 
 months, I was prevented from quitting the prison by an entry 
 stating me as arraigned as an * accomplice in the forgery of authentic 
 and public documents.' 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Three escapes The Chauffeurs The suicide I am accused of assassination 
 Fresh escape Ostend Smugglers I am retaken. 
 
 I THEN began to think that this affair might turn out badly for me; 
 but any other statement without proof would be more dangerous 
 to me than silence, which it was now too late to think of breaking. 
 All these reflections affected me so much, that I had a severe illness, 
 during which time Francine attended me most carefully. I was 
 scarcely convalescent, when, unable to support the state of incer- 
 titude in which I found my affairs, I resolved on escaping, and to 
 escape by the door, although that may appear a difficult step. 
 Some particular observations made me prefer this method in pre- 
 ference to any other. The wicket-keeper at St. Peter's Tower was 
 a galley-slave from the Bagne (place of confinement) at Brest, sen- 
 tenced for life. After the revision of the penal laws and the code 
 of 1791, he had obtained a commutation of six years' confinement 
 in the prison at Lille, where he had made himself useful to the 
 gaoler, who, persuaded that a man who had passed four yea** at 
 
THE ESCAPE, 57 
 
 the Bagne must be as watchful as an eagle, since he must know 
 every method of escape, promoted him to the office of gate-keeper, 
 whi^h he thought he could not confide to more trustworthy hands. 
 It was, however, on the stupidity of this prodigy of cunning that I 
 relied for the success of my project ; and it appeared the more easy to 
 deceive him, as he was so confident in his own sagacity. In a word, I 
 relied on passing by him under the disguise of a superior officer, 
 charged with visiting St. Peter's Tower, which was used as a military 
 prison, twice a week. 
 
 Francine, whom I saw daily, got me the requisite clothing, which 
 she brought me in her muff. I immediately tried them on, and 
 they suited me exactly. Some of the prisoners who saw me thus 
 attired assured me that it was impossible to detect me. I was the 
 same height as the officer whose character I was about to assume, 
 and I made myself appear twenty-five years of age. At the end of 
 a few days, he made his usual round, and whilst one of my friends 
 occupied his attention, under pretext of examining his food, I dis- 
 guised myself hastily, and presented myself at the door, which the 
 gaol-keeper, taking off his cap, opened, and I went out into the 
 street. I ran to a friend of Francine's, as agreed on in case I should 
 succeed, and she soon joined me there. 
 
 I was there perfectly safe, if I could resolve on keeping con- 
 cealed ; but how could I submit to a slavery almost as severe as 
 that of St. Peter's Tower ? As for three months I had been en- 
 closed within four walls, I was now desirous to exercise the activity 
 so long repressed. I announced my intention of going out ; and, 
 as with me an inflexible determination was always the auxiliary of 
 the most capricious fancy, I did go. My first excursion was safely 
 performed, but the next morning, as I was coming to the Rue 
 Ecremoise, a sergeant named Louis, who had seen me during my 
 imprisonment, stopped me, and asked if I was free. He was a 
 severe practical man, and by a motion of his hand could summon 
 twenty persons. I said that I would follow him ; and begging him 
 to allow me to bid adieu to my mistress, who was in a house of 
 Rue de 1'Hospitai, he consented, and we really met Francine, who 
 was much surprised to see me in such company; and then I 
 told her that, having reflected that my escape might injure me in 
 the estimation of my judges, I had decided on returning to St. 
 Peter's Tower to wait the result of the process. 
 
 Francine did not at first comprehend why I had expended three 
 hundred francs, to return at the end of four months to prison. A 
 sign put her on her guard, and I found an opportunity of desiring 
 her to put some cinders in my pocket whilst Louis and I took a 
 glass of rum, and then set out for the prison. Having reached a 
 
58 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 deserted street, I blinded my guide with a handful of cinders, and 
 regained my asylum with all speed. 
 
 Louis having made his declaration, the gendarmes and police- 
 officers were on the full cry after me ; and there was one Jacquard 
 amongst them who undertook to secure me if I were in the city. 
 I was not acquainted with these particulars, and instead of being 
 more circumspect in my behaviour, I affected a ridiculous bravado. 
 It might have been said that I ought to have had a portion of the 
 premium promised for my apprehension. I was certainly hotly 
 pursued, as may be judged from the following incident. 
 
 Jacquard learnt one day that I was going to dine in Rue Notre- 
 Dame. He immediately went with four assistants, whom he left 
 on the ground-floor, and ascended the staircase to the room where 
 I was about to sit down to the table with two females. A recruit- 
 ing sergeant, who was to have made the fourth, had not yet arrived. 
 I recognised Jacquard, who never having seen me, had not the 
 same advantage, and besides, my disguise would have bid defiance 
 to any description of my person. Without being at all uneasy, I 
 approached, and with the most natural tone I begged him to pass 
 into a closet, the glass-door of which looked on the banquet-room. 
 ' It is Vidocq whom you are looking for,' said I ; ' if you will wait 
 for ten minutes you will see him. There is his cover, he cannot 
 be long. When he enters, I will make you a sign ; but if you are 
 alone, I doubt if you can seize him, as he is armed and resolved 
 to defend himself.' ' I have my gendarmes on the staircase, 7 
 
 answered he, * and il he escapes ' ' Take care how you place 
 
 them, then,' said I, with affected haste. ' If Vidocq should see 
 them he would mistrust some plot, and then farewell to the bird.' 
 ' But where shall I place them ?' ' Oh, why in this closet mind, 
 no noise, that would spoil all ; and I have more desire than your- 
 self that he should not suspect anything.' My commissary was 
 now shut up in four walls with his agents. The door, which was 
 very strong, closed with a double lock. Then, certain of time to 
 escape, I cried to my prisoners, ' You are looking for Vidocq 
 well, it is he who has caged you ; farewell.' And away I went like 
 a dart, leaving the party shouting for help, and making desperate 
 efforts to escape from the unlucky closet. 
 
 Two escapes of the same sort I effected, but at last I was 
 arrested and carried back to St. Peter's Tower, where, for greater 
 security, I was placed in a dungeon with a man named Calendrin, 
 who was also thus punished for two attempts at escape. Calendrin, 
 who had known me during my first confinement in the prison, 
 imparted to me a fresh plan of escape which he had devised, by 
 means of a hole worked in the wall of the dungeon of the galley- 
 
THE HOLE IN THE WALL. 59 
 
 slaves, with whom we could communicate. The third night all was 
 managed for our escape, and eight of the prisoners who first went 
 out were so fortunate as to avoid being detected by the sentinel, 
 who was only a short distance off. 
 
 Seven of us still remained, and we drew straws, as is usual in such 
 circumstances, to determine which of the seven should first pass. I 
 drew the short stra\v, and undressed myself that I might get with 
 greater ease through the hole, which was very narrow, but, to the 
 great disappointment of all, I stuck fast without the possibility of 
 advancing or receding. In vain did my companions endeavour to 
 pull me out by force, I was caught as if in a trap, and the pain of 
 my situation was so extreme, that, not expecting further help from 
 within, I called to the sentry to render me assistance. He ap- 
 proached with the precaution of a man who fears a surprise, and 
 presenting his bayonet to my breast, forbade me to make the 
 slightest movement. At his summons the guard came out, the 
 porters ran with torches, and I was dragged from my hole, not 
 without leaving behind me a portion of my skin and flesh. Torn and 
 wounded as I was, they immediately transferred me to the prison 
 of Petit Hotel, when I was put into a dungeon, fettered hand and 
 foot. 
 
 Ten days afterwards I was placed among the prisoners, through 
 my entreaties and promises not to attempt again to escape. Up 
 to this time I had lived with men who were sharpers, robbers, and 
 forgers ; but here I found myself in the midst of most hardened 
 villains, and of this number was one of my fellow townsmen, 
 named Desfosseux, a man of wonderful ingenuity, prodigious 
 strength, and who, condemned to the galleys from the age of 
 eighteen, had escaped from the Bagne three times, whence he was 
 to be sent again with the next chain of convicts. He told all his 
 exploits and hair-breadth scapes with much coolness, and said 
 that no doubt ' one day or other the guillotine would make sausage 
 meat of his flesh.' In spite of the secret horror with which this 
 man inspired me, I took a pleasure in conversing with him of the 
 wild life he had led, and what most induced me. to make so many 
 inquiries of him was, that I hoped he would be able to aid me 
 with some means of escape. With the same motive, I assoc iated with 
 many individuals imprisoned as part of a band of forty or fifty 
 Chaffeurs, who infested the adjacent districts, under the command 
 of the famous Sallambier. They were named Chopine (called the 
 Nantzman), Louis (of Douay), Duhamel (called Lilleman), Auguste 
 Poissard (called the Provencal), Caron the younger, Caron the 
 Humpback, and Bruxellois (called the Daring), an appellation 
 which he deserved for an act of courage which is seldom heard of 
 even in bulletins. 
 
60 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 At the moment of entering a farm with six of his comrades, he 
 thrust his left hand through an opening in the shutter to lift the 
 latch, but when he was drawing it back, he found that his wrist 
 had been caught in a slip-knot. Awakened by the noise, the 
 inhabitants of the farm had laid this snare, although too weak to go 
 out against a band of robbers which report had magnified as to 
 numbers. But the attempt being thus defeated, day was fast 
 approaching, and Bruxellois saw his dismayed comrades looking 
 at each other with doubt, when the idea occurred to him that to 
 avoid discovery they would knock out his brains. With his right 
 hand he drew out his clasp knife with a sharp point, which he 
 always had about him, and cutting off his wrist at the joint, fled 
 with his comrades without being stopped by the excessive pain of 
 his horrid wound. This remarkable deed, which has been attri- 
 buted to a thousand different spots, really occurred in the vicinity 
 of Lille, and it is well authenticated in the northern districts, 
 where many persons yet remember to have seen the hero of this 
 tale, who was thence called Manchot (or one-armed) executed. 
 
 Introduced by so distinguished a worthy as my townsman Des- 
 fosseux, I was received with open arms in the circle of bandits, 
 where from morning to night the means of escape was our only 
 theme. Under these circumstances, as in many others, I re- 
 marked that with prisoners, the thirst for liberty, becoming the 
 engrossing idea, produced plots inconceivable by the man who 
 discusses them at his ease. Liberty ! in this word all is centred, 
 this thought pursues the prisoner throughout the tedious day, and 
 during the wintry nights spent in utter darkness, when abandoned 
 to all the tormenting impulses of impatience. Enter any prison, 
 you will hear shouts of noisy mirth, you may almost imagine your- 
 self at a place of entertainment ; approach mouths grin horribly 
 a ghastly smile, but the eyes betray no pleasure, they are stern 
 and haggard; this assumed gaiety is forced in its hideous yells, 
 like that of a jackal, which dashes against its cage, striving to 
 burst the bars. 
 
 Well knowing what men they had to guard, our gaolers watched 
 us with a care that marred all our plans ; the only opportunity 
 which gave a chance of success now offered itself, and I seized on 
 it before my companions, cunning as they were, had even thought 
 of it. We were about eighteen of us in the ante-room of the ex- 
 amining judge, where we had been conducted for the purpose of 
 being interrogated, which was guarded by soldiers, and two gen- 
 darmes, one of whom had laid down his hat and cloak near me, 
 whilst he went to the bar, whither his companion was summoned 
 by the ringing of a, bell. I put his hat on my head instantly, and 
 
ANOTHER ESCAPE. 61 
 
 wrapping myself in his cloak, took a prisoner under my arm as if 
 I was taking him out for a pressing necessity ; I went to the door, 
 which the corporal of the guard immediately opened, and we got 
 out once more. But what could we do without money or papers ? 
 My comrade went into the provinces, and I, at the risk of being 
 retaken, returned to Francine, who, overjoyed at seeing me, deter- 
 mined on selling her furniture, and flying with me to Belgium. 
 
 This was determined on, when a most unexpected event, 
 attributable only to my incredible carelessness, completely over- 
 threw our plan. 
 
 The night before our intended departure, I met in the dusk of 
 the evening a woman of Brussels, named Eliza, with whom I had 
 been on intimate terms. She embraced me, and begged me to 
 go and sup with her, and, conquering my weak objections, kept 
 me with her until the next day. I persuaded Francine, who had 
 sought me everywhere, that, pursued by the police officers, I had 
 been compelled to take refuge in a house which I could not quit 
 till daybreak. She was at first satisfied ; but having by accident 
 discovered that I had passed the night with a female, her jealousy 
 burst forth in overwhelming and tearful reproaches against my 
 ingratitude, and in her rage she swore that she would have me 
 arrested. To put me in prison was certainly the best mode of 
 putting a stop to my infidelities ; but Francine was a woman of 
 her word, and I deemed it prudent to allow her anger to evaporate, 
 intending to return after some time, and start with her as we had 
 agreed on. However, as I needed my clothes, and did not wish 
 to ask for them, for fear of a fresh burst of temper, I went alone 
 to our chamber, of which she had the key, and forcing a shutter, 
 I took out what I wanted, and left the house. 
 
 At the end of five days, clothed like a countryman, I left the 
 place I had inhabited in the suburbs, and going into the city, I 
 went to the house of a seamstress, a friend of Francine's, on whose 
 mediation I relied for reconciling us. This woman seemed so 
 greatly embarrassed, that fearing I should implicate her, I only 
 begged her to go and seek my mistress. * Yes,' said she, with a 
 very remarkable air, and without looking at me. She went out, 
 and I was left alone to reflect on my strange reception. 
 
 A knock at the door was heard, which I hastened to open, 
 thinking that I should receive Francine in my arms, when a crowd 
 of gendarmes and police-officers appeared, who seizing me, I was 
 carried before the magistrate, who began by asking me where I 
 had been during the last five days. My answer was brief, as I 
 never implicated those who sheltered me. The magistrate observed 
 that my obstinacy in refusing him any explanation would go much 
 
62 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 against me, and that my head was in jeopardy, etc, etc. I only 
 laughed, as imagining this remark to be a trap to force me to 
 confess through fear. I persisted in my silence, and was remanded 
 to the Petit Hotel. 
 
 Scarcely had I set foot in the street, when all eyes were fixed 
 on me. People called to each other and whispered, which I 
 thought was caused by my disguise, and I scarcely heeded it. 
 They made me enter a cell, where I was left alone in the straw, 
 heavily ironed. At the end of two hours the gaoler came, who, 
 pretending to pity me, and take an interest in me, told me that my 
 resolution not to confess where I had spent the last five days, 
 would injure me in the estimation of the judges ; but I was im- 
 movable, and two more hours elapsed, when the gaoler returned 
 with a turnkey, who took off my fetters, and desired me to go down 
 to the office, where two judges were in attendance. I was again 
 questioned, and made a similar reply, and they then stripped my 
 clothes entirely off, and stamped on my right shoulder a blow that 
 would have killed an ox, which was to mark me ; my clothes were 
 taken away, after being described in the process-verbal ; and I was 
 sent back to my cell, covered with a shirt of sail-cloth, in a surtout 
 half black and half grey, in rags which had served at least two 
 generations of prisoners. 
 
 All this gave me food for reflection. It was evident that the 
 seamstress had denounced me, but for what ? She had no com- 
 plaint to make of me. In spite of her fury, Francine would have 
 reflected twice before she denounced me ; and if I had withdrawn 
 for some days, it was rather because I did not wish to irritate her 
 by my presence, than from any fear of consequences. Why these 
 reiterated inquiries, these mysterious words of the gaoler, and this 
 description of my attire ? I was lost in a labyrinth of conjecture, 
 and for twenty-five hours I was kept in the strictest solitary confine- 
 ment ; I then underwent an examination which informed me of all. 
 
 ' What is your name ?' 
 
 ' Eugene Francois Vidocq.' 
 
 ' What is your profession ?* 
 
 1 Military.' 
 
 ' Do you know the girl Francine Longuet ?* 
 
 ' Yes ; she is my mistress.' 
 
 * Do you know where she is at this moment ?* 
 
 ' She should be at a friend's house, for she sold her own furni- 
 ture.' 
 
 'What is the name of this friend?* 
 
 * Madame Bourgeois.' 
 
 * Where does she live f 
 
THE EXAMINATION. 63 
 
 * At a baker's in the Rue St. Andre*.' 
 
 ' How long had you left the woman Longuet when you were 
 arrested ?' 
 
 1 Five days.' 
 
 ' Why did you leave her ?* 
 
 'To avoid her anger; she knew that I had passed the night 
 with another female, and in a fit of jealousy threatened to have me 
 arrested.' 
 
 ' Who was the woman with whom you passed the night ?' 
 
 * A former mistress.' 
 
 ' What is her name ?' 
 
 * Eliza I only know her by that name.' 
 
 * Where does she live ?' 
 
 ' At Brussels, whither, I believe, she has returned.' 
 ' Where are the things which you had in the house of the woman 
 Longuet ?' 
 
 ' In a place that I can point out if need be.' 
 
 * How could you get them, having quarrelled with her, and not 
 wishing to see her ?' 
 
 'After our quarrel in the Cafe", where she found me, she 
 threatened to call for the guard to seize me : knowing her per- 
 verseness, I ran down the by-streets, and reached the house before 
 her, which I had hoped to do, and wanting some clothes, I forced 
 a shutter to effect my entrance, and then took out what I wanted. 
 You just now asked me where these things are, and I will now tell 
 you ; they are in the Rue Saint Sauveur, at the house of Duboc, 
 who will corroborate this.' 
 
 * You do not speak truth before you left Francine at her house, 
 you had a great quarrel; it is said that you struck her.' 
 
 ' That is false ; I did not see Francine at her own home after the 
 quarrel, and consequently I could not have maltreated her. She 
 can corroborate this.' 
 
 ' Do you know this knife r 
 
 1 Yes ; it is the one I generally use at my meals.' 
 
 ' You see the blade and haft are covered with blood. Does 
 not the sight of it make any impression upon you ? You are 
 agitated !' 
 
 ' Yes,' I replied with emotion ; * but what has happened to Fran- 
 cine ? Tell me, and I will give every possible explanation.' 
 
 1 Did nothing particular happen to you when you carried off 
 your clothes ?' 
 
 1 Nothing that I can call to mind.' 
 
 1 You persist in your declarations ? 
 
 'Yes.' 
 
64 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 1 You are imposing on justice that you may have time for re- 
 flection on your position, and the consequences of your obstinacy, 
 I shall now delay the remainder oT your examination until to- 
 morrow. Gendarmes, watch this man most carefully Go.' 
 
 It was late when I returned to my cell, where they brought me 
 my allowance, which the trouble I experienced from the result of 
 the interrogatory would not allow me to eat ; I could not sleep, 
 and passed the whole night without closing an eye. Some crime 
 had been committed, but on whom ? By whom ? Why was I 
 inculpated? I had asked myself that question a thousand times, 
 without getting at any rational solution, when they came to fetch 
 me on the following morning to renew my examination. After the 
 usual questions, a door was opened, and two gendarmes entered, 
 supporting a female. It was Francine Francine pale, and altered 
 so as to be scarcely recognisable. On seeing me she fainted ; and 
 when I wished to approach her, I was withheld by the gendarmes. 
 They took her away, and I alone remained with the examining 
 judge, who asked me if the sight of the unfortunate woman did not 
 prompt me to confess all. I protested my innocence, asserting 
 that I did not know till that instant that Francine was ill. I was 
 led back to the prison, but not to solitary confinement, and I could 
 then hope that I might be informed of all the events of which I 
 was so singularly the victim. I questioned the gaoler, but he would 
 not answer me ; I wrote to Francine, although I was told that the 
 letters would be detained by the judge, and that she was dismissed. 
 I was on thorns, and at last determined on sending for counsel, 
 who, after having learnt the accusation, told me that I was charged 
 with attempting to assassinate Francine. On the very day I left 
 her, she had been found expiring, stabbed with a knife in five 
 places, and bathed in blood. My precipitate fliglit the secret 
 carrying away of my clothes, which it was known that I had taken 
 from one place to another as if to elude the search of justice the 
 broken shatter in my room the footmark which resembled mine 
 all tended to confirm the suspicions of my guilt, and my disguise 
 still more corroborated it. 
 
 It was thought that I only disguised myself and returned, to 
 learn whether she had died without accusing me. One particular, 
 which would have been in my favour under any other circum- 
 stances, now aggravated the charge against me ; as soon as the 
 physicians would allow Francine to speak, she declared that she 
 had stabbed herself, in despair, at finding that she was abandoned 
 by a man for whom she had sacrificed all. But her attachment to 
 me rendered her testimony suspected, and it was believed that she 
 only spoke thus to save me. 
 
ANOTHER ESCAPE. 65 
 
 My counsel had terminated this narrative at least a quarter of an 
 hour, and I was still listening like a man oppressed with the night- 
 mare. At the age of twenty I was suffering under the weight of 
 the twofold accusation of forgery and assassination, without having 
 even dreamt of committing such crimes. I even reflected whether 
 I would not hang myself at the bars of my cell with a straw rope. 
 I was losing my senses, but at last collected myself sufficiently to 
 detail all the facts requisite for my exculpation. In the after- 
 examination they insisted strongly on the blood which the porter, 
 who had carried my luggage, stated he had seen on my hands. 
 This blood had flowed from a cut inflicted by the glass of a 
 window which I had broken to remove the shutter, and I could 
 produce two witnesses of this fact. My counsel, to whom I told 
 all my grounds of defence, assured me that, united with the testi- 
 mony of Francine, which alone had been of no avail, I should be 
 .acquitted, which was the case a few days afterwards. Francine, 
 although still very weak, came immediately to see me, and con- 
 firmed all the particulars which the examination had first acquainted 
 me with. 
 
 I was thus relieved of an enormous weight, without being yet 
 -entirely freed from uneasiness : my repeated escapes had delayed 
 the decision of the accusation of forgery, in which I had been im- 
 plicated, and nothing indicated its termination, for Grouard had 
 also escaped. The result of the charge from which I had just 
 been freed had, however, given me a hope, and I thought nothing 
 of attempting to escape, when an opportunity presented, which I 
 seized, as it were, by instinct. In the chamber in which I was 
 placed were the temporary prisoners, and on fetching away two of 
 them one morning, the gaoler forgot to close the door, which I 
 perceived, and descending to the ground-floor, found, on looking 
 about me, that I had a chance. It was scarcely daybreak, and the 
 prisoners were all asleep ; I had met no one on the staircase, and 
 there was no one at the gate, which I cleared ; but the gaoler, who 
 was drinking a dram at a public-house opposite the prison, pursued 
 me, crying loudly, ' Stop him ! Stop him !' He cried in vain, 
 for the streets were empty, and the desire of liberty gave me wings. 
 In a few minutes I got out of sight of the gaoler, and soon reached 
 a house in Rue Saint Sauveur, where I was very certain they would 
 not come to seek for me. I was now compelled to quit Lille as 
 quickly as possible, as I was too well known there to be long in 
 safety. 
 
 At nightfall all were on the look out, and I learnt that all the 
 gates were closed, and no one let out but through the wicket, 
 where police officers and disguised gendarmes were stpHoned to 
 
 5 
 
66 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 examine all comers. The gates thus closed on me, I resolved on 
 descending the ramparts, and knowing the spot well, I went at ten 
 o'clock at night to the bastion of Notre-Dame, which I judged the 
 most propitious place for the execution of my project. Having 
 tied to a tree a cord, which I had procured for the purpose, I 
 began to slide down, but the weight of my body impelling me more 
 rapidly than I anticipated, the friction of the cord made my hands 
 so hot that I was compelled to let go about fifteen feet from the 
 ground, and fell so heavily on my right foot, that I sprained it, and 
 in endeavouring to get out of the ditch I thought I should never 
 be able to effect it. Unheard-of efforts at length extricated me, 
 but on reaching the plain I could move no further. 
 
 There I was, swearing most emphatically against all ditches, 
 ropes, and sprains, but this did not relieve my embarrassment, 
 when a man passed me with one of those cars so common in 
 Flanders. A crown-piece, my only one, prevailed on him to place 
 me on his car, and convey me to the next village. On reaching his 
 house he laid me on a bed, and rubbed my foot with brandy and 
 soap, whilst his wife assisted him very efficiently, although staring 
 with wonder at my clothes, stained with the mud of the ditch. 
 They did not ask for any explanation, but I thought it expedient 
 to give one ; and to prepare myself for it, I pretended that I was 
 greatly in want of sleep, and my host left me. At the end of two 
 hours I called them, like a man just awaking, and told them, in a 
 few words, that in conveying smuggled tobacco up the ramparts, I 
 had fallen, and my comrades, pursued by the custom-house officers, 
 had been compelled to leave me in the ditch ; and I added that I 
 left myself in their hands to do as they pleased with me. These 
 good creatures, who hated the custom-house officers as cordially 
 as the inhabitant of any frontier town ever does, assured me that 
 they would not for the world betray me. To try them, I asked if 
 there was no means of conveyance to my father's house, who lived 
 at the other side, and they said that such a step would expose me, 
 and that it would be better to wait a few days, until I was well. I 
 consented, and to remove all suspicions, it was agreed that I should 
 pass for a relation on a visit. No one, however, made the least 
 observation. 
 
 Quieted on this head, I began to reflect on my next step, and 
 what I must do. I determined on leaving these parts, and going 
 into Holland. But to execute this plan money was indispensable, 
 and except my watch, which I had offered to my host, I possessed 
 only four shillings and tenpence. I might go to Francine, but then, 
 of course, she was closely watched : and to send her any message 
 would infallibly hazard her safety. At least, I must wait until the 
 
OSTEND. 67 
 
 heat of the first pursuit was over. I did wait, and at the end of a 
 fortnight I determined to write to Francine, which I intrusted to 
 my host, telling him that, as this female was the go-between of the 
 smugglers, he must use much caution in visiting her. He fulfilled 
 his commission with much care, and brought me next day one 
 hundred and twenty francs in sold. The next day I bade farewell 
 to my friends, whose charges were extremely moderate, and at the 
 end of six days reached Ostend. 
 
 My intention, as at my first visit to this city, was to go to 
 America or India, but I only met with Danish and Dutch skippers, 
 who refused to take me without credentials. The little cash which 
 I had brought from Lille diminished rapidly, and I was approach- 
 ing that situation with which we become more or less familiarized, 
 but which is not the less disagreeable on that account. Money 
 certainly does not produce wit, nor talents, nor understanding ; but 
 the quiet of mind which it superinduces, the equanimity which it 
 affords, amply supply the place of these qualities ; whilst in the 
 absence of this equanimity these gifts are of no avail with many 
 who possess them. 
 
 I had heard much of the adventurous and lucrative life of the 
 coasting smugglers, of whom the prisoners had boasted with en- 
 thusiasm ; for this profession was often followed through inclina- 
 tion, by individuals whose fortune and situation did not compel 
 them to adopt so perilous a life. I confess, for my part, that I 
 was not seduced by the prospect of passing whole nights under 
 cliffs, in the midst of rocks, exposed to all winds, and, above all, 
 to the shots of the custom-house officers. 
 
 It was with real repugnance that I went to the house of a man 
 named Peters, to whom I was directed, as one deeply engaged in 
 the pursuit, and able to introduce me to it. A sea-gull nailed on 
 his door with extended wings, like the owls and weasels that we 
 see on barns, guided me. I found the worthy in a sort of cellar, 
 which by the ropes, sails, oars, hammocks, and barrels, which 
 filled it, might have been taken for a naval depot From the 
 midst of a thick atmosphere of smoke which surrounded him, he 
 viewed me at first with a contempt which had not a good appear- 
 ance, and my conjectures were soon realized, for I had scarcely 
 offered my services than he fell upon me with a shower of blows. 
 I could certainly have resisted him effectually, but astonishment 
 had in a measure deprived me of the power of defence ; and I saw 
 besides, in the court-yard, half a dozen sailors and an enormous 
 Newfoundland dog, which would have been powerful odds. 
 Turned into the street, I endeavoured to account for this singular 
 reception, when it occurred to me that Peters had mistaken me 
 for a spy, a.ncl treated me accordingly. 
 
 5* 
 
68 MEMOIRS OF VfDOCQ. 
 
 This idea determined me on returning to a dealer in Hollands 
 who had told me of him, and he, laughing at the result of my visit, 
 gave me a pass- word that would procure me free access to Peters. 
 Thus empowered, I again went to his formidable abode, having 
 first filled my pockets with large stones which, in case of a second 
 attack, might protect my retreat. Fortunately I had no need of 
 them. At the words 'Beware of the sharks' (custom-house 
 officers), I was received in a most amicable manner, for my strength 
 and activity made me a valuable acquisition to the fraternity, who 
 are often compelled to carry with speed, from one spot to another, 
 the most oppressive loads. A Bordeaux man, who was one of 
 the gang, undertook to initiate me, and teach me the stratagems 
 of the profession, which, however, I was called on to put in 
 practice before my tuition had progressed very far. 
 
 I slept at Peters' house with a dozen or fifteen smugglers, Dutch, 
 Danish, Swedish, Portuguese, and Russian ; there were no English- 
 men, and only two Frenchmen. The day after my installation, as 
 we were all getting into our hammocks, or flock beds, Peters 
 entered suddenly into our chamber, which was only a cellar, con- 
 tiguous to his own, and so filled with barrels and kegs that we 
 could scarcely find room to sling our hammocks. Peters had put 
 off his usual attire, which was that of ship-caulker, or sail-maker, 
 and had on a hairy cap, and a long red shirt, closed at the breast 
 with a silver pin, fire-arms in his belt, and a pair of thick large 
 fisherman's boots, which reach the top of the thigh, or may be 
 folded down beneath the knee. 
 
 ' A-hoy ! a-hoy !' cried he at the door, striking the ground with 
 the butt-end of his carbine, ' Down with the hammocks, down 
 with the hammocks ! We will sleep some other day. The 
 Squirrel has made signals for a landing this evening, and we must 
 see what she has in her, muslin or tobacco. Come, come, turn 
 out, my sea-boys.' 
 
 In a twinkling everybody was ready. They opened an armchest, 
 and every man took out a carbine or blunderbuss, a brace of 
 pistols, and a cutlass or boarding-pike, and we set out, after having 
 drunk so many glasses of brandy and arrack that the bottles were 
 empty. At this time there were not more than twenty of us, but 
 we were joined or met, at one place or another, by so many in- 
 dividuals, that on reaching the sea-side we were forty-seven in 
 number, exclusive of two females and some countrymen from the 
 adjacent villages, who brought hired horses, which they concealed 
 in a hollow behind some rocks. 
 
 It was night, and the wind was shifting, whilst the sea dashed 
 with so much force that I did not understand how any vessel 
 
SMUGGLING. 69 
 
 could approach without being cast on shore. What confirmed this 
 idea was, that by the starlight I saw a small boat rowing backwards 
 and forwards as if it feared to land. They told me afterwards 
 that this was only a manoeuvre to ascertain if all was ready 
 for the unloading, and no danger to be apprehended. Peters now 
 lighted a reflecting lantern, which one of the men had brought, 
 and immediately extinguished it ; the Squirrel raised a lantern at 
 her mizen, which only shone for a moment, and then disappeared 
 like a glow-worm on a summer's night. We then saw it approach, 
 and anchor about a gun-shot off from the spot where we were. 
 Our troop then divided into three companies, two of which were 
 placed five hundred paces in front, to resist the revenue officers 
 if they should present themselves. The men of these companies 
 were then placed at intervals along the ground, having at the left 
 arm a packthread which ran from one to the other : in case of 
 alarm, it was announced by a slight pull, and each being ordered 
 to answer this signal by firing his gun, a line of firing was thus 
 kept up, which perplexed the revenue officers. The third company, 
 of which I was one, remained by the sea-side, to cover the land- 
 ing and the transport of the cargo. 
 
 All being thus arranged, the Newfoundland dog already men- 
 tioned, and who was with us, dashed at a word into the midst of 
 the waves and swam powerfully in the direction of the Squirrel, 
 and in an instant afterwards returned with the end of a rope in 
 his mouth. Peters instantly seized it, and began to draw it towards 
 him, making us signs to assist him, which I obeyed mechanically. 
 After a few tugs, I saw that at the end of the cable were a 
 dozen small casks, which floated towards us. I then perceived 
 that the vessel thus contrived to keep sufficiently far from the 
 shore not to run a risk of being stranded. 
 
 In an instant the casks, smeared over with something that made 
 them waterproof, were unfastened and placed on horses, which 
 immediately dashed off for the interior of the country. A second 
 cargo arrived with the same success ; but as we were landing the 
 third, some reports of fire-arms announced that our outposts were 
 attacked. ' There is the beginning of the ball,' said Peters calmly ; 
 ' I must go and see who will dance ;' and taking up his carbine, 
 he joined the outposts, which had by this time joined each other. 
 The firing became rapid, and we had two men killed, and others 
 slightly wounded. At the fire of the revenue officers, we soon 
 found that they exceeded us in number, but alarmed, and fearing 
 an ambuscade, they dared not to approach, and we effected our 
 retreat without any attempt on their part to prevent it. From the 
 beginning of the fight the Squirrel had weighed anchor and stood 
 
70 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 out at sea, for fear that the noise of the firing should bring down 
 on her the Government cruiser. I was told that most probably she 
 would unload her cargo in some other part of the coast, where the 
 owners had numerous agents. 
 
 On the return to Peters' house, at break of day, I threw myself 
 into my hammock, and did not leave it for eight-and-forty hours : 
 the fatigue of the night, the moisture which penetrated my clothes, 
 whilst exercise had made me perspire profusely, and the uneasi- 
 ness of my new situation, all combined to make me ill, and a fever 
 seized me. When it left me, I told Peters that I found the em- 
 ployment too hard, and that I should be glad if he would allow 
 me to go. He agreed more quietly than I expected, and gave me 
 a hundred francs. I have since learnt that he had me followed 
 for several days, to be assured whether or no T took the road to 
 Lille, which I had told him was my intention. 
 
 I did go to that city, led by a childish wish to see Francine, 
 and take her with me to Holland, where I had formed a plan of a 
 small establishment. But my imprudence was soon punished ; for 
 two gendarmes, who were drinking in a pot-house, saw me cross- 
 ing the street, and they resolved on following me to ask for my 
 papers. They overtook me at a turning, and the trouble which 
 their appearance caused me determined them on apprehending 
 me. They took me to the brigade prison, where I was already 
 looking out for means of escape, when I heard some one say to 
 the gendarmes, * Here is the guard of Lille ; is there any one for 
 the prison ?' Two men of the Lille brigade came to the prison 
 and asked if there was any game in the trap. * Yes,' said the 
 fellows who took me, * we have one named Leger (my assumed 
 name), whom we found without a passport.' They opened the 
 door, and the brigadier of Lille, who had often seen me at the 
 Petit Hotel, cried, * By Jove, 'tis Vidocq !' I was compelled to 
 confess it, and setting out, I entered Lille a few hours afterwards, 
 between my two bodyguards. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The pewter keys A hussar Retaken and condemned. 
 
 I FOUND at the Petit Hotel the greater number of the prisoners 
 who had been emancipated before my escape. Some of them had 
 made but a very short absence, and were speedily apprehended, 
 charged with fresh crimes, or fresh offences. Amongst them was 
 Calandrin, whom I have spoken about : enlarged on the i ith, he 
 was retaken on the i3th, charged with burglary and being an 
 
THE PEWTER KEYS. 71 
 
 accomplice of the Chauffeurs, whose name alone inspired universal 
 dread. On the strength of the reputation which my various escapes 
 had procured for me, these men looked on me as one on whom 
 they might rely. On my side, I could scarcely separate myself 
 from them. Accused of capital offences, they had a powerful 
 motive for being secret concerning our attempts, whilst the un- 
 fortunate * petty larceny rascal ' might denounce us, in the dread 
 of being accused of being privy to our designs. This is the logic 
 of the prison. This escape, however, was not so very easy a matter, 
 as may be surmised when I say that our dungeons, seven feet 
 square, had walls six feet thick, strengthened with planking crossed 
 and riveted with iron ; a window, two feet by one, closed with 
 three iron gratings placed one after the other, and the door cased 
 with wrought iron. With such precautions, a gaoler might 
 depend on the safe keeping of his charge, but yet we overcame 
 it all. 
 
 I was in a cell on the second floor with Duhamel. For six 
 francs, a prisoner, who was also a turnkey, procured us two files, a 
 ripping chisel, and two turnscrews. . We had pewter spoons, and 
 our gaoler was probably ignorant of the use which prisoners could 
 make of them. I knew the dungeon key ; it was the counterpart 
 of all the others on the same story ; and I cut a model of it from 
 a large carrot ; then I made a mould with crumb of bread and 
 potatoes. We wanted fire, and we procured it by making a lamp 
 with a piece of fat and the rags of a cotton cap. The key was at 
 last made of pewter, but it was not yet perfect ; and it was only 
 after many trials and various alterations that it fitted at last. Thus 
 masters of the doors, we were compelled to work a hole in the 
 wall, near the barns of the town-hall. Sallambier, who was in the 
 dungeons below, found a way to cut the hole, by working 
 through the planking. All was ready for our escape, and it was 
 fixed for the evening, when the gaoler told me that my term of 
 dungeon imprisonment had expired, and I should be placed again 
 with the other prisoners. 
 
 A favour was never less welcome ; I saw all my preparations 
 useless, and I might wait for a long time for circumstances as 
 favourable. I was, 'however, compelled to follow the gaoler, whom 
 I wished at the devil with his congratulations. This disappoint- 
 ment affected me so greatly that all the prisoners saw it. One of 
 them, having learnt my secret from me, made some very just ob- 
 servations on the danger I ran in escaping with such men as 
 Sallambier and Duhamel who would perhaps not be out of prison 
 twenty-four hours without committing a murder. He even made 
 me promise to let them go, and wait myself for some other oppor- 
 
n MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 tunity. I followed his advice, and it was well that I did so ; I 
 even took the precaution of telling Duhamel and Sallambier that 
 they were suspected, and that they had not a moment to spare in 
 saving themselves. They followed my advice literally, and two 
 hours afterwards they had joined a band of forty-seven Chauf- 
 feurs, of whom twenty-eight were executed the following month at 
 Bruges. 
 
 The escape of Duhamel and Sallambier made a great noise in 
 the prison, and throughout the city. They found some extra- 
 ordinary circumstances belonging to it, but the gaoler was the 
 more astonished that I had not made one of the party. It was 
 necessary to repair the breach they had made, and workmen came; 
 and they stationed at the bottom of the staircase a guard with 
 orders not to let anyone pass. The thought came to me of de- 
 ceiving the sentinel, and getting out by the breach which was to 
 have aided my escape before. 
 
 Francine, who came every day to see me, brought me three ells 
 of tricoloured ribbon, which I had requested her to procure. With 
 one piece I made a belt, and ornamenting my hat with the rest, I 
 passed, muffled up, by the soldier ; who, taking me for a municipal 
 officer, presented his arms. I ascended the staircase quickly- 
 reached the opening, which I found guarded by two sentinels, one 
 in the granary of the town-hall, and the other in the passage of the 
 prison. I told the latter that it was impossible for a man to pass 
 through this opening ; he insisted on the contrary ; and his com- 
 rade, as if plotting with me, said that I could get through with my 
 clothes on. I said I would try : and creeping through the hole, I 
 got into the barn. Pretending that I had hurt myself in passing, 
 I told my two men that as I was on that side I should go round by 
 another way. * In this case,' sj>\d he who was in the granary, * wait 
 whilst I open the door ; and putting the key in the lock, I jumped 
 at two bounds down the staircase of the town-hall and got into the 
 street with my ribbon still on, and which would again have caused 
 my arrest had not the day been drawing to a close. 
 
 I was scarcely out, when the gaoler, who rarely lost sight of me, 
 said, ' Where is Vidocq ?' They told him that I was taking a turn 
 in the yard ; but when he went there to convince himself, he 
 sought me everywhere in vain, calling loudly over all parts of the 
 prison (an official search would not have been more successful) ; 
 no prisoner had seen me go out. It was soon known that I was no 
 longer in the prison ; but how then could I have escaped ? Of 
 this no one knew anything not even Francine, who most in- 
 genuously declared that she knew nothing of how I had liberated 
 myself, for she had brought me the ribbon without knowing the 
 
RETAKEN* 73 
 
 purpose for which I intended it. She was, however, Confined ; but 
 this revealed nothing, the soldiers, who had allowed me to pass, 
 taking good care not to implicate themselves. 
 
 Whilst they were thus punishing the pretended authors of my 
 Olivier escape, I left the city and reached Courtrai, where the juggler 
 and the quack Devoye enrolled me in their troop to play panto- 
 mime. I saw there many prisoners who had escaped, whose acting 
 costume, which they always wore (because they had no other), 
 served greatly to mystify the police. From Courtrai we returned to 
 Ghent, whence we were soon to depart for the fair of Enghien. 
 We were in this latter city for five days : and the receipt, of which 
 I had a share, was very good ; when one evening, as I was about 
 to go on the stage, I was arrested by the police officers, to whom I 
 had been betrayed by the Merry-Andrew, out of malice at seeing 
 me fill the chief characters. I was again taken back to Lille, where 
 I learnt, to my great grief, that my poor Francine had been sen- 
 tenced to six months' confinement for having aided my escape. 
 The turnkey Baptiste whose only crime was that of having taken 
 me for a superior officer, and having allowed me in this capacity 
 to quit St. Peter's Tower the unlucky Baptiste was also im- 
 prisoned for the same fault The terrible charge against him was, 
 that the prisoners (overjoyed at an opportunity of revenging them- 
 selves) declared that a hundred crowns had made him take a 
 young man of nineteen for an old soldier on the shady side of 
 fifty. 
 
 As for me, I was sent to the prison of the Department of Douai, 
 where I was treated as a dangerous man ; that is to say, I was 
 thrust into a dungeon with my hands and legs in fetters. I found 
 there my townsman Desfosseux and a young man named Doyen- 
 ette, condemned to chains for sixteen years for a burglary effected 
 with his father, mother, and two brothers under fifteen years of age. 
 They had been four months in the dungeon where I was put, lying 
 on straw, eaten up with vermin, and living on bean-bread and 
 water. I ordered my provisions, which were soon consumed ; we 
 then talked over our business, and my fellow prisoners told me 
 that for the last fortnight they were making a hole under the pave- 
 ment of the dungeon which would open at the level of the Scarpe, 
 which washed the prison walls. I at first regarded the enterprise 
 as difficult, as it was necessary to pierce a wall five feet thick and 
 yet avoid the observation of the gaoler, whose frequent visits would 
 not allow of our suffering a morsel of rubbish to be seen. 
 
 We eluded detection from this by throwing out of the window, 
 which overlooked the Scarpe, every handful of rubbish that we got 
 from our mine. Desfosseux had besides found means of ridding 
 
74 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 us of our fetters, and we worked with less fatigue and difficulty. 
 One of us was always in the hole, which was already large enough 
 to admit a man. We thought that we had at length terminated 
 our labours and our captivity, when we discovered that the founda- 
 tions, which we had imagined to be composed of common stone, 
 were formed of masses of sandstone of large size. This compelled 
 us to enlarge our subterranean gallery, and for a week we worked 
 at it unremittingly. To conceal the disappearance of that one of 
 us who might be at work when the guard went round, we had 
 filled a vest and shirt with straw, and placed the figure in the 
 posture of a sleeping man. . 
 
 After fifty-five days and nights of unrelaxing toil, we at last so 
 far completed our work that we had but one stone to remove, and 
 then should reach the river's banks. One night we determined on 
 making an essay, and all appeared favourable to our design ; the 
 gaoler had locked up earlier than usual, and a dense fog gave us a 
 confident hope of avoiding the sentinel of the bridge. The shaken 
 stone yielded to our efforts, and fell inside the aperture we had 
 made ; but the water followed it at the same time as if impelled by 
 the sluice of a mill. We had calculated our distance incorrectly, 
 and the hole being made some feet beneath the level of the river, 
 we were soon deluged. At first we endeavoured to plunge through 
 the opening ; but the rapidity of the current precluded all attempts, 
 and we were compelled to call for help, or remain immersed in 
 water for the whole night. At our cries the gaoler and turnkeys 
 ran to our assistance, and were greatly astonished at finding them- 
 selves mid-leg deep in water. All was soon discovered and the 
 mischief repaired, whilst we were shut up singly in dungeons in 
 the same gallery. . 
 
 This catastrophe filled me with very sad reflections, from which 
 I was very soon aroused by the voice of Desfosseux, who told me, 
 in slang terms, not to despair, but to take courage by his example. 
 Desfosseux was certainly endowed with a strength of mind which 
 nothing could depress : cast half naked on the straw in a dungeon, 
 where he could scarcely lie at length, loaded with thirty pounds' 
 weight of fetters, he yet sang with great vociferation, and was only 
 devising means of escape, that he might again do some evil deed ; 
 and opportunity was not long wanting. 
 
 In the same prison with us were confined the gaoler of the 
 Petit Hotel of Lille, and the turnkey Baptiste, both accused of 
 having aided my escape for a bribe. The day of their trial having 
 arrived, the gaoler was acquitted, but Baptiste's sentence was 
 deferred, the tribunal having decreed a fresh process, in which I 
 v.as to be heard. Poor Baptiste then came to me, begging me to 
 
THE CASE OF FILES. 75 
 
 tell the truth. At first I only gave him evasive answers ; but Des 
 fosseux having told me that the man might serve us, and that we 
 must arrange terms with him, I promised to do what he wished : 
 on which he made me vast professions of gratitude and offers of 
 service. I took him at his word, and desired him to bring me a 
 knife and two large nails, of which Desfosseux had told me that 
 he had need, and in an hour I had them brought to me. On 
 learning that I had procured them, Desfosseux made as many 
 jumps as his fetters and his bounded space would allow : Doy- 
 enette equally gave himself up to the most excessive joy ; and, as 
 gaiety is in general catching, I felt myself too in a mirthful mood, 
 without exactly knowing why. 
 
 When these transports had a little subsided, Desfosseux desired 
 me to look at the roof of my dungeon and observe if there were 
 not five stones whiter than the rest : and on my replying in the 
 affirmative, he desired me to try the divisions with the point of 
 my knife, which I did, and found the cement had been replaced 
 by crumbs of bread, whitened with scraping : and Desfosseux told 
 me, that the prisoner who had been there before me had done 
 this to remove the stones and save himself, when he had been taken 
 to another part of the prison. I thus transferred the knife to Des- 
 fosseux, who employed himself with activity in opening a passage 
 to my dungeon, when we were served similar to my predecessor. 
 The gaoler, having got wind of something, changed our dungeons, 
 and placed us all three in a dungeon next to the Scarpe, where 
 we were chained together : so that the least movement of one of 
 us was communicated to the others, a horrid punishment when 
 prolonged, and which ends in a total deprivation of sleep. At 
 the end of two days, Desfosseux, seeing us dejected, resolved on 
 using a means which he only resorted to on desperate occasions, 
 and which he reserved as the preparatory steps towards escape. 
 
 Like many of the galley-slaves he carried secretly about him a 
 case full of files, with which he set to work, and in less than three 
 hours our fetters fell off; we cast them through the grating into 
 the river. The gaoler coming to visit us the moment after to see 
 if we were quiet, almost fell backwards at finding us freed from our 
 irons, and asked us what we had done with them : to which we 
 only replied with jokes. The inspector of the prison arriving, 
 together with an attendant bailiff named Hurtrel, we were com- 
 pelled to undergo a fresh examination : and Desfosseux, who was 
 much irritated, said, * You ask for our fetters ? Well, the worms 
 have eaten them, and will eat as many as you may load us with. 1 
 The inspector then suspecting that we had the famous herb 
 which cuts iron, which no botanist had tver yet discovered, ordered 
 
?6 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 us to strip and be examined from head to foot, and then again 
 loaded us with irons, which were again cut off the following night ; 
 for the precious case was not discovered. This time we reserved 
 to ourselves the pleasure of throwing them on the ground in the 
 presence of the inspector and Hurtrel the bailiff, who did not 
 know what to think of it. The report spread through the city, 
 that there was in the prison a conjuror who took fetters off by only 
 touching them. To cut short all these accounts, and particularly 
 to avoid drawing the attention of the other prisoners to means of 
 getting rid of their chains, the public accuser gave an order to 
 shut us up and watch us with particular care a recommendation 
 which did not prevent us from quitting Douai sooner than they 
 expected, or than we ourselves had the least idea of. 
 
 Twice a week we had leave to consult our counsel in the gallery, 
 of which one door led to the court of justice, and I contrived to 
 get an impression of the lock ; Desfosseux made a key, and one 
 fine day, whilst my counsel was engaged with another client, 
 accused of two murders, we all three got out without being seen. 
 Two other gates, which opposed us, were broken open in a 
 twinkling, and the prison was soon left behind us. But yet I was 
 uneasy : six francs was our whole stock, and we could not get far 
 with such a sum; which I told my companions, who looked at 
 each other with a sinister smile : and on my repeating my obser- 
 vation, they told me that, on the next night, they intended to 
 enter a house in the neighbourhood with which they were well 
 acquainted. 
 
 I had no intention of turning housebreaker, any more than 
 when I was amongst the Bohemiens. I had profited by the 
 experience of Desfosseux in escaping, but never contemplated 
 uniting myself with such a villain : and yet I was not desirous 
 of entering into any explanation. By evening we had reached a 
 village on the road to Cambrai ; we had not eaten since our escape 
 from prison, and were sorely pressed by hunger. It was absolutely 
 necessary to get provisions in the village. The half-naked appear- 
 ance of my companions might give rise to suspicion, and it was 
 agreed that I should go for the food. I went to a public-house, 
 where, after having taken some bread and brandy, I went out by 
 a different door from that at which I had entered, directing my 
 steps in the opposite direction to that in which I had left the two 
 men whose company I was so greatly desirous of getting rid of. 
 I walked all night, and only stopped at break of day to sleep a 
 few hours on a hay-stack. 
 
 Four days afterwards I reached Compiegne, on my way to Paris, 
 v.heie I trusted to find some means of existence until my mother 
 
BACi: 1O DOUAI. 77 
 
 coM send me some succour. At Louvres, meeting a regiment 
 of black hussars, I asked the quarter-master if I could enter, but 
 he told me that they did not enlist ; and the lieutenant, to whom 
 I afterwards applied, gave me the same reply, but, touched by the 
 embarrassment of my situation, he agreed to keep me to clean the 
 extra horses which he was going to procure at Paris. A cap of a 
 police officer and an old cloak which was given to me, enabled 
 me to clear the barrier unquestioned, and I went to the military 
 school with the detachment, which I afterwards accompanied to 
 the depot at Guise. On arriving in this city, I was presented to 
 the colonel, who, although suspecting me to be a deserter, 
 engaged me under the name of Lannoy, which I assumed without 
 being able to justify by any credentials. Concealed by my new 
 uniform, and mingling with the rank of a numerous regiment, I 
 thought myself secure, and began to think of making my way as a 
 soldier, when an unfortunate accident again befell me. 
 
 On entering the barrack one morning, I met a gendarme who 
 had left Douai fof Guise. He had so frequently seen me, that he 
 knew me at first sight and called to me. We were in the midst 
 of the street, and thoughts of escape were useless ; I therefore 
 went up to him and boldly feigned to be glad to see him. He 
 replied to me, but with an air that seemed to augur me no good. 
 Whilst thus together, a hussar of my squadron, seeing me with the 
 gendarme, approached and said to me, * Well, Lannoy, what are 
 you doing with the round hats?' * Lannoy !' said the gendarme 
 with astonishment. ' Yes, it is a nom de guerre? l Oh, we will see 
 about that,' said he, seizing my collar. I was compelled to follow 
 him to prison, and my identity being confirmed, in opposition to 
 my statements at the regiment, I was by a cursed chance again 
 sent to Douai. 
 
 This sentence completely overpowered me, and the intelligence 
 that reached me at Douai was not calculated to set me at rest. I 
 heard that Grouard, Herbaux, Stofflet, and Boitel, had decided by 
 lot that one of them should confess the execution of the forgery ; 
 but as this forgery could only be the work of one person, they 
 determined on accusing me, thus punishing me for what I had 
 said of them at my last examination , and I learnt besides, that 
 the prisoner who could have corroborated my statement was dead. 
 If anything could console me, it was that I had escaped in time 
 from Desfosseux and Doyenette, who had been taken four days 
 after our escape with their booty about them, in a mercer's shop 
 in Ponte a-Marcq. I soon saw them, and as they were astonished 
 at my abrupt departure, I told them that the arrival of a gendarme 
 at the public-house where I was purchasing provisions had com- 
 
78 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 pelled me to fly with speed. Again united, we formed new plans 
 of escape, which the approach of our trials rendered of great im- 
 portance to us. 
 
 One evening a convoy of prisoners arrived, four of whom, 
 ironed, were placed with us. They were the brothers Duhesme, 
 rich farmers of Bailleul, where they had enjoyed the best reputa- 
 tion, until an unexpected accident unfolded their real characters. 
 These four persons, men of powerful strength, were at the head of 
 a band of Chauffeurs, who had struck terror into the vicinity, 
 without any person being able to identify them. The prattling of 
 a little girl of one of the Duhesmes at last exposed the affair. 
 This child, chatting at a neighbour's house, said that she had 
 been very much frightened the night before. ' And with what ?' 
 said the curious neighbour. * Oh, papa came home again with the 
 black men.' 'The black men?' 'Yes, the men who go out with 
 papa every night, and come home in the day-time and count out 
 money ; my mother lights the candle, and my aunt Genevieve also, 
 because my uncles are amongst the black men. I asked my 
 mother one day what it was all about, and she said, * Be discreet, 
 my child; your father has a black hen who finds him in money, but 
 it is only at night, and that he should not scare it, he makes his 
 face as black as her feathers. Be silent, for if you tell anybody 
 what you have seen, the black hen will never come again.' We 
 may easily divine that it was not to visit the mysterious hen that 
 the Duhesmes blackened their faces with smoke. The neighbour, 
 who guessed as much, communicated her suspicion to her husband, 
 who, in his turn, questioned the little girl, and, convinced that 
 the favourites of the black hen were Chauffeurs, he made a deposi- 
 tion, and on measures being taken, the band were apprehended, all 
 disguised, as they were about to sally out on an expedition. 
 
 The youngest Duhesme had, in the sole of his shoe, a knife- 
 blade, which he had contrived to conceal on the road from Bailleul 
 to Douai. Being told that I knew the way of the prison, he commu- 
 nicated this to me, asking me if it were not possible to effect an 
 escape with its assistance. I was reflecting about it, when a justice 
 of the peace, attended by gendarmes, came to make a strict search 
 throughout our room, and about our persons. No one amongst 
 us knowing the reason of this, I thought it prudent to hide in my 
 mouth a small file which I had always about me, but one of the 
 gendarmes having watched me, cried, 'He is going to swallow it !' 
 ' Swallow what ?' Everybody looked, and we then learnt that they 
 wanted to find the seal which had served to stamp the forged order 
 for Boitel's liberation. Suspected, as we have just learnt, of having 
 got it, I was transferred to the prison of the town-hall, and thrust in 
 
CAPTURED AGAIN. 79 
 
 a dungeon so chained that my right hand was confined to my left 
 leg, and my left hand to my right leg. The dungeon was, more- 
 over, so damp, that in twenty minutes the straw which they had 
 thrown me was as wet as if it had been dipped in water. 
 
 I remained eight days in this frightful state, and when they 
 found that it was impossible I could have got rid of the seal in the 
 way suspected, I was ordered to the usual prison. On learning 
 this intelligence, I pretended, as is often done under such circum- 
 stances, to be exceedingly weak and scarcely able to bear the light 
 of day. The unwholesome state of the dungeon made this very 
 probable, and the gendarmes fell completely into the snare, and 
 carried their complaisance so far as to cover my eyes with a hand- 
 kerchief, and then deposited me in a hackney-coach. On the road 
 I took off the handkerchief, and opening the door, with a dexterity 
 never yet surpassed, jumped out into the street ; the gendarmes 
 sought to follow, but, impeded by their sabres and jack-boots, they 
 had scarcely got out of the carriage when I was at a considerable 
 distance. I quitted the city instantly, and resolved on embarking, 
 I reached Dunkirk with some money which my mother had trans- 
 mitted to me. I there made friends with the supercargo of a 
 Swedish brig, who promised to get me a berth on board. 
 
 While waiting for orders to sail, my new friend proposed that I 
 should accompany him to Saint Omer, where he was going to get a 
 large quantity of biscuit I did not fear recognition in my sailor's 
 clothes, and agreed, as it was impossible to refuse a man to whom 
 I was under such great obligations. I went with him, but my 
 turbulent character would not allow me to remain quiet in a pot- 
 house row, and I was arrested as a riotous fellow and taken to the 
 watch-house. There they asked for my papers, of which I had 
 none, and my answers inducing a belief that I might be an escaped 
 prisoner, they sent me the next day to the central prison of Douai, 
 without allowing me to bid adieu to the supercargo, who was 
 doubtlessly much surprised at this occurrence. At Douai, they 
 put me once more in the prison of the town-hall, where at first the 
 gaoler evinced much kindness towards me, which did not however 
 last. At the termination of a quarrel with the turnkeys, in which 
 I took too active a part, I was thrown into a dark cell under the 
 tower. There were five of us, one of whom, a deserter sentenced 
 to death, was talking of nothing but suicide, until I desired him 
 not to think of that, but rather devise means of escape from this 
 dismal hole, where the rats, which ran about like rabbits in a corn- 
 field, ate our bread and bit our faces whilst we slept. With a 
 bayonet, stolen from one of the soldiers of the National Guard who 
 $id duty at the prison ? we commenced working a hole in the wall, 
 
8o MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 in a direction in which we heard a cobbler hammering his leather. 
 In ten days, and as many nights, we penetrated six feet in depth 
 and seemed to get nearer the cobbler's hammer. On the eleventh 
 day, in the morning, on drawing out a brick, I saw daylight from a 
 window which looked into the street, and gave light to a place 
 where the gaoler kept some rabbits. 
 
 This discovery inspired us with fresh courage, and the evening 
 visit being concluded, we took from the hole all the loosened bricks, 
 of which there were two courses, and placed them behind the 
 dungeon door, which opened inwards, so as to barricade it, and 
 then set to work with so much industry, that daylight surprised us, 
 when the hole, six feet large at the opening, was only two feet at 
 the end. The gaoler came with our allowances, and finding some 
 resistance, opened the wicket, and saw the high pile of bricks, 
 to his great astonishment. He desired us to open the door, 
 and on our refusal the guard came, then the commissary of the 
 prison, then the public accuser, then the municipal officers clothed 
 with the tricoloured scarves. We held a parley, and during this 
 time one of us continued working at the hole, which the dark- 
 ness did not disclose. We might perhaps escape before the door 
 was forced, when an unexpected event deprived us of our last hope. 
 
 The gaoler's wife, in going to feed the rabbits, had observed 
 rubbish scattered on the floor. In a prison, nothing is indifferent, 
 and she carefully examined the wall, and although the bricks had 
 t>een so replaced as to conceal the hole, she yet saw that they had 
 been separated ; and on calling for the guard, with a blow from 
 the butt end of a musket, our bricks were knocked out and we 
 were discovered. On both sides they called to us to clear the 
 doorway, or they would fire on us. Entrenched behind the 
 materials, we answered that the first who entered should be 
 knocked on the head with bricks and irons. So much determina- 
 tion alarmed the authorities, and they left us for a few hours to 
 calm ourselves. At noon, a municipal officer appeared at the 
 wicket, which, as well as the hole, had been sedulously guarded, 
 and offered us an amnesty, which we accepted : but scarcely had 
 we removed our chevaux-de-frise, when they attacked us with the 
 butt-end of muskets, flat sides of sabres, and bunches of keys: even 
 the gaoler's mastiff joined the party ; he jumped at me and bit me 
 most severely all over. They then led us into the courtyard, where 
 a body of fifteen men held us, lying on our faces, whilst they 
 riveted our fetters. This job done, they cast me into a dungeon 
 yet more horrible than that I had left, and it was not till the next 
 day that the surgeon Dutilleul (now keeper at the hospital of St. 
 Maude) came to <3kess the bites and bruises which covered me. 
 
CONDEMNED. Sr 
 
 I had scarcely recovered from this when the day of trial came, 
 which my repeated escapes, and those of Grouard, who fled just 
 as I was retaken, had deferred for eight months. The trial began, 
 and I saw that I was lost ; my companions accused me with an 
 animosity, explained by my retarded confessions, which were use- 
 less to myself, and had not at all injured them. Boitel declared 
 that I had asked him how much he would give to get out of 
 prison. Herbaux confessed that he had forged the order, but not 
 added the signatures, and said besides that I had persuaded him 
 to forge it, and then taken it from him without his thinking it of 
 the least importance. The jury thought that nothing indicated 
 that I had materially aided the crime ; all the charge against me 
 was confined to allegations, without proof, that I had furnished the 
 seal. However, Boitel, who remembered having begged for the 
 forged order ; Stofflet, who had brought it to the gaoler ; Grouard, 
 who had at least assisted at the whole operation, were acquitted ; 
 whilst Herbaux and I were condemned to eight years' imprison- 
 ment. This was the termination of the sentence, although many 
 false reports were circulated through the malevolence and stupidity 
 of enemies. Some say that I was sentenced to death for numerous 
 murders ; others state that I had long been chief of a band which 
 robbed the diligences ; the most moderate state that I was con- 
 demned to perpetual labour at the galleys for robbery and house- 
 breaking ; and it has been asserted that I (at a later period) incited 
 wretches to crime that I might show my vigilance in pouncing upon 
 them ; as if there were not a sufficient number of the really guilty. 
 Certainly false comrades, as are everywhere to be found, even 
 among robbers, sometimes instructed me in the plans of their 
 accomplices ; certainly, to confirm the intent whilst we prevented 
 the crime, it was sometimes necessary to allow of a partial com- 
 mission of the deed, for experienced rogues are never caught but 
 in the very act : and I ask, Is there anything in this which has the 
 appearance of an inducement to do ill ? This imputation emanated 
 from the police, amongst whom I have some enemies ; but the 
 imputation fails before the publicity of judicial facts, which would 
 not have failed in revealing the infamies with which I am charged ; 
 and it also fails before the operations of the brigade of safety, which 
 I directed. It is not when proof is given that we have recourse to 
 deception, and the confidence of the clever men who have pre- 
 ceded M. Delavau, in the office of chief magistrate, will acquit me 
 of such wretched expedients. ' He is a lucky fellow,' said, one 
 day, the police officers who had failed in an enterprise in which I 
 succeeded, to M. Angles. * Well,' said he, turning his back on 
 them, ' do you be lucky fellows, too.' 
 
 6 
 
82 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Parricide is the only crime of which I have not been charged, 
 and yet I declare that I never was sentenced to, nor underwent, 
 but the sentence which I have just mentioned. My pardon will 
 prove this ; and when I assert that I never aided in this miserable 
 forgery, I should be believed, for it was at last but a prison joke, 
 which, if proved, would at present only subject the offender to a 
 sentence of corporeal punishment. But it was not the suspected 
 accomplice in a foolish forgery that was to be punished ; it was 
 the disorderly, rebellious, and impudent prisoner, the chief of so 
 many plans of escape, of whom an example must be made, and 
 I was sacrificed. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Departure from Douai Revolt of prisoners in the forest of Compiegne The 
 Bicetre The madhouse. 
 
 WORN out by the bad treatment of every species which I ex- 
 perienced in the prison of Douai, tormented by a watchfulness 
 redoubled after my sentence, I took care not to make an appeal, 
 which would keep me there some months. What confirmed me in 
 my resolution was, the information that the prisoners were to be 
 sent forthwith to the Bicetre, and there, making one chain, to be 
 sent on to the Bagne at Brest. It is unnecessary to say, that I 
 relied on escaping on our route. As to the appeal, I was told that 
 I could present a petition for pardon from the Bagne, which would 
 have the same effect. We remained, however, some months at 
 Douai, which made me regret bitterly that I had not made my 
 petition for annulling the sentence. 
 
 At length the order of removal arrived, and, what would scarcely 
 be credited from men doomed to the galleys, it was hailed with 
 enthusiasm so much were we tired of the torments of Marin, the 
 gaoler. Our new situation was not, however, much more satis- 
 factory; the officer, Hurtrel, who accompanied us, I know not why, 
 had ordered irons of a new construction, which fastened to each of 
 our legs a ball of fifteen pounds weight, whilst we were secured two 
 and two by a massive wrist-cuff of iron. Besides, the vigilance 
 was extreme, and it was impossible to think of dcing anything by 
 address. An attack by main force could alone save us, and I pro- 
 posed it to fourteen of my companions, who agreed on it, and it 
 was settled that the project should be put in execution on our way 
 through the Forest of Compiegne. Desfosseux was of the party, 
 and by means of fine saws which he had always securely secreted 
 about him, our fetters were cut in three days ; the plaster of a par- 
 
THE i.EVOLT. 83 
 
 ticular sort of gum prevented our keepers from perceiving the trace 
 of the instruments. 
 
 On reaching the forest and gaining the appointed spot, the signal 
 was given, the fetters fell from us, and we leaped from the carriages 
 which enclosed us to try and gain the thicket ; but the five gen- 
 darmes and the eight dragoons who escorted us charged sword in 
 hand. We entrenched ourselves behind the trees, armed with the 
 stones which are piled up to mend the roads, and with some 
 weapons we had got hold of at the first moment of confusion. 
 The soldiers hesitated for an instant, but, well armed and well 
 mounted, they soon made up their minds, and at the first charge 
 two of our party fell dead, five more terribly wounded, and the 
 others falling on their knees cried for mercy. Surrender was now 
 imperative ; and Desfosseux, myself, and some others who had 
 escaped, got into the carriage, when Hurtrel, who had kept at a 
 very respectful distance from the affray, came up to a poor wretch, 
 who certainly did not hurry himself very much, and thrust his sabre 
 through him. Such baseness enraged us ; the prisoners who had 
 not yet ascended the carriages took up stones, and but for the aid 
 of the dragoons, Hurtrel would have been knocked on the head. 
 The soldiers bid us desist before we brought down destruction on 
 ourselves : and the thing was so evident, that we were compelled 
 to lay down our arms that is, the stones. This circumstance, how- 
 ever, put a termination to the annoyances of Hurtrel, who never 
 approached us but with fear and trembling. 
 
 At Senlis we were placed in the temporary prison, one of the 
 most horrible I ever tenanted. The gaoler exercising the office of 
 street-keeper, the prison was guarded by his wife : and what a 
 creature was she ! As we had made ourselves notorious, she thrust 
 us into the most secret dungeons, convincing herself by previous 
 personal examination that we had nothing about us that could aid 
 escape. We were, however, trying the walls, when we heard her 
 roar out, ' Rascals, I am coming to you with my bastinado ; I will 
 teach you how to play music.' We took her at her word, and all 
 desisted. The next day we reached Paris, and were lodged in the 
 outer boulevards, and at four in the afternoon we got in sight of 
 Bicetre. 
 
 On reaching the end of the avenue which looks on the road to 
 Fontainebleau, the carriages turned to the right, and entered an 
 iron gate, above which I read mechanically this inscription 
 ' Hospice de la Vieillesse ' (Hospital for the aged). In the fore- 
 court many old men were walking, clothed in grey garments. They 
 were paupers ; and stared at us with that stupid curiosity which 
 results from a monotonous and purely animal existence ; for it 
 
 6 2 
 
84 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 often happens that a person admitted into a hospital, having no 
 longer his own subsistence to provide for, renounces the exercise 
 of his narrow faculties, and ends by falling into a state of perfect 
 idiotcy. On reaching the second court, in which was the chapel, I 
 remarked that the majority of my companions hid their faces with 
 their hands or pocket-handkerchiefs. It may be supposed that 
 they experienced some feeling of shame. No; they were only 
 thinking of allowing their faces to be seen as little as possible, so 
 that if opportunity presented they might the more easily escape. 
 
 ' Here we are/ said Desfosseux to me : ' you see that square 
 building that is the prison.' We alighted at an iron door, guarded 
 inside by a sentry. Having entered the office, we were only 
 registered, our description being deferred until the next day. I per- 
 ceived, however, that the gaoler looked at us, Desfosseux and me, 
 with a sort of curiosity, and I thence concluded that we had been 
 recommended by the officer Hurtrel, who had preceded us a quarter 
 of an hour from the time of the business of the Forest of Com- 
 piegne. Having opened many low doors, guarded with iron plates, 
 and the Bird-cage Wicket, we were introduced to a large square 
 yard, where about sixty prisoners were playing at fives, and shout- 
 ing so loudly as to sound all over the place. At our appearance 
 their game ceased, and surrounding us, they examined with much 
 surprise the irons which loaded us. It was, besides, to enter Bicetre 
 in the most favourable manner to be decked with such caparisons, 
 for they estimated the deserts of the prisoner, that is to say, his 
 boldness and talent for escape, by the precautions taken to secure 
 him. Desfosseux, who found himself amongst friends, had no 
 difficulty in introducing us as the most distinguished personages of 
 the north ; he did more, he particularly expatiated on my merits, 
 and I was accordingly surrounded and made much of by all the 
 worthies of the prison : Beaumont, Guillaume, Mauger, Jossat, 
 Maltaise, Corun, Blondy, Troaflat, and Richard, one of the parties 
 concerned in the murder of a Lyons courier, never left me. As 
 soon as my fetters were taken off, they took me to a drinking shop, 
 where for two hours I did justice to a thousand invitations, when 
 a tall man with a police-officer's cap, who they told me was the 
 room inspector, took us to a large place called Le Fort Mahon, 
 when we were clothed in the prison garb, consisting of a frock half 
 grey and half black. The inspector told me I should be briga- 
 dier, that is, that I should preside at the giving out of the pro- 
 visions amongst my table-companions, and I had, in consequence, 
 a good bed, whilst others slept on camp couches. In four days I 
 was known to all the prisoners ; but although they had the highest 
 opinion of my courage, Beaumont, wishing to try me, picked a 
 
THE BICETRE. 85 
 
 quarrel with me ; we fought, and as he was an expert boxer, I was 
 completely conquered. I, however, had my revenge in a room, 
 where Beaumont, unable to display the resources of his art, had 
 the worst of it. My first defeat, however, gave me a desire to be 
 instructed in the mysteries of this art, and the celebrated Jean 
 Goupel, the Saint George of boxing, who was at the Bicetre with 
 us, soon counted me amongst those of his pupils who were destined 
 to do him the most honour. 
 
 The prison of the Bicetre is a neat quadrangular building, 
 enclosing many other structures and many courts, which have each 
 a different name ; there is the grand cour (great court) where the 
 prisoners walk ; the cour de cuisine (or kitchen court) ; the cour 
 des chiens (or dogs' court) ; the cour de correction (or court of 
 punishment) ; and the cour des fers (or iron court). In this last is a 
 new building five stories high ; each story contains forty cells, capable 
 of holding four prisoners. On the platform, which supplies the 
 place of a roof, was night and day a dog named Dragon, who 
 passed in the prison for the most watchful and incorruptible of its 
 kind ; but some prisoners managed at a subsequent period to 
 corrupt him through the medium of a roasted leg of mutton, 
 which he had the culpable weakness to accept ; so true is it, that 
 there are no seductions more potent than those of gluttony, since 
 they operate indifferently on all organized beings. To ambition, 
 to gaming, and to gallantry, there are bounds fixed by nature ; 
 but gluttony knows nothing of age, and if the appetite sometimes 
 opposes its inert power, we are quits with it by a good fit of indi- 
 gestion. However, the Amphytrions escaped while Dragon was 
 swallowing the mutton ; he was beaten and taken into the cour des 
 chiens, where, chained up and deprived of the free air which he 
 had breathed on the platform, he was inconsolable for his fault, 
 and perished piecemeal, a victim of remorse at his weakness in 
 yielding to a moment of gluttony and error. 
 
 Near the erection I speak of is the old building, nearly arranged 
 in the same way, and under which were dungeons of safety, in 
 which were enclosed the troublesome and condemned prisoners. 
 It was in one of these dungeons that for forty-three years lived 
 the accomplice of Cartouche, who betrayed him to procure com- 
 mutation ! To obtain a moment's sunshine, he frequently counter- 
 feited death so well that, when he had actually breathed his last 
 sigh, two days passed before they took off his iron collar. A third 
 part of the building, called La Force, comprised various rooms, in 
 which the prisoners were placed who arrived from the provinces, 
 and were destined, like ourselves, to the chain. 
 
 At this period, the prison of Bicetre, which is only strong from 
 
86 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 the strict guard kept up there, could contain twelve hundred 
 prisoners ; but they were piled on each other, and the conduct of 
 the gaolers in no way assuaged the inconvenience of the place : a 
 sullen air, a rough tone, and brutal manners, were exercised 
 towards the prisoners, and they were in no way to be softened, 
 but through the medium of a bottle of wine, or a pecuniary bribe. 
 Besides, they never attempted to repress any excess or any crime, 
 and provided that no one sought to escape, they might do what- 
 ever they pleased in the prison, without being restrained or pre- 
 vented; whilst men condemned for those attempts which modesty 
 shrinks from naming, openly practised their detestable libertinism, 
 and robbers exercised their industry inside the prison, without 
 any person attempting to check the crime or prevent the 
 bestiality. 
 
 If any man arrived from the country well clad, who, condemned 
 for a first offence, was not as yet initiated into the customs and 
 usages of prisons, in a twinkling he was stripped of his clothes, 
 which were sold in his presence to the highest bidder. If he had 
 jewels or money, they were alike confiscated to the profit of the 
 society; if he were too long in taking out his ear-rings they snatched 
 them out without the sufferer daring to complain. He was pre- 
 viously warned, that if he spoke of it, they would hang him in the 
 night to the bars of his cell, and afterwards say that he had com- 
 mitted suicide. If a prisoner, out of precaution, when going to 
 sleep, placed his clothes under his head, they waited until he was 
 in his first sleep, and then they tied to his foot a stone, which they 
 balanced at the side of his bed ; at the least motion the stone fell, 
 and, aroused by the noise, the sleeper jumped up, and before he 
 could discover what had occurred, his packet, hoisted by a cord, 
 went through the iron bars to the floor above. I have seen, in 
 the depth of winter, these poor devils, having been deprived of 
 their property in this way, remain in the court in their shirts until 
 some one threw them some rags to cover their nakedness. As 
 long as they remained at Bicetre, by burying themselves, as we 
 may say, in their straw, they co-Jd defy the rigour of the weather; 
 but at the departure of the chain, when they had no other cover- 
 ing than the frock and trousers made of packing-cloth, they often 
 sank exhausted and frozen before they reached the first resting- 
 place. 
 
 It is necessary, by facts of this, nature, to explain the rapid de- 
 pravity of men whom it was easy to excite to honest feelings : but 
 who, unable to escape the height of misery but by excess of 
 wickedness, sought an alleviation of their lot in the real or appar- 
 ent exaggeration of all species of crime. In society, we dread 
 
1 LETTERS OF JERUSALEM! 87 
 
 infamy ; in the society of prisoners, there is no shame but in not 
 being sufficiently infamous. The condemned prisoners are a dis- 
 tinct people ; whoever is cast amongst them must expect to be 
 treated as an enemy as long as he will not speak their language, 
 and will not identify himself with their way of thinking. 
 
 The abuses I have mentioned are not the only ones ; there are 
 o f hers even more terrible. If a prisoner were marked out as a 
 false brother or as a sneak, he was pitilessly knocked on the head, 
 without any gaoler interfering to prevent it. Matters came to 
 such a pitch, that it was necessary to assign a particular division 
 to those individuals, who, giving an account of their own doings, 
 had made any mention of their comrades which they thought 
 could in any way compromise them. On the other hand the im- 
 pudence of the robbers, and the immoralities of their keepers, 
 were carried to such an extent, that they prepared openly in the 
 prison tricks of swindling and theft, which were to be perpetrated 
 on quitting the walls of the prison. I will mention only one of 
 these plans, which will suffice to evince the measure of credulity 
 of the dupes and the audacity of the plotters. These latter ob- 
 tained the address of certain rich persons living in the province, 
 which was easy from the number of prisoners who were constantly 
 arriving. They then wrote letters to them, called, in the slang 
 language, * letters of Jerusalem,' and which contained in substance 
 what follows. It is useless to observe that the names of places 
 and persons change according to circumstances. 
 
 'Sir, You will doubtlessly be astonished at receiving a letter 
 from a person unknown to you, who is about to ask a favour from 
 you ; but from the sad condition in which I am placed, I am lost 
 if some honourable person will not lend me succour : that is the 
 reason of my addressing you, of whom I have heard so much that 
 I cannot for a moment hesitate to confide all my affairs to your 
 
 kindness. As valet-de-chambre to the Marquis de I emigrated 
 
 with my master, and that we might avoid suspicion we travelled 
 on foot and I carried the luggage, consisting of a casket contain- 
 ing 16,000 francs in gold and the diamonds of the late mar- 
 chioness. We were on the point of joining the army at , when 
 
 we were marked out and pursued by a detachment of volunteers. 
 The marquis, seeing how closely we were pressed, desired me to 
 throw the casket into a deep ditch near us, so that it might not 
 implicate us in case we were apprehended I relied on recovering 
 it the following night ; but the country people, aroused by trie 
 tocsin which the commandant of the detachment ofdered to be 
 rung, began to -beat the wood in which we were concealed with 
 so much vigour, that it was necessary to think only of escape. 
 
88 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 On reaching a foreign province, the marquis received some ad- 
 vances from the Prince of ; but these resources soon failing, 
 
 he resolved on sending me back for the casket thrown into the 
 ditch. I was the more certain of finding it, as on the day after I 
 had thrown it from me, we had made a written memorandum of 
 the localities, in case we should be for any length of time without 
 being able to return for it. I set out, and entering France, reached 
 
 the village of without accident, near the spot where we had 
 
 been pursued. You must know the village perfectly, as it is not 
 three-quarters of a league from your residence. I prepared to 
 fulfil my mission, when the landlord of the auberge where I had 
 lodged, a bitter Jacobin and collector of national property, re- 
 marking my embarrassment when he proposed to drink to the 
 health of the republic, had me apprehended as a suspected person : 
 and as I had no passport, and unfortunately resembled an indi- 
 vidual pursued for stopping the diligences, I was taken from prison 
 to prison to be confronted with my pretended accomplices, until 
 on reaching Bicetre I was obliged to go to the infirmary, where I 
 have been for two months. 
 
 ' In this cruel situation, having heard mention of you by a rela- 
 tion of my master's who had property in your district, I beg to 
 know if I cannot, through your aid, obtain the casket in question, 
 and get a portion of the money which it contains. I could then 
 supply my immediate necessities and pay my counsel, who dictates 
 this, and assures me that by some presents I could extricate my- 
 self from this affair. 
 
 'Receive, sir, etc. 
 
 (Signed) ' N .' 
 
 Out of one hundred such letters, twenty were always answered : 
 and astonishment will cease when we consider that they were only 
 addressed to men known by their attachment to the old order of 
 things, and that nothing reasons less than the spirit of party. It 
 testified besides, to the person addressed, that unlimited confidence 
 which never fails to produce its effect on self-love or interest. 
 The person answered that he would agree to undertake to get the 
 casket from its place of concealment. Another letter from the 
 pretended valet-de-chambre, stating, that being entirely stripped, 
 he had agreed with the keeper of the infirmary for a very small 
 sum to sell the trunk, in which was, in the false bottom, the plan 
 already alluded to. Then the money arrived, and they received sums 
 sometimes amounting to twelve or fifteen hundred francs. Some 
 individuals, thinking to give a profound proof of sagacity, came even 
 from the remotest parts of their province to Bicetre, where they 
 
A PLAN OF ESCAPE. 89 
 
 received the destined plan which was to conduct them to this mys- 
 terious forest, which, like the fantastic forests of the romances of 
 chivalry, fled eternally before them. The Parisians themselves 
 sometimes fell into the snare ; and some persons may still remem- 
 ber the adventure of the clothseller of the Rue des Prouvaires, 
 who was caught undermining an arch of the Pont Neuf, where he 
 expected to find the diamonds of the Duchess de Bouillon. 
 
 We may imagine that such manoeuvres could not be effected but 
 by the consent and with the participation of the keepers, since 
 they received the correspondence of the treasure-seekers. But the 
 gaoler thought that, independently of the direct benefit he thence 
 drew from it, by the increase of the money spent by the prisoners 
 in viands and spirits, they being thus occupied would not think of 
 escaping. On the same principle he tolerated the making varieties 
 of things in straw, wood, and bone, and even false pieces of two 
 sous, with which Paris was at one time inundated. There were 
 also other crafts exercised ; but these were done clandestinely : 
 they made privately false passports with the pen, so well done as 
 to pass currently ; saws for cutting iron, and false hair, which were 
 of great service in escaping from the Bagne the galley-slaves 
 being particularly recognisable by their shorn heads. These 
 various articles were concealed in tin cases, which could be hid in 
 the intestines. 
 
 As for me, always occupied with the idea of escaping from the 
 Bagne and reaching a seaport from whence I could embark, I was 
 night and day plotting the means of getting away from Bicetre. I 
 at length imagined that by breaking through the quadrangle of 
 Fort-Mahon and reaching the water-courses made under it, we 
 might, by means of a short mine, get into the court of the idiots I 
 have before alluded to, whence there would be no difficulty in 
 reaching the outside. This project was executed in ten days and 
 as many nights. During the whole time the prisoners, of whom 
 we had any distrust, were always accompanied by a trusty man ; 
 but we were obliged to wait until the moon should be on the 
 wane. At length, on the 3rd of October, 1797, at two o'clock in 
 the morning, we descended the watercourse, thirty-three in 
 number, provided with dark lanterns, and we soon opened the 
 subterranean passage and reached the court of the idiots. We 
 wanted a ladder, or something instead of it, to climb the walls ; 
 and at last got hold of a long pole, and we were going to draw lots 
 to decide who should first climb up, when a noise of chains sud- 
 denly broke the silence of night. 
 
 A dog came out from a kennel placed in an angle of the court ; 
 we stood motionless and held our breath, for it was an important 
 
90 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 moment. After having stretched himself out and yawned, as if he 
 had only wanted to change place, the animal put one foot into his 
 kennel as if about to return, and we then thought ourselves saved. 
 Suddenly he turned his head to the place in which we were huddled 
 together, and fixed on us two eyes which looked like burning coals. 
 A low growling was then followed with barkings which sounded all 
 over the place. Desfosseux wished to try and cut his throat, but 
 he was of a size to render the issue of a contest doubtful. It ap- 
 peared best to us to lie down in a large open space, which served 
 as a walking ground for the idiots ; but the dog still kept up the 
 concert, and, his colleagues having joined him, the din became so 
 excessive that the Inspector Giroux, fancying something particular 
 was passing amongst his lodgers, and knowing his customers, began 
 his round by Fort-Mahon, and almost fell backwards at finding no 
 one. At his cries the gaoler, turnkeys, and guard, all assembled. 
 They soon discovered the road we had taken, and taking the same 
 to get into the court of the idiots, they loosened the dog, who ran 
 straight at us. The guards then entered the place where we were 
 with fixed bayonets, as if about to carry a redoubt. They put 
 handcuffs on us, the usual prelude of any important matter to be 
 done in a prison ; and we then returned, not to Fort-Mahon, 
 but to the Dungeon, without, however, experiencing any bad 
 treatment. 
 
 This attempt, the boldest of which the prison had for a long 
 time been the theatre, threw the keepers into so much confusion, 
 that it was two days before they perceived that one of the prisoners 
 of Fort-Mahon was missing : it was Desfosseux. Knowing all his 
 address, I thought him at a distance, when, on the morning of the 
 third day, I saw him enter my dungeon, pale, exhausted, and 
 bleeding. When the door was closed on him he told me all his 
 adventure. 
 
 At the moment when the guard had seized us, he had squatted 
 down in a sort of tub, probably used for baths, and hearing no 
 noise, he had left his retreat : and the pole had aided him in 
 climbing several walls : but yet he always got back to the idiots' 
 court. Day was just breaking, and he heard footsteps going and 
 coming in the buildings, for they are nowhere earlier than in hos- 
 pitals. It was necessary to avoid the gaze of the turnkey, who 
 would soon be in the courts : the wicket of a room was half open 
 he glided in, and was about, with much precaution, to roll him- 
 <elf in a large heap of straw ; but what was his astonishment to see 
 it occupied by a man naked, his hair dishevelled, beard long, and 
 c j ye haggard and bloodshot. The madman, for such he was, looked 
 ... Desfosseux with a fierce air, then made him a quick sign : and 
 
A TERRIBLE COMPANION. 91 
 
 as he stood still, darted at him as if to attack him. A. few caresses 
 seemed to appease him : he took Desfosseux by the hand and 
 made him sit down beside him, heaping all the straw round him in 
 the manner and with the gestures of a monkey. At eight o'clock 
 a morsel of black bread fell in at the door, which he took up, 
 looked at, threw into a heap of dirt, and then picked it up and began 
 to eat. During the day more bread was brought ; but as the mad- 
 man was asleep, Desfosseux seized and devoured it, at the risk of 
 being himself devoured by his terrible companion, who might have 
 been enraged at the abstraction of his pittance. At twilight the 
 madman awoke, and talked for some time with inconceivable volu- 
 bility ; night came on and his excitement sensibly increased, and 
 he began to leap about and make hideous contortions, shaking his 
 chains with a kind of pleasure. 
 
 In this appalling situation Desfosseux waited with impatience 
 until the madman fell asleep, to go out at the wicket. About 
 midnight, hearing him move no longer, he advanced first one leg 
 and then the other, when he was seized by the madman with a 
 powerful grasp, who threw him on the straw and placed himself 
 before the wicket, where he remained till daylight motion'ess as a 
 statue. The next night another attempt, and another obstacle. 
 Desfosseux, who grew distracted, employed his strength, and a tre- 
 mendous struggle ensued : Desfosseux. being struck by his chains, 
 and covered with bites and blows, was compelled to call for the 
 keepers. They, mistaking him at first for one of the madmen who 
 had got loose, were also about to put him in a cell; but he managed 
 to make himself known, and at length obtained the favour of being 
 brought back to us. 
 
 We remained eight days in the dungeon, after which I was put 
 in the Chausse'e, where I found a party of prisoners who had re- 
 ceived me so well on my arrival. They were making good cheer 
 and denied themselves nothing ; for, independently of the money 
 procured by the ' Letters of Jerusalem,' they had got a supply from 
 some females whom they knew, and who constantly visited them. 
 Having become, as at Douai, the object of special vigilance, I still 
 sought to escape : when at length the day arrived for the departure 
 of the chain. 
 
92 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Captain Viez and Lieut. Thierry Complaint of the galley-slaves The galley- 
 sergeants encourage plundering Useless attempt to escape The Bagne at 
 Brest Another escape. 
 
 IT was the 2oth of November, 1797 : all the morning we remarked 
 a more than usual commotion in the prison. The prisoners had not 
 left their cells, and the gates were every moment opened and shut 
 with much noise : the gaolors went to and fro with a busy air, and 
 they were knocking off irons in the great court, of which the sound 
 reached our ears. About eleven o'clock two men, clothed in blue 
 uniforms, entered Fort-Mahon, where for eight days I had been 
 replaced with the companions of my essay to escape : it was the 
 captain of the chain and his lieutenant. 'Well,' said the captain, 
 smiling in a kind of familiar way, * have we any return horses 
 (fugitive galley-slaves) ?' And whilst he spoke all pressed about, 
 trying who should testify most respect to him. ' Good day, M. 
 Viez : good day, M. Thierry/ resounded on all sides. These salu- 
 tations were even repeated by the prisoners who had never seen 
 either Viez or Thierry, but who, assuming an air of acquaintance, 
 hoped to get some favour. It was no wonder if Viez was a little 
 giddy with so much applause ; but as he was accustomed to these 
 homages it did not quite turn his brain, and he knew very well 
 what he was about. He perceived Desfosseux. ' Ah ! ah !' said 
 he, * here is a darby cutter (one skilled in cutting off his chains), 
 who has travelled before with us. I heard that you had a narrow 
 escape of being a head shorter (guillotined) at Douai, my boy. 
 You escaped well, by Jove ; for look you, it is better to go back 
 to the meadow (Bagne) than let the executioner play at pitch and 
 toss with your knowledge-box (head). Besides, my lads, let the 
 world be quiet, and we shall get beef and celery.' The captain 
 had only begun his inspection, and continued it, addressing similar 
 jokes to all his ' merchandise,' for by that name he called the con- 
 demned prisoners. 
 
 The critical moment arrived, and we went into the Cours des 
 Fers, where the house-surgeon came to us to examine if we were 
 all in a state to bear the fatigues of a journey. We were all pro- 
 nounced adequate, although some were in a most woful plight. 
 Each prisoner then puts off the prison livery and assumes his own 
 clothes ; those who have none have a frock and trousers of pack- 
 ing-cloth, insufficient to protect them from the cold and damp. 
 Hats and clothes, if at all decent, belonging to the prisoners, are 
 
THE GALLEY-CHAIN. 93 
 
 torn in a particular way, to prevent escape ; they take, for instance, 
 the border off the hat and the collar from the coat. No prisoner 
 is allowed to retain more than six francs ; the overplus is given to 
 the captain, who gives it on the route in proportion as it is needed. 
 This precaution is easily eluded by placing louis in large sous 
 hollowed out. 
 
 These preliminaries adjusted, we went into the great court, 
 where were the guards of the chain, better known as argousins, or 
 galley sergeants, who were for the most part men of Auvergne, 
 water-carriers, messengers, or coalmen, who carried on their trade 
 in the intervals between the journeys. In the midst of them was 
 a large wooden chest, containing the fetters which are used in all 
 similar expeditions. We were made to approach two and two, 
 taking care to match us in height, by means of a chain of six feet 
 in length, united to the cordon of twenty-six prisoners, who could 
 thus only move in a body ; each was confined to the chain by a 
 sort of iron triangle, called the cravat, which, opening on one side 
 by a turning screw, is closed on the other with a nail firmly 
 riveted. This is the most perilous part of the operation; the 
 most turbulent and riotous then keep quiet, for at the least move- 
 ment, instead of falling on the anvil, the blows would break their 
 skull, which every stroke of the hammer grazes. Then a prisoner 
 comes with long scissors and cuts off the hair and whiskers of the 
 prisoners, pretending to leave them irregular. 
 
 At five in the evening, the fettering was finished ; the argousins 
 retired, and the prisoners alone remained. Left to themselves, 
 far from despairing, these men gave themselves up to all the tumults 
 of riotous gaiety. Some vociferated horrible jokes, echoed from 
 all sides with the most disgusting shouts ; others amused them- 
 selves by provoking the stupid laughter of their companions by 
 beastly gestures. Neither the ears nor the modesty were even 
 spared : all that was heard or seen was immoral and discordant. 
 It is too true that, once loaded with fetters, the condemned thinks 
 himself obliged to trample under foot all that is honoured and 
 respected by the society which has cast him off; there are for him 
 no longer any restraints, but from material obstacles ; his charter 
 is the length of his chain, and he knows no law but the stick to 
 which his gaoler accustoms him. Thrown amidst beings to whom 
 nothing is .sacred, he takes care how he testifies that steady resig- 
 nation which betokens repentance ; for then he would be the butt 
 of a thousand jokes, and his keepers, troubled at his serious mood, 
 would accuse him of meditating some plot. It is best, if he would 
 keep them unsuspicious of his intentions, that he should always 
 appear reckless and abandoned. A prisoner who sports with his 
 
94 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 destiny is never an object of mistrust the experience of the greater 
 part of the wretched beings who have escaped from the Bagne 
 proves this. What is certain is, that with us, those who had the 
 greatest interest in escaping were the least dejected ; they were the 
 leaders. When night came on, they began to sing. Imagine fifty 
 scoundrels, the greater part drunk, all screeching different airs. 
 In the midst of this din a ' return horse ' thundered out with the 
 lungs of a Stentor some couplets of ' The Galley Slave's Com- 
 plaint.' 
 
 All our companions were not so happy ; in the third cordon, 
 composed of the least disorderly, we heard sobs, saw tears flow- 
 ing ; but these symptoms of grief, or of repentance, were hailed by 
 the shouts and threats of the two other cordons, where I figured 
 in the first rank as a dangerous fellow, from my address and influ- 
 ence. I had near me two men one a schoolmaster condemned 
 for rape : and the other an ex-officer of health, sentenced for forg- 
 ing who, without mirth or melancholy, talked together with a 
 very calm and natural tone. 
 
 * We are going to Brest/ said the schoolmaster. 
 
 ' Yes,' answered the officer of health, ' we are going to Brest ; I 
 know the country, I passed through it when I was sub-aide de-camp, 
 in the i6th Brigade a good country, upon my word I shall not 
 be sorry to see it again.' 
 
 ' Is there much amusement?' asked the pedagogue. 
 
 ' Amusement !' said his companion, with an air of astonishment. 
 
 ' Yes, amusement I ask you, if we can procure my little plea- 
 sure if we are well treated, if provisions are cheap.' 
 
 ' In the first place, you will be taken care of,' replied the officer, 
 'and well taken care of; for at the Bagne at Brest only two hours 
 are needed to find all the beans in the soup, while at Toulon the 
 search would take eight days.' 
 
 Here the conversation was interrupted by loud cries, proceed- 
 ing from the second division. They were knocking on the head 
 three prisoners, the ex-commissary of war Lemiere, the staff-major 
 Simon, and a robber named the Petit Matelot (little sailor), who 
 were accused of having betrayed their comrades by information, 
 or of having defeated some plot in prison. The person who had 
 pointed them out to the vengeance of the galley-slaves was a 
 young man who would have been a good study for a painter or 
 an actor. With dilapidated green slippers, a hunting-waistcoat 
 destitute of buttons, and nankeen pantaloons, which seemed to 
 defy the inclemency of the weather ; his head-dress was a helmet 
 without a peak, through the holes of which a tattered night-cap 
 was visible. In the Bkeire, he was only known by the name of 
 
IN FETTERS. 95 
 
 * mademoiselle,' and I learnt that he was one of those degraded 
 wretches who abandon themselves in Paris to a course of the most 
 disgusting debaucheries. The argousins, who ran at the first noise, 
 did not give themselves the least trouble to get the Petit Matelot 
 from the hands of the galley-slaves, and he died four days after- 
 wauls of the blows he had received. Lemiere and Simon would 
 also have perished but for my interference ; I had known the 
 former when in the roving army, where he had rendered me some 
 service. I declared that it was he who had supplied me with the 
 tools necessary for undermining the walls at Fort-Mahon, and 
 thenceforward they left him and his companion unmolested. 
 
 We passed the night on the stones in a church, then converted 
 into a magazine. The argousins made regular rounds to assure 
 themselves that no one was engaged in fiddling (sawing their 
 fetters). At daybreak we were all on foot ; the lists were read over, 
 and the fetters examined. At six o'clock we were placed in long 
 cars, back to back, the legs hanging down outside, covered with 
 hoarfrost and motionless from cold. On reaching St. Cyr we 
 were entirely stripped, to undergo a scrutiny which extended to 
 our stockings, shoes, shirt, mouth, ears, nostrils, etc., etc. It was 
 not only the files in cases which they sought, but also for watch- 
 springs, which enable a prisoner to cut his fetters in less than three 
 hours. This examination lasted for upwards of an hour, and it is 
 really a miracle that one-half of us had not our noses or feet frozen 
 off with cold. At bed-time, we were heaped together in a cattle stall, 
 where we laid so close that the body of one served for the pillow 
 of the person who laid nearest to him, and if any individual got 
 entangled in his own, or any other man's chain, a heavy cudgel 
 rained down a torrent of blows on the hapless offender. As soon 
 as we had laid down on a few handfuls of straw, which had already 
 been used for the litter of the stable, a whistle blew to command 
 us to the most absolute silence, which was not allowed to be dis- 
 turbed by the least complaint, even when, to relieve the guard 
 placed at the extremity of the stable, the argousins actually walked 
 over our bodies. 
 
 The supper consisted of a pretended bean soup, and a few 
 morsels of half-mouldy bread. The distribution was made from 
 large wooden troughs, containing thirty rations ; and the cook, 
 armed with a large pot-ladle, did not fail to repeat to each prisoner, 
 as he served him, ' One, two, three, four, hold out your porringer, 
 you thief;' the wine was put into the same trough from which the 
 soup and meat were served out, and then an argousin, taking a 
 whistle, hanging to his button-hole, blew it thrice ; "saying, 'Atten- 
 tion, robbers, and only answer by a yes ; or a no. Have you had 
 
96 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 bread ?' ' Yes.' < Soup ?' < Yes.' ' Meat ?' ' Yes.' Wine ?' 
 * Yes.' ' Then go to sleep, or pretend to do so.' 
 
 A table was laid out at the door, at which the captain, lieutenant, 
 and chief argousins seated themselves to take a repast superior to 
 ours ; for these men, who profited by all occasions to extort money 
 from the prisoners, took excellent care of themselves, and ate and 
 drank abundantly. At this moment the stable offered one of the 
 most hideous spectacles that can be imagined ; on one side were a 
 hundred and twenty men herded together like foul beasts, rolling 
 about their haggard eyes, whence fatigue or misery banished sleep ; 
 on the other side, eight ill-looking fellows were eating greedily 
 without, not for one moment losing sight of their carbines or their 
 clubs. A few miserable candles, affixed to the blackened walls of 
 the stable, cast a murky glare over this scene of horror, the silence 
 of which was only broken by stifled groans, or the clank of fetters. 
 Not content with striking us indiscriminately, the argousins made 
 their detestable and brutal witticisms about the prisoners ; and if a 
 man, fevered with thirst, asked for water, they said to him, ' Let 
 him who wants water put out his hand.' The wretch obeyed, mis- 
 trusting nothing, and was instantly overwhelmed with blows. Those 
 who had any money were necessarily careful ; they were but very 
 few, the long residence of the majority in prison having, for the 
 most part, exhausted their feeble resources. 
 
 These were not the only abuses which marked the progress of 
 the galley-chain. To economize to his own profit the expenses of 
 the journey, the captain generally made one of the cordons to go 
 on foot. But this cordon was always that of the strongest men, 
 that is, the most turbulent of the condemned. Woe to the females 
 whom they met, or the shops which they came near. The women 
 were assaulted in the grossest manner, and the shops stripped in a 
 twinkling, as I saw, at Morlaix, at a grocer's, who did not save even 
 a loaf of sugar, or a pound of soap. It may be asked, what the 
 guards were about during the commission of this offence ? The 
 guards were pretending to be very busily preventing it, but without 
 opposing any real obstacle to it, knowing that they would ultimately 
 profit by the plunder, since the prisoners must sell their booty 
 through their medium, or exchange with them for strong liquors. 
 It was the same with the thefts made on the prisoners who were 
 added to the chain in its passage ; scarcely were they ironed, when 
 their neighbours hustled them, and took from them all the little 
 sums they might have. 
 
 Far from preventing or checking these spoliations, the argousins 
 even suggested them, as I saw them do with an ex-gendarme who 
 had sewed up a few louis in his leather breeches, * Here is some 
 
 
 
PONT-A-LEZEN. 97 
 
 fat !' said they, and in less than three minutes the poor devil was 
 penniless. At such times the party attacked calls out loudly for 
 the argousins, who take good care not to approach until the robbery 
 be perfected, and they thump, with heavy cudgels, the poor wretch 
 who has been plundered. At Rennes, the bandits I am speaking 
 of carried their infamy to such an extent, as to despoil a sister of 
 charity, who had brought us some tobacco and money, in a stall 
 where we were to pass the night. The most crying of these abuses 
 have disappeared, but many yet exist, which it will be difficult to 
 root out, if we consider to what sort of men the conducting of 
 the chain must be intrusted, and the materials they have to work 
 upon. 
 
 Our toilsome journey endured for twenty-four days, and on 
 reaching Pont-a-Lezen we were placed in the depot of the Bagne, 
 when the prisoners perform a kind of quarantine, until they have 
 recovered from their fatigue, and it has been ascertained whether 
 they have any contagious disease. On our arrival we were washed 
 in pairs, in large tubs filled with warm water, and on quitting the 
 bath our clothes were allotted to us. I received, like the others, a 
 red frock or cassock, two pair of trousers, two sailcloth shirts, two 
 pair of shoes, and a green cap ; each garment and article was 
 marked with the initials GAL, and the cap had besides a tin plate, 
 on which was the number of the entry in the register. When they 
 had given us our clothing, they riveted an iron ring round the leg, 
 but did not couple us. 
 
 The depot of Pont-a-Lezen being a sort of lazzaretto, there was 
 not a very rigorous vigilance kept up. I was even told that it was 
 easy to get out of the rooms and climb the outside walls. I learnt 
 this from a man named Blondy, who had once escaped this way 
 from the Bagne at Brest, and hoping to profit by this information, 
 I made arrangements to avail myself of the first opportunity. We 
 sometimes had loaves given to us, weighing eighteen pounds each, 
 and on quitting Morlaix I had hollowed out one of these and filled 
 it with a shirt, a pair of trousers, and some handkerchiefs. It was 
 a new kind of portmanteau, and passed unsuspected. Lieutenant 
 Thierry had not given me to a special watch ; on the contrary, 
 having learnt the grounds of my condemnation, he had told the 
 commissary, when speaking of me, that with men as orderly as I 
 was, he could manage the chain as easily as a girls' school I had 
 when inspired no mistrust, and looked about me to execute my 
 project I, at first, contemplated cutting through the wall of the 
 room in which I was placed. A steel chisel, left by accident at 
 the foot of my bed by a turnkey prisoner, who riveted the ankle 
 .u^6 3 served me to make the opening, whilst Blondy cut my irons,. 
 
98 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 This completed, my comrades made a figure of straw, which they 
 put in my place, to deceive the vigilance of the argousins on guard, 
 and soon, clothed in the garments I had concealed, I got into the 
 courtyard of the depot. The walls which environed it were at least 
 fifteen feet high, and to climb them I found I must get something 
 like a ladder ; a pole served as a proxy, but it was so heavy and so 
 long that it was impossible for me to drag it over the wall, to aid 
 my descent on the other side. After many trials, as vain as they 
 were painful, I was compelled to risk the leap, in which I suc- 
 ceeded so badly, and came down with so much violence on my 
 legs, that I could scarcely drag myself into a bush that was near. 
 I hoped that when the pain had somewhat abated I could escape 
 before daybreak, but it became more excessive, and my feet swelled 
 so prodigiously, that I was compelled to give up all hopes of escape. 
 I dragged myself along, as well as I was able, to the door of the 
 depot, to return to my cell, thinking thereby to diminish the number 
 of blows which would be assuredly bestowed upon me. A sister 
 whom I asked for, and to whom I told all, had me conveyed into 
 a room where my feet were dressed. This excellent woman, who 
 compassionated my lot, went to the commandant of the depot, 
 and obtained my pardon by her solicitations, and at the end 
 of three weeks, being completely recovered, I was conveyed to 
 Brest. 
 
 The Bagne is situated in the bosom of the bay ; piles of guns, 
 and two pieces of cannon, mounted at the gates, pointed out to 
 me the entrance, into which I was introduced, after having been 
 examined by the two guards of the establishment. The boldest of 
 the condemned, however hardened, have confessed that it is im- 
 possible to express the emotions of horror excited by the first 
 appearance of this abode of wretchedness. Each room containing 
 twenty night camp couches, called banes (benches), on which lie 
 six hundred fettered convicts, in long rows, with red garbs, heads 
 shorn, eyes haggard, dejected countenances, whilst the perpetual 
 clank of fetters conspires to fill the soul with horror. But this 
 impression on the convict soon passes away, who, feeling that here 
 he has no cause to blush at the presence of anyone, soon identifies 
 himself with his situation. That he may not be the butt of the 
 gross jests and filthy buffoonery of his fellows, he affects to par- 
 ticipate in them ; he even exceeds them ; and soon in tone and 
 gesture this conventional depravity gets hold of his heart. Thus, 
 at Anvers, an ex-bishop experienced, at first, all the outpourings 
 of the riotous jokes of his companions ; they always addressed him 
 as monseigneur, and asked his blessing in all their obscenities ; at 
 every moment they constrained him to profane his former character 
 
AT THE BAGNE. 99 
 
 by blasphemous words, and, by dint of reiterating these impieties, 
 he contrived to shake off their attacks ; at a subsequent period he 
 became the public- house keeper at the Bagne, and was always 
 styled monseigneur, but he was no longer asked for absolution, 
 for he would have answered with the grossest blasphemies. 
 
 The inconveniences and abuses that existed at the prison of 
 Brest, when I was conducted thither, were additional inducements 
 to make my sojourn as brief as possible. In such a situation, the 
 first thing is to assure one's self of the discretion of the comrade with 
 whom we may be coupled. Mine was a vine-cutter from Dijon, 
 about thirty years old, condemned to twenty-four years' labour for 
 forcible burglary ; already half an idiot, misery and brutal treat- 
 ment had completely stupefied him. Bowed beneath the stick, he 
 seemed to have just preserved the instinct of a monkey or a dog, 
 and thus answered the whistle of the galley-sergeants. He was of 
 no use to me, and I was compelled to look out for a mate who would 
 not fear or shrink from the prospective beatings which are always 
 liberally bestowed on convicts suspected of favouring, or even con- 
 niving at the escape of a prisoner. To get rid of Bourguignon, I 
 feigned indisposition, and he was yoked to another, and when I 
 recovered, 1 was placed with a poor devil sentenced to eight years' 
 labour for stealing chickens from a church. 
 
 He had not entirely parted with his senses, and the first time we 
 were alone together, said to me * Listen, comrade ; I can see you 
 do not mean to live long at the public expense be frank with me, 
 and you will not lose by it.' I told him that I intended to escape 
 at the first opportunity. * Well,' said he, 'I advise you to bolt before 
 the beasts of sergeants are quite acquainted with your phiz but 
 have you any cash ?' I told him that I had, and he then informed 
 me that he could procure me other habiliments, but that I must 
 buy a few utensils like one who meant to work out his time quietly. 
 These utensils were two wooden bowls, a wine-keg, straps to support 
 my fetters, and a small mattress stuffed with oakum. It was Thurs- 
 day, the sixteenth day of my confinement at the Bagne, and on the 
 Saturday evening I obtained sailor's clothe^ which I immediately 
 put on under my convict's frock. On paying the seller of them, 
 I saw that he had about his wrists round cicatrices of deep burns, 
 and I learnt, that being condemned to the galleys for life in 1776, 
 he had been put to the torture at Rennes, without confessing the 
 robbery of which he was accused. On the promulgation of the 
 code of 1791, his sentence was commuted to twenty-four years' 
 labour at the galleys. 
 
 The next day, my division went out, at the cannon's signal, to 
 work at the pump, which was always in motion. At the wicket 
 
 72 
 
ioo MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 they examined, as usual, our manacles and clothing; knowing this 
 practice, I had pasted over my sailor's garb a bladder painted flesh 
 colour. As I purposely left my frock and shirt open, none of the 
 guards thought of examining me more closely, and I got out un- 
 suspected. Arrived at the basin, I retired with my comrade behind 
 a pile of planks, and my fetters, having been cut the previous even- 
 ing, soon yielded. Having got rid of these, I soon threw off my 
 galley-frock and trousers, and putting on under my leathern cap a 
 wig which I had brought from Bicetre, and having given my com- 
 rade the trifling recompense which I had promised him, I dis- 
 appeared, cautiously gliding behind the piles of timber. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Pursuit of the galley-slave The hospital The mother of robbe s. 
 
 I PASSED through the wicket without difficulty, and found myself 
 in Brest, a place entirely unknown to me ; and the fear that my 
 doubt as to what road I should take might induce suspicion in- 
 creased my uneasiness. At length, after a thousand ins and outs, 
 turnings and twistings, I reached the only gate of the city, where 
 was always stationed an old galley-guard, named Lachique, who 
 detected a convict by a look, a motion, or a turn ; and what ren- 
 dered his observations more easy is, that whoever passes any time 
 at the Bagne, drags habitually and involuntarily that leg to which 
 the fetter has been fastened. However, it was necessary to pass 
 this dreaded personage, who was smoking very sedately, fixing his 
 hawk's eye on all who went in and came out. I had been warned, 
 and determining to exercise all my effrontery, on getting up to 
 Lachique, I put down a pitcher of buttermilk, which I had pur- 
 chased to render my disguise the more complete, and filling my 
 pipe, I asked him for a light. He gave it readily, and with all the 
 courtesy he was capable of, and after we had blown a few whiffs in 
 each other's faces, I left him and went on my way. 
 
 I went straight forward for three-quarters of an hour, when I 
 heard the cannon shots which were fired to announce the escape 
 fA a convict, so that the peasantry of the neighbourhood may be 
 informed that there is a reward of one hundred francs to be ob- 
 tained by the lucky individual who may apprehend the fugitive. I 
 saw many persons armed with guns and scythes scour about the 
 country, and beat every bush, and even the smallest tufts of heath. 
 Some labourers appeared to take their arms out with them as a 
 precaution, for I saw several quit their work with a gun which they 
 
A READY RUSE. lot 
 
 took out of a furrow. One of these latter passed near me in a cross 
 road which I had taken on hearing the report of the cannon, but 
 they had no suspicion of me, for I was clad very well, and my hat 
 being off by reason of the heat, they saw my hair curled, which 
 could not be the case with a convict. 
 
 I continued striking into all the by-ways, and avoiding towns and 
 detached houses. At twilight I met two women, whom I asked 
 about the road, but they answered me in a dialect which I did not 
 comprehend, but on showing them some money, and making signs 
 that I was hungry, they conducted me to a small village to a 
 cabaret, kept by the garde-champetre (patrol), whom I saw in the 
 chimney nook, decorated with his insignia of office. I was for a 
 moment disturbed, but soon recovering myself, I said I wished to 
 speak to the mayor. ' I am he,' said an old countryman with a 
 woollen cap and wooden shoes, seated at a small table and eating 
 an oaten cake. This was a fresh disappointment to me, who 
 relied on escaping in my way from the cabaret to the mayor's 
 house. However, I had the difficulty to contend with, and surpass 
 in some way or other. I told the wooden-shoed functionary, that 
 having lost myself on leaving Morlaix for Brest, I had wandered 
 about, and asking him at the same time how far it was from this 
 latter city, and expressing a desire to sleep there that evening 
 'You are five leagues from Brest,' said he, 'and it is impossible 
 to reach it this evening : if you will sleep here, I will give you a 
 bed in my barn, and to-morrow you can start with the garde-cham- 
 petre, who is going to carry back a fugitive convict whom we ap- 
 prehended yesterday.' 
 
 These last words renewed all my terrors, for by the tone in 
 which they were uttered, I saw that the mayor had not credited 
 the whole of my story. I, however, accepted his obliging offer ; 
 but after supper, at the instant we reached the barn, putting my 
 hands in my pockets, I cried out with all the energy of a man in 
 despair ' Oh, heavens ! I have left at Morlaix my pocket-book, 
 with my passport and eight double louis. I must return this mo- 
 ment, yes, this very moment; but how shall I find my way? If 
 the patrol, who knows the road, would go with me, we should be 
 back in time in the morning to set out early with the galley-slave.' 
 This proposal routed all suspicions, for a man who wishes to 
 escape seldom solicits the company he would fain avoid ; on the 
 other hand, the garde-champetre, smelling a reward, had buttoned 
 on his gaiters at the first word. We set out accordingly* and at 
 break of day reached Morlaix. My companion, whom I had 
 taken care to ply well with liquor on the road, was already pretty 
 well in for it, and I completed him with some rum at the first pot- 
 
102 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 house we reached in the city. He stayed there to wait for me at 
 the table, or rather under the table, and he might have waited 
 long enough. 
 
 I asked the first person I met to direct me to Cannes, and on 
 being told, I set out, as the Dutch proverb has it, ' with my feet 
 shod by fear.' Two days passed without accident, but on the 
 third, some leagues from Guemene", at the turning of the road, I 
 met two gendarmes, who were returning from duty. The unex- 
 pected vision of yellow breeches and laced hats gave me uneasi- 
 ness, and I made an effort to escape, when my two gentlemen 
 desired me to halt, making .at the same time a very significant 
 gesture with their carbines. They came up to me, and having no 
 credentials to show them, I invented a reply on the spur of the 
 moment. ' My name is Duval, born at 1'Orient, deserter from the 
 Cocarde frigate, now in the roadstead at St. Malo.' It is useless 
 to say, that I had learnt all this during my stay at the Bagne, 
 where we had daily accounts from all parts. * What !' cried the 
 chief, 'you must be Auguste son of father Duval, who lives at 
 1'Orient, on the terrace near the Boule d'Or.' I did not deny this, 
 for it would have been worse to have been detected as a fugitive 
 convict. ' Parbleu !' added the brigadier, ' I am sorry you are 
 caught, but that cannot now be helped; I must send you to 
 1'Orient or to St. Malo.' I begged him not to send me to the 
 former of these towns, not caring to be confronted with my new 
 relations, in case they should desire to confirm the identity of my 
 person. However, the quartermaster gave orders that I should 
 be conducted thither, and the next day I reached 1'Orient, when I 
 was entered in the gaoler's book, at Pontainau, the naval prison, 
 near the new Bagne, which was to be peopled by convicts brought 
 hither from Brest. 
 
 Being next day questioned by the commissary of the marine, I 
 again declared that I was Auguste Duval ; and that I had left my 
 ship without permission, to go and see my parents. I was then 
 led back to prison, where I found, amongst other sailors, a young 
 man of 1'Orient, accused of striking a lieutenant. Having talked 
 some time with him, he said to me one morning, ' My boy, if 
 you will pay for breakfast, I will tell you a secret worth knowing.' 
 
 His mysterious air disturbed me, and made me anxious to know 
 all ; and after breakfast he said to me, 'Trust to me and then I 
 can extricate you. I do not know who you are, but I am sure 
 you are not young Duval, for he has been dead these two years at 
 St. Pierre, at Martinique.' (I started.) 'Yes, he has been dead these 
 two years, but no one knows it, so well are our colonial hospitals 
 regulated Now, I can give you such statements about his family, 
 
AUGUSTE DUVAL. 103 
 
 that you may pass for him even with his parents, for he left home 
 when he was very young. To make quite sure, you can feign a 
 weakness of intellect, produced by sea toil and sickness. Besides, 
 before Auguste Duval went to sea he had a mark tattooed on his 
 left arm, as most sailors have ; I know it well ; it was an altar with 
 a garland on it If you will remain a fortnight in the cell with 
 me, I will mark you in a similar manner, so that all the world 
 could not detect the imposture.' 
 
 My friend appeared frank and open-hearted, and I may account 
 for the interest he took in me by his desire to trick justice, a feel- 
 ing that pervades the minds of all prisoners ; for them to deceive 
 it, mislead it, or delay it, is a pleasurable vengeance, which they 
 willingly purchase at the expense of a few weeks' confinement. 
 Here was such an opportunity, and the means were soon put in 
 action. Under the windows of our room was a sentinel, and we 
 began by pelting him with pieces of bread ; and as he threatened 
 to tell the gaoler of us, we dared him to put his menaces into 
 execution. On this, when he was relieved, the corporal, who was 
 a meddling fellow, went to the office ; and the next moment the 
 gaoler came to take us, without even telling us the reason of our 
 removal. But we soon found it out, on entering a sort of hole in 
 the sunken ditch, very damp but tolerably light. Scarcely were 
 we shut in, than my comrade commenced operations, in which he 
 perfectly succeeded. It consisted only in pricking my arm with 
 several needles tied together, and dipped in Indian ink and car- 
 mine. At the end of twelve days the wounds closed, so that it 
 was impossible to tell how long they had been made. My com- 
 panion also took advantage of this ' leisure undisturbed/ to give 
 me additional details concerning the Duval family, whom he had 
 known from childhood, and was in fact related to them, and in- 
 structed even in the minutest habitual trick of my Sosia, 
 
 These instructions were of unspeakable advantage to me when, 
 on the sixteenth day after our detention in the dungeon, I was 
 taken out to be confronted with my father, whom the commissary 
 of marine had sent for. My comrade had so well described him, 
 that I could not be mistaken on perceiving him. I threw my 
 arms about his neck ; he recognised me ; his wife, who came soon 
 after, recognised me ; a female cousin and an uncle recognised me ; 
 and I was so undoubtedly Auguste Duval, that the commissary 
 himself was convinced of it But this was not sufficient to procure 
 my liberation ; as a deserter from the Cocarde^ I was to be sent to 
 Saint Malo, where she had left several men at the hospital, and 
 then be tried before the maritime court To tell the truth, I felt 
 no alarm at this : certain that I should find means of escape on my 
 
104 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 journey, I set out at length, bathed with my parents' tears, and 
 the richer by several louis, which I added to the stock already 
 concealed about me. 
 
 Until we reached Quimper, where I was to be handed over to 
 another guard, no opportunity presented of bidding adieu to the 
 company of gendarmes who guarded me, as well as many other 
 individuals, robbers, smugglers, or deserters. We were placed in 
 the town gaol, and on entering the chamber where I was to pass 
 the night, I saw at the foot of the bed a red frock, marked on the 
 back GAL, initials but too well known to me. There, covered 
 with a tattered quilt, slept a man, whom, by his green cap decked 
 with the tin plate numbered, I recognised as a galley-slave. Would 
 he know, would he betray me ? I was in a spasm of fear, when 
 the individual, awakened by the noise of bolts and bars, sat up in 
 his bed, and I knew him to be a young fellow named Goupy, who 
 went to Brest at the same time as myself. He was condemned to 
 chains for life, for a forcible burglary in the environs of Bernai in 
 Normandy ; his father was a galley- sergeant at Brest, where, most 
 probably, he did not come first purely for change of air. Not 
 wishing to have him continually before his sight, he had procured 
 an order for his removal to the Bagne at Rochfort, and he was 
 then on -his road thither. I told him all my affairs, and he pro- 
 mised secresy, and kept his promise the more faithfully, as it would 
 have profited him nothing to betray me. 
 
 However, the guard did not stir immediately, and fifteen days 
 elapsed after my arrival at Quimper, without any mention of de- 
 parture. This delay gave me the idea of penetrating the wall and 
 escaping ; but having found the impossibility of success, I managed 
 so as to obtain the confidence of the gaoler, and got an oppor- 
 tunity of executing my project by inspiring him with an idea 
 of false security. After having told him that I had heard the 
 prisoners plotting something, I pointed out to him the place in the 
 prison where they had been at work. He made most minute 
 search, and naturally enough found the hole I had made ; and this 
 discovery procured for me all his kindness. I sometimes found 
 it overpowering, for the watch was kept so regularly that all my 
 schemes were routed. I began to think of going to the hospital, 
 where I hoped to be more fortunate in the execution of my pro- 
 jects. To give myself a high fever, it was only necessary to 
 swallow tobacco-juice for a couple of days, and then the doctors 
 ordered my removal. On getting to the house, I got in exchange 
 for my clothes a grey cap and cloak, and was then put along with 
 the rest. 
 
 It was a part of my plan to remain for some time at the hospital, 
 
IN HOSPITAL. 105 
 
 that I might know the ways in and out, but the illness caused by 
 the tobacco-juice would only last for three or four days, and it was 
 necessary to find some recipe which would bring on another com- 
 plaint ; for, knowing no one in the place, it was impossible for me 
 to get a supply of tobacco-juice. At Bicetre, I had been taught 
 how to produce those wounds and sores, by means of which so 
 many beggars excite public pity, and get those alms which cannot 
 be worse bestowed. Of all these expedients, I adopted that which 
 consisted in making the head swell like a bushel ; first, because 
 the doctors would certainly be mistaken ; and then because it gave 
 no pain, and all traces of it could be removed by the day following. 
 My head became suddenly of a prodigious size, and great was the 
 talk thereof amongst the doctors of the establishment, who not 
 being, as it appeared, blessed with a superabundance of skill, knew 
 not what to think of it. I believe some of them spoke of elephan- 
 tiasis, or of dropsy in the brain. But, be that as it may, their 
 brilliant consultation ended in the prescription most common in 
 hospitals, of putting me on the most strict regimen. 
 
 With money, such orders did not fret me ; but yet I had only 
 gold, and changing that might awaken suspicion. However, I 
 determined to try a liberated convict, who acted as infirmary 
 helper ; and this fellow, who would do anything for money, soon 
 procured for me what I desired. On my telling him that I was 
 desirous of getting out into the town for a few hours, he said, that 
 if I disguised myself, it would not be difficult, as the walls were 
 not very high. It was, he said, the way he and his companions 
 got out when they wanted anything. We agreed that he should 
 provide me with clothes, and that he should accompany me in my 
 nocturnal excursion, which was to be a visit to sup with some girls. 
 But the only clothes he could procure for me inside the hospital 
 were much too small, and we were compelled to suspend opera- 
 tions for a time. 
 
 Just at this time, one of the sisters of charity passed by my bed, 
 whom I had already watched in performing very mundane duties ; 
 not that Sister Franchise was one of those dandified nuns who 
 were ridiculed on the stage, before the young nuns were trans- 
 formed into boarders, and the white handkerchief was replaced by 
 the green apron. Sister Franoise was about thirty-four, a brunette, 
 with a deep colour, and her powerful charms created more than 
 one unhappy passion, as well amongst the soldiers as the infirmary 
 overseers. On seeing this seducing creature, who weighed perhaps 
 nearly fifteen stone, the idea occurred to me that I would borrow 
 for a short time her cloister garb. I spoke of it jestingly to my 
 overseer, but he took it as if meant seriously, and promised on the 
 
io6 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 ensuing night to get a part of Sister Frangoise's wardrobe. About 
 two in the morning, I saw him come with a parcel, containing a 
 gown, handkerchief, stockings, etc., which he had carried off from 
 the sister's cell whilst she was at matins. All my bedroom com- 
 panions, nine in number, were soundly asleep, but I went out to 
 put on my attire. What gave me the most trouble was the head- 
 dress. I had no idea of the mode of arranging it, and yet the 
 appearance of disorder in these garments, always arranged with a 
 scrupulous nicety, would have infallibly betrayed me. 
 
 At length Sister Vidocq finished her toilet, and we crossed the 
 courts and gardens, and reached a place where the wall could be 
 easily scaled. I then gave the overseer fifty francs, nearly all my 
 store ; he lent me a hand, and I was soon in a lonely spot, whence 
 I reached the country, guided by my indefinite directions. 
 Although much encumbered with my petticoats, I yet walked so 
 fast as to get on at least two leagues before sunrise. A country- 
 man whom I met going to sell his vegetables at Quimper, and 
 whom I questioned as to my road, told me that I was journeying 
 towards Brest. This was not the way for me, and I made the 
 fellow comprehend that I wished to go towards Rennes, and he 
 pointed out to me a cross road leading to the high route to this 
 city, which I immediately took, trembling at every moment, lest I 
 should meet any of the soldiers of the English army, then lying in 
 the villages between Nantes and Brest. About ten in the morning, 
 on reaching a small hamlet, I inquired if there were any soldiers 
 near, evincing much fear, which was real, however, lest they should 
 examine me, which would have led to a detection. The person 
 whom I asked was a sacristan, full of chatter and inquisitiveness, 
 who compelled me to enter the curate's house near at hand, to 
 take some refreshment. 
 
 The curate, an elderly man, whose face betrayed that bene- 
 volence so rare amongst the ecclesiastics who come into towns to 
 blazon forth their pretensions and conceal their immorality, re- 
 ceived me very kindly. * My dear sister,' said he, ' I was about to 
 celebrate mass ; as soon as that is over, you shall breakfast with 
 us.' I was then compelled to go to church, and it was no trifling 
 embarrassment for me to make the signs and genuflexions pre- 
 scribed to a nun. Fortunately, the curate's old female servant 
 was at my side, and I got through very well by imitating her in 
 every particular. Mass concluded, we sat down to table, and 
 interrogatories commenced. I told the good people that I was 
 going to Rennes to perform penance ; the curate asked nothing 
 more ; but the sacristan pressing me rather importunately to know 
 why I was thus punished, I told him, * Alas, it was for curiosity !' 
 

 THE BRITTANY PEASANT. 107 
 
 This closed the little man's mouth. My situation was, however, 
 one of difficulty : I was afraid to eat, lest I should betray too manly 
 an appetite ; and again, I more frequently said ' M. le Cure",' than 
 4 my dear brother :' so that my blunders would have betrayed all, 
 had I not terminated the breakfast. I found means, however, to 
 learn the names of the villages of the district, and, strengthened 
 by the blessings of the curate, who promised not to forget me in 
 his prayers, I went on my way somewhat more accustomed to my 
 new attire. 
 
 I met few people on my way the wars of the revolution had 
 depopulated the wretched country ; and I traversed the villages 
 whilst the inhabitants were all in bed. Arriving one night at a 
 hamlet, composed of a few houses, I knocked at the door of a 
 farm-house. An old woman came to open it to me, and conducted 
 me to a good-sized parlour. The family consisted of father, mother, 
 a young lad, and two girls, from fifteen to seventeen years of age 
 When I went in, they were making a kind of cake of buckwheat 
 flour, and were all around the frying pan. I expressed my desire 
 for some refreshment. Out of respect to my sacred office, they 
 gave me the first cakes, which I devoured without even feeling 
 that they were so burning hot as to scorch my palate. I have often 
 since sat down at sumptuous tables, where I have had abundance 
 of most exquisite wines, and meats of the most delicate and de- 
 licious flavour, but I can never forgot the cakes of the peasant 
 of Lower Brittany. 
 
 On the termination of supper we had prayers, and then the father 
 and mother lighted their pipes. Suffering greatly from agitation 
 and fatigue, I expressed a wish to retire. * We have no bed to give 
 you,' said the master of the house, who, having been a sailor, spoke 
 very good French: 'you shall sleep with my two girls.' I ob- 
 served to him, that going on a vow I must sleep on straw, adding 
 that I should be contented with a corner in the stable. * Oh !' 
 replied he ; 'in sleeping with Jeanne and Madelon you will not 
 break your vow, for the bed is only made of straw. Besides, you 
 cannot be in the stable, for that is already occupied by a tinker and 
 two soldiers, who asked my leave to pass the night there.' 1 could 
 say nothing more; and, but too glad to escape the soldiery, I 
 reached the boudoir of the young ladies. It was a loft filled with 
 cider apples, cheese, and smoked bacon : in one corner a dozen 
 fowls were roosting, and lower down were hutched eight rabbits. 
 The furniture consisted of a dilapidated pitcher, worm-eaten joint- 
 stool, and the fragment of a looking-glass ; the bed, like all in that 
 country, was only a chest shaped like a coffin, half-filled with straw, 
 and scarcely three feet wide. 
 
roS MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Here was a fresh embarrassment for me ; the two young girls 
 undressed very deliberately before me, who had many and good 
 reasons for seeming very shy. Independently of circumstances 
 that may be guessed, I had under my female attire a man's shirt, 
 which would betray my sex and my incognito. Not to be detected, 
 I took out a few pins very slowly, and when I saw the two sisters 
 had got into bed I overturned, as if by accident, the iron lamp 
 which lighted us, and then took off my feminine habits without 
 fear. On getting between the sail-cloth sheets, I laid down so as 
 to avoid all unlucky detection. It was a tormenting night : for 
 without being pretty, Mademoiselle Jeanne, who could not stir 
 without touching me, had a freshness and plumpness but too 
 attractive for a man condemned for so long a period to the rigours 
 of absolute celibacy ; those who have ever been in a similar situa- 
 tion will believe without difficulty that I could not sleep for a 
 single instant. 
 
 I was motionless, with my eyes open like a hare in its form, 
 when long before daylight I heard a knocking with the butt-end of 
 a musket against the door. My first idea, like every man in similar 
 circumstances, was that they had traced me, and were coming to ap- 
 prehend me; but I did not know where to conceal myself. The blows 
 were redoubled : and I then bethought me of the soldiers sleeping 
 in the stable, which dissipated my fears. * Who is there?' said the 
 master of the house, leaping up. ' Your soldiers.' 'Well, what do 
 you want ?' * Fire to light our pipes before we set off.' Our host 
 then arose, and blowing up the fire left in the ashes, he opened the 
 door to the soldiers. One of these, looking at his watch by the 
 lamp light, said, * It is half-past four o'clock. Come, let us go ; the 
 rations are in good order. Come, to the march, my lads.' They 
 went away, and our host, putting out the lamp, went to bed again. 
 As for me, not wishing to dress myself in presence of my bed- 
 fellows any more than undress myself, I immediately rose, and 
 lighting the lamp, put on my woollen gown, and then going down 
 on my knees in a corner, pretended to pray until the family should 
 awake. I did not remain long in waiting. At five o'clock in the 
 morning the mother cried from her bed, ' Jeanne, get up, and get 
 some soup ready for the sister, who wishes to depart early.' Jeanne 
 got up, and the butter-milk soup having been made and eaten 
 with good appetite, I left the good persons who had so kindly 
 welcomed me. 
 
 Having walked all day without flagging, I found myself at the 
 close of the day in a village near the environs of Vannes, when I 
 remembered I had been deceived by false or mistaken directions. 
 I slept at this village, and the next day I went through Vannes at 
 
THE ' MOTHER OF ROBBERS: 109 
 
 a very early hour. At the end of eight days' walk, I reached 
 Nantes, and I inquired for the He Feydeau. When at the Bicetre, 
 I had learnt from a man named Grenier, called the Nantais, that 
 there was in this quarter a kind of auberge, where robbers met 
 without fear of disturbance. I knew that by using a well-known 
 name I should be admitted without difficulty; but I only re- 
 membered the address very vaguely, and scarcely knew how and 
 where to find out the place. I adopted an expedient which suc- 
 ceeded. I went into many houses and asked for M. Grenier ; at 
 the fourth where I sought for this name, the hostess, leaving two 
 persons with whom she was conversing, took me into a small room 
 and said to me, ' Have you seen Grenier ? Is he still sick (in 
 prison) ?' ' No,' answered I, 'he is well (free);' and perceiving 
 that I was all right with the mother of robbers, I told her un- 
 hesitatingly who I was, and how I was situated. Without replying, 
 she took my arm, and opening a door let into the panel, made me 
 enter a low room where eight men and women were playing at 
 cards and drinking brandy, etc. * Here,' said my guide, presenting 
 me to the goodly party, much astonished at the appearance of a 
 nun, 'here is a sister come to convert you all.' At the same time 
 I tore off my handkerchief, and three of the party, whom I had 
 met at the Bagne, recognised me ; they were Berry, Bidaut Mauger, 
 and the young Goupy, whom T had met at Quimper ; the others 
 were fugitives from the Bagne of Rochfort. They were much 
 amused at my disguise ; and when supper had made us all very 
 jolly, one of the females put on my nun's habits, and her 
 gestures and attitudes contrasted so strangely with this costume, 
 that we all laughed till we cried, until the moment when we went 
 to bed. 
 
 On waking, I found on my bed new clothes, linen, and in fact 
 everything necessary for my toilet. Whence did they come ? but 
 this was of no consequence. The little money which I had not 
 expended at the Hospital of Quimper, where I paid dearly for 
 everything, had been used on my journey; and without clothes, 
 resources, or acquaintances, I was compelled to wait until I could 
 write to my mother ; and in the meantime accepted all that was 
 offered me. But one circumstance of a particular nature abridged 
 my stay at the He Feydeau. At the end of a week, my com- 
 panions, seeing me perfectly recovered from my fatigues, told me 
 one evening that they intended on the next day to break into a 
 house on the Place Graslin, and relied on my going with them : 
 I was even to have the post of honour, that of working inside with 
 Mauger. 
 
 But I did not intend to do this, and thought how I could make 
 
i io MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 use of the circumstance to get away and go to Paris, where, near 
 my family, my resources would not fail me ; but it never entered 
 into my calculations to enrol myself in a band of thieves ; for 
 although I had associated with robbers, and lived by my wits, I felt 
 an invincible repugnance to entering on a career of crimes, of which 
 early experience had taught me the perils and risks. A refusal 
 would, on the other hand, render me suspected by my new com- 
 panions, who, in this retreat, secure from sight or hearing, could 
 knock me on the head with impunity, and send me to keep com- 
 pany with the salmon and smelts of the Loire ; and I had only one 
 course to take, which was to set out as quickly as possible, and 
 this I resolved on doing. 
 
 Having exchanged my new clothes for a countryman's frock and 
 eighteen francs to boot, I left Nantes, carrying at the end of a stick 
 a basket of provisions, which gave me at once the appearance of 
 an inhabitant of the environs. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Cholet Arrival at Paris Captain Villedieu. 
 
 ON quitting Nantes, I walked for a day and two nights without 
 stopping at any village, and my provisions were exhausted ; still I 
 went on haphazard, although decided on reaching Paris or the sea- 
 shore, hoping to get to sea in some ship, when I reached the first 
 habitations of a town which appeared to have been lately the scene 
 of a combat. The greater part of the houses were nothing but a 
 heap of rubbish, blackened by fire, and all that surrounded the 
 place had been entirely destroyed. Nothing was standing but the 
 church tower, whence the clock was striking the hour for inhabi- 
 tants who no longer existed. This scene of desolation presented 
 at the same time the most whimsical occurrences. On the only 
 piece of wall which remained belonging to an auberge were still 
 the words ' Good entertainment for man and horse ;' there the 
 soldiers were watering their horses in the holy-water vessels ; 
 farther on, their companions were dancing to the tune of an organ 
 with the countrywomen, who, ruined and wretched, had prostituted 
 themselves to the Blues (Republicans) for bread. By the traces 
 of this war of extermination we might have thought ourselves in 
 the midst of the wilds of America, or the oases of the desert, where 
 barbarous tribes were cutting each other's throats with blind fury. 
 Yet there had only been on both sides Frenchmen : but every 
 species of fanaticism made rendezvous there. I was in La Vende'e, 
 at Cholet, 
 
CHOLET. m 
 
 The mastei of a wretched cabaret, thatched with broom, where 
 I halted, gave me my cue, by asking me if I had come to Cholet 
 for the next day's market. I answered in the affirmative, much 
 astonished that one should be held in the midst of these ruins, 
 and even that the farmers of the environs had anything, to sell ; 
 but my host told me that scarcely anything was brought to this 
 market but cattle from distant districts ; on the other hand, 
 although no one had yet done anything to repair the disasters of 
 the war, the amnesty was nearly terminated by General Hoche, 
 and if Republican soldiers were still found in the country it was 
 that they might keep down the chouans (a contraction of the word 
 chathuant, a screech-owl ; a title given to parties of Vende'eans, 
 and afterwards to bands formed for plunder, who ravaged the 
 western part of France subsequently to 1793, and were called by 
 this name because, like owls, they came out only at night), who 
 were becoming formidable. 
 
 I went to the market early the next day, and thinking to take 
 advantage of it, I accosted a cattle-dealer, whose face was familiar 
 to me, asking him to listen to me for a moment He looked at 
 me with distrust, taking me probably for a spy, but I hastened to 
 relieve his suspicions, telling him that it was only a personal affair. 
 We then entered a hovel where they sold brandy, and I then told 
 him that having deserted from the 36th demi-brigade to see my 
 parents, who lived at Paris, I was desirous of getting some situa- 
 tion which would allow me to reach my destination without fear 
 of arrest This good fellow told me that he had no situation to 
 offer me, but that if I would drive a drove of oxen as far as Sceaux, 
 I might go with him. No proposal was ever accepted with more 
 readiness, and I entered on my duties instantly, anxious to show 
 my new master all the return I could testify for his kindness. 
 
 In the afternoon he sent me to carry a letter to a person in the 
 town, who asked me if my master had desired me to take anything 
 back with me ; I said no. * Never mind,' said the person, who 
 was, I believe, a notary, 'take him, this bag with three hundred 
 francs.' I delivered this sum to the cattle-dealer, to whom my 
 punctuality gave confidence. We set out next day, and on the 
 third morning my master, calling to me, said, ' Louis, can v you 
 write ?' ' Yes, sir.' ' Reckon f * Yes, sir.' * Keep an account ?' 
 * Yes, sir.' ' Ah, well ; as I must go out of the road to see some 
 lean beasts, at St. Gauburge, you will drive the oxen on to Paris, 
 with Jacques and Saturnin ; you will be head man.' He then 
 gave me his instructions and left us. 
 
 By reason of my advancement, I no longer travelled on foot, 
 which was a great relief to me ; for the drivers of cattle are always 
 
112 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 stifled with the dust, or up to their knees in mud, which increases 
 as they proceed. I was, besides, better paid and better fed, but I 
 did not abuse these advantages, as I saw many other head drovers 
 do on the journey. Whilst the food of the animals was converted 
 by them into pullets, or legs of mutton, or exchanged with the 
 innkeepers, the poor brutes grew visibly thinner. 
 
 I behaved myself most faithfully, so that, joining us at Verneuil, 
 my master, who had preceded us, complimented me on the state 
 of the drove. On reaching Sceaux, my beasts were worth twenty 
 francs a-head more than any others, and I had spent ninety francs 
 less than my companions for my travelling expenses. My master, 
 enchanted, made me a present of forty francs, and cited me as 
 the Aristides of cattle drovers, and I was in some sort quite an 
 object of admiration at the market of Sceaux, and, in return, my 
 colleagues would willingly have knocked me on the head. One 
 of them, a chap of Lower Normandy, famed for strength and skill, 
 endeavoured to disgust me with my avocation, by taking upon 
 himself to inflict the popular vengeance upon me ; but what could 
 such a clumsy yokel do against the pupil of the renowned Goupel ? 
 The Low Norman cried craven, after one of the most memorable 
 boxing matches of which the inhabitants of a fat cattle market 
 ever preserved a remembrance. 
 
 My conquest was the more glorious, as I had testified much 
 forbearance, and had only consented to fight when it would have 
 been impossible to avoid it. My master, more and more satisfied 
 with me, wished absolutely to engage me for a year, as foreman, 
 promising me a small share of the profits. I had received no 
 news of my mother ; and here I found resources which I was 
 about to seek at Paris ; and, besides, my new dress disguised me 
 so much that I felt no fear of detection in my frequent excursions 
 to Paris. I passed, in fact, many persons of my acquaintance, 
 who paid no attention to me. But one evening as I was passing 
 along the Rue Dauphine, to get to the Barriere d'Enfer, some one 
 tapped me on the shoulder. My first thought was to run for it, 
 without turning round, being aware that, whoever thus stops you, 
 relies on your looking back to seize you ; but a stoppage of 
 carriages choked up the passage. I therefore waited the result, 
 and in a twinkling discovered that it was a false alarm. 
 
 The person who had so much alarmed me was no other than 
 Villedieu, the captain of the i3th chasseurs, with whom I had 
 been intimately acquainted at Lille. Although surprised to see 
 me with a hat covered with waxed cloth, a smock-frock, and 
 leathern gaiters, he testified much pleasure at the meeting, and 
 invited me tQ supper, saying that he had some marvellous nar- 
 
CAPTAIN VILLEDIEU. \ 1 3 
 
 ratives to tell me. He was not in his uniform, but this did not 
 astonish me, as the officers commonly wore common clothes when 
 staying in Paris. What struck me most was his uneasy air and 
 excessive paleness. As he expressed a wish to sup out of the 
 barriers, we took a coach which conveyed us to Sceaux. 
 
 On reaching the Grand Cerf, we asked for a private room. We 
 were scarcely served with what we asked for, when Villedieu, 
 double-locking the door and putting the key in his pocket, said 
 to me, with tears in his eyes, and with a wild air, ' My friend, I 
 am a lost man ! lost ! undone ! I am pursued, and you must get 
 me a habit similar to your own. If you want it, I have money, 
 plenty of money, and we will start for Switzerland together. I 
 know your skill at escapes, and you, and you only, can extricate 
 me.' 
 
 This commencement did not place me upon a seat of velvet ; 
 already much embarrassed myself, I did not much care to place 
 myself again in the way of being apprehended, and to unite my 
 fortunes with those of a man hotly pursued might lead to my de- 
 tection. This reasoning, which I made to myself, decided me on 
 being wary with Villedieu ; besides, as yet I did not know exactly 
 what he wished to do. At Lille, I had seen him spending much 
 more than his pay ; but a young and handsome officer has so many 
 ways of procuring money, that no one thinks any harm of that. I 
 was then greatly astonished at the following details. 
 
 ' I will not speak to you of those circumstances in my life which 
 preceded your acquaintance with me ; it will suffice to say that, as 
 brave and intelligent as most, and backed with good interest, I 
 found myself at the age of thirty-four a captain of chasseurs, when 
 I met you at Lille, at the Cafe* de la Montagne. There I asso- 
 ciated with an individual whose honest appearance prepossessed 
 me in his favour, and our intimacy ripened into so close a friend- 
 ship that he introduced me to his house. It was one replete with 
 comfort and elegance, and I received every attention and token 
 of amity ; so good a fellow was M. Lemaire, so charming a woman 
 was Madame Lemaire. A jeweller, travelling about with his 
 articles of trade, he made frequent absences of six or eight days ; 
 but still I visited his wife, and you may guess that I soon became 
 her lover. Lemaire did not perceive, or would not perceive it. I 
 led, to be sure, a most agreeable life, when one morning I found 
 Josephine in tears. Her husband, she told me, had just been ap- 
 prehended, with his clerk, for having sold unstamped plate, and as 
 it was probable that his house would be soon visited, all its con- 
 tents must be speedily removed. The most valuable goods were 
 then packed in my portmanteau, and conveyed to my lodgings. 
 
 8 
 
ii4 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Josephine then entreated me to go to Courtrai, where the in- 
 fluence of my rank might be of avail to her husband. I did not 
 hesitate for a moment, for so deeply was I enamoured of this 
 woman that I would have given up the exercise of my faculties if 
 I did not think as she thought, and wish what she wished. 
 
 * Having obtained my colonel's permission, I sent for horses and 
 a post-chaise, and set out with the express who had brought the 
 news of Lemaire's arrest. I did not at all like this man's face, and 
 what prejudiced me against him was, to hear him thee and thou 
 (tutoyer) Josephine, and treat her with much familiarity. Scarcely 
 had I got into the carriage, when he installed himself at ease in 
 one corner and slept till we reached Menin, where I stopped to 
 take some refreshment. " Captain, I do not wish to get out," said 
 he familiarly, and rousing himself; " be so good as to bring me a 
 glass of brandy." Much surprised at this tone, I sent what he asked 
 for by the waiting-maid, who returned to ire, saying that he would 
 not answer her, but was asleep. I went to the chaise, where I saw 
 my gentleman motionless in his corner, his face being covered with 
 a handkerchief; " Are you asleep ?" said I in a low tone. " No," he 
 replied, " nor do I wish to be ; but why the devil did you send a 
 servant when I tell you that I do not wish to face these gentry ?" 
 I gave him his glass of brandy and we started again. As he did 
 not appear disposed for sleep, I asked him carelessly his reason for 
 preserving so strong an incognito, and concerning the business 
 which led me to Courtrai, of which I knew no details. He then 
 told me, that Lemaire was accused of belonging to a band of 
 Chauffeurs, and added, that he had not told Josephine, for fear of 
 increasing her affliction. We drew near Courtrai, and about four 
 hundred paces from the town my companion called to the postilion 
 to stop for an instant ; he then put on a wig, concealed in the 
 crown of his hat, stuck a large plaster on his left eye, took from 
 under his waistcoat a brace of pistols, primed them, returned them 
 to the belt under his vest, opened the door, jumped out and dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 * All these manoeuvres, which were perfect mysteries to me, only 
 served to create great uneasiness. Could it be that Lemaire's arrest 
 was only a pretext ? Was he laying a snare for me ? Did he wish 
 me to play some part in an intrigue of any kind ? I could not 
 explain it to myself, nor think it was so. I was still very uncertain 
 what to do, and was pacing the chamber with long strides at the 
 Hotel du Damier, where my mysterious companion had advised 
 me to alight, when the door suddenly opened and I saw Josephine. 
 At her appearance all suspicions vanished. Her abrupt entrance, 
 her hurried journey made without me, and some hours after, whilst 
 
CAPTAIN VILLEDIEU. 115 
 
 &m, might easily have had part of my chaise and my protection, 
 ought rather, perhaps, to have excited them. But I was in love, 
 and when Josephine told me that she could not endure an 
 absence, I thought her argument and explanation admirable and 
 unanswerable. It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and Josephine 
 dressed herself, and, going out, did not return till ten o'clock. 
 She was accompanied by a man dressed like a peasant of Lie*ge, 
 but whose manner and expression of countenance did not agree 
 with his costume. 
 
 1 Some refreshments were brought in, and the servants then 
 leaving us, Josephine, immediately throwing herself on my neck, 
 begged me to save her husband, repeating, that it only depended 
 on me to do this. I promised all she asked, and then the pre- 
 tended peasant, who had till this time been perfectly silent, spoke 
 in very good language, and unfolded to me what I was required to 
 do. Lemaire, he said, reached Courtrai, with several travellers 
 whom he did not know, and had only met on the road, when they 
 were surrounded by a body of gendarmes, who summoned them to 
 surrender. The strangers stood on the defensive, and pistol shots 
 were exchanged, and Lemaire, who with his clerk had remained 
 neuter on the field of battle, had been seized without making any 
 effort to escape, feeling a consciousness of innocence, and that he 
 had nothing to fear. But very serious charges had been produced 
 against him ; he was unable to give a very precise account of his 
 business in the district, because, said the assumed countryman, he 
 was then smuggling ; besides, they had found in a bush two pair 
 of pistols, which it was asserted had been thrown there by himself 
 and clerk, at the moment they were apprehended ; and, finally, a 
 woman swore that she had seen him the week before on the road 
 to Ghent, with the identical travellers, whom he said he had not 
 met before the morning of the engagement with the gendarmes. 
 
 * " Under these circumstances," added my peasant interlocutor, 
 "we must find means of proving 
 
 '"ist. That Lemaire has only left Lille three days, and that 
 he had then been there for the entire month previously. 
 
 1 " 2nd. That he never carries pistols. 
 
 ' " 3rd. That before starting he received sixty louis from some 
 person." 
 
 * This confidence ought to have opened my eyes as to the nature 
 of the steps required of me; but, intoxicated with Josephine's 
 caresses, I drove away all thoughts, and compelled myself not to 
 think of what might be the results. We all three set out the same 
 night for Lille, and on arriving I ran about all day making the 
 necessary arrangements, and by evening all my witnesses were 
 
 8 3 
 
n6 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 ready. Their depositions had no sooner reached Courtrai, than 
 Lemaire and his clerk were set at liberty. We may imagine their joy; 
 and it was in fact so excessive, that I could not help thinking that 
 the case must have been critical indeed, if their liberation could occa- 
 tion such transports. The day after his arrival, dining with Lemaire, 
 I found in my napkin a rouleau of a hundred louis. I was weak 
 enough to accept them, and from that hour my ruin was decreed. 
 
 * Playing high, treating my comrades, and having habits of luxury, 
 I soon spent this sum. Lemaire daily made me fresh offers of 
 service, by which I profited to borrow several sums of him, amount- 
 ing to two thousand francs, without being any the richer or more 
 moderate. Fifteen hundred francs borrowed of a Jew, on a post 
 obit for a thousand crowns, and twenty-five louis which the 
 quarter-master advanced me, disappeared with the same alacrity. 
 At last I spent even a sum of five hundred francs which my lieu- 
 tenant had begged me to keep for him until the arrival of his horse- 
 dealer, to whom he owed this sum. This I lost on one evening 
 at the Caf de la Montagne, with a man named Carre', who had 
 already ruined half the regiment, 
 
 * The night that followed was a fearful one ; agitated by the 
 shame of having abused the confidence of the lieutenant, by 
 squandering what was his little all, enraged at being duped, and 
 tormented with the desire of still playing on, I was twenty times 
 tempted to blow my brains out. When the trumpets sounded the 
 turn out, I had not closed my eyes ; it was my week, and I went 
 out to go through the examination of the stables ; the first person I 
 met was the lieutenant, who told me that the horse-dealer had 
 arrived, and he would send his servant for the five hundred francs. 
 My agitation was so great that I answered I scarcely knew what, 
 and the obscurity of the stable alone prevented him from observing 
 my confusion. There was not a moment to lose, if I would not 
 forfeit my good name with my superiors and brother officers. 
 
 * In this horrid situation I did not even think of applying to 
 Lemaire, so much I already imagined had I abused his friendship ; 
 but I had no other resource, and at length, I resolved on writing 
 him a note, stating the embarrassment in which I was placed. He 
 came to me instantly, and laying on the table two gold snuff-boxes, 
 three watches, and twelve engraved spoons, he told me that he had 
 no ready money at the moment, but that I could easily procure it 
 by taking these valuables to the pawnbrokers, and he left them at 
 my disposal. After overwhelming him with thanks, I sent the 
 whole to be pledged by my servant, who brought me twelve 
 hundred francs for them. I first paid the lieutenant, and then, led 
 by my unlucky star, I flew to the Caf de la Montagne, when 
 
CAPTAIN VILLEDIEU. 117 
 
 Carre, after much persuasion, was induced to give me my revenge, 
 and the remaining seven hundred francs passed from my purse 
 to his. 
 
 'Aghast at this stroke of fortune, I wandered for some time 
 about the streets of Lille, whilst a thousand mad ideas flashed 
 through my brain. It was in this mood that I imperceptibly drew 
 near to Lemaire's house, which I entered mechanically : they were 
 sitting down to dinner, and Josephine, struck by my extreme pale- 
 ness, questioned me with interest concerning my affairs and my 
 health. I was in one of those dejected moods when the con- 
 sciousness of his weakness makes the most reserved more com- 
 municative : I confessed all my extravagances, adding, that within 
 two months I must pay more than four thousand francs, of which 
 I had not a single sous. 
 
 * At these words Lemaire looked fixedly at me, with a gaze I can 
 never forget all my life, be it long or short. " Captain," said he, 
 " I will not forsake you in your difficulties, but one confidence 
 deserves another : nothing should be kept from a man who has 
 
 saved you from " and with a horrid smile he passed his hand 
 
 across his throat. I trembled and looked at Josephine. She was 
 perfectly calm ! It was a horrible moment ! Without seeming to 
 notice my perturbation, Lemaire continued his fearful confidence. 
 I learnt that he was one of Sallambier's band, and that, when the 
 gendarmes had apprehended him near Courtrai, they were return- 
 ing from a party of plunder in a country house in the vicinity of 
 Ghent. The servants had defended themselves, and three had 
 been killed, and two wretched women were hung up in a cellar. 
 The valuables I had pawned were the produce of the robbery which 
 had followed these atrocities ! After having explained to me how 
 he had been apprehended near Courtrai, whilst making off, Le- 
 maire added, that henceforward it was only for me to repair my 
 losses and better my fortune by accompanying him in two or three 
 expeditions. 
 
 * 1 was annihilated ! Up to this period the conduct of Lemaire, 
 the circumstances of his arrest, the nature of the service which I 
 had rendered him, appeared to me very suspicious ; but I carefully 
 drove from my thoughts all that could convert my suspicions into 
 reality. As if tormented by a frightful nightmare, I waited till I 
 should awake, and my waking was more horrible still 
 
 '"Well," said Josephine, with an inquiring tone, "you do not 
 answer Ah ! I see, we have lost your friendship ; and I shall die !" 
 She hurst into tears : my head was in a whirl : forgetful of Lemaire's 
 presence, I threw myself on my knees like a madman, crying out, 
 " I quit you ? no, never, never 1" Tears choked my utterance, and 
 
ug MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 I saw a tear in Josephine's eyes, but she instantly resumed he? 
 firmness. For Lemaire, he offered us orange-flower water with as 
 much calmness as a cavalier presents an ice to his partner at a 
 ball. 
 
 ' I was thus enlisted in this band, the terror of the departments 
 of the north, la Lys and 1'Escaut. In less than fifteen days I was 
 introduced to Sallambier, in whom I recognised the peasant of 
 Liege ; to Duhamel, Chopine, Calandrin, and the principal Chauf- 
 feurs. The first business in which I took a share was in tbe 
 environs of Douai. Duhamel's mistress, who accompanied us, 
 introduced us to the house, in which she had been waiting-maid. 
 The dogs having been poisoned by a wood-cutter employed on 
 the premises, we only waited until the family should be asleep to 
 commence our operations. No locks could resist Calandrin, and 
 we reached the drawing-room with the utmost silence. The family, 
 consisting of the father, mother, great aunt, two young persons, 
 and a relation on a visit, were playing at Buillotte. We only heard 
 the words, " Pass, I hold ; I play Charlemagne," etc. ; when Sallam- 
 bier, opening the door quickly, appeared, followed by ten men; 
 with blackened faces, and pistols and daggers in their hands. At 
 this sight the cards fell from the hands of all ; the females shrieked 
 for mercy, until, with a motion of his hand, Sallambier compelled. 
 silence, whilst one of our band, jumping like a monkey on the 
 mantel-piece, cut the ropes of the bells. The women fainted, but 
 were not heeded. The master of the house alone retained some 
 presence of mind. After having opened his mouth at least twenty 
 times without uttering a word, he at length contrived to ask what 
 we wanted ? " Money," said Sallambier, whose voice seemed to me 
 entirely changed ; and taking the candle from the card-table, he 
 made signs to the master of the house to follow him into the next 
 room, where he knew that the money and jewels were deposited. 
 It was precisely Don Juan preceding the statue of the Commandant. 
 
 ' We remained in the dark, motionless at our posts, only hearing; 
 the stifled sobs of the females, the chink of money, and these 
 words, " More, more," which Sallambier repeated from time to 
 time in a sepulchral tone. At the end of twenty minutes he re- 
 turned with a red handkerchief, tied together by the corners, and 
 filled with pieces of money ; the jewels were in his pockets. To 
 neglect nothing, they look from the old aunt and the mother their 
 ear-rings, as well as the watch of the relation who had so well 
 chosen the time to make his visit. We set out at last, after having 
 carefully locked up the whole party, without the servants, who 
 had been for some time in bed, being at all disturbed or aware of 
 the attack on the chateau. 
 
CAPTAIN VILLEDIEU. 119 
 
 ' I had a share also in several other enterprises, more hazardous 
 than that I now mention. We were resisted, or else the pro- 
 prietors had concealed their money ; to make them produce it they 
 were put to most dreadful tortures. At first they confined them- 
 selves to burning the soles of their feet with red-hot shovels ; but 
 adopting more expeditious measures, they began to tear out the 
 nails of those who were obstinate, or blow them as large as balloons 
 with bellows. Some of these unfortunates, having really no money 
 as was supposed, died in the midst of these tortures. See, my 
 friend, on what a career I had entered ; I, an officer well born, for 
 whom twelve years of active service, some exploits of bravery, and 
 the testimony of my comrades, had created a universal esteem, 
 which I had ceased to deserve for a very long time, and which I 
 was about to lose for ever.' 
 
 Here Villedieu paused, and dropped his head upon his breast, 
 like one overwhelmed by his recollections. I left him undisturbed 
 for a moment, but the names he mentioned were too well known 
 to me not to excite the most lively curiosity in my mind to hear 
 the whole of his recital. A few glasses of champagne restored his 
 energy, and he thus continued : 
 
 ' But crimes multiplied so alarmingly, that, the gendarmes not 
 being sufficiently powerful to check them, columns of the military 
 were taken from the various garrisons. One was placed under my 
 command. You may suppose that this measure had an entirely 
 contrary effect to that intended : for, warned by me, the Chauffeurs 
 avoided the places that I was to watch with my division. Thus 
 matters went on worse than ever, and the authorities were at a loss 
 what plans to adopt, when they learned that the majority of the 
 Chauffeurs resided at Lille, and the order was given for redoubling 
 the superintendence (surveillance; at the gates. We found means, 
 however, to render all these precautions useless. Sallambier pro- 
 cured at a broker's of the town, who clothed a regiment, fifteen 
 uniforms of the i3th Chasseurs, and disguised with them that 
 number of Chauffeurs, who, with me at their head, went out at 
 twilight, as if going on a detachment of a secret enterprise. 
 
 ' Although this stratagem completely answered, I thought I per- 
 ceived myself to be the object of particular surveillance. A report 
 spread about that there were men in the vicinity of Lille disguised 
 as horse chasseurs. The colonel appeared to mistrust me, and 
 one of my brother officers was appointed alternately to direct the 
 moving columns before intrusted to my charge alone. Instead of 
 giving me the watchword, as to the other officers of the gen- 
 darmes, I was not informed of it until the moment of departure. 
 At length I was so directly accused, that I was under the necessity 
 
120 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 of inquiring of the colonel, who, without any disguise, told me 
 that I was reported to have communication with the Chauffeurs. 
 I defended myself as well as I could, and thus matters remained, 
 only that I left the service of the moving columns, which began 
 to be so active that the Chauffeurs scarcely durst show them- 
 selves. 
 
 4 Sallambier, unwilling to remain long in inaction, redoubled his 
 audacity in proportion as obstacles multiplied about us. In one 
 night he committed three robberies in the same district. But the 
 proprietors of the first of the houses attacked, having divested 
 themselves of their gags and bonds, gave the alarm. The tocsin was 
 sounded for two leagues round, and the Chauffeurs only owed 
 their safety to the fleetness of their horses. The two brothers 
 Sallambier were hotly followed, and it was only on approaching 
 Bruges that they distanced their pursuers, In a large village 
 where they were, they hired a chaise and two horses, to go, as they 
 said, some leagues, and return in the evening. 
 
 * A coachman drove them, whom, on getting to the water's edge, 
 the elder Sallambier struck from behind with his knife, and 
 knocked him from his seat. The two brothers then threw him 
 into the sea, hoping that the waves would retain the corpse. 
 Masters of the conveyance, they went on their journey, when, 
 towards the close of the day, they met a countryman who bade 
 them good evening. As they did not answer, the man approached 
 saying, " Ah ! Vandeck, do you not know me ? It is I Joseph." 
 Sallambier then told him that he had hired the carriage for three 
 days without a conductor. The tone of this answer, the condition 
 of the horses, covered with sweat, and which their master would 
 never have let without a driver, all made the interrogator sus- 
 picious. Without prolonging the conversation, he ran to the ad- 
 jacent village and gave the alarm ; seven or eight men on horse- 
 back pursued the carriage, which they soon perceived travelling 
 slowly along. They increased their speed and overtook it It 
 was empty. Rather disappointed, they drove it into an auberge 
 where they intended to pass the night ; but scarcely were they 
 seated, when a great noise was heard, occasioned by a crowd con- 
 veying before the magistrate two travellers accused of the murder 
 of a man whom some fishermen had found with his throat cut on 
 the sea-shore. All ran out, and Joseph recognised the individuals 
 whom he had seen in the carriage, and which they had quitted 
 because the horses could go no farther. They (the two Sallambiers) 
 appeared greatly disconcerted when confronted with Joseph. 
 Their identity was soon settled. Under a suspicion that they 
 might belong to some band of Chauffeurs, they were transferred 
 
VILLEDIEU TAKEN. 121 
 
 to Lille, where they were recognised on reaching the Petit 
 Hotel. 
 
 ' There the elder Sallambier, pressed by the agents of police, 
 denounced all his companions, and pointed out when and where 
 they might be taken. In consequence of this information forty- 
 three persons of both sexes were apprehended. Among them were 
 Lemaire and his wife. At the same time an order of arrest was 
 issued against me ; but, informed by a quartermaster of gendarmes, 
 whom I had served, I escaped and reached Paris, where I have 
 been these ten days. When I met you I was looking for the house 
 of an old sweetheart, where I intended to conceal myself, or obtain 
 some means of escape to a foreign country, but I am now easy, 
 since I meet with Vidocq.' 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Journey to Arras Father Lambert Depart for Holland The mutiny- 
 Catastrophe. 
 
 THE confidence of Villedieu flattered me very much ; but yet I 
 thought my rencontre with him might lead me into danger. I there- 
 fore told him a false tale when he inquired about my mode of life 
 and domicile. For the sam,e reason I took care not to be at the 
 rendezvous which he had appointed for the next day; for it 
 would have been attended with much risk to myself and no ad- 
 vantage to him. On leaving him, at eleven o'clock in the evening, 
 I took the precaution of making many detours before I entered my 
 auberge, for fear of being dogged by any police agents. My master, 
 who had gone to bed, aroused me early in the morning to tell me 
 to set out with him for Nogent le Rotrou, whence we were to pro- 
 ceed to his own farms, situated in the environs of this city. 
 
 In four days we arrived at the termination of our journey, and 
 although received in the family as a hardworking and faithful 
 servant, I still persisted in the intention I had formed for some 
 time of returning to my own country, whence I received neither 
 information nor money. On returning to Paris with some cattle, 
 I told my master of my determination, and he let me go with much 
 reluctance. On quitting him, I entered a cafe in the Place du 
 Chatelet, to procure a porter to fetch my luggage, and there taking 
 up a newspaper, the first intelligence that met my eyes was an 
 account of Villedieu's capture. He had not allowed himself to be 
 taken before he had prostrated two of the agents of police who 
 had orders to apprehend him, and was himself severely wounded. 
 On being executed, two months afterwards, at Bruges, the last of 
 e'ght> en, all his accomplices, he contemplated their headless and 
 
122 MMOJ&S OF VLDOCQ. 
 
 bleeding bodies as they fell one by one by his side, with a calmness 
 and fortitude that never wavered for an instant. 
 
 This circumstance gave me reason to be satisfied with the step 
 that I had taken. Had I stayed with the cattle-dealer, I was under 
 the necessity of coming twice a week to Paris ; and the police, di- 
 recting its attention against all plots and foreign agents, was assum- 
 ing an extent and energy which might have brought detection on 
 me, as they minutely watched individuals who, perpetually called 
 by business from the departments of the west, might serve as agents 
 between the Chouans and their friends in the capital. I therefore 
 set out without delay, and on the third day reached Arras, which 
 I entered in the evening, at the time when the workmen were re- 
 turning home from labour. I did not go directly to my father's 
 house, but to one of my aunts, who informed my parents. They 
 thought me dead, not having received any of my last letters ; and 
 1 have never been able to discover how and by whom they were 
 intercepted. Having related all my adventures at length, I asked 
 news of my family, which necessarily led to my inquiring for my 
 wife. I was told that my father had for some time received her 
 at his house, but that her conduct was so scandalous, that she had 
 been disgracefully expelled thence. She was, I was informed, 
 pregnant by an attorney, who supplied most of her wants ; but 
 that for some time nothing had been heard of her, and they had 
 ceased to trouble themselves concerning her. 
 
 I gave myself no care about her, for I had matters of much 
 greater import which demanded my attention. I might be dis- 
 covered at any moment ; and if apprehended at my parents' house 
 they would be involved in difficulties. It was imperative on me 
 to find an asylum where the vigilance of the police was not so 
 active as at Arras, and I threw my eyes upon a village in the 
 vicinity, Ambercourt, where there resided a quondam Carmelite 
 friar, a friend of my father, who agreed to receive me. At this 
 period (1798) priests were compelled still to say mass in secret, 
 although direct hostilities towards them had ceased. Father 
 Lambert, my host, celebrated his Divine functions in a barn ; and 
 as he had no assistance but from an old man, feeble and impotent, 
 I offered to fulfil the duties of sacristan, which I did so satis- 
 factorily, that one would have supposed it had been my calling all 
 the days of my existence. I also became Father Lambert's as- 
 sistant in giving lessons to the children of the neighbourhood. My 
 skill in teaching made some noise in the district, for I had taken 
 an excellent method to advance my pupils rapidly ; I traced the 
 letters with a lead pencil, which they wrote over with the pen, and 
 the Indian-rubber effected the rest The parents were delighted; 
 
A SEVERE PUNISHMENT. 123 
 
 only it was rather difficult for my scholars to perform without 
 their master ; but the Artesian peasants, however cunning in the 
 common transactions of business, were good enough not to find 
 this out. 
 
 This sort of life was rather agreeable to me. Clothed as a 
 wandering friar, and tolerated by the authorities, I had no fear 
 of detection or suspicion : on the other hand, my animal tastes, 
 which I have always held in due consideration, were well supplied, 
 the parents sending us perpetually beer, poultry, and fruit I had 
 in my classes some pretty peasant girls, who were very teachable. 
 All went on well for some time, but at length a distrust of me was 
 evinced ; I was watched, and it was discovered that I pushed my 
 instructions occasionally rather too far, and complaint was made to 
 Father Lambert, who told me of the charges against me, which I 
 stoutly denied. The complainants were silenced, but redoubled 
 their vigilance ; and one night, when impelled by classic zeal, I 
 was about to give a lesson in a hayloft to a female scholar about 
 sixteen years of age, I was seized by four brewers' men, dragged 
 into a hop-ground, stripped of my clothes, and scourged till the 
 blood flowed copiously, with rods of nettles and thistles. The pain 
 was so acute that I lost my senses, and on reviving, found myself 
 in the streets, naked, and covered with blisters and blood. 
 
 What was to be done ? To return to Father Lambert would be 
 to incur fresh dangers. The night was not much advanced, and 
 although eaten up with excess of fever, I determined to go on to 
 Mareuil, to an uncle's house, and arrived there at two o'clock in 
 the morning, worn out with fatigue, and only covered with a 
 ragged mat which I found near a pond. After having laughed 
 unsparingly at my mishap, they rubbed my body all over with 
 cream mixed with oil ; and at the end of eight days I set out quite 
 well for Arras, but it was impossible for me to remain there. The 
 police might get information at some unlucky moment that I was 
 there, and I therefore decided on starting for Holland, and fixing 
 myself there, taking with me a supply of money, which enabled me 
 to remain at my ease until something should occur that would 
 ^employ me usefully. 
 
 I passed through Brussels (where I learnt that the Baroness 
 d'l had settled in London), Anvers, and Breda, and then em- 
 barked for Rotterdam, in which city I put up at an inn that had 
 been specially recommended to me. I there met with a French- 
 man who was remarkably attentive and civil to me, and frequently 
 invited me to dinner. I received all his advances with mistrust, 
 knowing that all means were resorted to by the Dutch Government 
 *to recruit their navy. In spite of all my caution, my companion 
 
124 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 contrived to intoxicate me with a particular liquor, and on the next 
 morning I awoke on board a Dutch brig-of-war. All doubt was at 
 an end ; intemperance had given me up as a prey to the ( sellers 
 of souls/ 
 
 Lying near the shrouds, I was reflecting on my singular destiny, 
 which multiplied so many incidents of my wayward career, when 
 one of the crew, pushing me with his foot, desired me to rise and 
 get on my sailor's clothes. I pretended not to understand him, 
 and then the boatswain gave me the same orders in French. On 
 my replying that I was not a sailor, since I had signed no agree- 
 ment, he seized a rope's end to strike me with ; on which, I grasped 
 a knife belonging to a sailor, who was breakfasting at the foot of 
 the mainmast, and, placing my back against a gun, I swore I would 
 rip up the first man who should assault me. This occasioned 
 much disturbance in the ship, and brought up the captain, who 
 was a man about forty, of good appearance, and whose manners 
 were free from that coarseness so usual with seafaring people. 
 He listened to me with kindness, which was all he could do, for 
 it was not in his power to change the maritime organization of his 
 government 
 
 We had then on board men whose inclinations and habits of life 
 were so totally foreign from naval service, that the very idea of 
 compelling them to enter it was essentially ridiculous. Of the two 
 hundred individuals pressed like myself, there were not perhaps 
 twenty who had ever set foot on shipboard before. The majority 
 had been carried off by main force, or trepanned by drunkenness : 
 they had inveigled others by a promise of a free passage to Batavia, 
 where they wished to settle ; amongst these were two Frenchmen, 
 one a book-keeper from Burgundy, and the other a gardener of 
 Lemosin, who, it is evident, were admirably calculated to make 
 sailors. To console us, the crew told us that, for fear of desertion, 
 we should not go ashore for six months. 
 
 To me, who had so long intended to enter the navy, the situa- 
 tion was not so repugnant, if I had not been constrained to it, and if 
 I had not had in perspective the slavery which threatened me; added 
 to which, was the ill-treatment of the boatswain, who could not 
 forgive my first essay with him. On the least false manoeuvre or 
 mistake, the rope's end descended on my back in a style so argu- 
 mentative and convincing, that I even regretted the cudgel of the 
 galley-sergeant at the Bagne. I was in despair, and twenty times 
 resolved to let fall from the maintop a wooden pulley on the head 
 of my tormentor, or else to fling him into the sea when I was on 
 the watch. I should certainly have done one or the other of these, 
 if the lieutenant, who had taken a liking to me because I taught 
 
THE MUTINY. 125 
 
 him to fence, had not in some measure alleviated my sufferings. 
 Besides, we were forthwith going to Helvoetsluys, where the 
 Hewdrack lay, of whose crew we were to form a part, and in the 
 passage an escape might be effected. 
 
 The day of transhipment came, and we embarked, to the 
 number of two hundred and seventy, in a small sloop, manned by 
 twenty-five sailors, and with twenty-five soldiers to guard us. The 
 weakness of this detachment determined me to attempt to disarm 
 the soldiers and compel the sailors to conduct us to Anvers. One 
 hundred and twenty of the recruits, French and Belgians, entered 
 into the plot, and we resolved on surprising the men on guard at 
 the moment their comrades were at dinner, whom we could then 
 easily secure. This enterprise was executed with the more success, 
 as they suspected nothing. The commandant of the detachment 
 was seized at the moment he was taking his tea, but was not at all 
 maltreated. A young man of Tournai, engaged as supercargo, 
 and reduced to work as a sailor, explained to him so eloquently 
 the motives that led to our revolt, as he called it, that he allowed 
 himself to be conducted into the hold with his soldiers unre- 
 sistingly. As for the sailors, they were neutral ; a man of Dunkirk 
 only, who was in our plot, took the helm. 
 
 Night came on, and I wished to lie to, lest we should encounter 
 any guard-ship, to which the sailors would make signals ; but the 
 Dunkirker obstinately refused, and we kept on our course, and at 
 daybreak we were under the cannon of a fort near Helvoetsluys. 
 The Dunkirker then announced his intention of landing to see if 
 we could get on shore safely, and I saw then that we were sold ; 
 but it was impossible to recede : signals had doubtlessly been 
 made, and, on the least movement, the guns of ihe fort could blow 
 us out of the water. It was compulsory then that we should await 
 the event. Soon a boat, with twenty men on board, left the shore 
 and approached the sloop ; three officers who were in it came on 
 deck, without testifying any fear, although it was the scene of a 
 busy struggle between our comrades and the Dutch sentry, who 
 wanted to free the soldiers from the hold. The first word of the 
 eldest officer was to ask for the ringleader, and all remaining mute, 
 I spoke in French : ' Indeed that there had been no plot, but 
 that it was by a simultaneous movement that we had resolved on 
 throwing off the slavery imposed on us ; we had illtreated no one, 
 as the captain and sailors could testify, who knew it was our in- 
 tention to have left them in possession of the vessel, after we had 
 landed at Anvers.' I know not what effect my harangue produced, 
 for I was not allowed to finish it ; only, whilst we were piled up in 
 the hold, in the place of the soldiers whom we had confined there 
 
126 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 on the previous evening, I heard some one say to the pilot 'that 
 more than one would swing at the yard-arm next morning.' The 
 sloop was then turned towards Helvoetsluys, and we reached that 
 place the same day. at about four o'clock in the afternoon. In 
 the roadstead was anchored the Heindrack. The commandant of 
 the fort went in his cutter, and in an hour afterwards I was con- 
 ducted thither also. I found there assembled a sort of maritime 
 council, who questioned me as to the particulars of the mutiny, 
 and the part I had taken in it. I asserted, as I had already done 
 to the fort governor, that having signed no articles of engagement, 
 I thought myself justified in effecting my escape by any means 
 that presented. 
 
 I was then ordered to retire, to make way for the young man of 
 Tournai who had seized the captain. We were looked on as the 
 leaders in the enterprise, and we know that in such cases it is the 
 ringleaders who undergo the punishment, and we were to suffer 
 nothing more or less than hanging ; fortunately, the young man, 
 who had had time for consideration, corroborated my statement, 
 asserted firmly that no one had suggested it, but that the idea had 
 come across us all at the same moment ; besides, we were quite 
 sure of not being betrayed by our comrades, who showed much 
 concern for us, and swore that if we were condemned, the ship on 
 board which they should be placed, should jump like a rocket ; 
 that is, that they would fire the powder magazine, although they 
 should be blown up with it ; and these were lads who would have 
 dared to do what they ventured to talk about. Whether they 
 feared the results of these menaces, and the bad example that it 
 would afford to the sailors of the fleet who had been recruited in 
 a similar way ; or whether the council held that we were entrenched 
 behind a rampart of legitimate defence, in seeking to withdraw 
 ourselves from a compulsory service; they promised to ask for our 
 pardon from the admiral, on condition that we kept our comrades 
 in due subordination, which appeared not to be their favourite 
 virtue. We promised all that they desired, for nothing makes one 
 so easy to be persuaded or to promise, as the feeling a cord about 
 one's neck. 
 
 These preliminaries agreed upon, our comrades were transferred 
 on board the ship, and went between decks with the crew, whose 
 complement they were to make up : all was done with the greatest 
 order, neither was any complaint heard, nor was there the smallest 
 disorderly symptom to be repressed. It is right to say, that we 
 were not illtreated, as we had been on board the brig, where our 
 old friend the boatswain did all with the rope's end in his hand. 
 Besides, by giving the marines instruction in fencing,-! was treated 
 
A CLEVER RUSE. 127 
 
 with some attention, and was even made bombardier, with a pay 
 of twenty-eight florins per month. Two months passed away thus, 
 whilst the vigilance of the English cruisers would not allow of our 
 quitting anchorage. I became reconciled to my new employment, 
 and had no thoughts of leaving it, when news was brought that 
 the French authorities were searching for all Frenchmen who were 
 forming part of the Dutch crews. 
 
 Researches, however, were continued ; they stationed agents at 
 the ports and taverns, who examined those men who landed by 
 permission or otherwise. In one of my excursions, I was appre- 
 hended. I have long preserved my gratitude for it towards the 
 ship's cook, who honoured me with his personal animosity ever 
 after that I had found fault with his giving us swipes for beer, and 
 stinking cod for fresh fish. Taken before the commanding officer, 
 I said I was a Dutchman, and my knowledge of the language 
 sufficed for me to keep up my assertion ; and besides, I demanded 
 to be taken back to my ship with a guard, that I might procure 
 papers to substantiate my assertion, than which nothing could be 
 more natural. A subaltern was ordered to accompany me, and 
 we set out in the skiff that had conveyed me ashore. On getting 
 near the ship, I made my friend, with whom I had been talking 
 very familiarly, get up alongside first ; and when I saw him en- 
 tangled amongst the rigging, I thrust off suddenly from the ship's 
 side, calling to the boat's crew to pull their hardest, and that they 
 should have something to drink. We were cutting through the 
 water whilst my subaltern friend was jostled about amongst the 
 crew, who did not or pretended not to know him. On getting 
 ashore, I ran to conceal myself in a house which I knew, deter- 
 mined on quitting the vessel, in which it would be difficult for me 
 to appear without being apprehended. My flight would confirm 
 all suspicions raised against me, and therefore the captain gave me 
 his authority, tacitly, to do what I might think best for my own 
 security. 
 
 A Dunkirk privateer, the Barras, captain Fomentin, was in the 
 roads. At this period, vessels of this kind were seldom overhauled, 
 as they were in a measure a sort of asylum ; and as it suited me to 
 get on board it, I got a lieutenant, to whom I applied, to introduce 
 me to Fomentin, who, on my own statement, admitted me on 
 board as master-at-arms. Four days afterwards, the Barras set 
 sail for a cruise in the Sound. It was at the beginning of the winter 
 1799, when the tempestuous weather destroyed so many vessels 
 on the coast of the Baltic. Scarcely were we at sea, when a 
 northerly wind rose, quite contrary to our destination. We were 
 compelled to put about, and the roll of the ship was so great, that 
 
128 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 I was excessively ill, so much so, that for three days I could take 
 nothing but weak brandy and water, and half the crew were in the 
 same state, so that a fishing-boat might have taken us without our 
 striking a blow. At length the wind abated, and turned suddenly 
 to the south-west ; and the B arras, an admirable sailor, going ten 
 knots an hour, all hands aboard soon recovered. At this moment, 
 the man at the mast-head cried out, * A sail on the larboard tack !' 
 The captain took his glass, and declared it to be an English 
 coaster, under a neutral flag, and which the squalls had separated 
 from the convoy. We bore down on her, with the wind on our 
 bow. At the second discharge of our guns she struck, before we 
 could board her ; and putting the crew down into the hold, we 
 made for Bergen in Norway, where our cargo was soon disposed 
 of. 
 
 I remained six months on board the Barms, and my share of 
 the prizes was pretty considerable, when we went to lay up for a 
 time at Ostend. We had scarcely got into the basin, when several 
 police agents came on board to examine the papers of the crew ; 
 and I afterwards learnt that they paid us this unusual visit in 
 order to detect a murderer who was supposed to be on board. 
 
 When my turn came for examination, I asserted that I was 
 Auguste Duval, born at 1'Orient; and added, that my papers were 
 at Rotterdam, in the office of the Dutch marine department. No 
 notice was taken, and I thought I had well got rid of the affair. 
 When the three hundred men who were on board had been ques- 
 tioned, eight of us were called, and told that we must go to the 
 register office, to give the requisite explanation. Not liking this, 
 I turned off at the first angle of the street, and had already gained 
 thirty yards on the gendarmes, when an old woman, who was 
 washing the steps of a house, put her broom between my legs and 
 I fell. The gendarmes came up to me and put on handcuffs, 
 besides belabouring me pretty well with the butts of carbines and 
 the flat sides of swords, and I was conducted thus to the com- 
 missary, who, after hearing me, asked me if I had not escaped 
 from the hospital of Quimper. I saw that I was caught, for there 
 was equal danger as Duval or Vidocq. However, I decided on 
 the first name, which offered less unfavourable chances of the two ; 
 since the road from Ostend to 1'Orient is longer than from Ostend 
 to Arras, and thus afforded more opportunities for escape. 
 
FRANCINE. 129 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Re-imprisoned at Douai Am I Duval or Vidocq ? Again at Bicetre Captain 
 Labbre Toulon Jossas, the robber Marquis St. Armand The executioner 
 of the Bagne. 
 
 EIGHT days elapsed, during which I only once saw the commissary, 
 and was then sent with a party of prisoners, deserters, etc., who were 
 to be conveyed to Lille. It was to be expected that the uncertainty 
 of my identity would terminate on reaching a city where I had so 
 often dwelt ; and, therefore, informed that we should pass through 
 that place, I took such precautions that the gendarmes who had 
 already conducted me did not recognise me ; my features, con- 
 cealed under a thick mask of dust and sweat, were, besides, com- 
 pletely altered by the swelling of my cheeks, almost as large as 
 those of the angels which on the frescoes of churches are seen 
 blowing the trumpet of the last judgment. It was in this state 
 that I entered the Egalite', a military prison, where I was to stay 
 for some days. There to charm away the weariness of my seclusion, 
 I risked several visits to the canteen, in the hope that mingling 
 with the visitors I might find an opportunity of escape. Meeting 
 with a sailor whom I had known on board the Barras> I thought I 
 might make him instrumental to my project. I asked him to 
 breakfast with me, and our meal finished, I returned to my 
 chamber, where I remained for three hours, reflecting on the means 
 of recovering my liberty, when the sailor came to ask me to share 
 the dinner which his wife had just brought him. The sailor, then, 
 had a wife and the thought crossed me, that to elude the vigi- 
 lance of the jailors, she might procure me female attire or some 
 disguise. Full of this idea, I went down to the canteen and drew 
 near the table, when I heard a piercing cry, and a woman fainted. 
 It was my comrade's wife. I ran to raise her good heavens, 
 'twas Francine ! Alarmed at my own imprudence, which had 
 allowed an expression of astonishment to escape from me, I tried 
 to express the emotion which I had unavoidably testified Sur- 
 prised and astonished, the spectators crowded around us, and 
 overwhelmed me with inquiries, and, after some moments' silence, 
 I told them that it was my sister whom I had so unexpectedly met. 
 This incident passed without any consequences, and next day 
 at da\vn we set off: and I was in consternation at finding that the 
 convoy, instead of following as usual the road to Sens, took that 
 of Douai. Why change the direction of our journey ? I attributed 
 this to some indiscretion of Francine : but I soon learnt that it re- 
 sulted simply from the necessity of leaving at Arras some of the 
 Refractory prisoners from Cambrai, 
 
130 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 Francine, whom I had so unjustly suspected, was awaiting me 
 at our first halt. In spite of the gendarmes she would speak to 
 and embrace me. She wept bitterly, and joined my tears with 
 hers. With what bitterness did she reproach herself for the in- 
 fidelity which was the cause of all my misfortunes ! Her repen- 
 tance was sincere, and I sincerely forgave her : and when, on the 
 order of the brigadier, we were compelled to separate, she slipped 
 into my hands two hundred francs in gold as the only recompense 
 in her power. 
 
 At length we reached Douai, and at the gate of the prison of the 
 department a gendarme rang the bell. Who answered the 
 summons? Dutilleul, the turnkey, who, after one of my attempts 
 to escape, had dressed my hurts for a month afterwards. He did 
 not appear to know me. At the office I found another person 
 whom I knew, the guard Hurtrel, in such a state of inebriety that 
 I flattered myself his memory had entirely left him. For three 
 days nothing was said to me ; but on the fourth I was led before 
 the examining magistrate, in the presence of Hurtrel and Dutilleul, 
 and was asked if I were not Vidocq. I replied that I was Auguste 
 Duval, which might be confirmed by sending to 1'Orient : and, 
 besides, the motive of my apprehension at Ostend proved it, as I 
 was only charged with having deserted from a ship of war. My 
 straightforward tale seemed to weigh with the judge, who hesitated \ 
 but Hurtrel and Dutilleul persisted in asserting that they were not 
 mistaken. Rausson, the public accuser, came to see me, and also 
 said he knew me, but as I was not disconcerted, he remained in 
 doubt, and to clear up the affair they devised a stratagem. 
 
 One morning I was told that a person wanted me at the office, 
 and on going thither I found my mother, whom they had sent for 
 from Arras ; with what intention may be easily divined. The poor 
 woman hastened to embrace me, but I saw through the snare, and 
 putting her from me quietly, I said to the magistrate, who was 
 present, that it was an unmanly thing to give the unfortunate 
 woman any hopes of seeing her son, when they were, at least, un- 
 certain of their ability to produce him. My mother, who was put 
 on her guard by a signal which I managed to communicate to her, 
 pretending to examine me attentively, at length declared that a 
 wonderful likeness had deceived her, and then retired, uttering 
 many bitter reproaches against those who had taken her from 
 home only to afford her a fallacious joy. 
 
 The magistrate and turnkeys were then reduced to their original 
 state of dubiety, when a letter which arrived from 1'Orient seemed 
 to put the matter beyond a doubt. It mentioned a drawing pricked 
 nn the left arm of Duval, who had escaped from the hospital a* 
 
AGAIN AT BICETRE. 131 
 
 Quimper, as a thing which would at once dispel every doubt as to 
 the identity of the individual detained at Douai. I was again 
 summoned before the examining judge, and Hurtrel, already 
 triumphing in his penetration, was present at the interrogation. 
 At the first words I saw what was coming, and stripping my coat 
 sleeve above my elbow, I showed them the drawing, which they 
 scnrcely expected to find, and which exactly coincided with the 
 description sent from 1'Orient. All were in the clouds again, and 
 what yet made the situation more complicated, was that the autho- 
 rities of 1'Orient demanded me as a deserter from the fleet Fifteen 
 days were thus spent without any decision having been made con- 
 cerning me, when, tired with the severities used towards me, and 
 hoping to procure approbation, I wrote to the president of the 
 criminal tribunal, declaring that I was really Vidocq. I had de- 
 termined on this, under the idea that T should be sent forthwith 
 to Bicetre with a party, and that was actually the result. It was 
 utterly impossible, however, for me to make the least effort to 
 escape by the way, as I was guarded with unremitting vigilance. 
 
 I made my second entry at Bicetre on the second of April, 1 799, 
 and there found some old prisoners, who, although galley-slaves, 
 had obtained permission to have their sentence to the Bagne re- 
 mitted. 
 
 I saw at Bicetre Captain Labbre, who, it may be recollected, 
 supplied me, when at Brussels, with papers, by means of which I 
 
 deceived the Baroness d'l . He had been sentenced to sixteen 
 
 years at the galleys, for being concerned in an extensive robbery 
 committed at Ghent, at the house of Champon, the aubergist. He 
 was, with us, to depart with the first chain, the near approach of 
 which was disagreeably announced to us. Captain Viez, know- 
 ing the gentlemen who were to be confided to him, had de- 
 clared that, to prevent any chance of escape, he would put on 
 wrist-cuffs and collars until we reached Toulon. However, our 
 promise induced him to forego this formidable project 
 
 After the riveting of the fetters was done (in a similar way to that 
 in which it had been performed at my first departure) I was put 
 at the head of the first cordon, with Jossas, one of the most cele- 
 brated robbers of Paris and the provinces, better known as the 
 Marquis de Saint-Armand de Faral, which he constantly bore. 
 He was a man about thirty-six years old, with a gentlemanly ap- 
 pearance, and able to assume at will the most perfect suavity of 
 manners. His travelling costume was that of a dandy leaving his 
 bedroom for his boudoir. With pantaloons of silver-grey knit 
 materials, he wore a waistcoat and cap trimmed with Astracan fur, 
 of the same colour, and the whole covered with a large cloak lined 
 
 92 
 
132 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 with crimson velvet. His expenditure equalled his appearance, 
 for, not contented with living sumptuously at the places of repose, 
 he also supported three or four others of the cordon. 
 
 Jossas never had any education, but having entered when very 
 young into the service of a rich colonel, whom he accompanied in 
 his travels, he had acquired manners sufficiently good not to dis- 
 grace any circle. Thus his comrades, seeing him introduce him- 
 self into the first society, named him ' Passe-par-tout.' He was so 
 completely identified with this character, that at the Bagne, when 
 confined in double irons, and mingling indiscriminately with men 
 of the most miserable appearance, he still kept up a portion of 
 his grandeur, though disguised in a convict's cassock. Having 
 provided himself with a splendid dressing-box, he bestowed an 
 hour daily on his toilet, and was extremely particular about the 
 appearance of his hands, which were certainly very handsome. 
 
 Jossas was one of those thieves of whom, fortunately, but few 
 are now in existence. He meditated and prepared an enterprise 
 sometimes as long as a year beforehand. Operating principally by 
 means of false keys, he began by taking first the impression of the 
 lock of the outer door. The key made, he entered the first part ; 
 if stopped by another door, he took a second impression, had a 
 second key made, and thus in the end attained his object. It may 
 be judged, that only being able to get on during the absence of the 
 tenant of the apartment, he must lose much time before the fitting 
 opportunity would present itself. He only had-recourse to this ex- 
 pedient when in despair, that is, when it was impossible to intro- 
 duce himself to the house ; for if he could contrive to procure 
 admittance under any pretext, he soon obtained impressions of all 
 the locks, and when the keys were ready, he used to invite the 
 persons to dine with him, and whilst they were at table, his accom- 
 plices stripped the apartments, from whence he had also contrived 
 to draw away the servants, either by asking their masters to bring 
 them to help to wait at table, or by engaging the attention of the 
 waiting-maids and cooks by lovers who were in the plot. The porters 
 saw nothing, because they seldom took anything but jewels or 
 money. If by chance any large parcel was to be removed, they 
 folded it up in dirty linen, and it was thrown out of window to an 
 accomplice in waiting with a washerwoman's wheel-barrow. 
 
 In society, where he passed as a Creole of Havannah, he often 
 met inhabitants of that place, without ever letting anything escape 
 him which could betray him. He frequently led on families of 
 distinction to offer him the hands of their daughters. Taking care 
 always, during the many conversations thereon, to learn where the 
 dowry was deposited, he invariably carried it off, and absconded 
 
JOSSAS. 133 
 
 at the moment appointed for signing the contract But of all his 
 tricks, that played off on a banker at Lyons is perhaps the most 
 astonishing. Having acquainted himself with the ways of the 
 house, under pretext of arranging accounts and negotiations, in a 
 short time an intimacy arose, which gave him the opportunity of 
 getting the impression of all the locks except that of the cash-chest, 
 of which a secret ward rendered all his attempts unavailing. On 
 the other hand, the chest being built in the wall, and cased with 
 iron, it was impossible to think of breaking it open. The cashier, 
 too, never parted from his key ; but these obstacles did not daunt 
 Jossas. Having formed a close intimacy with the cashier, he pro- 
 posed an excursion of pleasure to Collonges ; and on the day ap- 
 pointed they went in a cabriolet. On approaching Saint Rampert, 
 they saw by the river-side a woman apparently dying, and the 
 blood spouting from her mouth and nostrils ; beside her was a 
 man, who appeared much distressed, assisting her. Jossas, testi- 
 fying considerable emotion, told him that the best method of 
 stopping the effusion of blood was to apply a key to the back of 
 the female. But no one had a key, except the cashier, who at 
 first offered that of his apartment. That had no effect The 
 cashier, alarmed at seeing the blood flow copiously, took out the 
 key of his cash-chest, which was applied with much success 
 between the shoulders of the patient. It has been already guessed 
 that a piece of modelling wax had been placed there previously, 
 and that the whole scene had been preconcerted. Three days 
 after the cash-box was empty. 
 
 Jossas spent money with the facility of a man who comes easily 
 by it. He was very charitable ; and I could cite many instances 
 of his whimsical generosity. Amongst others, the following : One 
 day he penetrated into an apartment in the Rue du Hazard, which 
 he had been informed would yield a rich booty. At first the wretched- 
 ness of the furniture surprised him, but the proprietor might be a 
 miser. He went on searching, burst open all, broke everything, 
 and only found in the desk a bundle of pawnbrokers' duplicates. 
 
 He took from his pocket five louis, and placing them on the 
 mantel-piece, wrote on the glass these words, * Payment for broken 
 furniture ;' he then retired, after closing the doors carefully, lest 
 any other robbers, less scrupulous, should carry off what he had 
 respected. 
 
 When Jossas set out with us for Bicetre it was his third journey. 
 He afterwards escaped twice, was retaken, and died at the Bagne 
 at Rochefort in 1806. 
 
 On our way to Montereau, I was witness of a scene which may 
 as well be known. A convict; named M auger knew a young man 
 
13* MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 of the city, who was believed by his parents to be sentenced to 
 the galleys ; and recommending his next neighbour to hide his face 
 with his handkerchief, he told several persons we met on our way, 
 that the person who thus concealed himself was the young man in 
 question. The chain went onwards, but scarcely were we a quarter 
 of a league from Montereau, when a man, running after us, gave the 
 captain fifty francs, produced by a collection made for the * man 
 with the handkerchief.' These fifty francs were in the evening 
 distributed arrongst the plotters of the scheme, without any other 
 persons but themselves knowing the cause of such liberality. 
 
 At Sens, Jossas played another comedy. He had sent for a man, 
 named Sergent, who kept the auberge de 1'Ecu ; and on his arrival, 
 this man testified the most excessive grief. ' What !' he exclaimed, 
 with tears in his eyes, * you here, my noble marquis ! You, the 
 brother of my old master ! I, who thought you on your return to 
 Germany ! Oh heavens ! what a misfortune !' It may be guessed 
 that in some expedition Jossas, being at Sens, had passed himself 
 for an emigrant, returned clandestinely, and the brother of a count 
 with whom Sergent had been cook. Jossas explained to him how, 
 being apprehended with a forged passport at the moment he was 
 gaining the frontier, he had been sentenced as a forger. The good 
 aubergist did not confine himself to empty lamentations, but sent 
 the galley-slave an excellent dinner, which I partook, with an ap- 
 petite greatly contrasted with my wretched situation. 
 
 Save and except a tremendous chastisement inflicted on two 
 convicts who had tried to escape at Beaume, nothing extraordinary 
 occurred till we reached Chalons, when we were put on board a 
 large boat, filled with straw, very similar to those which convey 
 charcoal to Paris ; the whole covered with a thick cloth. If, to 
 cast a glance over the country, or breathe a purer air, a convict 
 ventured to raise a corner, a shower of blows rained instantly on 
 his shoulders. Although free from such treatment, I was not the 
 less affected at my situation ; scarcely could the gaiety of Jossas, 
 who was never downcast, avail in making me for a moment forget 
 that, on reaching the Bagne, I should be the object of a special 
 vigilance that must frustrate every hope of escape. This idea 
 doubly depressed me when we reached Lyons. 
 
 On seeing the He Baslie, Jossas said to me, * You are going to 
 see something new.' I saw, on the quay of the Seine, an elegant 
 carriage, which seemed to be awaiting the arrival of a boat. As 
 soon as it came in sight, a female put her head from the window, 
 and waved a white handkerchief. * It is she,' said Jossas, who 
 replied to the signal. The boat having been moored to the quay, 
 the lady descended, and mixed in the crowd of lookers-on ; I could 
 
A TERRIBLE STORM. 135 
 
 not see her face, which was concealed by a very thick black veil. 
 She remained there from four in the afternoon till evening, and 
 the crowd then dispersing, Jossas sent Lieutenant Thierry to her, 
 who soon returned with a sausage, in which were concealed fifty 
 louis. I learnt that Jossas, having made a conquest of this lady 
 under his title of marquis, had informed her by letter of his con- 
 demnation, which he doubtlessly accounted for as he had done 
 with the aubergist at Sens. These sorts of intrigues, now very 
 rare, were at this period very common. Ignorant of the stratagem 
 plotted to deceive her, the veiled lady reappeared the next day on 
 the quay, and remained there until our departure, to the great 
 satisfaction of Jossas, who not only was recruited in finance, but 
 was assured of an asylum in the event of effecting his escape. 
 
 \\ e had nearly reached the termination of our navigation, when, 
 two leagues from Pont St. Esprit, we were overtaken by one of 
 those terrific storms so common on the Rhone. It was announced by 
 distant rumblings of thunder. Soon afterwards the rain descended 
 in torrents : gusts of wind, such as are only experienced under the 
 tropics, blew down houses, uprooted trees, and drove the waves 
 mountain high, which threatened at each moment to overwhelm 
 us with destruction. At this moment the spectacle that presented 
 itself was horrific ; by the rapid flashes of lightning were to be seen 
 two hundred men, chained so as to deprive them of the remotest 
 hope of safety, and expressing by fearful cries the anguish of ap- 
 proaching death, rendered inevitable by the weight of their fetters ; 
 on their sinister countenances might be read the desire to preserve 
 a life disputed by the scaffold, a life henceforward to be spent in 
 misery and degradation. Some of the convicts evinced an absolute 
 passiveness ; many, on the contrary, delivered themselves up to a 
 frantic joy. If any unfortunate wretch, mindful of his innocent 
 youth, muttered out the fragment of a prayer, his next companion 
 would perhaps shake his fetters, whilst he howled an obscene song, 
 and the prayer expired in the midst of lengthened howls and 
 shrieks. 
 
 What redoubled the general consternation was the despair of 
 the mariners, who seemed to have given all over for lost The 
 guards were not more confident, and even gave symptoms of an 
 intention to quit the boat, which was visibly filling fast with water. 
 Then matters took a fresh turn, and they urged on the argousins, 
 crying, ' Make the shore ; let all make for shore.' The darkness, 
 added to the confusion of the moment, affording an opportunity, 
 with impunity, the most intrepid of the convicts rose, declaring 
 that no person should quit the boat until it reached the bank. 
 Lieutenant Thierry was the only one who appeared to have pre- 
 
136 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 served his presence of mind : he put on a bold front, and protested 
 that there was no danger, as neither he nor the sailors had any in- 
 tention of quitting the vessel. We believed him the more as the 
 weather was gradually becoming more moderate. Daylight ap- 
 peared, and on the surface of the water, smooth as ice, there 
 would have been nothing to recall the disasters of the night if the 
 muddy tide had not been strewn with dead cattle, trees, and frag- 
 ments of furniture and houses. 
 
 Escaped from the tempest, we landed at Avignon, and were 
 confined in the castle. There commenced the vengeance of the 
 argousins ; they had not forgotten what they were pleased to term 
 our insurrection ; refreshing our memories of it by blows from 
 their cudgels, and then preventing the public from giving the 
 convicts that assistance which the end of the journey presented 
 from passing through their hands. * Alms to these vagabonds !' 
 said one of them, called Father Lami, to some ladies who wished 
 to bestow some aid : * it would be money lost. Besides, ask the 
 captain.' 
 
 Lieutenant Thierry, who ought not to be mentioned with 
 such brutal and inhuman beings, and of whom I have already 
 spoken, gave permission \ but, by a refinement of villany, the 
 argousins made the signal for departure before the distribution was 
 finished. The rest of the journey had no features of interest ; and 
 at length, after thirty-seven days of most painful travel, the chain 
 entered Toulon. 
 
 The fifteen carriages arrived at the port, and, drawn up in front 
 of the rope-yard, the convicts were ordered to alight, and were 
 then escorted to the court-yard of the Bagne. On the way thither, 
 those who had clothes worth anything made all possible haste to 
 take them off and sell or give them to the crowd which assembled 
 at the arrival of a new chain. When the clothing of the Bagne 
 was distributed, and the manacles had been riveted, as I had seen 
 it done at Brest, we were conveyed on board a cut-down frigate, 
 called Le Husard^ used as the floating Bagne. As soon as the 
 convicts employed as writers had written down our descriptions, 
 the escaped convicts were riveted to the double chain, Their 
 escape added three years' additional confinement to the original 
 sentence, 
 
 As I was thus circumstanced, I was sent to No. 3, where the 
 most suspected convicts were placed. Lest they should find an 
 opportunity for escaping in going to the harbour, they never went 
 to labour. Always fettered to the * bane,.' lying on the bare plank, 
 eaten up by vermin, and worn out by brutal treatment and want 
 of nourishment and exercise, they presented a most lamentable 
 appearance. 
 

 THE EXECUTIONER OF THE BAGNE. 137 
 
 I found in the cell all the most abandoned scoundrels that ever 
 assembled at the Bagne. I saw there one named Vidal, who even 
 struck the convicts themselves with horror. Apprehended at four- 
 teen years of age, in the midst of a band of brigands in whose 
 crimes he participated, his age alone redeemed him from the 
 scaffold. He was sentenced to imprisonment for twenty-four years ; 
 but scarcely had he reached the prison when, at the conclusion of 
 a quarrel, he killed a comrade with a blow of his knife. A sentence 
 of twenty-four years' hard labour was then substituted for that of 
 imprisonment only. He had been for some years at the Bagne, when 
 a convict was sentenced to death. There was not an executioner 
 to be found in the city, and Vidal eagerly offered his services, 
 which were accepted, and the execution was carried into effect, 
 but they were compelled to put Vidal on the bench with the 
 galley guards, or else the convicts would have knocked him on the 
 head with their fetters. The threats which menaced him did not 
 prevent him from fulfilling his new office again, some time after- 
 wards. Besides, he undertook to administer the sentences of 
 bastinado on the prisoners. At length, in 1794, the revolutionary 
 tribunal having been installed at Toulon, after the taking of that 
 town by Dugommier, Vidal was employed to carry their sentences 
 into effect. He then thought he was liberated, but when the 
 terror had ceased, he was remanded to the Bagne, where he was 
 placed under a special surveillance. 
 
 On the same bench with Vidal was the Jew Deschamps, one of 
 the principal of the party concerned in the robbing the royal 
 wardrobe, to the details of which the convicts listened with a 
 sinistrous pleasure. At the enumeration of the diamonds and 
 jewels carried off, their eyes sparkled, their muscles contracted 
 by a convulsive motion ; and by the expression of their counten- 
 ances, inferences might unerringly have been drawn of the first 
 uses they would have made of their liberty. This disposition was 
 particularly discernible in those men only convicted of petty 
 offences, who were taunted and bantered as only having stolen 
 objects of small value ; and then, after estimating the plunder of 
 the wardrobe at twenty millions of francs, Deschamps added, with 
 an air of contempt towards a poor devil sentenced for stealing 
 vegetables, 'Ah ! ah ! this was cabbage.' 
 
 From the moment when the robbery was perpetrated it became 
 the subject of multiplied comments, which circumstances and agita- 
 tion of mind rendered very singular It was during the meeting of 
 the representatives on the Sunday evening (i 6th of September, 
 792), that Roland, Minister of the Interior, announced the event 
 to the tribune of the convention, complaining bitterly of the in- 
 
138 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 efficient surveillance of the agents and the military guards, who 
 had forsaken their posts, under pretext of the severity of the cold.' 
 Some days afterwards, Thuriot, who was one of the commission 
 charged with searching out the matter, in his turn accused the 
 minister of carelessness, who answered drily, that he had something 
 else to do besides watching the wardrobe. The discussion rested 
 here, but these debates had aroused the public attention, and the 
 sole public theme was of guilty collusions, and plots framed for 
 robbery, of which the produce was devoted to keeping the police 
 agents in pay ; they went so far as to say, that the Government had 
 robbed itself; and what gave a consistency to such a report, was the 
 reprieves granted on the i8th of October to some individuals con- 
 demned for this affair, and from whom confessions were expected. 
 However, on the 22nd of February, 1797, in a report to the 
 Counseil des Anciens, on a proposal to grant a reward of five 
 thousand francs to a Madame Corbin, who had facilitated the 
 discovery of a great quantity of the plundered property, Thiebault 
 declared, in the most formal manner, that this event was not the 
 result of any political measure, and had all been incurred by the 
 defective vigilance of the police, and by the mismanagement which 
 pervaded every department of the administration. 
 
 At the beginning, the Moniteur had heated the imaginations of 
 the most wary, by speaking of forty armed robbers, who had been 
 surprised in the wardrobe. The truth is, that no one was sur- 
 prised ; and when they first discovered the loss of ' the regent,' 
 the dauphin's coral, and a vast many other jewels, valued at seven- 
 teen millions of francs, for four successive nights, Deschamps, 
 Bernard Salles, and a Portuguese Jew, named Dacosta, had in 
 their turns entered the apartments, without any other arms than 
 the tools requisite to extract the jewels set in the plate, which they 
 disdained to carry off; and thus they removed with the greatest 
 precaution the magnificent rubies which formed the eyes of the 
 ivory fishes. 
 
 Deschamps, to whom belongs the honour of the invention, first 
 got into the gallery by climbing a window, by means of a lamp- 
 post, at the angle of the Rue Royale and the Place of Louis XV. 
 Bernard Salles and Dacosta, who kept watch, were at first his only 
 comrades : but on the third night, Benoit Naid, Philipponeau, 
 Paumettes, Fraumont, Gay, Monton, lieutenant of the National 
 Guard, and Durand, called ' le Turc,' a jeweller in the Rue Saint 
 Sauveur, were added to the gang, as well as many first-rate * cracks 
 men,' who had been, in a friendly way, invited to come and partici- 
 ; >ate in the spoil. The rendezvous was at a billiard-room in the Ri ? 
 e Rohan : and, besides, they made so little mystery of the robber} 
 

 DESCHAMPS. 139 
 
 that cne morning after the first booty, Paumettes, dining with some 
 girls at a cookshop in the Rue d'Argenteuil, threw on the table to 
 them a handful of rose and small brilliant diamonds. The police, 
 however, got no information. To detect the principal authors it was 
 necessary that Durand, arrested for forging assignats, should 
 confess to obtain his own pardon, and, on his information, * the 
 regent ' was discovered and seized at Tours, sewn up in the head- 
 dress of a woman named Lebiene, who, unable to reach England 
 in consequence of the war, was about to sell it at Bordeaux to a 
 Jew, known to Dacosta. They had attempted to get rid of it in 
 Paris, but the value of the gem, estimated at twelve millions of 
 francs, would have awakened dangerous suspicions ; they had also 
 given up the idea of cutting the stone, lest the lapidary should 
 betray them. 
 
 Before having been sentenced for the robbery of the wardrobe, 
 Deschamps had been implicated in a capital affair, whence he was 
 extricated, although so guilty, as he boasced to us, by giving details 
 not to be doubted. He had been concerned in the double murder 
 of the jeweller Deslong and his servant maid, committed with his 
 accomplice, the broker Fraumont 
 
 Deslong had an extensive business, and besides private pur- 
 chases, he also bartered diamonds and pearls; and as he was 
 known to be an honest man, he often had valuable gems intrusted 
 to him, either to sell or unset. He also frequented auctions, when 
 Fraumont first knew him, who was constantly at sales to buy the 
 ropes, altar cloths, and other pillaged church ornaments (1793), 
 which he burnt to get the metal from the gold lace. From the 
 custom of meeting together so frequently in business, a sort of ac 
 quaintance sprang up between the two men, which soon became a 
 closer intimacy. Deslong had no concealment with Fraumont, 
 and consulted him in all his undertakings, informed him of the 
 worth of all the deposits intrusted to him, and even confided to 
 him the secret of a hiding-place in which he kept his most 
 valuable articles. 
 
 Informed of all these particulars, and having free access at all 
 times to Deslong's house, Fraumont conceived the project o' 
 robbing him whilst he and his wife were at the theatre, which they 
 frequented. He wanted an accomplice to keep watch ; and, beside, 
 it would have been dangerous for Fraumont ,whom everybody knew, 
 to be seen on the premises on the day of the robbery. He first se- 
 lected a locksmith, a fugitive convict, who made the false keys 
 necessary for entering Deslong's house ; but this man, being 
 pursued by the police, was forced to leave Paris, and he then sub- 
 stituted Deschamps. 
 
140 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 On the day fixed for the perpetration of the robbery, Deslong 
 and his wife having gone to the Theatre de la Republique, Frau 
 mont concealed himself at a vintner's to watch for the return of 
 the servant maid, who usually took advantage of the absence of 
 her master and mistress to go and see her lover. Deschamps went 
 up to the apartment, and opened the door gently with one of his 
 false keys. What was his astonishment to see in the hall the maid 
 servant, whom he thought absent (her sister, who was much like 
 her, having in fact left the house a few minutes before). At the 
 sight of Deschamps, whose surprise made his countenance even 
 more frightful, the girl let fall her work and shrieked. Deschamps 
 sprang upon her, threw her down, seized her throat, and gave her 
 ive blows with a clasp knife, which he had about him, in the 
 ight-hand pocket of his trousers. The unhappy creature fell 
 bathed in blood, and whilst the death rattle was yet sounding in 
 ier throat, the ruffian ransacked every corner of the room : but 
 vhether this unexpected event disturbed him, or that he heard 
 ome noise on the staircase, he only carried off some pieces of 
 ,;late which came to hand, and returned to his accomplice at the 
 vintner's and told him the adventure. He (Fraumont) was much 
 grieved, not at the murder of the servant, but at the little infor- 
 mation and clumsiness of Deschamps, whom he reproached with 
 not having discovered the secret closet which he had so plainly 
 pointed out ; and what put the cope-stone on his discontent was, 
 that he foresaw that after such a catastrophe Deslong would be 
 more careful of his property, and it would be impossible ever again 
 f o get such an opportunity. 
 
 In fact, Deslong did change his lodging after this event, which 
 nspired him with the most excessive fright, and the few persons 
 vhose visits he allowed were received with the greatest precaution. 
 Although Fraumont did not present himself, yet he had no 
 uspicion of him. How could he suspect a man who, if he had 
 erpetrated the crime, would not have failed to have ransacked 
 he closet, of which he knew the secret ? Meeting him at the end 
 )f a few days on the Place Vendome, he pressed him strongly to 
 ome and see him, and became more intimate with him than ever. 
 Kraumont then began plotting again ; but, despairing of breaking 
 open the new place of security, which, besides, was carefully 
 guarded, he determined on changing his plan. Led to Deschamp's 
 house, under pretence of bargaining for a large lot of diamonds, 
 Deslong was assassinated and robbed of seventeen thousand francs, 
 in gold and assigna ; s, with which he had provided himself by advice 
 of Fraumont, who dealt him the first stab. 
 
 Two days elapsed, and Madame Deslong, not seeing her husband 
 
FRAUMONT. 141 
 
 return, who never made so long an absence without a previous 
 intimation, and knowing that he had considerable property about 
 him, no longer doubted but that some misfortune had befallen 
 him. She then went to the police, they contrived to get hold of 
 Fraumont and Deschamps ; and the confession of the locksmith, 
 which corresponded with the accounts of the robbery, and who 
 was apprehended soon after, would have had an unpropitious 
 termination for them, had not the authorities refused to give this 
 man the liberty they had promised to reward him with ; and the 
 police agent, Cordat, who had been the go-between, unwilling that 
 his promises should be broken, aided his escape on the way from 
 La Force to the Palace. This circumstance removing the only 
 witness who could be brought forward, Deschamps and Fraumont 
 were set at liberty. 
 
 Condemned afterwards to eighteen years' imprisonment for 
 other robberies, Fraumont set out for the Bagne at Rochefort ; but 
 he was not yet out of courage, and by means of money, produced 
 by his plunder, he had bribed several persons who were to follow 
 the chain to aid his escape, in case he should attempt it, or even 
 to carry him off by force, if need should be. The use he proposed 
 to make of his liberty was to assassinate M. Delalande, high presi- 
 dent of the tribunal which had condemned him, and commissary 
 of the police of the Section de I'Unite', who had brought such 
 overwhelming charges against him. All was ripe for the execu- 
 tion of this plot, when a common woman, who had learned the 
 details from the lips of one of the accomplices, made a spon- 
 taneous confession, and measures were accordingly taken. The 
 escort was informed of it ; and when the chain left Bicetre, Frau- 
 mont was put in extra chains, which were not removed until his 
 arrival at Rochefort, where he was an object of special vigilance ; 
 and I was told that he died at the Bagne. As for Deschamps, 
 who escaped from Toulon soon after, he was apprehended at the 
 end of three years, as concerned in a robbery committed at 
 Auteuil, sentenced to death by the criminal tribunal of the Seine, 
 and executed at Paris. 
 
 In cell No. 3, I was only separated from Deschamps by a 
 burglar named Louis Mulot, son of that Cornu who so lorg 
 affrighted the people of Normandy, where his crimes are still un- 
 forgotten. Disguised as a horse-dealer, he frequented the fairs, 
 watched the merchants who had large sums about them, and 
 taking the cross roads, laid in wait for and assassinated them. 
 Married, for the third time, to a young and pretty woman of 
 Bernai, he had at first carefully concealed from her his infernal 
 trade ; but he was not slow in discovering that she was entirely 
 
142 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 worthy of him, and thenceforward she accompanied him in all his 
 expeditions. Frequenting all the fairs as a peripatetic mercer, she 
 easily introduced herself to the rich graziers of the valley of Auge, 
 and more than one met his death at the appointed spot of gallant 
 rendezvous. Often suspected, they brought forward alibis, always 
 successful, and for which they were indebted to the fleetness of the 
 excellent horses with which they were always provided. 
 
 In 1794, the Cornu family consisted of the father, mother, three 
 sons, two daughters, and their lovers, all of whom had been 
 habituated to crime from their earliest childhood, either in keeping 
 watch or setting fire to barns, etc. The youngest, Florentine, 
 having at first testified some repugnance, they had cured her deli- 
 cacy by compelling her to carry in her apron, for two leagues, the. 
 head of a farmer of the environs of Argentin ! 
 
 At a later period, entirely devoid of any tender scruples, she 
 had, as her lover, the assassin Capelle, executed in 1802. When 
 the family formed itself into a band of Chauffeurs to infest the 
 country (Caen and Falaise), it was she who put to the torture the 
 wretched farmers, by putting a lighted candle under their armpits, 
 or placing blazing tinder on their toes (whence the name of 
 Chauffeurs or burners). 
 
 Hotly pursued by the police of Caen, and particularly by that 
 of Rouen, who had apprehended two of the juniors of the family 
 at Brionne, Cornu resolved on retiring for some time to the 
 vicinity of Paris, trusting thus to elude inquiry. Installed with his 
 family in a lone house, on the road to Sevres, he did not fear to 
 take his walks in the Champs-Elysees, where he met nearly all the 
 robbers of his acquaintance. ' Well, Father Cornu/ said they to 
 him one day, ' what are you about now ?' ' Oh, always administer- 
 ing the last consolation (assassination), my sons the last consola- 
 tion.' ' That is droll, Father Cornu ; but discovery may ensue.' 
 ' Oh ! no fear where no witnesses. If I had done for all the 
 corn-thrashers (farmers) whom I have only singed, I should have 
 nothing to funk about now.' 
 
 In one of his excursions, Cornu met an old comrade, who pro- 
 posed to him to break into a villa, situated in the wood of Ville 
 d'Avray. The robbery was committed and the booty shared, but 
 Cornu found that he had been duped. On reaching the middle 
 of the wood, he let fall his snuff-box whilst offering it to his com- 
 panion, who stooped to pick it up, and at that very instant Cornu 
 blew out his brains with a pistol-shot, plundered him, and regained 
 his own house, where he told the tale to his family with bursts of 
 laughter. 
 
 Apprehended near Vernon, at the moment he was breaking into 
 
CORNU. 143 
 
 a farm, Comu was conducted to Rouen, tried before the Criminal 
 Court, and sentenced to death. Soon after this, his wife, who was 
 still at liberty, came every day to bring him food and console him. 
 1 Listen,' said she to him one morning, when he appeared more 
 dejected than usual, ' listen, Joseph : they say that death affrights 
 you don't play the noodle, at all events, when they lead you to 
 the scaffold. The lads of the game will laugh at you.' 
 
 1 Yes,' said Cornu, * all that is very fine, if one's scrag was not in 
 danger ; but with Jack Ketch on one side, and the black sheep 
 (clergyman) on the other, and the traps (gendarmes) behind, it is 
 not quite so pleasant to be turned into food for flies.' 
 
 ' Joseph, Joseph, do not talk in this way ; I am only a woman, 
 you know ; but I could go through it as if at a wedding, and par- 
 ticularly with you, old lad ! Yes, I tell you again, by the word of 
 Marguerite, I would willingly accompany you.' 
 
 1 Are you in earnest?' asked Cornu. 'Yes, quite in earnest,' 
 sighed Marguerite. ' But what are you getting up for ? What are 
 you going to do ?* 
 
 1 Nothing,' replied Cornu ; and then, going to a turnkey who was 
 in the passage, * Roch,' said he to him, ' send for the gaoler ; I want 
 to see the public accuser.' 
 
 ' What !' said his wife, * the public accuser ! Are you going to 
 split (confess) ? Ah, Joseph, consider what a reputation you will 
 leave for our children !' 
 
 Cornu was silent until the magistrate arrived, and he then de- 
 nounced his wife ; and this unhappy woman, sentenced to death 
 by his confessions, was executed at the same time with him. 
 Mulct, who told me all this, never repeated the narrative without 
 laughing till he cried However, he thought the guillotine no 
 subject for joking ; and for a long time avoided all crimes that 
 could send him to rejoin his father, mother, one of his brothers, 
 and his sister Florentine, all executed at Rouen. When he spoke 
 of them, and the end they had made, he frequently said, 'This is 
 the fruits of playing with fire ; they shall never catch me at such 
 work :' and, in fact, his tricks were not so redoubtable : he con- 
 fined himself to a species of robbery in which he excelled. His 
 eldest sister, whom he had brought to Paris, aided him in all his 
 enterprises. Dressed as a washerwoman, with a pannier at her 
 back and a basket on her arm, she went to all the houses where 
 there was no porter, and, knocking at the doors, if she learnt that 
 the occupants were from home, she returned and told Mulot. 
 Then he, disguised as a journeyman locksmith, went with his 
 bunch of picklocks, and opened the most complicated locks. 
 Frequently his sister, to avoid suspicion, with her apron and a 
 
144 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 modest cap on, and with the disturbed appearance of a nurse 
 who had lost her key, aided his operations. Mulot, though he 
 did not want foresight, was yet one day surprised in the very act, 
 and soon after condemned to imprisonment. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Father Mathieu My new line of business Ecco Homo, or the psalm-seller 
 A fugitive convict My best contrived escape The gay lady and the burial 
 I detect a thief I get my dismissal. 
 
 I NEVER was so wretched as after my entry at the Bagne at Toulon. 
 Cast at twenty-four years of age amongst the most abandoned 
 wretches, and necessarily in contact with them, although I would 
 have preferred a hundred times to be reduced to living in the 
 midst of people infected with the plague compelled only to see 
 and hear degraded beings, whose minds were incessantly bent on 
 devising evil schemes, I feared the dire contagion of such vicious 
 society. When, day and night, in my presence, they openly prac- 
 tised the most vile and demoralized actions, I was not so confident 
 in the strength of my own character as not to fear that I might 
 become but too much familiarized with such atrocious and dan- 
 gerous conversation. In fact, I had resisted many dangerous 
 temptations ; but want, misery, and the thirst of liberty, will often 
 involuntarily tempt us to a step towards crime. I had never been 
 in any situation where it was more positively incumbent on me to 
 attempt an escape ; and henceforward all my ideas and thoughts 
 were turned to the compassing of this measure. Various plans 
 suggested themselves, but that was not sufficient \ for to put any 
 of them into execution I must await a favourable opportunity, and 
 until then, patience was the only remedy for my woes. Fastened 
 to the same bench with robbers by profession, who had already 
 escaped several times, I was, as well as they, an object of special 
 surveillance, which it was difficult to divert. In their cambrons 
 (watch-boxes), at a short distance from us, the argousins were 
 always on the look-out, and observed our least motions. Father 
 Mathieu, their chief, had the eyes of a lynx, and such a knowledge 
 of the men he had to deal with, that he could tell at the slightest 
 glance if they were scheming to deceive him. This old fox was 
 nearly sixty years of age ; but having a vigorous constitution, which 
 seemed proof against the attacks of time, he was still hale and 
 hearty. He was one of those square figures which never wear out. 
 I have him now in ' my mind's eye,' with his little tail, his grey 
 and powdered locks, and his face in wrinkles so congruous with 
 the business pf his calling. He never spoke without mentioning 
 
TOY-MAKING. 145 
 
 his cudgel ; it was a never-ending theme of pleasurable recital to 
 talk of the many bastinadoes he had inflicted personally, or ordered 
 to be done. Always at war with the convicts, he knew every one 
 of their tricks. His mistrust was so excessive, that he often accused 
 them of plotting when they were not at all thinking of it. It may 
 be supposed that it was no easy matter to make a sop for this 
 Cerberus. I tried, however, to procure his favour, an attempt in 
 which no one had as yet succeeded : but I soon found that I had 
 not essayed in vain ; for I perceptibly gained on his good will. 
 Father Mathieu sometimes talked to me; a sign, as the experienced 
 told me, that I had made some way with him. I thought I might 
 ask something from him on the strength of this, and I asked him 
 to allow me to make children's toys with the pieces of wood 
 brought in by the working convicts. He granted all I asked, pro- 
 vided I was steady ; and the next day I began my work. My 
 companions cut out roughly, and I finished the toys. Father 
 Mathieu approved of my productions ; and when he saw that I 
 had assistance in my work, he could not forbear testifying his 
 approbation, which he had not expressed for a long time pre- 
 viously. ' Well, well !' said he, ' how I like people to amuse 
 themselves ; it would be well if you all did the same ; it would 
 pass time away ; and with the profits you might purchase some 
 small comforts.' A few days afterwards, the bench was a perfect 
 workshop, where fourteen men, equally anxious to drive away 
 ennui and earn a little money, worked away with much industry. 
 We had all some goods ready, which were sold by the assistants 
 of the convicts who gave us the materials. For a month our trade 
 was very brisk, and every day we had abundant returns, not a sous 
 of which was reserved. Father Mathieu had authorized us to 
 appoint as our treasurer a convict named Pantaragat, who sold 
 provisions in the room in which we were. Unfortunately there are 
 goods which cannot be multiplied without the necessary balance 
 between produce and consumption being destroyed. Toulon 
 was replete with toys of every description, and we must hence- 
 forward sit with folded arms. No longer knowing what to do, I 
 feigned a complaint in my legs, that I might be sent to the hospital. 
 The doctor to whom I was recommended by Father Mathieu, 
 whose protege I had become, actually believed that I was unable 
 to walk. When one would attempt to escape, it is impossible to 
 manage better than to contrive to excite such an opinion. Doctor 
 Ferrant did not for an instant suspect me of an intent to deceive 
 him ; he was one of those disciples of Esculapius, who think that 
 bluntness is a part of their profession : but still he was a humane 
 man, and behaved very kindly to me. The chief surgeon had also 
 
 JQ 
 
146 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 a liking for me, and to me he trusted the care of his surgery chest ; 
 I scraped his lint, rolled his bandages, and made myself generally 
 useful, so that my willingness procured for me his kindness : every 
 one, even to the argousin of the infirmary, behaved well to me, 
 although no one could exceed in sternness M. 1'Homme (that was 
 his name), whom they called jokingly, * Ecce Homo,' because he 
 had been formerly a seller of psalms and canticles. Although I 
 had been pointed out to him as a daring fellow, M. 1'Homme was 
 so much pleased with my good behaviour, and still more with the 
 bottles of mulled wine which I shared with him, that he perceptibly 
 became more humanized. When I was pretty well assured that I 
 should not excite his suspicions, I unmasked my battery, to over- 
 power his vigilance, as well as that of his fellow guards. I had 
 already procured a wig and black whiskers, and had, besides, con- 
 cealed in my mattress an old pair of boots, which, when well 
 waxed, seemed as good as new ; but that was only an equipment 
 for my head and feet : to complete my toilet, I relied on the head 
 surgeon, who used to lay on my bed his great-coat, hat, cane, and 
 gloves. One morning, whilst he was engaged in amputating an arm, 
 I saw that M. 1'Homme had followed him to assist in the operation, 
 which was performed at the extremity of one of the wards : the 
 opportunity for a disguise was admirable, and I hastened to com- 
 plete it ; and, in my new costume, I went straight to the door. I 
 had to pass through a crowd of argousins, but I ventured boldly, 
 and none of them appeared to pay any attention to me, and I 
 already thought myself out of danger, when I heard a cry, ' Stop 
 him, stop him a prisoner has escaped !' I was not more 
 than twenty steps from the arsenal, and, without losing my pre- 
 sence of mind, I redoubled my speed, and having got to the door, 
 I said to the guard, pointing to a person who was just entering 
 the city, * Run with me, he has escaped from the hospital.' 
 
 This would, perhaps, have saved me; but, just as I stepped 
 over the wicket, I was seized by the wig, and on turning round, 
 saw M. 1'Homme : resistance would have been certain death ; and 
 I therefore quietly followed him back to the Bagne, where I was 
 put to the double chain. It was evident that I was to undergo 
 punishment, and to avoid it, I cast myself on my knees before the 
 commissary, saying, ' Oh, sir, do not let me be beaten ; that is the 
 only favour I ask ; I would rather undergo three years' additional 
 confinement' The commissary, however touching my petition 
 might have been, could not keep his countenance ; but told me, 
 that he would pardon me on account of my boldness and ingenuity, 
 on condition that I would point out the person who had procured 
 ne the disguise. * You must be aware,' I replied to him, ' that 
 
A NEW SCHEME. 147 
 
 the people who guard us are wretches, who will do anything for 
 money, but nothing in the world shall induce me to betray mose 
 who serve me.' Pleased with my frankness, he ordered me to be 
 released from the double chain ; and when the argousin murmured 
 at so much indulgence, he desired him to be silent, adding, * You 
 ought to like, rather than be angry with, him, for he has just given 
 you a lesson which you would do well to profit by.' I thanked 
 the commissary, and the next moment was conducted to the fatal 
 bench to which I was to be fastened for the next six years. I then 
 flattered myself with the hopes of returning to my trade of toy- 
 making, but Father Mathieu refusing me, I was compelled un- 
 willingly to remain unemployed. Two months elapsed without 
 any change in my circumstances, when one night, being unable to 
 sleep, there flashed through my brain one of those luminous ideas 
 which only occur in darkness. Jossas was awake, and I mentioned 
 it to him. It may be surmised that he was always intent on effect- 
 ing his escape, and he thought it admirably wonderful as I had. 
 devised it, and begged me not to fail putting it into execution. It 
 will be seen that I did not neglect his advice. One morning, 
 the commissary of the Bagne going his rounds, passed near me,, 
 and I begged leave to speak to him in private. ' What do you 
 want ?' said he. ' Have you any complaint to make ? Speak, my 
 man ; speak out, and I will do you justice.' Encouraged by the 
 kindness of this language, I said, ' Good sir, you see before you a 
 second example of an honest criminal. You may, perhaps, re- 
 member that on coming here, I told you that I was put in my 
 brother's place. I do not accuse him ; I am even pleased at think- 
 ing he was ignorant of the crime imputed to him ; but it was he, 
 who, under my name, was condemned by the Court at Douai ; he 
 escaped from the Bagne at Brest, and now, having reached 
 England, he is free, and I, the victim of a sad mistake, must 
 submit to punishment. Alas ! how fatal to me has been our 
 resemblance ! 
 
 * Without this circumstance, I should not have been taken to 
 Bicetre ; the keeper would not have sworn to my person. In vain 
 have I begged for an inquiry ; it is because their testimony has 
 been received, that an identity is allowed which does not exist. 
 But the error is consummated, and I have much to bewail ! I 
 know that it is not with you to alter a decision from which there 
 is no appeal, but it is a favour you may grant to me : to be sure of 
 me, I am placed in a cell with suspected men, where I am with a 
 herd of robbers, assassins, and hardened ruffians. At every moment 
 I tremble at the recital of crimes which have been committed, as 
 well as at the hopes of those who are plotting others, to be per* 
 
 10 2 
 
J-lS MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 petrated the moment, if it ever arrives, they shall get free from 
 their fetters. Ah ! I beg you, in the name of every sentiment of 
 humanity, to leave me no longer amongst a set of such abandoned 
 miscreants. Put me in a dungeon, load me with chains, do with 
 me whatever you will, but do not leave me any longer with them. 
 Jf I have endeavoured to escape, it has been only that I might get 
 away from such a sink of infamy.' (At this moment I turned 
 towards the convicts.) 'You may see, sir, how ferociously they 
 gaze at me ; they already prepare to make me repent of what I 
 am saying to you ; they pant, they burn, to bathe their hands in 
 my blood : once more I conjure you, do not give me up to the 
 vengeance of these atrocious monsters.' 
 
 During this discourse, the convicts were petrified with astonish- 
 ment; they could not conceive that one of their comrades would 
 thus upbraid them in their very teeth ; the commissary himself did 
 not know what to think of such a step ; he was silent, and I saw 
 that I had touched him deeply. Then, throwing myself at his feet, 
 with tears in my eyes, I added, * Pity me ; if you refuse me, if you 
 go without removing me from this room, you shall never see me 
 again.' These words produced the desired effect. The commissary, 
 who was a worthy man, had me unloosed in his presence, and 
 gave orders that I should be placed with the working convicts. I 
 was yoked with a man named Salesse, a Gascon, as knavish as a 
 convict may be. The first time we were alone, he asked me if I 
 intended to escape. ' I have no thoughts of it,' replied I ; * I am 
 but too glad that they allow me to work.' But Jossas possessed 
 my secret, and he arranged all for my escape. I had a plain dress 
 which I concealed under my galley clothes without the knowledge 
 even of my yoke-fellow. A moving screw had supplied the place 
 of the rivet in my fetters, and I was ready to start. The third day 
 after leaving my companions I went out to labour, and presemed 
 myself before the argousin ; * Get along, good-for-nought,' said 
 Father Mathieu, 'it is not time.' I was in the rope-room, and the 
 place appeared propitious. I told my companion that I had a call 
 of nature, and he pointed out some pieces of wood behind which 
 I could go, and he was scarcely out of sight, when throwing off my 
 red shirt, and taking out the screw, I ran towards the basin. The 
 jfrigate La Meuron was then under repair, which had brought 
 ]Buonaparte and his suite from Egypt. I went on board and asked 
 for the master carpenter, whom I knew to be in the hospital. The 
 cook, whom I accosted, took me for one of the new crew. I was 
 rejoiced at this, and to confirm the idea, as I knew him to be a 
 man of Auvergne, by his accent, I began conversing with him in 
 his own provincial dialect, and in a tone of nuch assurance. 
 
ZSCAPE&. 149 
 
 although I was on thorns the whole time j for forty Couples of 
 convicts were at work close to us. They might recognise me in a 
 moment. A cargo soon set off for the town, and I jumped into 
 the boat, when, seizing an oar, I rowed away like an old sailor and we 
 soon reached Toulon. Anxious to reach the country, I went to the 
 Italian gate, but no one was allowed to go without a green card 
 given by the magistrates, and I was refused egress, and whilst I 
 was thinking how I could get out, I heard the three reports of the 
 cannon which announced my escape. At this moment a tremor 
 pervaded all my limbs ; already did I see myself in the power of 
 the argousins, and all the police of the Bagne. I pictured myself 
 in presence of the excellent commissary, whom I had so basely 
 deceived. If I were taken I must be lost. These sad reflections 
 coming over me, I walked away in haste, and that I might avoid a 
 crowd, betook myself to the ramparts. 
 
 On reaching a solitary spot, I walked very slowly, like a man 
 who, not knowing whither to bend his steps, is full of consideration, 
 when a female accosted me, and asked me in provincial French 
 what the hour was ; I told her that I did not know, and she then 
 began talking of the weather, and concluded by asking me to ac- 
 company her home : * It is only a few yards hence/ she added, * and 
 no one will see us.' The opportunity of finding a place of refuge 
 was too propitious to be refused, and I followed my conductress 
 to a sort of small inn, when I sent for some refreshment. Whilst 
 we were conversing together, three other cannon shots were heard. 
 ' Ah,' cried the girl, with an air of satisfaction, ' there is a second' 
 escape to-day.' ' What !' said I, ' my lass, does that please you ? 
 Should not you like to get the reward ?' ' I, why, you cannot know 
 much of me.' ' Bah, bah,' I replied, * fifty francs are always worth 
 earning, and if I swear to you that if one of these fellows fall into 
 
 my clutches .' ' You are a wretch !' she said, making a gesture 
 
 of indignation. * I am on'y a poor girl, but Celestine would never 
 eat the bread earned by means so despicable.' At these words, 
 ) >ronounced with an accent of truth which left no doubt on my 
 mind of her sincerity, I did not hesitate to confide my secret to 
 her. As soon as I had informed her that I was a convict, I cannot 
 express how much she appeared interested in my fate. ' Mon 
 Dieu !' she said, ' they are so much to be pitied ; I would save 
 them all, and have already saved many ;' then, after pausing for 
 an instant, as if to consider, ' Let me manage it,' she then added ; 
 ' I have a lover who has a green card ; I will borrow it from him, 
 and you shall use it, and, once out of the city, you can deposit it 
 under a stone which 1 will point out to you, and in the interim, as 
 we are not in security here, I will take you to my apartment.' On 
 
i$o MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 teaching this, she told me that she must leave me for a moment. 
 * I must tell my lover,' said she, ' and will speedily return. 1 
 Women are sometimes most admirable actresses, and, in spite of 
 her kind protestations, I feared some treachery. Perhaps 
 Celestine was going to denounce me ; she had not reached the 
 street, when I ran down the staircase. ' Well, well,' cried the girl, 
 ' do not fear. If you mistrust me, come along with me.' I thought 
 it most prudent to watch her, and we walked away together, 
 whither I knew not. Scarcely had we gone ten yards, when we 
 met a funeral procession. * Follow the burial,' said my protectress, 
 ' and you will escape ;' and before I had time to thank her, she 
 disappeared. The followers were numerous, and I mixed amongst 
 the crowd of assistants, and, that I might not be thought a stranger 
 at the ceremony, I entered into conversation with an old sailor, 
 from whose communications I soon learnt how to utter a few well- 
 timed remarks on the virtues of the defunct. I was soon convinced 
 that Celestine had not betrayed me. When I left the ramparts 
 behind me, which it had been of such paramount importance for 
 :me to pass, I almost wept for joy ; but that I might not betray 
 -.myself, I still kept up a strain of suitable lamentations. 
 
 On reaching the cemetery I advanced in my turn to the edge 
 of the grave, and after having cast a handful of earth on c he coffin, 
 I separated from the company by taking a circuitous path. I 
 walked on for many hours without losing sight of Toulon, and 
 -about five o'clock in the evening, just as I was entering a grove 
 of firs, I saw a man armed with a gun. As he was well clad, and 
 liad a game-bag, my first thought was that he was a huntsman ; 
 tut observing the butt of a pistol projecting from his girdle, I feared 
 that I had met with one of these Provencals, who, at the sound of 
 the cannon, always scour the country in search of the runaway 
 galley-slaves. If my fears were just, flight was unavailing ; and it 
 was perhaps best to advance rather than retreat This I did, and 
 on approaching him sufficiently close to be on my guard, in 
 case he should show any hostilities, I asked the road to Aix. 
 
 ' Do you want the highroad or the byway ?' said he, with 
 peculiar emphasis. 
 
 ' Oh, either, no matter which,' I answered, hoping by my in- 
 difference to remove his suspicions. 
 
 ' In that case, follow this path it leads to the station of the gen- 
 darmes ; and if you do not like travelling alone, you can avail 
 yourself of the escort' 
 
 At this word ' gendarmes ' I turned pale, and the stranger, 
 perceiving the effect his words had produced, added, * Come, come ; 
 J see you are not over-anxious to travel on the highway. Well, 
 
A GUIDE. 151 
 
 if you are not in a very great hurry, I will conduct you to the 
 village of Pourieres, which is not two leagues from Aix. 
 
 He seemed so well acquainted with the localities, that I availed 
 myself of his offer, and consented to follow him. Then, without 
 stirring, he pointed out a clump of bushes, where he bid me await 
 his joining me. Two hours passed before he finished his guard, 
 and he then came to me. ' Get up/ said he. I obeyed, and 
 when I thought myself in the thickest of the wood, I found myself 
 at the borders of it, about fifty paces from a house, in front of 
 which were seated several gendarmes. At the sight of their 
 uniforms, I started. ' What ails you, man ?' asked my guide ; 
 ' do you think I would betray you ? If you fear anything, take 
 these and defend yourself;' at the same time offering me his 
 pistols, which I refused. * Well, well ,' he added, and squeezed 
 my hand, to testify how much he was satisfied with my con- 
 fidence. 
 
 Concealed by the bushes which skirted our path, we stopped. 
 I could not comprehend the motive of a halt so near the enemy. 
 Our stay was protracted till nightfall, when we saw approaching 
 from Toulon a mail, escorted by four gendarmes, who were 
 relieved by the same number from the brigade whose vicinity had 
 so much alarmed me. The mail proceeded on its journey, and 
 was soon out of sight. My companion then, taking my arm, said 
 in an under tone, ' Let us start, nothing can be done to-day.' 
 
 We then walked away in an opposite direction for about an hour, 
 and my guide, going up to a tree, clasped the trunk in his hands, 
 and I saw that he was counting the number of notches cut by a 
 knife * Good, good ;' he ejaculated, with an air of satisfaction 
 which was to me inexplicable, and taking from his game-bag a 
 piece of bread, which he divided with me, he then gave me a bottle, 
 whence I drank with pleasure. The collation could not have been 
 more opportune, for I was in want of something to recruit my 
 strength. In spite of the darkness we walked so fast that I was 
 tired, and my feet, long unused to exercise, had become so painful 
 that I was going to declare it impossible for me to proceed farther, 
 when a village clock struck three. ' Gently,' said my guide, 
 stooping and placing his ear on the ground ; * do as I do, and 
 listen ; with this cursed Polish legion one must be always on the 
 watch. Did you hear nothing ?' I replied that I thought I heard 
 the footsteps of a body of men. ' Yes,' he added, * it is they ; stir 
 not, on your life, or we shall be taken.' He had scarcely spoken, 
 when a patrol guard came towards the thicket in which we weic 
 concealed. ' Did you see anything, you fellows ?' said some one in 
 a low tone. 'Nothing, sergeant.' 
 
i$2 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 * Parbleu ! I thought so ; it is as dark as an oven. This devil 
 of a Roman, whom heaven's thunders crush ! To make us travel 
 all night like wolves in a wood ! Ah, if ever I find him, or any of 
 his gang !' 
 
 * Qui vive ? (who goes there ?)' cried a soldier suddenly. 
 'What do you see?' said the sergeant ' Nothing ; but I 
 
 heard a breathing on this side,' and he indicated the spot where 
 we were. 
 
 'Stuff! you are dreaming. You are so much alarmed about 
 Roman, that you think that you always have him in your cart- 
 ridge-box.' 
 
 Two other soldiers asserted that they had heard the same. 
 
 ' Hold your tongues/ replied the sergeant. * I see there is 
 nobody, and we must once more, according to custom, return to 
 Pourieres without having trapped our game. Come, my lads, it is 
 time to be off.' The patrol seemed disposed to retreat. ' It is a 
 ruse de guerre] said my companion. ' I know they will beat the 
 wood and return upon us in a semicircle.' 
 
 It was now necessary that I should be firm and composed, 'Are 
 you fearful ?' said my guide. 
 
 ' This is no time for fear/ I replied. 
 
 ' Well, then, follow me : here are my pistols ; when I fire, do 
 you the same, so that the four shots only sound like one report. 
 Now, fire.' 
 
 The four shots were fired, and we then ran with all speed, with- 
 out being pursued. The fear of falling into an ambuscade had 
 made the soldiers come to a halt, but we did not pause from our 
 flight. On getting near an isolated hut, the stranger said to me, 
 4 It is now daylight, and we are safe :' and then, leaping the pales 
 of the garden, he took a key from the hollow trunk of a tree, and 
 opening the door of the cot, we immediately entered. 
 
 An iron lamp, placed on the mantel-piece, lighted up a plain and 
 rustic apartment. I only observed in a corner a barrel, containing, 
 as I thought, gunpowder, and near it on a shelf was a quantity of 
 gun-cartridges. A woman's attire placed on a chair, with one of 
 those large black hats worn by the Provencal peasants, indicated 
 the presence of a sleeping female, whose heavy breathing reached 
 our ears. Whilst I threw a rapid glance about me, my guide pro- 
 duced from an old trunk a quarter of a kid, some onions, oil, and 
 a bottle of wine : he invited me to partake of a repast, of which I 
 felt in the greatest need. He seemed very desirous of interrogating 
 me, but I ate with so much appetite that I believe he felt a scruple 
 of conscience in interrupting me. When I had finished, which was 
 not whilst anything remained on the table, he led me to a sort of 
 
A REFUGE. 153 
 
 loft, assuring me that I was in perfect safety, and then left me 
 before I could ask if he was going to stay in the hut ; but scarcely 
 had I stretched myself out on the straw when a heavy sleep took 
 possession of all my faculties. 
 
 When I awoke, I judged by the height of the sun that it was 
 two o'clock. A female peasant, doubtlessly the same whose apparel 
 I had seen, warned by my movements, showed her head at the 
 opening of the door of my garret. ' Do not stir,' said she in a 
 Provencal dialect; ' the environs are full of sapins (gendarmes) who 
 are examining every place.' I did not know what she meant by 
 ' sapins,' but I guessed that it did not refer to anything very pro- 
 pitious for me. 
 
 At twilight I saw my new friend of the previous evening, who, 
 after some trifling conversation, asked me point-blank who I was, 
 whence I came, and whither I was going. Prepared for these 
 unavoidable questions, I replied that I was a deserter from the 
 ship Ocean, then in the roadstead at Toulon, that I was going to 
 Aix, whence I hoped to get to my own country. 
 
 1 That is all very good,' said my host * I see who you are ; but 
 do you know who I am ?' 
 
 ' I'faith, to tell the honest truth, I first took you for a patrol ; 
 afterwards I took you for a leader of smugglers and now I do 
 not know what to think.' 
 
 ' You shall know, then. In our country we are brave enough, 
 you see, but object to be made soldiers on compulsion so we did 
 not comply with the requisition when we could do anything to 
 avoid it The quota selected in Pourieres even refused to march 
 at all when called upon. The gendarmes cime to compel the 
 refractory, and they resisted. Men were killed on both sides : and 
 all the townsmen who participated in the affray betook themselves 
 to the woods to escape a court-martial. We thus met, sixty in 
 number, under the orders of M. Roman and the brothers Bisson 
 de Tretz : if you like to remain with us I shall be glad, for last 
 night's experience tells me that you are a man of mould, and I 
 advise you not to be in any fear about gendarmes. Besides, we 
 want for nothing, and run but little risk. The country people 
 inform us of all that passes, and give us provisions. Come, will 
 you join us ?' 
 
 I did not judge it wise to reject the proposition : and, without 
 reflecting on the consequences, I answered as he wished. I stayed 
 two days at the hut, and on the third set out with my companion, 
 armed with a carbine and two pistols. After many hours' walking 
 over mountains covered with wood, we reached a hut larger than 
 that we h:ivi quitted : it was the head-quarters of Roman- I waited 
 
154 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 a moment at the door for my guide to announce me. He soon 
 returned, and introduced me to a large apartment, where I saw 
 about forty persons, the greater number of whom were grouped 
 about a man who, by his appearance, half-rustic, half-citizen, might 
 have passed for a rich country proprietor. I was presented to this 
 personage, who said to me, * I am delighted to see you : I have 
 heard of your coolness, and know your worth. If you will share 
 our perils, you shall find friendship and freedom : we do not know 
 you, but you have a face which would command friends every- 
 where. To sum up all, our men are honourable and brave for 
 probity and honour are our mottoes.' After this discourse, which 
 could only be addressed to me by Roman, the brothers Bisson, and 
 then all the troop, gave me the embrace of brotherhood. 
 
 Such was my reception in this society, to which its- leader 
 attributed a political intent ; but it is certain that, after beginning, 
 like the Chouans, to stop the diligences which conveyed the State 
 moneys, Roman had begun to plunder travellers. The mutineers 
 who composed his band had at first much reluctance in com- 
 mitting these robberies ; but habits of an unsettled life, idleness, 
 and especially the difficulty of returning to their homes, soon 
 removed all scruples. 
 
 The day after my arrival, Roman appointed me to conduct six 
 men to the environs of Saint Maximin. I did not know the 
 purport of the mission. About midnight, on reaching the borders 
 of a small thicket that skirted the road, we ensconced ourselves in 
 a ravine. Roman's lieutenant, Bisson de Tretz, recommended 
 absolute silence. The wheels of a carriage were soon heard, and 
 it passed us. Bisson looked out cautiously, and said, ' It is the 
 Nice diligence ; that will not do for us : it has more soldiers than 
 ducats.' He then ordered us to retreat, and we regained the 
 hut : when Roman, enraged at seeing us return empty-handed, 
 swore loudly, exclaiming, ' Well, well ! they shall pay for this 
 to-morrow.' 
 
 It was no longer possible for me to deceive myself as to the 
 association to which I belonged : I had decidedly fallen in with 
 that famous band of highwaymen who were spreading terror 
 throughout Provence. If I fell into the hands of justice a fugitive 
 galley-slave I could hardly hope for that pardon which might be 
 granted even to the troop with which I was mingled. Reflecting 
 on all the difficulties of my situation, I was tempted to escape them 
 by flight ; but, so recently enrolled, how was it possible to evade 
 the strict scrutiny with which they regarded me ? On the other 
 hand, to express any desire of withdrawing myself from the ron. 
 cderacy would only have nrovoked ,. suspicion iuiai to JA/ v uA i >ose 
 

 DISCOVERY. 155 
 
 or safety. Might I not be considered as a spy, and be shot as 
 such ? Death and infamy threatened me whichever way I turned. 
 In the midst of these perplexities to which I was a prey, my only 
 idea was to sound the man who had first effected my introduction 
 amongst my comrades ; and, with as much apparent indifference 
 as I could assume, I inquired if it would not be possible to obtain 
 from our captain leave of absence for a few days ? The man looked 
 at me with an air of cunning and suspicion : * Yes, friend,' said he, 
 4 such favours are sometimes obtained, when our chief knows well 
 the person to whom he grants them.' This said, he turned upon 
 his heel, and left me to rack my brain anew for some happier device 
 to effect my liberty than this had proved. 
 
 I had now been upwards of eleven days with these bandits, each 
 day more fully resolved to withdraw myself from the honour of 
 their exploits, when, one night that I had fallen asleep through 
 excessive fatigue, I was suddenly aroused by an extraordinary 
 noise ; I listened, and discovered that the confusion which had 
 broken my rest was occasioned by one of the troop having been 
 robbed of a purse heavy with many years' booty : to my consterna- 
 tion I found that, as being the last comer amongst them, their 
 suspicions were directed to me. They surrounded me and 
 formally accused me of having stolen the purse ; the cry was 
 unanimously against me, and drowned my protestations of inno- 
 cence ; they insisted upon searching my person. I had lain down 
 in my clothes, which a hundred hands were ready to strip off me. 
 What were their surprise, anger, and astonishment, at perceiving 
 on my shoulder the brand of a ga'ley-slave ! 'A galley-slave!' 
 exclaimed the captain. 'A galley slave amongst us ! He can only 
 be here as a spy ; knock him on the head, or shoot him, that will 
 be soonest done.' I heard the click of the muskets preparing to 
 obey this last order. 'One moment,' exclaimed the chief; 'let 
 him, before he dies, make restitution of the lost money.' 'Yes,' 
 said I to him, ' the money shall be restored, but on condition that 
 you grant me a few minutes' private conversation.' He consented 
 to listen to what I had to say, under the idea that now I should 
 make a full confession ; but the moment I found myself alone with 
 him, I protested anew that I was entirely innocent of the affair, and 
 suggested an expedient for discovering the culprit, the idea of 
 which was drawn from a work I had read of Berquin's. My plan 
 was acceded to, and the captain returned to his men, holding as 
 many straws in his hand as there were individuals present. ' Ob- 
 serve me well,' said he to them ; 'the longest of these straws will 
 fall into the hands of him who is guilty.' 
 
 The drawing began, each man in silence plucked out a straw ; 
 
156 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 but when it had concluded, the straws were returned to the 
 captain, and his troop looked with curious eagerness for the 
 result. 
 
 One alone was found shorter than the others. A man named 
 Joseph d Osiolles presented it. * You are then the thief !' ex- 
 claimed the captain. ' Every straw was of the same length ; you 
 have shortened yours, and thus criminated yourself.' Joseph was 
 searched, and the stolen purse found hid in his belt. 
 
 My justification was complete ; the whole troop acknowledged 
 my innocence ; and the captain, whilst he sought to excuse the 
 violence to which I had been subjected, added that I must no 
 longer form part of his band. ' It is a sad piece of ill luck for you/ 
 
 said he ; ' but you must feel that, having been at the galleys .' 
 
 He did not complete the sentence but, putting fifteen louis in my 
 hands, he compelled me to promise silence as to all I had seen or 
 heard for the next twenty-five days. 
 
 I was prudent, and faithful to my engagement. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A receiver of stolen goods First treaty with the police Departure for Lyons. 
 
 AFTER the dangers I had undergone whilst remaining with Roman 
 and his band, some idea may be formed of the joy which I ex- 
 perienced on quitting them. It was evident that the Gcvernment, 
 once determinately seitled, would adopt the most efficacious 
 measures for insuring the safety of the interior. The remains of the 
 bands, which, under the name of * Chevaliers du Soleil, or the Com- 
 pagnie de Jesus,' owed their formation to a political reaction, deferred 
 indefinitely, could not fail to be destroyed as soon as was desired. 
 The only honest excuse for their brigandage royalism no longer 
 existed ;and although Hiver, Lepretre, Boulanger, Bastide, Jansein, 
 and other ' sons of the family,' made a boast of attacking the 
 couriers, because they found their profit in it, it began to be no 
 longer in good taste to think that it was quite correct to appro- 
 priate to one's self the money of the state. All the incroyables who 
 had thought it a service to check, pistol in hand, the circulation 
 of despatches and the collection of the imposts, withdrew now to 
 their firesides ; and those who had profited by their exertions, or 
 wished for other reasons to be forgotten, betook themselves to a 
 distance from the scene of their exploits. In fact, order was re- 
 established, and the time was at hand when robbers, whatever 
 might be their pretext or motive, were no longer to be tolerated. 
 I should have been very desirous, under such circumstances, to 
 
THE ROAD TO LYONS. 157 
 
 have enrolled myself in a band of robbers, only, the infamy of 
 such a procedure apart, I should have been kept from it by the 
 certainty of being speedily brought to the scaffold. But another 
 thought animated me ; I wished to avoid, at any cost, the oppor- 
 tunities and means of committing crimes : I wished to be free. I 
 knew not how this wish was to be realized, nor did it matter ; my 
 determination was made, and I had, as they say, marked a cross 
 on the prison. In haste to get at a considerable distance, I took 
 the road to Lyons, avoiding the high road, until I reached the 
 environs of Orange ; there I fell in with some Provencal waggoners, 
 whose packages soon revealed to me that they were about to take 
 the same road as myself. I entered into conversation with them ; 
 and as they appeared to me to be hearty jovial fellows, I did not 
 hesitate to tell them that I was a deserter, and that they would serve 
 me materially if, to aid me in avoiding the vigilance of the gen- 
 darmes, they would agree to bestow their patronage on me. This 
 proposal did not surprise them, and it even seemed as if they had 
 suspected that I should claim their protection and secresy. At 
 this period and particularly in the south, it was not rare to meet 
 with fine fellows, who had left their colours and committed them- 
 selves to the care of Heaven. It was then very natural to take my 
 word, and the waggoners received me kindly ; and some money 
 which I displayed, as if by chance, completed the interest which I 
 had already excited. It was agreed that I should pass for the son 
 of the person who had these conveyances in charge. I was accord- 
 ingly clothed with a smock-frock, and was supposed to be making 
 my first journey. I was decorated with ribands and nosegays, 
 emblems which at each public-house procured for me the congratu- 
 lation of all the inmates. 
 
 A new ' John of Paris,' I filled my part very well; but the donations 
 necessary to support it adequately made such inroads on my purse, 
 that, on reaching the guillotiere, where I was to leave my party, I 
 only had twenty-e ght sous left. Having wandered about for some 
 time in the dirty and dark streets of the second city in France, I 
 remarked, in the Rue des Quatre-Chapeaux, a sort of tavern where 
 I thought that I might procure a supper commensurate with my 
 finances. I was not mistaken : the supper was light enough, and 
 soon despatched. To remain hungry is indeed a disagreeable 
 thing ; and not to know where to find shelter for one's head is 
 equally annoying. When I had wiped my knife, which, however, 
 had not been much engaged, I was reflecting that I must pass 
 the night under the canopy of heaven, when at a table near to 
 mine, I heard a conversation in that bastard German so much 
 spoken in some districts of the Netherlands, and with which I was 
 
158 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 well acquainted. The speakers were a man and woman about to 
 retire, and whom I found to be Jews. Informed that at Lyons, 
 as in many other towns, these people kept furnished houses, in 
 which they received smugglers, I asked if they could direct me to 
 a public-house. I could not have addressed myself to better 
 persons ; for they were lodging-keepers, and offered to become my 
 hosts, which, on agreeing to, I accompanied them. Six beds were 
 in the room in which I was placed, none of which were occupied, 
 although it was ten o'clock, and T fell asleep under the idea that I 
 should have no companions in my room. 
 
 On awaking, I heard the following conversation in a slang lan- 
 guage which was familiar to me. 
 
 4 It is half-past six,' said a voice, which was not unknown to me, 
 * and you lie snoring still. 1 
 
 1 Well, and what then ? We wanted to break open the old 
 goldsmith's shop to-night, but he was on his guard, and we ought 
 to have given him a few inches of cold steel, and then the blood 
 would have flowed.' 
 
 ' Ah, ha ! but you fear the guillotine too much. But that is not 
 the way to go to work to get the money.' 
 
 ' I would rather murder on the highway than break open shops ; 
 the gendarmes are always at your heels.' 
 
 * Well, then, you have got no booty ; and yet there were snuff- 
 boxes, watches, and gold chains enough. The Jew will have no 
 business to-day.' 
 
 ' No ; the false key broke in the lock, the citizen cried for help, 
 and we had to run for it ' 
 
 * Holla !' said a third person ; * do not wag your tongues so fast ; 
 there is a man in bed, who may be listening.' 
 
 The advice was too late, but it silenced them, and I half-opened 
 my eyes to see the faces of my companions ; but my bed being 
 very low, I could not perceive them. I remained quiet, that they 
 might suppose me asleep ; when one of the speakers having arisen, 
 I recognised him as an escaped prisoner from Toulon, named 
 Neveu, who had left some days before me. His comrade jumped 
 out of bed, and him I knew to be Cadet-Paul, another fugitive ; a 
 third and then a fourth arose, and I knew them all then to be 
 galley-slaves. 
 
 I almost fancied myself in my room, No. 3. At length I got up 
 from my bed. and scarcely had I put my foot on the floor, when 
 they all exclaimed, ' 'Tis Vidocq !' They surrounded and congra- 
 tulated me. One of the robbers, Charles Deschamps, who had 
 escaped a few days after me, told me that the whole Bagne were 
 full of admiration at my boldness and success. Nine o'clock having 
 
AN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE POLICE. 159 
 
 struck, they conducted me to breakfast, where we joined the 
 brothers Quinet, etc. They overwhelmed me with kindnesses, pro- 
 cured me money, clothes, and even a mistress. 
 
 I was here situated precisely as I had been at Nantes, but I 
 was not more desirous of following the profession of my friends 
 than I had been in Bretagne ; but until I had a remittance from 
 my mother I must live somehow. I thought I might manage to 
 support myself for a time without labour. I proposed most deter- 
 minately only to receive subsistence from the robbers ; but man 
 proposes and God disposes. The fugitives, discontented that I, 
 under various pretexts, always avoided joining their daily plunder- 
 ing parties, at once denounced me, to get rid of a troublesome 
 witness, who might become dangerous. They imagined that I 
 should escape, as a matter of course, and relied that, once known 
 by the police, and having no refuge but with their band, I should 
 then unite myself to their party. In this circumstance, as in all 
 others of a similar kind, in which I have been found, if they were 
 so desirous of my companionship, it was because they had a high 
 opinion of my penetration, my adroitness, and particularly of 
 my strength a valuable quality in a profession in which profit is 
 too often attained by peril. 
 
 Arrested at A dele Buffin's, in the passage Saint Come, I was 
 taken to the prison of Roan ne, where I learnt from my examination 
 that I had been sold. In the rage which discovery threw me into, 
 I took a sudden step, which was in a measure my introduction to 
 a career entirely new to me. I wrote to M. Dubois, commissary- 
 general of the police, requesting a private interview, and the same 
 evening I was conducted to his private closet. Having explained 
 my situation to him, I offered to put him in the way of seizing the 
 brothers Quinet, then pursued for having assassinated the wife of 
 a mason. I proposed besides to point out the means of appre- 
 hending all the persons lodging as well at the Jew's as at Caffiri 
 the joiner's. In return, I only asked for liberty to quit Lyons. 
 M. Dubois had doubtless been before the dupe of such proposals, 
 and I saw that he hesitated to trust me. * You doubt my word,' 
 said I to him : ' should you still suspect me if I should escape on 
 my way back to prison, and return and surrender myself as your 
 prisoner?' ' No,' he replied. ' Well, then, you shall soon see me 
 again, provided that you consent not to give my guards any ad- 
 ditional orders for my security.' He agreed, and I went away; but 
 on arriving at the corner of the street, I knocked down the two 
 tipstaffs, who had each an arm of mine, and regained the Hotel de 
 Ville with all possible speed, where I found M. Dubois, who 
 was greatly surprised at my prompt reappearance ; but, certain 
 
i6o MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 from that that he might rely on me, I was allowed to go a! 
 liberty. 
 
 The next day I saw the Jew, whose name was Vidal, who di- 
 rected me to a house, where, he said, my friends had gone to live, 
 and thither I went. They knew of my escape ; but as they had no 
 idea of my understanding with the commissary-general of police, 
 and did not think that I knew who had directed the blow which 
 struck me, they gave me a very cordial reception. During the con- 
 versation, I gathered details from the brothers Quinet, which I 
 transmitted to M. Dubois the same evening, and who, convinced 
 of my sincerity, reported my conduct to M. Ganier, secretary- 
 general of the police. I gave this gentleman all necessary infor- 
 mation, and must say that he acted on his part with much tact and 
 activity. 
 
 Two days before they commenced operations, as I had advised, 
 on Vidal's house, I thought it expedient that I should be again 
 arrested. I was again conducted to the prison of Roanne, where 
 the next day Vidal, Caffin, and many others, whom they had 
 caught in the same snare, were brought in. I was at first kept 
 from communicating with them, because I had thought it best 
 that I should be put * au secret.' When I was released from it, at 
 the end of several days, to join the other prisoners, I pretended 
 much surprise at finding all the party there ; none appeared to 
 have the least idea of the part which I had played. Neveu alone 
 regarded me with distrust ; and on my demanding the cause, he 
 said, that by the way in which they had been pursued and inter- 
 rogated, he could not help suspecting that I was the denouncer. 
 1 feigned much indignation, and fearing that this opinion might be 
 disseminated, I assembled the prisoners, and informing them of 
 Neveu's suspicions, I demanded if they thought me capable of 
 selling my comrades, and on their answering in the negative, 
 Neveu was compelled to apologize to me. It was important to me 
 that these suspicions should be thus destroyed ; for I knew that 
 certain death would be my doom if they had been confirmed. There 
 had been many instances at Roanne of this retributive justice, 
 which the prisoners exercised towards one another. One named 
 Moissel, suspected of having given information relative to a 
 robbery of church plate, had been knocked on the head in the 
 court, without the assassin being detected. More recently, another 
 individual, accused of a similar indiscretion, had been found one 
 morning hung with a straw band at the bars of his window, and 
 the perpetrator was never discovered. 
 
 In the meantime M. Dubois sent for me to his closet, where, to 
 avoid suspicion, the other prisjaors were conducted with me, as if 
 
POLICE SERVICE. 161 
 
 about to undergo an examination. I entered first, and the com- 
 missary-general told me that many very expert robbers had arrived 
 at Lyons from Paris, and the more dangerous, as, being supplied 
 with regular credentials, they might wait in safety for the oppor- 
 tunity of making some decided stroke, and then immediately go 
 away. The names by which they were mentioned were then 
 entirely new to me ; and I told M. Dubois so, adding that possibly 
 they might be false. He wished to release me immediately, that 
 by seeing these individuals in some public place I might assure 
 myself whether I had ever seen them before : but I observed to 
 him, that so abrupt a liberation would certainly compromise me 
 with the prisoners, in case that the good of the service should 
 require me again to be entered as prisoner on the gaoler's books. 
 The reflection appeared just ; and it was agreed that they should 
 devise a means of sending me away the next day without incurring 
 suspicion. 
 
 Neveu, who was amongst the prisoners, was also examined after 
 me in the commissary's closet. After some minutes he came out 
 in a rage, and I asked him what had happened. 
 
 1 What do you think ?' said he, ' the old covey wanted me to 
 turn nose on the cracksmen who have just arrived. If they find 
 no one to blow them but me, they are all right' 
 
 * Why, I did not think you such a flat,' said I, the idea flash- 
 ing on my mind that I might turn this to advantage ; * I have 
 promised to blow the gang, and insure them a lodging in the 
 stone jug.' 
 
 4 What ! you turned nose ? Besides, you are not fly to the gang.' 
 
 c What matters that ? I shall get out of quod, and show them 
 my heels, whilst you are still clinking the darbies.' 
 
 Neveu appeared struck with the idea, and expressed much 
 regret for having refused the offers of the commissary-general ; 
 and as I could not get rid of him, I begged him to return to 
 M. Dubois and recall his refusal. He agreed ; and as I had 
 arranged, we were one evening conducted to the great theatre ; 
 then to the Celestins, where Neveu pointed out to me all the men. 
 We then retired, escorted by the police agents, who kept close 
 upon us. For the success of my plan, and to avoid suspicion, it 
 was expedient to make the attempt to escape, which would at least 
 confirm the hope which I had given to my companion, and I told 
 him of my intention. On passing Rue Merciere, we entered 
 abruptly into a passage and closed the door ; and whilst the 
 officers ran to the other end, we went out quietly by the way we 
 had entered. When they returned, ashamed of their stupidity, we 
 were already at a considerable distance, 
 
 ii 
 
1 62 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Two days afterwards, Neveu, who was no longer wanted, and 
 could not suspect me, was again arrested. I, knowing then the 
 robbers whom we wanted, pointed them out to the police-officers 
 in a church, where they had one Sunday assembled, in the hope 
 of making a good booty on the termination of the prayers. 
 Being no longer useful to the authorities, I then quitted Lyons 
 to go to Paris, where, thanks to M. Dubois, I was sure of arriving 
 in safety. 
 
 I set out on the Burgundy road by the diligence, which then 
 only travelled by day. At Lucy-le-Bois, where I slept with the 
 other travellers, I was forgotten ; and on waking, learnt that the 
 vehicle had been gone two hours. I trusted to overtake it, in 
 consequence of the ruggedness of the road, which is very steep in 
 these districts ; but on reaching Saint Brice, I was convinced that 
 it was too much in advance to allow of my overtaking it, and I 
 accordingly slackened my pace. A person who was travelling in the 
 same direction, seeing me in a great heat, looked attentively at me, 
 and asked me if I had come from Lucy-le-Bois ; and on my replying 
 in the affirmative, our conversation rested there. This man stopped 
 at Saint Brice, whilst I pushed on to Auxerre. Spent with fatigue, 
 I entered an inn, where, after having dined, I desired to be con- 
 ducted to a bed. 
 
 I slept for several hours, when I was awakened by a great noise 
 at my door, at which some persons were knocking violently. I got 
 up, half-dressed, and my eyes, heavy from sleep, gazed, as I opened 
 the door, on tricoloured scarves, yellow trousers, and red facings. 
 It was the commissary of police, attended by the quartermaster 
 and gendarmes, a sight which I could not see without some emo- 
 tion. ' See how pale he turns,' said one of them ; { it is he. 7 I 
 raised my eyes, and recognised the man who had spoken to me at 
 Saint Brice ; but nothing explained to me as yet the motive of this 
 sudden invasion. 
 
 ' Let us proceed methodically,' said the commissary ; * five feet 
 five inches (French measure), that is right ; brown hair eyebrows, 
 and beard, idem common forehead grey eyes prominent nose 
 good- sized mouth round chin full face good colour toler- 
 ably stout' 
 
 ' It is he,' said the quartermaster, the two gendarmes, and the 
 man of Saint Brice. 
 
 ' Yes, it is indeed,' said the commissary in his turn. ' Blue sur- 
 tout -trousers of grey casimere white waistcoat black cravat.' 
 
 This was my dress, certainly. 
 
 1 Well, did I not tell you so ?' said the officious guide of the 
 police, exulting at my capture : * he is one of the robbers 1' 
 
AGAIN A T ARRAS. 163 
 
 The description tallied exactly with mine. But I had stolen 
 nothing ; and yet in my situation I could experience all the dis- 
 quiets of having done so. Perhaps it was a mistake ; perhaps also 
 .... The party were transported with joy. ' Peace !' said the 
 commissary ; and, turning over the leaf, he continued, 'We shall 
 easily recognise his Italian accent. He has, besides, the thumb of 
 the right-hand injured by a shot.' I spoke, and showed my right- 
 hand, which was in a perfectly sound state. All the party stared ; 
 and particularly the man of Saint Brice, who appeared singularly 
 disconcerted : as for me, I felt relieved of an enormous weight. 
 The commissary, whom I questioned in my turn, told me, that on 
 the preceding night a considerable robbery had been committed at 
 Saint Brice. One of the suspected individuals wore clothes similar 
 to mine, and there was a similarity of description. It was to this 
 combination of circumstances, to this strange sport of fortune, that 
 I was indebted for the disagreeable visit which I received. They 
 made excuses, which I accepted with a good grace, very happy at 
 getting off so well ; but yet, in the fear of some new catastrophe, 
 I put myself the same evening into a packet-boat, which conveyed 
 me to Paris, whence I started immediately for Arras. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Again at Arras Disguises Rouen My Arrest 
 
 MANY reasons, which may be divined, did not allow of my pro- 
 ceeding at once to my paternal abode ; and, alighting at the house 
 of one of my aunts, I learnt the death of my father, which sad 
 intelligence was soon confirmed by my mother, who received me 
 with a tenderness widely contrasting with the treatment I had ex- 
 perienced during the two years of my absence. She was extremely 
 anxious to keep me with her ; but it was absolutely necessary that 
 I should be constantly concealed, and I did not leave the house 
 for three months. At the end of that time my confinement began 
 to weary me, and I went out, sometimes under one disguise and 
 sometimes under another. I thought I had not been recognised, 
 when suddenly a report spread through the town that I was 
 there, and the police began to search for me, making constant 
 visits to my mother, without, however, discovering the place of my 
 concealment. 
 
 Secure in my retreat, out of which I thought it would be difficult 
 to surprise me, I soon took fresh excursions. One day, on Shrove 
 Tuesday, I even carried my daring to such an extent as to appear 
 at a ball, in the midst of upwards of two hundred persons. I was 
 dressed as a marquis ; and a female, with whom I had been on 
 
 II 2 
 
164 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 intimate terms, having recognised me, told another, who thought 
 that she had a cause of complaint against me ; so that in less than 
 a quarter of an hour everybody knew under what disguise Vidocq 
 was concealed. The report reached the ears of two police sergeants, 
 Delrue and Carpentier, who were on duty at the ball ; and the 
 former, coming up to me, said in a low voice that he wished to 
 speak with me in private : a refusal would have been dangerous, 
 and I followed him into the court, where Delrue asked my name. 
 I did not hesitate to give him a false one ; and proposed politely 
 that he should untie my mask if he doubted me. ' I do not require 
 that,' said he, ' but I shall not object to look at you.' ' Well then, 
 untie my mask, which has got entangled with my hair.' Full of 
 certainty, Delrue went behind me, and at that instant I upset him 
 with a forcible motion of my body backwards, and with a blow of 
 my fist I sent his satellite rolling beside him on the earth. With- 
 out waiting until they arose, I fled with the utmost speed in the 
 direction of the ramparts, relying on being able to climb over 
 them, and get into the country : but scarcely had I run many paces, 
 when I found myself in an alley which had been blocked up at one 
 end since I had quitted Arras. 
 
 Whilst I was thus wandering out of my way, a noise of iron 
 heels announced that the two sergeants were at hand ; and I soon 
 saw them approach me, sword in hand. I was unarmed ; and 
 seizing the large house-key, as if it had been a pistol, I presented it 
 at them, and compelled them to make way for me. ' Pass quietly, 
 Francois,' said Carpentier, with a tremulous voice ; * do not play 
 any nonsense with us.' I did not want to be told a second time, 
 and in a few minutes reached my retreat. 
 
 This adventure was noised about, and in spite of the efforts which 
 the two sergeants made to conceal it, they were laughed at by 
 everybody. What was most annoying to me was, that the autho- 
 rities redoubled their vigilance, so that it was almost impossible 
 for me to go out. I remained thus immured for two months, 
 which to me seemed as many centuries. Being no longer able to 
 endure it, I resolved on quitting Arras, and they made me up a 
 pack of lace ; and one fine night, provided with a passport, which 
 Blondel, one of my friends, had lent to me, I set out The de- 
 scription did not answer ; but for want of a better, I was com- 
 pelled to put up with that ; and, in fact, no objection was made 
 to me on my route. 
 
 I reached Paris. Whilst engaged in disposing of my com- 
 modities, I made indirectly some steps towards finding out if it 
 were not possible to obtain some reversal of my sentence. I 
 . learnt that I must, in the first instance, give myself up as a 
 
AGAIN AT ARRAS. 165 
 
 prisoner, but I could never resolve on again mixing with the 
 wretches whom I knew so well. It was not the confinement that I 
 dreaded ; I would willingly have submitted to have been enclosed 
 alone between four walls ; and what proves this is, that I then 
 requested leave from the Minister to finish the term of my sen- 
 tence in the madhouse at Arras ; but my application remained 
 unanswered. 
 
 My lace was sold, but with so little profit that I could not think 
 of turning to this trade as a mode of life. A travelling clerk, who 
 lived in the Rue Saint Martin, in the same hotel as I did, an^ to 
 whom I partly stated my situation, proposed that I should enter 
 the service of a seller of finery, who visited the fairs. I procured the 
 situation, but only kept it for ten months, as we had some disagree- 
 ments which determined me again to return to Arras. I was not 
 long in returning to my nightly excursions. In the house of a 
 young person to whom I paid some attentions, I frequently met 
 the daughter of a gendarme, and endeavoured to learn from her 
 all that was plotting against me. The girl did not know me ; but 
 as in Arras I was the constant subject of conversation, it was not 
 extraordinary to hear her speak of me, and frequently in singular 
 terms. 'Oh,' said she to me one day, 'we shall soon catch that 
 vagabond ; there is our lieutenant who wants him too much not 
 to catch him soon ; I would bet that he would give a day's pay to 
 get hold of him.' 
 
 ' If I were your lieutenant, and wanted to take Vidocq,' replied 
 I, 'I would contrive that he should not escape me.' 
 
 ' You ! Oh yes, you and everybody ! He is always completely 
 armed. You know they said that he fired twice at Delrue and 
 Carpentier ; and this is not all, for he can change himself into a 
 bundle of hay whenever he likes/ 
 
 'A bundle of hay !' cried I, surprised at the novel endowment 
 assigned to me 'A bundle of hay ! How ?' 
 
 ' Yes, sir ; my father pursued him one day, and at the moment 
 he laid his hand upon his collar, he found that he only held a 
 handful of hay. He did not only say it, but all the brigade saw 
 the bundle of hay, which was burnt in the barrack yard.' 
 
 I could not make out this history ; but learnt afterwards that 
 the police-officers, not being able to lay hold of me, had given 
 circulation to this tale amongst the credulous citizens of Arras. 
 With the same motive they obligingly insinuated that I was the 
 double of a certain loup-garou, whose wonderful appearances 
 froze with fear the superstitious inhabitants of the country. For- 
 tunately, these terrors were not shared by some pretty women, 
 whom I had interested in my favour ; and if the demon of 
 
166 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 jealousy had not suddenly seized on one of the number, the 
 authorities would not perhaps have given themselves so much 
 trouble about me. In her anger she was indiscreet ; and the police, 
 who did not clearly know what had become of me, again learnt 
 that 1 was certainly in Arras. 
 
 One evening as, without mistrust and only armed with a stick, I 
 was returning through the Rue d' Amiens, on crossing the bridge at 
 the end of the Rue des Coquets, I was attacked by seven or eight 
 individuals. They were constables disguised ; and seeing my 
 garments, were already assured of their prize, when, freeing myself 
 by a powerful jerk, I leapt the parapet, and threw myself into the 
 river. It was in December ; the tide was high, the current rapid, 
 and none of the policemen had any inclination to follow me : they 
 thought, besides, that by waiting for me on the bank I should not 
 escape them; but a sewer that I found enabled me to deceive them, 
 and they were still waiting for me when I was at my mother's house. 
 
 Every day I experienced fresh dangers, and every day the most 
 pressing necessity suggested new expedients for my preservation. 
 However, at length, according to my custom, I grew weary of a 
 liberty which the compulsion of concealment rendered illusory. 
 
 Some nuns of the Rue had for some time harboured me ; but 
 
 I resolved on quitting their hospitable roof, and turned over in my 
 mind the means of appearing in public without inconvenience. 
 Some thousands of Austrian prisoners were then in the citadel, 
 whence they went out to work with the citizens, or in the neighbour- 
 ing villages, and the idea occurred to me, that the presence of these 
 strangers might be useful to me. As I spoke German, I entered 
 into conversation with one of them, and inspired him with suffi- 
 cient confidence to confide to me his intention of escaping. This 
 project was favourable to my views ; the prisoner was embarrassed 
 with his Kaiserlik uniform, and I offered to exchange it for mine ; 
 and for some money which I gave him to boot, he was glad to let 
 me have his papers also. From this moment I was an Austrian, 
 even in the eyes of the Austrians themselves, who, belonging to 
 different corps, did not know all their body. 
 
 Under this new disguise, I joined a young widow, who had a 
 
 mercery establishment in the Rue de : she found that I had 
 
 ability, and wished that I would instal myself at her house ; and 
 we soon visited the fairs and markets together. It was evident 
 that I could not aid her, unless I could understand the buyers, 
 and I formed gibberish, half Teutonic, half French, which they 
 understood wonderfully well, and which became so familiar to me, 
 that I insensibly forgot that I knew any other language. Besides, 
 the illusion was so complete, that after cohabiting together for four 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE. 167 
 
 months, the widow did not suspect any more than the rest of the 
 world that the soi-disant Kaiserlik was one of the friends of hei 
 childhood. However, she treated me so well, that it was impos- 
 sible to deceive her any longer : and one day I told her who I 
 really was, and never was woman more astonished. But, far from 
 its injuring me in her estimation, the confidence in some sort only 
 made our intimacy the closer; so much are women generally 
 smitten by anything that bears the appearance of mystery or ad- 
 venture ! And then, are they not always delighted with the ac- 
 quaintance of a wicked fellow ? Who, better than myself, can know 
 how often they are the providence of fugitive galley-slaves and 
 condemned prisoners ? 
 
 Eleven months glided away, and nothing occurred to disturb my 
 repose. The frequency of my being in the streets, my constant 
 meetings with the police-officers, who had not evea paid attention 
 to me, all seemed to augur the duration of this tranquillity, wken, 
 one day as we were sitting down to dinner in the back shop, the 
 faces of three gendarmes were visible through a glass door. I was 
 just helping the soup ; the spoon fell from my hands : but recover- 
 ing soon from the stupor into which this unlooked-for visit had 
 thrown me, I darted towards the door, which I bolted, and then 
 jumping out of the window, I got into a loft, whence I gained the 
 roof of the next house, and running down the staircase which led 
 into the street, I found, on reaching the door, two gendarmes. 
 Fortunately they were but novices, who did not know me : ' Go 
 up/ said I to them, * the brigadier has got him, but he resists ; go 
 up, and lend your aid, whilst I run for the guard' The two gen- 
 darmes ascended quickly, and I made off. 
 
 It was plain that I had been sold to the police. My friend was 
 incapable of such a black deed, but she had, without doubt, been 
 guilty of some indiscretion. Now that the cry was raised against 
 me, ought I to tarty longer at Arras ? It would be in vain to say 
 that I would always remain in my place of concealment ; I could 
 not reconcile myself to a life so wretched, and I determined on 
 quitting the city. My little lady mercer insisted on accompanying 
 me ; she had means of conveyance ; her commodities were soon 
 packed, and we set out together, and the police were informed last of 
 the disappearance of a female, whose measures they ought not to 
 have been in ignorance of. According to some old notions, they 
 imagined that we should go towards Belgium, as if Belgium had 
 still been the country of refuge ; and whilst they were pursuing us 
 in the direction of the old frontier, we were quietly progressing 
 towards Normandy, by cross roads, which my companion had ob- 
 tained a knowledge of in her mercantile journeys. 
 
168 MEMOIRS OP VIDOC& 
 
 It was at Rouen that we had made up our minds to fix our 
 abode. Arrived in this city, I had with me the passport of Blondel, 
 which I had procured at Arras : the description which it gave was 
 so different from mine, that it was indispensably necessary to make 
 myself a little more like it. 
 
 To achieve this it was necessary to deceive the police, now 
 become the more vigilant and inquisitive, as the communications 
 of the emigrants in England were made through the Normandy 
 coast. Thus did I contrive it. I went to the townhall, where I 
 had my passport vise for Havre. A visa was obtained without 
 difficulty ; it was sufficient that the passport was not entirely con- 
 tradictory, and mine was not so. The formality gone through, I 
 departed, and two minutes afterwards I entered the office, and 
 asked if any person had found a pocket- book. No one could give 
 me any tidings of it, and then I was in despair ; pressing bufiness 
 called me to Havre, and I wanted to start that very evening, but 
 what was to be done without a passport ? 
 
 ' It is only that ?' said a clerk. ' With the register of the visa 
 you can get a duplicate passport' This was what I needed; the 
 name Blondel was kept, but this time, at least, my description was 
 correctly given. To complete the effect of my stratagem, not only 
 did I set out for Havre, but I advertised my pocket-book by little 
 bills stuck about, although it had only passed from my hands to 
 that of my companion. 
 
 By means of this little bit of good management my reinstatement 
 was complete ; and, provided with fitting credentials, I had only 
 to lead an honest life, and I actually began to think of it ; and 
 took, in Rue Mortainville, a repository for mercery and bonnets, 
 in which we did so well, that my mother, whom I had informed 
 secretly of my success, determined on coming to join us. For a 
 year I was really happy ; my business increased, my connections 
 extended, my credit was established, and more* than one banking- 
 house in Rouen may perhaps remember when the signature of 
 Blondel was well respected in the place. At length, after so many 
 storms, I thought I had reached port ; when an incident, which I 
 had never contemplated, involved me in a fresh series of vicissitudes. 
 The lady mercer with whom I lived, this woman who had given 
 me the strongest proofs of devotion and love, began to burn with 
 other fires than those which I had kindled in her heart. I was 
 desirous of persuading myself that she was not unfaithful, but the 
 fault was so flagrant that the offender had not even the resource 
 of those well-supported denials which enable the convenient 
 husband to persuade himself that he is not wronged. At another 
 time, I would not have submitted to such an affront without 
 
AGAIN A PRISONER. 169 
 
 putting myself into a transport of rage, but how time had changed 
 me ! Witness of my misfortune, I coldly signified my determina- 
 tion to separate ; prayers, supplications, nothing could bend me ; 
 I was immutable. I might have pardoned her, it is true, if only 
 out of gratitude : but who would convince me that she who had 
 befriended me would break off with my rival ? And might I not 
 have cause to fear, that in a moment of tenderness she would com- 
 promise my safety by some disclosure ? We then divided our 
 stock of goods, and my companion quitting me, I never heard of 
 her after. 
 
 Disgusted with my residence at Rouen, through this adventure, 
 I took to my old trade of travelling merchant ; my journeys com- 
 prised the circuit of Nantes, St Germain, and Versailles, where, in 
 a short time, I formed an excellent connection ; my profits became 
 sufficiently considerable to allow of my renting at Versailles a ware- 
 house, with a small apartment, which my mother inhabited during 
 my journeys. My conduct was then free from any stigma ; I was 
 generally esteemed in the circle which I had formed ; and again I 
 hoped that I had overcome the fatality which so often cast me into 
 the path of dishonour, whence all my efforts were now used to 
 free myself, when, denounced by an early friend, who thus re- 
 venged himself for some disagreement we had once had together, 
 I was arrested on my return from the fair of Nantes. Although 
 I obstinately asserted that I was not Vidocq, but Blondel, as my 
 passport proved, I was sent to St. Denis, whence I was to be sent 
 to Douai. By the extraordinary care taken to prevent my escape, 
 I perceived that I was recommended ; and a glance which I threw 
 over the book of the gendarmerie revealed to me a precaution of 
 a very particular nature. I was thus designated 
 
 'SPECIAL SURVEILLANCE. 
 
 ' VIDOCQ (Eugene Fran9ois), condemned to death for nonappearance. 
 This man is exceedingly enterprising and dangerous.' 
 
 Thus, to keep the vigilance of my guards on the alert, I was 
 described as a great criminal. I set out to St. Denis in a car, 
 pinioned, so that I could not move, and to Louvres the escort 
 never took eyes off me. These arrangements announced the 
 rigours in store for me, and I roused all the energy that had already 
 so often procured me my liberty. 
 
 We had been put into the clock-house of Louvres, now trans- 
 formed into a prison, where they brought us two mattresses, a 
 counterpane, and sheets, which, cut and fastened together, would 
 help us to descend into the churchyard. A bar was cut with the 
 knives of three deserters confined with us, and at two o'clock in 
 
170 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 the morning I made the first attempt, and having reached the ex- 
 tremity of the rope, I perceived that it was nearly fifteen feet from 
 the ground ; hesitation availed nought, and I let go, but, as in my 
 fall at the ramparts of Lille, I sprained my left leg so severely that 
 I could scarcely walk ; however, I attempted to climb the walls of 
 the churchyard, when I heard the key turn quietly in the lock. It 
 \vas the gaoler and his dog, who had noses alike for following a 
 scent : the gaoler, at first, passed beneath the cord without seeing 
 it ; and the mastiff near a ditch in which I lay, without smelling 
 me. Having gone the round, they retired, and I thought that my 
 companions would follow my example ; but no one appearing, I 
 climbed the wall and got into the plain. The pain of my foot 
 became more and more acute, but I bore the pain, and courage 
 giving me strength, I made considerable progress. I had nearly 
 advanced a quarter of a league, when I suddenly heard the sound 
 of the tocsin. It was in the middle of May. At the earliest dawn, 
 I saw several armed peasants go out of their dwellings and spread 
 themselves over the plains. They were probably ignorant of what 
 was the cause of disturbance, but my sore leg was a token that 
 might make me suspected. My face was unknown : in all proba- 
 bility, the first persons who met me would secure my person. Had 
 I been in full possession of my limbs, I could have distanced all 
 pursuit ; I must yield at present ; and scarcely had I proceeded 
 two hundred paces when I was overtaken by the gendarmes, who 
 were scouring the country in all directions, and who seized and 
 conveyed me back to the cursed clock-house. 
 
 The unpropitious result of this attempt did not discourage me. 
 At Bapaume we were placed in the citadel, an old police station, 
 guarded by a detachment of conscripts of the $oth regiment of the 
 line ; one sentinel only was placed over us, and he was under the 
 window, and near enough for me to enter into conversation with 
 him, which I did. The soldier, to whom I addressed myself, ap- 
 peared a good fellow enough, and I thought I could easily bribe 
 him. I offered him fifty francs to let us escape whilst he was on 
 guard. He refused at first ; but by the tone of his voice, and by 
 a certain twinkling of his eyes, I thought I saw his impatience to 
 get such a sum only that he was afraid of consequences. To en- 
 courage him, I increased the dose, and showed him three louis, 
 when he said he would aid us ; at the same time adding, that his 
 round would be from midnight till two o'clock. Having made our 
 arrangements, I commenced operations ; the wall was pierced so 
 as to allow us a free egress, and we only waited until the oppor- 
 tunity should arrive. At length midnight struck ; the soldier 
 immediately announced to me that he was there, and I gave him 
 
ANOTHER ESCAPE. 171 
 
 the three louis, and then made the necessary dispositions. When 
 all was ready, I called out. ' Is it time ?' I said to the sentinel. 
 * Yes, make haste,' he answered, after a trifling hesitation. I 
 thought it singular that he did not answer instantly, and imagining 
 that his conduct was somewhat dubious, I listened. He seemed 
 to be marching ; and, by the moonlight, I also perceived the 
 shadow of several men in the ditch, and had no longer any doubt 
 but that we were betrayed. However, as I might have been mistaken, 
 to make quite sure, I took some straw, which I stuffed into some 
 clothes, and put it at the aperture which we had made ; and at the 
 same instant, a sabre blow that would have cleft an anvil informed 
 me that 1 had well escaped, and confirmed me more and more in 
 the opinion that we must not always trust to conscripts. The 
 prison was soon filled with gendarmes, who drew up a statement of 
 facts ; they examined us, wishing very much to know all, and I 
 declared that I had given the conscript three louis, which he flatly 
 denied ; he was examined, and on their being found in his shoes, 
 he was put in the black-hole. 
 
 As for us, we were threatened most menacingly ; but as they 
 could not punish us, they contented themselves with doubling the 
 guard. There was now no method of escape, without one of those 
 opportunities for which I watched incessantly, and which presented 
 itself earlier than I expected. The next day was the day of our 
 departure, and we had descended into the barrack-yard 'lich was 
 all in great confusion from the arrival of a fresh number of prisoners 
 and a detachment of conscripts from Ardennes, who were going to 
 the camp at Boulogne. The adjutants were squabbling with the 
 gendarmes about room for forming three divisions, and making 
 the muster-call. While each were counting their men, I glided 
 cautiously in at the tail of a baggage-waggon just leaving the court, 
 and thus passed through the city, motionless, and in as small a 
 compass as possible, to elude detection. Once beyond the ramparts, 
 I had only to steal away ; and I seized the opportunity whilst the 
 waggoner, thirsty, as these people always are, had gone into an ale- 
 house to refresh himself; and whilst his horses awaited him on 
 the road, I lightened his conveyance of a load of which he was 
 not aware. I slept in a field of maize, and when night arrived, 
 directed my steps eastward. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Camp of Boulogne Recruiters of the ancien regime M. Belle-Rose. 
 I TRAVELLED through Picardy towards Boulogne. At this period, 
 Napoleon had abandoned his intention of a descent on England, 
 and was about to make war against Austria with his vast army, but 
 
172 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 had left many battalions on the shores of the British Channel. 
 There were in the two camps, that on the left and that on the 
 right, depots of almost every corps, and soldiers of every nation in 
 Europe. 
 
 The uniforms were various, and this variety might be useful in 
 concealing me; but I thought that it would be bad policy to 
 disguise myself by only borrowing a military garb. I thought for 
 a moment of becoming actually a soldier, but then to enter a 
 regiment it would have been necessary to have certain papers, 
 which I had not. I then gave up the intention, and yet my abode 
 at Boulogne was dangerous, until I should decide on something. 
 
 One day that I was more embarrassed and more unquiet than 
 usual, I met on the walks a sergeant of marine artillery, whom I 
 had met at Paris, and who was, as well as myself, a native of 
 Arras ; but having embarked when very young in a ship of war, he 
 had passed the greater portion of his life in the colonies, and 
 on his return to his native country had learnt nothing of my doings. 
 He only looked on me as a ban vivant ; and a public-house row, 
 in which I energetically espoused his cause, had given him a high 
 opinion of my courage. 
 
 4 What, is it you ?' said he, ' Roger Bontemps ; and what are you 
 doing at Boulogne ?' ' What am I doing ? why, seeking employ- 
 ment in the train of the army.' 'Oh, you want employment; do 
 you know that it is devilish difficult to get a berth now ? But, if 
 you will listen to my advice though this is not the place for such 
 conversation ; let us go to Galand's.' 
 
 We then went to a sort of sutler's booth, which was modestly 
 stationed in one of the angles of the street. * Ah ! good day, 
 Parisian,' said the sergeant to the host. * Good day, Father Dufailli. 
 What will you have this morning ? a dram ? mixed or plain ?' 
 ' Five-and-twenty gods, Papa Garland, do .you take us for black- 
 guards ? It is the best pullet and super-excellent wine that we 
 want, do you hear ?' Then addressing me ' Is it not true, old 
 boy, that the friends of our friends are our friends ? That you 
 must agree to ;' and, taking my hand, he led me into a small room, 
 where M. Galand admitted his favourite customers. 
 
 I was very hungry, and saw with lively satisfaction the pre- 
 parations for a repast, of which I was to partake. A waiting-maid, 
 from twenty-five to thirty years, well made, and with a face and 
 good humour which such girls have, who can constitute the felicity 
 of a whole regiment, brought in the dishes. She was a native of 
 Liege ; lively, agreeable, chattering her patois, and uttering every 
 moment such low witticisms as excited greatly the mirth of the 
 sergeant, who was delighted with her. 'She is the sister-in-law of our 
 
DUFAILLI. 173 
 
 host/ said he to me ; c what cat-heads she has ! she is as plump as 
 a ball, and as round as a buoy a dainty lass, upon my faith.' At 
 the same time Dufailli, pulling her about, began to play all kinds of 
 naval tricks ; sometimes drawing her on his knees, sometimes 
 applying to her shining cheeks one of those hearty smacks which 
 bespeak more love than discretion. 
 
 I confess I was annoyed at this coquetry, which delayed our 
 meal, when Mademoiselle Jeannette (so was the nymph called) 
 having abruptly broken from the arms of my Amphitryon, re- 
 turned with part of a devilled turkey and two bottles, which she 
 placed before us. 
 
 1 Well done,' said the sergeant ; ' here is wherewithal to moisten 
 our food, and increase the juices. I shall play my part. After 
 that we shall see ; for here, my boy, it is all as I wish. I have 
 only to make a signal Is it not so, Jeannette ? Yes, my com- 
 rade,' continued he, ' I am master here.' 
 
 I congratulated him on so much good fortune, and we began 
 to eat and drink with might and main. It was long since I had 
 been at such a festival, and I played my part manfully. Abundance 
 of bottles were emptied ; and we were about, I believe, to uncork 
 the seventh, when the sergeant went out, and soon returned, 
 bringing with him two new guests, a forager and a sergeant-major. 
 ' Five-and-twenty gods ! I like good fellowship,' cried Dufailli. 
 1 By Jove, I have made two recruits. I know how to go recruiting , 
 ask these gentlemen.' 
 
 ' Oh yes,' said the forager, c he is the cock, Father Dufailli, to 
 invent plots to seduce conscripts , when I think of them I remem- 
 ber my own adventure.' 'Ah, you still remember that !' 'Yes, 
 yes, my old lad, I remember it, and the major also, when you were 
 deep enough to enlist him as secretary to the regiment.' 
 
 ' Well ! has he not done well ? A thousand thunders ! is it not 
 better to be the first accountable man in an artillery company than 
 sit scratching away on paper in a study ? What say you, forager ?' 
 
 ' I agree with you ; but ' ' But, but, you will tell me perhaps, 
 
 you, that you were happier when, with your old dog of a master, 
 you were obliged to lay hold of the watering-pot, and make 
 yourself dripping wet with throwing frogs' spawn over your tulips. 
 We were going to embark at Brest on board L Invincible, and you 
 would only go out as a flower gardener. " Well then," said I, "go 
 as flower gardener ; the captain likes flowers ; every man to his 
 taste, but also every man to his trade ; " and I carried on mine. 
 1 think I see you now ; you were rather disappointed when, instead 
 of employing yourself in cultivating marine plants, as you expected, 
 you were sent to man the shrouds of a thirty-six : and when you 
 
174 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 were ordered to fire a bomb-shell, that was a nosegay for you ! 
 But no more of that ; and let us drink a measure of wine. Come, 
 lads, here's to our comrades.' 
 
 I filled all the glasses, and the sergeant continued ' You see 
 that I am not wanted now, therefore, let us make of all of us but 
 a pair of friends. This is easily done ; I have caught these nicely 
 in my snare, but that is nothing ; we recruiters of the marines are 
 but fools to the recruiters of earlier days : you are still but green- 
 horns. Ah, you never knew Belle-Rose : he was the lad for 
 taking in the knowing ones ! Such as I am, I was not a thorough 
 noodle, and yet he twisted me completely round his finger. I 
 think I have already told you the tale ; but at all events I will 
 give it you again for the general good. 
 
 ' Under the ancient regime, do you see, we had colonies, the Isle 
 of France, Bourbon, Martinique, etc. ; now they are ours no longer ; 
 we have only the Isle of Oleron left ; it is little more than nothing ; 
 or, as somebody said, it is a foot of earth whilst we wait for the 
 rest. The descent would have restored us all the others ; but bah, 
 the descent we must no longer think of that, that is settled ; the 
 flotilla will rot in thd port, and they will make firewood of the 
 hulls. But I am getting out of my latitude, steering seaward, instead 
 of landward ; now then for Belle-Rose ! 
 
 ' As I told you, he was a spark who had cut his wisdom teeth, 
 and in his time young fellows were not of the same kidney with 
 those of the present day. 
 
 ' I had left Arras at fourteen, and been at Paris for six months, 
 apprentice to a gunsmith, when, one morning, my master desired 
 me to carry to the colonel of the carabineers, who lived in the 
 Place Royale, a pair of pistols which he been repairing. I soon 
 performed this commission, and unfortunately these cursed pistols 
 should return eighteen francs to the shop, and the colonel counted 
 out the money, adding a trifle for myself. So far, so good ; but, 
 lo and behold ! in crossing a street I heard somebody knock at a 
 window ; I raised my eyes, supposing that I should see some 
 acquaintance, when what should I see but a Madame de Pompa- 
 dour who, with all her charms displayed, was tapping at a window, 
 and who, by an inclination of her head, accompanied with a 
 charming smile, invited me to go up to her. She might have been 
 called a picture moving in its frame. A magnificent neck, a skin 
 white as snow, a wide chest, and, above all, a delightful counte- 
 nance, combined to inflame me. I went up stairs four at a time, 
 and on introducing myself to my princess, I found her a divinity. 
 "Approach, my little one," said she to me, tapping my cheek lightly; 
 M you are going to make me a little present, are you not ?" 
 
DUFAILLL 175 
 
 ' I put my trembling hand into my pocket, and taking out the 
 piece of money given to me by the colonel " Well, my child," 
 continued she, " I think you are a Picardy lad, and I am your 
 countrywoman. Oh, you wish to treat your townswoman to a glass 
 of wine." 
 
 'The request was urgpd so sweetly, that I had no power of 
 denial left, and the eighteen francs of the colonel were trenched 
 upon. One glass produced another, that generated a third, which 
 begot a fourth, and so on, until I was drunk with wine and delight. 
 Night arrived, and I know not how, but I awoke in the street on a 
 heap of stones at the gate of an hotel. 
 
 ' My surprise was great on looking about me, and still more 
 when, on looking in my purse, the birds were flown. 
 
 * How could I return to my master's ? Where sleep ? I de- 
 termined to walk about till daybreak ; I had only to kill time, or 
 rather torment myself about the consequences of a first fault. I 
 turned mechanically towards the Market of the Innocents. "Mind 
 how you trust your countrywomen," said I to myself; " I am nicely 
 fleeced ! If I had only some money left " 
 
 1 1 confess that at this moment some droll ideas crossed my 
 brain. I had often seen pasted upon the walls of Paris, " Pocket- 
 book Lost," with one thousand, two thousand, or even three 
 thousand francs reward for the person who would bring it back. I 
 thought I might find one of these, and looking carefully about me 
 on the pavement, and walking like a man who is looking for some- 
 thing, I was seriously intent on the probability of finding so good 
 a windfall, when I was aroused from my reverie by a blow of a 
 fist, which encountered my back. " What, my boy, you out so 
 early this morning ?" " Ah, is it you, Fanfan ; and by what chance 
 in this quarter at this hour ?" 
 
 1 Fanfan was a pastry-cook's apprentice, whom I knew, and in a 
 moment he told me that he had left the oven for the last six weeks ; 
 that he had a mistress who fitted him out ; and that for a short 
 time he was from home, because the intimate friend of his mistress 
 had chosen to sleep with her. " As for the rest," said he, " I wink 
 at it. If I pass a night at the Sourciere, I return to my haunt next 
 morning, and recover myself during the day." Fanfan, the pastry- 
 cook, appeared to me a keen fellow ; and thinking that he might 
 devise some plan to extricate me from my embarrassment, I told 
 him the whole of it 
 
 ' " Is that all ?" said he. " Come to me at mid-day at the 
 public-house at the Barriere des Sergents, and I may give 
 you some useful counsel : under any circumstances we'll dine 
 together," 
 
1 76 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 c I was punctual at the rendezvous, and Fanfan did not keep 
 me waiting ; he was there before me, and on my entrance, I was 
 led into a small room, where I found him seated before a tub of 
 oysters, with a female on each side of him, one of whom, on per- 
 ceiving me, burst out into a loud fit of laughter. " Ah, what is that 
 for ?" said Fanfan. " Oh, heaven, it is my townsman." " It is 
 my townswoman," said I, confused. "Yes, my little one, it is your 
 townswoman." I was going to complain of the trick she had 
 served me on the previous evening, but embracing Fanfan, whom 
 she called her/^/, she laughed more heartily than before, and I saw 
 that the best thing I could do was to join in the laugh like a jolly 
 fellow. 
 
 ' " Well," said Fanfan, pouring out a glass of white wine, and 
 helping me to a dozen oysters, " you see, you must never despair 
 of Providence. We have some pigs' feet on the gridiron ; do you 
 like pigs' feet ?" And before I could answer his question, they 
 were put on the table. The appetite I displayed was so much in 
 the affirmative, that Fanfan had no farther occasion to ask my 
 opinion of them. The chablis soon put me in spirits, and I forgot 
 the disagreeables which had given me such cause of dreading my 
 master ; and, as the companion of my townswoman had cast a 
 gracious eye on me, I did not hesitate to make desperate love to 
 her. By the honour of Dufailli ! she was soon won, and gave me 
 her hand. 
 
 ' " You really love me then ?" said Fanchette so was my damsel 
 named. "Love you?" said I; "why, if you like, we will be 
 married" "That is right," said Fanfan, "marry; and to com- 
 mence, I will wed you at once. I marry you, my boy ; do you 
 understand ? so embrace ;" and at the same time, he united our 
 hands and drew our faces towards each other, " Poor child," said 
 Fanchette, giving me a second kiss without the aid of my friend, 
 " be easy ; I will instruct you." 
 
 ' I was in paradise, and spent a delightful day. In the evening 
 I went to bed with Fanchette, and we were mutually pleased with 
 each other. My education was soon perfected. Fanchette was 
 delighted at having met with a pupil who profited so well from her 
 instructions, and recompensed me generously. 
 
 ' At this period the Notables had just assembled, and they were 
 good pigeons. Fanchette plucked them, and we shared the spoil. 
 Each day we banqueted without limit. These Notables supplied 
 our throats as well as exerting their own ! And I had always a 
 well-supplied purse. 
 
 ' P'anchette and I denied ourselves nothing ; but how brief are 
 the moments of happiness ! Oh, how brief | 
 
DUFAJLLT. 177 
 
 ' Scarcely had a month of this charming life elapsed, when 
 Fanchette and my townswoman were apprehended and taken to 
 prison. What had they done ? I do not know, but evil tongues 
 said something about the abstraction of a repeating-watch. I, who 
 had no particular wish to make acquaintance with the lieutenant- 
 general of police, thought it best to make as few inquiries as 
 possible. 
 
 ' This arrest was a blow which we had not looked for. Fanfan 
 and I were overwhelmed at it. Fanchette was such a dear girl ! 
 and then how was I to carry on the war ? My kettle was upset ; 
 farewell oysters, farewell chablis, farewell hours of love ! I should 
 have stuck to my anvil ; and Fanfan reproached himself for having 
 quitted his patty-pans. 
 
 ' We were walking sorrowfully on the Quai de la Ferraille, when 
 we were suddenly aroused by a sound of military music, two 
 clarionets, a large drum, and cymbals. The crowd had gathered 
 round this band, stationed in a car, above which floated colours 
 and plumes. I think they were playing the air, " Where can we 
 find joys equal to those at home?" When the musicians had 
 finished, the drums beat a roll, and a gentleman, covered with 
 gold lace, got up and spoke, showing a large representation of a 
 soldier in full uniform. " By the authority of his majesty," said 
 he, " I am here to explain to the subjects of the King of France 
 the advantages which he offers in admitting them to his colonies. 
 Young men who are round me, you must have heard of the land 
 of Cocagne, and it is to India that we must go to find this fortunate 
 country. There we must go if we would live in clover. 
 
 ' " Would you have gold, pearls, or diamonds ? The roads are 
 paved with them ; you have only to stoop and pick them up, and 
 not even that, for the savages will collect them for you. 
 
 4 " Do you love women ? There they are for all tastes ; negresses, 
 who belong to all the world ; then Creoles, white as you or I, and 
 who dote to madness on white men, which is natural enough in a 
 country where the men are all black ; and note particularly that 
 everyone of them is as rich as Croesus ; which, between ourselves, 
 is very advantageous in marriage. 
 
 ' " Do you love wine ? It is like the women, of all sorts ; malaga, 
 bordeaux, champagne, etc. For instance, you must not often 
 expect to meet with burgundy I will not deceive you, it will not 
 bear sea carriage : but ask for any other that is made throughout 
 the world, at sixpence a bottle, and believe me, you will find them 
 but too happy to procure it for you. Yes, gentlemen, for sixpence ; 
 and that cannot surprise you, when you learn that sometimes one, 
 two, or three hundred ships, loaded with wines, arrive at the same 
 
 12 
 
178 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 time in one single harbour. Picture to yourself the embarrassment 
 of the captains ; in haste to return, they quickly unload, and an- 
 nounce that they shall esteem it a favour from any who will empty 
 the casks gratis. 
 
 ' " That is not all. Do not you think it would be a sweet life 
 always to have sugar in plenty ; I have not mentioned coffee, 
 lemons, pomegranates, oranges, pine-apples, and the millions of 
 delicious fruits which grow here as wild as they did in Paradise ; 
 and the liqueurs, which are much esteemed. 
 
 * " If I were addressing women or children, I might expatiate on 
 all these delicacies, but I am speaking to men. 
 
 ' " Sons of family, I am not ignorant of the efforts usually made 
 by parents to restrain young people from the path which must 
 lead to fortune ; but be more rational than the papas, and par- 
 ticularly the mammas. 
 
 * '* Do not listen to them, when they tell you that the savages 
 eat the Europeans with only a little salt : that was all very well in 
 the days of Christopher Columbus and Robinson Crusoe. 
 
 4 " Do not listen to them, when they endeavour to terrify you 
 about the yellow fever. The yellow fever ? Gentleman, if it were 
 as terrible as people say, there would be nothing but hospitals in 
 the country, and God knows that there is not a single one. 
 
 ' " Doubtless they will frighten you about the climate. I am too 
 frank not to confess it ; the climate is warm, but nature is so pro- 
 digal in giving refreshments, that, in truth, we must attend to the 
 thing, or we should not perceive it. 
 
 ' " They will alarm you about the sting of the mosquitoes, and 
 the bite of rattle-snakes. But have you not slaves always about 
 you expressly to drive away the former, and does not the noise of 
 the latier sufficiently inform you of its approach ? 
 
 * " They will talk to you of shipwrecks. Know that I have 
 crossed the sea fifty-seven times ; that I have again and again 
 crossed the line ; that I look on going from one pole to the other 
 like drinking a glass of water ; and although on the ocean there are 
 neither wooden sledges nor nurses, I think myself more secure on 
 board a seventy four, than in the inside of the coach toAuxerre, or 
 on the conveyance from Paris to St. Cloud. That must be enough 
 to dissipate all fears. I might add a variety of delights ; I might talk 
 of the chase, sporting, fishing ; imagine to yourself forests, where 
 the game is so tame that it never thinks of running away, and so 
 timid that if you only call to it, it falls down ; imagine rivers and 
 lakes, where fish are so abundant that they choke the waters. This 
 is all very wonderful, but perfectly true. 
 
 ' " J had nearly forgotten to talk to you of horses. Horses 
 
M. BELJ.E-ROSE. 179 
 
 gentlemen ! you cannot take a step without meeting with thousands 
 of them ; you might call them flocks of sheep, only that they are 
 larger ; are you fond of them ? do you like riding ? Only take a 
 rope in your pocket, which should be rather long, and you must 
 make a running knot in it: you seize the moment when the animals 
 are grazing, and afraid of nothing ; you then approach quietly, and 
 make your choice ; and when your choice is made, you throw the 
 cord, the horse is yours, you have only to back him and lead him 
 where you please and think proper ; for, remember, that here every 
 man is uncontrolled in his actions. 
 
 ' " Yes, gentlemen, I repeat it, it is all true, very true ; the proof 
 is, that the King of France, his majesty Louis XVL, who can almost 
 hear me in his palace, authorizes me on his part to offer you these 
 advantages. Should I dare to lie so near to him ? 
 
 ' " The king desires to clothe you, the king wishes to support 
 you, he wishes to make you rich men ; in return, he asks but little 
 from you ; no labour, and good pay; good nourishment ; to rise 
 up and lie down at pleasure ; exercise once a month, at the parade 
 of St. Louis ; this, for I will conceal nothing, cannot be dispensed 
 with, unless you get leave, which is never refused These obliga- 
 tions done, your time is your own. What more can you desire ? 
 A good engagement ? You shall have it : but hasten, I advise you ; 
 to-morrow will perhaps be too late : the ships are about to start, 
 and only wait for a fair wind to set sail. Hasten, then, near to 
 Paris ; hasten. If, perchance, you should grow tired of doing well, 
 you shall have dismissal when you please ; a barque is always in port, 
 ready to conduct to Europe those who are home-sick ; it is ex- 
 pressly used for that purpose. Let those who desire to have 
 farther particulars come to me ; I have no occasion to tell my 
 name ; I am very well known ; my residence is only a few paces 
 distant, at the first lamp, at the house of a wine-merchant. Ask 
 for M. Belle-Rose." 
 
 * My situation made me attentive to this harangue, which I have 
 remembered, although it is twenty years since I heard it, and I do 
 not think that I forget a single word. 
 
 ' It made no less impression on Fanfan, and we were consulting 
 together, when a shabby-looking fellow, whom we had not at all 
 offended, gave Fanfan a blow, which knocked his hat off. " I will 
 teach you," said he, "you puppy, to grin at me." Fanfan was be- 
 wildered by the blow, and I defended him, when the blackguard 
 raised his hand against me ; we were soon surrounded, and the 
 quarrel was growing warm, and the people flocked round, trying 
 who should see most of it. Suddenly, some one separated the 
 crowd \ it was M. Belle-Rose. '* What is all this ?'' said he ; and 
 
/So MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 looking at Fanfan, who was crying, " I think this gentleman has 
 been struck that cannot be put up with ; but the gentleman is 
 brave, and that will settle the business." Fanfan was desirous of 
 showing that he had done nothing wrong, and then that he had 
 not been struck. " It is all the same, my friend," replied Belle- 
 Rose ; " it cannot be settled that way." " Certainly," said the bully, 
 " it cannot be decided in this way. The gentleman insulted me, 
 and shall give me satisfaction ; one of us must fall." 
 
 ' " Well, well, be it so ; he will give you satisfaction," replied 
 Belle-Rose : " I will answer for these gentlemen ; what is your 
 hour ?" " Yours." " Five in the morning, behind the bishop's 
 palace I will bring weapons." 
 
 ' Upon this the blackguard retired ; and Belle-Rose, striking 
 Fanfan on the stomach, heard some pieces chink in the waistcoat 
 pocket, where he carried his money, the last relics of our former 
 splendour. " Really, my lad, I take an interest in you," said he ; 
 "you must come with me; our friend here must go with us:" and so 
 saying, he gave me a poke similar to that he had bestowed on Fanfan. 
 
 ' M. Belle- Rose conducted us into the Rue de la Juiverie, to a 
 wine-merchant's, where he made us enter. " I will not enter with 
 you," said he to us ; "a man like me must preserve decorum : I 
 am going to pull off my uniform, and will join you in a minute. 
 Ask for a red seal and three glasses." He left us. " A red seal," 
 said he, turning round : " mind the red seal." 
 
 * We executed the orders of M. Belle-Rose, who was not long in 
 returning, and whom we received cap in-hand. " Ah ! my boys," 
 said he, "put on your hats; no ceremonies between us; I am 
 going to sit down : where is my glass ? the first come, the first 
 served." (He drank it down at a gulp.) "I am devilish thirsty, and 
 the dust sticks in my throat." 
 
 ' M. Belle-Rose poured out a second whilst he spoke, and then, 
 wiping his forehead with a handkerchief, he leant his two elbows 
 on the table, and assumed a mysterious air, which began to dis- 
 quiet us. 
 
 ' " Ah, my young friends ! it is to-morrow that we are to have the 
 brush. Do you know," said he to Fanfan, "that you have a devil 
 to meet? one of the best fencers in France: he pinked St. George." 
 " He pinked St. George," replied Fanfan, looking most piteously at 
 me. " Ah ! indeed, he pinked St. George ; but that is not all he 
 has a most unlucky hand." " And so have I," said Fanfan. "What, 
 you too ?" " By Jove, I think a day never passed, when I was at my 
 master's, that I did not break something, if only a plate or two." "Oh, 
 you misunderstand me," said Belle-Rose ; " we say that a man has 
 an. unlucky hand, when he always kills the man whom he fights." 
 
M. BELLE-ROSE. 181 
 
 * The explanation was but too clear. Fanfan trembled in every 
 limb, the sweat ran down his forehead in large drops, white and 
 blue clouds pervaded the red cheeks of the pastry-cook's apprentice, 
 his face lengthened, his heart beat, and he would have suffocated, 
 had he not heaved an enormous sigh. 
 
 ' " Bravo!'' cried Belle- Rose, taking his hand in his own, "I like 
 men who have no fear. You are not afraid." Then, striking the 
 table, " Waiter, another bottle of the same ; mind you, my friend 
 here pays. Get up a little, my friend ; move yourself stir about 
 stretch out your arm circulate your blood thrust out : that's 
 it splendid ! admirable! superb!" And during this time Belle- 
 Rose emptied his glass. "On the honour of Belle-Rose I could 
 make a fencer of you. Do you know, you have an excellent idea 
 of it. You would do well at it ; there are more than four of our 
 masters not so well made for it as you. What a pity you were 
 never taught ; but nothing is impossible; you have frequented the 
 schools?" "Oh, I swear not," replied Fanfan. "Come, confess 
 that you fight well." "No, not at all." "No modesty; why 
 conceal your talent that way? I can easily perceive it." " I protest 
 to you," said I, "that he never handled a foil in his life." "Since 
 you attest it, sir, I must believe ; but, ah ! you are two deep 
 fellows ; you must not teach old apes how to grin ; tell me the 
 truth, and do not fear that I would betray you : am not I your 
 friend ? If you have no confidence in me, I may as well go. Fare- 
 well, gentlemen," continued Belle-Rose, with a provoked air, going 
 towards the door, as if about to depart. 
 
 ' " Oh, M. Belle-Rose, do not forsake us," cried Fanfan. "Rather 
 ask my friend if I have deceived you. I am a pastry-cook by 
 trade, and I cannot help my fate. I have handled the rolling-pin, 
 but " 
 
 ' " I saw you had handled something," said Belle-Rose. " I like 
 sincerity such sincerity as yours ; it is the chief of military virtues; 
 with that we may go to any extent. I am sure you would make 
 an admirable soldier. But that is not our present business. 
 Waiter, a bottle of wine. Since you tell me you never did fight, I 
 will believe nothing again." (After a moment's silence.) " Never 
 mind, my delight is to confer happiness on young people. I will 
 teach you a thrust a single thrust. " (Fanfan stared.) "You must 
 promise me not to show it to anybody." "I swear it," said 
 Fanfan. " Well, you will be the first to whom I ever showed it. 
 I must love you ! It is a thrust unequalled ; one which I kept 
 only to myself. Never mind, I will initiate you at daylight to- 
 ir.orrow." 
 
 4 From this moment Fanfan appeared less alarmed, and over- 
 
!2 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 powered M. Belle-Rose with thanks. We drank a few more 
 glasses, during a multitude of protestations on one side and grati- 
 tude on the other ; and then, as it was growing late, M. Belle- 
 Rose took leave of us like a man who knew the world. Before he 
 left us, he showed us a place where we could sleep. " Say that 
 you come from me," said he, " at Griffon's, in the Rue de la Mor- 
 tellerie ; sleep in peace, and you shall find all go well." Fanfan 
 paid the bill, and then Belle-Rose said, " Good-night, to-morrow I 
 shall come and wake you." 
 
 ' We went to Griffon's, where we procured beds. Fanfan could 
 not close an eye, and was perhaps impatient to learn the thrust 
 which M. Belle-Rose had promised to teach him ; or he might 
 be frightened ; perhaps he was. 
 
 * At the first peep of day the key turned in the lock, and some 
 one entered. It was Belle-Rose. "Come, boys; what still asleep! 
 Hear the muster-call, my lads," cried he. In a moment we jumped 
 up. When we were ready, he went out a moment with Fanfan, 
 and they soon afterwards returned. " Let us go out," said Belle- 
 Rose : " mind, no nonsense ; you have nothing to do but to give 
 the twisting thrust, and he will pink himself." 
 
 * In spite of his lesson, Fanfan was not quite tranquil ; and having 
 reached the ground, he was more dead than alive. The adversary 
 and his second had arrived already. " Here we are," said Belle- 
 Rose, taking the foils which he had given to me ; and breaking off 
 the buttons, he measured the blades. " Neither of them is six 
 inches longer than the other. Come take this," said he to M. Fanfan, 
 giving him one of the foils. 
 
 ' Fanfan hesitated ; and on the second offer, seized the handle 
 so clumsily that he let it fall. "That is nothing," said Belle-Rose, 
 picking it up and putting it in Fanfan's hand : he then placed him 
 opposite his adversary. " Mind, guard ! We shall see who will 
 tickle his man." 
 
 ' " One moment," said the second of the opponent ; " I have a 
 question to ask first, sir," said he, addressing Fanfan, who could 
 scarcely support himself; "are you either master or provost?' 
 " What do you say ?" replied Fanfan, with the voice of a man half- 
 dead. " According to the laws of duelling," responded the second, 
 " my duty compels me to summon you to declare on your honour, 
 are you master or provost ?" Fanfan was silent, and looked at 
 Belle-Rose, as if to ask him what he should say. " Speak, sir," 
 said the second to Fanfan. " I am I am I am only an ap- 
 prentice," stammered Fanfan. " Apprentice means amateur," added 
 Belle-Rose. "In this case," continued the second, "the gentle- 
 man amateur must undress ; for our business is with his skin." 
 
M. BELLE-ROSE. 183 
 
 " That is just," said Belle-Rose, " I did think of that ; he will 
 undress himself; quick, quick, M. Fanfan, off with coat and 
 shirt." 
 
 * Fanfan cut a scurvy figure ; the sleeves of his doublet were 
 very tight, and he unbuttoned at one end and buttoned up at the 
 other. When he had taken off his waistcoat he could not undo 
 the strings of the neck of his shirt, and was compelled to cut them ; 
 and at last, except his breeches, was as naked as a worm. Belle- 
 Rose again gave him the foil. " Now, m^Jriend," said he, " mind 
 your guard !" " Defend yourself," cried the adversary ; swords 
 were crossed. Fanfan's blade shook and trembled; the other 
 weapon was motionless. Fanfan seemed about to faint. 
 
 '"Enough," suddenly cried Belle-Rose and the second, "you 
 are two brave fellows ; enough, you must not cut each other's 
 throats ; be friends, embrace, and let there be no farther dispute. 
 Good God ! all that is good need not be killed But he is a 
 gallant young lad. Be appeased. M. Fanfan." 
 
 ' Fanfan breathed again, and plucked up when his courage was 
 mentioned ; his opponent made some difficulties about consenting 
 to an arrangement, but at length was softened ; and they embraced, 
 whilst it was agreed that the reconciliation should be completed 
 by breakfasting at a drinking-house near Notre Dame, where there 
 was good wine to be had. 
 
 ' \Yhen we reached the place, the breakfast was spread and 
 ready. 
 
 'Before we sat down, M. Belle-Rose took Fanfan and myself 
 aside. " Well," said he, " you know now what a duel is ; it is not an 
 out-of-the-way matter ; I am content with you, my dear Fanfan ; 
 you behaved like an angel. But you must be great throughout : 
 you understand me you must not allow him to pay." 
 
 ' At these words Fanfan turned very red ; for he knew the depth 
 of our purse. " Oh, good Lord, let the mutton boil," added Belle- 
 Rose, who saw his embarrassment. " If you are out of cash I will 
 take care of all that ; here, do you want money ? Will you have 
 thirty francs ? or sixty? Amongst friends, that is nothing." And 
 so saying, he drew a dozen crowns from his pocket. " With you 
 they are in good keeping, and will bring good luck." 
 
 ' Fanfan hesitated. " Accept them, and pay me when you can. 
 On these terms there can be no hesitation in borrowing." I jogged 
 Fanfan's elbow, as much as to say, "Take it." He obeyed; and 
 we pocketed the crowns, touched at the kindness of Belle-Rose. 
 
 ' He was soon, however, fo skin us of them. Experience is a 
 great teacher, and M. Belle-Rose was a deep fellow ! 
 
 * Breakfast went off with spirit ; we talked much of the avarice 
 
i84 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 of parents the brutalities of apprentices' masters of the blessings 
 of independence the immense wealth amassed in the Indies : the 
 names of the Cape, Chandernagor, were adroitly introduced ; 
 examples were quoted of the vast fortunes made by the young men 
 whom Belle-Rose had recently engaged. " It is not to boast," said 
 he, " but I am .not an unlucky fellow : it was I who enlisted little 
 Martin ; and now he is a nabob, rolling in gold and silver. I will 
 bet that he has grown proud ; and perhaps if he saw me would not 
 recognise me. Oh, I have found many ingrates in my time ! But 
 what of that ? It is the fate of man !" 
 
 ' Our sitting was a long one. At the dessert, M. Belle-Rose 
 again brought on the carpet the fine fruits of the Antilles : whilst 
 he drank the wine, " Cape wine for ever," said he ; " how delicious 
 that is !" with the cofifee he expatiated on the Martinique : when 
 they brought the cognac, " Ah ! ah !" said he, making a grimace, 
 " this is not equal to the rum, and still less the excellent pine-apple 
 of Jamaica ;" they poured out some parj "ait amour : " This is drink- 
 able," said he, " but still it is not even small beer in comparison 
 with the liqueurs of the celebrated Madame Anfous." 
 
 ' Belle-Rose was seated between Fanfan and myself and during 
 the whole repast took great care of us. He kept up the incessant 
 song of " Empty your glasses ;" and he filled them incessantly. 
 " Who made you such half-wet birds ?" said he at intervals. " Come, 
 another glass ; look at me, and do as 1 do." 
 
 * These phrases, and many others, had due effect. Fanfan and 
 I were pretty well done up ; he particularly. " M. Belle-Rose, is it 
 very far to the colonies, Chandernagor, Seringapatam ? are they 
 very far off?" he repeated, from time to time, and he imagined 
 himself already embarked, so completely was he imbued with the 
 flourishing accounts. " Patience," said Belle-Rose, at length, "and 
 we shall get there ; and in the meantime I am going to tell you a 
 
 story. One day when I was on guard at the governor's "- 
 
 " One day when he was governor," said Fanfan. " Hold your peace," 
 said Belle-Rose, putting his hand upon his mouth, " it was only 
 when I was a private," he continued ; " I was quietly seated in front 
 of my sentry-box, reposing on a sofa, when my negro, who carried 
 my gun, you must know that in the colonies every soldier has 
 his male and female slave, as we might here have domestics of 
 both sexes ; only that you may do with them what you please ; and 
 if it be your pleasure, you may kill them as you would a fly ; for 
 you have power of life and death over them. As for the woman, 
 you do what you please with her ; I was on guard, as I just toFd 
 you, and my negro was carrying my gun " 
 
 * M. Belle-Rose had scarcely got so far, when a soldier in full 
 
' M. BELLE-ROSE. 185 
 
 dress entered the room, and gave him a letter, which he opened 
 with haste. " It is from the Minister of the Marine," said he ; " M. 
 de Sartine tells me, that the service of the king summons me to 
 Surinam. The devil !" added he, addressing Fanfan and me, " how 
 awkward it is ; I did not think of quitting so soon ; but as they 
 say, he who reckons without his host, reckons twice ; never mind." 
 
 ' Belle-Rose then, taking his glass in his right hand, knocked 
 several times on the table, and whilst the other guests withdrew, a 
 waiting-maid entered. " The bill, and send your master ;" and the 
 master came with the bill of our expenses. "Astonishing how soon 
 it mounts up," observed Belle-Rose : " one hundred and ninety 
 livres, twelve sous, six deniers ! Ah! M. Nivet, do you want :<> 
 skin us alive ? Here is an item I will not pass by four lemon-, 
 twenty-four sous. We only had three reduction the first. Peste, 
 Papa Nivet, I am not surprised at your making a fortune. Seven 
 half-glasses, that is very fine ; but how do you make it out, when 
 there were only six of us ? I shall find other mistakes, I am con- 
 vinced. Asparagus, eighteen livres ; that is too much. " " In April," 
 said M. Nivet, " and so early !" " Well, that is right, young peas, 
 artichokes, fish, lettuces, strawberries, twenty-four livres that i ; 
 correct. The wine is fair enough : now I will add it up. Put 
 down nought and carry one the total is correct, deducting the 
 twelve sous and the six deniers there remain one hundred and 
 ninety livres. Well, will you give me credit for the amount, Papa 
 Nivet ?" " Oh !" replied the landlord, " yesterday, yes ; to-day, no ; 
 credit on land as long as you please, but once at sea, how am I to 
 be repaid ? at Surinam ? Devil take the sea-going creditors ! I tell 
 you money I want, and you shall not go out till I am satisfied : 
 otherwise I shall send for the watch, and we shall then see " 
 
 * M. Nivet went out in an apparent rage. 
 
 ' " He is a man of his word," said Belle-Rose to us. " But an 
 idea strikes me ; in great distresses, great remedies. Doubtlessly 
 you have no greater wish than myself to be led before M. Lenoir 
 between four guards. The king gives TOO francs a man for recruits ; 
 there are two of you, that makes 200 francs; sign your enrolments; 
 I will go and get the cash, then return and free you. What say 
 you ?" 
 
 ' Fanfan and I looked at each other in silence. " What ! do you 
 hesitate ? I had a better opinion of you. I, who would cut my- 
 self in quarters and then I do not ask you to do an unpleasant 
 thing. Heavens ! that I was of your age, and knew what I know ! 
 We have always resources whilst we are young. Come," he added, 
 presenting the paper to us, "now is your time to coin money; put 
 your name at the bottom of this paper." 
 
1 86 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 * The persuasions of Belle-Rose were so pressing, and we were 
 so fearful of the watch, that we signed. " That is right," said he, 
 " now I will go and pay ; if you are vexed there is always time : you 
 will have nothing to do but return the money ; but we shall not 
 come to that. Patience, my friends, I will soon return." 
 
 ' Belle-Rose soon went out and quickly returned. 
 
 * " The embargo is removed," said he, " and now we are free to 
 go or stay ; but you have not yet seen Madame Belle-Rose I 
 wish to introduce you to her : she is a woman with wit to the end 
 of her nails." 
 
 ' M. Belle-Rose conducted us to his house ; his lodging was not 
 over-brilliant two rooms on the back of a mean-looking house a 
 little distance from the Arch-Marion. Madame Belle-Rose was in 
 a recess at the end of the second room, her head resting on a heap 
 of pillows. Near her bed were two crutches : and at a little distance, 
 a night table, a spitting-box, a shell snuff-box, a silver goblet, and 
 a bottle of brandy nearly emptied. Madame Belle- Rose was about 
 forty-five or fifty : she was attired in a stylish morning-gown, with 
 top-knot, and head-dress of lace. Her face was distorted as we 
 entered by a violent fit of coughing. " Wait till she has done," 
 said Belle-Rose to us ; and at length, her cough ceasing, " Can 
 you talk, my duck ?" " Yes, my precious," she answered. " Well, 
 you will oblige me by informing my friends here what fortunes are 
 made in the colonies."" Immense ! M. Belle-Rose, immense !" 
 " What alliances ?" " What alliances ? Superb ! M. Belle-Rose, 
 superb ! the meanest heiress has millions of piastres." " What life 
 do they lead ?" " The life of a prince, M. Belle-Rose." 
 
 1 " You see," said the husband, ** I did not make her say so." 
 1 The farce was thus performed. M. Belle-Rose offered us the 
 refreshment of a glass of rum : we drank to his wife, and she drank 
 to our good voyage. " For I suppose," she added, " that these 
 gentlemen are ours. My dear fellow," said she to Fanfan, " you 
 have the face they like in those parts ; square shoulders, wide chest, 
 well-made leg, nose a la Bourbon." Then turning, to me, " And 
 you too; oh ! you are well-limbed fellows." " And lads, too, who 
 will not allow themselves to be trampled on," added Belle-Rose ; 
 " this gentleman has been at it already this morning." " What, 
 already ! I congratulate him. Come here, my dear sir, and let 
 me kiss you ; I always liked young fellows, that is my taste : every- 
 one has their inclination. Do not be jealous, Belle-Rose." 
 u Jealous of what ? My friend behaved like a second Bayard, as 
 I shall tell the regiment ; the colonel shall know it, and advance- 
 ment must follow corporal at least, if not an officer. Ah, when 
 you have the epaulette on your shoulders you will be a noted brave 
 
M. BELLE-ROSE. 187 
 
 man !" Fanfan jumped for joy. As for me, sure that I was no 
 less brave than he, I said to myself, " If he advances, I shall not 
 hang back." We were both very happy. 
 
 ' " I ought to tell you one thing," pursued the recruiter ; " re- 
 commended as you are, you must excite jealousy ; there are 
 envious people everywhere ; but remember that if they use a word 
 of abuse I shall take it up ; once under my protection enough. 
 Write to me." " What !" said Fanfan, " do not you go with us ?" 
 " No," replied Belle-Rose, " to my great regret : the Minister 
 has need of me. I shall join you at Brest. To-morrow at eight 
 o'clock I expect you here, not later : to-day I have no leisure 
 to remain longer with you ; duty must be done. Adieu till to- 
 morrow." 
 
 ' We took leave of Madame Belle-Rose, who embraced us. 
 Next day we were, at half past seven, aroused by the bugs which 
 lodged with us at Griffon's. "Give me punctual men!" said 
 Belle-Rose, when he saw us ; "I am one myself." Then, assuming 
 a more serious air : "If you have any friends and acquaintances, 
 you have the rest of the day for leave-taking. Now, this is your 
 route ; your allowance is three sous per league, with lodging, firing, 
 and candle. You may start as soon as you like, that is no affair of 
 mine ; but do not forget, that if you are found in the streets of 
 Paris to-morrow evening, the police will conduct you to your place 
 of destination." 
 
 ' This threat cut us up root and branch ; but as we had baked, 
 so we must brew, and we started. From Paris to Brest is a famous 
 long walk, but, in spite of blisters, we made ten leagues a-day. 
 W T e arrived at last, but not without having a thousand times cursed 
 Belle-Rose. A month afterwards we embarked. Ten years after- 
 wards, day for day, I was made corporal, and Fanfan also promoted ; 
 he was knocked on the head at St. Domingo, during Leclerc's ex- 
 pedition. He was a devil amongst the negro women. As for me, 
 I have yet a steady foot and good eye ; my chest is well lined, and 
 I may have the luck to bury you all. I have passed many rough 
 days in my life ; been thrown from one colony to another ; I have 
 rolled my ball as I went, and I have not been a loser ; never mind, 
 the children of glee will never die and then, when they are no 
 more here, they are to be found elsewhere/ continued the Sergeant 
 Dufailli, striking the pockets of his uniform ; and then, lifting up 
 his waistcoat, exposed a leather belt, apparently well lined. 'I 
 say, there is yet butter in the churn, and yellow enough, too, with- 
 out counting what we may chance to borrow from the English, 
 The India Company owe me a balance still, which some three- 
 masters will bring.' * In the meantime, all goes well with you, 
 
1 88 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Father Dufailli,' said the forager. ' Very well,' said the sergeant- 
 major. * Yes, very well, indeed,' thought I ; determining to 
 cultivate an acquaintance which chance rendered so propitious 
 for me. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The daughters of Mere Thomas The Silver Lion Captain Paulet The 
 pirates The bombardment Lord Lauderdale I embark Sea-fight 
 Capture of a brig-of-war I change my name Death of Dufailli A frigate 
 sunk. 
 
 WHILST giving us the scene of the recruiters, Father Dufailli had 
 drunk at every sentence. He was of opinion that words flowed 
 best when moistened. He might, to be sure, have used water; 
 but he had a great horror of that, he said, ever since he fell into 
 the sea, which was in 1789. Thus it happened, that partly 
 through drinking and partly through talking, he got drunk imper- 
 ceptibly. At last he reached a point, at which he found it impos- 
 sible to express himself but with the utmost difficulty ; his tongue 
 became what we call thick. And then the forager and sergeant- 
 major retired. 
 
 Dufailli and I remained alone : he was asleep and leant on the 
 table, and began to snore ; whilst I coolly gave myself up to a train 
 of reflections. Three hours elapsed, and he had not finished his 
 sleep. When he awoke, he was quite surprised to find anyone 
 near him ; at first, he looked at me as through a thick fog, which 
 did not allow him to distinguish my features, but insensibly the 
 vapour disappeared, and he recognised me, which was all he could 
 do. He stumbled as he arose ; and ordering a basin of coffee, 
 without milk, into which he emptied a salt-cellar, swallowed the 
 liquid with small gulps ; and having got rid of his short sword, he 
 took my arru, dragging me towar.is the door. My aid was most 
 needful to him ; it was the vine twining, about the elm. 'You are 
 going to tow me,' said he, ' and I will pilot you. Do you see the 
 telegraph ? What does it say, with its arms in the air ?' * It makes 
 signals that the Dufailli is lying to.' ' The Dufailli thousand 
 gods ! a ship of three hundred tons at least. Do not fear ; all's 
 right with Dufailli.' At the same time, without letting go my arm, 
 he took off his hat, and placing it on the end of his finger, spun 
 it round. ' See my compass ; attention we go as the cockade 
 points whether the cape of the Rue des Precheurs ! forward, 
 march !' ordered Dufailli ; and we took together the road to the 
 lower town, after he had put on his hat with much noise. 
 
 Dufailli had promised to advise me, but he was not in a state to 
 do it. I anxiously desired that he should recover his reason, but, 
 
DUFAILLI. 189 
 
 unfortunately, the air and exercise produced a precisely opposite 
 effect On going down the main street, we were obliged to enter 
 every public-house, with which the residence of the army had filled 
 the place ; everywhere made a stay, shorter or longer. I en- 
 deavoured to make them as brief as possible. Each shop, Dufailli 
 said, was a port, into which we must put, and each port increased 
 the cargo, which he had already so much difficulty to carry. * I 
 am as full as a beggar,' said he to me, in broken words; 'and yet 
 I am not a beggar, for beggars never get drunk, do they, my boy ?' 
 
 Twenty times I resolved on leaving him ; but Dufailli, when 
 sober, might aid me ; I remembered his full girdle, and even with- 
 out that, 1 knew well that he had other resources than his sergeant's 
 pay. Having reached the church in the Place d'Alton, he took it 
 into his head to have his shoes brushed, which, when done, he 
 lost his balance in moving from the stool ; and, thinking he would 
 fall, I approached to support him. * What, countryman, don't fear 
 because I make a reel or two; I have a sailor's foot.' In the 
 meantime the brush had given brightness to his shoes ; and when 
 they were completely blackened, c Come, the finishing touch,' said 
 Dufailli; 'or is that for to-morrow?' At the same time he gave 
 him a sou. 'You will not make a rich man of me, sergeant' 
 ' What, do you grumble? mind I don't kill you.' Dufailli made 
 a gesture, but his hat fell off, and, blown by the wind, rolled along 
 the pavement ; the shoe-black ran after it and brought it back. 
 ' It is not worth twopence,' cried Dufailli ; ' never mind, you are a 
 good fellow.' Then, thrusting his hands into his pockets, he took 
 out a handful of money: 'Here, drink to my health.' 'Thanks, 
 my colonel,' said the shoe-black, who proportioned his titles to the 
 generosity he met with. 
 
 'I must now,' said Dufailli, who seemed by degrees to recover 
 his senses, ' lead you into good quarters.' I had made up my 
 mind to accompany him wherever he went. I had witnessed his 
 liberality, and I was not ignorant that drunkards are the most 
 grateful persons possible to those who give them their company. 
 I allowed myself then to be piloted as he wished, and we reached 
 the Rue des Precheurs. At the door of a new house of elegant 
 appearance was a sentry and several soldiers. * This is it,' said 
 he. ' What, here ? Are you going to take me to the staff-major?' 
 'The staff-major! nonsense; I say it is the beautiful and fair 
 Magdelaine's ; or, if you like it better, " madame quarante mille 
 hommes" (madam forty thousand men) as they call her.' 'Im- 
 possible, Dufailli, you are under some mistake.' ' Oh, I see 
 double, do I ? Is not that the sentinel ?' Dufailli advanced while 
 speaking, and asked for admittance. ' Go back/ said the quarter- 
 
190 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 master roughly ; ' you ought to know well enough that this is not 
 your day.' Dufailli persisted. 'Go away, I tell you,' said the 
 subaltern, 'or I will take you to the black hole.' This threat 
 made me tremble all over. 
 
 Dufailli's obstinacy might be fatal to me, and yet it would not 
 have been prudent to tell him my fears ; at all events not where 
 we then were ; and I therefore only made some observations to 
 him, which were, however, entirely lost upon him in his present 
 
 state. ' Let the fellow go and be , the sun shines equally for 
 
 us all : liberty, equality, or death,' he repeated, whilst struggling 
 to escape the hold I kept on him, that he might not commit him- 
 self in any way. * Equality, I tell you ;' and in an attitude better 
 conceived than described, he looked at me with that stupid no- 
 meaning stare which a man has when he has 'put an enemy into 
 his mouth to steal away his brains,' and reduce him to the level of 
 a brute. 
 
 I was in despair, when at the cry, ' Present arms !' followed by 
 this warning, ' Cannoneer, mind what you do ; here is the adjutant, 
 here is Bevignac ;' he suddenly seemed quite to come to himself. 
 A shower-bath falling from a height of fifty feet upon a maniac's 
 head, has not so sudden an effect in restoring his senses. The 
 name of Bevignac made a singular impression on the soldiery, who 
 had ranged themselves in front of the ground-floor of the fair 
 Magdelaine's house. They looked at one another without, as it 
 seemed, daring to breathe, so much were they alarmed. The 
 adjutant, who was a tall, meagre-looking man, having arrived, 
 began to count them, whilst he made motions with his cane. I 
 never saw a face so deeply furrowed ; on his thin and lank jaws 
 were two small unpowdered curls ; on the whole countenance 
 might be traced a certain something, which declared that adjutant 
 Bevignac was a perfect martinet, and determinately opposed to 
 anything like want of discipline. Anger was visible in his face, 
 his eyes were blood-shot, and a horrible convulsion of his jaws 
 announced that he was about to speak. * By the devil's nest ! 
 Well ! All quiet ! You know orders. None but officers ! By 
 Satan's nest! and every man in his turn.' Then, perceiving us 
 and advancing towards us with uplifted cane, ' What are you doing 
 here, you sergeant of powder-monkeys ?' I thought he was about 
 to strike us. 'Oh, I see,' he added, 'it is nothing; only drunk,' 
 addressing Dufailli. ' Well, a jovial cup is excusable ; go to be.l, 
 and do not let me meet you again.' ' Yes, commandant,' replied 
 Dufailli, at this order, and we went away down the Rue des 
 Precheurs. 
 
 There is no occasion to mention the profession of the fair 
 
MOTHER THOMAS. 191 
 
 Magdelaine le Picarde ; it must have been already guessed. She 
 was a tall woman of about twenty-three years of age, remarkable 
 for the bloom of her complexion, as well as the beauty of her 
 figure. It was her boast that she belonged to no one person. She 
 N devoted herself, from a principle of conscience, entirely and solely to 
 the army : fifer or field-marshal, all who wore the uniform were 
 equally well received by her; but she professed great contempt for 
 what she called the snobs. There never was a citizen who could 
 boast of her favours : she was somewhat tenacious with marines, 
 whom she called ' tar-buckets/ and fleeced at pleasure, because 
 she could not make up her mind to look on them as soldiers ; and 
 she used to say, that the navy filled her purse, and the army was 
 her lover. This lady, whom I had occasion to visit at a subse- 
 quent period, was, for a long time, the delight of the camp, without 
 her health being at all impaired, and was supposed to be rich. But 
 whether Magdelaine (as I know) was not mercenary, or whether 
 as the old proverb goes, ' What is got over the devil's back is 
 spent under his belly,' Magdelaine died in 1812, at the hospital of 
 Ardres, poor, but true to her flag : but two years more, and, like 
 another nymph well known in Paris, after the disaster of Waterloo, 
 she would have had the grief of calling herself the ' widow of the 
 grand army.' 
 
 It is very difficult to eradicate an idea from a brain troubled 
 with the fumes of wine. Dufailli had resolved on finishing the day in 
 female society, and nothing could turn him from it. Scarcely had 
 we taken half-a-dozen steps, than, looking back, * He has disap- 
 peared,' said he ; ' come along, this way ; ' and leaving my arm 
 he advanced towards a door, at which he knocked ; and which, 
 after a few minutes, was half opened, and an old woman's head 
 appeared. ' What do you want ?' ' What do we want ?' answered 
 Dufailli; ' don't you know me? Do not you recognise friends?' 
 *Ah! ah! is it you, Father Dufailli; there is no room for you.' 
 * No room for friends ! You are joking, mother ; you are playing 
 off some trick upon us.' *No, on the word of an honest 
 woman ; you know, my old lad, that no one is more welcome 
 than yourself; but my eldest daughter is engaged, and so is 
 Pauline ; but we shall be glad to see you by-and-by.' * Well, 
 if it must be so, Mother Thomas,' said Dufailli, putting a piece 
 of money on his eye, 'it cannot be helped, but you must get 
 us something to drink meanwhile ; you have some little spare 
 corner to put us into.' 'Ay, ay, always a wag, always a wag. 
 Father Dufailli ; it is quite impossible to refuse your insinuating 
 requests. Come ! quick, quick, let no one see you coming in ; 
 hide yoursel\es there, my boys, and muni,' 
 
192 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Madame Thomas had placed us behind an old screen in a low 
 room, through which all persons going out must pass. We did 
 not wait long alone. Mademoiselle Pauline came to us first, and, 
 having whispered to her mother, came and sat down with us to a 
 flask of Rhenish. 
 
 Pauline was not fifteen years of age, and yet she had already 
 acquired the dissipated air, the bold look, the loose discourse, the 
 hoarse voice, and the disgusting manners of the common courtezan. 
 This early prey to dissipation was destined for my amusement, 
 and was lavish in her endearments. Therese was better suited to 
 the bald head of my companion, who waited until she should be at 
 leisure ; and, at length, the quick step of a hussar boot, garnished 
 with spurs, announced that the cavalier was taking leave of his 
 lady fair. Dufailli, who was somewhat impatient, rose abruptly 
 from his seat, but his short sword getting between his legs, he fell, 
 knocking down the screen, table, bottles, and glasses. 'Excuse 
 me, captain,' he stammered out, whilst endeavouring to rise ; * it 
 was the fault of the wall' * Oh, it is of no consequence,' said 
 the officer ; who, although rather confused, very readily aided in 
 lifting him up, while Pauline, The'rese, and their mother were 
 seized with a fit of irrepressible laughter. When Dufailli had 
 recovered his feet, the captain departed ; and as the fall had pro- 
 duced no bruise nor wound, nothing checked our mirth. I shall 
 throw a veil over the remaining scenes of this evening. We were 
 in a place where Dufailli was well known, and my readers may 
 guess the rest ; suffice it to say, that about one o'clock in the 
 morning, I was buried in profound sleep, when I was suddenly 
 awakened by a most tremendous uproar. Without suspecting the 
 cause, I dressed myself in haste, and some cries of * Guard ! guard ! 
 Murder! murder!' from the shrill lungs of Mother Thomas, 
 warned me that the danger was not far off. I was unarmed, and 
 ran immediately to Dufailli's room, to ask for his tinder-box, of 
 which I knew I could make a better use than he would. It was 
 time, for our castle was invaded by five or six marines, who, with 
 sword in hand, were endeavouring to get our berths. These gen- 
 tlemen were threatening, neither more nor less, than to force us to 
 jump out of the windows ; and, as they swore, besides, to put every- 
 thing to fire and sword in the house, Mother Thomas, with her 
 squeaking pipe, was pealing the tocsin of alarm with a noise that 
 aroused the whole neighbourhood. Although a man not easily 
 frightened, I confess I felt a sensation of fear which I could not 
 repress. The event, whatever it might be, would probably end 
 seriously for me. 
 
 I was, however, determined to take a resolute part Pauline 
 
A NOCTURNAL BRA WL. 193 
 
 earnestly besought me to shut myself up with her. ' Fasten the 
 bolt,' said she. ' I beseech you to fasten the bolt.' But the garret 
 in which we were was not impregnable. I might be blockaded ; 
 and preferred defending the approach to the place, rather than run 
 the risk of being taken like a rat in a trap. In spite of Pauline's 
 efforts to detain me, I attempted a sortie, and was soon engaged 
 with the assailants. I darted amongst them from the end of a 
 narrow gallery, and with so much impetuosity, that before they 
 could recover themselves, upset, and thrust headlong from a ladder, 
 by which they were attempting to gain an entrance, they were laid 
 sprawling on the ground, bruised and wounded severely. Then 
 Pauline, her sister, and Dufailli, to render the victory more decisive, 
 flung upon them all that came to hand chairs, tables, stools, and 
 various et caeteras, to detail which would be tedious. At every 
 missile that struck them, the enemy, prostrate on the pavement, 
 cried out with pain and rage. In a moment the passage was filled. 
 This nocturnal brawl could not fail to arouse all in the vicinity ; 
 and the night-guard, police agents, and patrol entered the domicile 
 of Madame Thomas there must have been at least fifty men, all 
 armed, and making a tremendous hubbub. Madame Thomas en- 
 deavoured to testify that her house was quite tranquil, but they 
 would not hear her : and these words, some of which were pretty 
 significant, reached our ears from the ground-floor 'Take this 
 woman off.' 'Come, old , follow us; or shall we get a wheel- 
 barrow to bundle you in, old duchess? Come, no nonsense.' 
 * Sweep off the whole party ; take everyone ; seize their arms. I 
 will teach you, you blackguards, to make a row.' From these 
 words, pronounced in a provincial accent, and mixed with occa- 
 sional interjections, which, like the garlic and pepper, are fruits of 
 his country, we learnt that Adjutant Bevignac was at the head of 
 the party. Dufailli had no inclination to get into his clutches ; 
 and, as for me, I had excellent reasons for wishing to escape. 
 'The staircase go up the staircase, and guard the passage,' roared 
 out Bevignac. But whilst he thus bellowed and vociferated, I had 
 time to tie a sheet to the window-bar, and the obstacles which 
 separated us from the armed force had not yet been removed, when 
 Pauline, The'rese, Dufailli, and myself were already out of reach. 
 This threat, ' Do not trouble yourselves I will follow you,' which 
 we heard at a distance, only moved our laughter. The danger was 
 over. 
 
 We consulted as to where we should pass the night. Therese 
 and Pauline proposed that we should quit the city, and make a 
 pastoral excursion into the country. ' No, no,' said Dufailli ; ' let 
 us go to Boutrois;' and this was agreed on. M. Boutrois, although 
 
 13 
 
I 9 4 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 it was an untimely hour, opened his doors with much politeness. 
 ' Ah,' said he to Dufailli, ' I learnt that you had received your 
 prize-money, and you are both right and welcome to pay us a visit. 
 I have some admirable claret. What will the ladies please to 
 take? A two-bedded room, I see.' At the same time M. 
 Boutrois, armed with a bunch of keys, and with a candle in his 
 hand, led us to the room destined for us. * You will find yourself 
 quite at home here. No one will disturb you ; where we purvey 
 for the lieutenant of the marine, the commandant in chief, and the 
 commissary-general of police, you know no one dares to interfere. 
 Madame Boutrois, now, does not like a joke, so I shall take care 
 
 and say that you are alone. Madame B is a very good 
 
 woman a very good woman ; but her manners, you see her 
 manners are very formal ; and on this point she is strictness per- 
 sonified. Women here ! If she had only the slightest suspicion of 
 such a thing, she would think herself lost for ever ; she has such 
 an opinion of the sex in general ! Oh, mon Dieu ! must we not 
 live with the living ? the jolly ? the vivacious ? I am a philoso- 
 pher myself, provided mind, I say provided that there is no 
 ground for scandal ; and suppose there were, why everyone to his 
 liking, as the elderly gentlewoman said when she embraced her 
 cow ; every person to his own way of thinking and doing ; the 
 only point being, that it does not offend or prejudice anyone.' 
 
 M. Boutrois treated us to a great many more equally brilliant 
 aphorisms ; aft r which he told us that he had a well-stocked 
 cellar, all of \\hicli was at our service. 'As for the boiler/ he 
 added, * that at the present hour has got rather cool ; but your 
 worships have only to order, and in a brace of seconds all shall be 
 ready.' Dufailli ordered some claret, and a fire, although it was 
 quite hot enough to have done without. 
 
 The claret was brought, five or six logs were cast on the fire, and 
 an ample collation spread before us. Some cold poultry occu- 
 pied the centre of the table, and formed the resisting point of an 
 unprepared repast where all had been calculated for an enormous 
 appetite. Dufailli desired that nothing should be wanting ; and 
 M. Boutrois, sure of being well paid, was most complying. 
 Therese and her sister devoured all with their eyes, and I was not 
 in a bad humour for commencing the attack and carrying on the 
 war. 
 
 Whilst I was cutting up the fowl, Dufailli tasted the claret. 
 * Delicious, delicious !' he repeated, smacking his lips, and then 
 began to drink heartily ; and scarcely had we begun to eat, than 
 an unconquerable drowsiness nailed him to his chair, when he 
 snored away most comfortably until the dessert came in. He then 
 
CAPTAIN PAULET. 195 
 
 awoke, crying out, 'The devil it blows hard where am I? 
 Does it freeze? I feel a sort of an all-overish-I-don't know-how- 
 ishness.' ' Oh/ cried Pauline, who took me for a sapper of the 
 guards, 'his supper has not well digested.' 'The papa's legs and 
 back are asleep,' said Thdrese, in her turn, and opening a sort of 
 sweetmeat-box in which was some snuff; 'take a pinch, my vener- 
 able ; that will clear your eyes.' Dufailli took a pinch ; and if I 
 mention this circumstance, trifling in itself, it is because I have 
 before neglected to say that Pauline's sister was more than thirty, 
 and from the simple fact that she took snuff like a lawyer or com- 
 missary's clerk, we may easily imagine that she was not in the 
 freshness and bloom of youth and beauty. 
 
 However that may be, Dufailli made much of her. ' I like the 
 little thing,' he said occasionally, 'she is a good girl.' * Oh, that is 
 nothing new,' replied Therese ; ' whenever a vessel anchors in our 
 roads, I have gone through the scrutiny of all the crew ; and I defy 
 any sailor to say " black's the white of my eye." When one knows 
 
 how to behave as one should, one ' * The wench says right,' 
 
 interrupted Dufailli. ' I like her because she is open, and so I will 
 give her a good turn.' ' Ah, ah, ah,' cried Pauline, laughing and 
 then addressing me, ' And you, will you give me a similar turn ?' 
 
 Thus ran on our conversation, when we heard, coming from the 
 road leading to the harbour, a body of men, whose boots made a 
 great noise as they walked. ' Captain Paulet for ever !' they cried 
 out ; ' Captain Paulet for ever !' The troop soon stopped in front 
 of the hotel. * Hollo ! Father Boutrois, Father Boutrois !' they roared 
 out all together. Some tried to force the door ; others thumped with 
 the knocker in a most energetic manner ; some pulled the bell with 
 incredible violence ; and others threw stones at the shutters. 
 
 At this uproar I started, imagining that our asylum was to be 
 again attacked ; Pauline and her sister were not quite at ease ; and 
 at length somebody running hastily down stairs, four steps at a 
 time, the door was opened, and there was a rush as if the embank- 
 ment of a ditch had given way. The torrent was headlong ; a 
 mixture of voices uttered sounds quite unintelligible to us. * Peter, 
 Paul, Jenny, Eliza, house, everybody, wife, get up ! By Jove, they 
 sleep like dormice.' One might have thought that the house was 
 on fire. We soon heard doors opening and shutting ; there was a 
 noise of tables, an inconceivable uproar, a female servant who was 
 bitterly complaining of indecent treatment, shouts of riotous 
 laughter, and bottles rattling and breaking. Plates, dishes, and 
 glass clashing together, and the winding up of the jack, added to 
 the din ; a clinking of money, oaths in English and French occasion- 
 ally heard amidst this infernal clatter, all made the place a perfect 
 
 13 a 
 
196 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 bedlam broke loose. c By Jove, it is joy, or I never heard it before/ 
 said Dufailli. 'What are all these rejoicings for? What does it 
 mean ? Have they captured the Spanish galleons ? But this is not 
 the track for them.' 
 
 Dufailli cudgelled his brain to make out the cause of all the 
 uproar, which was to me equally inexplicable, when M. Boutrois, 
 with a radiant face, entered, to ask leave to light a fire. ' You do 
 not know,' said he, * that the Revanche has just come into port. 
 Our Paulet has been carrying on the war in his old way ; is he 
 not a fortunate fellow ? A capture of three millions (francs) beneath 
 the very cannon of Dover.' 'Three millions !' cried Dufailli, * and 
 I not there !' ' Do you hear that, sister ? Three millions !' added 
 Pauline, jumping like a young kid. * Three millions !' echoed 
 The'rese, ' I am delighted ! We shall come in for a share !' * Ah, 
 woman, woman,' interrupted Dufailli, ' interest before all : you 
 should rather think of your mother, who is perhaps at this moment 
 
 in darkness and distress.' ' Mother Thomas is an old ' added 
 
 The'rese. ' Come, that is neat, very neat,' observed Boutrois, ' for 
 a daughter. " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days 
 may be long," etc.' * I cannot swallow that three millions,' said 
 Dufailli. * Tell us, Father Boutrois, all about it' Our host excused 
 himself on the plea of business ; ' Besides,' he added, * I do not 
 well know the particulars, and am in a great hurry.' 
 
 The riot continued : I heard them ranging chairs, and the 
 silence that followed betokened that their jaws were filled. As it 
 was probable that there would be some suspension of these noises, 
 I proposed that we should go to bed, which was agreed on ; and 
 as daybreak was near at hand, that we might not be disturbed by 
 the light, and make up for lost time, we drew the curtains close. 
 
 However, we were not aroused so soon as I had anticipated : 
 sailors eat fast and drink long. Songs, which shook the very 
 glasses, at length disturbed our repose; forty discordant voices 
 joining in the chorus of the celebrated hymn of Roland. ' Devil 
 take the singers ?' cried Dufailli, * I had the most agreeable dream : 
 I was at Toulon : were you ever at Toulon, old fellow ?' I an- 
 swered Dufailli, that I knew Toulon, but could not see what rela- 
 tion there could be between his agreeable dream and that city. 
 'I was a galley-slave,' he replied, 'and I had just escaped* 
 Dufailli perceived that this statement made an unpleasant impres- 
 sion on me, which I could not conceal. ' Well, what is the matter 
 with you, countryman ? I had just escaped, and that's no bad 
 dream, I think, for a prisoner. It was only a dream, to be sure j 
 but that is not all, for I entered amongst the corsairs, and got as 
 much gold as I could carry.' 
 
CAPTAIN PAULET. 197 
 
 Although I have never been superstitious, I must confess I took 
 Dufailli's dream as a prediction on my future lot ; it was perhaps 
 a warning from heaven, to determine the course I should pursue. 
 ' However,' said I to myself, 'at present I do not deserve heaven's 
 interposition, and perhaps I only fancy it.' I soon made another 
 reflection. It occurred to me, that the old sergeant might have 
 been venting his suspicions of me, and the idea vexed me. I 
 rose ; and Dufailli saw that I had an air more serious than usual. 
 ' What ails you ?' said he, ' why, you look as moping as an owl.' 
 ' Has anybody sold you pease which you cannot boil ?' asked 
 Pauline, taking me by the arm, and swinging me round to disturb 
 my reverie. * Is he in the doldrums ?' inquired The'rese. ' Hold 
 your tongue,' replied Dufailli, ' and speak when you have leave to 
 do so ; in the meantime, sleep, sluts, sleep, and do not move till 
 we return.' 
 
 He then beckoned me to follow him; and in obeying he con- 
 ducted me to a little parlour, where we found Captain Paulet and 
 his crew, the majority of whom were drunk with wine and joy. 
 As soon as we appeared, there was a unanimous shout of * Dufailli ! 
 Dufailli !' ' Hail to mine ancient !' said Paulet ; and then, offering 
 my companion a seat beside him, added, 'Anchor here, my old 
 cock ; we may well say that Providence is good. M. Boutrois, 
 Boutrois, bring more " bishops," as if it rained wine. Come, we 
 will have no sorrow here, from this time henceforward,' he added, 
 pressing Dufailli's hand. Paulet then looked attentively at me, 
 and said, " I think I know you we have met before ; you have 
 handled a marline-spike, my hearty.' 
 
 I told him that I had been on board the privateer Barras, but 
 that I did not recollect having ever met him before. 'Well, then, 
 we will make acquaintance now. I do not know,' he added, ' but 
 you look like a jolly dog a lad for all sorts of weathers, as we say. 
 I say, my boys, has he not the look of a hearty chap ? I like the 
 cut of his jib. Sit here, on my right hand ; by my fist, what a 
 back and loins ; here are shoulders ! You are just the lad for 
 fishing for Englishmen.' On finishing these words, he put on my 
 head his red cap. ' It does not look amiss on the lad,' he added, 
 with a knowing look, but in which there was much kindness. 
 
 I saw at once that the captain would not be sorry to number me 
 amongst his crew. Dufailli, who had not yet become speechless, 
 exhorted me most energetically to profit by the opportunity ; this 
 was the good advice he had promised me, and I followed it. It 
 was agreed that I should go a voyage, and that the next day I 
 should go to the owner, M. Choisnard, who would advance me 
 some money. 
 
19$ MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 It must not be doubted but that I was well received by my new 
 comrades ; the captain had placed a thousand crowns to their 
 credit at the hotel, and many of them had other resources in the 
 city. I never witnessed such profusion. Nothing was too dear or 
 delicate for the privateers. M. Boutrois, to satisfy them, was com- 
 pelled to put the whole city and environs in requisition, and even 
 despatched couriers to nourish their luxurious palates, the duration 
 of which was not limited to a single day. It was on Monday, and 
 my companion was not sobered by the following Sunday; as for 
 me, my stomach and head agreed delightfully, and neither received 
 the slightest check. 
 
 Dufailli had forgotten his promise to the ladies, and I reminded 
 him of it; and quitting our party for a moment, I returned to 
 them, presuming that they were growing impatient at our absence. 
 Pauline was alone her sister had gone to learn what was become 
 of their mother ; she soon returned, and throwing herself on the 
 bed, she exclaimed with an air of despair, 'We are undone for 
 ever.' 'What is the matter?' I asked. 'We are lost/ she 
 answered, with her face bathed in tears. ' Two men have been 
 carried to the hospital with broken ribs, a guard has been wounded, 
 and the commandant has ordered the house to be shut up. What 
 will become of us ? where can we find a home ? 
 
 ' A home,' said I, ' you shall always find ; but where is your 
 mother ?' Therese answered that her mother was first led to the 
 guard-house, and afterwards to the city prison, and the report was 
 that she would not very easily get out again. 
 
 This information gave me some uneasiness : Mother Thomas 
 would be questioned, and perhaps had already been examined at 
 the police-office, or by the commissary-general ; and she doubtless 
 had mentioned, or would mention, Dufailli's name; and if he were 
 questioned I should be so also. It was important to prevent this ; 
 I returned with haste to concert with the sergeant the measures 
 necessary to be pursued. Fortunately, he was not so far gone as 
 not to hear reason. I talked only of the danger which threatened 
 him ; he understood me, and taking twenty guineas from his 
 pocket, ' Here,' said he, ' is wherewithal to stop Mother Thomas's 
 blabbing tongue ;' and then calling a waiter to him, he gave him 
 the money, desiring him to carry it forthwith to the prisoner. ' He 
 is the gaoler's son,' said Dufailli, * and has admittance everywhere ; 
 and, moreover, is a close and discreet lad.' 
 
 Our messenger returned quickly, and told us that Mother 
 Thomas, though twice examined, had mentioned no names, and 
 had received the bribe with gratitude ; vowing that she was deter- 
 mined, if she died for it, to say nothing that could injure us ; and 
 
PAULETS LIEUTENANT. 199 
 
 thus I was assured that I had nothing to fear on this head. ' And 
 as to the wenches, what must we do with them ?' said I to Dufailli. 
 ' Oh, we must export them to Dunkirk, and I will pay the ex- 
 penses,' he replied ; and we then returned to prepare them for 
 their departure. At first they appeared astonished; but after some 
 arguments, proving it was the best method they could adopt, and 
 that there was danger in remaining longer at Boulogne, they resolved 
 to leave us. The next day we started them off, and the parting 
 did not cost us much pain. 
 
 Mother Thomas recovered her liberty after six months' confine- 
 ment; Pauline and her sister then returning to the maternal bosom, 
 though torn from their native soil, renewed the courses of their 
 former lives. I know not whether they made a fortune ; it is not 
 impossible. But for want of accurate information, I here end their 
 history, and resume my own. 
 
 Paulet and his crew had scarcely noticed our absence before we 
 rejoined them ; we sang, drank, and ate alternately without stirring, 
 until midnight ; thus confounding all repasts in one lengthened 
 meal. Paulet and Fleuriot, his second in command, were the 
 heroes of the feast ; physically, as well as morally, they were the 
 perfect antipodes of each other. The former was a stout short 
 man, strong-backed, square-set, with a neck like a bull ;. wide 
 shoulders, a full face, and his features like those of a lion, his aspect 
 either fierce or gentle ; in fight he was pitiless, elsewhere he was 
 humane and compassionate. At the moment of boarding he was 
 a perfect demon ; in the bosom of his family, and with his wife 
 and children, except a little roughness of manner, he was as mild 
 as a dove ; then he was the jolly, simple, bluff, and rough farmer ; 
 a perfect patriarch, whom it was impossible to discern in the 
 pirate. Once on shipboard, his manners and language entirely 
 changed, and he became harsh and coarse to excess ; his will was 
 as despotic as that of an Oriental pasha : abrupt and rude, he had 
 an iron arm and will, and woe to him who opposed either. Paulet 
 was a daring and good man, sensible though brutal ; no one ever 
 possessed more frankness and loyalty. 
 
 Paulet's lieutenant was one of the most singular beings I ever 
 met with : endowed with a most robust constitution, although yet 
 very young, he had tried it with every sort of excess ; he was one 
 of those libertines who, by dint of anticipating the pleasures of 
 life's stores, spends his revenue before he gets it, eats his calf in 
 the cow's belly. Headstrong, with vivid passions and a heated 
 imagination, he had early abandoned himself to premature ex- 
 cesses. He had not reached his twentieth year, when the decay 
 of his lungs, together with a universal sinking of his whole frame, 
 
200 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 had compelled him to quit the artillery, into which he had entered 
 at eighteen years of age, and now this poor fellow had scarcely a 
 breath of life in him ; he was frightfully thin; two large eyes, whose 
 blackness made more apparent the melancholy paleness of his 
 complexion, were apparently all that remained of this carcase, in 
 which, however, was a soul of fire. Fleuriot was not ignorant that 
 his days were numbered. The most able physicians had pro- 
 nounced his sentence of death, and the certainty of his approaching 
 dissolution had suggested to him. a strange resolution. This is 
 what he told me upon the subject : ' I served,' said he, ' in the fifth 
 regiment of light artillery, where I was entered as a volunteer. The 
 regiment was quartered at Metz. A gay life and hard work had 
 exhausted me, and I was as dry as parchment. One morning the 
 turn-out was sounded, and we set off. I fell sick by the way, and 
 received an hospital order ; and a few days afterwards, the doctors, 
 seeing that I spit blood abundantly, declared that my lungs were 
 not in a state to be subjected to the exercises of a horse, and, con- 
 sequently, I was advised to enter the foot artillery : and scarcely 
 was I well when I did so. I left one berth for another, the small 
 for the large, the six for the twelve, the spur for the spatterdash. 
 I had no longer to gallop hard, but I had to turn my body about 
 on the platform ; to jump up and down like a goat, to roll gun- 
 carriages about, to dig trenches, to strap up artillery gear, and, 
 worse than that, to carry on my back the infernal knapsack, that 
 eternal calf s skin which has killed more conscripts than the guns 
 of Marengo. The calf s skin gave me a knock-down blow. I 
 could not resist its attack. I offered myself to the depot, and was 
 admitted. I had only to undergo, the inspection of the general. 
 He was that martinet Sarrazin. He came to me. " I will wager 
 that he is still weak-chested : are you not ?" " Consumption in 
 the second degree." replied the major. " Is it so ? I thought it. 
 I said so. They are all narrow-shouldered, hollow-chested, lanky- 
 limbed, thick-visaged. Show your legs. Why there are four 
 campaigns in them yet," continued the general, striking me on the 
 calf. " And now, what would you ? Your dismissal ? You 
 shan't have it. Besides," he added, " death only comes to him 
 who pauses: go your way." I wished to speak. "Begone," re- 
 peated the general, " and be silent." 
 
 'The inspection concluded, I went and threw myself on my 
 camp-bed, and whilst I reclined on my four-feet-long mattress, re- 
 flecting on the harshness of the general, it occurred to me that I 
 might find him more tractable if I were recommended by one of 
 his brother officers. My father had been intimate with General 
 Legrand, who was then at the camp at Ambleteuse, and I thought 
 
PAULETS LIEUTENANT. 201 
 
 I might find a protector in him. I saw him, and he welcomed 
 me as the son of an old friend, gave me a letter to Sarrazin, and 
 sent one of his aides-de camp to attend me. The recommendation 
 was pressing, and I made sure of success. We arrived at the 
 camp, and making for the general's abode, a soldier pointed it out 
 to us, and we found ourselves at the gate of a dilapidated barrack, 
 which bore no marks of being a general's residence ; no sentinel, 
 no inscription, no sentry box. I knocked with my sabre-hilt, and 
 a voice cried " Enter," with the accent and tone of displeasure. 
 A packthread, which I pulled, drew up a wooden latch, and the 
 first object that met our eyes on penetrating this asylum, was a 
 woollen covering, under which, lying side by side on the straw, 
 were the general and his negro. In this posture he gave us 
 audience. Sarrazin took the letter, and having read it, without 
 changing his position, he said to the aide-de-camp, " General 
 Legrand takes an interest in this young man. Well, what would 
 he have ? that I put him on half-pay ? Oh ! he cannot think of 
 such a thing." Then addressing me, " How much fatter should 
 you be, if I put you on half-pay ? Oh, you have a fine prospect at 
 home ! if you are rich, to die gradually with over-nursing ; if you 
 are poor, to increase the misery of your parents, and finish your 
 days in an hospital. I am a doctor for you : and my prescription 
 is a bullet, and then your cure will follow : if you escape that, the 
 knapsack will do for you, or marching and exercise will put you to 
 rights ; these are additional chances. Besides, do as I do, drink 
 tar- water : that is worth all your jalaps, and gruels, and messes." 
 At the same time he stretched out his arm, seized a large 
 pitcher, which was near him, and filled a can, which he offered to 
 me, and all refusal was in vain. I was compelled to swallow some 
 of the nauseous stuff, as was also the aide-de-camp ; the general 
 drank after us, and his negro, to whom he handed the can, finished 
 what was left 
 
 ' There was then no hope of his recalling the decision against 
 which I had appealed, and we withdrew greatly discontented. 
 The aide-de-camp returned to Ambleteuse and I to Fort Chatillon, 
 which I entered more dead than alive. From this moment I 
 became the prey to an apathetic sadness, which absorbed all my 
 faculties : I then obtained an exemption from service : night and 
 day I remained on my couch, indifferent to all around me ; and I 
 think I should have remained in that position till now, if one 
 winter's night the English had not determined to burn our flotilla. 
 An inconceivable fatigue, although I did nothing, seizing on my 
 senses, had induced a profound sleep. Suddenly I was aroused 
 by the report of cannons. I arose, and through the panes of my 
 
202 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 window, I saw a thousand fires crossing each other in the air. 
 On one side were immense trains of fire like rainbows ; on the 
 other side were vast stars, which seemed to grow larger and redder, 
 and my first idea was that I saw fireworks. At length a noise like 
 that of torrents, which precipitate themselves in cascades from the 
 tops of rocks, gave me a sort of shuddering feeling : at intervals 
 darkness usurped the place of the ruddy light, which I can only 
 compare to daylight in hell. The very earth seemed scorched by 
 it. I was already agitated by fever, and I thought rny head was 
 swelling larger and larger. The muster-call was beaten, I heard 
 the cry " To arms !" and on the ground the trampling of horses' 
 feet Terror seized me, and delirium possessed me. I got my 
 boots, and tried to pull them on ; it was impossible ; they were 
 too tight, my legs were entangled in them ; I tried to pull them 
 off again ; I could not. During my exertions each moment in- 
 creased my fears ; all my comrades were dressed ; the silence which 
 reigned about me warned me that I was alone, and whilst, from 
 all parts, persons were running together, without thinking of the 
 inconvenience of my boots, I fled with haste across the country, 
 carrying my clothes under my arms. 
 
 ' Next day I reappeared amidst all the people whom I found 
 living. Ashamed of a cowardice at which I was myself astonished, 
 I had trumped up a story, which if I could insure belief, would 
 have given me the reputation of a hero. Unfortunately, the tale 
 was not swallowed so easily as I could have desired ; no one was 
 the dupe of my lies : sarcasms and rude jokes without end were 
 thrown out, until I almost burst with spite and rage ; in any other 
 circumstances I would have fought the whole regiment, but I was 
 in a state of weakness, from which I did not rouse till the follow- 
 ing night, when I recovered a little of my wonted energy. 
 
 * The English had again commenced the bombardment of the 
 city, and were so close to the shore, that we could even hear their 
 voices, and the balls of the thousand cannons on the coast passed 
 over their heads. Movable batteries were then erected, which, 
 to approach them as closely as possible, floated according to the 
 ebb and flow of the tide. I was ordered to the command of a 
 twelve-pounder, which having stationed at the extremity of the 
 rafts, we anchored. At that very moment, a shower of bullets 
 were directed at us : our howitzers were observed under the 
 waggons, and amongst the horses. It was evident that in spite of 
 the obscurity of the night, we had become an object of aim to the 
 enemy. We were about to return the compliment, and had altered 
 the level of our gun, when my corporal, almost as much alarmed 
 as I had been the previous evening, desirous of seeing if the trun- 
 
PA ULETS LIEUTENANT. 203 
 
 nions had got loose in shifting the gun, placed his hand on them, 
 and suddenly uttered a piercing shriek which was re-echoed all 
 along the bank. His fingers were crushed beneath twenty hundred- 
 weight of metal. He attempted to disengage them, but the in- 
 cumbent mass only pressed the more heavily, and he was still held 
 fast, and when enabled to disengage himself he fainted. A dram 
 of brandy revived him, and I offered to lead him to the camp, 
 which was no doubt set down as a pretext for absenting myself. 
 
 * The corporal and I walked away together ; but at the moment 
 of entering the artillery warren, which we had to cross, a burning 
 hand-grenade fell between two chests filled with powder. The 
 danger was imminent, and in a few seconds the whole ammunition 
 would have blown up. By running away I could have escaped 
 safely, but a change came over me, and death was no longer fear- 
 ful. Quicker than lightning, I seized on the metal tube, whence 
 brimstone and fiery matter were escaping, and attempted to extin- 
 guish the flame ; but this being impossible, I carried it in my 
 hand, blazing as it was, to a distance ; and the instant I threw it 
 on the earth, it burst with a violence that shivered the metal to 
 pieces. 
 
 4 There was a witness of this deed ; my hands, my face, my 
 burnt garments, the sides of the powder-boxes already blackened 
 with fire, all testified my courage. I might have been proud, but 
 I was only satisfied : my companions would henceforward have no 
 right to taunt me with their offensive jokes. We went onwards, 
 and scarcely had we advanced a single step, when the whole 
 atmosphere seemed one blaze of fire ; the flames appeared in seven 
 places at once, and the brilliant and horrible light seemed at the 
 harbour : the slates cracked, whilst the roofs were burning, and we 
 thought we heard the report of musquetry. Some detachments, 
 deceived by this, scoured about to discover the enemy. Nearer 
 to us, at a short distance from the ship-building yard, clouds of 
 smoke and flame rose from a thatch, whence the burning straw 
 was driven in all directions by the wind. We heard a cry of dis- 
 tress the voice of a child which struck to my heart; it was 
 perhaps too late, but I determined to attempt its rescue, and suc- 
 ceeded in restoring the infant to its mother, who, having left it for 
 an instant, was returning to it in an agony of distress. 
 
 1 My honour was now redeemed, and cowardice could no longer 
 be charged upon me, I returned to the battery, when every 
 person congratulated me. A chief of a battalion promised me a 
 cross, which he had, however, been unable to procure for himself 
 for forty years, because he had always had the bad luck to get 
 behind, and never in front of the cannon. I was now in a fair way 
 
204 MEMOIRS OF VTDOCQ. 
 
 of getting renown, and opportunities presented perpetually. There 
 were mediators appointed between England and France to nego- 
 tiate for peace. Lord Lauderdale was in Paris as plenipotentiary, 
 when the telegraph announced the bombardment of Boulogne, 
 which was but the second act to the attack of Copenhagen. At 
 this information, the emperor, indignant at a causeless renewal of 
 hostilities, sent for Lord L., reproached him with the perfidy 
 of his cabinet, and ordered him to quit France instantly. A fort- 
 night afterwards, Lord Lauderdale arrived here at the Canon d'Or. 
 He was an Englishman, and the exasperated people were desirous 
 of revenging themselves on him : they surrounded him, mobbed 
 him, and pressed upon him, and in defiance of the protection of 
 two officers who were attending him, they showered stones and 
 mud upon him from all sides. Pale, trembling, and faltering, the 
 peer thought he was about to fall a sacrifice, when, sword in hand, 
 I cleared my way through the rabble, crying, " Destruction to 
 whoever strikes him !" I harangued the multitude, dispersed 
 them, and led the way to the harbour, where, without being sub- 
 jected to farther insult, he embarked on board a flag-of-truce boat 
 He soon reached the English squadron, which the next evening 
 renewed the bombardment The following night we were again 
 on the shore, and at one o'clock the English, after throwing a few 
 Congreve rockets suspended their firing ; and I, worn out with toil, 
 threw myself on a gun-carriage, and slept soundly. I know not 
 how long my sleep lasted, but when I awoke I was up to my neck 
 in water, my blood was frozen, my limbs stiffened, and my sight 
 and memory bewildered. Boulogne had changed its situation, and 
 I took the fire of the flotilla for that of the enemy. It was the 
 commencement of a lengthened malady, during which I obstinately 
 refused to go to the hospital. At length I was convalescent ; but 
 as I only recovered slowly, I was again named for the half-pay, 
 and this time was reduced against my own wish ; for I had now 
 adopted the opinion of General Sarrazin. 
 
 1 1 had no longer any wish to die in my bed, and applying to 
 myself the sense of the words, " There is only death for him that 
 pauses " that I might not pause, I commenced a career in which, 
 without too painful labours, there is a never-ceasing activity 
 requisite. Persuaded that I have but a short time to live, I am 
 determined to employ that time. I have turned privateer, and 
 what risk do I run ? I can but be killed, and have but little to 
 lose ; in the meanwhile I want for nothing emotions of every sort ; 
 perils and pleasures ; and now I never pause' 
 
 The reader will now judge what sort of men were Captain 
 Paulet and his lieutenant Scarcely had this latter a breath left in 
 
PAULETS LIEUTENANT. 205 
 
 his body, and yet in fight, as everywhere else, he was the leader. 
 Sometimes he was lost in dull thought, whence he roughly aroused 
 himself, his head giving the impetus to his system, and he evinced 
 a turbulence which was restrained by no bounds. There was no 
 extravagance, no wild sally of which he was not capable ; and in 
 the reckless state of excitation, all was dared by him. He would 
 have scaled heaven itself. I cannot tell all the pranks he played 
 at the first banquet to which Dufailli had presented me. Some- 
 times he proposed one scheme, sometimes another ; at length he 
 bethought him of the theatre. ' What do they play to-night ?' 
 ' "Misanthropy and Repentance." ' ' I prefer the " Two Brothers." 
 Comrades ! which of you is in a snivelling mood ? The captain 
 weeps every year at his festival, we fellows know nothing of such 
 joys. They are confined to the fathers of families. Do you ever 
 go to the play, captain ? You should go ; for there will be all the 
 world there. All the fashionables, shrimp girls in silken gowns ; 
 the nobility of the land. Oh God ! heaven itself is struck to see 
 sows in ruffles. Never mind ; these ladies must have their play, 
 though it would be as well if they understood French. Oh, do go 
 and see them. 1 remember some ladies at the last ball, who being 
 asked to dance, answered, " I'm axed already.'" ' Come, come, 
 will you never hold your gabble ?* said Paulet to his lieutenant, 
 whom none of the men had interrupted. ' Captain,' he replied, * I 
 have made a motion, and no one has answered me ; nobody wants 
 to snivel. Well, good-bye ; I will go and blubber alone.' 
 
 Fleuriot immediately went out, and the captain then commenced 
 his eulogy. ' He has,' said he, ' a burning brain, but for courage 
 he is not equalled by any man under heaven.' He then informed 
 us how he was indebted to the daring of Fleuriot for the capture 
 he had just made. The recital was animated and well told, in spite 
 of Paulet's manner, who had a strange way of pronunciation, and 
 who informed us that he had knocked out the brains of a dozen 
 Englishmen with a handspike. The evening advanced, and Paulet, 
 who had not seen his wife and children, was about to retire, when 
 Fleuriot returned. He was not alone. * Captain,' said he, entering, 
 ' what think you of this agreeable sailor I have just engaged ? I 
 think that red cap was never placed over a prettier countenance.' 
 ' True,' replied Paulet, ' but is it a cabin-boy you have brought 
 us ? He has no beard. Parbleu !' he added, raising his voice, ' it is a 
 woman !' Then continuing, with more strongly expressed astonish- 
 ment, ' If I am not mistaken, it is the Saint.' * Yes,' replied 
 Fleuriot, 'it is Eliza, the amiable and better half of the manager 
 of the company which now enchants Boulogne ; she has come to 
 congratulate us upon our late good fortune.' * Madame amongst 
 
206 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 privateers !' said the captain, casting on the disguised actress a look 
 of contempt but too expressive of his thoughts. * I compliment 
 her taste ; she will hear agreeable conversation ; the devil must 
 possess her ! A woman, too !' ' Come, come, captain,' cried 
 Fleuriot, ' privateers are not cannibals, they will not eat her up. 
 What harm is there in it ?' c None ; only the season is propitious 
 for a cruise ; my crew are all well, and we were in .no want of 
 madame to improve their health.' At these words, significantly 
 uttered, Eliza cast her eyes on the ground. ' My dear girl, do not 
 blush,' said Fleuriot, * the captain is only jesting.' ' Not I, by 
 Neptune, I never jest. I remember the Saint Napoleon, when the 
 whole staff, beginning with Marshal Brune, was in commotion, ; 
 there was no small battling in that day : madame knows all about 
 it, the how, the when, the why, and the wherefore, and will not 
 wish me to be more explicit.' 
 
 Eliza, humbled by this language, did not repent, however, of 
 having accompanied Fleuriot ; during her agitation, she attempted 
 to justify her appearance at the Lion d' Argent, with that softness 
 of tone, those insinuating manners, that mildness of countenance, 
 which seem so foreign to licentious behaviour ; she talked of 
 admiration, glory, valour, heroism, etc., that she might make way 
 in Paulet's estimation ; she appealed to his gallantry, and called 
 him a ' Chevalier Frangais.' Flattery has more or less influence 
 over every mind, and Paulet's language became more polished ; he 
 excused himself as well as possible, obtained Eliza's pardon, and 
 took leave of his comrades, recommending them to amuse them- 
 selves, though there was no fear of growing dull As for me, I 
 could not keep my eyes open, and I went to my bed, where I heard 
 and saw nothing. Next day I arose, recruited and in spirits, and 
 Fleuriot took me to the owner, who, on the strength of my appear- 
 ance, advanced me a few five-franc pieces. A week afterwards, 
 seven of our comrades were in the hospital. The name of the 
 
 actress, Saint , had disappeared from the playbill, and we learnt 
 
 that she had profited by the offer of part of a postchaise belonging 
 to a colonel, who, tormented by a thirst of gaming, even to the 
 risking the very epaulets of his uniform, had gone off express to 
 Paris. 
 
 I awaited with anxiety the moment of our embarkation. The 
 five-franc pieces of M. Choisnard were spent, and if they allowed 
 me to live, they scarcely permitted me to cut any figure ; besides, 
 on shore I daily ran the risk of some unpleasant rencontre. 
 Boulogne was infested with a great many bad fellows ; Mansui, 
 Tribout, Sale, were carrying on their trade in the port, where they 
 despoiled the conscripts, under the orders of another thief named 
 
MADAME HENRI. 207 
 
 Canivet, who, in the face of the army and its commander, ven- 
 tured to call himself the decapitator. I think I still see the legend 
 on his police-cap, where were depicted a death's-head, swords, and 
 thigh-bones crossed. Canivet was the collector, or rather lord- 
 paramount, and had a large number of sub-agents, cabin-boys, and 
 petty fellows, who paid him a tax for the privilege of thieving : 
 he watched them incessantly, and if he suspected them of deceiv- 
 ing him, he generally chastised them with his sword. I thought 
 it likely that in this gang there might be some fugitive from the 
 galleys, and I feared recognition. My apprehensions were the 
 better founded, as I had heard a report that many freed galley- 
 slaves had been placed either in the corps of sappers or that of 
 the military workmen in the fleet 
 
 For some time nothing was talked of but murders, assassina- 
 tions, robberies ; and all those crimes were evidences of the 
 presence of hardened villains, amongst whom, perchance, might 
 be some with whom I had compulsorily associated when at 
 Toulon. It was absolutely necessary to avoid them : for to come 
 again in contact would have given me much trouble, from the 
 difficulty of not compromising myself. Robbers are like women ; 
 when we would escape their vices and their society, all league 
 against us to prevent it ; all seek to retain the comrade who would 
 fly from evil ; and it is a glory for them to keep him in the abject 
 state whence they themselves wish not to be emancipated, nor 
 would allow others to escape. I recalled to mind the comrades 
 who denounced me at Lyons, and the motives that induced them 
 to have me apprehended. As my experience was fresh, I was 
 very naturally inclined to profit by it, and be on my guard ; and 
 consequently went into the streets as seldom as possible, and 
 passed nearly all my time in the lower town, at Madame Henri's, 
 where the privateers boarded, and were accommodated with credit 
 on the strength of their respective prizes. Madame Henri, sup- 
 posing she had ever been a wife, was now a good-looking widow, 
 and still attractive, though she owned to thirty-six : she had two 
 charming girls, who, without forgetting themselves, yet gave hopes 
 to every jolly lad whom fortune favoured. Whoever spent his 
 money in the house was a welcome guest, and he who squandered 
 most was always first in estimation with the mother and daughters 
 as long as his profusion lasted. The hands of these girls had been 
 promised twenty times ; twenty times had they been betrothed, and 
 yet their reputation for virtue had never been blown upon. They 
 were free in conversation, but reserved in manners ; and although 
 their purity of mind was not unsullied, yet no one could boast of 
 paving induced them to commit a.faux-as. Yet how many naval 
 
208 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 heroes had been subdued by the power of their charms ! How 
 many aspirants, deceived by their unmeaning coquetries, had 
 flattered themselves on a predilection which was to lead them to 
 so much bliss ! And then, how could one not be mistaken as to 
 the real sentiments of these chaste Dianas, whose perpetual amia 
 bility seemed to give the preference to the person last looked 
 upon ? The hero of to-day was feasted, fondled ; a thousand little 
 peculiar privileges permitted a kiss, for instance, on the sly ; a 
 seducing glance of the eye : economical advice was freely be- 
 stowed, whilst seeking to procure something extravagant; they 
 regulated the expenditure of his money, and as funds grew low, 
 which was a matter of course, they learned the fact of approach- 
 ing penury by the well-timed proffer of a temporary loan ; it was 
 rarely refused, and without evincing indifference or disgust, they 
 only expected that necessity and love would send the inamorato to 
 seek new perils. But scarcely was the wind in the sail of the ship 
 of the lover, and he was calculating the happy chances which would 
 ultimately lead to a marriage, and the small loan which he had 
 vowed to return an hundred-fold, when already was his place filled 
 by some other fortunate mortal ; so that in Madame Henri's house 
 the lovers were constantly succeeding each other, and her two girls 
 were like two citadels, which, always besieged, and always on the 
 point of surrender in appearance, yet never yielded. When one 
 raised the siege, another attacked the spot ; there was illusion foi 
 all, and nothing but illusion. Cecile, one of Madame Henri's 
 daughters, had passed her twentieth year ; she was a merry one, a 
 great laugher, and would listen without blushing to the broadest 
 joke ; and denied only the final surrender of the fort. Hortense, 
 her sister, was much like her, only younger, and her character more 
 natural; she sometimes said strange things; but it seemed as if- 
 honey and orange-flower water flowed in the veins of these two 
 females, for they were so mild and gentle on all occasions. There 
 was no inflammable material in their hearts, although they showed 
 no repugnance to a pressing proposal, and evinced no astonish- 
 ment at the familiarity of a sailor ; yet be it said, they did not the 
 ,ess deserve the surname bestowed on the shepherdess of Vau- 
 couleurs, as well as on a little town of Picardy. 
 
 It was at the fireside of this amiable family that I seated myself 
 for a month, with a constancy that astonished myself, dividing my 
 hours between piquet, cribbage, and mild ale. The inactivity of 
 my life was irksome, but at last it ceased : Paulet was desirous of 
 resuming his cruise, and we set sail ; but the nights were not dark 
 enough, and the days had become too long. All our captures were 
 Jimited to a few poor coal-brigs, and a sloop of no value ; on board 
 
DEATH OF FLEVR10T. 209 
 
 which we found Lord somebody, who, in the hopes of regaining his 
 appetite, had undertaken a sea voyage, accompanied by his cook. 
 He was sent to spend his money and eat his trout at Verdun. 
 
 The dull season was at hand, and we had as yet made no prizes. 
 The captain was as moody and dull as a country whipping-post. 
 Fleuriot was entirely out of patience, swore and raved from morning 
 till night, and from night till morning was in a tempest of rage ; all 
 the crew were quite out of sorts (to use a vulgar expression), and I 
 think we were all in a humour which would have led us on to 
 attack a first-rate man-of-war. It was midnight, and we had just 
 left a small bay near Dunkirk, and were steering towards the English 
 coast, when, by the light of the moon, which, bursting forth from 
 the thick clouds, cast her brilliant rays on the waves, at a short 
 distance we saw a sail. It was a brig of war which was ploughing 
 the glittering wave. Paulet instantly discerned it ' My lads,' he 
 cried, ' it is our own ; every man lie down on his face, and I will 
 answer for our success.' In an instant we boarded her. The 
 English crew fought bravely, and a bloody struggle ensued on the 
 deck. Fleuriot, who according to custom was the first to board, 
 fell amongst the number of the dead. Paulet was wounded, but 
 was avenged : and well avenged his lieutenant also. He struck 
 down all who faced him, and never did I witness such a scene of 
 slaughter. In less than ten minutes we were masters of the ship, 
 and the tri-coloured flag was hoisted in the place of the red flag. 
 Twelve of our crew had fallen in the action, in which an equal 
 desperation was testified on both sides. 
 
 Amongst those who fell was one Lebel, whose resemblance to 
 me was so striking that it daily caused the most singular mistakes. 
 I called to mind that my ' Socia ' had regular credentials, and it 
 occurred to me that I should do wrong to let slip so favourable an 
 opportunity. Lebel had become food for the fishes, and con- 
 sequently had no farther need of a passport, which would stand 
 me in the greatest stead. 
 
 The idea appeared to me admirable. I only had one cause of 
 fear, which was that Lebel might have left his pocket-book with 
 the owner of the privateer. I was overjoyed at discovering it 
 about his person, and immediately took possession of it without 
 being discovered by any person ; and when they threw into the sea 
 the sacks of sand in which the dead bodies were put that they 
 might the more readily sink, I felt myself lightened of a great 
 weight, thinking that at length I had got rid of that Vidocq who 
 had played me so many scurvy tricks. 
 
 However, I was not completely assured, for Dufailli, who was 
 our master at arms, knew my name. This circumstance annoyed 
 
 14 
 
2io MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 me ; and that I might have .nothing to dread from him, I de- 
 termined to let him into my secret by some pretended confidence. 
 My precaution was useless. I called for Dufailli and sought him 
 in every part of the vessel, but found him not ; I went on board 
 the Revanche and looked for him, called to him, but no answer 
 was given ; I went down to the powder-room, but no Dufailli. 
 What could have become of him ? I went to the spirit-room ; 
 near a barrel of gin and some bottles I saw an extended body : it 
 was he. I shook him, turned him on his backhe was breathless 
 livid dead. 
 
 Such was the end of my protector : a congestion of the brain, 
 a sudden apoplexy, or instantaneous choking caused by intoxi- 
 cation, had terminated his career. Since the first creation of 
 marine sergeants, never was there one who got drunk with such 
 consistent regularity and unremitting perseverance. A single trait 
 characterized him, and this prince of drunkards related the circum- 
 stance, as the most delightful event of his life. It occurred on 
 twelfth- day. Dufailli had drawn king ; and to honour his royalty, 
 his comrades seated him on a handbarrow borne by four gunners. 
 On each side of him were placed bottles of brandy for distribution ; 
 and elevated on this temporary palanquin, Dufailli made a halt 
 be r ore every booth in the camp, where he drank and made others 
 drink, amidst overwhelming shouts. These rejoicings were so 
 often repeated, that at last his head became giddy; and his ephe- 
 meral majesty, introduced to a public-house, swallowed, without 
 scarcely tasting it, a pound of bacon, which he mistook for Gruyere 
 cheese. The meat was indigestible ; and Dufailli, conducted back 
 to his barrack, threw himself on his bed, when he soon began to 
 experience a most violent convulsion of the stomach, and in vain 
 did he strive to repress the event that followed. The crisis over, 
 he fell asleep, and was only awakened from his lethargic stupor by 
 the growling of a dog and the noise of a cat, who were quarrelling 
 in his room ! Oh, dignity of human nature, where wert thou ? 
 Such were the lessons of temperance which the Spartans gave their 
 children, by making their slaves drunken, and then pointing out 
 the effect of their excesses to them. 
 
 I have delayed an instant to give the last and finishing touch to 
 my fellow-countryman. He is no more. Peace be to his manes! 
 Returned on board the brig, where Paulet had left me with the 
 captain of the prize and five men of the crew of the Revanche, 
 scarcely had we closed the hatchways on our prisoners, than we 
 began coasting our way into Boulogne : but the report of the 
 cannon fired by the English before we had boarded had summoned 
 one of their frigates, which bore down upon us, crowding all sail ; 
 
1 EVERYONE FOR HIMSELF: 211 
 
 and was soon so near that several shots passed over us, and we- 
 were pursued as far as Calais, when the swell of the sea becoming; 
 very great, and a stormy wind blowing on shore, we thought she- 
 would sheer off for fear of getting amongst the breakers ; but she- 
 was no longer under control, and, driven towards land, had to 
 contend at once with the violence of the elements. To run, 
 aground was her only chance of safety, but that was not attempted. 
 In a moment the frigate was impelled beneath the cross fires of 
 the batteries De la Cote de Fer, of the jetty, and of Fort Rouge;; 
 and from every quarter there came a shower of bombs, chain-shot,. 
 and grape. Amidst the horrible noise of a thousand shots, a cry 
 of distress was heard, and the frigate sank without any possibility/ 
 of succour being afforded. 
 
 An hour afterwards it was daylight ; and in the distance we saw- 
 several fragments floating. A man and woman were tied to a 
 mast, and waved a handkerchief, which we saw just as we were 
 doubling Cape Grenet. I thought we could rescue these unfortu- 
 nate beings, and proposed the attempt to the commander of the 
 prize; and on his refusal to allow us the use of the jolly-boat, 
 in a rage, I threatened to break his skull. ' Well/ said he, with a 
 disdainful smile, and shrugging his shoulders, ' Captain Paulet is 
 more humane than you ; he has seen them, but does not stir about 
 it, because it is useless. They are there, and we are here, and 
 everyone for himself in bad weather ; we have suffered quite loss 
 enough, if it were only Fleuriot.' 
 
 This answer restored me to my natural coolness, and made me 
 understand that we ourselves were in greater danger than I had 
 imagined. In fact, the waves evinced it; over our heads were 
 gulls and divers, mingling their piercing cries with the shrill 
 whistling of the north wind ; in the horizon, darkening more and 
 more, were long black and red streaks ; the face of heaven was 
 disfigured, and all betokened the impending tempest Fortu- 
 nately, Paulet had skilfully calculated time and distance ; we failed 
 in reaching Boulogne harbour, but found shelter and anchorage at 
 Portel, not far from thence. On going ashore here, we saw lying 
 on the strand the two unfortunates whom I would have succoured; 
 the flow of the tide had cast them lifeless on a foreign shore, on 
 which we gave them burial. They had been lovers, perhaps, and 
 I was touched at their fate; but other cares diminished my regrets. 
 All the population of the village women, children, and old men 
 ^-were assembled on the coast. The families of a hundred and 
 fifty fishermen were in despair at seeing their frail barks fired upon 
 by six English ships of the line, whose solid oaks were furrowing 
 the waves. Each spectator, with an anxiety more easily imagined 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 than described, followed with his eyes the barque in which he was 
 most interested, and according as it was sunk or escaped from 
 peril, were cries, tears, lamentations, or transports of rapturous joy 
 evinced. Mothers, daughters, wives, and children, tore their hair, 
 rent their clothes, thiew themselves on the earth, uttering impre- 
 cations and blasphemies. Others, without reflecting how much 
 they insulted distress, without thinking of rendering thanks to 
 Heaven, towards which their suppliant hands had been raised the 
 instant before, danced, sung, and, with faces shining through for- 
 gotten tears, manifested every symptom of the most overpowering 
 joy. Fervent vows, the patronage of Saint Nicholas, the efficacy 
 of his intercession, all was forgotten. Perhaps, next day, recollec- 
 tion might have returned, and a little more compassion been 
 evinced for a suffering neighbour ; but during the storm egotism 
 was paramount ; and, as I was answered, ' everyone for himself.' 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 I enter the marine artillery- -Become a corporal Secret military societies 
 'The Olympians' Singular duels I am betrayed, and again in prison 
 Piedmontese bandit Four murderers set at liberty. 
 
 I RETURNED to Boulogne the same evening : where I learnt that, 
 in consequence of an order from the general in command, all the 
 individuals who, in each corps, were marked as black sheep, were 
 to be immediately arrested, and sent on board the cruisers. It was 
 a sort of press which was intended to purge the army, and to check 
 its demoralization, which had increased to an alarming extent. 
 Thus I judged it best to quit the Revanche, on board which, to 
 repair the losses of the late fight, the owner did not fail to send 
 some of the men whom the general had deemed it expedient to 
 get rid of. Since Canivet and his myrmidons were no longer in 
 the camp, I thought there could be no ill result if I again turned 
 soldier. Furnished with Lebel's papers, I entered a company of 
 gunners, then employed in coast service ; and as Lebel had formerly 
 been a corporal in this division, I obtained that rank on the first 
 vacancy ; that is, a fortnight after my enrolment Regular be- 
 haviour, and a perfect knowledge of my duties, with which I was 
 well acquainted, as an artillery-man of the old school, soon acquired 
 for me the favour of my officers ; and a circumstance which might 
 have gone greatly against me still farther conciliated them 
 towards me. 
 
 I was on guard at the fort of Eure, during the spring-tides, 
 and the weather was excessively bad ; mountains of water were 
 dashed over the platform with so much violence, that the thirty-six 
 
CORPORAL LEBEL? 213 
 
 pounders were shaken from the embrasures, and, at the dash of 
 every wave, it seemed as if the whole fort was rent to pieces. 
 Until the Channel should be calmer, it was evident that no ship would 
 dare to venture out ; and night having come on, I did not station 
 sentinels, but allowed the soldiers to remain in bed until next day. 
 I watched for them, or rather, I could not sleep, as I had no need 
 of repose ; when, about three in the morning, some words, which 
 I knew to be English, struck on my ear ; at the same time a 
 knocking commenced at a door under the steps leading to the 
 battery. I thought we were surprised, and immediately roused 
 everybody. I put them under arms, and had already determined 
 on selling my life dearly, when I heard a woman's voice, who sup- 
 plicated our aid. I scon heard distinctly these words in French : 
 ' Open, we have been shipwrecked !' I wavered an instant, and 
 then with due precaution and a determination to sacrifice the first 
 who on entering should betray any hostile intent, I opened the 
 door, and saw a woman, an infant, and five sailors, all more dead 
 than alive. My first care was to have them all placed before a 
 roaring fire, for they were dripping with wet and almost motionless 
 from cold. My men and I lent them shirts and clothing ; and as 
 soon as they were a little revived, they told us the accident to 
 which their visit to us was attributable. Having sailed for the 
 Havannah, in a three-masted vessel, and on the point of finishing a 
 prosperous voyage, they had dashed upon the mole of our pier, and 
 only escaped death by throwing themselves on our battery from 
 the main-top. Nineteen of their crew, amongst whom was the 
 captain, had perished in the waves. 
 
 The sea still blockaded us for several days, without any boat 
 daring to venture out to us. At the end of the time, I was rowed 
 on shore with my wrecked sailors, whom I conducted myself to the 
 chief officer of the naval service, who congratulated me, as if I had 
 taken so many prisoners. If it were so brilliant a capture, I could 
 really have said that it had only caused me one single fright. 
 However that may be, in the company it procured for me a very 
 high opinion. 
 
 1 continued to fulfil my duties with exemplary punctuality, and 
 three months glided away, during which I had nothing but praise. 
 This I determined always to deserve, but an adventurer's career 
 was still to be my lot. A fatality which I was compelled to submit to 
 unresistingly, and often unknowingly, perpetually threw me in 
 contact with persons and things which were most in opposition to 
 the destiny I was attempting to cut out for myself. It was to this 
 singular fatality that, without being enrolled in the secret societies 
 of the army, I was indebted for being initiated into its mysteries. 
 
214 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 It was at Boulogne that these societies were first formed. The 
 first of all was that of the Olympiens, whose founder was one 
 Crombet of Namur. It was at first only composed of a few young 
 naval officers, but it rapidly increased, and all military men were 
 admitted ; principally, however, those of the artillery corps. 
 
 Nothing was more common at Boulogne than duelling ; and the 
 mania had extended even to the dull and peaceable Netherlanders 
 of the flotilla under the orders of Admiral Werhwel. There was 
 not far from the camp on the left, at the foot of a hill, a small wood, 
 which could be passed at no hour without observing on the turf a 
 dozen individuals engaged in what they called an affair of honour. 
 
 It was here that a celebrated amazon, the Demoiselle Div , 
 
 fell under the sword of a quondam lover, Colonel Camb , who, 
 
 not recognising her in her male attire, had accepted from her a 
 
 challenge to single combat. The Demoiselle Div , whom he had 
 
 .forsaken for another, had wished to perish beneath his hand. 
 
 One day I was casting my eyes on this scene of bloody encounter, 
 from the extremity of the left camp which peopled the extensive 
 yplain, when I saw at some distance from the little wood two men, 
 fone of whom was advancing towards the other, who was retreating 
 :across the plain. By the white trousers I knew the champions were 
 Hollanders, and I paused a moment to look at them. Soon the 
 ; assailant retrograded in his turn, and then, mutually alarmed, they 
 both retreated, brandishing their sabres ; one, plucking up a little 
 courage, made a thrust at his adversary, and then pursued him to 
 the brink of a ditch which he was unable to leap. Both then throw- 
 ing down their swords, a pugilistic combat commenced between the 
 -heroes, who thus decided their quarrel. I was greatly amused at 
 this comic duel, when I saw near a farm where we sometimes went 
 :to eat ' codiau ' ( a kind of white soup made with flour and eggs) 
 two individuals who, stripped to the skin, were already prepared, 
 s sword in hand, attended by their seconds, who were respectively a 
 ^quarter-master of the tenth regiment of dragoons and a forager of 
 ;artillery. The weapons soon crossed, and the smaller of the two 
 combatants, who was an artillery sergeant, skipped about in a very 
 -singular manner, and having traversed in a strange way at least 
 fifty paces, I thought he must be infallibly run through, when in 
 an instant he disappeared, as if the earth had opened and swallowed 
 him up, and a loud burst of laughter succeeded After the first 
 -shoutings of this noisy mirth, the seconds approached, and I ob- 
 served that they stooped down. Impelled by a feeling of curiosity, 
 I went towards the spot, and arrived just in time to help them in 
 pulling out from a hole dug for the formation of a large hog-trough 
 "She poor devil whose sudden disappearance had so greatly 
 
THE DUEL. 215 
 
 astonished me. He was almost lifeless, and covered with mire 
 from head to feet The air soon brought him back to his senses, 
 but he was afraid to breathe ; he dared not open his eyes or mouth, 
 so foul was the liquid in which he had been plunged. In this 
 woeful plight, the first words that saluted his ears were jokes. 
 Feeling disgusted at such unfeeling conduct, I yielded to my just 
 indignation, and darted at his antagonist one of those significant 
 glances which between soldier and soldier need no interpreter. 
 ' Enough,' said he, ' 1 am ready for you ;' and scarcely was I on my 
 guard, when on the arm which held the foil, to which I had op- 
 posed mine, I saw a tattooing which I thought was not unknown 
 to me. It was the figure of an anchor, of which the stem was en- 
 circled by the folds of a serpent * I see the tail,' I exclaimed, 
 4 take care of the head ;' and with this word of advice I thrust at 
 my man, and hit him on the right breast. ' I am wounded,' he then 
 said, * that is first blood.' * It is,' said I, * first blood ;' and without 
 another word I began to tear my shirt to staunch the blood that 
 flowed from his wound. I necessarily exposed his breast, where, 
 as I had judged, I saw the head of the serpent, which was de- 
 lineated as if gnawing the extremity of his bosom. 
 
 Observing how earnestly I alternately examined his features and 
 this mark, my adversary seemed to grow uneasy : but I hastened 
 to assure him, by these words which I whispered in his ear : * I 
 know you ; but fear nothing, I am discreet.' * I know you too,' "he 
 replied, squeezing my hand, 'and I will be also silent' He who 
 thus promised secrecy was a fugitive galley-slave from the Bagne 
 of Toulon. He told me his assumed name, and stated that he was 
 principal quarter-master of the tenth dragoons, where in expense 
 he surpassed all the officers of his regiment 
 
 Whilst this mutual recognition was taking place, the individual 
 whose cause I had espoused as the champion of his wrongs, was 
 endeavouring to wash off in a rivulet the thickest of the filth which 
 covered him, and he soon returned to us ; and all were now quiet 
 and well behaved, so that there were no longer any grounds of 
 difference, and the inclination for laughter was turned into an un- 
 common wish for reconciliation. 
 
 The principal quarter-master, whom I had wounded but slightly, 
 proposed that we should ratify articles of peace at the Canon d'Or, 
 where they had always ready excellent stewed eels and ready- 
 plucked poultry. He there gave us a princely breakfast, which was 
 kept up till supper came, for which his adversary paid. 
 
 On our separation, the quarter-master made me promise to meet 
 him again, and the sergeant would not be contented unless I ac- 
 companied him home. 
 
2i6 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 This sergeant was M. Bertrand, who lodged in the upper town, 
 in the house of a superior officer. As soon as we were alone, he 
 testified his gratitude with all the warmth of which he was capable ; 
 for after drinking, a coward who has been rescued from peril may 
 evince some feeling. He made me offers of any kind of service, 
 and as I would accept of none, he said, * You think, perhaps, that 
 I have no influence ; I should be but a paltry protector, certainly, 
 comrade, if I had only the power of a subaltern ; but that is because 
 I do not wish to be otherwise. I have no ambition, and all the 
 Olympiens are like me ; they despise the miserable distinction 
 which rank confers.' I asked who the Olympiens were. 'They 
 are/ he replied, ' men who adore liberty, and seek equality : will 
 you be an Olympien ? For if so, say the word, and you shall be 
 admitted instantly.' 
 
 I thanked M. Bertrand, adding, that I did not see any necessity 
 to enrol myself in a society to which the attention of the police 
 would be drawn sooner or later. * You are right,' he replied ; and 
 then with earnestness added, * Do not enter, for it will go badly 
 with them.' He then gave me details concerning the Olympiens; 
 and, as if impelled by the feeling of confidential communication 
 which champagne so peculiarly excites, he told me, under the seal 
 of secrecy, the object of his mission to Boulogne. 
 
 After this first interview, I continued to see M. Bertrand, who 
 remained for some time in his office of ' spy,' until, the period 
 having arrived when he was sufficiently instructed, he asked and 
 procured a month's leave of absence, being about, as he said, to 
 obtain a considerable estate ; but at the expiration of the month, 
 M. Bertrand did not return, and the report spread that he had 
 carried off the sum of 12,000 francs, which had been confided to 
 his care by Colonel Aubry, for whom he was to have brought back 
 an equipage and horses ; another sum, destined for purchases on 
 account of the regiment, had also been carried off by the active M. 
 Bertrand. It was known that in Paris he had alighted at the Rue 
 Notre Dame des Victoires, at the Hotel de Milan, where he had 
 pushed his credit to the very utmost extent. 
 
 All these particulars caused a mystification, of which even the 
 sufferers by it dared not openly to complain. It was only settled 
 that M. Bertrand had disappeared : he was tried, and condemned, 
 as a deserter, to five years' labour. A short time afterwards, an 
 order arrived for the arrest of the principal Olympiens, and for 
 the dissolving of their society. But this order could be but par- 
 tially enforced ; as the leaders, aware that Government was about 
 to interfere with them, and put them into the dungeons of Vin- 
 cennes, or some other State prison, preferred death to a miserable 
 
FIVE SUICIDES! 217 
 
 existence, and five suicides took place on the same day. A sergeant- 
 major of the twenty-fifth regiment of the line, and two other 
 sergeants of another regiment, blew out their brains. A captain, 
 who had the previous evening received his commission and a com- 
 pany, cut his throat with a razor. He lodged at the Lion d' Argent : 
 and the innkeeper, M. Boutrois, astonished that he did not, as 
 usual, come down to breakfast with the other officers, knocked at 
 his door. The captain was stooping over a large basin which he 
 had placed to receive the blood ; he put on his cravat hastily, 
 opened the door, and fell dead in the effort of speaking. A naval 
 officer, who commanded a brig laden with powder, set fire to it, 
 which communicated to another brig, which also blew up. The 
 earth shook for several miles round, and all the windows in the 
 lower town were broken ; the fronts of several houses on the harbour 
 were shaken down ; pieces of wood, broken masts, and fragments 
 of carcasses, were hurled to a distance of eighteen hundred toises. 
 The crews of the two ships perished. One man only was saved, and 
 that most miraculously. He was a common sailor, and at the time 
 of the explosion in the main-top ; the mast to which he clung was 
 carried almost to the clouds, and then fell perpendicularly into the 
 basin of the harbour, which was dry, and planted itself to the depth 
 of more than six feet The sailor was found alive, but had lost 
 both sight and hearing, which he never after recovered. 
 
 At Boulogne, these coincidences were the theme of general con- 
 versation. The doctors pretended that these simultaneous suicides 
 were the result of a peculiar affection emanating from the atmo- 
 sphere. They appealed, by way of proof, to an observation made 
 at Vienna, where, the previous summer, a great many young girls, 
 impelled by a sort of frenzy, had thrown themselves into the river 
 on the same day. 
 
 Some persons thought they could explain what appeared most 
 extraordinary in this circumstance, by saying, that most commonly 
 one suicide, when very generally talked of, is followed by two or 
 three others. In fact, the public understood the cause the less, 
 inasmuch as the police, which feared to allow anything to appear 
 that could characterise the opposition to the imperial regime, de- 
 signedly circulated the wildest reports ; and precautions were so well 
 taken, that in this instance the name Olympien was not once pro- 
 nounced in the camps : but the real origin of these tragic events 
 was in the denunciations of M. Bertrand. Doubtless, he was re- 
 compensed, although I know not in what manner ; but what appears 
 most probable is, that the minister of police, satisfied with his 
 services, continued to employ him ; for, some years afterwards, he 
 was in Spain, in the regiment of Isembourg, where, as a lieutenant, 
 
2i8 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 he was no less thought of than Montmorenci, Saint-Simon, and 
 other offsprings of some of the most illustrious houses of France, 
 who had been placed in his corps. 
 
 A short time after the disappearance of M. Bertrand, my company 
 was sent to St. Leonard, a small village, at a league from Boulogne. 
 There our duties consisted in guarding a powder-magazine, in which 
 was kept a large quantity of war-like stores and ammunition. The 
 service was not arduous, but the fort was thought dangerous, as 
 many sentinels had been murdered on duty; and it was thought 
 that the English had a design of blowing up this depot. Some 
 such attempts, which had taken place in various posts, left no doubt 
 on the matter ; and we had sufficient reason, therefore, for exercising 
 unremitting vigilance. 
 
 One night, when it was my turn to keep guard, we were sud- 
 denly roused by the report of a musket, and every one was instantly 
 on foot. I hastened, according to custom, to relieve the guard, 
 who was a conscript, of whose courage there was some doubt : and, 
 on being questioned, I thought, from his answers, that he had 
 been needlessly alarmed. I then went round the magazine, which 
 was an old church ; I had all parts and places examined, but 
 nothing was observable no trace of any person. Persuaded, then, 
 that it was a false alarm, I reprimanded the conscript and threatened 
 him with the black-hole. However, on the return of the relief- 
 piquet, I interrogated him afresh ; and, from the assured tone with 
 which he asserted that he had seen some one, and by the details 
 he gave, I began to think that his terror was not so causeless as I 
 had imagined, and I consequently went out, and going a second 
 time towards the magazine, of which I found the door ajar, I 
 pushed it open, and on entering, my eyes were struck with the faint 
 glimmering of a light which projected from between two rows of 
 boxes filled with cartridges. I dashed along the passage, and on 
 reaching the extremity, I saw a lighted lamp beneath the lowest 
 cask, the flames of which already had smoked the wood, and a 
 smell of turpentine pervaded the place. There was not a moment 
 to lose, and without hesitation I overturned the lamp, and stamped 
 out all the other appearances of sparks, etc. The profound dark- 
 ness that ensued, guaranteed to me the certainty that I had pre- 
 vented the explosion, but I was not at ease until the smell was 
 entirely dissipated, and then I went away. Who was the incen- 
 diary? This I knew not; but there arose in my mind strong 
 suspicions of the magazine-keeper, and to arrive at the truth I 
 went forthwith to his residence. His wife was then alone, and 
 told me that, kept at Boulogne on business, he would sleep 
 there, and would return on the next morning. I asked for the keys 
 
PROMOTION. 219 
 
 of the magazine, but he had taken them with him ; and this re- 
 moval of the keys confirmed me in the opinion that he was guilty : 
 but, before I made any report, I again visited his house at ten 
 o'clock to convince myself, and he had not then returned. 
 
 An inventory, which was made the same day, proved that the 
 keeper must have the greatest interest in destroying the depot 
 intrusted to his care, as the only mode by which he could con- 
 ceal the extensive robberies he had committed. Six week elapsed 
 before we learnt what had become of him ; and then some reapers 
 found his dead body in a wheat-field, with a pistol lying beside 
 him. 
 
 As it had been my presence of mind which had prevented the 
 blowing up of the powder-magazine, I was promoted to the rank 
 of sergeant ; and the general, who desired to see me, promised to 
 recommend me to the consideration of the ministry. As I thought 
 I was now in a fair way to do well, I was very careful to lose, as 
 Lebel, all the bad qualities of Vidocq ; and, if the necessary duty 
 of attending to the distribution of rations had not led me to 
 Boulogne occasionally, I should have been a most exemplary 
 fellow ; but every time I went to the city, I had to visit the 
 quarter-master-in-chief of dragoons, against whom I had espoused 
 the cause of M. Bertrand : not that he exacted this from me, but 
 I thought it needful to be on good terms with him. Then, 
 however, the whole day was consecrated to Bacchus ; and in spite 
 of myself, I lapsed from my good intentions of reform. 
 
 By the help of a supposititious uncle, a man of wealth and 
 influence, whose property, he said, was secured to him, my old 
 colleague of the Bagne led a very agreeable life ; and the credit 
 he obtained, from the reputation of being a person of family, was 
 unlimited. There was not a Boulognese citizen of wealth but 
 cultivated the acquaintance of a personage of such distinction 
 most sedulously. The most ambitious papas desired nothing 
 more ardently than to have him for a son-in-law; and amongst 
 the young ladies, it was the general wish to catch him : thus 
 he had facilities of dipping into the purses of the one, and 
 obtaining the good graces of the other. He had an equipment 
 like a colonel dogs, horses, and servants, and affected the tone 
 and manners of a nobleman. He possessed in a supreme degree 
 the art of throwing powder in people's eyes and making himself 
 appear a man of consequence; so much so, that to the officers them- 
 selves, who are generally so extremely jealous of the prerogatives 
 belonging to an epaulet, thought it very natural he should eclipse 
 them. In any place but Boulogne, the adventurer would have 
 been soon detected as a swindler, as he had not received any 
 
220 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 education ; but in a city where the citizens of a recent establish- 
 ment were as yet genteel in costume only, it was an easy matter 
 to carry on such an imposition. 
 
 Fessard was the real name of this quarter-master, who was only 
 known at the Bagne as Hippolyte. He was, I believe, from Low 
 Normandy ; and, with an exterior of much frankness, an open 
 countenance, and the haughty air of a young rake, he combined 
 that sly character which slander has attributed to the inhabitants 
 of Dom front : in a word, he was a shrewd man of the world, and 
 gifted with all that was necessary to inspire confidence. A rood 
 of land in his own country would have been to him sufficient to 
 have produced a thousand actions at law, and quite a sufficient 
 possession to have enabled him to make his fortune by ruining his 
 neighbour ; but Hippolyte really had nothing in the world, and, 
 unable to turn pleader, he became a swindler, then a forger, then 
 we shall learn what, and must not anticipate. 
 
 Every time I visited the town, Hippolyte paid for dinner ; and 
 one day, between dessert and cheese, he said to me, ' Do you 
 know, I am astonished at you to live in the country like an 
 anchorite ; to be content with a daily pittance; to have just twenty- 
 two sous per diem. I cannot conceive how a person can endure 
 such a lot ; as for me, I would rather die at once. But you have 
 your pickings somewhere, slily ; you are not the lad to live without 
 some such additions.' I told him that my pay sufficed for me; 
 and besides, I was fed, clothed, and in want of nothing. 'All very 
 fine,' he replied, ' but yet we have some priggers here : you have no 
 doubt heard of the "minions of the moon" you must be one; and, 
 if you like, I will quarter you take the environs of St. Leonard.' 
 
 I was told that the army ' de la Lune ' was a band of male- 
 factors, the leaders of whom were, up to this period, concealed 
 from the scrutiny of the police. These brigands, who had or- 
 ganized a system of murder and robbery for a circuit of more than 
 ten leagues, all belonged to various regiments. At night they 
 ranged about the camps, or concealed themselves on the roads, 
 making pretended rounds and patrols, stopping any person who 
 presented the least hope of booty. That they might not be 
 impeded they provided themselves with uniforms of every de- 
 nomination. At a time of need they were captains, colonels, 
 generals, and used all the proper words of regimental order and 
 discipline pass-words, countersigns, etc. ; with which some trusty 
 friends took care to inform them, from time to time, as they were 
 altered. 
 
 From what I knew, the proposal of Hippolyte was well calcu- 
 aied to alarm me ; for either he was one of the leaders of this 
 
BETRAYED. 221 
 
 army de la Lune, or he was one of the secret agents employed by 
 the police to effect the breaking up of this army : perhaps he was 
 both. My situation with him was most embarrassing, and the 
 thread of my destiny was again entangled ; nor could I, as at 
 Lyons, extricate myself from this business by denouncing him : 
 and then, what would it have availed me to have denounced him, 
 had he been an agent ? This idea made me cautious of the mode 
 in which I should reject his proposition, which I did by saying, 
 with firmness, that I was resolved to become an honest man. 
 'Didn't you see,' said he, 'that I was only joking? and you take 
 up the matter seriously ; I only wanted to try you. I am charmed, 
 my comrade, to find in you such a determination. I have formed 
 a similar one,' he added, * and am on the highway to it ; and the 
 devil shall not again turn me from it.' Then, turning the conver- 
 sation, we left all further mention of the army de la Lune. 
 
 Eight days after this interview, during which Hippolyte had 
 made me this proposal, so promptly retracted, my captain, on going 
 through the inspection, condemned me to four-and-twenty hours' 
 confinement, for a spot which, he said, was on my uniform. This 
 cursed spot, although I opened my eyes as widely as possible, I 
 was unable to perceive ; but be it as it may, I went to the guard- 
 house without a murmur. Four-and-twenty hours soon pass away! 
 The next morning would terminate my sentence : when, at five 
 o'clock in the morning, I heard the trot of horses, and soon after- 
 wards I heard the following dialogue: 'Who goes there?' 
 ' France.' * What regiment ?' * The imperial corps of gendar- 
 merie.' At the word of gendarmerie, I felt an involuntary 
 shudder, and suddenly my door opened and some one called 
 ' Vidocq.' Never did this name, falling suddenly on the ears of a 
 troop of villains, disconcert them more effectually than it did 
 myself at this moment. 'Come, follow us,' cried out the officer; 
 and, to prevent any possibility of escape, he fastened a rope round 
 me. I was instantly conducted to prison, where I had a tolerable 
 bed, on paying for it. I found a numerous and goodly assemblage. 
 'Did I not say so?' cried a soldier of artillery, whom, by his accent, 
 r"knew to be a Piedmontese. ' We shall have all the camp. Here 
 is another. I will bet my head that he owes his imprisonment to 
 that thief of a quartermaster. Will no one cut that villain's 
 throat ?' ' Go, look for him, then, your quartermaster,' interrupted 
 a second prisoner, who also seemed to be a new-comer. * What- 
 ever he may have done, he is now at a distance ; he has made 
 himself scarce, a week since. But, my lads, you must own that 
 he is a crafty chap. In less than three months, forty thousand 
 francs in debt in the city. What a lucky dog ! And then, how 
 
222 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 many little boys and girls has he left behind? I should be sorry 
 to father all his flock. Six young ladies, daughters of our leading 
 burgesses, are in a fair way of becoming mammas ! Each 
 thought she had him to herself ; but he seems to have cut his 
 heart into small pieces, and shared it amongst them !' ' Oh, yes !' 
 said a turnkey, who was preparing my bed, ' he has spent like a 
 prodigal, and now must mind what he is about; for, if they catch 
 him, handcuffs are the word. He is marked as a deserter. He 
 will be caught, I think.' 'Do not make too sure/ I replied; 
 'they will catch him as they caught M. Bertrand.' 'Well, suppose 
 he should be taken,' resumed the Piedmontese, 'would that 
 prevent my being guillotined at Turin ? Besides, I repeat it, I 
 
 will bet my head .' 'What does the fool say about his head?' 
 
 cried a fourth. * We are here in prison, and as it was to be, what 
 consequence through whose means ?' This reasoner was right. 
 It would have been useless to lose one's self in a field of conjectures, 
 and we must all have been blind not to have recognised Hippolyte 
 as the author of our arrest. As for me, I could not be deceived, 
 for he was the only person in Boulogne who knew that I had 
 escaped from the Bagne. 
 
 Many soldiers of different ranks came against their will to fill up 
 a chamber in which were assembled the principal leaders of the 
 army de la Lune. Very seldom in the prison of so small a town 
 was there seen a more singular assemblage of delinquents ; the 
 ' prevot,' that is, the elder of our room, named Lelievre, was a poor 
 devil of a soldier, who, condemned to death three years before, had 
 perpetually before him the chance of the termination of the respite 
 by virtue of which he still existed. The Emperor, to whose mercy 
 he had been recommended, had pardoned him; but as the pardon 
 had not been registered, and as the indispensable official papers 
 had not been transmitted to the chief judge, Lelievre continued a 
 prisoner ; and all that could be done in favour of this unfortunate 
 being, was to suspend the execution until the moment when an 
 opportunity should present itself of again calling the Emperor's 
 attention to his case. In this state, in which his life was un- 
 certain, Lelievre deliberated between the hope of freedom and the 
 fear of death ; he laid down to sleep with the one, and awoke with 
 the other. Every evening he thought himself sure of his liberty, 
 and every morning he expected to be shot ; sometimes gay even 
 to folly, sometimes dull and spiritless, he never enjoyed a moment 
 of equable calm. If he played a game of draughts or matrimony, 
 he paused in the midst of it, threw bown the cards, and striking 
 his forehead with his clenched hands, jumped from his seat, and 
 raving like a madman, he ended by flinging himself on his bed, 
 
CHRISTIERN. 223 
 
 where, lying on his face, he remained for hours in a state of 
 mental depression. The hospital was Lelievre's house of pleasure; 
 and if he got wearied, he went there for consolation from Sister 
 Alexandrine, who had a most tender heart, and sympathized with 
 all the wretched. This compassionate sister was deeply interested 
 in the prisoner, and Lelievre deserved it, for he was not a criminal 
 but a victim ; and the sentence against him was the unjust result 
 of a feeling but too common in councils of war, that the innocent 
 should even suffer if there are disorders to repress. The con- 
 science and humanity of judges ought to be silent when necessity 
 calls for exemplary punishment Lelievre was one of the few of 
 those men who, steeled against vice, can without danger to their 
 morality remain in contact with the most contaminated. He 
 acquitted himself in his duties of steward (pre'vot) with as much 
 equity as if he had been endued with all the powers of a licensed 
 magistrate ; he never let off a new-comer, but explained to him his 
 duties as a prisoner, endeavouring to render as easy as possible the 
 first days of his captivity ; and rather might be said to do the 
 honours of the prison than to enforce his authority. 
 
 Another character also attracted the regard and affection of the 
 prisoners, Christiern, whom we called the Dane. He did not 
 speak French, and only understood by signs ; but his intelligence 
 seemed to penetrate our very thoughts ; he was melancholy, 
 thoughtful, and gentle ; in his features there was a mixture of 
 nobleness, candour, and sadness, which insinuated and touched at 
 the same time. He wore a sailor's dress ; but the flowing 
 curls of his long black hair, his snowy-white linen, the delicacy of 
 his complexion and manners, the beauty of his hand, all announced 
 a man of exalted condition. Although a smile was often on his 
 lips, yet Christiern appeared a prey to the deepest sorrow ; but he 
 kept his grief to himself, and no one knew even the cause of his 
 detention. One day he was summoned whilst he was engaged in 
 tracing on the glass with a flint the drawing of a fleet, which was 
 his sole amusement, except occasionally sketching the portrait of a 
 female, whose resemblance he seemed delighted to be perpetually 
 depicting. We saw him go out ; and soon afterwards being 
 brought back, scarcely was the door closed upon him, than, taking 
 from a leathern bag a prayer-book, he was soon engrossed in its 
 perusal. At night he slept as usual until daybreak, when the 
 sound of a drum warned us that a detachment was entering the 
 prison yard, and he then dressed himself hastily, gave his watch 
 and money to Lelievre, who was his bedfellow ; and having fre- 
 quently kissed a small crucifix which he always wore round his 
 neck, he shook hands with all of us. The gaoler, who was present. 
 
^24 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 was very deeply affected ; and when Christiern left us, said, ' They 
 are going to shoot him ; all the troops are assembled, and in less 
 than a quarter of an hour all his misfortunes will terminate. This 
 sailor whom you all took for a Dane, is a native of Dunkirk ; his 
 real name is Vandermot ; he served in the corvette Hirondelle, and 
 was taken prisoner by the English, and placed in the hold of a 
 prison-ship with many others ; when, exhausted with breathing in- 
 fectious air, and almost starving, he consented to a proposal of 
 being removed from his living tomb, on condition that he would 
 embark in a vessel belonging to the East India Company. On 
 the return of the ship it was captured by a privateer, and Van- 
 dermot was brought here with the rest of the crew. He was to 
 have been sent to Valenciennes, but at the moment of departure, 
 an interpreter interrogated him, and it was found by his answers 
 that he was not conversant with the English language ; this gave 
 rise to suspicions, and he declared that he was a subject of the 
 King of Denmark ; but as he had no proof of this assertion, it was 
 decided that he should remain here until the whole affair should 
 be cleared up. Some months elapsed, and Vandermot seemed to 
 have been forgotten, when one day a woman and two children 
 came to the gaol, and asked for Christiern. " My husband !" she 
 cried, seeing him. " My wife ! my children !" he exclaimed, em- 
 bracing them with ardour. " How imprudent you are !" said I, in 
 a whisper, to Christiern ; " It is well that only I am with you !" I 
 promised to be secret, but it was useless. In the joy of having 
 news from him, his wife, to whom he had written, and who thought 
 him dead, had shown his letters to her neighbours, and some of 
 the most officious amongst them had already denounced him the 
 wretches ! it is their deed which this day destroys him. For some 
 old howitzers which the ship mounted, they have treated him as 
 one taken in arms against his country. Are not such laws un- 
 just ?' 
 
 * Yes, yes, the laws are unjust,' said a number of fellows who 
 were sitting round a bed, playing at cards and drinking spirits. 
 ' Come, push round the glass/ said one, handing it to his neigh- 
 bour. ' Holla !' said a second, who remarked the air of conster- 
 nation expressed in Lelievre's features, and shook his arm ; ' do 
 not put yourself in a fright about it ! His turn to-day, ours to- 
 morrow.' 
 
 This conversation, horribly prolonged, degenerated into unfeel- 
 ing jokes, until the sound of a drum and fifes, which the echo of 
 the river repeated in various quarters, indicated that the detach- 
 ments of various corps were marching back to the camp. A 
 death-like silence pervaded the prison for several minutes, and we 
 
THE PRISONERS. 225 
 
 thought that Christiern had already undergone his sentence, but 
 at the instant when his eyes were covered with the fatal bandage, 
 and on his knees he awaited the execution of his sentence, an aide- 
 de-camp had stopped the fire of the musketry. The prisoner again 
 saw the light of heaven, and was to be restored to his wife and 
 children, whose prayers and supplications to Marshal Brune had 
 been the means of saving his life. Christiern, led back to confine- 
 ment, was still full of joy, as he had been assured of his speedy 
 freedom. The emperor had been petitioned for his pardon, and the 
 request, made in the name of the marshal himself, was so generously 
 urged, that it was impossible to doubt of success. 
 
 The return of Christiern was an event on which we did not fail 
 to congratulate him : we drank to the health of the returned 
 prisoner ; and the arrival of six new prisoners, who paid their 
 entrance fees with much liberality, was an additional incentive to 
 rejoicing. These men, whom I had known as a part of Paulet's 
 crew, were sentenced to a few days' confinement, as a punishment 
 for having, in boarding a prize, in defiance of the articles of war, 
 plundered the English captain. As they had not been compelled 
 to refund, they brought their guineas with them, and spent them 
 freely. We were all satisfied : the gaoler, who collected even to the 
 very smallest portions of this golden shower, was so pleased with 
 his new guests, that he relaxed his vigilance, although there were 
 in one room three prisoners under sentence of death Lelievre, 
 Christiern, and the Piedmontese Orsino, a chief of Barbets, who, 
 having encountered near Alexandria a detachment of conscripts 
 marching towards France, had got into their ranks, where he had 
 supplied the place and name of a deserter. Orsino, whilst serving 
 under this flag, had conducted himself irreproachably, but had 
 marred all by an indiscretion. A price was set upon his head in 
 his own country, and the sentence was to be put into execution at 
 Turin. Five other prisoners were under the weight of charges of 
 the gravest nature. Four were marines ; two of them Corsicans 
 and two Proven9als, charged with the assassination of a woman, 
 from whom they had stolen a golden cross and silver buckles ; the 
 fifth had been, as well as they, of the army de la Lune, and to him 
 were attributed very peculiar powers : the soldiers asserted that he 
 could render himself invisible, and metamorphose himself as he 
 pleased ; he had, besides, the gift of ubiquity ; in fact, he was a 
 sorcerer ; and that because he was hump-backed, facetious, severe, 
 a great tale teller, and, having been a sharper all his days, was 
 clever in many tricks of legerdemain. With such company, most 
 gaolers would have used the greatest precaution, but ours con- 
 sidered us as only skilful practitioners, and constantly associated with 
 
 'S 
 
226 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 us. Besides, for ready cash he provided for all our wants, and had no 
 idea that we could have any wish to leave him ; and he was correct 
 to a certain point ; for Lelievre and Christiern had not the least 
 wish to escape ; Orsino was resigned : the marines did not antici- 
 pate a very severe sentence ; the sorcerer relied on the insufficiency 
 of evidence : and the privateers, always drinking, felt no sort of 
 melancholy. I alone nourished the idea of getting away ; but that 
 I might not be suspected, I affected to be undisturbed ; and so well 
 did I conceal my intent, that it seemed as if the prison were my 
 natural element, and all thought that I was as comfortable there as 
 a fish in water. I did not drink but on one occasion, that of 
 Christiern's return amongst us. That night we were all somewhat 
 in liquor, and about two in the morning I felt a burning thirst 
 which seemed to inflame my whole body : and on getting out of 
 bed half awake, I groped about for the pitcher, and on drinking I 
 found a most horrible mistake ; I had taken one vessel for another, 
 and was almost poisoned. By daybreak I had scarcely repressed 
 the violent commotions of my stomach, when one of the turnkeys 
 came to tell us that there was some work to be done : as this afforded 
 an opportunity for getting a little air, which I thought would revive 
 me, I offered myself as a substitute for a privateer, whose clothes I 
 put on ; and crossing the court-yard, I saw a subaltern officer of my 
 acquaintance, who came in with his cloak on his arm. He told 
 me that he was sentenced to a month's imprisonment for having 
 created an uproar in the theatre, and had just been entered on the 
 prison book. ' In that case,' said I, * you can begin your work at 
 once ; here is the trough.' The subaltern was accommodating, and 
 did not require a second hint ; and whilst he very readily went to 
 work, I passed boldly by the sentinel, who, fortunately for me, took 
 no notice of me. 
 
 Leaving the prison, I made my way into the country, and did 
 not stop till I reached the bridge of Brique, where I paused in a small 
 ravine, whilst I reflected on the best mode of escaping pursuit ; 
 and at first resolved on going to Calais, but my unlucky stars sug- 
 gested my return to Arras. In the evening I went to sleep in a 
 barn, in which travellers rested. One of them, who had left 
 Boulogne three hours after me, told me that the whole city was 
 plunged in grief at the execution of Christiern. * It is the only 
 thing they can talk about,' said he. ' It was expected that the 
 emperor would pardon him, but the telegraph signalled that he was 
 to be shot. He had once narrowly escaped, but to-day he has suffered. 
 It was piteous to hear him cry " Pardon, pardon," whilst endeavour- 
 ing to raise himself after the first fire, amidst the howlings of some 
 dogs behind him, whom the shots had struck ! It went to the very 
 heart, but yet they finished their work. It was his destinv !' 
 
FORWARDED TO DOUAl ONCE MORE. 227 
 
 Although this information caused me great affliction, I could 
 not help thinking that Christiern's death would effect a diversion 
 in favour of my escape ; and as he told me nothing which seemed 
 as if I had been missed on the general muster-call, I thought 
 myself in security. I reached Bethune without mishap, and went 
 to lodge with an old regimental acquaintance, who received me 
 kindly. But, however prudent one may be, there are always some 
 unexpected occurrences ; I had preferred the hospitality ot" a friend 
 to a lodging at an auberge, and I had thereby placed myself in the 
 jaws of danger ; for my friend was recently married, and his wife's 
 brother was one of those obstinate brutes, whose hearts, insensible 
 to glory, only desire inglorious peace. As a natural consequence, 
 the abode I had chosen, as well as those of all the young fellow's 
 relations, were frequently visited by the gendarmes ; and these 
 very agreeable gentlemen invaded the residence of my friend long 
 before daybreak, and, without any respect to my slumbers, de- 
 manded to see my papers. For want of a passport I endeavoured 
 to enter into certain explanations with them, which was but lost 
 labour. The brigadier, after viewing me attentively, cried out, ' I 
 am not mistaken, 'tis he ; I have seen him at Arras ; 'tis Vidocq !' 
 I was compelled to confess, and in less than a quarter of an hour 
 found myself in the prison of Bethune. 
 
 Perhaps, before I proceed, my readers will not be sorry to learn 
 the fate of my companions in captivity, whom I had left at 
 Boulogne ; and I can satisfy their curiosity with respect to some of 
 them. We have learnt that Christiern was shot, brave, good fellow 
 as he was ! Lelievre, who was equally worthy, lingered on between 
 hope and fear till the year 1811, when the typhus fever terminated 
 his existence. The four sailors, the murderers, were one night 
 liberated, and sent to Prussia, where two of them received the 
 cross of honour under the walls of Dantzic ; and the sorcerer was 
 released without any sentence having been passed. In 1814 he 
 called himself Collinet, and was the quarter-master of a West- 
 phalian regiment, of which he hoped to get the chest for his own 
 particular profit. This adventurer, not knowing how to dispose of 
 his booty, went on the wings of haste to Burgundy, where, in the 
 neighbourhood, he fell in with a troop of Cossacks, who compelled 
 him to surrender and give an account of himself. This was the 
 last day of his life, for they ran him through with their lances. 
 
 My stay at Bethune was brief ; for the day after my capture I 
 was forwarded to Douai, whither I was conducted under good 
 escort. 
 
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Sent to Douai My wife re-marries I travel as an officer ; and go to Paris 
 The commissary of Melun Execution of Herbaux A robber denounces 
 me Galley-slaves at Auxerre Two fugitives from the Bagne My wife 
 again Receiving stolen goods. 
 
 I HAD scarcely set foot in prison, when the attorney-general, 
 Rauson, whom my repeated escapes had irritated against me, 
 appeared at the grating, and said * What, Vidocq has arrived ! 
 Have they put him in fetters ?' * What have I done, sir,' said I, 
 1 that you wish to be so severe with me ? Is it a great crime 
 because I have so frequently escaped? Have I abused the liberty 
 which I hold so precious? When I have been retaken, have I 
 not been found exerting myself to procure honourable modes of 
 livelihood ? I am less guilty than unfortunate ! Have pity on 
 me pity my poor mother ; if I am condemned to return to the 
 Bagne she will die !' 
 
 These words, pronounced with accents of sincerity, made some 
 impression on M. Rauson, who returned in the evening, and 
 questioned me at length of the mode of my life since I had left 
 Toulon ; and as in proof of what I told him I offered indubitable 
 testimony, he began to evince some kindness towards me. ' Why 
 do you riot draw up,' said he, 4 an application for pardon, or at 
 least for a commutation of the sentence ? I will recommend you 
 to the chief justice.' I thanked the magistrate for his proffered 
 kindness to me, and the same day a barrister of Douai, M. Thomas, 
 who took a real interest in me, brought for my signature a petition, 
 which he had been so kind as to draw up for me. 
 
 I was in expectation of the answer, when one morning I was 
 sent for to the police-office. Imagining that it was the decision 
 of the minister which was to be communicated to me, and im- 
 patient to know it, I followed the turnkey with the haste of a man 
 who anticipates agreeable intelligence. I relied on seeing the 
 attorney-general, but my wife appeared, accompanied by two 
 strangers. I endeavoured to guess the purport of her visit, when, 
 with the most unembarrassed tone in the world, Madame Vidocq 
 said to me, ' I have come to tell you that the sentence of our 
 divorce has been pronounced. I am going to be married again, 
 and, therefore, I have judged it best to go through this formality. 
 The clerk will give you a copy of the judgment for perusal.' 
 
 Except obtaining my freedom, nothing could be more agreeable 
 to me than the dissolution of this marriage, as I was for ever em- 
 Uirra&sed with a creature whom I loathed, I do not know if I 
 
AGAIN FREE. 229 
 
 had sufficient command of myself to restrain my joy, but cer- 
 tainly my countenance must have betokened it; and if, as I 
 have cogent reasons to believe, my successor was present, he retired 
 with a conviction that I did not at all envy him the treasure he 
 was about to possess 
 
 My detention at Douai was painfully prolonged. I was in sus- 
 pense for five whole months, and nothing arrived from Paris. 
 The attorney-general had evinced much interest for me, but mis- 
 fortune engenders distrust, and I began to fear that he had led me 
 on with a vain hope, that I might form no plans of escape before 
 the departure of the galley-slaves ; and, struck with the idea, I 
 again plotted deeply laid projects for escape. 
 
 The gaoler, named VVettu, viewing me as gained over and peace- 
 able, showed me various little favours; we frequently dined together 
 tete-a-tete in a small room with one window, which looked on to 
 the Scarpe. It struck me that with the aid of this opening, which 
 was not grated, some day, after dinner, 1 could easily take Fren< 
 leave, and depart ; only it was absolutely necessary that I should 
 secure some disguise, which when I had effected my escape would 
 effectually conceal me from all pursuit, I confided my intentions 
 to some friends, and they provided for me the uniform of an artil- 
 lery officer, of which 1 resolved to avail myself at the very first 
 opportunity. One Sunday evening I was at table with the gaoler 
 and the agent Hurtrel ; the wine had made them very merry, for I 
 had pushed it about very briskly. * Do you know, my hearty/ 
 said Hurtrel to me, * that it would have been no safe business to 
 have put you here seven years ago. A window without bars ! By 
 Jove, I would not have trusted you.' 'And farther, Hurtrel,' I 
 replied, * one should be made of cork to risk a plunge from such 
 a height ; the Scarpe is very deep for a person who cannot swim.' 
 * True,' said the gaoler ; and there the conversation rested ; but 
 my determination was taken. Some friends arrived, and the 
 gaoler sat down to play with them ; and fixing on the moment 
 when he was most intent on his game, I threw myself into the 
 river. 
 
 At the noise of my fall, all the party ran to the window, whilst 
 Wettu called loudly to the guard and turnkeys to pursue me. 
 Fortunately, twilight rendered it scarcely possible to discern 
 objects ; and my hat, which I had thrown designedly on the bank, 
 seemed to indicate that I had immediately got out of the river, 
 whilst I had continued swimming towards the Water-gate, under 
 which I passed with great difficulty, in consequence of being very 
 cold, and my strength beginning to fail. Once out of the city, I 
 gained the bank, my clothes, full of water, not weighing less than 
 
236 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ,. 
 
 a hundred-weight ; but I had made up my mind not to delay, and 
 pushed on at once for Blangy, a village two leagues from Arras. 
 It was four in the morning ; and a baker, who was heating his 
 oven, gave me leave to dry my garments, and supplied me with 
 food. As soon as I was dried and refreshed I started for Duisans, 
 where the widow of an old friend of mine, a captain, resided. A 
 messenger was to bring to me there the uniform which had been 
 provided for me at Douai ; and no sooner had I obtained it, than 
 I went to Hersin, where I stayed a few days with a cousin of 
 mine. The advice of my friends, which was very rational, urged 
 me to depart as quickly as possible ; and as I learnt that the police, 
 convinced that I was in the vicinity, were beating up every quarter, 
 and were approaching the place of my abode, I determined not to 
 wait for them. 
 
 It was evident that Paris only could afford me refuge ; but to 
 get to Paris it was indispensable I should pass through Arras, 
 where I should be infallibly recognised. I cogitated on the 
 means of obviating this danger : and prudence suggested to 
 me to get into the wicker calash of my cousin, who had a famous 
 horse, and was the cleverest fellow in the world for his knowledge 
 of the cross-roads. He pledged himself, on the reputation of his 
 talent as a guide, to carry me in safety by the ramparts of my 
 native town; and I wanted no more at his hands, trusting in my 
 disguise to effect the rest. I was no longer Vidocq, unless I was 
 examined very closely ; and on reaching the bridge of Gy, I saw, 
 without the least alarm, eight horses belonging to gendarmes, 
 tied to the door of a public-house. I confess I would rather have 
 avoided the rencontre ; but it faced me, and it was only by fronting 
 it boldly that I could hope to escape detection. ' Come on,' said 
 I to my cousin ; ' here we must make an essay \ get down ; be as 
 quick as you can, and call for something.' He immediately 
 alighted, and entered the public-house with the air of a man who 
 had no dread of the eye of the brigade. 'Ah!' said they, 'it is 
 your cousin Vidocq that you are driving?' * Perhaps it may be,' 
 he answered, with a laugh ; ' go and see.' A gendarme did approach 
 the calash, but rather from curiosity than suspicion. At the sight 
 of my uniform, he respectfully touched his hat, and said, ' Your 
 servant, captain f and soon afterwards mounted his horse with his 
 comrades. ' Good journey,' cried my cousin, cracking his whip, 
 ' if you lay hold of him, perhaps you will write us word.' ' Go 
 your way,' said the quarter-master, who commanded the troop, ' we 
 know his haunt ; Hersin is the word ; and to-morrow by this time 
 he will be again between four walls.' 
 
 We continued our journey very quietly, but yet one thing made 
 
THE QUARTER-MASTER OF GENDARMES. 231 
 
 me somewhat uneasy ; my military dress might expose me to some 
 difficulties which would have an unpleasant result. The war with 
 Prussia had begun, and there were but few officers in the interior, 
 unless they were confined there by some wound. I determined on 
 carrying my arm in a sling as an officer who had been disabled at 
 Jena ; and if any questions were asked, I was prepared to give all 
 particulars on this subject, which I had learnt from the bulletins ; 
 and to add those which I could pick up by hearing a multitude of 
 accounts, some true and some false, from witnesses either ocular 
 or not. In fact, I was quite au fait concerning the battle of Jena, 
 and could speak to all comers with perfect knowledge of the 
 subject ; nobody knew more of it than I did. I acquitted myself 
 in admirable style at Beaumont, when the weariness of our horse, 
 which had conveyed us thirty-three leagues in a day and a half, 
 compelled us to halt. I had already begun conversing in the inn, 
 when I saw a quarter-master of gendarmes go straight up to an 
 officer of dragoons, and ask for his papers. I went up to the quarter- 
 master and asked him the motive of this precaution. I asked 
 him for his route,' he answered, * because when everyone is with 
 the army, a healthy officer would not be left in France.' * You are 
 right, comrade,' said I, * duty must be performed ;' and at the same 
 time, that he might not take a fancy to ask me a similar question, 
 I asked him to dine with us ; and during the meal I so far gained 
 his confidence, that he requested me, on reaching Paris, to use my 
 interest in procuring him a change of quarters. I promised him 
 all he asked, which much pleased him ; as I was to use my own 
 influence, which was great, and that of others still more powerful. 
 We are generally prodigal in bestowing that which we have not. 
 However it may be, the flask circulated rapidly ; and my guest, in 
 the enthusiasm of having secured an interest which was so desirable 
 to him. began to talk that voluble nonsense which usually precedes 
 drunkenness, when a gendarme brought him a packet of despatches. 
 He opened them with an unsteady hand, and attempted to read 
 \hern, but his eyes refused their office, and he begged me to peruse 
 ihem for him. I opened a letter, and the first words which struck 
 my sight were these: 'Brigade of Arras.' I hastily read it, and 
 found that it was advice of my travelling towards Beaumont, and 
 adding that 1 must have taken the diligence of the Silver Lion. 
 
 In spite of my agitation, I read the letter to him, omitting or 
 adding particulars as I pleased. ' Good ! very good !' said the 
 sober and vigilant quarter-master ; * the conveyance will not pass 
 until to-morrow morning, and I will take due care.' He then sat 
 down with the intention of drinking more, but his strength did not 
 equal his courage, and they were obliged to carry him to bed, to 
 
232 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 the great scandal of all the lookers-on, who repeated with much 
 indignation, ' What ! tne quarter-msster ! a man of rank, to behave 
 so shamefully !' 
 
 As might be conjectured, I did not wait the uprising of the man 
 of rank ; and at five o'clock got into the Beaumont diligence, which 
 conveyed me safely to Paris, where my mother, who had remained 
 at Versailles, rejoined me. We dwelt together for some months 
 in the Faubourg Saint-Denis, where we saw no one, except a 
 jeweller named Jacquelin, whom I was compelled, to a certain 
 extent, to make my confidant, because he had known me at Rouen 
 under the name of Blondel. It was at his house that I met a 
 
 Madame de B , who holds the first rank in the affections of 
 
 my life. Madame de B , or Annette, for so I call her, was a 
 
 very pretty woman, whom her husband had abandoned in conse- 
 quence of his affairs turning out unfortunate. He had fled to 
 Holland, and had not been heard of for a considerable time. 
 Annette was then quite free ; she pleased me ; I liked her wit, 
 understanding, kindly feeling, and ventured to tell her so ; she saw 
 soon, and without much trouble, my assiduity and regard ; and we 
 found that we could not exist without each other. Annette came 
 to live with me, and as I resumed the trade of a travelling seller 
 of fashionable commodities, she resolved to accompany me in my 
 perambulations. The first journey we undertook together was 
 excessively fortunate. I learnt, however, at the moment I was 
 leaving Melun, from the landlord of the inn at which I had put up, 
 that the commissary of police had testified some regret at not 
 having examined my papers ; but what was deferred was not ended, 
 and that at my next visit he meant to pay me a visit. The infor- 
 mation surprised me, for I must, consequently, have been in some 
 way an object of suspicion. To go on might lead to danger, and 
 I therefore returned to Paris, resolving not to make any other 
 journeys, unless I could render less unfavourable the chances which 
 combined against me. 
 
 Having started very early, I reached the Faubourg Saint Marceau 
 in good time ; and at my entrance, I heard the hawkers bawling 
 out, * that two well-known persons are to be executed to-day at the 
 Place de Greve.' I listened, and fancied I distinguished the name 
 of Herbaux. Herbaux, the author of the forgery which caused all 
 my misfortunes ! I listened with more attention, but with an in- 
 voluntary shudder ; and this time the crier, to whom I had 
 approached, repeated the sentence with these additions : * Here 
 is the sentence of the criminal tribunal of the department of the 
 Seine, which condemns to death the said Armand Saint Leger, an 
 old sailor, born at Bay^.uie, and Csar Herbaux, a freed galley- 
 slave, bom at Lille, accused and convicied of morclcr,' eic. 
 
EXECUTION OF HERB A UX. 233 
 
 I could doubt no longer ; the wretch who had heaped so much 
 misery on my head was about to suffer on the scaffold. Shall I 
 confess that I felt a sentiment of joy, and yet I trembled ? Tor- 
 mented again, and agitated with a perpetually renewing uneasiness, 
 1 would have destroyed all the population of the prisons and 
 Bagnes, who, having been the means of casting me into the abyss 
 of misery, had kept me there by their vile disclosures. It will not 
 excite wonder, when I say that I ran with haste to the palace of 
 justice to assure myself of the truth ; it was not mid-day, and I had 
 great trouble in reaching the grating, near which I fixed myself, 
 waiting for the fatal moment 
 
 At last four o'clock struck, and the wicket opened. A man ap- 
 peared first on the stage. It was Herbaux. His face was covered 
 with a deadly paleness, whilst he affected a firmness which the 
 convulsive workings of his features belied. He pretended to talk 
 to his companion, who was already incapacitated from hearing him. 
 At the signal of departure, Herbaux, with a countenance into which 
 he infused all the audacity he could force, gazed round on the crowd, 
 and his eyes met mine. He started, and the blood rushed to his 
 face. The procession passed on, and I remained as motionless as 
 the bronze railings on which I was leaning ; and I should probably 
 have remained longer, if an inspector of the palace had not desired 
 me to come away. Twenty minutes afterwards, a car, laden with 
 a red basket, and escorted by a gendarme, was hurried over the 
 Pont-au-Change, going towards the burial ground allotted for felons. 
 Then, with an oppressed feeling at my heart, I went away, and 
 regained my lodgings full of sorrowful reflections. 
 
 I have since learnt, that during his detention at the Bicetre, 
 Herbaux had expressed his regret at having been instrumental in 
 getting me condemned, when innocent. The crime which had 
 brought this wretch to the scaffold was a murder committed, in 
 company with Saint Leger, on a lady of the Place Dauphine. 
 These two villains had obtained access to their victim under 
 pretence of giving her tidings of her son, whom they said they had 
 seen in the army. 
 
 Although, in fact, Herbaux's execution could not have any 
 direct influence over my situation, yet it alarmed me, and I was 
 horror-struck at feeling that I had ever been in contact with such 
 brigands, destined to the executioner's arm : my remembrance 
 revealed me to myself, and I blushed, as it were, in my own face. 
 I sought to lose the recollection, and to lay down an impassable 
 line of demarcation between the past and the present ; for I saw 
 but too plainly that the future was dependent on the past ; and I 
 
234 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 was the more wretched, as a police, who have not always due 
 powers of discernment, would not permit me to forget myself. I 
 saw myself again on the point of being snared like a deer. The 
 persuasion that I was interdicted from becoming an honest man 
 drove me to despair; I was silent, morose, and disheartened. 
 Annette perceived it, and sought to console me ; she offered to 
 devote herself for me, pressed me with questions, and my secret 
 escaped me; but I never had cause to regret my confidence. 
 The activity, the zeal, and presence of mind of this woman became 
 very useful to me. I was in want of a passport, and she persuaded 
 Jacquelin to lend me his ; and to teach me how to make use of it, 
 she gave me the most complete account of her family and con- 
 nections. Thus instructed, I set out on my journey, and 
 traversed the whole of Lower Burgundy. Almost everywhere I 
 was examined as to my passport, which, if they had compared it 
 with my person, would have at once disclosed the fraud ; but this 
 was nowhere done, and for more than a year, with trifling excep- 
 tions not worth detailing, the name of Jacquelin was propitious 
 to me. 
 
 One day that I had unpacked at Auxerre, and was walking 
 peaceably on the quay, I met one Paquay, a robber by profession, 
 whom I had seen at the Bicetre, where he was confined for six 
 years. I would rather have avoided him, but he addressed me 
 abruptly, and, from his first salutation, I found that it would not 
 be safe to pretend no acquaintance with him. He was too in- 
 quisitive about what I was doing ; and as I saw from his conver- 
 sation that he wished me to join him in his robberies, I thought it 
 best, to get rid of him, to talk of the police of Auxerre, whom I 
 represented as very vigilant, and consequently much to be dreaded. 
 I thought I saw that my information made an impression on him, 
 and I coloured the picture still higher, until at length, after having 
 listened with much, but unquiet attention, he suddenly cried, 
 ' Devil take it ! it appears that there is nothing to be done here ; 
 the packet-boat will start in two hours, and if you like we will be 
 off together.' 'Agreed,' said I; 'if you are for starting, I am your 
 man.' I then quitted him, after having promised to rejoin him 
 immediately that I should have made some preparations which 
 were necessary. How pitiable is the condition of a fugitive galley- 
 slave, who, if he would not be denounced or implicated in some 
 evil deed, must be himself the denouncer ! Returned to the 
 public-house, I then wrote the following letter to the lieutenant of 
 the gendarmerie, whom I knew to be on the hunt for the authors 
 of a robbery lately committed at the coach-office : 
 
GALLE Y-SLA VES AT A UXERRE. 235 
 
 'SiR, 
 
 1 A person who does not wish to be known, informs you 
 that one of the authors of the robbery committed at the coach- 
 office in your city, will set out by the packet-boat to go to Soigny, 
 where his accomplices most probably are. Lest you should fail, 
 and not arrest him in time, it would be best for two disguised 
 gendarmes to go on board the packet-boat with him, as it is im- 
 portant that he should be taken with prudence, and not allowed to 
 get out of sight, as he is a very active man.' 
 
 This missive was accompanied by a description so minute that 
 it was impossible to mistake him. The moment of departure 
 arrived, and I went on the quays, taking a circuitous route, and 
 from the window of a public-house where I stationed myself, I 
 perceived Paquay enter the packet-boat, and soon afterwards the 
 two gendarmes embarked, whom I recognised by a certain air, 
 which may be seen, but cannot be described. At intervals they 
 handed a paper to each other, which they perused, and then cast 
 their eyes on the man, whose dress, contrary to the usual garb of 
 the robbers, was in a bad condition. The boat moved on. and I 
 saw it depart with the more pleasure, as it carried with it Paquay, 
 his propositions, and even his discoveries, if, as I did not doubt, 
 he had the intention of making any. 
 
 The day after this adventure, whilst I was taking an inventory 
 of my merchandizes, I heard an extraordinary noise, and, looking 
 from the windows, I saw Thierry and his satellites guarding a 
 chain of galley-slaves ! At this sight, so terrible and inauspicious 
 for me, I drew back quickly, but in my haste I broke a pane of 
 glass, and suddenly attracted all looks towards me. I wished my- 
 self in the bowels of the earth. But this was not all ; for to 
 increase my disquietude, somebody opened my door ; it was the 
 landlady of the Pheasant, Madame Gelet ' Here, M. Jacquelin, 
 come and see the chain passing,' she cried ' Oh, it is long since 
 I saw such a fine one ; there are at least one hundred and fifty, 
 and some of them famous fellows ! Do you hear how they are 
 singing ?' I thanked my hostess for her attention, and pretending 
 to be much busied, told her that I would go down in an instant. 
 * Oh, do not hurry yourself,' she answered, * there is plenty of 
 time ; they are going to sleep here in our stables. And then, if 
 you wish to have any conversation with the commandant, they will 
 put him in the chamber next to you.' Lieutenant Thierry my 
 neighbour ! At this intelligence, I know not what passed in my 
 mind ; but I think that if Madame Gelet had observed me she 
 wou^d have seen, my countenance &rpw pale, and my whole frame 
 
236 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 tremble with an involuntary shudder. Lieutenant Thierry my 
 neighbour ! He might recognise me, detect me ; a gesture might 
 betray me ; and it was therefore expedient to avoid a rencontre if 
 possible. The necessity of completing my inventory was an 
 excuse for my apparent want of curiosity. I passed a frightful 
 night, and it was not until four o'clock in the morning, when the 
 departure of the infernal procession was announced to me, that I 
 breathed freely again. 
 
 He has never suffered, who has not experienced horrors similar 
 to those into which the presence of this troop of banditti and their 
 guard threw me. To be again invested with those fetters which I 
 had broken at the cost of so much endurance and exertion, was 
 an idea which haunted me incessantly. I was not the sole 
 possessor of my own secret, for there were galley-slaves everywhere, 
 who, if I sought to flee from them, would infallibly betray me ; my 
 repose, my very existence, was menaced on all sides, and at all 
 times. The glance of an eye, the name of a commissary, the 
 appearance of a gendarme, the perusal of a sentence, all aroused 
 and excited my alarm. How often did I curse the perverse fate 
 which, deceiving my youth, had smiled at the disorderly license 
 of my passions ; and that tribunal which, by an unjust sentence, 
 had plunged me into a gulf whence I could not extricate myself, 
 nor cleanse myself of the foul imputations which clung to me ; and 
 those institutions which close for ever the door of repentance ! I 
 was excluded from society, and yet I was anxious to give it proofs 
 of good conduct ; I had given them ; and I attest my invariably 
 honourable behaviour after every escape, my habits of regularity, 
 and my punctilious fidelity in fulfilling all my engagements. 
 
 Now some fears arose in my mind concerning Paquay, in whose 
 arrest I had been instrumental ; and, on reflection, it seemed that 
 I had acted inconsiderately in this circumstance; I felt a forewarn- 
 ing of some impending evil, and the presentiment was realized. 
 Paquay, when conducted to Paris and then brought back to be 
 confronted at Auxerre, learnt that I was still in that city ; he had 
 always suspected me of having denounced him, and determined on 
 his revenge. He told the gaoler all he knew concerning me, and 
 he reported it to the authorities ; but my reputation for probity was 
 so well established in Auxerre, where I remained for three months 
 at a time, that, to avoid an unpleasant business, a magistrate, whose 
 name I will not disclose, sent for me, and gave me notice of what 
 had occurred. There was no occasion for me to avow the truth, 
 my agitation revealed all, and I had only strength to say, ' Sir, I 
 seek to be an honest man.' Without any reply, he went out and 
 left me alone. I comprehended his generous silence, and in a 
 
BLOND K 237 
 
 quarter of an hour I had lost sight of Auxerre ; and from my retreat 
 I wrote to Annette, to inform her of this fresh catastrophe. But to 
 remove suspicion, I recommended her to stay for a fortnight at the 
 Pheasant, and to tell everybody that I was at Rouen, making 
 purchases, and on the expiration of the time she was to rejoin me 
 at Paris, where she arrived at the day appointed. She told me 
 that the day after my departure disguised gendarmes had called 
 at my warehouse, intending to arrest me, and that not finding 
 me, they had said that they did not mind, for they should discover 
 me at last. 
 
 They continued their search ; and this deranged all my plans, 
 for, masked under the name of Jacquelin, I saw myself reduced to 
 quit it, and once more renounce the industrious trade which I had 
 created. 
 
 No passport, however good, could protect me through the dis- 
 tricts which I usually travelled over ; and in those where I was 
 unknown, my unusual appearance would most probably excite sus- 
 picion. The crisis was horridly critical. What could I do ? This 
 was my only thought, when chance introduced me to a tailor of 
 the Cour Saint Martin, who was desirous of selling his business. 
 I treated with him, persuaded that I could nowhere be so safe as 
 in the heart of a capital, where it is easy to lose one's self amid the 
 crowded population. Eight months elapsed, and nothing dis- 
 turbed the tranquillity enjoyed by my mother, Annette, and myself. 
 My trade prospered, and every day augmented it ; nor did I confine 
 myself, as my predecessor had done, to the making up of clothes, 
 but traded also in cloths, and was, perhaps, on the road to fortune, 
 when one morning all my troubles were renewed. 
 
 I was in my warehouse, when a messenger came to me, and 
 said 1 was wanted at a coffee-house in the Rue Aumaire, and think- 
 ing that it was some matter of business, I immediately went to the 
 place appointed. I was taken into a private room, and there 
 found two fugitives from the Bagne at Brest ; one of them was that 
 Blondy who aided my unfortunate escape from Pont-a-Luzen. 
 'We have been here these ten days,' said he to me, 'and have not 
 a sou. Yesterday we saw you in a warehouse, that we learnt was 
 your own, which gave us much pleasure ; and I said to my friend, 
 " Let us now cast off all care ;" for we know that you are not the 
 man to leave old comrades in difficulty.' 
 
 The idea of seeing myself in the power of two ruffians whom I 
 knew capable of the vilest deeds, even of selling me to the police 
 to make a profit of me, although they injured themselves, was over- 
 \vhclming. I did not fail to express my pleasure at seeing them, 
 adding, that I was not rich, and regretting that it was only in my 
 
238 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 power to give them fifty francs. They appeared content with this 
 sum ; and on leaving me, expressed their intention to depart at 
 once for Chalons-sur-Marne, where they said they had business. 
 I should have been but too fortunate had they at once quitted 
 Paris, but on bidding me adieu, they promised soon to see me 
 again, and I remained tormented with the dread of their return. 
 Would they not consider me as a milch-cow, and make the most 
 of their power over me ? Would they not be insatiable ? Who 
 could answer that their demands would be limited to my means ? 
 I already saw myself the banker of these gentlemen and many 
 others ; for it was to be presumed, that, in conformity with the 
 custom of these thieves, if I satisfied them they would introduce 
 their friends to me, who would also draw upon me, and I should 
 only be on good terms with them till my first refusal, and after 
 that they would without doubt serve me a villainous trick. With 
 such bloodhounds let loose upon me, it may be imagined that I was 
 but ill at ease ! It must be allowed that my situation was an un- 
 pleasant one, but it was crowned with a rencontre which made it 
 still worse. 
 
 It may or may not be remembered that my wife, after her 
 divorce, had married again, and I thought she was in the depart- 
 ment of the Pas-de-Calais, entirely occupied in being happy and 
 making her new husband so, when, in the Rue du Petit-Carreau, I 
 met her, face to face ; and it was impossible to pass her, for she at 
 once recognised me. I spoke to her, without alluding to the wrongs 
 she had done me ; and as the dilapidation of her dress evinced that 
 she was not in very flourishing circumstances I gave her some 
 money. She perhaps imagined that it was an interested generosity, 
 but it certainly was not. It never occurred to me that the ex- 
 Madame Vidocq would denounce me. In truth, in recurring at a 
 later period to our old wrangles, I thought that my heart had only 
 given me prudential suggestions, and then approved of what I had 
 done ; it appeared most proper that this female, in her distress, 
 should rely on me for some assistance. Detained in or far from 
 Paris, I was anxious to relieve her misery. This should have been 
 a consideration to determine her to preserve silence ; and I at least 
 thought so. We shall see whether or not I was deceived in my 
 expectation. 
 
 The support of my ex-wife was an expense to which I reconciled 
 myself ; but of this charge I did not as yet know the whole weight. 
 A fortnight had elapsed since our interview ; when one morning I 
 was sent for to the Rue de 1'Echiquier, and on going there, at the 
 bottom of a court, in a ground-floor room, very clean, but mear^j: 
 furnished, I saw again not only my wife, but also her nieces and 
 
BLOND K 239 
 
 ' their father, the terrorist Chevalier, who had just been freed from ai 
 imprisonment of six months, for stealing plate. A glance wa 
 sufficient to assure me that I had now the whole family on my 
 hands. They were in a state of the most complete destitution ; I 
 hated them and cursed them, and yet I could do nothing better 
 than extend my hand to them. I drained myself for them, for to 
 have driven them to despair would have brought on my own ruin ; 
 and rather than return to the power of the police, I resolved on 
 sacrificing my last sou. 
 
 At this period it seemed as if the whole world was leagued against 
 me ; I was compelled to draw my purse-strings at every moment, 
 and for whom ? For creatures who, looking on my liberality as 
 compulsory, were prepared to betray me as soon as I ceased to be 
 a certain source of reliance. When I went home from my wife's, 
 I had still another proof of the wretchedness affixed to the state of 
 a fugitive galley-slave. Annette and my mother were in tears. 
 During my absence, two drunken men had asked for me, and on 
 being told that I was from home, they had broken forth in oaths 
 and threats which left me no longer in doubt of the perfidy of their 
 intentions. By the description which Annette gave me of these 
 two individuals, I easily recognised Blondy and his comrade Deluc ; 
 I had no trouble in guessing their names ; and, besides, they had 
 left an address, with a formal injunction to send them forty francs, 
 which was more than enough to disclose to me who they were, as 
 there were not in Paris any other persons who could send such an 
 intimation. I was obedient, very obedient ; only in paying my 
 contribution to these two scoundrels, I could not help letting them 
 know how inconsiderately they had behaved. ' Consider what a 
 step you have taken,' said I to them ; ' they knew nothing at my 
 house, and you have told all ; my wife, who carries on the concern 
 in her name, will perhaps turn me out, and then I must be reduced 
 to the lowest ebb of misery.' * Oh, you can come and rob with us,' 
 answered the two rascals. 
 
 I endeavoured to convince them how much better it was to owe 
 an existence to honest toil, than to be in incessant fear from the 
 police, which sooner or later catches all malefactors in its nets. I 
 added that one crime generally leads to another ; that he would 
 risk his neck who ran straight towards the guillotine ; and the ter- 
 mination of my discourse was, that they would do well to renounce 
 the dangerous career on which they had entered. 
 
 4 Not so bad !' cried Blondy, when I had finished my lecture, 
 ' not so bad ! But can you in the meantime point out to us any 
 apartment that we can ransack ? We are, you see, like Harlequin, 
 and have more need of cash than advice ;' and they left me, laugh 
 
240 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 ing deridingly at me. I called them back, to profess my attachment 
 to them, and begged them not to call again at my house. ' If that 
 is all,' said Deluc, * we will keep from that.' * Oh yes, we'll keep 
 away,' added Blondy, ' since that is unpleasant to your mistress. 
 
 But the latter did not stay away long : the very next day at night- 
 fall he presented himself at my warehouse, and asked to speak to 
 me privately. I took him into my own room. ' We are alone ?' 
 said he to me, looking round at the room in which we were ; and 
 when he was assured that he had no witnesses, he drew from his 
 pocket eleven silver forks and two gold watches, which he placed 
 on a stand. * Four hundred francs for this would not be too much 
 the silver plate and the gold watches. Come, tip us the needful. ' 
 * Four hundred francs !' said I, alarmed at so abrupt a total ; * I 
 have not so much money.' 'Never mind go and sell the goods.' 
 ' But if it should be known ?' * That's your affair ; I want the 
 ready ; or if you like it better, I'll send you customers from the 
 police-ofifice you know what a word would do. Come, come, the 
 cash, the chink, and no gammon.' I understood the scoundrel but 
 too well : I saw myself denounced, dragged from the state into 
 which I had installed myself, and led back to the Bagne. I 
 counted out the four hundred francs. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 My wicker car Arrest of two galley-slaves Fearful discovery I offer to 
 serve the police My concealment Disguises Chevalier denounces me 
 Annette Passers of false money I am apprehended and sent to the 
 Bicetre. 
 
 I WAS a receiver of stolen goods! a criminal, in spite of myself! 
 But yet I was one, for I had lent a hand to crime. No hell can be 
 imagined equal to the torment in which I now existed. I was 
 incessantly agitated; remorse and fear assailed me at once night 
 and day; at each moment I was on the rack. I did not sleep, I 
 had no appetite, the cares of business were no longer atended to, 
 all was hateful to me. All! no, I had Annette and my mother 
 with me. But should I not be forced to abandon them? Some- 
 times I trembled at the thoughts of my apprehension, and my 
 home was transformed into a filthy dungeon; sometimes it was 
 surrounded by the police, and their pursuit laid open proofs of a 
 misdeed which would draw down on me the vengeance of the 
 law. Harassed by the family of the Chevalier, who devoured rny 
 substance; tormented by Blondy, who was never wearied with 
 applying to me for money ; dreading all that could occur, that was 
 most horrible and incurable in my situation ; ashamed of the 
 tyranny -exercised over me bv the vilest wretches that disgraced the 
 
THE WICKER CAR. 2*1 
 
 earth ; irritated that I could not burst through the moral chain 
 which irrevocably bound me to the opprobrium of the human 
 race, I was driven to the brink of despair, and for eight days 
 pondered in my head the direst purposes. Blondy, the wretch 
 Blondy, was the especial object of my wrathful indignation; I could 
 have strangled him with all my heart, and yet I still kept on terms 
 with him, still had a welcome for him. Impetuous and violent as 
 I was by nature, it was astonishing how much patient endurance I 
 exercised; but it was all owing to Annette. Oh! how I prayed, 
 with fervent sincerity, that in one of his frequent excursions some 
 friendly gendarme might drive a bullet through Blondy's brain ! 
 I even trusted that it was an event that would soon occur; but 
 every time that a more extended absence began to inspire me 
 with the hope that I was at length freed from this wretch, he again 
 appeared, and brought with him a renewal of all my cares. 
 
 One day I saw him come with Deluc and an ex-clerk, named 
 St. Germain, whom I had known at Rouen ; where, like many 
 others, he had barely the reputation of an honest man. St. 
 Germain, who had only known me as the merchant Blonde), was 
 much astonished at the meeting ; but two words from Blondy ex- 
 plained my whole history. I was a thorough rogue. Confidence 
 then replaced astonishment ; and St. Germain, who at first had 
 frowned, joined in the mirth. T Hondy told me that they were 
 going all three to set out for the environs of Senlis, and asked me 
 for the loan of my wicker car, which I made use of when visiting 
 the fairs. Glad to get rid of these fellows on such terms, I hastily 
 wrote a note to the person who had charge of it. He gave them 
 the conveyance and harness, and away they went ; whilst for ten 
 days I heard nothing of them, when St. Germain reappeared. He 
 entered my house one morning, with an alarmed look, and an 
 appearance of much fatigue. * Well,' said he, ' my comrades have 
 been seized.' 'Seized !' cried I, with a joy which I could not repress ; 
 but, assuming all my coolness, I asked for the details, with an af- 
 fectation of being greatly concerned St. Germain told me, in 
 few words, that Blondy and Deluc had only been apprehended 
 because they travelled without credentials. I did not believe any- 
 thing he said, and had no doubt they had been engaged in some 
 robbery; and what confirmed my suspicions was, that, on proposing 
 to send them some money, St. Germain told me that they were 
 not in want of any. On leaving Paris they had fifty francs 
 amongst them ; and certainly with so small a sum, it would have 
 been a difficult matter to have gone on for a fortnight; and yet how 
 was it that they were still not unprovided ? The first idea that 
 flashed through my brain, was that they had committed some ex- 
 
 16 
 
242 MEMOIRS OF VTDOCQ. 
 
 tensive robbery, which they wished to conceal from me; but I 
 soon discovered that the business was of a still more serious 
 nature. 
 
 Two days after St. Germain's return, I thought I would go and 
 look at my car ; and remarked, at first, that they had altered its 
 exterior appearance. On getting inside, I saw on the lining of 
 white and blue striped ticken, red spots recently washed out ; and 
 then, opening the seat to take out the key, I found it filled with 
 blood, as if a carcase had been laid there ! All was now apparent, 
 and the truth was exposed, even more horrible than my suspicions 
 had foreboded. I did not hesitate ; far more interested than the 
 murderers themselves in getting rid of all traces of the deed, on 
 the next night I took the vehicle to the banks of the Seine, and 
 having got as far as Bercy, in a lone spot, I set fire to some straw 
 and dry wood with which I had filled it, and did not leave the 
 spot until the whole was burnt to ashes. 
 
 St. Germain, to whom I spoke of the circumstances, without 
 adding that I had burnt my carriage, confessed that the dead 
 body of a waggoner, assassinated by Blondy, between Louvres and 
 Dam martin, had been concealed in it, until they found an oppor- 
 tunity of throwing it into a well. This man, one of the most 
 abandoned villains I ever encountered, spoke of the deed as if it 
 were a most harmless action ; and a laugh was on his lips while 
 he related the facts with the most unembarrassed and easy tone. 
 I was horrified, and listened with a sort of stupefaction ; and when 
 he asked me for the impression of the lock of an apartment with 
 which I was acquainted, I reached the climax of my terrors. I 
 made some observations, to which he replied, ' What is that to 
 me ? business must be done. Because you know him ! Why, 
 that is the stronger reason ; you know all the ways of the house ; 
 you can guide me, and we will share the produce ! Come, it is no 
 use refusing ; I must have the impression.' I pretended to yield 
 to his arguments. ' Such scruples as these hold your tongue!' 
 replied St. Germain; 'you make me sweat [the expression he used 
 was not quite so proper]. But come, all is agreed, and half the 
 plunder is yours.' Good God ! what an associate ! I had no 
 cause to rejoice at Blondy's mishap; I really got rid of a fever and 
 fell into an ague. Blondy would yield to persuasion on certain 
 terms, but St. Germain never ; and he was even more imperious in 
 his demands. Exposed to see myself compromised from one 
 moment to another, I determined to see M. Henry, chief of the 
 division of security in the prefecture of police T went to him ; 
 and having unfolded my situation to him, declared thaf i/ he would 
 tolerate my residence at Paris, 1 would give him exact information 
 
IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE POLICE. 243 
 
 of a great many fugitive galley-slaves, with whose retreats and 
 plans I was well acquainted. 
 
 M. Henry received me with much kindness ; but having for a 
 moment reflected on what I had said, answered that he could not 
 enter into any terms with me. ' That should not prevent your 
 giving the information,' he continued, 'and we can then judge how 
 useful it may be ; and perhaps . . . .' ' Ah, sir, no perhaps ; that 
 would risk my life. You are not ignorant of what those individuals 
 are capable whom you denounce ; and if I must be led back to 
 the Bagne after some part of an accusation has stated that I have 
 made communications to the police, I am a dead man.' 'Under 
 these circumstances, let us speak no farther on the subject;' and 
 he left me, without even asking my name. 
 
 I was deeply grieved at the ill success of my proposition. St. 
 Germain was about to return and demand the performance of my 
 promise. What was I to do? Ought I to inform the individual 
 that we were about to rob him together? If it had been possible 
 to have avoided accompanying St. Germain, it would not have been 
 so dangerous to have given such notice ; but I had promised to 
 assist him, and had no pretext for getting off from my promi.se, 
 and I waited for him as I should have done for a sentence of 
 death. One, two, three weeks passed in these perplexities,and at 
 the end of this time I began to breathe again ; and when two 
 months had elapsed, was perfectly at my ease, thinking that he had 
 been apprehended, as well as his two companions. Annette (I 
 shall always remember it) made a nine days' vow, and burnt at 
 least a dozen wax candles in token of joy. 'I pray to heaven, 'she 
 sometimes said, 'that they may continue where they are.' The 
 torment had been of long duration, but the moments of calm were 
 brief, and they preceded the catastrophe which decided my exist- 
 ence. 
 
 The 3rd of May, 1809, at daybreak, I was awakened by several 
 knocks at my warehouse door ; and going down to see, was on the 
 point of opening the door, when I heard some voices in conversa- 
 tion in a low tone. ' He is a powerful man,' said one; 'we must 
 be wary !' There was no doubt concerning the motives of this 
 early visit, and I returned hastily to my chamber, told Annette 
 what had passed, and opening the window, whilst she entered into 
 conversation with the officers, I glided out in my shirt by a door 
 which opened on the staircase, and soon reached the upper story ; 
 at the fourth I saw an open door and entered, looked about me, 
 listened, and found I was alone. In a recess in the wall was a bed, 
 hidden by a ragged crimson damask curtain. Pressed by circum- 
 stances, and sure that the staircase was guarded, I threw myself 
 
 1 6 2. 
 
244 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 beneath the mattress ; but scarcely had I lain down when some 
 one entered, whom I recognised to be a young man named Fosse*, 
 whose father, a brass-worker, was lying in an adjacent room, and a 
 dialogue thus began : 
 
 SCENE THE FIRST. 
 
 FATHER, MOTHER, AND SON. 
 
 SON. 'What do you think, father? They are looking for the 
 tailor they want to seize him all the house is in an uproar. Do 
 you hear the bell ? Hark ! hark ! they are ringing at the watch- 
 maker's.' 
 
 MOTHER. ' Let them ring do not you meddle in business that 
 does not concern you. (To her husbatid} Come, father, dress; 
 they will soon be here.' 
 
 FATHER (Yawning, and, as limagined, rubbing his eyes). * The 
 devil fetch them what do they want with the tailor ?' 
 
 SON. ' I do not know, father ; but there are lots of them 
 bailiffs and gendarmes, and a commissary with them.' 
 
 FATHER. ' Perhaps it is nothing at all.' 
 
 MOTHER. * But what can they want with the tailor ? What can 
 he have done ?' 
 
 FATHER. * What can he have done ? Since he sells cloth, he 
 may have made clothes of English goods.' 
 
 MOTHER. ' He may have employed foreign goods ? You make 
 me laugh at you. Do you think he would be apprehended for that?' 
 
 FATHER. * Yes, I think they would apprehend him for that, and 
 the continental blockade.' 
 
 SON. Continental blockade ! What do you mean by that, father? 
 What has that to do with the matter ?' 
 
 MOTHER. ' Oh yes ! Tell us, then, what will be the end of this; 
 and let us know the truth of it all.' 
 
 FATHER. ' The meaning of all this ! that perhaps they will make 
 the tailor a head shorter.' 
 
 MOTHER. * Good God ! poor man ! I am sure they will take 
 him away criminals, like him, are not guilty ; and if it only de- 
 pended on me, I know I would hide them all in my chemise.' 
 
 FATHER. * Do you not know the tailor is a large fellow ? he 
 has a famous body of his own.' 
 
 MOTHER. ' Never mind, I would hide him. I wish he would 
 come here. Do you remember the deserter ?' 
 
 FATHER. ' Hush, hush ! Here they come. 
 
 SCENE THE SECOND. 
 
 ENTER THE COMMISSARY, GENDARMES AND THEIR ATTENDANTS. 
 
 At this moment the commissary and his staff, having traversed 
 v he house from top to bottom, reached the fourth story. 
 
THE SEARCH. 245 
 
 COMMISSARY. * Ah ! the door is open. I beg pardon for dis- 
 turbing you, but the interest of society demands it. You have a 
 neighbour, a very bad man a man who would kill either father or 
 mother.' 
 
 WIFE. What, Monsieur Vidocq ? 
 
 COMMISSARY. Yes, madam, Vidocq ; and I charge you, in case 
 you or your husband have given him shelter, to tell me without 
 delay.' 
 
 WIFE. * Ah, Monsieur le Commissaire, you may look everywhere 
 if you please. We give shelter to anyone who ' 
 
 COMMISSARY. 'Ah, you should beware, for the law is very 
 severe in this particular. It is a subject on which there is no 
 joking ! You would subject yourselves to very severe punishment; 
 for a man condemned to capital punishment, it would be nothing 
 Jess than ' 
 
 HUSBAND (quickly). 'We are not afraid of that, Monsieur le 
 Commissaire.' 
 
 COMMISSARY. ' I believe you, and rely on you. However, that 
 I may have nothing to reproach myself with, you will permit me 
 to make a slight search, just a Simple formality. (Addressing his 
 attendants) Gentlemen, are the egresses well guarded ?' 
 
 After a very minute search of the inner room, the commissary 
 returned to that in which I was. 'And in this bed,' said he, 
 raising the tattered damask curtains, whilst at my feet I felt one of 
 the corners of the mattress shake, which they let fall carelessly, 
 1 there is no Vidocq here. Come, he must have made himself in- 
 visible ; we must give over our search.' It may be imagined that 
 I felt overjoyed at these words, which removed an enormous 
 weight from my mind. At length all the alguazils retired, the 
 brass-worker's wife attending them with much politeness, and I was 
 left alone with the father and son, and a little child, who did not 
 think that I was so near them. I heard them pitying me ; but 
 Madame Fosse soon ran up the staircase, four steps at a time, 
 until she was quite out of breath, and I still was the theme of con- 
 versation. 
 
 SCENE THE THIRD. 
 
 THE HUSBAND, WIFE, AND SON. 
 
 WIFE. 'Oh, my God ! my God ! how many people there are in 
 the street. Ah, they say fine things about M. Vidocq ; they talk 
 much, and all sorts of things. However, there must be some of it 
 true ; never so much smoke without some fire. I knew very well 
 that this Monsieur Vidocq was a proud chap for a master tailor. 
 His arms were crossed much more frequently than his legs.' 
 
 HUSBAND. ' There you go, like all the rest, with your supposi- 
 
246 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 tions ; you are a slanderous woman now. Besides, it is no business 
 of ours ; and suppose that it did concern us, of what do they 
 accuse him, what do they chatter about? I am not curious.' 
 
 WIFE. ' What do they chatter about ? Why, the very thoughts 
 on't make me tremble, when they say he is a man condemned to 
 death for having killed a man. I wish you could hear the little 
 tailor who lives lower down.' 
 
 HUSBAND. ' Oh, he speaks from a professional jealousy.' 
 
 WIFE. 'And the porteress at No. 27, who speaks of what she 
 knows well, says, that she has seen him go out every evening with 
 a thick stick, so well disguised that she did not know him.' 
 
 HUSBAND. ' The porteress says that ?' 
 
 WIFE. 'And that he went to lay wait for the people in the Champs 
 Elysees.' 
 
 HUSBAND. ' Are you growing foolish ?' 
 
 WIFE. 'Ah, is that foolish? The cook-shopman, perhaps, is 
 foolish, when he says that they were all robbers who came in, and 
 that he had seen M. Vidocq with some very ill-looking fellows.' 
 
 HUSBAND. ' Well, who had ill looks after ' 
 
 WIFE. '"After all, he is," said the commissary to the grocer, 
 "a worthless man ;" and worse than that, for he added that he was 
 a vile criminal, and justice could not get hold of him.' 
 
 HUSBAND. ' And you talk nonsense ; you believe the commis- 
 sary because he is beating up our quarters ; but I will never be 
 persuaded that M. Vidocq is a dishonest man. I think, on the 
 other hand, that he is a good fellow a punctual man. Besides, 
 whatever he may be, it is no business of ours ; let us meddle with 
 our own affairs, and time wags onward we must to work ; come, 
 quickly, to work, to work.' 
 
 The sitting was adjourned; father, mother, son, and little 
 daughter all the Fosse family went away, and I remained locked 
 up, reflecting on the perfidious insinuations of the police, who, to 
 deprive me of the aid of my neighbours, represented me as an 
 infamous villain. I have often seen, subsequently, this species of 
 tactics employed, the success of which is always founded on atro- 
 cious calumnies, and measures revolting because unjust ; clumsy, 
 because they produce an effect entirely contrary to that which is 
 expected; for those persons who would exert themselves personally 
 in the apprehension of a thief, are prevented from fear of struggling 
 with a man, whom the feeling of crime and the prospect of a 
 scaffold drive probably to despair. 
 
 I had been shut up for two hours ; there was no noise either in 
 the house or in the street, and the groups had dispersed ; I was 
 beginning to take courage, when I heard a key thrust into the lock, 
 
THE FOSSA FAMILY. 24? 
 
 and whilst I again squatted beneath the coverlid, the father, mother, 
 son, and daughter Fosse, entered. 
 
 The father and son were quarrelling, and by the interference of 
 the mother I had no doubt but blows would arise, when, throwing 
 aside the tattered curtains, I made my appearance in the midst of 
 the astonished family. It may be imagined how much the good 
 folks were surprised. Whilst they were looking at me without 
 saying a word, I told them as briefly as possible how I had got 
 amongst them ; how I had concealed myself under the mattress, 
 etc. The husband and wife were astonished that I had not been 
 stifled in my place of concealment ; they pitied me, and with a 
 cordiality not uncommon amongst people of their class, offered me 
 refreshments, which were necessary after so painful a morning. 
 
 It may be supposed that I was on thorns during the progress of 
 the whole affair ; I perspired copiously ; at any other moment I 
 should have been amused ; but when I reflected on the inevitable 
 results of a discovery, none less than myself could appreciate the 
 burlesque of my situation. 
 
 Aftc the reception afforded me by the Fosse' family, it was pro- 
 bable that I should have no jeason to repent of having waited 
 patiently for results. However, I was not yet fully assured : this 
 family was not well off; and it might happen that the first im- 
 pression of kindness and compassion which the most perverse 
 persons sometimes evince would give place to the hope of obtain- 
 ing some reward by surrendering me to the police ; and then, 
 supposing my hosts to be what is called * staunch,' yet an indiscreet 
 expression might betray me. Without being endowed with much 
 penetration, Fosse' guessed the secret of my uneasiness, which he 
 succeeded in dissipating by protestations too sincere to be 
 doubted. 
 
 He undertook to watch over my safety, and began by disclaim- 
 ing any return for his kindness ; and then informed me that the 
 police agents had fixed themselves in the house and the adjoining 
 streets, and intended to pay a second visit to all the lodgers of the 
 house. On these statements I judged that it was imperative on 
 me to get away, for they would doubtlessly this time ransack all 
 the apartments. 
 
 The Fosse' family, like many other of the work-people of Paris, 
 used to sup at a wine-shop in the vicinity, where they carried their 
 provisions, and it was agreed that I should seize on that moment 
 to go out with them. Till night I had no time to form my plans, and 
 was first occupied with thinking how I should obtain intelligence 
 of Annette, when Fosse undertook this for me. It would have 
 been the height of imprudence to have communicated directly with 
 
248 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 her, and he thus contrived it. He went into the Rue de Gram- 
 mont, where he brought a pie, into which he introduced the note 
 that follows : 
 
 ' I am in safety. Be careful of yourself, and trust no one. Do 
 not attend to promises from persons who have neither the intention 
 nor the power of serving you. Confine yourself to these four words : 
 " I do not know. " Play the fool, which will be the best proof 
 of your sense. I cannot meet you ; but when you go out, always 
 go through the Rue St. Martin and the Boulevards. Mind, do not 
 return ; I will answer for all.' 
 
 The pie, intrusted to a messenger of the Place Vendome, and 
 addressed to Madame Vidocq, fell, as I had foreseen, into the 
 hands of the agents, who allowed it to be delivered, after having 
 read the despatch ; and thus I attained two ends at once, that of 
 deceiving them, by persuading them that I was not in that quarter, 
 and that of assuring Annette that I was out of danger. My expe- 
 dient succeeded, and I was more calm in making preparations for 
 my retreat. Some money, which I had snatched from my night- 
 table, served to procure me pantaloons, stockings, and shoes, a 
 frock, and a blue cotton cap, intended to complete my disguise. When 
 supper-hour came, I left the room with all the family, carrying on 
 my head, as a precaution, a large dish of haricot mutton, the ap- 
 petizing fumes of which sufficiently explained the intent of our 
 excursion. My heart did not beat less anxiously when I met, face 
 to face on the second floor, a police-officer, whom I did not at first 
 perceive, as he was ensconced in a corner. ' Put out your candle,' 
 cried he abruptly to Fosse. ' Why ?' replied he, who had only 
 taken a light that it might not awaken suspicion. ' Go along, and 
 ask no questions/ said the fellow, blowing out the candle himself. 
 I could have hugged him ! In the passage we met several of his 
 comrades, who, more polite than he, made way for us to pass. At 
 length we got out, and the moment we turned the angle of the 
 street, Fosse took the dish from me, and we parted. That I might 
 not attract attention, I walked very slowly to the Rue des Fountains ; 
 but when once there, I did not amuse myself, as the Germans say, 
 in counting my buttons, but directed my steps towards the Boule- 
 vard of the Temple, and running rapidly, reached the Rue de 
 Bondy, without thinking of asking where I was. 
 
 However, it was not enough to have escaped a first pursuit ; for 
 doubtless other searches more active would be instituted. It was 
 necessary to mislead the police, whose numerous bloodhounds, ac- 
 cording to custom, would leave all other business, and occupy 
 themselves solely in hunting for me. At this juncture 1 resolved 
 to make use of those persons for my safety whom I considered as 
 
THE CHEVALIERS. 249 
 
 my denouncers. These were the Chevaliers, whom I had seen on 
 the previous evening, and who in conversation had dropped some 
 of those words which make no impression at the time, but which 
 we reflect upon afterwards. Convinced that I had no terms to 
 keep henceforward with these wretched beings, I determined to 
 avenge myself on them, whilst I compelled them to refund all that 
 I could enforce from them. It was on a tacit understanding that 
 I had obliged them ; and they had violated the faith of treaties, 
 even against their own interest ; they had done wrong ; and I in- 
 tended to punish them for having mistaken their own interest. 
 
 The road is not far from the Boulevard to the Rue de 1' Echi- 
 quier, and I fell like a bomb-shell on Chevalier's domicile, whose 
 surprise at seeing me at liberty confirmed my suspicions. He pre- 
 tended at first an excuse for going out ; but double-locking the 
 door, and putting the key in my pocket, I seized on a knife lying 
 on the table, and told my brother-in-law that if he uttered a cry it 
 was all over with him and his family. This threat could not fail 
 to produce the due effect : I was with people who knew me, and 
 who feared the violence of my despair. The women were more 
 dead than a T ive, and Chevalier, petrified and motionless as the 
 stone-vessel on which he leant, asked me, with a faint voice, what I 
 wanted from him ? ' You shall know/ answered I. 
 
 I began by asking for a complete suit of clothes, with which I 
 had provided him the month previous, and he gave it to me : I 
 made him also give me a shirt, boots, and a hat ; all of which having 
 been purchased with my means, my demand was only for restitu- 
 tion. Chevalier did all this with a stern look, and I thought I read 
 in his eyes the meditation of some project ; it might be that he in- 
 tended to let his neighbours know by some means the embarrass- 
 ment into which my presence threw him, and prudence demanded 
 that I should insure a retreat in case of a nocturnal visit. A window 
 looking on a garden was closed by two iron bars : I ordered 
 Chevalier to take one of them out ; and as, in spite of my directions, 
 he was exceedingly awkward about it, I took the work in hand 
 myself, without his perceiving that I had laid down the knife which 
 had inspired him with so much fear. The operation ended, I 
 again took up the weapon : 'And now,' said I to him and the 
 terrified women, ' you may go- to bed.' As for me, I was hardly in- 
 clined to sleep, and threw myself into a chair, where I passed a 
 very agitated night. All the vicissitudes of my life passed in review 
 before me, and I did not doubt that a curse hung over me : in vain 
 did I fly from crime, crime came to seek me ; and this fatality, 
 against which I struggled with all the energy of my character, 
 seemed to delight in overturning my plans of conduct in incessantly 
 placing me in contact with infamy and imperious necessity. 
 
250 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 At break of day I roused Chevalier, and asked him what money 
 he had, and on his replying that he had only a few pieces of money, 
 I desired him to take four silver knives and forks, which 1 had 
 given him, to take his permit of residence, and to follow me. I 
 had no need of him, but it would have been dangerous to leave 
 him at home ; for he might have informed the police, and directed 
 them on my route, before I had concerted my plans. Chevalier 
 obeyed, and I was not very fearful of the women, as I took so 
 precious a hostage with me ; and as, besides, they did not precisely 
 partake of his feelings. I contented myself on going out by double- 
 locking the door, and we reached the Champs Elysees by the most 
 deserted streets of the capital, even in daytime. It was four o'clock in 
 the morning, and we met nobody. I carried the knives and forks, 
 which I took good care not to trust to my companion, as I wanted 
 to get off without inconvenience in case he should turn upon me 
 or create a disturbance. Fortunately, he was very quiet, for I had 
 the terrible knife, and Chevalier, who never reasoned, felt persuaded 
 that at the least motion he should make, I would stab him to the 
 heart ; and this salutary dread, which he felt the more deeply as it 
 was not undeserved, kept him in check. 
 
 We walked for some time in the environs, and Chevalier, who 
 did not foresee how this was to end, walked mechanically beside me, 
 like one bewildered and idiotic. At eight o'clock I made him get 
 into a coach, and conducted him to the passage of the wood of 
 Boulogne, where he pledged in my presence, and under his own 
 name, the four knives and forks, on which they lent him a hundred 
 francs. I took the sum, and, satisfied with having so conveniently 
 recovered in a lump what he had extorted from me in detail, I got 
 into the coach with him once more, which I stopped at the Place 
 de la Concorde. There I alighted, after having given him this 
 piece of advice * Mind and be more circumspect than ever ; if I 
 am arrested, whoever is the cause, look to yourself.' I desired the 
 coachman to drive on to Rue de 1'Echiquier, No. 23 ; and to be 
 sure that he took no other direction, I remained for a short time 
 on the watch ; and then, jumping into a cabriolet, I went to the 
 clothesman of the Croix-Rouge, who gave me the clothes of a 
 workman in exchange for my own. In this new costume I walked 
 towards the Esplanade des Invalides, to learn if it were possible to 
 purchase a uniform of this establishment A wooden-legged man, 
 whom I questioned, directed me to Rue St. Dominique, where, at 
 a broker's, I should find a complete outfit This broker was, it 
 appeared, a chattering fellow. * I am not inquisitive,' said he 
 (that is the preamble to all impertinent inquiries) * You have all 
 your limbs ; I presume the uniform is not for yourself.' ' It is,' said 
 
A NEW DISGUISE. 251 
 
 I ; and as he testified astonishment, I added that I was going to 
 act in a play. * And in what piece?' ' In 1' Amour Filial.' 
 
 The bargain concluded, I immediately set out for Passy, where, 
 at the house of a friend, I hastened to effect my metamorphosis. 
 In less than five minutes I was converted into the most maimed of 
 invalids ; my arm, laid over the hollow of the breast, and kept close 
 to my body by a girth and the waistband of my breeches, had en- 
 tirely disappeared ; some ribands introduced into the upper part of 
 one of the sleevt s, the end of which was hung to a button in front, 
 joined a stump admirably deceptive, and which made the disguise 
 most efficient ; a dye which I used to stain my hair and whiskers 
 black, perfected my disguise, under which I was so sure of mislead- 
 ing the physiognomical knowledge of the observers in the quarter 
 St. Martin, that I ventured there that evening. I learnt that the 
 police not only still kept possession of my abode, but were making 
 an inventory of the goods and furniture. By the number of officers 
 whom I saw goinu; and coming i r was easy to perceive that the 
 search was prosecuted with a renewal of activity very extraordinary 
 at this period, when the vigilant administration was not too zealous 
 unless it were in cases of political arrests. Alarmed at such an 
 appearance of investigation, anyone but myself would have judged 
 it prudent to leave Paris without delay, at least for a time. It 
 would have been best, perhaps, to allow the storm to blow over ; 
 but I could not resolve on forsaking Annette in the midst of her 
 troubles, caused by her attachment to me. At this time she must 
 have suffered much ; shut up in the depot of the prefecture, she 
 was placed in solitary confinement for twenty-five days, whence 
 she was only taken to be threatened with being left to rot in St. 
 Lazare, if she would not confess the place of my retreat. But with 
 a dagger at her breast, Annette would not have betrayed me. It 
 may be judged how deeply I was grieved to learn her wretched 
 situation and yet be unable to deliver her. As soon as it depended 
 on me, I hastened to aid her. A friend to whom I had lent a few 
 hundred francs, having returned them to me, I begged him to 
 retain a portion of the sum ; and full of hope that the term of her 
 detention would soon expire, since after all, they had only to re- 
 proach her with having lived with a fugitive galley-slave, I prepared 
 to quit Paris, determining, if she was not set at liberty before my 
 departure, that I would let her know, by some means, where I had 
 betaken myself. 
 
 I lodged in the Rue Tiquetonne, at the house of a currier, 
 named Bouhin, who undertook, for a compensation, to get for 
 himself a passport which he would give to me. We were exactly 
 alike; he, like me, was fair, with Sine eyes, coloured complexion, 
 
252 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 and, by a singular chance, had on his upper lip a slight cicatrice. 
 He was, however, shorter than I was, and to increase his height so 
 as to reach mine, he put two or three packs of cards in his shoes. 
 Bouhin had recourse to this expedient ; so that, although I could 
 use the strange faculty I had of reducing my height four or five 
 inches at pleasure, the passport which he procured did not need 
 that I should have recourse to this curtailment of my fair propor- 
 tions. Provided with this, I was congratulating myself on a 
 resemblance which insured my liberty, when Bouhin (after I had 
 been at his house eight days) confided to me a secret which made 
 me tremble. He was a forger of false money, and, to give me a 
 sample of his skill, coined in my presence eight five-franc pieces, 
 which his wife passed the same day. It may be believed that the 
 confidence of Bouhin alarmed me. 
 
 At first I argued that actually from one moment to another, his 
 passport would become but a bad recommendation in the eyes of 
 the gendarmes ; for, from the trade he carried on, Bouhin must 
 sooner or later be the object of an arrest ; besides, the money 
 I had given him was but a rash adventure, and it must be confessed 
 that I had but a small chance of advantage in impersonating such 
 a character. This was not all ; considering that this state of 
 suspicion, which in the opinion of the judge and of the public is 
 always inseparable from the condition of a fugitive galley-slave, 
 was it not likely that if Bouhin was apprehended as a coiner, I 
 should be considered as his accomplice ? Justice has committed 
 many errors ! Condemned once, though innocent, who would 
 answer that I should not a second time be similarly sentenced ? 
 The crime which had been wrongfully imputed to me, inasmuch 
 as it pronounced me a forger, was nominally the same species of 
 crime as that which Bouhin had committed. I saw myself sink 
 beneath a weight of presumptive evidence and appearances, such 
 as, perhaps, my counsel, ashamed of undertaking my defence, 
 would conceive necessary to impel him to throw me on the pity of 
 my juJges. I heard my death-sentence pronounced. My fears 
 redoubled whtn I learnt that Bouhin had an associate, a doctor, 
 named Terrier, who frequently came to his house. This man had 
 a most hanging look, and it seemed to me that, on only looking 
 at him, all the police-officers in the world would have suspected 
 and watched him. Without knowing him, I should have thought 
 that in following him it would be impossible not to attain the 
 knowledge of some perpetrated or intended crime. In a word, he 
 was a bird of ill omen to every place he entered ; and persuaded 
 that his visits would bring mischief to the house, I persuaded 
 Bouhin to give up a business so hazardous as that he followed ; 
 
THE COIXERS. 253 
 
 but the most cogent reasons prevailed not with him ; all I could 
 obtain by dint of entreaty was, that to avoid giving rise to a search 
 which would certainly betray me to the police, he would suspend 
 the making and the passing of money as long as I should remain 
 with him ; but this promise did not prevent my discovering him 
 two days afterwards hard at work. This time I thought it best to 
 address his fellow-labourer, to whom I represented, in the most 
 glaring colours, the dangers which he ran. * I see,' answered the 
 doctor, * that you are one of those cowardly fellows of whom there 
 are so great a number. Suppose we are detected, what then? 
 There are many others who make their exit at the Place de Greve, 
 and we are not there yet ; for fifteen years I have used these 
 " chamber gentlemen " as my bankers, and nobody has yet doubted 
 me ; it will do yet. And besides, my friend,' he added, in an 
 ill-humoured tone, * do you meddle with your own affairs.' 
 
 After the turn which this discussion took, I saw that it would 
 be superfluous to continue it, and that I should do wisely to be on 
 my guard, feeling still more the necessity of quitting Paris as 
 speedily as possible. It was Tuesday, and I purposed starting on 
 the following day ; but having learnt that Annette would be set at 
 liberty at the end of the week, I proposed deferring my departure 
 until her release, when on Friday, about three o'clock in the 
 morning, I heard a light knock at the street door. The nature of 
 the rap, the hour, and circumstance, all combined to make me 
 think that they were coming to take me ; and saying nothing to 
 Bouhin. I went out on the staircase, and getting to the top, I got 
 hold of the gutter, and climbing on the roof, hastened to conceal 
 myself behind a stack of chimneys. 
 
 My presentiments had not deceived me, and in an instant the 
 house was filled with police-agents, who searched everywhere. 
 Surprised at not finding me, and doubtless informed by my clothes, 
 left near my bed, that I had escaped in my shirt, which would not 
 allow me to go far, they imagined that I could not have escaped 
 by the usual way. For want of cavaliers to send in pursuit of me, 
 they sent for some bricklayers, who went all over the roof, where I 
 was found and seized, without the nature of the place allowing 
 me to offer any resistance, which could only have been done at the 
 risk of a most perilous leap. Except a few cuffs, which the agents 
 bestowed on me, my arrest offered nothing remarkable. Con- 
 ducted to the prefecture, I was interrogated by M. Henry, who, 
 remembering perfectly the offer I had made him some months 
 previously, promised to do all in his power to ease my situation ; 
 but still I was taken to the Force, and thence to Bicetre, to await 
 the departure of the next chain of galley-slaves. 
 
254 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Plan of escape My agreement with the police Coco-Lacour A band oi 
 robbers The old clothes-women and the assassins. 
 
 I BEGAN to grow wearied of escapes and the sort of liberty they 
 procured for me ; I did not wish to return to the Bagne ; but I 
 preferred a residence at Toulon to that in Paris, if I were com- 
 pelled to submit to such creatures as Chevalier, Blondy, etc. I 
 was in this mood in the midst of a considerable number of these 
 supporters of the galleys, whom 1 had had but too many oppor- 
 tunities of knowing, when several of them proposed that I should 
 help them in trying for a run through the court of the Bons 
 Pauvres. At any other time the project would have made me 
 smile. I did not decline it ; but I studied it like a man who con- 
 sidered localities, and so as to preserve for myself that prepon- 
 derance which my real successes procured for me, and those which 
 were attributed to me I might say those which I attributed to 
 myself; for as soon as we live amongst rogues, there is always an 
 advantage in passing for the most wicked and the most clever ; 
 and such was my well-established reputation, wherever there were 
 four prisoners, at least three had heard of me ; not at all an extra- 
 ordinary thing, for there were galley-slaves who assumed my name. 
 I was the general to whom all the deeds of his soldiers is attributed; 
 they did not cite the places I had taken by assault, but there was 
 no gaoler whose vigilance I could not escape, no irons that I could 
 not break through, no wall that I could not penetrate. I was no 
 less famed for courage and skill, and it was the general opinion 
 that I was capable of any deed of renown in case of need. At 
 Brest, at Toulon, at Rochfort, in fact everywhere, I was considered 
 amongst robbers as the most cunning and most bold. The most 
 villainous sought my friendship, because they thought there was still 
 something to be learnt from me, and the greatest novices collected 
 my very words as instructions from which they could gather profit. 
 At Bicetre, I had a complete court, and they pressed around me, 
 surrounded me, and made tenders of services and kind offers, and 
 expressed regards of which it would be difficult to form an idea. 
 But now, this prison glory was hateful to me ; the more I read the 
 souls of malefactors, the more they laid themselves open to me, 
 the more I pitied society for having nourished in its bosom suc'.i 
 offspring. I no longer felt that sentiment of the community 
 of misfortune which had formerly inspired my breast; cruel 
 experience and a riper age had convinced me of the necessity 
 of withdrawing myself from these brigands, whose society I loathed, 
 and whose language was a.n abomination to me, Decided, at any 
 
A POLICE AGENCY. 255 
 
 event, to take part against them for the interest of honest men, I 
 wrote to M. Henry to offer my services afresh, without any other 
 condition than that of not being taken back to the Bagne, resign- 
 ing myself to finish the duration of my sentence in any prison that 
 might be selected. 
 
 My letter pointed out so fully the information I could supply, 
 that M. Henry was struck with it : only one consideration balanced 
 with him ; it was the example of many accused or condemned 
 persons, who, having engaged to guide the police in its searches, 
 had only given but trifling information, or had even finished them- 
 selves by being detected in criminal deeds. To this powerful 
 argument, I opposed the cause of my condemnation, the regularity 
 of my conduct after my escapes, the constancy of my endeavours 
 to procure an honourable existence, and finally I produced my 
 correspondence, my books, my punctuality, and credit, and I 
 called for the testimony of all persons with whom I had transacted 
 business, and particularly of my creditors, who had all the greatest 
 confidence in me. 
 
 These facts and documents militated strongly in my favour. 
 M. Henry submitted my proposal to the prefect of police, M. 
 Pasquier, who decided on granting it. After a residence of two 
 months at Bicetre, I was removed to the Force ; and, to avoid 
 suspicion, it was stated amongst the prisoners that I was kept 
 back in consequence of being implicated in a very bad affair, 
 which was to be inquired into. This precaution, joined to my 
 renown, put me entirely in good odour. Not a prisoner dared 
 breathe a doubt of the gravity of the charge against me. Since I 
 had shown so much boldness and perseverance to escape from a 
 sentence of eight years in irons, I must of necessity have a con- 
 science charged with some great crime, capable, if I should be 
 discovered as the author, of sending me to the scaffold It was 
 then whispered, and at last stated openly at La Force, in speaking 
 of me. * He is a cut-throat !' And as, in the place where I was 
 confined, an assassin inspires great confidence, I took care not to 
 refute an error so useful to my plans. I was then far from seeing 
 hat an imposture, which I allowed freely to be charged upon me, 
 A'ould be thence perpetuated ; and that one day, in publishing my 
 Memoirs, it would be necessary to state that I had never com- 
 mitted murder. 
 
 The engagement I had entered into was not so easily fulfilled 
 as may be supposed. A multitude of robbers were then preying on 
 the capital, and it was impossible to furnish the slightest indication 
 of the principal of them ; it was only on my ancient renown that I 
 could rely for gbtuining any' information of the staff of these 
 
256 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Bedouins of our civilization ; it availed me, I will not say beyond, 
 but equal to what I could desire. 
 
 At this period there was in Paris a band of fugitive galley-slaves, 
 who daily perpetrated robberies, without any Hope being enter- 
 tained of putting a termination to their plunderings. Many of 
 them had been apprehended, and acquitted for want of evidence ; 
 obstinately entrenched in absence of witnesses, they had long 
 braved the attempts of justice, which could neither oppose to them 
 the testimony of the commission of crime, nor proofs of guilt. To 
 surprise them properly, it would have been necessary to know 
 their domicile ; and they were so well concealed, that discovery 
 seemed impossible. Amongst them was one named France (called 
 Tormel), who, on coming to La Force, had nothing more urgent 
 than to ask me for ten francs to pay his footing, and I was not 
 inclined to refuse his demand He soon came to join me, and 
 feeling obliged to me, did not hesitate to give me his confidence. 
 At the time of his arrest he had concealed two notes of a thousand 
 francs from the police, which he gave to me, begging me to advance 
 him money, from time to time, as he needed it. 'You do not 
 know me,' said he, ' but these bills speak for me ; I trust them to 
 you, because I know they are better in your hands than in mine ; 
 some time or other we will change them, which now would be 
 difficult, and we must wait.' I agreed with France, as he wished; 
 I promised to be his banker, as I risked nothing. 
 
 Apprehended for a violent burglary at an umbrella shop in the 
 passage Feydeau, France had been often interrogated, and con- 
 stantly declared that he had no residence. However, the police 
 had learnt that he had an abode ; and it was the more interesting 
 to learn it, as it would lead to the discovery of instruments of 
 robbery, as well as a great quantity of stolen goods. It was a 
 detection of the highest importance, since it would adduce most 
 material proofs. M. Henry told me that he relied on me for 
 obtaining this information ; I manoeuvred accordingly, and soon 
 learned that at the time of his arrest France was at the corner of 
 the Rue Montmartin and the Rue Notre Dame des Victoires, in an 
 apartment let by a female receiver of stolen goods, named Josephine 
 Bertrand. 
 
 These proofs were positive, but it was difficult to make use of 
 the information without betraying my share in the business to 
 France, who, having only confessed to me, could only suspect me 
 of betraying him. I, however, succeeded ; and so little did he 
 suspect that I had abused his confidence, that he told me all his 
 troubles, in proportion as the plan which I had concerted with M. 
 Henry progressed. Besides, the police were so arranged, that they 
 
CONVICTION OF FRANCE. 257 
 
 seemed only to be guided by chance, and thus were the arrange- 
 ments made. 
 
 They gained over to their interest one of the lodgers of the 
 house which France had inhabited ; and this lodger told the 
 landlord that, for about three weeks, no movement was seen in 
 the apartment of Madame Bertrand; and this awakened and 
 afforded a wide field for conjecture. It was remembered that a 
 person went frequently in and out of this apartment ; his absence 
 was talked of, and it was a matter of astonishment that he was 
 not seen : the word disappearance was mentioned, and thence the 
 necessity of the intervention of the commissary: then theopening of 
 the door in presence of witnesses ; then the discovery of a great 
 quantity of stolen property belonging to the neigh txmrhood, and 
 many of the instruments made use of to consummate these rob- 
 beries. The next inquiry was, what had become of Josephine 
 Bertrand ? and all the persons were visited to whom she had re- 
 ferred when she hired the apartments, but nothing could be learnt 
 of this woman ; only that a girl, named Lambert, who had suc- 
 ceeded her in the apartment of the Rue Montmartre, had just 
 been apprehended ; and as this girl was known as France's mistress, 
 it was conjectured that these two had a common residence. 
 France was in consequence conducted to the spot, and recognised 
 by the neighbours. He pretended that he had been taken by sur- 
 prise, and that they were mistaken, but the jury before whom he 
 was taken decided otherwise, and he was condemned to the galleys 
 for eight years. 
 
 France once convicted, it was easy to follow up the traces of 
 his comrades, two of whom were named Fossard and Legagneur. 
 They were watched, but the negligence and want of address in 
 the officers enabled them to escape the pursuit which I directed. 
 The former was a man the more dangerous, as he was very skilful 
 in making false keys. For fifteen months he seemed to defy the 
 police, when one day I learnt that he resided with a hair-dresser 
 in the Rue du Temple, facing the common sewer. To apprehend 
 him from home was almost impossible, for he was skilful in dis- 
 guises, and could detect an officer a hundred paces off ; on the 
 other hand, it would be better to seize him in the midst of his pro- 
 fessional apparatus and the produce of his robberies. But the 
 undertaking presented obstacles : Fossard never answered when 
 they knocked at his door, and it was most likely that he had a 
 means of egress, and facilities for getting over the roofs. It 
 appeared to me, that the only mode of seizing him was to profit 
 by his absence and hide in his lodging. M. Henry was of my 
 opinion ; and the door being broken open in the presence of a 
 
258 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 commissary, three agents placed themselves in a closet adjoining 
 a recess. Nearly seventy-two hours elapsed, and nobody arrived ; 
 at the end of the third day, the officers, having exhausted their 
 provisions, were going away, when they heard a key turn in the 
 lock, and Fossard entered. Immediately two of the officers, in 
 conformity with their instructions, darted from the closet and threw 
 themselves upon him ; but Fossard, arming himself with a knife 
 which they had left on the table, frightened them so, that they 
 themselves opened the door which their comrade had closed; and, 
 having turned the key upon them, Fossard quickly descended the 
 staircase, leaving the three agents all the leisure necessary for draw- 
 ing up a report, in which nothing was wanting except the circum- 
 stance of the knife, which they were very cautious in mentioning. 
 Before being sent to the Conciergerie, France, who had never 
 ceased to think me staunch, recommended one of his friends to 
 me, named Legagneur, a fugitive galley-slave, arrested in the Rue 
 de la Mortellerie, at the moment when he was executing a robbery 
 by the aid of false keys ; and this man, deprived of all resource in 
 consequence of the departure of his comrade, was thinking of 
 sending for the money which he had deposited with a receiver of 
 stolen goods in the Rue St. Dominique, at the Gros-Caillou. 
 Annette, who came constantly to see me at La Force, and some- 
 times ably abetted me in my pursuits, was charged with the com- 
 mission ; but either from distrust, or a desire to retain it for him- 
 self, the receiver received the messenger very ungraciously ; and 
 as she insisted, he threatened her with an arrest. Annette returned 
 to tell us that she had failed in her errand. At this information 
 Legagneur would have denounced the receiver, but that was only 
 the first impulse of anger. Growing more calm, he judged it most 
 fitting to defer his vengeance ; and, moreover, to make it turn to 
 his profit. ' If I denounce him,' said he to me, ' not only shall I 
 get nothing by it, but he may contrive to appear not at all in fault. 
 It will be best to wait until I get out, and then I will make him 
 squeak.' Legagneur, having no farther hope from his receiver, 
 determined to write to two accomplices, Marguerit and Victor 
 Desbois, renowned robbers. Convinced of this old truism, that 
 small presents preserve friendship, in exchange for the aid he asked 
 from them, he sent them the impressions of the locks which he 
 had taken for his own private use. Legagneur again had recourse 
 to the mediation of Annette, who found the two friends at the Ru* 
 Deux-Ponts, on a wretched ground-floor, a place where they neve, 
 met without taking great previous precaution. It was not then 
 residence. Annette, whom I had desired to do all in her powei 
 to learn this, had the sense not to lose sight of them. She followed 
 
AN AD VENTURE. 259 
 
 them for two days, under different disguises ; and, on the third, 
 informed me that they slept in the small Rue St. Jean, in a house 
 with gardens behind. M. Henry, to whom I communicated this 
 circumstance, arranged all the necessary measures which the 
 nature of the place required ; but his officers were not more 
 courageous, nor more skilful, than those from whom Fossard had 
 e-caped. The two robbers saved themselves by the gardens, and 
 it was not till some time afterwards that they were apprehended in 
 the Rue St. Hyacinthe St. Michel. 
 
 Legagneur having been in his turn conducted to the Con- 
 ciergerie, was replaced in my room by the son of a vintner at Ver- 
 sailles, named Robin, who, united with the thieves of the capital, 
 told me, in our conversations, their arrangements, as well concern- 
 ing all that had been done, as of their present state and intended 
 plans. He it was who pointed out to me the prisoner Mardargent 
 as a fugitive galley-slave, whilst he was only detained in custody as 
 a deserter ; for this latter crime he had been sentenced to twenty- 
 four years' labour at the galleys : he had passed some time in the 
 Bagne ; and by the help of my notes and recollections, we were 
 soon excellent friends : he fancied (and he was not mistaken) that 
 I should be delighted to meet again my old companions in mis- 
 fortune : he pointed out several amongst the prisoners, and I was 
 fortunate enough to send back to the galleys a considerable 
 number of those individuals whom justice, for want of the neces- 
 sary proofs for their conviction, might have let loose upon society. 
 
 Never had any period been marked with more important dis- 
 coveries than that which ushered in my debut in the service of the 
 police ; although scarcely enrolled in this administration, I had 
 already done much for the safety of the capital, and even for the 
 whole of France. Were I to relate half my successes in my new 
 department, my reader's patience -would be exhausted; I will 
 simply make mention of an adventure which occurred a few 
 months before I quitted the prison, and which deserves to be 
 rescued from the general oblivion. 
 
 One afternoon a tumult arose in the court, which terminated in 
 a violent pugilistic combat ; at this hour in the day such occur- 
 rences were very frequent. The two champions were Blignon 
 and Charpentier (called Chante a 1'heure). A violent quarrel had 
 arisen between them ; when the action had ceased, Chante & 
 1'heure, covered with contusions, entered the drinking-shop to have 
 his bruises fomented. I was there engaged at my game of piquet. 
 Chante \ 1'heure, irritated with his defeat, was no longer master of 
 himself, and as the brandy he had called for to wash his hurts 
 found its ways almost unconsciously to his mouth instead, he t^ 
 
 17 a 
 
260 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 came proportionably energetic ; until at last his mind could no 
 longer contain the angry burst of his feelings. ' My good friend,' 
 said he to me, ' (for you are my very good friend) do you see how 
 this beggar of a Blignon has served me ? But he shall not go off 
 scot-free !' 
 
 * Oh, never heed him/ I replied ; * he is stronger than you, and 
 you must mind what you are about. Do you wish to be half killed 
 a second time?' 
 
 ' Oh, that is not what I mean. If I choose, I can put a stop to 
 his beating me, or any one else again. I know what I know !' 
 
 * Well, and what do you know ?' cried I, struck by the tone in 
 which he pronounced these last words. 
 
 ' Yes, yes,' answered Chante a 1'heure, highly exasperated ; ' he 
 has done well in driving me to this : I have only to blab, and his 
 businesses settled.' 
 
 * Nonsense ; hold your tongue/ said I, affecting not to believe 
 him : * you are both birds of a feather. When you owe anyone a 
 spite, you have only to blow at his head, and he would instantly 
 fall.' 
 
 'You think so, do you?' said Chante a 1'heure, striking the 
 table. ' Suppose I told you that he had slit a woman's weasand !' 
 
 'Not so loud, Chante a 1'heure; not so loud,' said I, putting 
 my finger significantly on my lips. 'You know very well that at 
 Lorcefe'e (La Force) walls have ears ; and you must not turn nose 
 against a comrade.' 
 
 ' What do you call turning nose ?' replied he, the more irritated 
 in proportion as I feigned a wish to stop him from speaking ; 
 ' when I tell you that it only depends on me to split upon him in 
 another case.' 
 
 'That is all very well,' I replied ; 'but to bring a man before 
 the big wigs, we must have proofs !' 
 
 ' Proofs ! Does the devil's child ever want them ? Listen. 
 You know the little shopkeeper who lives near the Pont Notre 
 Dame ?' 
 
 'An old procuress, mistress of Chatonnet, and wife of the 
 hump-backed man ?' 
 
 'The same. Well, three months ago, as Blignon and I were 
 blowing a cloud quietly in a boozing ken of the Rue Planche- 
 Mibray, she came there to us. " There's swag for you, my lads," 
 said she, " not far off, in the Rue de la Sonnerie ! You are boys 
 of mettle, and I will put you on the lay. An old dowager who 
 has been pocketing lots of blunt, a few days since received fifteen 
 or twenty thousand francs, in notes or gold ; she often comes 
 home in the darkey, and you must slit her windpipe; and when 
 
MURDER. 261 
 
 you have prigged the chink, fling her into the river.* 1 At first we 
 did not relish the proposition, and would not hear of it, as we 
 never cared to commit a murder ; but the old hag so pestered us 
 by telling us that she was well feathered, and that there was no 
 harm in doing for an old woman, that we agreed to it. It was 
 settled that the procuress should give us notice of the precise 
 time and hour. However, I felt very I don't-know-how-ish about 
 it ; because you see, when you are not used to a job of the kind, 
 you feel queerish a bit. But never mind, all was settled ; when 
 next morning, at the Quatre-Chemine'es, near Sevres, we met with 
 Voivenel and another pal. Blignon told the business to them, at 
 the same time stating his objection to the murder. They there- 
 upon proposed to give us a hand if we chose. " Agreed," replied 
 Blignon : " where there is enough for two, there is enough for four :" 
 thus we settled it, and they were to be in the rig with us. From 
 that time Voivenel's pal never let us rest, and was impatient for 
 the arrival of the moment At length the old mother Murder- 
 love told us all was ready. It was a thick fog on the night of the 
 thirtieth of December. " Now's the time !" said Blignon. Believe 
 me or not, as you like ; but on the word of a thief I would have 
 backed out, but I could not ; I was drawn on, and dogged the old 
 woman with the others ; and, in the evening, when, having, as we 
 knew, received a considerable sum, she was returning from the 
 house of M. Rousset, a person who let out carriages, in the Alley 
 de la Pompe, we did for her. It was Voivenel's friend who 
 stabbed her, whilst Blignon, having blinded her with his cloak, 
 seized her from behind. I was the only one who did not dabble 
 in her blood ; but I saw all, for I was put on the look out ; and I 
 then learnt, and saw, and heard enough to give that scoundrel 
 Blignon his passport to the guillotine.' 
 
 Chante a 1'heure then, with an insensibility which exceeds belief, 
 detailed to me all the minutest circumstances of this murder. I 
 heard this abominable recital to the close, making incredible 
 efforts to conceal my indignation ; for every word which he 
 uttered was of a nature to make the hair stand on end of even the 
 least susceptible person. When the villain had finished retracing, 
 with a horrible fidelity, the agonies of his victim, I urged him 
 anew not to break off his friendship with Blignon : but at the 
 same time I dexterously threw oil on the fire I appeared solicitous 
 to extinguish. My plan was to lead Chante k 1'heure to make 
 a public confession of the horrible revelation to which rage and 
 revenge had spurred him oa I was farther desirous of being 
 enabled to furnish justice with those means of conviction which 
 would be necessary to punish the assassins. Much yet remained 
 
262 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 in uncertainty ; possibly, after all, this affair was merely the fruits 
 of an over-heated brain, and Chante k 1'heure, when no longer 
 under the influence of wine and vengeance, might disavow all 
 recollection of it. However the business might terminate, I lost 
 no time in despatching to M. Henry a report, in which I ex- 
 plained the affair, as well as the doubts I myself entertained of its 
 veracity ; he was not long in replying to my communication, that 
 the crime I alluded to was but too true. M. Henry begged 
 I would endeavour to procure for him the precise account of 
 everything which had preceded and followed this murder ; and the 
 very next day my plans were laid to obtain them. It was difficult 
 to procure the arrest of any of the guilty party, without their sus- 
 pecting the hand which directed the blow ; but in this dilemma, 
 as well as in many others in which I had been placed, chance 
 came to my assistance. The following day I went to awaken 
 Chante a 1'heure, who, still suffering from the intemperance of the 
 preceding night, was unable to quit his bed ; I seated myself 
 beside him, and began to speak of the state of complete intoxica- 
 tion in which I had seen him, as well as of the indiscreet actions 
 he had committed. The reproof appeared to astonish him ; but 
 when I repeated a few words of the conversation we had held 
 together, his surprise redoubled, and as I had foreseen, he 
 protested the impossibility of his having used such language ; and 
 whether he had effectually lost his recollection, or whether he mis- 
 trusted me, he tried hard to persuade me that he had not the 
 slightest remembrance of what had passed. Whether he at this 
 moment spoke the truth, or not, I profited by it to tell him 
 that he had not confined his confidential communications to one 
 alone, but had spoken of all the circumstances of the murder 
 in a loud tone, in the presence of several prisoners who were 
 sitting near the fire, and had heard all that had passed as well as 
 myself. 'What an unlucky fellow I am!' cried he, with every 
 sign of sincere distress. ' What have I done ? What is to be 
 done to extricate myself from the situation in which it places me?' 
 * Nothing is more simple,' said I ; 'if you should be questioned 
 as to the scene of yesterday, you can say, " Upon my word, when 
 I have taken too much drink, I say or do anything : and if I 
 happen to have a spite against a man, I do not know what I might 
 invent about him." Chante a 1'heure took all this for genuine 
 advice ; but on the same morning, a man named Pinson, who 
 passed for a great sneak, was conducted from La Force to the 
 office of the prefect ; this exchange could not have occurred more 
 opportunely for my project, and I hastened to acquaint Chante a 
 1'heure with it, adding that all the prisoners believed that Pinson 
 
LIBERTY. 263 
 
 was only removed in the expectation of his making some very im- 
 portant discoveries. 
 
 At this intelligence he appeared thunderstruck : 'Was he one of 
 those who were present when I was talking the other night ?' 
 asked he, with strong anxiety. I replied that I had not particularly 
 observed ; he then communicated to me more frankly his fears, 
 and I obtained from him fresh particulars, which, sent off without 
 delay to M. Henry, caused all the accomplices in this murder to 
 fall into the hands of justice ; the shopkeeper and her husband 
 wen: of the number. They were all committed to solitary con- 
 finement ; Blignon and Chante k 1'heure in the new building, the 
 others in the infirmary, where they remained a very long time. 
 The public authorities had inquired into it, and I no longer 
 troubled myself with the affair. Nothing material resulted from 
 the investigation, which had been badly begun from the first, and 
 finally the accused were pardoned. My abode at Bicetre and La 
 Force embraced a point of twenty-one months, during which not 
 a single day passed without my rendering some important service. 
 I believe I might have become a perpetual spy, so far was every 
 one from supposing that any connivance existed between the 
 agents of the public authority and myself. Even the porters and 
 keepers were in ignorance of the mission with which I was 
 intrusted. Adored by the thieves, esteemed by the most de- 
 termined bandits, I could always rely on their devotion to me , 
 they would have been torn to pieces in my service, a proof of 
 which occurred at Bicetre, where Mardargent had several severe 
 battles with some of the prisoners who had dared to assert that I 
 had only quitted La Force to serve the police. Coco-Lacour and 
 Goreau, prisoners in the same gaol as incorrigible thieves, with 
 no less ardour and generous intrepidity undertook my defence. 
 
 M. Henry did not allow the preTet to remain in ignorance 
 of the numerous discoveries effected by my sagacity. This func- 
 tionary, to whom I was represented as a person on whom he 
 might depend, consented at last to put an end to my detention. 
 Every measure was taken that it might not be known that I had 
 recovered my liberty ; they sent to fetch me from La Force, and 
 carried me from thence without neglecting any of their rigorous 
 precautions. My handcuffs were replaced, and I ascended the 
 wicker car with the private understanding that I was to escape on 
 the road, and I was not slow in profiting by this permission. The 
 same night ^ flight was made known, and all the police weie in 
 search of me. This escape caused much noise, particularly at 
 La Force, where my friends celebrated it with rejoicings, drank 
 to my health, and wished me a safe and prosperous journey, 
 
264 MEMOIRS OF VWOC& 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 M. Henry, ' the Evil Spirit ' Bertaux and Parisot My first capture Arrest 
 of Bouhin and Terrier. 
 
 As the secret agent of government, I had duties marked out, 
 and the kind and respectable M. Henry took upon himself 
 to instruct me in their fulfilment ; for in his hands were intrusted 
 nearly the entire safety of the capital : to prevent crimes, discover 
 malefactors, and to give them up to justice, were the principal 
 functions confided to me. By thieves M. Henry was styled the 
 Evil Spirit ; and well did he merit the surname, for with him, 
 cunning and suavity of manners were so conjoined as seldom to 
 fail in their purpose. Among the coadjutors of M. Henry was 
 M. Bertaux, a cross-examiner of great merit The proofs of 
 his talent may be found in the archives of the court. Next 
 to him, I have great pleasure in naming M. Parisot, governor of 
 the prisons. 'In a word, MM. Henry, Bertaux, and Parisot 
 formed a veritable triumvirate, which was incessantly conspiring 
 against the perpetrators of all manner of crimes, to extirpate 
 rogues from Paris, and to procure for the inhabitants of this 
 immense city a perfect security. 
 
 So soon as I was installed in my new office of secret agent, 
 I commenced my rounds, in order to take my measures well for 
 setting effectually to work. These journeys, which occupied 
 me nearly twenty days, furnished me with many useful and 
 important observations, but as yet I was only preparing to act, and 
 studying my ground. 
 
 One morning I was hastily summoned to attend the chief of the 
 division. The matter in hand was to discover a man named 
 Watrin, accused of having fabricated and put in circulation 
 false moi|ey and bank notes. The inspectors of the police 
 had already arrested Watrin, but, according to custom, had 
 allowed him to escape. M. Henry gave me every direction 
 '.vhich he deemed likely to assist me in the search after him ; but 
 unfortunately he had only gleaned a few simple particulars of his 
 usual habits and customary haunts ; every place he was known to 
 frequent was freely pointed out to me ; but it was not very likely 
 he would be found in those resorts which prudence would call 
 upon him carefully to avoid ; there remained, therefore, only a 
 chance of reaching him by some by-path. When I learnt that he 
 had left his effects in a furnished house, where he once lodged, 
 on the boulevard of Mont Parnasse, I took it for granted that, 
 sooner or later, he would go there in search of his property ; or at 
 least that he would send some person to fetch it from thence ; con- 
 
WATRIN. 265 
 
 sequently, I directed all my vigilance to this spot ; and after 
 having reconnoitered the house, I lay in ambush in its vicinity 
 night and day, in order to keep a watchful eye upon all comers 
 and goers. This went on for nearly a week, when, weary of not 
 observing anything, I determined upon engaging the master of the 
 house in my interest, and to hire an apartment of him, where I 
 accordingly established myself with Annette, certain that my 
 presence could give rise to no suspicion. I had occupied this 
 post for about fifteen days, when one evening, at eleven o'clock, 
 I was informed that VVatrin had just come, accompanied by 
 another person. Owing to a slight indisposition, I had retired to 
 bed earlier than usual ; however, at this news I rose hastily, and 
 descended the staircase by four stairs at a time : but whatever 
 diligence I might use, I was only just in time to catch Watrin's 
 companion ; him I had no right to detain, but I made myself sure 
 that I might, by intimidation, obtain farther particulars from him. 
 I therefore seized him, threatened him, and soon drew from him a 
 confession that he was a shoemaker, and that Watrin lived with 
 him, No. 4, Rue des Mauvais Galons. This was all I wanted to 
 know : I had only had time to slip an old great coat over 
 my shirt, and without stopping to put on more garments, I hurried 
 on to the place thus pointed out to me. I reached the house at 
 the very instant that some person was quitting it : persuaded that 
 it was Watrin, I attempted to seize him ; he escaped from me, and 
 I darted after him up a staircase ; but at the moment of grasping 
 him, a violent blow, which struck my chest, drove me down twenty 
 stairs. I sprung forward again, and that so quickly, that to escape 
 from my pursuit he was compelled to return into the house through 
 a sash window. I then knocked loudly at the door, summoning 
 him to open it without delay. This he refused to do. I then de- 
 sired Annette (who had followed me) to go in search of the guard, 
 and whilst she was preparing to obey me, I counterfeited the noise 
 of a man descending the stairs. Watrin, deceived by this feint, 
 \vas anxious to satisfy himself whether I had actually gone, and 
 softly put his head out of window to observe if all was safe. This 
 was exactly what I wanted. I made a vigorous dart forwards, and 
 seized him by the hair of his head : he grasped me in the same 
 manner, and a desperate struggle took place ; jammed against the 
 partition wall which separated us, he opposed me with a deter- 
 mined resistance. Nevertheless, I felt that he was growing 
 weaker ; I collected all my strength for a last effort ; I strained 
 every nerve, and drew him nearly out of the window through 
 which we were struggling : one more trial and the victory was 
 mine ; but in the earnestness of my grasp we both rolled on the 
 
266 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 passage floor, on to which I had pulled him : to rise, snatch from 
 his hands the shoemaker's cutting-knife with which he had armed 
 himself, to bind him, and lead him out of the house, was the work 
 of an instant. Accompanied only by Annette, I conducted him 
 to the prefecture, where I received the congratulations first of M. 
 Henry, and afterwards those of the prefect of police, who be- 
 stowed on me a pecuniary recompense. Watrin was a man of 
 unusual address ; he followed a coarse clumsy business, and yet 
 he had given himself up to making counterfeit money, which re- 
 quired extreme delicacy of hand. Condemned to death, he ob- 
 tained a reprieve the very hour that was destined for his execution; 
 the scaffold was prepared, he was taken down from it, and the 
 lovers of such scenes experienced a disappointment All Paris 
 remembers it. A report was in circulation that he was about to 
 make some very important discoveries; but as he had nothing to 
 reveal, a few days afterwards he underwent his sentence. 
 
 Watrin was my first capture, and an important one too j this 
 successful beginning awoke the jealousy of the peace-officers, as 
 well as those under my orders ; all were exasperated against me, 
 but in vain ; they could not forgive me for being more successful 
 than themselves. The superiors, on the contrary, were highly 
 pleased with my conduct, and I redoubled my zeal to render 
 myself still more worthy their confidence. 
 
 About this period a vast number of counterfeit five-franc pieces 
 had got into general circulation ; several of them were shown to 
 me ; whilst examining them, I fancied I could discover the work- 
 manship of Bouhin (who had informed against me) and o"f his 
 friend, Dr. Terrier. I resolved to satisfy my mind as to the truth 
 of this ; and, in consequence of this determination, I set about 
 watching the steps of these two individuals; but, as I durst not 
 follow them too closely, lest they might recognise me, and mis- 
 trust my observation, it was difficult for me to obtain the intelli- 
 gence I wanted. Nevertheless, by dint of unwearied perseverance, 
 I arrived at the certainty of my not having mistaken the matter, 
 and the two coiners were arrested in the very act of fabricating 
 their base coin ; they were shortly after condemned and executed 
 for it. It has been publicly asserted, in consequence of a report 
 set on foot by the inspectors of the police, that Dr. Terrier had 
 been led away by me, and that I had in a manner placed in his 
 hands the instruments of his crime. 
 
 Let the reader remember the reply which this man made to 
 me, when, at Bouhin's house, I sought to persuade him to 
 renounce his guilty industry, and he will judge whether Terrier 
 was a man to allow himself to be drawn away. 
 
ST. G&RMAIN AND BOUDIN. 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 St. Germain proposes to me a murder The plunderers The grandson of 
 Cartouche Annette again aids me Attempt to rob the house of a banker 
 I am said to be killed Arrest of St. Germain and Boudin. 
 
 IN so populous a capital as that of Paris, there are usually a vast 
 many places of bad resort, at which assemble persons of broken 
 fortune and ruined fame. In order to judge of them under my 
 own eye, I frequented every house and street of ill-fame, some- 
 times under one disguise and sometimes under another ; assuming, 
 indeed, all those rapid changes of dress and manner which indi- 
 cated a person desirous of concealing himself from the observation 
 of the police, till the rogues and thieves whom I daily met there 
 firmly believed me to be one of themselves; persuaded of my 
 being a runaway, they would have been cut to pieces before I 
 should have been taken ; for, not only had I acquired their fullest 
 confidence, but their strongest regard ; and so much did they 
 respect my situation as a fugitive galley-slave, that they would not 
 even propose to me to join in any of their daring schemes, lest it 
 might compromise my safety. All, however, did not exercise this 
 delicacy, as will be seen hereafter. Some months had passed 
 since I commenced my secret investigations, when chance threw 
 in my way St. Germain, whose visits had so often rilled me with 
 consternation. He had with him a person named Boudin, whom 
 I had formerly seen as a restaurateur in Paris, in the Rue dea 
 Prouvaires, and of whom I knew no more than that trifling 
 acquaintance which arose from my occasionally exchanging my 
 money for his dinners. He, however, seemed easily to recollect 
 me, and, addressing me with a bold familiarity, which my deter- 
 mined coolness seemed unable to subdue, 'Pray,' said he, ' have I 
 been guilty of any offence towards you, that you seem so resolved 
 upon cutting me ?' * By no means, sir,' replied I ; ' but I have 
 been informed that you have been in the service of the police.' 
 * Oh, oh, is that all ?' cried he ; ' never mind that, my boy ; 
 suppose I have, what then ? I had my reasons ; and when I tell 
 you what they were, I am quite sure you will not bear me any ill- 
 will for it.' 'Come, come,' said St. Germain, 'I must have you 
 good friends. Boudin is an excellent fellow, and I will answer 
 for his honour, as I would do for my own. Many a thing happens 
 in life we should never have dreamt of, and if Boudin did accept 
 the situation you mention, it was but to save his brother ; besides, 
 you must feel satisfied, that were his principles such as a gentle- 
 man ought not to possess, why, you would not find him in my 
 company.' I was much amused with this excellent reasoning, as 
 
268 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 well as with the pledge given for Boudin's good faith ; h wever, I 
 no longer sought to avoid the conversation of Boudin. It was 
 natural enough that St. Germain should relate to me all that had 
 happened to him since his last disappearance, which had given 
 me such pleasure. 
 
 After complimenting me on my flight, he informed me that 
 after my arrest he had recovered his employment, which he, how- 
 ever, was not fortunate enough to keep ; he lost it a second time, 
 and had since been compelled to trust to his wits to procure a 
 subsistence. I requested he would tell me what had become of 
 Blondy and Deluc. 'What?' said he, 'the two who slit the 
 waggoner's throat? Oh, why the guillotine settled their business 
 at Beauvais.' When I learnt that these two villains had at length 
 reaped the just reward of their crimes, I experienced but one 
 regret, and that was, that the heads of their worthless accomplices 
 had not fallen on the same scaffold. 
 
 After we had sat together long enough to empty several bottles 
 of wine, we separated. At parting, St. Germain, having observed 
 that I was but meanly clad, inquired what I was doing, and as I 
 carelessly answered that at present I had no occupation, he 
 promised to do his best for me, and to push my interest the first 
 opportunity that offered I suggested that, as I very rarely 
 ventured out for fear of being arrested, we might not possibly 
 meet again for some time. 'You can see me whenever you 
 choose,' said he ; 'I shall expect that you will call on me 
 frequently.' Upon my promise to do so, he gave me his address, 
 without once thinking of asking for mine. 
 
 St. Germain was no longer an object of such excessive terror as 
 formerly in my eyes ; I even thought it my interest to keep him in 
 sight, for if I applied myself to scrutinising the actions of 
 suspicious persons, who better than he called for the most vigilant 
 attention ? In a word, I resolved upon purging society of such a 
 monster. Meanwhile, I waged a determined war with all the 
 crowd of rogues who infested the capital. About this time 
 robberies of every species were multiplying to a frightful extent ; 
 nothing was talked of but stolen palisades, out-houses broken 
 open, roofs stripped of their lead; more than twenty reflecting 
 lamps were successively stolen from the Rue Fontaine au Roi, 
 without the plunderers being detected. For a whole month the 
 inspectors had been lying in wait in order to surprise them, and 
 the first night of their discontinuing their vigilance the same 
 depredations took place. In this state, which appeared like 
 setting tho police at defiance, I accepted the task which none 
 seemed aHe to accomplish, and in a very short time I was 
 
A PROPOSAL OF MURDER. 269 
 
 enabled to bring the whole band of these shameless plunderers to 
 public justice, which immediately consigned them to the galleys. 
 
 Each day increased the number of my discoveries. Of the 
 many who were committed to prison, there were none who did 
 not owe their arrest to me, and yet not one of them, for a moment 
 suspected my share in the business. I managed so well, that 
 neither within nor without its walls had the slightest suspicion 
 transpired. The thieves of my acquaintance looked upon me as 
 their best friend and true comrade ; the others esteemed them- 
 selves happy to have an opportunity of initiating me in their 
 secrets, whether from the pleasure of conversing with me, or in the 
 hope of Benefiting by my counsels. It was principally beyond 
 the barriers that I met with these unfortunate beings. One day 
 that I was crossing the outer Boulevards, I was accosted by St. 
 Germain, who was still accompanied by Boudin. They invited 
 me to dinner. I accepted the proposition, and over a bottle of 
 wine they did me the honour to propose that I should make a 
 third in an intended murder. 
 
 The matter in hand was to despatch two old men who lived 
 together in the house which Boudin had formerly occupied in the 
 Rue des Prouvaires. Shuddering at the confidence placed in 
 me by these villains, I yet blessed the invisible hand which had 
 led them to seek my aid. At first I affected some scruples at 
 entering into the plot, but at last feigned to yield to their lively 
 and pressing solicitations, and it was agreed that we should wait the 
 favourable moment for putting into execution this most execrable 
 project. This resolution taken, I bade farewell to St. Germain 
 and his companion, and (decided upon preventing the meditated 
 crime) hastened to carry a report of the affair to M. Henry, who 
 sent me without loss of time to obtain more ample details of 
 the discovery I had just made to him. His intention was to 
 satisfy himself whether I had been really solicited to take part 
 in it, or whether, from a mistaken devotion to the cause of justice, 
 I had endeavoured to instigate those unhappy men to an act 
 which would render them amenable to it I protested that I had 
 adopted no such expedient, and as he discovered marks of truth 
 in my manner and declaration, he expressed himself satisfied. He 
 did not, however, omit to impress on me the following discourse 
 upon instigating agents, which penetrated my very heart. Ah, 
 why was it not also heard by those wretches who since the Revolu- 
 tion have made so many victims ! The renewed era of legitimacy 
 would not then in some circumstances have recalled the bloody 
 days of another epoch. ' Remember well,' said M. Henry to me 
 in conclusion, 'remember that the greatest scourge of society is 
 
270 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 he who urges another on to the commission of evil. Where there 
 are no instigators to bad practices, they are committed only by the 
 really hardened, because they alone are capable of conceiving and 
 executing them. Weak beings may be drawn away and excited : 
 to precipitate them into the abyss, it frequently requires no more 
 than to call to your aid their passions or self-love ; but he who 
 avails himself of their weakness to procure their destruction, is 
 more than a monster he is the guilty one, and it is on his head 
 tl-.at the sword of justice should fall. As to those engaged in the 
 police, they had better remain for ever idle than create matter for 
 employment. 
 
 Although this lesson was not required in my case, yet I thanked 
 M. Henry for it, who enjoined me not to lose sight of the two 
 assassins, and to use every means in my power to prevent their 
 arriving at the completion of their diabolical plan. ' The police,' 
 said he, * is instituted as much to correct and punish malefactors, 
 as to prevent their committing crimes ; but on every occasion I 
 would wish it to be understood that we hold ourselves under 
 greater obligations to that person who prevents one crime, than to 
 him who procures the punishment of many.' Conformably with 
 these instructions, I did not allow a single day to pass without 
 seeing St. Germain and his friend Boudin. As the blow they 
 meditated was to procure them a considerable quantity of gold, 
 I concluded that I might, without overacting my part, affect a 
 degree of impatience about it. ' Well,' said I to them every time 
 we met, 'and when is this famous affair to take place?' 'When!' 
 replied St. Germain; 'the fruit is not yet ripe; when the right 
 time comes,' added he, pointing to Boudin, ' my friend there will 
 let you know.' Already had several meetings taken place, and yet 
 nothing was decidedly arranged ; once more I hazarded the usual 
 question. ' Ah ! ah ! ' said St. Germain, ' my good friend, now I 
 can satisfy your natural curiosity ; we have fixed upon to-morrow 
 evening, and only waited for you to deliberate upon the best way 
 of going to work.' The meeting was fixed a little way out of Paris. 
 I was punctual to the time and place, nor did St. Germain keep 
 me waiting. ' Hark ye,' said he, ' we have reflected upon this 
 affair, and find that it cannot be put into execution for the present. 
 We have, however, another to propose to you ; and I warn you, 
 you must say at once, without any equivocation, ' yes ' or ' no.' 
 Before we enter upon the object of my coming hither, it is but 
 fair I should let you into a little confidential story respecting 
 yourself, which was told to me by one Carre", who knew you at La 
 Force. The tale runs, that you only escaped its walls upon con- 
 dition of serving the police as its secret agent !' 
 
A CHANGE OF PLANS. 271 
 
 At the words * secret agent,' a feeling almost approaching; 
 to suffocation stole over me, but I quickly rallied upon per- 
 ceiving that, however true the report might be, it had obtained 
 but little faith with St. Germain, who was evidently waiting for 
 my explanation or denial of it, without once* suspecting its. 
 reality. My ever-ready genius quickly flew to my aid, and with- 
 out hesitation I replied, 'that I was not much surprised at the 
 charge, and for the simple reason that I myself had been the 
 first to set the rumour afloat' St. Germain stared with wonder. 
 'My good fellow,' said I, 'you are well aware that I managed 
 to escape from the police whilst they were transferring me from La 
 Force to Bicetre. Well, I went to Paris and stayed there till 
 I could go elsewhere. One must live, you know, how and 
 where one can Unfortunately, I am still compelled to play at 
 hide and seek, and it is only by assuming a variety of disguises 
 that I dare venture abroad, to look about and just see what my 
 old friends are doing ; but in spite of all my precautions, I live 
 in constant dread of many individuals, whose keen eye quickly 
 penetrated my assumption of other names and habits than my 
 own ; and who, having formerly been upon terms of familiarity 
 with me, pestered me with questions I had no other means of 
 shaking off, by insinuating that I was in the pay of the police ; 
 and thus I obtained the double advantage of evading in my 
 character of "spy " both their suspicions and ill-will, should they 
 feel disposed to exercise it in the procuring my arrest.' 
 
 'Enough enough,' interrupted St. Germain; ' I believe you; 
 and, to convince you of the unbroken confidence I place 
 in you, I will let you into the secret of our plans for to-night. 
 At the corner of the Rue d'Enghein, where it joins the Rue 
 Hautville, lives a banker, whose house looks out upon a very 
 extensive garden; a circumstance greatly in favour both of our 
 expedition and our escape after its completion. This same 
 banker is now absent, and the cash-box, in which is a consider- 
 able sum in specie, besides bank-notes, etc., is only guarded by 
 two persons. Well, you can guess the rest. We mean to make 
 it our own, by the law of possession, this very evening. Three 
 of us are bound by oath to do the job, which will turn out so 
 profitably. But we want another; and now that you have cli -.red 
 your character and given scandal the lie, you shall make the fourth. 
 Come, no refusal ; we reckon on your company and assistance, 
 and if you refuse you are a regular set down sneak.' 
 
 I was as eager in accepting the invitation, as St. Germain could 
 possibly be in giving it ; both Boudin and himself seemed much 
 pleased with my zeal. Who my remaining coadjutor was I knew 
 
272 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 not, but my surmises on the subject were soon settled by the 
 arrival of a man, a perfect stranger to myself, named Debenne. 
 He was the driver of a cabriolet, the father of a large family, and 
 a man who, more from weak than bad principles, had allowed 
 himself to be seduced by the temptations of his guilty companions. 
 Whilst a mixed conversation was going on between them, my 
 thoughts were busily at work upon the best method of causing 
 them to be taken in the very act they were then discussing. What 
 was my consternation to hear St. Germain, at the moment we all 
 rose to pay our score, address us in these words : 
 
 * My friends, when a man runs his neck into the compass of a 
 halter, it behoves him to keep a sharp lookout. We have this day 
 decided upon playing a dangerous, but, as I take it, a sure game ; 
 and in order that the chance may be in our favour, I have deter- 
 mined upon the following measure, which I think you will -all 
 approve. About midnight, all four of us will obtain access into 
 the house in question. Boudin and myself will undertake to 
 manage the inside work, whilst you two remain in the garden* 
 ready to second us in case of surprise. This undertaking, if 
 successful, will furnish us with the means of living at our ease for 
 some time ; but it concerns our mutual safety, that we should not 
 quit each other till the hour for putting our plan into execution.' 
 
 This finale, which I feigned not to hear, was repeated a second 
 time, and filled me with a thousand fears that I might not be able 
 to withdraw myself from the affair, as I had intended. What was 
 to be done ? St. Germain was a man of uncommon daring, eager 
 for money, and always ready to purchase it either with his own 
 blood or that of others ; however, as yet it was but ten o'clock in 
 the morning ; I hoped that, during the long interval between that 
 hour and midnight, some opportunity would present itself of 
 dexterously stealing away and giving information to the police. 
 Meanwhile, 1 made not the slightest objection to the proposition of 
 St. Germain, which was indeed the best pledge we could separately 
 have of the good faith of the others. When he perceived that we 
 were all agreed, St. Germain, who, by his energy, his talents for 
 plotting and carrying his schemes into execution, was the real head 
 of the conspiracy, expressed his satisfaction, and added farther 
 * This unanimity is what I like ; and I beg to say, that, for myself, 
 1 will leave nothing undone to merit the continuance of so flatter- 
 ing a consent to my wishes and opinions.' 
 
 It was agreed that we should take a hackney-coach, and proceed 
 together to his house, situate in the Rue St. Antoine. Arrived there, 
 we ascended into his chamber, where he was to keep us under lock 
 and key until the instant of departure. Confine^ between four 
 
ANXIOUS MOMENTS. 273 
 
 walls, in close converse with these robbers. I knew not what saint 
 to invoke, or what pretext to invent, to effect my escape. St. 
 Germain would have blown out my brains at the least suspicion , 
 and how to act or what was to be done, I knew not My only plan 
 was to resign myself to the event, be it what it might ; and this 
 determination taken, I affected to busy myself with the preparations 
 for our crime, the very sight of which redoubled my perplexity and 
 horror. Pistols were laid on the table, in order to have the charges 
 drawn and to be properly reloaded. Whilst they underwent a 
 strict scrutiny St Germain remarked a pair which seemed to him 
 no longer able ' to do the state any service ;' he laid them aside 
 1 Here,' said he, ' these toothless barkers will never do ; whilst the 
 rest of you are loading and priming your batteries, I will get these 
 changed for others more likely to aid our purpose.' As he was 
 preparing to quit the room, I bade him to remember that, accord- 
 ing to our contract, none of us could quit the place without being 
 accompanied by a second. * Right quite right,' replied he ; * I 
 like people not only to make, but to keep engagements ; so come 
 with me.'' But,' said I, ' these other two gentlemen ? ' Oh !' 
 laughed St Germain, * they shall be kept out of harm's way till our 
 return ; ' so saying, he very coolly double-locked the door upon 
 them, and then, taking me by the arm, led me to a shop from which 
 he generally supplied himself with what he required for his various 
 expeditions. Upon the present occasion he purchased some balls, 
 powder, flints, exchanged the old pistols for new ones, and then, 
 declaring his business completed, returned with me to his house. 
 On entering, I felt a fresh thrill of horror, from perceiving how ear- 
 nestly and yet calmly the wretch Boudin was occupied in sharpen- 
 ing two large dinner knives on a hone ; the sight froze my blood, 
 and I turned away in disgust. 
 
 Meanwhile the time was passing away ; one o'clock struck, and 
 no expedient of safety had yet presented itself. I yawned and 
 stretched, feigning weariness, and going into an apartment adjoin- 
 ing the one in which we had assembled, threw myself on a bed, as 
 if in search of repose ; after a few instants, I appeared still more 
 fidgety with this indolence, and I could perceive that the others 
 were not less so than myself. * Suppose we have a glass of some- 
 thing to cheer us,' cried St. Germain. 'An excellent idea,' I replied, 
 almost leaping for joy at the unexpected opening it seemed likely 
 to afford my scheme ; ' a most capital thought and by way of 
 helping it, if you can manage to send to my house, you may have 
 a glass of burgundy, such as cannot be met with every day.' All 
 declared the thought a most seasonable relief to the ennui which 
 was beginning to have hold of them now that all their work of pre- 
 
 18 
 
274 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 paration was at an end ; and St. Germain without further delay, 
 despatched his porter to Annette, who was requested to bring the 
 promised treat herself. It was agreed that nothing relative to our 
 plan should be uttered before her ; and whilst my three companions 
 were indulging in rough jokes upon the unexpected pleasure thus 
 offered them, I carelessly resumed my place on the bed, and whilst 
 there traced with a pencil these few lines ' When you leave this 
 place, disguise yourself, and do not for an instant lose sight of 
 myself, St. Germain, or Boudin. Be careful to avoid all observ- 
 ation; and, above all, be sure to pick up anything I may let 
 fall, and to convey it as directed.' Short as was this hurried 
 instruction, it was, I knew, sufficient for Annette, who had frequently 
 received similar directions, and I felt quite assured that she would 
 comprehend it in its fullest sense. It was not long before she 
 joined us, bringing with her the basket of wine Her appearance 
 was the signal for mirth and gaiety. She was complimented by 
 all ; and as for myself, under the semblance of thanking her for 
 her ready attendance with an embrace, I managed to slip the billet 
 into her hand ; she understood me, took leave of the company, 
 and left me far happier than I had felt an hour before. 
 
 We made a hearty dinner, after which I suggested the idea of 
 going alone with St. Germain to reconnoitre the scene of action, in 
 order to be provided with the means of guarding against any 
 accident. As this seemed merely the counsel of a prudent man, it 
 excited no suspicion ; the only difference in his opinion and mine 
 was, that I proposed taking a hackney-coach, whilst he judged it 
 better to walk. When we reached the part he considered most 
 favourable for scaling, he pointed it out to me ; and I took care to 
 observe it so well, that I could easily describe it to another, with- 
 out fear of any mistake arising. This done, St. Germain recollected 
 that we had all better cover our faces with black crape, and we 
 proceeded towards the Palais Royal, for the purpose of buying 
 some ; and whilst he was in a shop, examining the different sorts, I 
 managed to scrawl hastily on paper every particular and direction 
 which might enable the police to interfere and prevent the crime. 
 St. Germain, whose vigilance never relaxed, and who had as much 
 as possible kept his eye on me with calm scrutiny, conducted me 
 10 a public-house, where we refreshed ourselves with some beer ; 
 quitting this place, we walked again homewards, without my having 
 been enabled to dispose of the billet I had written ; when, just as 
 we were re-entering his odious den of crimes, my eye caught sight 
 of Annette, who, disguised in a manner that would have effectually 
 deceived every other but myself, was on the watch for our return. 
 Convinced that she had recognised me, I managed to drop my 
 
RENDEZVOUS. 275 
 
 paper as I crossed the threshold ; and, relieved in a great measure 
 of many of my former apprehensions I committed myself to my 
 fate. As the terrible hour for the fulfilment of our scheme 
 approached, I became a prey to a thousand terrors. Spite of the 
 warning I had sent through Annette, the police might be tardy in 
 obeying its directions, and might, perhaps, arrive too late to prevent 
 the consummation of the crime. Should I at once avow myself, 
 and in my real character arrest St. Germain and his accomplices ? 
 Alas ! what could I do against three powerful men, rendered 
 furious by revenge and desperation ? And, besides, had 1 even 
 succeeded in my attempt, who could say that I might be believed, 
 when I denied all participation with them, except such as was to 
 further the ends of justice ? Instances rose to my recollection, where, 
 under similar circumstances, the police had abandoned its agents, 
 or, confounding them with the guilty wretches with whom they had 
 mingled, refused to acknowledge their innocence. I was in all 
 the agony of such reflections, when St. Germain roused me, by 
 desiring I would accompany Debenne, whose cabriolet was destined 
 to receive the expected treasure of money-bags, and was for that 
 purpose to be stationed at the corner of the street. We went out 
 together, and, as I looked around me, I again met the eye of my 
 faithful Annette, whose glance satisfied me that all my commissions 
 had been attended to. Just then, Debenne inquired of me the 
 place of rendezvous. I know not what good genius suggested to 
 me the idea of saving this unhappy creature. I had observed that 
 he was not wicked at heart, and that he seemed rather drawn to- 
 wards the abyss of guilt by want and bad advice, than by any 
 natural inclination for crime. I hastily assigned to him a post, 
 away from the spot which had been agreed on ; and, happy in 
 having saved him from the snare, rejoined St Germain and Boudin 
 at the angle of the Boulevard St. Denis. It was now about half- 
 past ten, and I gave them to understand that the cabriolet would 
 require some time in getting ready ; that I had given orders to 
 Debenne, that he should take his station in the corner of the Rue 
 du Faubourg Poissonniere, ready to hasten up at the slightest 
 signal. I observed to them, that the sight of a cabriolet too near 
 to the place of our labours might awaken suspicion ; and they 
 agreed in thinking my precautions wisely taken. 
 
 Eleven o'clock struck we took a glass together in the Fau- 
 bourg St. Denis, and then directed our steps towards the banker's 
 habitation. The tranquillity of Boudin and his infamous associate 
 had something in it almost fiend-like : they walked coolly along, 
 each wiih his pipe in his mouth, which was only removed to hum 
 over so n /v' loose song. 
 
276 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 At last we arrived at the part of the garden wall it had been de- 
 termined to scale, by means of a large post, which would serve as 
 a ladder St. Germain demanded my pistols ; my heart began 
 to beat violently, for I fully expected that, having by some ill 
 chance penetrated my real share in the affair, he meant that I 
 should answer for it with my life ; resistance would have been use- 
 less, and I put them into his hands ; but, to my extreme relief, he 
 merely opened the pan, changed the priming, and returned them 
 to me. After having performed a similar operation on his own 
 p/stols and those of Boudin, he set the example of climbing "the 
 post ; Boudin followed ; and both of them, without interrupting 
 their smoking, sprung into the garden : it became my turn to follow 
 them : trembling, I reached the top of the wall ; all my former 
 apprehensions crowded back upon me. Had the police yet had 
 time to lay their ambuscade ? Might not St Germain have pre- 
 ceded them ? These and a thousand similar questions agitated 
 my mind. My feelings were, however, wrought up to so high a 
 pitch, that, in the midst of such a moment of cruel suspense, I 
 determined on one measure, namely, to prevent the commission 
 of the crime, though I sank in the unequal struggle. However, 
 St. Germain, seeing me still sitting astride on the top of the wall, 
 and becoming impatient at my delay, cried out, * Come, come 
 down with you.' Scarcely had he said the words, than he was 
 vigorously attacked by a number of men. Boudin and himself 
 offered a desperate resistance. A brisk firing commenced the 
 balls whistled and, after a combat of some minutes, the two 
 assassins were seized, though not before several of the police had 
 been wounded. St. Germain and his companion were likewise 
 much hurt. For myself, as I took no part in the engagement, I 
 was not likely to come to any harm : nevertheless, that I might 
 sustain my part to the end, I fell on the field of battle, as though 
 I had been mortally wounded. The next instant I was wrapped 
 in a covering, and in this manner conveyed to a room where 
 Boudin and St. Germain were; the latter appeared deeply touched 
 at my death ; he shed tears, and it was necessary to employ force 
 to remove him from what he believed to be my corpse. 
 
 St. Germain was a man of about five feet eight inches high, 
 with strongly developed muscles, an enormous head, and very 
 small eyes, half closed, like those of an owl ; his face, deeply 
 marked with the small-pox, was extremely plain ; and yet, from 
 the quickness and vivacity of his expression, he was by many 
 persons considered pleasing. In describing his features, a strong 
 resemblance would suggest itself to those of the hyena and the 
 wolf, particularly if the attention were directed to his immensely 
 
A NECESSARY EVIL. 277 
 
 wide jaws, furnished with large projecting fangs ; his very organi- 
 zation partook of the animal instinct common to beasts of prey ; 
 he was passionately fond of hunting ; the sight of blood exhilarated 
 him : his other passions were gaming, women, and good eating and 
 drinking. As he had acquired the air and manners of good society, 
 he expressed himself when he chose with ease and fluency, and 
 was almost always fashionably and elegantly dressed; he might be 
 styled a ' well-bred thief When his interest required it, no person 
 could better assume the pleasant mildness of an amiable man ; at 
 other times he was abrupt and brutal. His comrade Boudin was 
 diminutive in stature, scarcely reaching five feet two inches ; thin, 
 with a livid complexion ; his eyes dark and piercing, and deeply 
 sunk in his head. The habit of wielding the carving-knife, and 
 of cutting up meat, had rendered him ferocious. He was bow- 
 legged ; a deformity I have observed among several systematic 
 assassins, as well as among many other individuals distinguished 
 by their crimes. 
 
 I cannot remember any event of my life which afforded me 
 more real satisfaction than the taking of these two villains. I ap- 
 plauded myself for having delivered society from two monsters, at 
 the same time that I esteemed myself fortunate in having saved 
 Debemne from the fate which would have befallen him, had he 
 been taken with them. However, the share of self-satisfaction 
 produced by the feeling of having been instrumental in rescuing a 
 fellow-creature from destruction, was but a slight compensation for 
 the misery I experienced at being in a manner compelled by the 
 stern duties of the post I filled, either to send a fresh succession 
 of victims to ascend the scaffold, or to mount it myself. The 
 quality of * secret agent ' preserved, it is true, my liberty, and 
 shielded me from the dangers to which, as a fugitive galley-slave, 
 I was formerly exposed ; true, I was no longer subjected to the 
 many terrors which had once agitated me : but still I was not 
 pardoned : and until that happy event took place the liberty I en- 
 joyed was but a precarious possession, which the caprice o/ my 
 employers could deprive me of at any moment. Again, I was not 
 insensible to the general odium attached to the department I 
 filled Still, revolting as were its functions to my own choice and 
 mind, it was a necessary evil, and one from which there was no 
 escape. I therefore strove to reconcile myself to it by arguments 
 such as these : Was I not daily occupied in endeavouring to pro- 
 mote the welfare of society ? Was I not espousing the part of the 
 good and upright against the bad and vicious ? And should I by 
 these steps .draw down upon me the contempt of mankind ? I 
 went about dragging guilt from its hidden recesses, and unmasking 
 
278 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 its many schemes of blood and murder : and should I for this be 
 pointed out with the finger of scorn and hatred ? Attacking 
 thieves, even on the very theatre of their crimes, wresting from 
 them the weapons with which they had armed themselves, I 
 boldly dared their vengeance ; and did I for this merit to be de- 
 spised ? My reason became convinced ; and my mind, satisfied 
 with the upright motives which guided me, regained its calmness 
 and self-command ; and thus armed, I felt that I had courage to 
 dare the ingratitude and obloquy of an unjust opinion respecting 
 me and my occupation. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Tlie Inspectors betray me A receiver of stolen goods arrested by me. 
 THE thieves, who had experienced a temporary panic at the many 
 arrests which had successively fallen, with unexpected vengeance, 
 on many of their party, were not long in reappearing more numer- 
 ous and more audacious than' ever. Amongst their number were 
 several fugitive galley-slaves, who, having perfected in the Bagnes 
 a very dangerous sort of trade and ready invention, had come to 
 exercise it in Paris, where they soon rendered themselves dreaded 
 by all parties. The police, exasperated at their boldness, resolved 
 upon putting an end to their career. I was accordingly com- 
 manded to seek them out ; and farther orders were given to me, 
 to arrange a plan of action with the peace officers, by which they 
 might be at hand whenever I deemed it likely they could effect 
 the capture of any of these ruffians. It may be easily guessed how 
 difficult my task must be: however, I lost no time in visiting every 
 place of ill-fame, both in the metropolis and its environs. In a 
 very few days I had gained the knowledge of all the dens of vice 
 where I might be likely to meet with these wretches. The 
 barrier de la Courtille, those of the Combat and de Menilmontant, 
 were the places of most favourite resort ; they were, in a manner, 
 their headquarters, and woe to the agent who had shown himself 
 there, no matter for what reason ; he would assuredly have had 
 his brains beaten out. The gendarmes were equally in dread of 
 this well-known and formidable association, and carefully abstained 
 from approaching it. For my own part, I felt less timidity, and 
 ventured without hesitation into the midst of this herd of miserable 
 beings. I frequented their society ; I became to outward sem- 
 blance one of themselves ; and soon gained the advantage of 
 being treated with so much confidence as to be admitted to their 
 nocturnal meetings, where they openly discussed the crimes they 
 had committed, as well as those they meditated. I managed so 
 
'MEN OF CRIMES: 279 
 
 skilfully, that I easily drew from them the particulars of their own 
 abode, or that of the females with whom they cohabited. I may 
 go still farther, and assert, that so boundless was the confidence with 
 which I inspired them, that had any one of their members dared to 
 express the shadow of suspicion respecting me, he would have 
 been punished on the spot. In this manner I obtained every 
 requisite information ; so that, when I had once indicated any fit 
 object for arrest, his conviction and condemnation became matters 
 of course. My researches * intra muros ' were not less successful. 
 I frequented every tennis-court in the environs of the Palais-Royal, 
 the Hotel d'Angleterre, the boulevards of the Temple, and in fact 
 the whole city. Not a day passed in which I did not effect some 
 important discovery. Nothing escaped me, either relating to 
 crimes which had been committed, or were in contemplation. I 
 was in all places ; I knew all that was passing or projecting ; and 
 never were the police idly or unprofitably employed when set to 
 work upon my suggestions. 
 
 M. Henry openly expressed his surprise as well as satisfaction 
 at my zeal and success ; it was not so with many of the peace- 
 officers and sub-agents of police, for, little accustomed to the hard 
 duty and constant watchfulness my plans induced, they openly 
 murmured. Some of them, in their anxiety to be rid of the irk- 
 someness of my direction, were cowardly enough to betray the 
 secret of the disguise under favour of which I had so skilfully 
 manoeuvred This imprudent act drew down upon them severe 
 reprimands, without having the effect of making them more cir- 
 cumspect, or more devoted to the public good. 
 
 It will be readily understood that, associating as I constantly 
 did with the vilest and most abandoned, I must, as a matter of 
 course, be repeatedly invited to join in their acts of criminal 
 violence ; this I never refused at the moment of asking, but always 
 formed some plea for failing to attend the rendezvous for such pur- 
 poses These men of crimes were generally so absorbed in their 
 villainous machinations, that the most flimsy excuse passed current 
 with them : I may even say, that frequently it did not require the 
 trouble of an excuse to deceive them. Once arrested, they never 
 troubled themselves to find out by what means it had been effected ; 
 and had they even been more awake, my measures were laid too 
 ably for them to have arrived at the chance of suspecting me as 
 the author of it : indeed, I have often been accosted by some of 
 the gang to communicate the sorrowful tidings of the apprehension 
 of one of their number, as well as to beg my advice and assistance 
 in endeavouring to procure his release. 
 
 Nothing is more easy, when unce on good terms with a thieij 
 
28o MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 than to obtain a knowledge of the persons to whom he disposes 
 of his stolen property. Perhaps the recital of the means I adopted 
 to rid Paris of one of these dangerous characters may not be un- 
 interesting to the reader. 
 
 For many years the police had had its eye upon him, but as yet 
 had not been able to detect him in any positive act of delinquency. 
 His house had undergone repeated searches without any effect 
 resulting from the most diligent inquiry ; nothing of the most trifling 
 nature cruld be found to rise in evidence against him. Never- 
 theless, he was known to traffic with the thieves ; and many of 
 them, \\ ho were far from suspecting my connection with the police, 
 pointed him out to me as a staunch friend, and a man on whom 
 they could depend. These assertions respecting him were not 
 sufficient to effect his conviction ; it would be requisite to seize 
 him with the stolen articles in his possession, M. Henry had tried 
 every scheme to accomplish this ; but whether from stupidity on 
 the part of the agents employed by him, or the superior address of 
 the receiver of stolen property, all his plans had failed He was 
 desirous of trying whether I should be more successful I 
 willingly undertook the office, and arranged my plans in the 
 following manner. Posted near the house of the suspected dealer 
 in stolen property, I watched for his going out, and following him, 
 when he had gone a few steps down the street, addressed him by 
 a different name to his own. He assured me I was mistaken ; I 
 protested to the contrary : he insisted upon it I was deceived, and 
 I affected to be equally satisfied of his identity, declaring my 
 perfect recognition of his person as that of a man who for some 
 time had been sought after by the police throughout Paris and its 
 environs ' You are grossly mistaken,' replied he warmly. * My 
 name is so and so, and I live in such a street.' ' Come, come, 
 friend,' said I, ' excuses are useless. I know you too well to part 
 with you so easily.' ' This is too much,' cried he ; * but at the 
 next police-station I shall possibly be able to meet with those who 
 can convince you that I know my own name better than you seem 
 to do/ This was exactly the point at which I wished to arrive. 
 'Agreed,' said I ; and we bent our steps towards the neighbouring 
 guard-house. We entered, and I requested he would show me his 
 papers : he had none about him. I then insisted upon his being 
 searched, and on his person were found three watches and twenty- 
 five double Napoleons, which I caused to be laid aside till he 
 should be examined before a magistrate. These things had been 
 wrapped in a handkerchief, which I contrived to secure ; and after 
 having disguised myself as a messenger, I hastened to the house 
 of this receiver of stolen goods, and demanded to speak with his 
 
CONVICTION OF A RECEIVER. 281 
 
 wife. She, of course, had no idea of my business, or Knowledge 
 of my person ; and seeing several persons besides herself present, 
 I signified to her that, my business being of a private nature, it was 
 important that I should speak to her alone; and in token of my 
 claims to her confidence, produced the handkerchief, and inquired 
 vv lather she recognized it? Although still ignorant of the cause 
 of my visit, her countenance became troubled, and her whole 
 person was much agitated as she begged me to let her hear my 
 business. ' I am concerned,' replied I, ' to be the bearer of un- 
 pleasant news ; but the fact is, your husband has just been arrested, 
 everything found on his person has been seized, and from some 
 words which he happened to overhear, he suspects he has been 
 betrayed ; he therefore wishes you to remove out of the house 
 certain things you are aware would be dangerous to his safety if 
 found on the premises; if you please, I will lend you a helping 
 hand, but I must forewarn you that you have not one moment to 
 lose.' 
 
 The information was of the first importance ; the sight of the 
 handkerchief, and the description of the objects it had served to 
 envelope, removed from her mind every doubt as to the truth of 
 the message I had brought her, and she easily fell into the snare 
 I had laid to entrap her. She thanked me for the trouble I had 
 taken, and begged I would go and engage three hackney-coaches, 
 and return to her with a's little delay as possible. I left the house 
 to execute my commission ; but on the road I stopped to give one 
 of my people instructions to keep the coaches in sight, and to 
 seize them, with their contents, directly I should give the signal. 
 The vehicles drew up to the door, and upon re-entering the house, 
 I found things in a high state of preparation for removing. The 
 floor was strewed with articles of every description ; time-pieces, 
 candelabra, Etruscan vases, cloths, cachemires, linen, muslin, etc. 
 All these things had been taken from a closet, the entrance to 
 which was cleverly concealed by a large press, so skilfully con- 
 trived that the most practised eye could not have discovered the 
 deception. I assisted in the removal, and when it was completed, 
 the press having been carefully replaced, the woman begged of me 
 to accompany her, which I did, and no sooner was she in one of 
 the coaches, ready to start, than I suddenly pulled up the window, 
 and at this previously concerted signal, we were immediately sur- 
 rounded by the police. The husband and wife were tried at the 
 assizes, and, as may be easily conceived, were overwhelmed be- 
 neath the weight of an accusation, in support of which there 
 existed a formidable mass of convicting testimony. 
 
 Some persons may perhaps blame the expedient to which I had 
 
282 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 recourse, in order to free Paris from a receiver of stolen property 
 who had been for a long time a positive nuisance to the capital. 
 Whether it be approved of or not, I have at least the conscious- 
 ness of having done my duty ; besides, when we wish to overreach 
 .scoundrels who are at open war with society, every stratagem is 
 allowable by which to effect their conviction, except endeavouring 
 lo provoke the commission of crime. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Gueuvive's gang I pass for a fugitive galley-slave, and engage in a plot 
 against myself Robbery in the Rue Cassette Arrest of Gueuvive. 
 
 NEARLY about the same time in which the event mentioned in the 
 last chapter occurred, a gang had formed itself in the Faubourg St. 
 Germain, which was, more particularly, the scene of its exploits. 
 It was composed of individuals who acted under the guidance of 
 a captain named Gueuvive, alias Constantin, shortened by abbre- 
 viation into Antin ; for the same custom exists amongst thieves as 
 amongst bullies, spies, and informers, of being called only by the 
 last syllable of the Christian name. Gueuvive, or Antin, was a 
 fencing master, who, after having served as bully to the lowest 
 prostitutes, and for the humblest wages,, was completing in his 
 present character the many vicissitudes of his ill-spent life. It 
 was well known that he was capable of any action, however bad, 
 and although murder had never been proved against him, yet few 
 doubted his willingness to shed blood, if by so doing he could 
 reap the most trifling advantage. His mistress had been murdered 
 in the Champs Elyse'es, and suspicions were strongly directed 
 against him as the author of the crime. However this may be, 
 Gueuvive was a man of enterprising character, extreme boldness, 
 and possessed of the most unblushing effrontery ; at least, this was 
 the estimate formed of him by his companions, amongst whom he 
 enjoyed a more than common celebrity. 
 
 For some time the attention of the police had been directed to 
 this man and his associates, but without being enabled to secure 
 any of them, although each day teemed with fresh accounts of their 
 continued attacks upon the property of the citizens of Paris. At 
 length it was seriously resolved to put an end to the misdeeds of 
 these plunderers, and I received, in consequence, orders to go in 
 search of them, and to endeavour to take them in the very fact. 
 I accordingly provided myself with a suitable disguise, and that 
 very evening opened the campaign in the Faubourg St. Germain, 
 frequenting every place of ill-fame in it. About midnight, I went 
 to the house of a person named Boucher, in the Rue Neuve 
 
GUEUVIVE 283 
 
 Guillemain, where I took a glass of brandy with some common 
 girls ; and, whilst sitting with them, I heard the name of Con 
 stantin pronounced at the table adjoining mine. I at first 
 imagined he was present ; but upon cautiously questioning one of 
 the tfirls, she assured me he was not ; although, added she, 'he 
 seldom fails being here every day to meet his numerous friends.' 
 From the tone in which she spoke, I fancied I could perceive that 
 she was perfectly conversant with the habits of these gentry, and 
 in the hope of drawing further particulars from her, I invited her 
 to sup with me. The offer wis accepted, and by the time I had 
 well plied her with liquor, she gave me the information I required, 
 and with the more readiness as from my dress, actions, and ex- 
 pressions, she had set me down in her own mind as one of the 
 light-fingered brethren. We passed a part of the night together, 
 and I did not quit her till she had fully explained to me the 
 different haunts of Gueuvive. 
 
 The next day, at twelve o'clock, I repaired to the house of 
 Boucher, where I again met my companion of the preceding ni^ht. 
 I had scarcely entered when she saw me, and, immediately 
 addressing me, cried, ' Now is your time if you wish to speak with 
 Gueuvive he is here ;' and she pointed to an individual of from 
 twenty-eight to thirty years of age, neatly dressed, although but in 
 his waistcoat ; he was about five feet six inches high, extremely 
 good-looking, fine black hair and whiskers, regular teeth in fact, 
 precisely as he had been described to me ; without hesitation I 
 addressed him, requesting he would oblige me with a little tobacco 
 from his box. He examined me from head to foot, and inquired 
 * if I had served in the army.' I replied that I had been in an 
 hussar regiment, and soon over a glass of good drink we fell into a 
 deep conversation upon military affairs. 
 
 Time passed whilst we were thus engaged, and dinner was talked 
 of; Gueuvive declared that I should make one in a par y he had 
 been arranging, and that my company would afford him much 
 pleasure. It was not very probable I should refuse : I accepted 
 his invitation without farther ceremony; and we went away to- 
 gether to the Barriere du Maine, where four of his friends were 
 awaiting his arrival. We immediately sat down to the dinner- 
 table, and, as I was a stranger to all, the conversation was very 
 guarded. However, a few cant words which occasionally escaped 
 them soon served to convince me that all the members of this 
 charming society were cracksmen (thieves). 
 
 They were all very curious to h ar what I did for my living, and 
 T soon fudged a tale which satisfied them, and induced them not 
 only to suppose I came from the country, but likewise that I was 
 
284 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 a thief on the look-out for a job. I did not explicitly state these 
 particulars, but affecting certain peculiarities which betray the pro- 
 fession, I allowed them to perceive that I had great reasons for 
 wishing to conceal my person. 
 
 The wine was not spared, and so well did it loosen every 
 tongue, that before the close of the repast I had learned the abode 
 of Gueuvive, as well as that of his worthy coadjutor, Joubert, and 
 the names of many of their comrades. At the moment of our 
 separating I hinted that I did not exactly know where I should 
 procure a bed, and Joubert immediately offered to give me a 
 night's lodging with him, and conducted me to the Rue St. 
 Jaques, where he occupied a back room on the second floor; 
 there I shared with him the bed of his mistress, the girl Cornevin. 
 
 We conversed together for some time, and before we fell asleep, 
 Joubert overwhelmed me with questions ; his object was to sift out 
 my present mode of existence, what papers I had about me, etc 
 His curiosity appeared insatiable, and, in order to satisfy it, I con- 
 trived, either by a positive falsehood, or an equivocation, to lead 
 him to suppose me a brother thief. At last, as if he had guessed 
 my meaning, he exclaimed, * Come, do not beat about the bush 
 any longer ; I see how it is, you know you are a prig.' I feigned 
 not to understand these words ; he repeated them ; and I, 
 affecting to take offence, assured him that he was greatly mistaken, 
 and that if he indulged in similar jokes, I should be compelled to 
 withdraw from his company. Joubert was silenced, and nothing 
 farther was said till the next day at ten o'clock, when Gueuvive 
 came to awaken us. 
 
 It was agreed that we should go and dine at La Glaciere. On 
 the road Gueuvive took me aside and said, ' Hark ye, I see 
 you are a good fellow, and I am willing to do you a service if I 
 can ; do not be so reserved, then, but tell me who and what you 
 are.' Some hint I had purposely thrown out having induced him 
 to believe that I had escaped from the Bagne at Toulon, he recom- 
 mended me to observe a cautious prudence with my companions, 
 ' for though they are the best creatures living,' said he, * yet they 
 are rather fond of chattering.' 'Oh,' replied I, 'I shall keep a 
 sharp lookout, I promise you ; besides, Paris will never do for 
 me, I must be off; there are too many sneaking informers about 
 for me to be safe in it.' 'That's true,' added he, 'but if you can 
 keep Vidocq from guessing at your business, you are safe enough 
 with me, who can smell those beggars as easily as a crow scents 
 powder.' ' Well,' said I, ' I cannot boast of so much penetration, 
 yet I think, too, that from the frequent description I have heard 
 vf this Vidocq, his features are so well engraved in my recollection, 
 
WAYLAYING VIDOCQ. 285 
 
 that 1 should pretty soon recognise him, if I came unexpectedly 
 in his way.' ' God bless you !' cried he, * it is easy to perceive you 
 are a stranger to the vagabond : just imagine now, that he is never 
 to be seen twice in the same dress ; that he is in the morning 
 perhaps just such another looking person as you ; well, the next 
 hour so altered, that his own brother could not recognise him, and 
 b) the evening, I defy any man to remember ever having seen him 
 before. Only yesterday, I met him disguised in a manner that 
 would have deceived any eye but mine, but he must be a deep 
 hand if he gets over me ; I know these sneaks at the first glance, 
 and if my friends were as knowing as myself, his business would 
 have been done long ago ' ' Nonsense,' cried I ; * everybody says 
 the same thing of him, and yet you see there is no getting rid of 
 him.' 'You are right,' replied he, 'but to prove that I can act as 
 well as talk, if you will lend me a helping hand, this very evening 
 we will waylay him at his door, and 1 warrant we'll settle the job, 
 so as to keep him from giving any of us farther uneasiness.' 
 
 I felt curious to learn whether he really was acquainted with my 
 residence, and promised readily to join his scheme, and accordingly, 
 about the dusk of the evening, we each tied up in handkerchiefs a 
 number of heavy ten-sous pieces, in order to administer to this 
 scamp of a Vidocq a few effectual blows the moment he should 
 issue from his house. Having fastened the money in a hard 
 knot at the corner of our handkerchiefs, we set out; and Constantin, 
 who seemed just in the humour for the task he had undertaken, 
 led the way to the Rue Neuve St. Francois, and stopped before 
 a house, No. 14 my exact abode. I could not conceive how he 
 had procured my address, and must confess the circumstance gave 
 me great uneasiness, whilst it redoubled my wonder, that being so 
 well acquainted with my dwelling, he should appear to have so little 
 knowledge of my person. We kept watch for several hours, but 
 Vidocq, as may be well imagined, did not make his appearance j 
 Constantin was highly enraged at this disappointment, 'We must 
 give it up for to-night,' said he at length, 4 but the first time I meet 
 the rascal, by heavens he shall pay doubly for keeping me waiting 
 now.' 
 
 At midnight we retired, putting off the execution of our project 
 till the ensuing night. It was amusing enough to see me thus 
 assisting in laying an ambuscade for myself to be caught in. The 
 readiness with which I embarked in the scheme quite won the 
 good-will of Constantin, who from this moment treated me with 
 the greatest confidence ; he even invited me to make one in a 
 projected plan for robbing a house in the Rue Cassette. I agreed 
 tp join the party, but declared that I neither could nor would 
 
286 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 venture out in the night, without first going home for the necessary 
 papers which would serve me in case of our scheme failing, and 
 our getting into the hands of the police. ' In that case,' replied 
 he, ' you may as well just keep watch for us, whilst we do the job.' 
 At length the robbery took place, and as the night was excessively 
 dark, Constantin and his companions wishing to hurry faster than 
 the absence of all light permitted them, had the boldness to take 
 down a lamp from before a door, and to carry it before them. 
 Upon their return home, this watchlight was placed in the middle 
 of the room, whilst they seated themselves around it to examine 
 and divide their booty; in the midst of their exultation at the rith 
 results of their expedition, a sudden knocking was heard at the 
 door ; the robbers, surprised and alarmed, looked at each other in 
 silent dread. This was a surprise for which they were indebted to 
 me. Again the knocking was heard. Constantin, then, by a sign 
 commanding silence, said in a whisper, "Tis the police; I am sure 
 of it.' Amidst the confusion occasioned by these words, and the 
 increased knocking at the gate, I contrived, unobserved, to crawl 
 under a bed, where I had scarcely concealed myself when the 
 door was burst open, and a swarm of inspectors and other officers 
 of the police entered the room. A general search took place, even 
 the bed where the mistress of Joubert slept did not escape : they 
 struck their sticks both over and under the bed which served as 
 my hiding-place without discovering me, but that, of course, I was 
 prepared for. 
 
 The commissioner of the police drew up a proces-verbal, an 
 inventory of the stolen property, and it was packed off with the 
 five thieves to the prefecture. This operation completed, I quitted 
 my hiding-place, and found myself alone with the girl Cornevin, 
 who was all astonishment at my good fortune, the reason of which 
 she was far from suspecting. She urged me to remain where I 
 was. ' What are you thinking of?' said I. * Suppose the police 
 return ! No, no ; let me get away now the coast is clear, and I 
 promise to join you at 1'Estrapade.' I sought my own house to 
 procure the repose I so greatly needed, and at the hour agreed on, 
 went to fulfil my appointment with Cornevin, who was expecting 
 me. It was on her I depended to procure a complete list of all 
 the friends and associates of Joubert and Constantin ; and as I 
 stood rather high in her good graces, she soon furnished me with 
 the desired information ; so that in less than a fortnight, thanks to 
 an auxiliary I contrived to introduce amongst the gang, I suc- 
 ceeded in' causing them to be arrested in the very commission of 
 their crimes. There were eighteen in all. who, with Constantin, 
 were condemned to the galleys. 
 
GAFFRE. 287 
 
 At the moment when the chain to which they belonged was 
 about to set out, Constantin having perceived me, became per- 
 fectly furious, and broke out into the most violent imprecations 
 and invectives ; but, without feeling any offence at his gross and 
 vulgar appellations, I contented myself with approaching him and 
 saying coolly,* 'that it was very surprising how a man like him, who 
 knew Vidocq, and could boast of the precious faculty of " smelling 
 out an informer as far off as a crow scents powder," should have 
 allowed himself to be done in that manner.' This was a knock- 
 down blow to Constantin ; he could make no reply, but with an 
 air oi sullen confusion, turned away irom me and was silent. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 I trip up Gaffre Thief and spy incompatible trades Gnffre' again. 
 I WAS not long the only secret agent of the police of safety ; a Jew 
 named Gaffre was my coadjutor; he had been employed before 
 me by the police, but as our principles did not agree, we did not 
 long go on with harmony together. 
 
 Gaffre was the only secret agent with a salary. I was no sooner 
 united with him than he tried to get rid of me ; I pretended not 
 to see through his intention, and if he contemplated my destruc- 
 tion, I resolved on my side to defeat his plans. I had a dangerous 
 game to pla> : Gaffre was as. wily as a snake. When I knew him 
 he was called the high-priest of thieves. He had begun at eight 
 years of age, at eighteen he was whipped and marked on the Place 
 du Vieux-Marche', at Rouen. His mother, who was mistress of 
 the famous Flambard, chief of the police in that city, had en- 
 deavoured to save him : but although one of the handsomest 
 Jewesses of her time, the magistrates would grant nothing to her 
 charms: Gaffre was too culpable; Venus in person could not 
 have prevailed upon his judges. He was banished. However, 
 he did not quit France, and when the Revolution burst forth, he 
 was not slow in assuming the old course of his exploits in a band 
 Df chauffeurs, amongst whom he figured under the name of Caille. 
 
 Like the majority of his confederates, Gaffre had completed his 
 education in the prisons, and then he had became a universal 
 genius, that is to say, there was no species oi prigging in which he 
 was not fully expert. Contrary to custom, he adopted no special 
 or particular line of conduci ; he was essentially the man of the 
 moment ; nothing came amiss to him from cuffing a weasand to 
 draiving a pipe (assassination tc pocket picking). This general 
 aptitude, this variety of contrivance, had enabled him to amass a 
 
288 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 small sum. He had, as they say, shot in the locker, and could live 
 without working ; but people of Gaffre's profession are industrious, 
 and although he was liberally paid by the police, he kept on adding 
 to his accumulations the produce of some unlawful exactions, which 
 did not prevent him from being much considered in his quarter, 
 where, with his acolyte Francfort, another Jew, he had been named 
 captain of the national guard. 
 
 Gaffre was afraid that I should supplant him, but the old fox 
 was not cunning enough to hide his apprehensions ; I watched 
 him, and was not slow in discovering that he was manoeuvring to 
 get me into a snare. I appeared to be blindly led by him, and he 
 chuckled internally at his anticipated victory ; when, wishing to 
 catch me in a plot which I saw through, he was himself taken in 
 the net, and in the end shut up for eight months in the depot. 
 
 I never allowed GafTrd to surmise that I had suspected treachery, 
 and he continued to dissemble the hatred which he bore towards 
 me, and that so well, that we were apparently the best friends in 
 the world. 1 was on the same terms with many robbers who were 
 secret agents, and with whom I had associated during my deten- 
 tion. These latter detested me heartily, and although we kept 
 smiling countenances towards each other, they flattered themselves 
 that they should pay me off some day. Goupil, the Saint George 
 of pugilism, was amongst those who afforded me their friendship, 
 and, constantly attached to my person, filled the office of tempter; 
 but he was not more fortunate nor more adroit than Gaffre. Com- 
 pere, Manigant, Corvet, Bouthey, Leloutre, also tried to catch me 
 tripping : but I was invulnerable, thanks to the advice of M. 
 Henry. 
 
 Gaffr^, having recovered his liberty, did not renounce his design 
 of ruining me. With Manigant and Compere he plotted to get 
 me condemned ; but, persuaded that having once defeated him he 
 would not leave me, but return to the charge with vigour, I was 
 incessantly on my guard. I awaited him firmly, when one day 
 that a religious solemnity had attracted a vast crowd to Saint Roch, 
 he announced to me that he had orders to attend there with me. 
 ' I shall take Compere and Manigant with us,' he added, ' as we 
 learn that at this moment there are many strange robbers in Paris, 
 and they will point out to us all they know.' 'Take whom you 
 please.' I answered, and we set out. When we reached our destina- 
 tion, there was a considerable crowd ; the service that we were 
 upon did not require that we should all unite at one point. Mani- 
 gant and Gaffre went first. Suddenly, in the place they were, I 
 remarked an old man, who, by being pressed against a pillar, did 
 not know where to put his head; he did not cry out, from respect 
 
GAFFR& AND MANIGANT. 289 
 
 to the sacred place, but his whole person was disarranged and his 
 wig knocked awry ; he lost his footing ; his hat, which fell off, and 
 which he anxiously followed with his eyes, was rolled from place 
 to place, sometimes from and sometimes towards him. ' Gentle- 
 men, I beseech you, I beg of you,' were the only words which he 
 pronounced in a piteous tone ; and, holding in one hand a gold- 
 headed cane and in the other his snuffbox and pocket-handker- 
 chief, he shook his hands in the air, as if he would have reached 
 the ceiling with them. I found he had lost his watch, but what 
 could I do ? I was too far distant from the old gentleman; besides, 
 my advice would be too late ; and then Gaffre, was he not also a 
 witness of the scene ? and although he said nothing, he doubtless 
 had some motive for it. I adopted the wisest plan, and was silent 
 to see what would ensue, and during the space of two hours, the 
 duration of the ceremony, I had an opportunity of observing five 
 or six of these concerted squeezes, and saw Gaffrd and Manigant 
 always in them. The latter, who has since undergone a confine- 
 ment of twelve years in the Bagne at Brest, was at this period the 
 most expert pickpocket in the capital ; he excelled in extracting 
 the money from a person's pocket and transferring it into his own; 
 with him the transmutation of metals was reduced to a simple dis- 
 placing, which he effected with incredible talent. 
 
 The short stay in the church of St. Roch was not particularly 
 productive; however, without including the old man's watch, he 
 had stolen two purses and some other articles of value. 
 
 After the ceremony had terminated, we went to dine at a coffee- 
 house ; the worthies paid the expenses, and nothing was spared ; 
 we drank deeply, and at the dessert they confided to me what I 
 could not fail to have known. At first they only mentioned the 
 purses, in which they found a hundred and seventy-five francs in 
 hard cash. The bill paid, there remained a surplus of one hundred 
 francs, of which they handed me over twenty as my portion, 
 counselling me to be silent and discreet. As money has no name, 
 I thought there was no reason for a refusal. 
 
 The party appeared enchanted at having thus initiated me, and 
 two flasks of Beaune were emptied to celebrate the occasion. No 
 mention was made of the watch, nor did I allude to it ; not only 
 that I might appear ignorant of it, but I was also all eyes and ears, 
 and was not slow in learning that it was in Gaffre's possession. I 
 then began to assume the appearance of a drunken man, and 
 shamming a call of necessity, I desired the waiter to lead me where 
 I wished to go. He conducted me out, and when alone I wrote 
 with a pencil this note : 
 
 ( Gaffr and Manigant have just stolen a watch in the church of 
 
 19 
 
290 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Saint Roch ; in an hour, unless they change their intention, they 
 will cross the market of St. Jean. Gaffre carries the spoil.' 
 
 I hastily descended, and whilst Gaffre' and his confederate 
 thought me engaged up five pair of stairs, I got into the street and 
 despatched a messenger to M. Henry. I went back again without 
 loss of time, and my absence had not been of long duration. 
 When I entered I was out of breath, and as red as a turkey-cock. 
 They asked me if I felt better. 
 
 'Yes, a great deal,' I stammered out, and falling nearly under 
 the table. 
 
 * Steady, boys, steady,' said Manigant. 
 ' He sees double,' observed Gaffre. 
 
 * He is done up,' added Compere, ' quite done up, but the air 
 will revive him.' 
 
 They gave me some sugar and water. * Go to ,' I cried 
 
 out ' What ! water for me, water for me 1' 
 
 * Yes, it will do you good.' 
 ' Do you think so ?' 
 
 I extended my hand, but instead of seizing the glass I 
 upset and broke it. I then played a few silly drunken tricks, 
 which amused the party, and when I judged that M Henry had 
 received my despatch, and taken measures accordingly, I insensibly 
 came to myself. 
 
 On going out, I saw with pleasure that our route was not 
 changed. We went towards the market of St. Jean, and there saw 
 a file of soldiers. When I saw them sitting at the door, I did not 
 doubt but that they were there in consequence of my message, 
 and the less so as I observed Manager the inspector following us. 
 When we passed they approached us, and, taking us politely by the 
 arm, invited us to enter the guard-house. Gaffre' could not 
 imagine what this meant, but supposed the soldiers were in error. 
 He wished to argue the point. They desired him to obey, and he 
 was compelled quietly to submit. They began with me, but found 
 nothing ; when they came to Gaffre"s turn he was not at all easy. 
 At length the fatal watch was produced from his fob : he was a 
 little disconcerted, but at the moment of his examination, and par- 
 ticularly when he heard the commissary say, * Write : a watch set 
 with brilliants] he turned pale and looked at me. Had he any 
 suspicion of what had passed ? I do not think so, for he was con- 
 vinced that I did not know of the robbery of the watch ; and, be- 
 sides, he was sure that, if I had known it, as I had not left them, 
 I could not have turned nose. 
 
 Gaffre', on being questioned, pretended that he had bought the 
 watch ; they were persuaded that this was a lie, but the person who 
 
GOUPIL. 291 
 
 was robbed not being present to claim his property, it was not pos- 
 sible to condemn it He was. however, confined for a time 
 in Bicetre, and then sent under surveillance to Tours, whence 
 at a later period he returned to Paris. This villain died there in 
 1822. 
 
 At this period, the police had so little confidence in their agents, 
 that there was no kind of expedient to which they had not 
 recourse to prove them. One day Goupil was let loose upon me, 
 and came with a singular proposal. 
 
 * You know Francois, the publican,' said he to me. 
 1 Yes, and what of that ?' 
 
 * If you will help me, we will draw a tooth or two from him. 1 
 ' How ?' 
 
 * Why, he has very frequently addressed the prefecture, to obtain 
 permission to keep open house during part of the night, which re- 
 quest has always been denied ; and I have given him to understand 
 that it only depends upon you to procure what he is so anxious to 
 have.' 
 
 ' You are wrong, for I can do nothing.' 
 
 ' You can do nothing ! very true, certainly ! Oh, you can do 
 nothing, but you can buoy him up with the hope that you can 
 do it' 
 
 ' That is true, but wherein would be the benefit to him ? 
 
 ' Say the benefit to us. FranQois, if well managed, would bleed 
 well. He is already told that you are the man who is "all in all" 
 in the administration ; he has a good opinion of you, and so no 
 doubt he will tip freely on the first requisition.' 
 
 ' Do you think he will part with the blunt? 
 
 ' I am sure, my boy, he will shell out six hundred francs as 
 easily as a penny ; we shall handle the ready, that is the main 
 thing, and we can afterwards leave him to his reflections.' 
 
 * Well, but he will be enraged.' 
 
 1 Never mind, let him do his worst ; but give yourself no 
 trouble, I will provide for all. No black and white work (writing) 
 mind ; you know the proverb, " Writings are men, words but 
 women." ' 
 
 4 True as gospel ; no receipt for cash in hand, and yet we can 
 safely pocket.' 
 
 * Certainly, he who sows should reap : and no labour no profit. 
 Meanwhile I will go and see how the land lies, and sound the old 
 boy.' 
 
 Goupil then took my hand, and, shaking it heartily, added, * I 
 am now going straight to Fran9ois ; I will tell him you will call 
 in the evening : I shall fix the hour for eight o'clock, but do you 
 
 192 
 
292 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 not come till eleven, because (as you must say) you will have been 
 delayed ; at midnight we shall be told to go out, you must appear 
 to comply with this formality, and Frangois will seize the oppor- 
 tunity of urging his request. You are a man of experience, and 
 know how to play your cards. Farewell for the present.' 
 
 ' Adieu,' I replied, and we separated. Scarcely, however, had 
 we turned our backs on each other than Goupil returned. 
 
 4 Oh !' said he, * you know that very frequently the feathers are 
 more valuable than the bird ; I want a pluck at the feathers, other- 
 wise ' and he assumed a peculiar attitude, opening his 
 
 enormous mouth, holding his hands about six inches from the 
 ground, as if he was about to scrape the pavement, and completing 
 the menace by drawing back his body and advancing his legs, in 
 which the mobility of his feet was not the least comical part of 
 his attitude. 
 
 * All's right,' said I to Goupil, 'you shall not swallow me. We 
 will divide, it is a bargain.' 
 
 ' On the word of a thief/ 
 
 1 Yes, make yourself easy/ 
 
 Goupil immediately took the road to the Courtille, where he 
 very frequently went, and I that of the prefecture of police, when 
 I informed M. Henry of the proposal made to me. ' I hope,' 
 said he, 'that you will not lend yourself to the plot.' I protested 
 that I was not at all inclined to do so, and he evinced his pleasure 
 at my free communication. * Now,' he added, ' I will give you a 
 proof of the interest that I take in you ;' and he arose to reach 
 from his chest a packet of papers, which he opened. * You see it 
 is full, and they are all reports against you : they are in abundance, 
 but yet I employ you, because I do not believe one word of what 
 they say/ 
 
 GafTre' and Goupil having failed in their plans for my destruc- 
 tion, Corvet resolved to try his success in the same way. One 
 morning, when I was in want of some particular information, I 
 went to the house of this agent, whose wife was also attached to 
 the police. I found both man and wife at their lodging, and 
 although I only knew them from having once or twice co-operated 
 with them in some unimportant discoveries, they gave me the in- 
 formation I required with so much good-will, that, like a man who 
 has the feelings of good-fellowship towards those with whom he is 
 associated, I offered to regale them with a bottle of wine at the 
 nearest cabaret. Corvet alone accepted the proffer, and we went 
 together and seated ourselves in a private room. 
 
 The wine was excellent ; we drank one, two, three bottles. A 
 private room and three bottles of wine lead on to confidence. 
 
CORVET. 293 
 
 About an hour afterwards, I thought I perceived that Corvet had 
 some proposal to make, and at length he somewhat suddenly said, 
 * Listen, Vidocq' (and he knocked his glass on the table with some 
 emphasis), you are a jolly lad, but you are not open amongst 
 friends ; we know well enough that you are a fellow workman, but 
 you're a deep file : we two might do a fine stroke of business.' 
 I pretended not to comprehend him. 
 
 * Nonsense, come, come,' he replied, * no gammon, that will not 
 go down with me, I know you are a cunning fellow ; although I 
 don't know your place of work, I will speak to you as I would to 
 my own brother, if I think I may depend upon you. It is all very 
 well to serve the police, but there is nothing to be made out of it, 
 and a crown changed is a crown spent and gone. Now, if you will 
 keep counsel, there is a job or two which I have in my eye which 
 we will do together, and which will not hinder us from doing our 
 friends a good turn.' 
 
 ' How/ said I, ' would you abuse the confidence placed in you? 
 That is not right, and I am sure that if it were known at the pre- 
 fecture, they would give you two or three years of it at Bicetre.' 
 
 ' Ah ! you are like all the rest,' replied Corvet, ' you are going to 
 be mealy-mouthed and squeamish ; you are delicate, are you ? 
 Come, come, we know one another.' 
 
 I testified much astonishment at his holding such language to 
 me, and added that I was fully persuaded that he only said so to 
 try me, or perhaps lay a snare for me. 
 
 4 A snare !' cried he, ' a snare ! I bring you into trouble ? I 
 had rather put my own neck in jeopardy ; you must be mad to 
 suppose it I do not beat about the bush ; when I say anything 
 it is blunt and straightforward ; with me there is no back door, 
 and as a proof that all is not as you believe, I will tell you that no 
 later than this evening I am going to work. I have already laid 
 my plan, the keys are made, and if you will come with me, you 
 shall see how I will do the job.' 
 
 ' I doubt you have either lost your senses, or you wish to 
 entangle me in your net' 
 
 * What, do you not give me any credit for better feelings ? (Ele- 
 vating his voice). ' I tell you then you shall not have a finger in the 
 pie. What more would you have ? I shall take my wife with me, 
 it will not be the first time, but it will be the last if you choose to 
 make it so. With two men there is always a resource at hand. 
 The business of to-day regards you nothing ; you will wait for us 
 in the coffee-house at the corner of the Rue de la Tabletterie. It 
 is almost facing where we are going to work, and as soon as you 
 stc us come out do you follow ; we will sell the booty, and we will 
 
294 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 go snacks. After that you will no longer distrust us. What think 
 you?' 
 
 There was so much appearance of sincerity in this discourse, 
 that I really hardly knew how to act with Corvet. Did he want 
 an accomplice, or did he seek a means of destroying me ? I have 
 still my doubts on this point, but in either case Corvet was a 
 manifest rogue. 
 
 By his own confession his wife and he committed robberies. If 
 he had spoken the truth, it was my duty to deliver him up to 
 justice ; if, on the contrary, he had lied, in the hope of entrapping 
 me into a criminal action to denounce me, it was only right to 
 prosecute the plot to its termination, that I might show to the 
 authorities that to tempt me was labour in vain. 
 
 I had endeavoured to dissuade Corvet from his design, but 
 when I saw that he persisted, I feigned to allow myself to be 
 seduced. 
 
 4 Well then,' I said, ' since it must be so, I accept the proposal.' 
 
 He instantly embraced me, and the rendezvous was fixed for 
 four o'clock, at a vintner's. Corvet returned home, and as soon 
 as he had left me I wrote to M. Allemaine, commissary of police, 
 in the Rue Cimetiere St. Nicholas, to inform him of the robbery 
 which was to be perpetrated in the evening. I gave him, at the 
 same time, all the necessary information for seizing on the culprits 
 in the very commission of their crime. 
 
 I was at my post at the agreed hour ; Corvet and his wife were 
 not long after me, and after drinking a bottle or two of wine to 
 cheer them in their work, they proceeded on their enterprise. A 
 moment afterwards, and I saw them enter a courtyard in the Rue 
 de la Haumerie. The commissary had so well contrived that he 
 apprehended the two at the moment when, laden with booty, they 
 left the apartment they had ransacked. This couple were con- 
 demned to ten years' confinement. 
 
 During the trial Corvet and his wife asserted that I had 
 tempted them to the robbery. Certainly in the line I had pursued 
 there was nothing that could be construed into such a temptation ; 
 besides, in a robbery, I did not see how there can be any provo- 
 cation possible. A man is honest or he is not ; if he be honest, 
 no consideration can be sufficiently powerful to determine him on 
 committing a crime ; if he be not, he only wants the opportunity, 
 and is it not evident tnat it will offer itself sooner or later ? 
 
NOVEL ROBBERIES. 95 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Destruction of three classes of thieves A new species The Brothers 
 Delzeve. 
 
 IN 1 8 10 robberies of a new kind and inconceivable boldness 
 suddenly awakened the police to the knowledge of the existence 
 of a troop of malefactors of a novel description. 
 
 Nearly all the robberies had been committed by ladders and 
 forcible entries ; apartments on the first and even second floor had 
 been broken into by these extraordinary thieves, who, till then, 
 had confined themselves to rich houses ; and it was evident that 
 these robbers must have had a knowledge of the localities, by the 
 method of their burglaries. 
 
 All my efforts to discover these adroit thieves were without 
 success, when a burglary, which seemed almost impracticable, was 
 committed in the Rue Saint-Claude, near the Rue Bourbon- 
 Villeneuve, in an apartment in the second floor above the 
 * entresol,' in a house in which the commissary of police for the 
 district actually resided. The cord of the lantern which hung at 
 his house-door had served for a ladder. 
 
 A nosebag (a small bag in which corn is put for horses to feed 
 from when on the coach-stand) had been left on the spot, which 
 gave rise to a surmise that the perpetrators might be hackney- 
 coachmen, or, at least, that hackney-coaches had been employed 
 in the enterprise. 
 
 M. Henry directed me to make my observations amongst the 
 coachmen, and I discovered that the nosebag had belonged to a 
 man named Husson, who drove the fiacre No. 712. I reported 
 this : Husson was apprehended, and from him we obtained infor- 
 mation concerning two brothers named Delzeve, the elder of 
 whom was soon in the hands of the police ; and on his interroga- 
 tion by M. Henry, he made such important discoveries as led to 
 the apprehension of one Mitral, a room-cleaner in the palace of 
 the Empress Josephine. He was stated to be the receiver of the 
 band, composed almost entirely of Savoyards, born in the depart- 
 ment of Leman. The continuation of my search led to my 
 securing them all, twenty-two in number, who were subsequently 
 condemned to imprisonment. 
 
 These robbers were for the greater part messengers, room- 
 cleaners, or coachmen ; that is, they belonged to a class of 
 individuals proverbial for honesty, and who from time immemorial 
 had been celebrated for probity throughout Paris ; in their district 
 they were all considered as honest men, incapable of appropriating 
 to themselves the property of another; and this opinion con- 
 
296 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 tributed to render them the more formidable, as the persons who 
 employed them, either in sawing wood or in any other kind of 
 work, had no distrust of them, and gave them free ingress and 
 egress everywhere, and at all times. When it was known that 
 they were implicated in a criminal affair, they were not believed 
 to be guilty, and I myself for some time hesitated in my opinion. 
 However, evidence was adduced which was against them, and 
 the ancient renown of the Savoyards, in a capital in which they 
 had resided unsuspected for ages, was blasted, never again to 
 flourish. 
 
 During the year 1812 I had rendered to justice the principals of 
 the band : but Delzeve the younger had baffled all efforts to 
 capture him, and bid defiance to the pursuits of justice, when, on 
 the 3ist of December, M. Henry said to me, 'I think, if we 
 manage well, we can get hold of the crab Ecrevisse (Delzeve's 
 cognomen) : to-morrow will be New Year's day, and he will be 
 sure to visit the washerwoman, who has so often given him an 
 asylum, as well as his brother ; I have a presentiment that he will 
 be there this evening or during the night, or certainly early in the 
 morning.' 
 
 I was of the same opinion ; and M. Henry ordered me to go, 
 with three officers, and place ourselves on the watch, near the 
 washerwoman's house, who lived in the Rue de Gresillon. 
 
 I received this command with a satisfaction which is always 
 with me a presage of good luck. Attended by the three inspectors, 
 I went, at seven o'clock in the evening, to the appointed spot. It 
 was bitterly cold, the ground covered with snow, and never had 
 winter been more severe. 
 
 We stationed ourselves in ambuscade ; and, after many hours, 
 the inspectors, nipped with cold, and unable any longer to endure 
 it, proposed that we should quit our station. I was half-frozen, 
 having no covering but the light garment of a messenger. I made 
 some remarks to them, and, although it would have been infinitely 
 more agreeable to me to have retired, we determined to remain 
 till midnight Scarcely had the hour agreed upon struck, than 
 they claimed of me the fulfilment of my promise, and we quitted 
 our post, which we had been ordered to keep till daybreak. 
 
 We went towards the Palais Royal ; a coffee-house was open, 
 which we entered to warm ourselves, and having taken a bowl of 
 hot wine we separated, each to go to his own home. As I went 
 towards mine, I reflected on what I was doing. 'What!' said I 
 to myself, ' so soon forget instructions which have been given to 
 me : thus to deceive the confidence of my superior; it is an un- 
 pardonable baseness ! My conduct not only seems reprehensible, 
 

 * THE CRAB: 297 
 
 but I think that it even deserves the most severe punishment.' I 
 was in despair at having complied with the wishes of the inspec- 
 tors ; and, resolute in repairing my fault, determined to return 
 alone to the post assigned, and pass the night there, even if I died 
 on the spot. I then returned and ensconced myself in a corner, 
 that I might not be seen by Delzeve, in case he should come. 
 
 For an hour and a half I remained in this position, until my 
 blood congealed, and I felt my courage weakening, when suddenly 
 a luminous idea shone upon me. At a short distance was a dung- 
 hill, whose smoke betrayed a state of fermentation : this depot is 
 called the lay-stall : I ran towards it ; and having made a hole in 
 one corner, sufficiently deep to admit me up to my waist, I jumped 
 into it, and a comfortable warmth soon re-established the circula- 
 tion of my blood. At five in the morning, I was still in my lurk- 
 ing-place, where I did very well, except from the fumes which in- 
 vaded my nostrils. At length the door of the house, which was 
 the one pointed out to me, opened to let out a woman, who did 
 not shut it after her. Instantly, and without noise, I leaped from 
 the dung-heap ; and entering the court, looked about me, but saw 
 no light from any part. 
 
 I knew that Delzeve's associates had a peculiar way of whistling 
 for him; it was the coachman's whistle, and known to me; I 
 imitated it; and, at the second attempt, I heard some one ex- 
 claim, ' Who calls ?' 
 
 'It is the "chauffeur" (a coachman from whom Delzeve had 
 learnt to drive) who whistles for the crab.' 
 
 * Is it you ?' cried the same voice, which I knew to be Delzeve's. 
 
 * Yes ; the chauffeur wants you. Come down.' 
 *I am coming wait a minute.' 
 
 * It is very cold/ I replied ; * I will wait for you at the public- 
 house at the corner ; make haste do you hear ?' 
 
 The public-house was already open ; for, on New Year's day, 
 they have custom betimes. But I was not tempted to drink ; and 
 that I might trap Delzeve, I opened the side door, and then, letting 
 it shut with violence, without actually going out, I concealed my- 
 self under a flight of steps. Soon afterwards Delzeve came down, 
 and on perceiving him I jumped at him, seized his collar, and 
 holding a pistol to his breast, told him he was my prisoner. 
 ' Follow me,' I said, c and make the slightest signal at your peril ; 
 besides, I am not alone.' 
 
 Dumb with surprise, Delzeve made no answer, but followed me 
 mechanically. I fastened his hands, and he was then incapacitated 
 from either resisting or flying from me. 
 
 I hastened to convey him away, and the clock struck six as we 
 
298 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 entered the Rue du Rocher ; a hackney-coach was passing, which 
 I hailed, but the man, seeing me covered with dirt, hesitated, until 
 I offered him double hire : and led by that, he condescended to 
 take us up, and we were soon rolling over the pavement of Paris. 
 To make assurance doubly sure, I tightened his wrist-cuffs, lest, 
 having come to himself, he might have rebelled ; and although, in 
 a personal conflict, I should have been sure of victory, yet, as I 
 contemplated bringing him to a confession, I was unwilling to have 
 any quarrel ; and blows, which would have been inevitably the 
 result of rebellion, would decidedly have produced this result. 
 
 Delzeve felt aware of the impossibility of escape, and I en- 
 deavoured to make him hear reason : that I might completely 
 wheedle him, I offered him some refreshment, which he accepted; 
 and the coachman having procured us some wine, we kept driving 
 about and drinking, without any determined plan. 
 
 It was still early, and persuaded that it would be advantageous 
 to prolong our tete-a-tete, I proposed to Delzeve, that we should go 
 and breakfast in a place where we could have a private room. He 
 was then quieted ; and appearing hopeless of escape, accepted my 
 offer, and I took him to the Cadran Bleu ; but, before we got 
 there, he had already told me many pieces of important informa- 
 tion as to the number of his accomplices still at large in Paris ; 
 and I felt convinced that, at table, he would make * a clean breast 
 of it.' I made him understand that the only way to propitiate the 
 favour of justice, was to confess all he knew ; and to fortify his 
 resolution in this case, I used some arguments of a peculiar 
 philosophy, which I have always employed with success in consol- 
 ing criminals ; and at length he was perfectly disposed to do all 
 I wished, when the coach reached the cook-shop. I made him 
 go upstairs first, and when I had ordered the breakfast, I told him 
 that, being desirous of eating my meal at my ease, I must confine 
 him as I wished. I agreed that he should be left sufficiently un- 
 shackled to exercise his arms at the game of knife and fork ; and, 
 at table, no one could desire greater freedom. He was not at all 
 offended at the proposition, and I thus contrived it : with two 
 napkins I tied each leg to the foot of his chair, three or four inches 
 from the bar, which prevented him from attempting to rise without 
 the risk of breaking his head by a fall. 
 
 He breakfasted with much appetite, and promised to repeat be- 
 fore M. Henry all that he had confessed to me. At noon we left 
 the cafe, Delzeve being well primed with wine, and getting into a 
 coach, quite friends and on good terms with each other, we reached 
 the prefecture ten minutes afterwards. M. Henry was then sur- 
 rounded by his police-officers, who were paying him the compli 
 
MADAME NOEL. 299 
 
 ments of the New Year's day. I entered and addressed this 
 salutation to him : * I have the honour to wish you a happy and 
 prosperous year, and to present to you the redoubtable Delzeve. ' 
 
 'This is indeed a New Year's gift,' said M. Henry to me 
 when he perceived the prisoner, and then, turning to the officers of 
 peace and security : ' It would be a desirable thing, gentlemen, 
 that each of you should have a similar present to offer to your 
 preTet.' Immediately afterwards he gave me the order for con- 
 ducting Delzeve to the depot, saying, with much kindness: 'Vidocq, 
 go and take ' - repose; I am much satisfied with your conduct' 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 More thief-chasing Another ' mother of robbers' An admirable plot Mother 
 Noel sent to St. Lazare. 
 
 IT is very rare that a fugitive galley-slave escapes with any inten- 
 tion of amendment ; most frequently the aim is to gain the 
 capital, and then put in practice the vicious lessons acquired in 
 the Bagnes, which, like most of our prisons, are schools in which 
 they perfect themselves in the art of appropriating to themselves 
 the property of another. Nearly all celebrated robbers only be- 
 came expert after passing some time at the galleys. Some have 
 undergone five or six sentences before they became thorough 
 scoundrels ; such as the famous Victor Desbois, and his comrade 
 Mongenet, called Le Tambour (Drummer), who during various 
 visits to Paris committed a vast many of those robberies on which 
 people love to descant as proofs of boldness and address. 
 
 These two men, who for many years were sent away with every 
 chain, and as frequently escaped, were once more back again 
 in Paris ; the police got information of it, and I received the order 
 to search for them. All testified that they had acquaintances with 
 other robbers no less formidable than themselves. A music mis- 
 tress, whose son, called Noel with the Spectacles, was a celebrated 
 robber, was suspected of harbouring these thieves. Madame Noel 
 was a well-educated woman and an admirable musician ; she was 
 esteemed a most accomplished performer by the middle class of 
 tradespeople, who employed her to give lessons to their daughters. 
 She was well known in the Marais and the Quartier Saint Denis, 
 where the polish of her manners, the elegance of her language, the 
 gentility of her dress, and that indescribable air of superiority 
 which the reverse of fortune can never entirely destroy, gave rise 
 to the current belief that she was a member of one of those 
 numerous families to whom the Revolution had only left its hauteur 
 and its regrets. 
 
300 MEMOIRS OF V1DOCQ. 
 
 To those who heard and saw her without being acquainted, 
 Madame Noel was a most interesting little woman ; and besides, 
 there was something touching in her situation ; it was a mystery, 
 and no one knew what had become of her husband. Some said 
 that she had been early left in a state of widowhood ; others that 
 she had been forsaken ; and a third affirmed that she was a victim 
 of seduction. I know not which of these conjectures approaches 
 nearest to the truth, but I know very well that Madame Noel was 
 a little brunette, whose sparkling eye and roguish look were softened 
 down by that gentle demeanour which seemed to increase the 
 sweetness of her smile and the tone of her voice, which was in the 
 highest degree musical. There was a mixture of the angel and 
 demon in her face, but the latter perhaps preponderated ; for time 
 had developed those traits which characterise evil thoughts. 
 
 Madame Noel was obliging and good, but only towards those 
 individuals who were at issue with justice ; she received them as 
 the mother of a soldier would welcome the comrade of her son. 
 To insure a welcome with her, it was enough to belong to the same 
 'regiment' as Noel with the Spectacles'; and then, as much for 
 love of him as from inclination perhaps, she would do all in her 
 power to aid, and was consequently looked upon as a * mother of 
 robbers.' At her house they found shelter ; it was she who pro- 
 vided for all their wants ; she carried her complaisance so far as 
 to seek ' jobs of work ' for them ; and when a passport was in- 
 dispensably requisite for their safety, she was not quiet until by 
 some means she had succeeded in procuring one. Madame Noel 
 had many friends among her own sex, and it was generally in one 
 of their names that the passport was obtained. A powerful mixture 
 of oxygenated muriatic acid obliterated the writing ; and the 
 description of the gentleman who required it, as well as the name 
 which it suited his purpose to assume, replaced the feminine de- 
 scription. Madame Noel had generally by her a supply of these 
 accommodating passports, which were filled according to circum- 
 stances, and the wants of the party requiring such assistance. 
 
 All the galley-slaves were children of Madame Noel, but those 
 were the most in favour who could give her any account of her 
 son ; for them her devotion was boundless ; her house was open 
 to all fugitives, who made it their rendezvous ; and there must be 
 gratitude even amongst them, for the police were informed that 
 they came frequently to Mother Noel's for the pleasure of seeing 
 her only; she was the confidante of all their plans, all their 
 adventures, all their fears ; in fact, they communicated all un- 
 reservedly, and never had cause to regret their reliance on her 
 fidelity. 
 
MADAME NOEL. 301 
 
 Mother Noel had never seen me ; my features were quite un- 
 known to her, although she had frequently heard of my name. 
 There was then no difficulty in presenting myself before her, with- 
 out giving her any cause for alarm ; but to get her to point out to 
 me the hiding-place of the men I sought to detect was the end I 
 aimed at. and I felt that it would be impossible to attain it without 
 much skill and management. 
 
 At first, I resolved on passing myself off as a fugitive galley-slave; 
 but it was necessary to borrow the name of some thief, whom her 
 son or his comrades had mentioned to her in advantageous terms. 
 Moreover, a little resemblance was positively requisite, and I 
 endeavoured to recollect if there were not one of the galley-slaves 
 whom I knew who had been associated with Noel with the 
 Spectacles, and I could not remember one of my age, or whose 
 person and features at all resembled mine. At last, by dint of 
 much effort of memory, I recalled to mind one Germain, alias 
 Royer, alias the ' Captain,' who had been an intimate acquaintance 
 of Noel's, and although our similarity was very slight, yet I 
 determined on personating him. Germain, as well as myself, had 
 often escaped from the Bagnes, and that was the only point of 
 resemblance between us : he was about my age, but a smaller- 
 framed man ; he had dark brown hair, mine was light ; he was 
 thin, and I tolerably stout; his complexion was sallow, and mine fair, 
 with a very clear skin ; besides, Germain had an excessively long 
 nose, took a vast dear of snuff which, begriming his nostrils out- 
 sicte, and stuffing them up within, gave him a peculiarly nasal tone 
 of voice. I had much to do in personating Germain ; but the 
 difficulty did not deter me ; my hair, cut a la mode des Bagnes, was 
 dyed black, as well as my beard, after it had attained a growth of 
 eight days ; to embrown my countenance I washed it with white 
 walnut liquor; and to perfect the imitation, I garnished my upper 
 lip thickly with a kind of coffee-grounds, which I plastered on by 
 means of gum arabic, and thus became as nasal in my twang as 
 Germain himself. My feet were doctored with equal care ; I made 
 blisters on them by rubbing in a certain composition, of which I 
 had obtained the recipe at Brest. I also made the marks of the 
 fetters ; and when all my toilet was finished, dressed myself in 
 the suitable garb. I had neglected nothing which could complete 
 the metamorphosis ; neither the shoes nor the marks of those 
 horrid letters, GAL. The costume was perfect ; and the only 
 thing wanting was a hundred of those companionable insects which 
 people the solitudes of poverty, and which were, I believe, together 
 with locusts and toads, one of the seven plagues of old Egypt. I 
 procured some for money ; and as soon as they were a little 
 
302 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 accustomed to their new domicile, which was speedily the case, I 
 directed my steps towards the residence of Madame Noel, in the 
 Rue Ticquetonne. 
 
 I arrived there, and knocking at the door, she opened it ; a 
 glance convincing her how matters stood with me, she desired me 
 to enter, and on finding myself alone with her, I told her who I 
 was. 'Ah, my poor lad,' she cried, * there is no occasion to tell 
 me where you have come from ; I am sure you must be dying with 
 hunger.' 'Oh yes,' I answered, 'lam indeed hungry; I have 
 tasted nothing for twenty-four hours.' Instantly, without further 
 question, she went out, and returned with a dish of hog's puddings 
 and a bottle of wine, which she placed before me. I did not eat, 
 I actually devoured ; I stuffed myself, and all had disappeared 
 without my saying a word between my first mouthful and my last. 
 Mother Noel was delighted at my appetite, and when the cloth was 
 removed, she gave me a dram. * Ah, mother/ I exclaimed, em- 
 bracing her, ' you restore me to life ; Noel told me how good and 
 kind you were ;' and I then began to give her a statement of how 
 I had left her son eighteen days before, and gave her information 
 of all the prisoners in whom she felt interested. The details were 
 so true and well known, that she could have no idea that I was an 
 impostor, 
 
 ' You must have heard of me/ I continued ; ' I have gone 
 through many an enterprise, and experienced many a reverse. 
 I am called Germain, or the Captain ; you must know my name.' 
 
 ' Yes, yes, my friend/ she said, ' I know you well ; my son 
 and his friends have told me of your misfortunes ; welcome, 
 welcome, my dear captain. But, heavens ! what a state you are 
 in ; you must not remain in such a plight I see you are infested 
 
 with those wretched tormenting beasts who ; but I will get you 
 
 a change of linen, and contrive something as a comfortable dress 
 for you.' 
 
 I expressed my gratitude to Madame Noel ; and when I saw a 
 good opportunity, without giving cause for the slightest suspicion, 
 I asked what had become of Victor Desbois and his comrade 
 Mongenet. * Desbois and Le Tambour ? Ah ! my dear, do not 
 mention them, I beg of you/ she replied ; ' that rogue Vidocq has 
 given them very great uneasiness ; since one Joseph (Joseph 
 Longueville, an old police inspector), whom they have twice met 
 in the streets, told them that there would soon be a search in this 
 quarter, they have been compelled to cut and run, to avoid being 
 taken.' 
 
 ' What/ cried I, with a disappointed air, ' are they no longer in 
 Paris? 
 
MADAME NOEL. 303 
 
 ' Oh, they are not very far distant/ replied Mother Noel ; * they 
 have not quitted the environs of the " great village " (Paris) ; I 
 dare say we shall soon see them, for I trust they will speedily pay 
 me a visit. I think they will be delighted to find you here.' 
 
 * Oh, I assure you,' said I, ' that they will not be more delighted 
 at the meeting than myself ; and if you can write to them, I am 
 sure they would eagerly send for me to join them.' 
 
 * If I knew where they were,' replied Mother Noel> ' I would go 
 myself and seek for them to please you ; but I do not know their 
 retreat, and the best thing for us to do is to be patient and await 
 their arrival.' 
 
 In my quality of a new-comer, I excited all Madame Noel's 
 compassion and solicitude, and she attended to nothing but me. 
 ' Are you known to Vidocq and his two bull-dogs, Levesque and 
 Compere ?' she inquired. 
 
 'Alas ! yes,' was my reply ; 'they have caught me twice.' 
 
 I In that case, then, be on your guard : Vidocq is often dis- 
 guised ; he assumes characters, costumes, and shapes to get hold 
 of unfortunates like yourself.' 
 
 We conversed together for two hours, when Madame Noel 
 offered me a foot-bath, which I accepted ; and when it was pre- 
 pared, I took off my shoes and stockings, on which she discovered 
 my wounded feet, and said, with a most commiserating tone and 
 manner, ' How I pity you ; what must you suffer ! Why did you 
 not tell me of this at first ? you deserve to be scolded for it.' And 
 whilst thus reproaching me, she examined my feet ; and then, 
 pricking the blisters, drew a piece of worsted through each, and 
 anointed my feet with a salve which she assured me would have 
 the effect of speedily curing them. 
 
 The bath concluded, she brought me some clean linen ; and, as 
 she thought of all that was needful, added a razor, recommending 
 me to shave. ' I shall then see,' she added, ' about buying you 
 some workman's clothes, as that is the best disguise for men who 
 wish to pass unnoticed ; and besides, good luck will turn up, and 
 then you will get yourself some new ones.' 
 
 As soon as I was thoroughly cleansed, Mother Noel conducted 
 me to a sleeping-room, a small apartment which served as the 
 workshop for false keys, the entrance to which was concealed by 
 several gowns hanging from a row of pegs. ' Here,' said she, * is 
 a bed in which your friends have slept three or four times ; and 
 you need not fear that the police will hunt you out ; you may sleep 
 secure as a dormouse.' 
 
 I 1 am really in want of sleep,' I replied, and begged her per- 
 mission to take orn.e repose, on which she left me to myself, 
 
304 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Three hours afterwards I awoke, and on getting up we renewed 
 our conference. It was necessary to be armed at all points to 
 deceive Madame Noel ; there was not a trick or custom of the 
 Bagnes with which she was not thoroughly informed ; she knew 
 not only the names of all the robbers whom she had seen, but was 
 acquainted with every particular of the life of a great many others ; 
 and related with enthusiasm anecdotes of the most noted, particu- 
 larly of her son, for whom she had as much veneration as love. 
 
 1 The dear boy, you would be delighted to see him !' said I. 
 
 * Yes, yes, overjoyed.' 
 
 1 Well, it is a happiness you will soon enjoy ; for Noel has made 
 arrangements for an escape, and is now only awaiting the propi- 
 tious moment.' 
 
 Madame Noel was happy in the expectation of seeing her son, 
 and shed tears of tenderness at the very thoughts of it. 
 
 In the course of conversation, Mother Noel asked me if I had 
 any affair (plan of robbery) in contemplation ; and after having 
 offered to procure me one, in case I was not provided, she ques- 
 tioned me on my skill in fabricating keys. I told her I was as 
 adroit as Fossard. ' If that be the case,' she rejoined, ' I am easy, 
 and you shall be soon furnished ; for, as you are so clever, I will 
 go and buy at the ironmonger's a key which you can fit to my 
 safety lock, so that you will have ingress and egress whenever you 
 require it.' 
 
 I expressed my feelings of obligation for so great a proof of her 
 kindness ; and, as it was growing late, I went to bed reflecting on 
 the mode of getting away from this lair without running the risk of 
 being assassinated, if perchance any of the villains whom I was 
 seeking should arrive before I had taken the necessary pre- 
 cautions. 
 
 I did not sleep, and arose as soon as I heard Madame Noel 
 lighting her fire ; she said I was an early riser, and that she would 
 go and procure me what I wanted. A moment afterwards she 
 brought me a key not cut into wards, and gave me files and a 
 small vice, which I fixed on my bed ; and as soon as my tools 
 were in readiness, I began my work in presence of my hostess, 
 who, seeing that I was perfectly conversant with the business, 
 complimented me on my skill ; and what she most admired was 
 the expedition of my work ; for, in (act, in less than four hours I 
 had perfected a most workmanlike key. which I tried, and it fitted 
 most accurately. A few touches of the file completed the instru- 
 ment; and, like the rest, I had the means of unobstructed entrance 
 whenever I wished to visit the house. 
 
 I was Madame Noel's boarder ; and, after dinner, \ told her I 
 

 MADAME NOEL. 305 
 
 was inclined to take a turn in the dusk, that I might find whether 
 'a job' \ contemplated was yet feasible, and she approved the 
 suggestion, at the same time recommending me to use all caution. 
 ' That thief of a Vidocq,' she observed, * is a thorn in one's path ; 
 mind him ; and, if I were you, before I made any attempts, I 
 would wait until my feet were well.' ' I shall not go far,' I re- 
 plied ; * nor stay away long.' This assurance of a speedy return 
 seemed to quiet her fears. ' Well, then, go,' she said ; and I went 
 out limping. 
 
 So far all succeeded to my most sanguine wishes ; it was impos- 
 sible to stand better with Mother Noel ; but, by remaining in her 
 house, who would guarantee that I should not be knocked on the 
 head ? Might not two or three galley-slaves arrive together, 
 recognise me and attack me ? Then farewell to all my plottings ; 
 and it was incumbent that, without losing the fruit of my friendship 
 with Mother Noel, I should prepare myself for the contingent 
 danger. It would have been the height of imprudence to have 
 given her cause to think that I had any motives for avoiding con- 
 tact with her guests, and I consequently endeavoured so to lead 
 her on, that she should herself suggest to me the necessity of 
 quitting her house ; that is, that she should advise me no longer 
 to think of sleeping in her domicile. 
 
 I had observed that Madame Noel was very intimate with a 
 fruitseller who lived in the house ; and I sent to this woman one 
 of my agents named Manceau, whom I charged to ask her secretly, 
 and yet with a want of skill, for some accounts of Madame Noel. 
 I had dictated the questions, and w?s the more certain that the 
 fruit-woman would not fail to communicate the particulars, as I 
 had desired my man to beg her to observe secrecy. 
 
 The event proved that I was not deceived ; no sooner had my 
 agent fulfilled his mission, than the fruit-woman hastened to 
 Madame Noel with an account of what had passed ; who, in her 
 turn, lost no time in telling me. On the look-out at the steps of 
 the door of her officious neighbour, as soon as she saw me, she 
 came to me, and, without farther preface, desired me to follow 
 her, which I did ; and, on reaching the Place des Victoires, she 
 stopped, and looking about her to be assured that no one was in 
 hearing, she told me what had passed : * So,' said she, in conclu- 
 sion, c you see, my poor Germain, that it would not be prudent for 
 you to sleep at my house ; you must even be cautious how you 
 approach it by day.' Mother Noel had no idea that this circum- 
 stance, which she bewailed so greatly, was of my own planning ; 
 and, that I might remove all suspicion from her mind, I pretended 
 to be more vexed at it than she was, and cursed and swore bitterly 
 
 30 
 
306 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 at that blackguard Vidocq, who would not leave us at peace. I 
 deprecated the necessity to which I was reduced, of finding a 
 shelter out of Paris, and took leave of Madame Noel, who, wishing 
 me good luck and a speedy return, put a thirty-sous-piece into my 
 hand. 
 
 I knew that Desbois and Mongenet were expected ; and I was 
 also aware that there were comers and goers who visited the house, 
 whether Madame Noel was there or not ; and she was often ab- 
 sent, giving music lessons in the city. It was important that I 
 should know these gentry ; and, to achieve this, I disguised 
 several of my auxiliaries, and stationed them at the corners of the 
 street, where, mixing with the errand boys and messengers, their 
 presence excited no suspicion. 
 
 These precautions taken, that I might testify all due appearance 
 of fear, I allowed two days to pass before I again visited Madame 
 Noel ; and this period having elapsed, I went one evening to her 
 house, accompanied by a young man, whom I introduced as the 
 brother of a female with whom I had once lived : and who, having 
 met me accidentally in Paris, had given me an asylum. This 
 young man was a secret agent, but I took care to tell Mother 
 Noel that he had my fullest confidence, and that she might con- 
 sider him as my second self; and as he was not known to the 
 spies, I had chosen him to be the messenger to her whenever I 
 did not judge it prudent to show myself. * Henceforward,' I 
 added, * he will be our go-between, and will come every two or 
 three days, that I may have information of you and your friends.' 
 
 ' I'faith,' said Mother Noel, ' you have lost a pleasure ; for, 
 twenty minutes sooner, and you would have seen a lady of your 
 acquaintance here.' 
 
 ' Ah ! who was it ?' 
 
 * Mongenet's sister.' 
 
 * Oh ! indeed ; she has often seen me with her brother.' 
 
 ' Yes ; when I mentioned you, she described you as exactly as 
 possible ; "a lanky chap," said she, "with his nose always grimed 
 with snuff."' 
 
 Madame Noel deeply regretted that I had not arrived before 
 Mongenet's sister had departed ; but certainly not so much as I 
 rejoiced at my narrow escape from an interview which would have 
 destroyed all my projects ; for if this woman knew Germain, she 
 also knew Vidocq ; and it was impossible that she could have mis- 
 taken one for the other, so great was the difference between us ! 
 Although I had altered my features so as to deceive, yet the 
 resemblance which, in description, seemed exact, would not stand 
 the test of a critical examination, and particularly the reminiscences 
 
MADAME NOEL. 307 
 
 of intimacy. Mother Noel then gave me a very useful warning, 
 when she informed me that Mongenet's sister was a very frequent 
 visitor at her house. From thenceforward I resolved that this 
 female should never catch a glimpse of my countenance ; and to 
 avoid meeting with her, whenever I visited Madame Noel, I sent 
 my pretended brother-in-law first, who, when she was not there, 
 had instructions to let me know it, by sticking a wafer on the 
 window. At this signal I entered, and my aide-de-camp betook 
 himself to his post in the neighbourhood, to guard against any 
 disagreeable surprise. Not very far distant were other auxiliaries, 
 to whom I had confided Mother Noel's key, that they might come 
 to my succour in case of danger ; for, from one instant to another, 
 I might fall suddenly amongst a gang of fugitives, or some of the 
 galley-slaves might recognise and attack me, and then a blow of my 
 fist against a square of glass in the window was the signal which 
 was to denote my need of assistance, to equalize the contending 
 parties. 
 
 Thus were my schemes concerted, and the finale was at hand. It 
 was on Tuesday, and a letter from the men I was in quest of an- 
 nounced their intended arrival on the Friday following ; a day which 
 I intended should be for them a black Friday. At the first dawn I 
 betook myself to a wine-vault in the vicinity, and, that they might 
 have no motive for watching me, supposing, as was their custom, 
 that they should traverse the street several times up and down 
 before they entered Madame Noel's domicile, I first sent my pre- 
 tended brother-in-law, who returned soon afterwards, and told me 
 that Mongenet's sister was not there, and that I might safely enter. 
 1 You are not deceiving me ?' said I to my agent, whose tone 
 appeared altered and embarrassed, and fixing on him one of those 
 looks which penetrated the very heart's core, I thought I observed 
 one of those ill-suppressed contractions of the muscles of the face 
 which accompany a premeditated lie ; and then, quick as lightning, 
 the thought came over me that I was betrayed that my agent was 
 a traitor. We were in a private room, and, without a moment's 
 hesitation, I grasped his throat with violence, and told him, in 
 presence of his comrades, that I was informed of his perfidy, and 
 that if he did not instantly confess all, I would shoot him on the 
 spot. Dismayed at my penetration and determined manner, he 
 stammered out a few words of excuse, and, falling on his knees, 
 confessed that he had discovered all to Mother Noel. 
 
 This baseness, had I not thus detected it, would probably have 
 cost me my life, but I did not think of any personal resentment ; 
 it was only the interest of society which I cared for, and which I 
 regretted to see wrecked when so near port. The traitor, 
 
 30 9 
 
3 o8 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Manceau, was put in confinement, and, young as be was, having 
 many old offences to expiate, was sent to Bicetre, and then to the 
 isle of Oleron, where he terminated his career. It may be con- 
 jectured that the fugitives did not return to the Rue Ticquetonne ; 
 but they were, notwithstanding, apprehended a short time after- 
 wards. 
 
 Mother Noel did not forgive the trick I had played her ; and, 
 to satisfy her revenge, she one day had all her goods taken away, 
 and when this had been effected, went out without closing her 
 door, and returned, crying out that she had been robbed. The 
 neighbours were made witnesses, a declaration was made before a 
 commissary, and Mother Noel pointed me out as the thief, 
 because, she said, 1 had a key of her apartments. The accusation 
 was a grave one, and she was instantly sent to the prefecture of 
 police, and the next day I received the information. My justifi- 
 cation was not difficult, for the Prefet, as well as M. Henry, saw 
 through the imposture ; and we managed so well, that Mother 
 Noel's property was discovered, proof was obtained of the falsity 
 of the charge, and, to give her time for repentance, she was 
 sentenced for six months to St. Lazare. Such were the issue and 
 the consequences of an enterprise in which I had not failed to use 
 all precaution; and I have often achieved success in affairs in 
 which arrangements had been made, not so skilfully concerted 
 or so ably executed 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Vain pursuit of a robber by the police On the right scent I become a coal 
 man Fright of a vintner and his wife Mademoiselle Tonneau A search 
 The thief takes me for his mate The jump from the window. 
 
 AFTER having undergone several sentences, two fugitives of the 
 isles, named Gureau and Florentin, called Chatelain (governor), 
 of whom I have already spoken, were detained at Bicetre as 
 incorrigible robbers. Weary of confinement in these cells, where 
 they were buried alive, they sent to M. Henry a letter, in which 
 they offered to give such information as should lead to the 
 apprehension of several of their comrades, who were daily perpe- 
 trating robberies in Paris. Fossard, sentenced for life, who had 
 frequently escaped from the Bagnes, was the one marked out as 
 the most dangerous. * He was,' they wrote, * unequalled for 
 intrepidity, and must be attacked with caution ; for, always armed 
 to the teeth, he had resolved on blowing out the brains of that 
 police-agent who should be hardy enough to attempt to apprehend 
 him.' 
 

 M. YVRIER. 309 
 
 The heads of the police asked nothing better than to free the 
 capital from such a daring thief, and their first idea was to employ 
 me in discovering him : but the informers having suggested to M. 
 Henry that I was too well known to Fossard and his concubine 
 not to defeat an operation which must be most delicately effected, 
 it was decided that the affair should be intrusted to the skill of 
 some police-officers. To them, therefore, were given all the neces- 
 sary instructions to regulate their searches ; but either they were 
 not lucky, or they did not especially approve a rencontre with 
 Fossard, who was * armed to the teeth,' for he continued his 
 exploits, and the numerous complaints to which his activity gave 
 rise announced that, in spite of their apparent zeal, these gentle- 
 men, as usual, made more noise than work. 
 
 The result was that the preYet, who preferred doings to sayings, 
 sent for them one day, and reprimanded them in a manner which 
 must have been severe, to judge by the discontent which they 
 could not help testifying. 
 
 They had just received this official proof of disapprobation, 
 when I happened to meet, in the market of Saint-Jean, M. Yvrier, 
 one of the officers in question, whom I saluted, and he thereupon 
 accosted me, almost bursting with rage, saying, ' Ah ! there you 
 are, Mr. Do-so-Much ; you are the cause of our having been 
 reprimanded about that Fossard, the fugitive galley-slave, who 
 they say is in Paris. If we are to believe Monsieur le Prefer,, 
 there is no one but you who can do anything. " If Vidocq," he 
 said to us, " had been ordered to this business, we should have 
 had this fellow apprehended long ago." Well then, let us see, M. 
 Vidocq; set your wits to work to find him, you who are so very 
 clever, and prove that you have all the talent that they say you 
 have.' 
 
 M. Yvrier was an old man, and it was respect for his age which 
 checked my reply to his impertinence ; and although I was 
 wounded by the tone of his address, I did not care to show it, 
 contenting myself with replying that I had not then the leisure to 
 occupy myself about Fossard, that he was a capture I should 
 reserve till the first of January, that I might have a suitable new- 
 year's gift for M. le PreTet, as the previous year I had brought the 
 famous Delzeve. 
 
 * Go on your own way,' replied M. Yvrier, irritated at this boast ; 
 * the event will show what you are : a presumptuous fellow, who 
 creates difficulties to show his skill in surmounting them;' and he 
 left me, grumbling out from between his teeth some other epithets 
 and qualities which I neither understood nor heeded. 
 
 After this scene I went to M. Henry's private room, to whom I 
 
3t6 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 related it 'Ah ! they wince they are angry, are they ?' said he, 
 laughing ; * so much the better ; it proves that they defer to your 
 ability. I see,' added M. Henry, ' that these gentlemen are like 
 the eunuchs of a seraglio : they cannot do themselves, and would 
 not allow others to be doing.' He then gave me the following 
 particulars : 
 
 ' Fossard lives in Paris, in a street leading from a market-place 
 to a boulevard ; on what story his apartments are is unknown, but 
 the windows may be recognised by having yellow silk curtains and 
 other curtains of embroidered muslin. In the same house resides 
 a little hump-backed woman, a seamstress, and intimate with the 
 female who lives with Fossard.' 
 
 These particulars were, it may be seen, not sufficiently definite 
 to lead at once to the spot we wished to discover. 
 
 I was in doubt as to what steps I should first take ; but as I had 
 generally found that, in all my undertakings, it was from females 
 that I gleaned my information, whether women or girls, I soon 
 determined on the disguise which was best adapted for my purpose. 
 It was apparent that I must assume the guise of a very respectable 
 gentleman, and consequently, by means of some false wrinkles, a 
 pig-tail, snowy-white ruffles, a large gold-headed cane, a three- 
 cornered hat, buckles, breeches and coat to match, I was 
 metamorphosed into one of those good sexagenarian citizens, 
 whom all old ladies admire. I had the precise appearance and 
 air of one of those rich old boys of the Marais, whose rubicund 
 and jolly countenance proves the ease of his circumstances, and 
 the desire to bestow charity on those who need it, by way of a 
 recompense to fortune. I was very sure that the hump-backed 
 women would set their caps at me ; and I had the appearance of 
 so good a man, that it was impossible they would make any 
 attempts at deceiving me. 
 
 Thus disguised, I went into the streets, gazing upwards to dis- 
 cover all the curtains of the prescribed colour. I was so much 
 occupied with this investigation that I was entirely lost to all 
 around me. Had I been a little less substantial-looking I might 
 have been taken for a metaphysician, or perhaps for a poet who 
 was seeking a couplet in the region of the chimney-pots ; twenty 
 times I narrowly escaped the cabriolets ; on all sides the cry of 
 'Gare! Gare !' (mind, mind) assailed me, and then, on turning 
 round, I was under the wheel, or else close beside a horse ; some- 
 times, whilst I was wiping the dirt from my sleeve, a lash of a 
 whip came across my face, or, if the driver were less brutal, it was 
 some such salutation as this : ' Out of the way, old dunny-head,' 
 or else, * Come, what are you at, old stupid ?' 
 
THE SEARCH. 311 
 
 My work was not to be completed in a single day, even as far 
 as the yellow curtains went. I marked down more than one 
 hundred and fifty in my memorandum book, which gave choice 
 enough, in all conscience. Might not the curtains behind which 
 Fossard was concealed have been taken down and replaced by 
 white, red, or green ones ? However, if chance was against me, 
 she might yet throw out some favourable hint for my guidance ; 
 and I took courage, although it is a somewhat painful task for a 
 sexagenarian to ascend and descend a hundred and fifty staircases, 
 consisting of at least seven hundred and fifty stories to take more 
 than thirty thousand steps, or twice the height of Chimborazo ; 
 but as I found my breath good, and my legs strong, I undertook 
 the task, sustained by the same hope as that which impelled the 
 Argonauts to sail in quest of the golden fleece. It was my hump- 
 backed lady that I sought ; and in my ascents, in how many land- 
 ing-places have I not stood sentinel for hours together, in the per- 
 suasion that my lucky star would shine upon her? The heroic 
 Don Quixote was not more ardent in the pursuit of his Dulcinea. 
 I knocked at the doors of all the seamstresses ; I examined them 
 one after another, but no humps ; they were all perfectly formed ; 
 or if by chance they had a projection, it was not a deviation of the 
 spine, but one of those temporary exuberances which resolve 
 themselves into maternity. 
 
 Thus passed several days without presenting to my longing eyes 
 the object of my search, and I was heartily tired of my job, for 
 every night my back ached past bearing, and yet the work was to 
 be recommenced the next morning. I dared ask no questions ; 
 for although then some charitable soul might have put me on the 
 right scent, yet I might get into danger ; and at last, fatigued with 
 this unsatisfactory mode of search, I determined to adopt another. 
 
 I have remarked that hump-backed women are generally very 
 inquisitive and great chatterers ; they are generally the news-distri- 
 butors of the district, and if not, they are then the registers of petty 
 slanders, and nothing passes with which they are not acquainted. 
 Impressed with this idea, I concluded that, under pretext of getting 
 her little requisites supplied, the unknown humpy lady, who had 
 already cost me so much trouble, would not fail, any more than 
 many others, to come and have her wonted gossip at the milk- 
 man's, the baker's, the fruiterer's, the mercer's, or the grocer's. I 
 resolved, therefore, to station myself at the doors of several of 
 these chattering shops, and as every humpy woman, anxious for a 
 husband, makes a great parade of her abilities as a clever caterer, 
 I was persuaded that mine would be on foot early in the morning, 
 and that I ought, to see her, to station myself at an early hour at 
 my post of observation, and accordingly I went there at daybreak. 
 
312 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 I first employed myself in considering how best to take my 
 measures. To what milkwoman would a hump-backed lady give 
 the preference ? Certainly to her who had most gossip, and sold 
 cheapest. There was one at the corner of the Rue Thevenot, who 
 seemed to me to combine these two qualities ; she had about her 
 a great number of small cans, and from the midst of her circle did 
 not cease to talk and serve, serve and talk. Her customers babbled 
 away to their hearts' content, and she chattered as indefatigably as 
 her customers ; but this was not of any consequence to me ; I had 
 pitched upon an admirable and likely spot, and was determined not 
 to lose sight of it. 
 
 On going to my second watch in the evening, I impatiently 
 awaited the arrival of my female ^Esop, but there were only young 
 girls, well-made, slender, with good figures, easy appearance, neatly 
 attired, and not one of them that was not as straight and upright 
 as the letter I. I was beginning to despair, when at length my 
 star beamed in the horizon ; I saw the Venus, the prototype of all 
 humped women ! Ye gods ! how handsome she appeared ; and 
 how splendid was the contour of that prominent feature for which 
 I had so anxiously watched, her adorable hump ! I gave myself 
 time to contemplate this protuberance, which naturalists should, I 
 think, take into consideration, and enumerate an additional race 
 in the human species. I thought I was gazing on one of those 
 fairies of the middle age, in whom a deformity of this kind was * a 
 double charm.' This supernatural being, or rather extra-natural, 
 approached the milkwoman, and having gossiped for some time, 
 as I had anticipated, she took her cream ; she then entered the 
 grocer's ; then paused a moment at the tripe-shop, where she pro- 
 cured some lights, probably for her cat ; and then, her stores pro- 
 vided, she turned off in the Rue du Petit Carreau, down the 
 gateway, to a house of which the ground-floor was occupied by a 
 working turner. I cast my eyes instantly on the windows, but, 
 alas ! no yellow curtains met my longing, lingering look. I, how- 
 ever, made the reflection which had before suggested itself, that 
 curtains, of whatever shade, have not the immobility of an original 
 hump ; and I resolved not to retire until I had some converse with 
 the enchanting little hump of deformity, whose appearance had so 
 truly enchanted me. I surmised, that in spite of my disappoint- 
 ment with regard to one of the main circumstances described for 
 my guidance, yet that a conversation would elicit some useful in- 
 formation to lighten my path. 
 
 I determined to ascend the staircase ; and on getting up to the 
 first landing-place, inquired for ' a little lady rather deformed.' 
 ' Oh, it is the seamstress you want,' was the reply, attended by a 
 
THE HUMP-BACK. 313 
 
 significant grin. * Yes, the seamstress I want ; a person who has 
 one shoulder somewhat higher than the other.' Again I was 
 laughed at, and her apartment pointed out as on the third 
 story. Although her neighbours were very complaisant, I was 
 rather nettled at their chuckling and laughing ; it was exceedingly 
 unpolite ; but such was my tolerance, that I freely pardoned the 
 expression of their mirth ; and was not that commendable in me ? 
 It preserved the character I had assumed The door was shown 
 to me ; I knocked, and it was opened by my darling little Humpa 
 herself ; and after fifty apologies for the visit, I begged her to give 
 me a few moments' audience, adding that I had personal business 
 to discuss with her. 
 
 'Mademoiselle,' said I, with a solemn tone, after she had seated 
 me opposite to herself, ' you are ignorant of the motive which has 
 led me hither ; but when you shall know it, perhaps the step I 
 have taken will excite your interest.' 
 
 The hump-backed damsel thought that I was going to make an 
 open avowal ; the colour rushed to her cheeks, and her look became 
 animated, although she cast her eyes on the ground. I continued: 
 
 * Doubtless, you will be astonished that at my age one can be as 
 deeply enamoured as at twenty years old.' 
 
 1 Ah, sir, you are still young,' said the amiable Humpina, whose 
 mistake I would not allow to be prolonged. 
 
 ' Why, pretty well for that,' I added ; ' but it is not of that I 
 would speak. You know that in Paris it is not an uncommon 
 thing for a man and woman to live together without the benediction 
 of holy Mother Church.' 
 
 ' What do you take me for, sir, to make such a proposal to me ?' 
 cried the little Humpetta, without giving me time to finish my sen- 
 tence. I smiled at her mistake, and continued : ' I have no inten- 
 tion to make any such proposition ; I only request that you will 
 have the goodness to give me some information respecting a young 
 lady, who I am told lives in this house with a gentleman who 
 passes for her husband.' ' I know nothing at all about it,' answered 
 my little lady, very snappishly. 
 
 I then gave her a tolerably accurate description of Fossard and 
 the demoiselle Tonneau, his lady. 
 
 ' Ah, I now know,' said she ; * a man of your figure and size 
 about thirty or five-and-thirty years of age, a good looking gentle- 
 man: the lady, a pretty brunette, beautiful eyes, lovely teeth, 
 charming mouth, superb eyelashes, dark brows } nose a little turned 
 up, with a most engaging and modest demeanour. They did live 
 here, but they have removed.' I entreated her to give me their 
 new address ; and on her reply, that she did not know it, I weep- 
 
3U MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 ingly besought her to aid in the recovery of an ungrateful creature, 
 whom I still fondly, dotingly loved, despite her perfidy. 
 
 The seamstress was touched. The tears I shed moved her tender 
 heart ; and feeling that I had gained ground, I became more and 
 more pathetic. Ah ! her infidelity will cause my death : pity, 
 commiserate a wretched husband ; I conjure you, do not conceal 
 from me her retreat, and I shall owe you more than life.' 
 
 Your hump-backed women are compassionate ; moreover, a 
 husband is, in their eyes, so inappreciable a treasure ; and as they 
 are not possessed of one, they cannot imagine how anyone can be 
 unfaithful; and thus my seamstress held adultery in utter ab- 
 horrence. She sincerely pitied me, and said she would do all in 
 her power to serve me. ' Unfortunately,' she added, * their goods 
 having been removed by porters not belonging to the district, I am 
 completely ignorant of where they have gone, or what has become 
 of them ; but would you like to see the landlady ?' As I had no 
 doubt of her sincerity, I went to see the landlady, but all I learnt 
 from her was, that they had paid for the term agreed on, and had 
 not left any tidings of their new abode. 
 
 Except having discovered Fossard's old lodging, I was no for- 
 warder than at first ; but I would not abandon the quest without 
 exhausting every chance and inquiry that would suggest itself. 
 Usually the porters of the various districts know each other; and 
 I interrogated those of the Rue de Petit Carreau, to whom I 
 introduced myself as a wronged husband ; and one of them pointed 
 out to me a comrade who had aided in the removal of my rival's 
 goods and chattels. 
 
 I saw this individual, and told him my concerted story ; but he 
 was a cunning chap, and intended to trick me. I pretended not 
 to perceive it ; and, as a recompense for promising that he would 
 conduct me the next day to the place where Fossard had pitched 
 his tent, I gave him two five-franc pieces, which were spent the 
 same day at the Courtille, in company with the lady he * pro- 
 tected.' 
 
 1ms interview was on the 27th of December, and we were to 
 meet again the next day ; and to fulfil my assertion of the ist of 
 January, there was not much time to lose. I was punctual at the 
 rendezvous, and the porter, whom 1 had caused to be watched by 
 some agents, was also to the time and place. Some more five-franc 
 pieces changed masters from my purse to his, and I paid for his 
 breakfast. We then started, and we arrived at a very pretty house, 
 at the corner of the Rue Duphot and that of Saint Honore. 
 ' Now,' said he, * we must ask the vintner just by if they are still 
 here.' He wanted me to regale him again. I did not refuse ; and 
 
FOSSARD. 315 
 
 we entered the shop, where we emptied a bottle of good wine. I 
 then left him, fully assured of the residence of my pretended wife 
 and her seducer. I had no farther occasion for my guide, and 
 dismissed him with a mark of my gratitude ; but, to be sure that he 
 did not betray me, in the hope of being doubly paid, I ordered the 
 agents to watch him closely, and to prevent his returning to 
 the vintner's. As well as I remember, to preclude all possibility 
 of his so doing, they put him in the guard-house : in such cases we 
 are not over-particular ; and, to be sincere, it was I who put him 
 in the stone doublet, which was but a just retaliation. 'My 
 friend,' I said to him, ' I have left with the police a note of five 
 hundred francs, destined to reward the man who shall successfully 
 aid me in recovering my wife. It is now yours ; and I will give 
 you a note which will enable you to secure it ;' and I gave him a 
 small note to M. Henry, who, on perusal, said to a police-officer, 
 ' Conduct this gentleman to the chest' The chest was in this 
 instance the Sylvestre-Chamber (a place of confinement), where 
 my friend the porter had a little leisure for salutary reflection. 
 
 I was not certain of Fossard's residence, but yet relied on the 
 indications given to me, and I was provided with the necessary 
 power for his apprehension. Then the ' richard du Marais ' (the 
 rich old man of the Marais) was suddenly metamorphosed into a 
 coalman ; and in this costume, under which neither the mother 
 who bore me, nor any of the agents of the police, who saw me 
 daily, could have recognised me, I employed myself in studying 
 the ground on which I should so shortly be compelled to man- 
 oeuvre. 
 
 The friends of Fossard that is, his denouncers had advised 
 that the agents employed in his apprehension should be warned 
 that he was always provided with a dagger and pistols, one of 
 which latter, with double barrels, was concealed in a cambric 
 handkerchief which he always held in his hand. This information 
 called for precaution ; and besides, from the known desperation 
 of Fossard's character, it was certain that, to avoid a confinement 
 worse than death, he would not hesitate about a murder. I felt 
 no anxiety to become his victim ; and thought that it would 
 sensibly diminish my chance of peril, if I came to a previous un- 
 derstanding with the vintner whose tenant Fossard was. The 
 vintner was a good fellow enough, but the police is always in such 
 ill odour, that it is no easy matter to procure the assistance of 
 honest men. I determined to bring him over to my side, by 
 making it much to his interest to do so. I had visited his house 
 several times in my double disguise, and had leisure to make my- 
 self acquainted with all the localities, as well as with the sort of 
 
?I6 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 visitors who came there. I then went in my usual dress, and 
 accosting the man, told him I wished to speak with him in private. 
 He took me into a small room, when I thus addressed him : 
 
 ' I have to inform you, from the police, that a plan is formed 
 to rob your house ; the thief who has devised the means, and who 
 probably intends perpetrating the robbery himself, lodges in your 
 house ; the female who lives with him comes sometimes behind 
 your counter, sees your wife, and whilst conversing with her, has 
 contrived to get the impression of the key which opens the door 
 by which the proposed entry is to be made. All is arranged ; the 
 alarum is to be cut with nippers whilst the door is ajar ; once inside, 
 they will ascend quickly to your chamber ; and if they have any 
 suspicion that you are awake, as it is a perfect ruffian who con- 
 certs the project, there is no need for me to tell you what will 
 
 ensue ' * They will cut our throats,' said the alarmed vintner, 
 
 and then called his wife to communicate the intelligence. Oh, my 
 love, what a world we live in trust nobody ! That ' Madame 
 Hazard, who seemed too good to have a sin to confess would 
 you believe it actually contemplates the cutting of our throats ! 
 This very night they will come and settle the business.' ' No, no, 
 be quiet,' I replied, ' not this night ; the till is not full enough, 
 they wait until the fitting time ; but if you are discreet and will 
 second me, we will defeat them.' 
 
 Madame Hazard was Mademoiselle Tonneau, who had assumed 
 the name by which Fossard was known in the house ; and I 
 desired the vintner and his wife, who were gladly led by me, to 
 treat their lodgers as usual. It need not be asked how willingly 
 they followed my instructions ; and it was agreed between us that 
 to see Fossard go out, and to be able to decide on the best time 
 to seize on him, I should ensconce myself in a small closet under 
 the stairs. 
 
 At an early hour on the 291)1 of December, I betook myself 
 to my station it was desperately cold, the watch was a protracted 
 one, and the more painful as we had no fire ; motionless, however, 
 and my eye fixed against a small hole in the shutter, I kept my 
 post. At last, about three o'clock, he went out; I followed 
 gladly, and recognised him ; for up to that period I had my 
 doubts. Certain now of his identity, I wished at that moment to 
 put into execution the order for his apprehension ; but the officer 
 who was with me said he saw the terrible pistol. That I might 
 authenticate the fact, I walked quickly and passed Fossard ; and 
 then returning, saw clearly that the agent was right. To attempt 
 to arrest him would have been useless, and I resolved to defer it ; 
 and on recalling to mind that a fortnight before I had flattered my- 
 
FOSSARD. 317 
 
 self with the prospect of apprehending Frossard on the ist 
 of January, I was not displeased at the delay ; but till then my 
 vigilance was not to be relaxed for a single instant. 
 
 On the 3ist of December, at eleven o'clock, when all my bat- 
 teries were charged and my plans perfect, Fossard returned, and 
 without distrust ascended the staircase shaking with cold ; and 
 twenty minutes after, the disappearance of the light indicated that 
 he was in bed. The moment had now arrived. The commissary and 
 gendarmes, summoned by me, were waiting at the nearest guard- 
 house until I should call them, and then enter quietly ; we delibe- 
 rated on the most effectual mode of seizing Frossard without run- 
 ning the risk of being killed or wounded ; for they were persuaded 
 that unless surprised this robber would defend himself desperately. 
 
 My first thought was to do nothing till daybreak, as I had been 
 told that Fossard's companion went down very early to get the 
 milk ; we should then seize her, and after having taken the key 
 from her, we should enter the room of her lover ; but might it 
 not happen that, contrary to his usual custom, he might go out 
 first ! This reflection led me to adopt another expedient. 
 
 The vintner's wife, in whose favour, as I was told, M. Hazard 
 was much prepossessed, had one of her nephews at her house, a 
 lad about ten years of age, intelligent beyond his years, and the 
 more desirous of getting money as he was a Norman. I promised 
 him a reward on condition that under pretence of his aunt's being 
 taken suddenly ill, he should go and beg Madame Hazard to give 
 him some Eau de Cologne. I desired the little chap to assume 
 the most piteous tone he could ; and was so well satisfied with a 
 specimen he gave me, that I began to distribute the parts of my 
 performers. The denouement was near at hand. I made all my 
 party take off their shoes, doing the same myself, that we might 
 not be heard whilst going upstairs. The little snivelling pilot was 
 in his shirt; he rang the bell no one answered; again he rang : 
 ' Who's there ?' was heard. * It is I, Madame Hazard ; it is 
 Louis : my poor aunt is very bad, and begs you will be so very 
 obliging as to give her a little eau de Cologne Oh ! she is dying ! 
 I have got a light !' 
 
 The door was opened ; and scarcely had Mademoiselle Tonneau 
 presented herself, when two powerful gendarmes seized on her, 
 and fastened a napkin over her mouth to prevent her crying out. 
 At the same instant, with more rapidity than the lion when darting 
 on his prey, I threw myself upon Fossard, who, stupefied by what 
 was doing, and already fast bound and confined in his bed, was 
 my prisoner before he could make a single movement, or utter a 
 single word. So great w^s his amazement, that it was nearly an 
 
3i8 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 hour before he could articulate even a few words. When a light 
 was brought and he saw my black face, and garb of a coalman, he 
 experienced such an increase of terror, that I really believe he 
 imagined himself in the devil's clutches. On coming to himself, 
 he thought of his arms, his pistols and dagger, which were upon 
 the table ; and turning his eyes towards them, he made a struggle, 
 but that was all ; for, reduced to the impossibility of doing any 
 mischief, he was passive, and contented himself with ' chewing the 
 cud of sweet and bitter fancy.' 
 
 On searching the domicile of this formidable brigand, a great 
 quantity of jewels were found ; diamonds and cash to the amount 
 of eight or ten thousand francs. Fossard, having recovered his 
 spirits, told me that under the marble of the chimney-piece were 
 ten notes of a thousand francs each. ' Take them,' said he : ' we 
 will divide, or you shall take as much as you please.' I took the 
 notes, and getting into a fiacre, we soon reached M. Henry's 
 office, where we deposited the booty found in Fossard's apartment. 
 On making out the inventory, when we came to the last item, the 
 commissary, who had accompanied me in the enterprise, said, 'It 
 now only remains to conclude the proces-verbal.' 'Stay one 
 moment,' I cried, ' here are ten thousand francs which the prisoner 
 has handed over to me.' I displayed this sum, to the great regret of 
 Fossard, who gave me one of those looks which would say, ' This 
 is a turn I will never forgive.' 
 
 Fossard entered early on a career of crime. Born of reputable 
 parents, he had received a good education ; his friends had done 
 all in their power to divert him from his vicious courses, but, in 
 spite of good advice, he had thrown himself headlong into the 
 vortex of bad company. He began by stealing trifling articles ; 
 but soon after, having acquired a decided taste for such pursuits, 
 and blushing, no doubt, at being confounded with ordinary 
 robbers, ' petty larceny knaves,' he adopted what the gentlemen 
 style ' a distinguished line.' The famous Victor Desbois and Noel 
 with the Spectacles, who now honour the Bagne at Brest with 
 their distinguished presence, were his associates ; and they com- 
 mitted together those robberies which led to their imprisonment 
 for life. Noel, whose talents as a musician, and in his quality of 
 teacher of the pianoforte, got access to all the rich houses, took 
 impressions of the keys, which Fossard then fabricated. It was an 
 art in which he defied Georget and all the locksmiths in the world 
 to surpass him : however complicated the lock, however ingenious 
 and difficult the secret, nothing resisted the efforts of his skill. 
 
 It may be easily conceived what advantage he made of such 
 a pernicious talent ; being, moreover, a man who could insinuate 
 
FOSSARD. 319 
 
 himself into the company of honest persons and then dupe them. 
 Besides, he was a close and frigid character, to which he added 
 courage and perseverance. His comrades regarded him as the 
 prince of thieves ; and in fact, amongst the ' tip-top cracksmen/ 
 that is, in the aristocracy of robbers, I never knew but Cognard, 
 Pontis, Comte de St. Helene, and Jossas, who were at all com- 
 parable with him. 
 
 After I had reinstated him at the Bagne, Fossard often attempted 
 to escape. Some liberated prisoners who have lately seen him, 
 have assured me that he only longs for liberty, that he may avenge 
 himself on me. They say he has threatened to kill me. If 
 the accomplishment of this kind intention depended solely on him, 
 I am sure he would keep his word, if it were only to give a proof 
 of his intrepidity. Two circumstances that have been told me, will 
 give some idea of the man. 
 
 One day Fossard was about to commit a robbery in an apart- 
 ment on the second story ; his comrades, who were watching with 
 out, were stupid enough to allow the proprietor to ascend the stair- 
 case ; and he, on putting the key into the door, opened it, went 
 through several rooms, and on getting to an inner closet, saw the 
 thief at work ; but Fossard, putting himself on the defensive, 
 escaped. A window was open near him, and, darting out of it, 
 he fell into the street without injury, and disappeared as swift as 
 lightning. 
 
 Another time, whilst he was escaping, he was surprised on the 
 tiles of Bicetre, and fired at Fossard, never disconcerted, con- 
 tinued to walk along without stopping or hastening his steps, and 
 getting to that side which looks into the fields, he slid down. 
 The fall was enough to have broken a hundred necks, but he 
 received no hurt ; only the slide was so rapid that his clothes were 
 rent in shreds. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Guillotin Double-Croche and the chicken-coop The Orientalists and the 
 Argonauts The mutton of the salt marshes The cat's tail Rihoulet and 
 Manon la Blonde The little black father The Children of the Sun. 
 
 I DO not think that amongst the readers of these Memoirs one 
 will be found who, even by chance, has set foot at Guillotin's, an 
 unsophisticated adulterer of wines, whose establishment, well 
 known to the most degraded class ot robbers, is situate opposite 
 to the Cloaque Desnoyers, which the raff of the Barriere call the 
 drawing-room of la Courtille. A workman may be honest to a 
 certain extent and venture in, en fassant^ to Papa Desnoyer's. If 
 
320 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 he be awake, and keep his eye on the company, although a row 
 should commence, he may, by the aid of the gendarmes, escape 
 with only a few blows, and pay no one's scot but his own. At 
 Guillotin's he will not come off so well, particularly if his toggery 
 be over spruce, and his pouch has chink in it. 
 
 Picture to yourself, reader, a square room of considerable mag- 
 nitude, the walls of which, once white, have been blackened by 
 every species of exhalation. Such is, in all its simple modesty, the 
 aspect of a temple consecrated to the worship of Bacchus and 
 Terpsichore. At first, by a very natural optical illusion, we are 
 struck by the confined space before us, but the eye, after a time, 
 piercing through the thick atmosphere of a thousand vapours which 
 are most inodorous, the extent becomes visible by details which 
 escape in the first chaotic glimpse. It is the moment of creation, 
 all is bright, the fog disappears, becomes peopled, is animated, 
 forms appear, they move, they are agitated, they are no illusory 
 shadows, but, on the contrary, essentially material, which cross and 
 recross at every moment. What beatitudes ! what a joyous life ! 
 Never, even for the Epicureans, were so many felicities assembled 
 together. Those who like to wallow in filth, can find it here to 
 their hearts' content : many seated at tables, on which, without 
 ever being wiped away, are renewed a hundred times a day the 
 most disgusting libations, close in a square space reserved for 
 what they call the dancers. At the farther end of this infected 
 cave there is, supported by four worm-eaten pillars, a sort of alcove, 
 constructed from broken-up ship-timber, which is graced by the 
 appearance of two or three rags of old tapestry. It is on this 
 chicken coop that the music is perched : two clarionets, a hurdy- 
 gurdy, a cracked trumpet, and a grumbling bassoon five instru- 
 ments whose harmonious movements are regulated by the crutch 
 of Monsieur Double-Croche, a lame dwarf, who is called the leader 
 of the orchestra. Here all is in harmony the faces, costume, the 
 food that is prepared; a genteel appearance is scouted. There is no 
 closet in which walking-sticks, umbrellas, and cloaks are deposited; 
 the women have their hair all in confusion like a poodle dog, and 
 the kerchief perched on the top of the head, or in a knot tied in 
 front, with the corners in a rosette, or, if you prefer it, a cockade, 
 which threatens the eye in the same manner as those of the country 
 mules. As for the men, it is a waistcoat with a cap and falling 
 collar, if they have a shirt, which is the regulated costume ; 
 breeches are not insisted on ; the supreme bon ton would be an 
 artilleryman's cap, the frock of a hussar, the panaloons of a lancer, 
 the boots of a guardsman - in fact, the cast-off attire of three or four 
 regiments, or the wardrobe of a field of battle ; and there is no 
 
GUILLOTINE. 321 
 
 out and outer thus attired but is the fancy man of these ladies, who 
 adore the cavalry, and have a decided taste for the dress of the 
 whole army ; but nothing so much pleases them as mustachios, 
 and a broad red cap adorned with leather of the same colour. 
 
 In this assembly, a beaver hat, unless napless and brimless, 
 would be very rare ; no one ever remembers to have seen a coat 
 there, and should anyone dare to present himself with a great 
 coat, unless a. family man, he would be sure to depart skirtless, or 
 only in his waistcoat. In vain would he ask pardon for those 
 flaps which had offended the eyes of the noble assembly ; too 
 happy would he be if, after having been bandied and knocked 
 about with the utmost unanimity as a greenhorn, only one skirt 
 should be left in the hands of these youthful beauties. 
 
 Desnoyers' is the resort of the lower orders ; but before stepping 
 over the threshold of the cabaret of Guillotin, even the canaille 
 themselves look twice ; as in this repository are only to be seen 
 .prostitutes with their bullies, pick-pockets, and thieves of all classes, 
 some prigs of the lowest grade, and many of those nocturnal 
 marauders who divide their existence into two parts, consecrating 
 it to the duties of theft and riot. It may be supposed that slang 
 is the only language of this delightful society : it is generally in 
 French, but so perverted from its primitive signification, that there 
 it not a member of the distinguished ' company of forty ' who can 
 flatter himself with a full knowledge of it, and yet the * dons of 
 Guillotin's ' have their purists: those who assert that slang took its 
 rise in the East, and without thinking for a moment of disputing 
 their talent as Orientalists, they take that title to themselves with- 
 out any ceremony, as also that of Argonauts, when they have com- 
 pleted their studies under the direction of the galley-sergeants, in 
 working, in the port of Toulon, the dormant navigation on board 
 a vessel in dock. If notes were pleasing to me, I could here seize 
 the opportunity of making some very learned remarks. I should, 
 perhaps, go into a profound disquisition, but I am about to paint 
 the paradise of these bacchanalians ; the colours are prepared let 
 us finish the picture. 
 
 If they drink at Guillotin's, they eat also, and the mysteries of 
 the kitchen of this place of delights are well worthy of being known. 
 The little Father Guillotin has no butcher, but he has a purveyor ; 
 and in his brass stew-pans, the ver ligris of which never poisons, 
 the dead horse is transformed into beef a-la-mode , the thighs of 
 the dead dogs found in Rue Gudnegaud become legs of mutton 
 from the salt marshes ; and the magic of a piquant sauce gives to 
 the staggering bob (dead-born veal) of the cow-feeder the appetizing 
 of that of Pontoise. We, are told that the cheer in winter is 
 
 21 
 
322 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 excellent, when the rot prevails ; and if ever bread were scarce in 
 summer during the ' massacre of the innocents,' mutton was to be 
 had here at a very cheap rate. 
 
 In this country of metamorphoses the hare never had the right 
 of citizenship ; it was compelled to yield to the rabbit, and the 
 rabbit how happy the rats are ! 
 
 ' Ofortunati nimium si n6rint' 
 
 It was the Domine of St. Mand who taught me this quotation ; 
 he told me it was Latin, perhaps it may be Greek or Hebrew ; 
 no matter, I leave it, come what may, to the will of God ; but still, 
 if the rats could ever have seen what I have seen, unless they had 
 been an ingrate and perverse race, they would have opened a sub- 
 scription for the erection of a statue to the Liberator, little Father 
 Guillotin. 
 
 One evening, led by my inclination, which a good Frenchman 
 always follows, I went out; in my road I accidentally pushed 
 against a door, it gave way, and, by the freshness of the air, I 
 found I was in a court ; the place was propitious, and I groped 
 along, until I made a trip over some paving stones which had been 
 left in the way. I stretched out my arms to recover myself, and 
 whilst with one hand I grasped hold of a post, I seized with the 
 other something very soft and very long. I was in darkness, but 
 fancied I saw several sparks shining, and by the touch I thought *I 
 recognised a certain velvet appendage of a quadruped's vertebral 
 column. I kept hold of a bunch of it, and drawing it through my 
 hand, there remained a packet of spoils, with which I entered the 
 room at the very moment when M. Double-Croche, pointing out 
 the figures to the dancers, was howling out ' la queue du chat '- 
 (the cat's tail). 
 
 It needs not to be asked how very a propos this was ; there 
 was throughout the assembly a general mewing, but it was only a 
 joke ; the lovers of fricassee mewed liked the rest, and, after 
 having taken their caps off, they said, * Come on, here is the good 
 stuff! Covered by cat-skin, and fed on cats, we shall not soon be 
 in want ; the mother of tom-cats is not yet dead.' 
 
 Father Guillotin consumed generally more oil than cotton, but 
 I can, nevertheless, affirm that, in my time, some banquets have 
 been spread at his cabaret, which, subtracting the liquids, could 
 not have cost more at the Cafe Riche or at Grignon's. I remem- 
 ber six individuals, named Driancourt, Vilaites, Pitroux, and three 
 others, who found means to spend 166 francs there in one night. 
 In fact, each one of them had with him his favourite bella. The 
 citizen no doubt pretty well fleeced them, but they did not com- 
 
GUILLOTINES. 323 
 
 plain, and that quarter of an hour which Rabelais had so much 
 difficulty in passing, caused them no trouble ; they paid like 
 grandees, without forgetting the waiter. I apprehended them 
 whilst they were paying the bill, which they had not even taken 
 the trouble of examining. Thieves are generous when they are 
 caught * i' the vein.' They had just committed many considerable 
 robberies, which they are now repenting in the Bagnes of France. 
 
 It can scarcely be believed that in the centre of civilization 
 there can exist a den so hideous as the cave of Guillotin ; it must 
 be seen, as I have seen it, to be believed. Men or women all 
 smoked as they danced, the pipe passed from mouth to mouth, 
 and the most refined gallantry that could be offered to the nymphs 
 who came to this rendezvous, to display their graces in the 
 postures and attitudes of the indecent Chahut, was to offer them 
 \h.z pruneau, that is, the quid of tobacco, submitted or not, ac- 
 cording to the degree of familiarity, to the test of a previous 
 mastication. The peace-officers and inspectors were characters 
 too greatly distinguished to appear among such an assemblage 
 they kept themselves most scrupulously aloof, to avoid so repug- 
 nant a contact ; I myself was much disgusted with it, but at the 
 same time was persuaded, that to discover and apprehend male- 
 factors, it would not do to wait until they should come and throw 
 themselves into my arms ; I therefore determined to seek them 
 out, and that my searches might not be fruitless, I endeavoured 
 to find out their haunts, and then, like a fisherman who has found 
 a preserve, I cast my line out with a certainty of a bite. I did not 
 lose my time in searching for a needle in a bottle of hay, as the 
 saying is ; when we lack water, it is useless to go to the source of 
 a dried-up stream and wait for a shower of rain ; but to quit all 
 metaphor, and speak plainly the spy who really means to ferret 
 out the robbers, ought, as much as possible, to dwell amongst 
 them, that he may grasp at every opportunity which presents itself 
 of drawing down upon their heads the sentence of the laws. Upon 
 this principle I acted, and this caused my recruits to say that I 
 made men robbers; I certainly have, in this way, made a vast 
 many, particularly on my first connection with the police. 
 
 On a particular afternoon I had a presentiment that a visit to 
 Guillotin's would not be without its results. Without being super- 
 stitious, I know not why, 1 have always followed these inspirations; 
 I put my wardrobe in requisition, and, after having suited myself 
 so as not to bear any appearance of being a greenhorn, I left my 
 house with another secret agent, named Riboulet, a downy cove> 
 whom all the houris of the boozing ken claimed as their chevalier, 
 as did also the milliners' girls, who considered him as a complete 
 
 21 9 
 
324 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 kiddy. For such an excursion, a woman was an indispensable 
 portion of the baggage, and Riboulet had one who just suited us ; 
 she passed as his mistress, and was a common woman, called 
 Manon la Blonde, on whom he assured me that reliance could be 
 placed. In two seconds she rent her woollen stockings in twenty 
 places, tore the edges of her red cloak, begrimed her shawl, trod 
 her shoes down at heel, dishevelled her locks, and gave to the 
 kerchief with which she graced her brows that indescribable appear- 
 ance which was necessary. She was highly delighted with the 
 character she had to perform. 
 
 Thus attired and prepared, we set out together, arm-in-arm, 
 towards la Courtille. On reaching the cabaret, we seated our- 
 selves at a table in the corner, that we might the more easily watch 
 whatever should pass. Riboulet was one of those men whose very 
 appearance commanded instant attention : he had not spoken, nor 
 had I, but yet we were instantly attended to. 
 
 ' You see,' said he, ' the cove knows the time o' day, the lush 
 (wine), meat, and salad.' 
 
 I asked if we could not have a matelote of eels. 
 
 ' Snakes,' cried Manon, ' do you want ? cag-mag and snivellers 
 (stinking meat and onions) would be as good.' 
 
 I said no more, and we began to eat with as much appetite as 
 if we had never been initiated into the mysteries of Papa Guillotin's 
 cookery. 
 
 During the repast, a noise at the door attracted our attention. 
 It proceeded from some conquerors who made their triumphal 
 entry : men and women, six in number, forming three couples of 
 individuals whose * human face divine ' was most tremendously 
 disfigured : they all had scratched countenances and black eyes ; 
 by the bloody disorder of their attire, and the freshness of their 
 dilapidations in face and garments, it was easy to perceive that 
 they were the heroes of some spree, in which on both sides the 
 quarrel had been decided by fisticuffs. They approached our 
 table. 
 
 ONE OF THE HEROES. { By your leave, my trumps, is there 
 room for us on this here seat ?' 
 
 I. 'We shall be squeezed a little, but never mind' (making 
 room). 
 
 RIBOULET (addressing me). * Come, my covey, make room for 
 the gentlemen.' 
 
 MANON (to the fresh arrivals). * Are these ladies with you?' 
 
 ONE OF THE HEROINES. ' Vat is it you say ?' (turning to her 
 friends), * vat does she say ?' 
 
 HER PAL. ' Hold your jaw, Titine (Celestine), the lady said 
 nothing to affront you.' 
 
GUILLOTINES. 325 
 
 The whole party seated themselves. 
 
 A HERO. * Halloo ! come here, Daddy Guillotin ; a little black 
 father, four year old, for eight mag.' (A four-quart jug for eight 
 sous.) 
 
 GUILLOTIN. 'Coming, coming.' 
 
 THE WAITER (with the jug in his hand). 'Thirty-two mag t if you 
 please.' 
 
 4 I'll give you two-and-thirty kicks of the ; you're chaffing 
 
 us, my rum un.' 
 
 WAITER. * No, my knowing ones, but it's the custom, or, if you 
 like, the way of this here house.' 
 
 The wine was poured into all the glasses, and they also filled 
 ours. * Excuse the liberty,' said the Ganymede of the party. 
 
 1 Oh, there's no harm done,' replied Riboulet 
 
 ' You know one politeness requires another.' 
 
 ' But you are too polite.' 
 
 ' Oh no, drink away, nunky pays for all.' 
 
 ' You are right my boys, so push the wine about.' 
 
 We did push it about, and so well, that about ten o'clock in the 
 evening all the sympathy left between us was manifested by pro- 
 testations, sight being lost ; and by those explosions of drunken 
 tenderness which develop all the infirmities of the human heart. 
 
 When the hour of parting had arrived, our new acquaintances, 
 and particularly the softer sex, were completely drunk. Riboulet 
 and his mistress were only somewhat elevated, as well as myself ; 
 they had preserved their senses, but to appear all in unison we 
 pretended to be so tipsy as to be unable to walk ; formed into a 
 phalanx, because in that way the gusts of wind are less to be feared, 
 we left the theatre of our pleasures. Then, that we might neutra- 
 lize, by the aid of a chant^ the reeling tendencies of our troop, 
 Riboulet, with a voice whose echoes vibrated in every court and 
 alley, began to sing, in the most finished slang of his time, one of 
 those ballads with a chorus, which are as long as to-day and to- 
 morrow. 
 
 ' As from ken (a) to ken I was going, 
 
 Doing a hit on the prigging lay (6) : 
 Who should I meet, but a jolly blowen (c) 
 
 Tol lol, lol lol, tol derol, ay ; 
 Who should I meet, but a jolly blowen, 
 
 Who was fly (d) to the time o' day (*). 
 
 (a) Ken shop, house. (H) Prigging lay thieving business. 
 
 (c) Bio-wen girl, strumpet, sweetheart. 
 
 (d) Fly [contraction of Jlash~\, awake up to, practised in. 
 
 (e) Time o* day knowledge of business, thieving, etc. 
 
326 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 1 Who should I meet, but a jolly blowen, 
 
 Who was fly to the time o' day ; 
 I pattered in flash (/), like a covey (g), knowing 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 " Ay, bub or grubby (h) t I say." 
 
 ' I pattered in flash, like a covey knowing, 
 
 "Ay, bub, or grubby, I say." 
 " Lots of gatter " (i), quo' she, " are flowing* 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 Lend me a lift in the family way (/). 
 
 "Lots of gatter," quo' she, "are flowing, 
 
 Lend me a lift in the family way. 
 You may have a crib (k) to stow in, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 Welcome my pal (/), as the flowers in May. 
 
 ' " You may have a crib to stow in, 
 
 Welcome, my pal, as the flowers in May." 
 To her ken at once I go in, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 Where in a corner out of the way ; 
 
 ' To her ken at once I go in, 
 
 Where in a corner, out of the way, 
 With his smeller (tn), a trumpet-blowing, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 A regular swell-cove (n) lushy (o) lay. 
 
 ' With his smeller, a trumpet -blowing, 
 
 A regular swell-cove lushy lay ; 
 To his dies (/) my hooks (y) I throw in, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 And collar his dragons (r) clear away. 
 
 ' To his dies my hooks I throw in, 
 
 And collar his dragons clear away $ 
 Then his ticker (s) I set a-going, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 And his onions (/), chain, and key. 
 
 ' Then his ticker I set a-going, 
 
 With his onions, chain, and key. 
 Next slipt off his bottom clo'ing, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 And his gingerbread topper gay. 
 
 (f) Pattered in fash spoke in slang. fc) Covey man. 
 
 (h) Bub and grub drink and food. (a>) Gatter porter. 
 
 (j ) Family thieves in general. 2 he family way the thieving line. 
 
 j/6) Crio-bed. (/) /fc/ friend, companion, paramour. 
 
 (m) Smetfernose. Trumpet-blowing here is not slang, but poetry for 
 snoring. (n) Swell-cove gentleman, dandy. 
 
 (o) Lushy drunk. ^ (p) dies pockets. 
 
 (q) hooks fingers ; in full, thieving hooks, 
 
 (r) Collar his dragons take his sovereigns. 
 
 (s) Ticforvi&tch. (/) Onions seals. 
 
GUILLOTINES. 327 
 
 Next slipt off his bottom clo'ing, 
 
 And his gingerbread topper gay. 
 Then his other toggery (w, stowing, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 All with the swag (v), I sneak away. 
 
 ' Then his other toggery stowing, 
 All with the swag, I sneak away ; 
 
 "Tramp it, tramp it, my jolly blowen, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 Or be grabbed (w) by the beaks (x) we may. 
 
 ** Tramp it, tramp it, my jolly blowen, 
 
 Or be grabbed by the beaks we may ; 
 And we shall caper a-heel-and-toeing, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 A Newgate hornpipe some fine day. 
 
 " And we shall caper a-heel and -toeing, 
 
 A Newgate hornpipe some fine day ; 
 With the mots(y) their ogles(^) throwing, 
 
 Tol lol, etc. 
 And old Cotton (aa) humming his pray (bb). 
 
 " With the mots their ogles throwing, 
 
 And old Cotton humming his pray; 
 And the fogle-hunters (cc) doing, 
 
 Toi lol, etc. 
 Their morning fake (dd) in the prigging lay." 1 
 
 Riboulet having been safely delivered of his fourteen couplets. 
 Manon la Blonde was desirous of evincing the powers of her lungs, 
 * Now for another !' said she. 
 
 The chorus, which we took up, as it were, from Manon's mouth, 
 was repeated eight or ten times, in a manner which almost broke 
 the windows of the house about us. After this burst of bacchana- 
 lian hilarity, the first fumes of wine, which are usually most potent, 
 beginning somewhat to dissipate, we entered into conversation. 
 The chapter of confidences, according to custom, opened by inter- 
 rogatories. I did not require to be much questioned, but went 
 beyond the communications which they desired to know: a stranger 
 in Paris, I had only known Riboulet in prison at Valenciennes, 
 when he was sent back to his regiment as a deserter ; he was a 
 college chum (a fellow-prisoner), whom I had met again. As to the 
 rest, I took care to represent myself in colours which charmed 
 them : I was a thorough out-and-outer. I know not what I have 
 
 (u) Toggery clothes, from toga. (v) Swag plunder. 
 
 (w) Grabbed taken. (x) Beaks Police-officers. (y) Mots girls. 
 
 (z) Ogteseyes. (aa) Old Cotton the Ordinary of Newgate. 
 
 (bb] Humming his pray saying his prayers. 
 
 (cc) Fogle-hunters pickpockets. 
 
 (dd) Morning fake morning thievery 
 
328 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 not done, and was ready to do anything. I unbosomed myself 
 that they might unbosom as freely in their turn ; it is a tactic which 
 has often been successful with me : the party soon chattered like 
 magpies, and I became as well acquainted with all their doings as 
 if I had never been separated from them. They told me their 
 names, residences, exploits, misfortunes, hopes : they had met a 
 man who was really worthy of their confidence ; I returned it, I 
 suited them, and all was said. 
 
 Such explanations always make a man thirsty, more or less : all 
 the liquor-shops in our road were visited : more than a hundred 
 toasts were drunk in honour of our new convention, and we were 
 not to separate again. ' Come along with us, come,' they said, 
 and they were so pressing, that, quite unable to refuse their im- 
 portunities, I agreed to go to their abode, Rue des Filles-Dieu > 
 No. 14, where they lodged in a furnished house. Once in their 
 abode, it was impossible to refuse a share of their bed : it is diffi- 
 cult to describe what good fellows they were ; and so was I, and 
 they were the better convinced of it, as, during an hour, whilst I 
 pretended to be sleeping, my friend Riboulet passed a eulogy on 
 me, in a low tone of voice, of which not even half was true, or I 
 should have richly merited a sentence for ten times the term of 
 my natural life. At last Riboulet had so completely placed me in 
 good odour with our hosts, that about break of day they proposed 
 to me to go out upon a job with them, a robbery which they had 
 planned in the Rue de la Verrerie. 
 
 I had only just time to warn the chief of the second division, 
 who made his arrangements so well, that they were apprehended 
 with the property about their persons. Riboulet and I remained 
 on the lookout, to give alarm in case of danger, as the thieves be- 
 lieved, but, in fact, to see if the police were on their posts. When 
 they passed near us, all three in a coach, whence they could not 
 see us, ' Well !' said Riboulet, * there they are, taken in the very 
 act.' They were also condemned; and if the names of Debuire, 
 Role, and Hippolyte, called la Biche, are still on the muster-roll 
 at the Bagnes, it is the result of an evening passed at Guillotin's 
 amongst the children of the sun. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 A frequenter of La Petite Chaise A nocturnal abduction The jolly thief- 
 First visit to Bicetre My life threatened The storm appeased. 
 
 THIEVES frequently fell into my clutches when I least expected 
 them ; it was said that their evil genius impelled them to come 
 and find me. It must be confessed that those who thus flung 
 
<JEAN LOUIS: 329 
 
 themselves into the wolf's throat were horribly unlucky or infernally 
 stupid. When I saw with what facility the majority of them gave 
 themselves up, I was really astonished that they should have chosen 
 a profession in which, to avoid perils, so many precautions are neces- 
 sary : some of them were such good-natured fellows, that I con- 
 sidered as almost miraculous the impunity which they had enjoyed 
 up to the moment when they met me, and paid the reckoning of 
 their crimes, It is incredible that any individuals created expressly 
 to fall into any plot or snare, should have awaited my coming to 
 the police to be caught. Before my time the police were either 
 most clumsily arranged, or else I was singularly fortunate : under 
 any circumstances it is, as they say, * give a man luck, and fling 
 him into the sea.' The following- recital is in point. One day, 
 towards twilight, dressed like a workman of the dockyards, I was 
 seated on the parapet of the Quai de Ge\res, when I saw, coming 
 towards me, an individual whom I knew to be one of the fre- 
 quenters of the Petite Chaise and the Bon Puits, two cabarets of 
 renown for robbers. 
 
 ' Good evening, Jean Louis,' said this person, accosting me. 
 
 1 Good evening, my lad.' 
 
 * What the devil are you doing there ? You look as if you were 
 funking !' 
 
 1 What do you mean, my boy ? When the belly grumbles the 
 mouth mumbles.' 
 
 * What ! the cupboard empty ! that is not right for you, who are 
 one of \htfaniily' 
 
 ' Very true, but 'tis so.' 
 
 * Come along, then, let us have a quart at Niguenac's : I have 
 twenty browns left, and we will see how far they will go.' 
 
 He conducted me to a vintner's, and called for a bottle, and 
 then, leaving me for an instant, returned with two pounds of 
 potatoes. ' Here,' he said, putting them smoking hot upon the 
 table, ' here are some gudgeons caught with a spade in the fields 
 of Sablons ; they are not fried though.' 
 
 ' These are oranges, but we want some salt' 
 
 ' Salt, my lad, that will not ruin us.' 
 
 The salt was brought, and, although an hour before I had made 
 an excellent dinner at Martin's, I fell on the potatoes and devoured 
 them as if I had not tasted food for a couple of days. 
 
 ' You peg away,' said he, * as if you would crash your ivories 
 (teeth) ; one would think that you were tucking in at a regular 
 spread' 
 
 * Oh, my lad, all that goes down the gullet fills the belly. 1 
 'Very true, very true,' 
 
330 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 Mouthful followed mouthful with prodigious rapidity, and I did 
 nothing but peel and swallow : I cannot tell how it was that I was 
 not literally crammed, but my stomach had never been more com- 
 plaisant. At last my task was done, my comrade offered me a 
 quid, and thus addressed me : 
 
 * On the word of a man, and as true as my name is Masson, and 
 is the same as my father's, I have always considered you a hearty 
 blade ; I know you have been unfortunate, I have been told so, 
 but the devil's hoof is not always at the poor man's door, and if you 
 like I can put you on a good scent.' 
 
 ' That would not, perhaps, suit me, for my rigging is not over 
 and above excellent.' 
 
 ' True ! I see, I see ' (looking at my clothes, which were rather 
 tattered), * it seems at this moment that you are not the luckiest cove 
 in the world.' 
 
 * Very right : I have most urgent need of a new fit out.' 
 
 * In that case come with me ; I have a locksmith's daughter with 
 which I shall clear out an apartment this evening.' 
 
 1 Tell me all about it, for I must learn the particulars before I 
 can join you in it.' 
 
 ' What a flat you are, there is no occasion for you to bey?)'.' 
 
 * Oh ! that is all true as gospel, and I am your man, only you 
 can explain in two words ' 
 
 ' Now, hold your gab ; I tell you my plan is settled, and the 
 booty sure : fot fences ken' (receiver's house) 'is only a stone's throw 
 off. As soon as prigged, so soon disposed of; it is a good haul, 
 and you shall have your whack.' 
 
 1 Come, then, let us be off.' 
 
 Masson conducted me to the Boulevard Saint Denis, which we 
 traversed until we came to a heap of stones. There he stopped, 
 looked about him to see that no one was watching, and then, going 
 up to the pile, he took off several lumps, put his hand into the 
 cavity, and fished up a bunch of keys. 
 
 * I have now all the herbs of Saint John,' said he, * and we will 
 go together to the corn-market.' 
 
 On reaching the place, he pointed out to me, at a small distance, 
 and almost opposite the guard-house, the house which he intended 
 to enter. 
 
 * Now, my boy,' said he, ' do not go far distant, wait for me, and 
 keep your weather-eye open \ I am going to see if the mot has 
 mizzled' (if the woman of the house has gone out). 
 
 Masson opened the side-door, but no sooner had he shut it after 
 him than I ran to the post, where, making myself known to the 
 chief, I hastily told him that a robbery was then committing, and 
 
A ROBBERY. 331 
 
 that no time was to be lost, if they would secure the robber with 
 the property in his possession. Having done this, I returned to 
 the place where Masson had left me. Hardly had I got there, 
 when some person, advancing towards me, said : 
 { Is it you, Jean Louis ?' 
 
 * Yes, it is me,' was my reply, testifying my astonishment that he 
 had returned empty-handed. 
 
 * Oh, say nothing about it ; a devil of a neighbour came up the 
 staircase and deranged my plans ; but what is deferred is not lost. 
 Minute follows minute, and the mutton is boiled at last, as you will 
 see ; one must not compromise one's self.' 
 
 He then left me again, and was not long in reappearing with a 
 very large bundle, under the weight of which he was almost sinking. 
 He passed me without uttering a word : I followed, and walking 
 in close files, two guards, armed only with the bayonet, followed 
 him also, making the least possible noise. 
 
 It was necessary to know where he deposited his booty. He 
 entered a shopkeeper's at the Rue du Tour (the Death's Head) where 
 he only stopped a moment. 
 
 ' It was heavy,' said he, on coming out, * and I have still a good 
 castlo haul in.' 
 
 I allowed him to go on, and returning again to the room he had 
 before entered, he completed the gutting of it ; and scarcely had 
 ten minutes elapsed before he descended the second time, carrying 
 on his head a bed, mattresses, quilts, curtains, and sheets. He 
 had not had time to make a good bundle of them, and on crossing 
 the threshold, being stopped by the narrowness of the door, and 
 unwilling to drop his prey, he stumbled and almost fell, but re- 
 covering himself, he began his journey, beckoning me to follow 
 him. At a turn of the street he came up to me, and said, in a 
 low voice : 
 
 ' I think I shall go back the third time, if you will go up with 
 me, as we can then get down the window-curtains and blinds.' 
 
 * Agreed,' said I ; ' when one sleeps on straw, curtains are a 
 luxury.' 
 
 ' A luxury, indeed,' said he, smiling ; * but no time must be lost 
 in chatter; do not go far away, and 1 will hail you as I pass.' 
 
 Masson went on his way, but at a short distance from where we 
 had met we were both stopped. We were first conducted to the 
 guard-house, and afterwards to the commissary, who interrogated us. 
 
 'There are two of you,' said the public officer to Masson (point- 
 ing at me) ; ' who is this man ? I suppose a thief like yourself.' 
 
 ' Who is this man? Do I know him ? Ask himself. When I 
 shall have seen him once more, that will be the second time.' 
 
332 MEMOIRS Of VIDOCQ, 
 
 ' You must hot tell me that there is no collusion between you, 
 for you were met together.' 
 
 'There is no collusion, my worthy commissary: he was going 
 on one side of the way, I was coming on the other ; just as he 
 was passing close beside me, something slid from me ; it was a 
 pillow ; I told him of it, and he stooped to pick it up, and just 
 then the guard came up and nabbed us both : this is why I am 
 now before you, and I wish I may die if it is not the actual truth. 
 Ask him if it is not.' 
 
 The story was not badly imagined, and I took care not to deny 
 what Masson had said, but follow in his track : at length the com- 
 missary appeared convinced. ' Have you any papers ?' he inquired. 
 I showed a permission of residence, which was pronounced correct, 
 and my dismissal was instantly ordered. An evident satisfaction 
 pervaded the features of Masson, when he heard the words ' Allez- 
 vous coucher ' (* Go to bed ') addressed to me : it was the formula 
 of my liberty, and he was so much rejoiced at it, that any person 
 must have been blind not to perceive it. 
 
 The robber was still kept, and nothing remained but to lay hands 
 on the female receiver before she had disposed of the property in- 
 trusted to her. An immediate search was made, and, surprised in 
 the midst of most material evidence which condemned her, the 
 Death's Head was carried off from her trade at the moment when 
 she least expected it. 
 
 Masson was taken to the prefecture of police, and the next day, 
 according to the custom of thieves, from time immemorial, when a 
 brother labourer is grabbed, I sent him a twopenny brown loaf, a 
 hock of bacon, and a franc. I was told that he felt obliged by the 
 attention, but had not the slightest suspicion that he who sent him 
 the tribute of the fraternity was the cause of his mishap. It was 
 only at La Force that he learnt that Jean Louis and Vidocq were 
 the same person, and then he devised a singular means of defence ; 
 he asserted that I was the author of the robbery with which he was 
 charged, and that, wanting his aid to remove the property, I kad 
 gone to seek him : but this long story stated to the court would not 
 bear him out, and Masson in vain pleaded his innocence : he was 
 sentenced to incarceration. 
 
 A short time afterwards I was assisting at the preparations for the 
 departure of a chain of galley-slaves, when Masson, whom I had 
 not seen since his apprehension, saw me through the grating. 
 
 1 Ha !' said he to me, ' Monsieur Jean Louis : and so it was you 
 who got me into the stone jug. Oh ! if I had known that you were 
 Vidocq, I would have made you pay for the oranges !' 
 
 * You are a well-wisher of mine, then ; you who made me the 
 proposal of accompanying you !' 
 
333 
 
 'Very true, but you never told me that you were a nose? 
 
 1 If I had told you so I should have betrayed my trust, and that 
 would not have prevented you from doing the job ; you would only 
 have chosen another /#/.' 
 
 ' But you are not the less a rascal ; I, who was so kind to you ! 
 Now, I would rather remain here as long as my life continued in 
 my body, than be free, as you are, and equally dishonoured.' 
 
 ' Every man to his taste.' 
 
 ' That is very fine ! your taste a nose, a spy very fine, truly !' 
 
 * Why, it is as respectable a trade as thieving ; besides, but for 
 us, what would the honest men do ?' 
 
 At these words he burst into a loud fit of laughter. 
 
 4 Honest men ! honest men !' he repeated ; ' you really make me 
 laugh when I am in no grinning mood. Honest men ! what would 
 become of them ? do not trouble yourself, for it cannot concern 
 you ; when you are at the meadow ' (Bagne) * again, you will sing 
 to a different tune.' 
 
 1 Oh ! he will return there,' said one of the prisoners who was 
 listening to us. 
 
 ' He !' cried out Masson ; ' we do not want him. Luck to the 
 jolly boys ! that's the thing.' 
 
 Every time that my duties called me to Bicetre, I was sure that 
 I should have to put up with such reproaches as I received from 
 Masson. I seldom entered into discussion with the prisoner who 
 apostrophised me, but I was not always silent, for fear that he 
 might suppose, not that I despised him, but that I was afraid of 
 him. Being in the presence of some hundreds of malefactors, who 
 had all, more or less, to complain of me, since they had all been 
 apprehended by me, it may be supposed that it was necessary to 
 evince some firmness ; but this firmness was never more requisite 
 than on the day when I first made my appearance in the midst of 
 this horrible population. 
 
 I was no sooner the principal agent of the police of safety, than, 
 most jealous of the proper fulfilment of the duty confided to me, I 
 devoted myself seriously to acquire the necessary information. It 
 seemed to me an excellent method to class, as accurately as pos- 
 sible, the descriptions of all the individuals at whom the finger of 
 justice was pointed. I could thereby more readily recognise them 
 if they should escape, and at the expiration of the sentence it be- 
 came more easy for me to have that surveillance over them that 
 was required of me. I then solicited from M. Henry authority 
 to go to Bicetre with my auxiliaries, that I might examine, during 
 the operation of fettering, both the convicts of Paris and those 
 from the provinces, who generally assemble on the same chain. 
 
334 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 M. Henry made many observations to turn me from a step of 
 which the advantages did not seem to him proportioned to the 
 imminent danger to which I should thereby expose myself. 
 
 ' I am informed/ said he to me, ' that the prisoners have con- 
 spired to play you some mischievous trick. If you persist if you 
 go at the departure of the chain, you will afford them an oppor- 
 tunity which they have long anxiously awaited : and, by my honour, 
 whatever precaution you may take, I will not insure your safety.' 
 I thanked this gentleman for the interest which he testified for me, 
 but at the same time insisted that he should accord me the per- 
 mission I asked for, and he at length gave me the order which it 
 was necessary for me to obtain. 
 
 On the day of fettering, I went to Bicetre with some of my 
 agents ; I entered the court, and instantly a most tumultuous uproar 
 ensued, mingled with cries : 'Down with the spies ! down with the 
 villain ! down with Vidocq !' were heard from all the windows, 
 where the prisoners, mounted on each other's shoulders, with faces 
 pressed against the bars, were collected in groups. I advanced a 
 few paces, and the vociferations redoubled ; the whole place re- 
 sounded with invectives and threats of destruction, uttered with 
 accents of fury ; it was a most infernal sight to look at the visages 
 of these cannibals, on which were manifested, by horrible contor- 
 tions, the thirst of blood and the desire of vengeance. There was 
 throughout the whole prison a most frightful uproar ; I could not 
 restrain an impulse of terror, and, reproaching myself with my 
 imprudence, was almost tempted to beat a retreat ; but suddenly 
 my courage mounted. ' What !' said I to myself, ' thou hast not 
 trembled when thou hast attacked the villains in their dens: they 
 are here under bolts and bars, and art thou now scared? Courage; 
 if thou must perish, at least make head against the storm, and let 
 them not think they have intimidated thee !' 
 
 This return to a resolution more suited to the opinion which 
 should really be formed of me, was so rapid as to leave no op- 
 portunity for any person to remark my weakness ; I soon recovered 
 all my courage, and, no longer burdened by a shadow of fear, 
 walked boldly forward with my eyes fixed on the windows, and 
 advanced to those of the lower story. At this moment, a new 
 burst of rage was evinced by the prisoners. They were not men, 
 but ferocious beasts who were roaring : it was a tumult, a noise ; 
 it might have been thought that Bicetre was about to be rent from 
 its foundations, and that the walls of its cells were actually gaping 
 open. In the midst of this outrageous din, I made a signal that I 
 wished to speak : a dead silence ensued after the tempest, and 
 they listened. c Scum of the mob/ I said, ' why do you howl thus? 
 
FIRST VISIT TO B1CETRE. 335 
 
 It was when I grabbed you, that you should not have cried 
 out, but defended yourselves. Shall you be any better for thus 
 reproaching me ? You treat me as a spy ; well, I am a spy, but 
 so are you also, for there is not one amongst you who has not 
 offered to sell his comrade to me, in the hopes of thereby obtain- 
 ing an impunity which I would not grant you ; I rendered you to 
 justice because you were culpable. I have not spared you, I know ; 
 what motives have I for doing so ? Is there anyone here whom I 
 ever knew when a free man, who can reproach me with ever having 
 been his accomplice ? Besides, even if I have been a thief, tell 
 me what does it prove but that I am more skilful or fortunate than 
 you, since I have not been caught in the fact I defy the most 
 malicious to show a tittle of evidence to prove that I have been 
 accused of robbery or swindling. It is useless to seek for twelve 
 o'clock at three in the morning ; oppose me by a single fact, one 
 solitary truth, and I will confess myself the greatest rogue amongst 
 you all. Is it the profession that you disapprove ? Let those who 
 blame me most for this tell me frankly, whether they do not a 
 hundred times a day desire to be in my place ?' 
 
 This harangue, during which no one interrupt^ me, was followed 
 by hooting and shouting. Soon afterwards, vociferations and roar- 
 ings began again, but I felt no sensation but that of indignation, 
 and, transported with anger, I became bold even beyond my 
 strength. They announced that the convicts were about to be led 
 into the court of fetters : I went to post myself in the passage, at 
 the moment when they came to the call ; and, determined on sell- 
 ing my life dearly, I awaited until they should try to accomplish 
 their threats I confess that, in my mind, I desired much that one 
 of them should attempt to lay hands upon me, so greatly did the 
 desire of vengeance animate me. Ill-fated was the man who would 
 have dared to assail me, but not one of these wretches made the 
 least attempt, and I had only to endure the scowling look, to which 
 I responded with that assurance which always disconcerts the 
 enemy. The call terminated, a low murmur was the prelude to a 
 fresh uproar : they vomited forth imprecations against me. * Let 
 him come on then ; he remains at the gate,' the convicts bellowed 
 forth, adding to my name the grossest epithets. Driven to 
 extremity by this insolent defiance, I entered with one of my 
 agents, and went into the midst of two hundred robbers, the 
 majority of whom were arrested by me. ' Come on, my friends, 
 courage,' cried they in the cells in which they were shut up ; ' look 
 at the pig, kill him, and let us hear no more about him.' 
 
 Now or never was the time ' Now, gentlemen,' said I to the 
 galley-slaves, ' kill him you ee that they advise you well ; try.' 
 
336 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 I do not know what revolution of opinion actuated them, but the 
 more I was in their power, the more they became appeased At 
 the termination of the fettering, those men, who had sworn to 
 exterminate me, were so much softened, that many of them begged 
 me to render them slight services. They had no reason to repent of 
 having taxed my kindness, and the next day, at the hour of de- 
 parture, after having thanked me, they bade me a cordial farewell. 
 All was changed from black to white ; the most mutinous of the 
 previous evening had become supple, respectful at least in appear- 
 ance, and almost overpoweringly so. 
 
 This was an experimental lesson of which I never lost the 
 remembrance. It proved to me that, with persons of this stamp, 
 we can only be potent when resolute : to keep them respectful, it 
 is enough to have awed them once. From this period, I never 
 allowed the chain to quit unless I attended the fettering of the 
 convicts, and with very few exceptions, I was never afterwards in- 
 sulted. The convicts were accustomed to see me ; if I did not go, 
 it seemed as if they missed something, and in fact, nearly all of 
 them had some commission to give me. From the moment they 
 fell under the control of civil death, I was, in a measure, their 
 testamentary executor. With a small portion, resentments were 
 not obliterated, but a thief s vengeance is not lasting. For eighteen 
 years that I have carried on the war with thieves, little or great, 
 I have often been menaced ; many galley-slaves, celebrated for 
 their intrepidity, have made oaths to assassinate me as soon as 
 they should be at liberty ; they have all perjured themselves, and 
 will continue to do so. Am I asked why ? It is, that, at first, 
 the only affair for a robber is to rob ; that alone occupies him. If 
 he cannot do otherwise, he will kill me to get my purse, that is his 
 ' vocation ;' he will kill me to do away with a testimony which 
 would destroy him, this is again a part of his business ; he will 
 kill me to avoid punishment ; but when the punishment is in- 
 flicted, what purpose would it answer ? Robbers do not lose time 
 in assassination. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Suspicious occurrence The swaPows of La Greve Madame Bras, or the 
 scrupulous shopkeeper 'Vidocq caught,' a new piece I play the part 
 of Vidocq I let a robber escape Accusing stockings and cravat Fight 
 with the vintner I am apprehended My deliverance and recognition. 
 
 ONE night, half of which had been spent in the obscure lurking 
 places of the Halle, hoping to fall in with some thieves who, in the 
 overflow of that good nature which two or three glasses of liquor, 
 offered at a fitting time, produce, allow themselves to be pumped, 
 
A SUSPICIOUS OCCURRENCE. 337 
 
 as to their past doings, those now in hand, and those meditated, 
 I was retiring, very much discomposed at having, to the detriment 
 of my stomach, swallowed from pure vexation a good number of 
 small glasses of that diluted spirit to which vitriol gives the strength 
 and flavour, when at the corner of the Rue des Coutures Saint- 
 Gervais, I saw several individuals squatted in the embrasures of 
 the doors. By the light of the lamps, I easily distinguished beside 
 them packets, which they were endeavouring to squeeze into a 
 smaller compass, but the suspicious whiteness of which could not 
 fail to attract attention. Bundles at this hour of the night, and 
 men who seek an obscure shelter when no water was falling ; a 
 prodigious portion of perspicuity was not wanting to find, in such a 
 combination of circumstances, all the characteristics of a suspicious 
 occurrence. I made up my mind that they were thieves, and the 
 bundles the booty which they had just obtained. ' Good,' said I 
 to myself, ' let us evince no suspicions, but follow the procession 
 when it sets forth, and if it passes by the corps de garde, catch is 
 the word ; on the other hand, I will see them to their homes, take 
 the address, and send the police after them.' I thereupon made 
 up my mind, without appearing to be troubled with what was 
 behind me, but scarcely had I advanced ten paces when some one 
 calls, ' Jean Louis ' it was the voice of a man named Richelot, 
 whom I had often met at the various thieves' haunts. I stopped 
 naturally. 
 
 'Ah ! good evening, Richelot,' said I, * what the devil are you 
 doing here at this time of the morning? Are you alone? You 
 look frightened.' 
 
 ' Well I may be, I have narrowly escaped being nabbed on the 
 Boulevard du Temple.' 
 
 1 Nabbed! and why ?' 
 
 * Why ? here, come this way ; do you see our friends with the 
 bundles ?' 
 
 ' I am awake ; you are loaded with swag (plunder).' 
 
 I approached them ; and the whole party instantly rising, as 
 soon as they were on their feet I recognised Lapierre, Commery, 
 Lenoir, and Dubuisson ; they all four hastened to assure me how 
 glad they were to see me, and to extend the hand of friendship 
 to me. 
 
 COMMERY. * Ah ! we narrowly escaped ; my heart still thumps, 
 put your hand upon it, feel how it goes tick-tack.' 
 
 VIDOCQ. 'That is nothing.' 
 
 LAPIERRE. ' Oh ! we have had a fright in real earnest ; I know 
 very well that when I saw the greens (the Parisian guard, whose 
 uniform was green), my heart jumped bang into my mouth.' 
 
 22 
 
338 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 DUBUISSON. * And just above the market-place were the dragoons 
 of Paris, whom we met nose to nose on horseback just by the 
 theatre.' 
 
 VIDOCQ. * What spoonies you are ! you should have had a drag 
 to whisk off the swag in. You are but greenhorns.' 
 
 RICHELOT. ' Greenhorns if you like ; but we had no means of 
 conveyance, and we have therefore chosen the back streets.' 
 
 VIDOCQ. ' And where are you going ? If I can assist you in 
 any way ' 
 
 RICHELOT. l If you will pilot us, and give us your company as 
 far as the Rue Saint-Sebastien, where we are going to deposit the 
 swag, you shall have your whack? 
 
 VJDOCQ. 'With pleasure, my boys.' 
 
 RICHELOT. * Well, then, go first, and spy if you twig any coves 
 or beaks. 1 
 
 Richelot and his companions took up their bundles and I went 
 forward. Our progress was fortunate, and we reached the door 
 of the house without interruption, each of us taking off our shoes 
 to make no noise as we went upstairs. We reached the landing- 
 place on the third story ; they were awaiting us. A door opened 
 softly, and we entered a vast chamber dimly lighted, of which the 
 tenant was a shipwright's man, who had already been before the 
 police. Although he did not know me, my presence seemed to 
 trouble him, and whilst he was helping to conceal the bundles 
 under the bed, I heard him ask a question in a low voice, which 
 I could guess by the reply, which was spoken in a louder tone. 
 
 RICHELOT. * It is Jean Louis, a good fellow ; be quiet, he is 
 staunch. 
 
 THE TENANT. * That's all right ; there are nowadays so many 
 noses and sneaks, that we should be fly to every cove? 
 
 LfAPiERRE. * Oh, be easy ! be easy ! I can answer for him as 
 for myself: he is a friend and a Frenchman.' 
 
 THE TENANT. ' Since it is all right I will trust him, and, upon 
 the strength of it, we will have a shove in the month all round.' 
 
 He got on a sort of stool, and lifting his hands up to the shelf 
 of an old cupboard, he took out a full bladder. 
 
 4 Here's the stuff, brandy, and nothing but some of my own 
 prigging. Come, Jean, you shall begin.' 
 
 VIDOCQ. ' With all my heart (pouring forth into a green glass 
 and drinking). It is capital out and out tipple, which cheers as it 
 goes down now it is your turn, Lapierre; come, sluice your 
 ivories? 
 
 The glass and bladder passed from hand to hand, and when 
 each had drunk enough we threw ourselves on the bed until the 
 
MADAME BRAS. 339 
 
 morning. At daybreak we heard in the streets the cry of the 
 sweep. 
 
 RICHELOT (jogging his neighbour). * Ah ! Lapierre, we must go 
 to the fence. 1 
 
 LAPIERRE. ' Let me sleep, do.' 
 
 RICHELOT. * Come, come, stir your stumps.' 
 
 LAPIERRE. 'Go by yourself, or take Lenoir.' 
 
 RICHELOT. 'You had better come, as you have already dealt 
 with the old woman, and can make a surer bargain.' 
 
 LAPIERRE. { Let me alone, I am sleepy.' 
 
 VIDOCQ. ' My G , what sluggards you are ; I will go if you 
 will tell me where.' 
 
 RICHELOT. ' You are right, Jean Louis, but the fence has never 
 seen you, and will not deal for the swag but with us. But, if you 
 like, we will go together.' 
 
 VIDOCQ. * Yes, we two, and then another time she will know 
 my phiz.' 
 
 We went ; the fence lived in Rue de Bretagne, No. 14, in the 
 house of a sausage-maker, who appeared the owner of it Richelot 
 entered, and asked if Madame Bras was at home. Yes, was the 
 answer ; and after having gone through the passage, we went up 
 the stairs to the three pair. Madame Bras had not gone out, but, 
 actuated by a principle of honour, she would not take in any 
 property by daylight. ' At least,' said Richelot to her, ' if you 
 cannot take the goods now, give us earnest ; come, it is a good 
 haul, and you know we deal all upon the square.' 
 
 ' You say very true ; but I cannot allow myself to be compro- 
 mised by a pair of good eyes ; come in the evening, then all cats 
 are grey.' Richelot tried by every effort to extract some coin from 
 her, but she was inexorable, and we retired without having 
 obtained anything. My companion cursed, swore, stormed, till it 
 did one's heart good to hear him. 
 
 ' Well,' said I to him, ' one would imagine that you had lost 
 everything. Why vex yourself? If she will not, another will. 
 Come with me to my fence, I am sure she will lend us four or five 
 crowns.' 
 
 We went to the Rue Neuve-Saint-Frangois, where I had fixed 
 my domicile. By a low whistle, I made Annette understand that 
 I wanted her, and she quickly descended and came to us at the 
 corner of the old Rue du Temple. 
 
 * Good day, madame.' 
 
 ' Good day, Jean Louis.' 
 
 * If you are inclined to be obliging, lend me twenty francs, and 
 this evening you shall have them again.' 
 
 223 
 
340 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 'Yes, this evening! If you gain anything, you will go to 
 la Courtille.' 
 
 ' No, I assure you I will be punctual.' 
 
 ' May I believe you ? I will not refuse you then ; come with 
 me, whilst your friend waits for you at the cabaret at the corner of 
 the Rue de 1'Oseille.' 
 
 On being alone with Annette, I gave her the requisite instruc- 
 tions, and when I found that she clearly understood them, I 
 rejoined Richelot in the cabaret. ' Here,' said I to him, showing 
 the twenty francs, ' is what you may call a mot, and nothing but a 
 good one.' 
 
 'Parbleu, won't she /<?.$/ the blunt for the whole of the swag? 
 
 f I think not. She is only a fence for metal, tickers , wa&frippery? 
 
 ' It is a pity, for she is an out and out mot, and just such a one 
 as would suit us well.' 
 
 After finishing our bottle, we set out to regain the lodging, 
 where we found ready a Normandy goose of first-rate quality, and 
 some other prog. I produced the money, and as it was intended 
 for farther supplies for the victualling office, our host went out for a 
 dozen of wine and some bread. We were all so sharp-set that the 
 provisions seemed only to appear and then vanish instantly. The 
 bladder of brandy was drained to the last drop. Our meal termi- 
 nated, it was proposed to open the packets. They contained 
 most beautiful linen, sheets, shirts of extraordinary fineness, gowns 
 with superbly- worked borders, cravats, stockings, etc., all damp and 
 wet. The thieves told me that they had taken the booty from one 
 of the largest houses in the Rue de 1'Echiquier, where they had 
 introduced themselves by a window, of which they had broken 
 the bars. 
 
 The inventory concluded, I proposed that we should make 
 different lots, and not sell them all in the same place. I insinuated 
 that they would give us as much for each lot as for the whole in a 
 lump, and that two sales were better than one. My comrades 
 were of the same opinion, and made two divisions of the booty. 
 It then became a matter of question as to how to get rid of them. 
 They were sure of the sale of one lot, but wanted a purchaser for 
 the second. A clothes-seller, called Pomme Rouge, in the Rue 
 de la Juiverie, .was the man whom I pointed out to them. He 
 had long been pointed out to me as a regular fence goods taken 
 in and no questions asked. Here was an opportunity of putting 
 him to the test, and I was unwilling that it should escape, for if he 
 were caught, the result of my plans was infinitely more agreeable ; 
 for, instead of only QUO, fence, I should cause the arrest of two, and 
 thus I should kill three birds with one stone. 
 
SONS OF MERCUR Y. 34 1 
 
 It was agreed that they should make an offer to my man, but 
 nothing could be done till the darkey, and what was to keep us 
 from ennui till then ? What could we converse about ? Amongst 
 robbers the communion of martyrs had not mental resources 
 sufficient to keep up conversation for more than a quarter of an 
 hour. What can be done ? prigs do nothing unless at work t and 
 when at work they do nothing. But yet it was necessary to kill 
 time ; we had still some money before us, wine was voted for by 
 acclamation, and we again commenced our libations to Bacchus. 
 The sons of Mercury drink fast and long, but yet one cannot 
 always be drinking. If, indeed, topers were like the buckets of 
 the Danaides, open at one end and with holes at the other, disgust 
 would not proceed from plenitude ! Unfortunately, each man has 
 his capacity, and when, between the bladder and the brain, the 
 wave, whose place of exit is too narrow, remounts towards its 
 source, there is no need to say, my worthy friend, that if we would 
 avoid unpleasant consequences, we must stop. This our com- 
 panions did. As they thought they had need of their head for 
 some later period, and as a thick cloud already began to spread 
 over the osseous vault which covers the potent ruler of all our 
 actions, that they might not lose all guidance, they insensibly 
 ceased to make a funnel of their mouths, and only opened them to 
 talk. What was the nature of their conversation? The talk, 
 which they would have been much posed to keep up on any other 
 subject, turned on their comrades who were at the Bagne, or in 
 prison. They also spoke about spies. 
 
 ' Talking of spies,' said the shipwright, ' you must have heard of 
 the celebrated rogue who has turned nose, that Vidocq ; do any of 
 you fellows know him ?' 
 
 ALL TOGETHER (myself in chorus). 'Yes, yes, but only by 
 name.' 
 
 DUBUISSON. ' I know they talk a good deal about him. They 
 say he comes from the Bagne, where he was sentenced for twenty- 
 four years.' 
 
 THE SHIPWRIGHT. 'You are wrong, you flat. This Vidocq is a/r4 r , 
 who was sentenced for life for his many escapes. He was allowed 
 to be set at liberty because he promised to blow the gaff> and that 
 is the reason that he stops at Paris. He is a deep file ; when he 
 wants to trap a covey he tries to make friends with him, and, as 
 soon as he has done that, he slips some swag into his cly, and then 
 all is done ; or else he leads him on to some/<?$ that he may be 
 caught at work. He it was who floored Bailli, Jacquet, and 
 Martinet. Oh G , yes it was he ; let me tell you how he did 
 them,' 
 
343 MEMOIRS Of VIDOCQ, 
 
 ALL TOGETHER (myself in chorus). * Did them ! well said, my 
 lad.' 
 
 THE SHIPWRIGHT. * Whilst drinking together with another 
 
 like myself, you know him, the rip Riboulet, Manon's fancy man? 
 
 ALL. ' Manon la Blonde's ?' 
 
 THE SHIPWRIGHT. 'Yes, she. They were speaking of one 
 thing and another ; Vidocq says, as he had just left the Bagne, he- 
 wanted to find some friends to prig. The others are caught in the 
 net. He tickles them so well, that he leads them to a spot of work 
 in the Rue Grand Zurleur. It was thought that he would blow the 
 gaff to the police, and so he did. They were all taken, and in 
 the meantime the rascal escapes with his comrade. This is his 
 plan for catching good fellows. It was he who brought all the 
 chauffeurs to be kissed by the headsman's daughter after having 
 been their leader.' 
 
 Every time the narrator paused we refreshed ourselves with a 
 glass of wine. Lapierre, profiting by one of these pauses, spoke 
 thus: 
 
 ' What, is it that cock-and-bull story ? He talks like a magpie. 
 He is chaffing us. Do you think such gammon amuses us ? I like 
 to amuse myself/ 
 
 THE SHIPWRIGHT. ' What the deuce will you do, then ? If we 
 had any books (cards), we might handle them a bit.' 
 
 LAPIERRE. ' I'll tell you what we will do, act a play.' 
 
 THE SHIPWRIGHT. * Go it, then, M. Tarma (Talma). 1 
 
 LAPIERRE. 'Do you think I can play by myself?' 
 
 RICHELOT. ' We will help you, but what shall be the piece ?' 
 
 DUBUISSON. ' The play of Csesar ; you know there is one of 
 that name, who says, the first who was king had a happy lot.' 
 
 LAPIERRE. ' Oh, none of that blarney; let us play the piece of 
 Vidocq caught, after having sold his brethren like Joseph.' 
 
 I scarcely knew what to make of this singular business ; how- 
 ever, without being at all disconcerted, I cried out suddenly. ' I 
 will play Vidocq ; they say he is a stout chap, and it will suit me.' 
 
 'You're stout,' said Lenoir, ' but he is much stouter.' 
 
 * That is no matter,' observed Lapierre, ' Jean Louis is not a bad- 
 representation, he weighs his weight.' 
 
 'Come, then, we don't want so much jaw about it,' said 
 Richelot, lifting a table into one corner of the room. ' You Jean 
 Louis, and you Lapierre stand there : Lenoir, Dubuisson, and*. 
 Etienne (the shipwright), go to the other end : they shall be the; 
 friends, and I will seat myself on the bed and be the people.' 
 
 ' What people ?' inquired Etienne. 
 
 * Why, the audience if you like. The shipwright is a booby. 1 
 
A COMEDY. 343 
 
 ' I am a spectator too.' 
 
 * No, you stupid ass, I am. You are a friend ; take your place, 
 the play is going to begin.' 
 
 We imagine ourselves in a public-house at la Courtille ; each 
 talks. I get up, and, under a pretext of asking for some tobacco, 
 enter into conversation with the friends at the other table ; I speak 
 a little slarg, they find me a downy cove> and give me a knowing 
 look, which I return, and it is found we are all lads of the same 
 profession. They follow the customary usages of society, a glass 
 more than necessary. I complain of being without a job of work. 
 They complain, and we all complain together. We commence to 
 be very full of mutual compassion and sympathy ; I curse the 
 beaks, they curse them too ; I swear at the big wigs of my quarter 
 who persecute me ; my friends look at each other, consult each 
 other's eyes, and deliberate upon the opportunity offered by, or 
 the disadvantages of, my acquaintance. They take my hand, 
 they press it, I consent ; it is agreed that they may rely on me. 
 Then comes the proposal the character I play is that which, with 
 but few variations, I always have played I only alter a little, by 
 putting the stolen goods into the pockets of my friends. Then 
 was heard the unanimous applause, accompanied by shouts of 
 laughter. * Well done, well done,' cried the actors and the witness 
 of this scene. 
 
 * Well done, certainly,' said Richelot, ' but see, the sun is setting 
 and it is time to tramp ; the play can finish in the drag^ or else- 
 where, when we have done with the fence ; I will go and get a 
 jarvey, if you fellows like ?' 
 
 * Yes, yes, let us be off.' 
 
 The drama was progressing well ; we were approaching the 
 climax, but it was doomed to be a very different one from that 
 anticipated by these gentlemen, for the catastrophe was not in 
 accordance with the title of the piece. We all got into a hackney- 
 coach, and desired the coachman to stop at the corner of the Rue 
 de Bretagne and the Rue de Tourraine. Bras, one of the fences^ 
 was waiting at a short distance. Dubuisson, Commery, and Lenoir 
 alighted, taking with them the portion of the merchandise which 
 we had agreed to sell. Whilst they were agreeing about the price, 
 I saw, on looking from the window, that Annette had fulfilled my 
 intention. Persons whom I saw, some with their noses in the air, 
 as if seeking for some number, others walking about like idlers, 
 were nol in this quarter, I thought, without some motive. 
 
 After ten minutes of expectation, we were rejoined by our com- 
 rades who had been to Bras. They had brought away one hundred 
 and twenty-five francs for things worth at least six times as much; 
 
344 MEMOIRS OF VIDOC& 
 
 but it was of no consequence, they were not sorry to realize what 
 they were in haste to enjoy. 
 
 There remained those bundles which we had reserved for 
 Pomme Rouge. On reaching Rue de la Juiverie, Richelot said 
 to me, ' Come, you must go and bargain, you know the downy 
 fence' 
 
 ' That will not do,' I replied ; * I owe him money, and we have 
 had a row about it.' 
 
 I owed Pomme Rouge nothing, but we had seen each other, 
 and he knew that I was Vidocq. It would, therefore, have been 
 imprudent to show myself, and I left my friends to arrange these 
 matters, and on their return, as the appearance of Annette in the 
 vicinity of the shop gave me the certainty that the police were on 
 the qui vive, I proposed to discharge the coach and go and sup 
 in the cabaret of the Grand Casuel, on the Quai Pelletier, at the 
 comer of the Rue Planche Mibray. 
 
 After the visit to Pomme Rouge we were richer by eighty francs, 
 and the sum at our disposal was so considerable, that we might 
 give way to some excess without fear of distressing ourselves, but 
 we had no time to expend it, for scarcely had we got our glasses 
 in hand when the guard entered, followed by a posse of inspectors. 
 At the sight of the veterans and the spies all their countenances 
 fell, and the general feeling was, ' We are caught.' Thibault, the 
 peace-officer, asked us for our papers ; some had none, and others 
 were not correct, mine were amongst these latter. ' For the charge 
 of all these sparks,' said the peace-officer, 'safe bind, safe find.' 
 We were tied two and two, and conducted to the commissary. 
 Lapierre was coupled with me. ' Have you good legs ?' I said to 
 him in a low tone. * Yes,' was his reply, and when we reached 
 the top of the Rue de la Tannerie, taking out a knife I had con- 
 cealed up my sleeve, I cut the cord. ' Courage, Lapierre, courage !' 
 I cried. With a blow of my elbow I prostrated the veteran who 
 had taken me by the arm ; darted away, and with a few leaps 
 reached a small alley leading to the Seine. Lapierre followed me, 
 and we reached the Quai des Ormes together. 
 
 They lost all traces of us, and I was very glad to have escaped 
 without being recognised. Lapierre was equally rejoiced, for not 
 having had any time for reflection, he was far from suspecting any 
 sinister motives in me ; but, in fact, if I favoured his escape, it 
 was in the hope of introducing myself, under his auspices, into 
 some other band of thieves. By fleeing with him I removed all 
 suspicions that himself or his companions might have conceived, 
 and kept up the good opinion which they had of me. In this way 
 I hoped to make new discoveries, for as I was a secret agent I 
 was as desirous of acting as quietly as possible, 
 
ACCUSING STOCKINGS. 345 
 
 Lapierre was free, but I kept him in sight, and was ready to give 
 him up the moment he was no longer useful to me. 
 
 We continued running towards the hospital, where at length we 
 stopped, and entered a cabaret to recover breath and rest our- 
 selves. I ordered a measure of wine to refresh us. ' Here, lad,' 
 said I to Lapierre, 'here is a comforter.' 
 
 ' Oh yes, it is hard work.' 
 
 ' And difficult to keep up, is it not ?' 
 
 * Nothing can drive the idea from my mind .' 
 
 < What ?' 
 
 * Here, let us drink.' 
 
 And no sooner had he emptied his glass than he becam more 
 pensive. * No, no,' he repeated, ' nothing can drive the idea from 
 my mind ' 
 
 ' What do you mean ? tell me.' 
 
 ' Well, then, I will tell you.' 
 
 1 You are right : but first you will do well to take off the stockings 
 you have on your feet, and the cravat about your neck.' 
 
 As it seemed to me that I perceived in the eyes of my friend 
 that dark scowl of mistrust which, if one does not take care, in 
 creases so rapidly, I was glad to testify one of those marks of 
 interest, the effect of which is to reassure a suspicious mind : 
 such was my aim in advising him to remove from his attire some 
 articles of small value, which, during the overhauling of the booty, 
 his associates and himself had immediately applied to their own use. 
 
 ' What shall I do with them ?' said Lapierre. 
 
 'Throw them into the river.' 
 
 * I'll not be such a fool ! the silk stockings are quite new, and the 
 cravat has never been hemmed.' 
 
 'Silly nonsense.' 
 
 * You want to laugh at me, my boy ; throw away your own first.' 
 I begged him to observe that I had nothing on that could com- 
 promise me. ' You are like the hares,' I added, ' you lose your 
 memory as you run ; do you not remember that there was no cravat 
 for me, and with trousers like these ' (touching those I wore) 'would 
 you have me wear women's stockings ?' 
 
 He took off the stockings, which, folded up, he enveloped in the 
 cravat. 
 
 Thieves are at the same time misers and spendthrifts : he felt 
 the necessity of removing these convicting articles out of sight, but 
 his heart bled at the thought of not making a profit by them. It 
 is because the produce of robbery is often so dearly paid for, that 
 the sacrifice of it is always painful. 
 
 Lapierre was most anxious to sell his stockings and cravat, and 
 
346 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 we went together to the Rue de la Boucherie to offer them to a 
 shopkeeper, who gave us forty-five sous fox them. Lapierre ap- 
 peared to have made up his determination since the catastrophe of 
 Grand Casuel ; yet he was constrained in his manners, and if I am 
 any judge of what was passing in his mind, in spite of my efforts to 
 re-establish myself in his opinion I was strongly suspected. Such 
 feelings were not very favourable to my projects, and persuaded that 
 henceforward I must not temporize, but bring matters to a speedy 
 termination, I said to Lapierre, ' If you like we will go and sup at 
 Place Maubert.' 
 
 ' I will, if you please,' was the reply. 
 
 I took him to the Deux Freres, where I called for wine, pork- 
 chops, and cheese. At eleven o'clock we were still at table, 
 everybody had retired, and they brought us in a bill which 
 came to four francs fifteen centimes. I immediately cried out, 
 ' My five-franc piece, my five-franc piece ! where can it be ?' I 
 rummaged all my pockets and searched myself from head to 
 feet. ' My God ! I must have lost it in running ! Look, Lapierre, 
 if you have it !' 
 
 ' No, I have only my forty-five sous, and not a dump besides.' 
 
 ' Look for it. I am going to try and arrange with the people.* 
 I offered the cabaretier two francs fifty centimes, promising to 
 bring him the remainder on the morrow ; but he would not listen 
 to me. ' Ah ! you think,' said he, * that you may come and have all 
 you want here, and then pay me with monkey's allowance.' 
 
 4 But/ I observed to him, * it is an accident which might happen 
 to the most honest man.' 
 
 ' That's all my eye ! When one is low in cash we are trickish or so; 
 a cup of wine, or so, one would not mind, but it is no go to have a 
 whole supper on tick? 
 
 ' Oh, never mind, old lad ; if it accommodates good fellows, 
 never mind.' 
 
 * Come, come, not so much jaw ; pay me, or I'll fetch the guard.' 
 ' The guard ! that for the guard and you, too !' accom- 
 panying the words with a gesture of contempt much used by 
 common people. 
 
 * Ah, you vagabond ! is it not enough to carry off my pro- 
 perty ?' cried he, doubling his fist and thrusting it in my face. 
 ' Do not strike me,' I replied to his apostrophe, 'do not strike 
 me, or ' 
 
 He advanced towards me, and I instantly hit him a blow. A 
 quarrel and uproar followed, which Lapierre thinking would come 
 to serious consequences, judged it best to mizzle ; but on the very 
 moment when he was about to make off and leave me to extricate 
 
'CANDLES OF MAUBEUGE! 347 
 
 myself as best I might, the waiter seized him by the throat and 
 cried out, ' Thieves !' 
 
 The guard-house was nigh, the soldiers came in, and for the 
 second time in that day we were placed between two ranges of 
 "those candles of Maubeuge whose wicks have a smell of gunpowder. 
 .My comrade endeavoured to prove to the corporal that he was 
 'not in fault, but the veteran was immovable, and we were shut 
 vi p in the guard-house. Lapierre became silent and sad as a 
 brother of La Trappe ; he did not even unclose his teeth. At 
 length, about two o'clock in the morning, the commissary went his 
 round, and a^ked to see the persons in confinement. Lapierre 
 first appeared, and was told he might go if he would pay the bill. 
 I was called in my turn, and on entering the room, recognised 
 M. Legoix. The recognition was mutual, and in two words I ex- 
 plained to him what I had done ; I told him the place where the 
 stockings and cravat had been sold, and whilst he hastened to 
 seize on these articles, which were requisite to convict Lapierre, I 
 returned to him. He was no longer silent. 
 
 ' The bandage has fallen,' said he ; * I see what is done ; it was 
 all a plot' 
 
 ' What ! you are laughing at me, but I will speak frankly. Yes, 
 it is done, and it is a plot, but it was you who got us into the trap.' 
 
 ' No, my friend, it was not me ; I do not know who, but I sus- 
 pect you more than anyone else.' 
 
 At these words I grew angry, he furious : to threats succeeded 
 blows, and we proceeded to fight until we were separated. As soon 
 as we were parted I found my five-franc piece ; and as the caba- 
 retier had not reckoned the thump I gave him, it was enough for 
 me not only to satisfy all his demands, but also to offer to the corps 
 de garde, I will not say the stirrup-cup, but that small drop of fare- 
 well token which the snob always pays willingly. This tribute paid, 
 there were no farther reasons for my detention, and I started off 
 without paying my adieu to Lapierre, who was now known ; and 
 the next day I learned that the most complete success had crowned 
 my efforts. The two fences, Bras and Pomme Rouge, had been 
 surprised in the midst of ample proofs of the nefarious traffic which 
 they carried on ; the robbers had been apprehended with the pro- 
 perty which they had instantly applied to their use, and they were 
 compelled to confess ; Lapierre alone had tried denial of the facts, 
 "but confronted with the shopkeeper of Rue de la Bucherie, he was 
 -decidedly and positively recognised the stockings and cravat were 
 his accusers. The whole gang, robbers and receivers, were sent to 
 La Force, in the expectation of judgment; there they soon leaint 
 that the comrade who had played the part of ' Vidocq caught,' was, 
 
348 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 in fact, ' Vidocq the catcher.' Great was their surprise ; how they 
 must have commended the admirable talents of the comedian ! 
 The sentence confirmed, all were ordered to the Bagne. The 
 evening before their departure I was present when they were fettered, 
 and, on seeing me, they could not forbear smiling. 
 
 ' Behold your work, you villain,' said Lapierre; 'you are content, 
 no doubt.' 
 
 1 1 have, at least, no reproach to make against myself ; I did not 
 advise you to steal. Did you not make up to me ? Why be so 
 confiding ? When a man exercises a profession like yours, he ought 
 to be more on his guard.' 
 
 * It is all well,' said Commery ; ' you are sure to be at the galleys 
 again yourself.' 
 
 1 In the meantime a good journey to yourself. Keep my place 
 for me, and if ever you return to Pantin ' (Paris), ' do not play at 
 such dangerous games again.' 
 
 After this reply they conversed together, and Richelot said, 
 ' Well, well ! I owe him a turn.' 
 
 * As for you,' replied the shipwright, ' you brought him amongst 
 us. Since you knew him, you ought to have known that he 
 was a nose. 9 
 
 1 Ah, yes ! it was Richelot who brought it upon us,' sighed Pomme 
 Rouge, who was being fettered, and nearly had his head broken by 
 the hammer which was riveting his collar. 
 
 ' Do not move,' said the smith loughly. * It was he, it was he,' 
 replied the fence, ' who floored us, and but for him ' 
 
 'Stand steady, you fool, and mind your eye.' 1 These were the 
 last words I heard, but as I went away I saw, by certain gestures, 
 that the colloquy grew warmer. What are they saying ? I know 
 not 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Saint Cloud The aspiring spy The foubourg Saint Marceau The turkey's 
 claws Explanation of the word Traiffe The man who arrests himself 
 The new Epictetus The mistress of a Russian prince Mother Bariole 
 The invulnerable The picture of the Sabines The lottery ticket Penelope 
 The beautiful mask Louison la Blagucuse Emilie in the guard-house 
 Return to Bariole's The Sybil's tripod Josephine Real Three arrests 
 The traitor punished. 
 
 IN 1812, a professed thief, named Hotot, who had long sought to 
 be reinstated as a secret agent, in which employment he had been 
 engaged previously to my admission into the police, came to offer 
 his services to me for the fete of St. Cloud. It is known as one 
 of the most celebrated of the environs of Paris, and that, led by 
 
HOTOT 349 
 
 the concourse of persons, pickpockets assemble there in large 
 bodies. It was on Friday that Hotot was brought to me by a 
 comrade. This step appeared to me the more extraordinary, as I 
 had previously given information against him which had led to his 
 being brought before the court of assizes. Perhaps he only 
 desired to connect himself with me that he might the more readily 
 play me some ill turn : such was my first thought, but I received 
 him kindly, and even testified my satisfaction that he had not 
 doubted my wish to be of service to him. I evinced so much 
 apparent sincerity in my proffers of good-will towards him, that it 
 was impossible for him to conceal his intentions from my pene- 
 tration. A sudden change, which overspread his whole face, con- 
 vinced me instantly, that, in accepting his offer, I was favouring 
 some plans which he was not willing to confide to me. I saw his 
 internal congratulations at having duped me. But, be that as it 
 might, I feigned to have the utmost confidence in him, and it was 
 agreed that, on the following Sunday, he should go, at two o'clock, 
 and post himself near the principal basin, that he might point out 
 the thieves of his acquaintance, who, he told me, would come to 
 work at that spot 
 
 On the day appointed, I went to Saint Cloud with the only two 
 agents I then had under my command. On arriving at the 
 destined place, I looked out for Hotot ; I walked backwards and 
 forward, looked about me on all sides, but no Hotot. At length, 
 after waiting for an hour and a half, my patience being worn 
 nearly threadbare, I despatched one of my staff to the principal 
 walk, desiring him to endeavour to find an auxiliary whose want 
 of punctuality was as suspicious as his zeal. 
 
 My agent searched for an entire hour, when, wearied with ex- 
 ploring every hole and corner of the garden and park, he returned 
 and told me that he could not find Hotot. The moment after- 
 wards I saw my man himself running towards me bathed in 
 perspiration. ' You do not know,' said he to us, * that I had just 
 got hold of six prigs, but they saw you and instantly mizzled. I 
 am sorry, for they swallowed the bait, but what is deferred is not 
 lost, and I shall have them yet.' 
 
 I pretended to take all this for gospel, and Hotot was convinced 
 that I had not any doubt of his veracity. We spent the greater 
 portion of the day together, and only separated about twilight. I 
 then went to the gendarmes' station, where the peace-officers told 
 me that many watches had been stolen in a direction precisely 
 opposite to that in which, by the advice of Hotot, our watch was 
 kept. It was then plain to me that he had attracted us to one 
 point, that he might the more easily work in another. Jt is an 
 
350 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 old stratagem in the tactics of diversion and false information 
 given by thieves, that they may have less fear of the police. 
 
 Hotot, whom I took good care not to reproach in any way, 
 imagined that he had completely gulled me : but if I said nothing, 
 I did not think the less, and increasing my show of friendship 
 towards him, whilst he was meditating a renewal of his Saint- 
 Cloud trickery, I was on the alert to catch him tripping at the 
 first opportunity. Our friendship being still very close, the oppor- 
 tunity presented itself earlier than I had even dared to hope. 
 
 One morning I suddenly determined to make a visit to Hotot. 
 We were near where he resided. I proposed to my comrade of 
 the watch to accompany me ; and, on his assenting, we went to 
 Hotot's, where, on knocking, he opened the door and appeared 
 surprised to see us ; * what a wonder at this early hour.' 
 
 * Are you astonished ?' said I ; ' we come to have a glass with 
 you.' 
 
 * Oh ! you are welcome ;' and then jumping into bed, * where is 
 the liquor ?' 
 
 ' GarTre will be so kind as to fetch it.' 
 
 I put my hand into my pocket, and as Gaffre', as a Jew, was less 
 careful of his trouble than his money, he willingly undertook the 
 commission, and went out for that purpose. During his absence 
 I remarked that Hotot had the air of a man who has gone to bed 
 later than usual ; the room was, besides, in a very extraordinary 
 state of disorder. His clothes, rather torn than taken off, seemed 
 to have had a heavy soaking ; and his shoes were covered with 
 white clay, which was still wet. Not to have concluded from all 
 these indications that Hotot had but recently returned, would not 
 have been Vidocq. For the moment I thought nothing more of 
 it, but my fancy soon wandered into the wide field of conjecture, 
 and I conceived suspicions which I took care not to evince ; I 
 would not even appear curious, that is to say indiscreet, and, for 
 fear of disquieting my worthy friend, I did not ask him a single 
 question. We spoke of the rain and the fine weather, but more 
 of the fine weather than the rain, and when we had nothing left 
 to drink, we went away. 
 
 Once out of the house, I communicated to Gaffre' the remarks; 
 I had made ; ' I am much deceived,' I added, ' or he has been 
 abroad all night ; there has been something in the wind.' 
 
 ' I think so too, for his clothes are still wet, and his shoes covered 
 with mud ! He has not been walking in the dust.' 
 
 Hotot hardly thought we were talking of him, but yet his ears 
 must have tingled. ' Where has he been ? What has he done ?* 
 we inquired of each other ; ' perhaps he has joined some gang.* 
 
THE TURKEYS CLAWS. 351 
 
 Gaflr was no less puzzled than myself, and we were compelled to 
 think that Hotot might be honest after all. 
 
 At twelve o'clock, we went to make our report of the trans- 
 actions of the night ; our account was not very interesting; * nothing 
 has occurred,' was the whole contents. ' Ah !' said M. Henry to 
 us, ' the people in the Faubourg Saint Marceau are all honest ; I 
 had much better have sent you to the Boulevard Saint Martin ; it 
 appears that the lead-robbers have renewed their work ; they 
 carried more than four hundred and fifty pounds from a house 
 newly built. The watchman, who pursued without catching them, 
 says they were four in number. The robbery was effected during 
 the heavy shower of last night' 
 
 * During the heavy shower ! parbleu !' I cried, ' you know one 
 of the robbers.' 
 
 ' Who is he ?' 
 ' Hotot.' 
 
 * He who served the police, and who asked leave to enter it ?' 
 
 * The same.' 
 
 I told M. Henry my suspicions and remarks, and as he was 
 convinced that I was correct, I went out instantly, that I might 
 with all possible speed convert what was at present but presump- 
 tive evidence into proof positive. The commissary of the 
 quarter in which the robbery had been effected, went with me to 
 the spot, and we found in one place on the ground the deep im- 
 print of two nailed shoes, and the earth had been indented by the 
 weight of a man. These traces could afford precise indications ; 
 and precautions were taken that they should not be effaced. I 
 felt perfectly assured that they were exactly fitted to Hotot's 
 shoes, and taking GarTre' with me to him, that I might verify my 
 suspicions without alarming the culprit, I devised the plan, which 
 was thus executed. On getting to Hotot's residence, we made a 
 tremendous noise at the door. 
 
 4 Get up, get up, we have brought the poultry.' He arose, 
 turned the key, and we stumbled into the room like men some- 
 what stupid with liquor. 
 
 ' Hallo !' said Hotot, ' allow me to pay my respects to you. 
 You have been warming the oven early this morning.' 
 
 ' Yes ; and we have come to you,' I replied, * to finish the 
 baking. You are very cunning,' I added, showing him in its 
 covering a purchase which we made as we came along, 'guess 
 what we have in here.' 
 
 ' How can I guess.' Then, tearing the corner of the paper, 
 exposed the claws of a bird. 
 
 * Ah ! sacre dieq !' he cried, ' it is a turkey,' 
 
352 MEMOIRS OF VWOCQ. 
 
 ' Yes, a brother of yours ; and, as you see, it is by its feet that 
 we know this sort of animal : do you understand me now ?' 
 4 What does he say?' 
 ' I say it is roasted.' 
 ' Oh ! it should be baked with venison fat.' 
 
 * Venison fat ! here, look at it.' 
 
 I handed the bird to him, and whilst he examined and turned 
 it over and over, Gaffre stooped down, picked up his shoes, and 
 put them in his hat. 
 
 4 Well, and what did you give for this bit of hollow ? 
 
 ' Seven bob, a kick, and eight mag.' 
 
 ' The d ! Seven shillings and tenpence. About the price 
 
 of a pair of shoes.' 
 
 ' Exactly so, my boy,' said the pilferer, rubbing his hands. 
 
 * Here is plenty to bite at ; and how well it smells, quite de- 
 liciously, it is perfectly tempting ! We will soon settle his business.' 
 
 * Who carves ? I cannot.' 
 
 ' Well, then, we will help you ; is there a knife in the box ?' 
 
 * Yes, look in the drawer.' 
 
 I found a knife, and then sought an excuse to send Gaffre' out. 
 ' Oh, by the way,' said I, whilst I laid the cloth, * you can oblige 
 me by going to my house, and saying, that they need not wait 
 dinner for me.' 
 
 ' Very well, and then you will be off without me ; that is no go; 
 I shall not cut my stick until I have had some grubbery. 1 
 ' But we cannot eat without drinking.' 
 
 * Well, then, I will have the liquor produced.' 
 
 He opened the window, and called to a vintner. ' And now,' 
 he added, 'you cannot play me any trick.' 
 
 Gaffre was like the majority of police-agents, and, except being 
 treacherous, a good-enough fellow ; but a perfect gourmand. 
 With him the belly superseded all other business ; and thus, al- 
 though he had Obtained possession of the shoes, which was the 
 main point in the affair, I saw I could not induce him to leave the 
 place until he had his share of eatables. I hastened, therefore, to 
 cut up the bird, and when the wine arrived, * Come to the table,' 
 I cried to my gastronomist, * make haste, and cram your fill.' 
 
 Hotot's bed was his table, and without any forks but those of 
 father Adam, we made to the god who is within us, that is the god 
 of Ventrus, a sacrifice in the manner of the ancients. We ate like 
 ogres, and the repast was quickly terminated. * Now,' said Gaffre, 
 ' I can toddle. I know not if you are like me, but when the sun 
 shines in my stomach, I am good for nothing ; when the chest is 
 full it is a different matter,' 
 
AN ASPIRING SP Y. 353 
 
 'Well, then, mizzle? 
 
 He took his hat, and disappeared. 
 
 * Now he is gone,' said Hotot, with the tone of a man who is 
 not sorry to be left alone with another for some time. ' Well, my 
 friend Jules, is there never to be a vacancy for Hotot ?' 
 
 1 Patience, patience, all will come in good time.' 
 
 ' It is only for you to say a good word for me, and M. Henry 
 would listen, if you would ' 
 
 ' It must not be to-day, then, for I expect a good rowing ; 
 Gaffre' will not escape, frflr we have not sent in our report these 
 two days.' 
 
 This lie was not without its purpose ; it was not necessary that 
 Hotot should think I had been informed of the robbery in which 
 I believed him a participator ; he was without mistrust, and I kept 
 him in that security ; and, for fear he should think of getting up, 
 I led the conversation to those points which most interested him. 
 He spoke to me successively of many affairs. ' Ah !' he said, 
 sighing, * if I were certain of entering the police again, with a pay 
 of twelve or fifteen bob a day, I could give such information ! I 
 know now of a burglary, which would be a welcome disclosure to 
 M. Henry.' 
 
 ' Do you ?' 
 
 1 Yes, three robbers, Berchier called Bicetre, Caffin, and Linois, 
 whom I will give up to him in the actual fact, as sure as you and 
 I make two.' 
 
 ' If you can, why don't you ? That would be an excellent be- 
 ginning.' 
 
 ' I know it, but ' 
 
 * Are you afraid to make yourself seem visible in the business ? 
 If you perform services, I will do my best to insure your admis- 
 sion.' 
 
 c Ah, my friend, you pour balm into my mind ; you will procure 
 my admission.' 
 
 'Oh, that will be easily affected.' 
 
 1 Come then, a bumper to luck,' cried Hotot, transported with 
 joy. 
 
 1 Yes, let us drink to your approaching reception/ 
 
 ' And the sooner the better.' 
 
 Hotot was enchanted, and already laid down a line of conduct : 
 he had his dreams of happiness, and there was in his very legs 
 those inquietudes of hopes which are produced by the prospect of 
 coming pleasure. I was afraid lest he should quit his bed, when 
 at length some person knocked at the door ; it was Gaffre, holding 
 in his hand a small bottle of brandy, which Annette had given to 
 
 2 3 
 
354 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 him. Traiffej said my Israelitish colleague as he entered, in that 
 Hebrew slang, which was doubtless the favourite language of our 
 patron, Monsieur Judas. As I pique myself on being a Hebraist 
 of the first order, I instantly comprehended him, and saw how to 
 play my cards. Whilst I was pouring out for the neophyte the 
 nectar of a policeman, Gaffre replaced the shoes. We continued 
 to chat and drink, and before we parted, I learnt that the plunder 
 of the lead was that of which Hotot proposed to point out the 
 perpetrators. The Father Bellemont, a blacksmith of the Rue de 
 la Tannerie, was the fence whom he mentioned to me. 
 
 As these details were interesting, I told Hotot that I should in- 
 stantly communicate them to M. Henry, and recommended him 
 to find out the place where the three thieves slept. He promised 
 to point out the house, and when we had agreed upon prelimi- 
 naries, we separated. GarTr had not left me. ' Well !' said he, 
 ' it is he ; the shoes fit precisely, and the impression is very deep. 
 In leaping from the window he must have fallen with all his 
 weight.' This was the signification of the word traiffe ; and now 
 I had only to take measures accordingly. I had already explained 
 Hotot's conduct to myself, and I readily conceived the part he 
 wished to play. In the first place, it was clear that he committed 
 the robbery with the intention of making his profit by it, but he 
 was chasing two hares at once ; by pointing out his accomplices he 
 attained his second object, that of making himself of consequence 
 in the eyes of the police, that he might thereby be re-established 
 in their employ. I trembled to think of the consequences of such 
 a combination. Wretch, said I to myself, I will contrive that he 
 may have the recompense of his crime, and if the unhappy crea- 
 tures who have aided him in his expedition are convicted, it is but 
 just that he should be a partaker of their sentence. I did not 
 hesitate to believe him the most guilty of the whole, and from 
 what I knew of his character, it seemed most probable to me that 
 he had led them on to it, only to contrive a job ; I even went so 
 far as to think that it was possible that he alone had committed 
 the robbery, but thought it advisable to accuse of his own crime 
 those individuals whose misconduct made them suspected charac- 
 ters. In each of these suppositions, Hotot was a great rogue, and 
 I determined to rid society of him. 
 
 I knew that he had two mistresses, one Emilie Simonet, who 
 had several children by him, and with whom he lived as a husband; 
 the other Flicit Renaud, a common girl, who doated upon him. 
 I thought I could contrive to attain my ends by setting these rivals 
 at loggerheads, and by their mutual jealousy light the flambeau 
 that was to show him to justice, Hotot was watched, and in the 
 
AN ASPIRING SP Y. 355 
 
 afternoon I learned that he was in the Champs Elys<es with 
 Flicitd I went to him there, and taking him aside, told him that 
 I required him on an affair of extreme importance. 
 
 'You must know,' I said, 'you are to be apprehended and 
 taken to prison, where you must pump a cove that we shall nab 
 this evening. As you will be in quod before him, he will not take 
 you for a sneak, and when he is brought in you can easily /to/ 
 yourself upon him.' 
 
 Hotot accepted the proposition with joy. ' Ah !' he exclaimed, 
 ' I am then a spy once more ! You may rely on me, but I must 
 first take leave of FeliciteV He went towards her, and as the hour 
 of nocturnal seductions, or padding the pave for the amorously dis- 
 posed, was nigh, she was not angry with him for leaving her so 
 soon. 
 
 ' Now you have got rid of the mot, I will give you instructions. 
 You know the little ken on the Boulevard Montmartre in front of 
 the Theatre des Vari&e's ?' 
 
 'Yes, Brunei's.' 
 
 ' Well, go there and seat yourself at the farther end of the room 
 with a bottle of beer, and when you see two of the inspectors of 
 the officer of peace, Mercier, enter you know them ?' 
 
 ' Know them ! do you ask me such a question, who am an old 
 trooper ?' 
 
 ' Well, as you know them it will be all right : when they come 
 in, make them a sign that it is you, that they may not mistake you 
 for any other person.' 
 
 'You be easy, they will not mistake me.' 
 
 ' You know it will be disagreeable if they should lay hands on 
 some unlucky citizen.' 
 
 ' Oh ! there shall be no mistake, I shall be there, and then the 
 signal agreed on. The signal will do all.' 
 
 ' You understand clearly ?* 
 
 ' Yes, do you take me for a fool ? I will not give them the 
 trouble to take a second glance.' 
 
 ' All right, they shall have the countersign, and as soon as they 
 perceive you, they will know what they are to do : they will arrest 
 and convey you to the station of Lycee, where you will stay two 
 or three hours, and then the youth you are topump, having already 
 seen you there, will not be surprised to meet you again at the 
 depot.' 
 
 ' Give yourself no uneasiness ; I will do the trick so well, that I 
 will defy the most downy cove to discover that I am not situated 
 exactly like himself. Besides, you will see how cleverly I do my 
 work, to the very letter,' 
 
 233 
 
3$6 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 He seemed so hearty in the business, that I was really sorry at 
 being compelled to deceive him thus, but, reflecting on his con- 
 duct towards his comrades, the feeling of pity which I had mo- 
 mentarily experienced was dissipated, never to return. He gave 
 me his hand, and we parted ; he walked with all the velocity of 
 eager satisfaction ; the earth seemed scarcely to bear him. On 
 my part, no less swift than he, I flew to the prefecture, where I 
 found the inspectors I had mentioned to him : one of them was 
 named Cochois, now a watchman at Bicetre ; I told them what 
 they were to do, and followed them. They entered the house. 
 
 Scarcely had they crossed the threshold, when Hotot, faithful 
 to the orders I had given him, pointed to himself with his finger, 
 like a man who says, ' It is me.' At this signal the inspectors 
 went up to him, and asked for his letters of protection. Hotot, as 
 proud as Artabanes, answered that he had none. ' Then you must 
 come with us/ was the immediate rejoinder, and to prevent him 
 from running away, if. he should be so inclined, they secured his 
 hands with cords. During this operation, a sort of internal con- 
 tent overspread the face of Hotot : he was happy to find himself 
 caught : he blessed his bonds : he contemplated them almost with 
 love, for, as he believed, all this preparation was but a ceremonious 
 form ; and, in fact, like some philosopher of antiquity, he could 
 boast of being free in his chains : and he said in a low voice to the 
 inspectors, ' Devil fetch me if I run ! The mauleys and trotters 
 are tied : you could not do more to secure a regular workman. 1 
 
 It was about eight in the evening when Hotot was brought to the 
 guard-house : at eleven o'clock they had not brought in the person 
 from whom he was to abstract confession, and the delay began to 
 appear extraordinary to him. Perhaps the individual might have 
 escaped the pursuit of justice, or, perhaps, he had already con- 
 fessed. In that case the aid of a sneak was useless ; I know not 
 what conjectures the prisoner formed, I only know that at length, 
 tired with waiting, and thinking they had forgotten him, he asked 
 the sergeant of the guard to inform the commissary of police that 
 he was still there. ' If he be there, let him remain there,' said the 
 commissary, * it is no business of mine.' This answer transmitted 
 to Hotot awakened no other idea than that of a negligence on the 
 part of the inspectors. * If I had my supper now,' he added, with 
 the comico-serio accent of that lachrymose gaiety which is less 
 touching than laughable; ' they are making sport of me, perhaps 
 they are stuffing away in some comfortable corner, whilst I am 
 supping here with Duke Humphrey' Twice or thrice he called, 
 sometimes the corporal, sometimes the sergeant, to relate his griefs 
 to them ; he did not even leave the officer of the guard alone, but 
 
AN ASPIRING SPY. 357 
 
 supplicated him to allow of his being set at liberty. * I will return, 
 if necessary,' he added; 'what do you risk, since I was only grabbed 
 for a particular purpose ?' 
 
 Unfortunately the officer, who told us all these particulars next 
 day, was one of those incredulous personages whose obstinacy is 
 not to be shaken. Hotot was only tormented by his appetite ; 
 now, with persons who think there is such a thing as remorse, this 
 might have been construed into presumptive innocence, but with 
 those who trust only to lock and key fatality had included, this 
 officer in the number ; and, besides, not having any power to act 
 for himself, however desirous of so doing, he drew the bolt upon 
 Hotot, who, unable to obtain anything from the inspectors, made 
 his moan in the following broken and uninterrupted soliloquy, which, 
 heard through the door, excited mirth, by his alternations of gro- 
 tesque resignation and impatience. 
 
 ' Oh ! I say, though, it is coming it a little too strong to keep 
 me here all night ! impossible they are coming no ; no more 
 an inspector than I am a king what the deuce keeps the brutes ? 
 If I were behind them I would apply a quickener if it is not 
 their fault, to be sure, nothing can be said. They certainly planted 
 me for the purpose yet, why don't they bring in the cove per- 
 haps he has done them. If he be not caught in the fact they can 
 do nothing with him. There is no fun in all this, though, to me, 
 who have not tasted food since I arose. Come, gentlemen, as 
 soon as you please, at your earliest convenience I am quite ready 
 but we can't always have our own way. What a devil of an 
 unlucky go for me ! It plays the deuce with my stomach ; I want 
 to eat, and have nothing. How my belly cries cupboard. This is 
 a nice new year's present, I must confess. Do they want to try 
 my appetite ? A very excellent method, certainly fasting is good 
 for young people. Never mind, never mind, it will not kill me 
 this time, and I shall breakfast all the better in the morning. I 
 will wager they are guzzling away at some cabaret, the brutes ! If 
 I were near them this is a good joke, certainly, an admirable 
 farce. In the name of all the devils in h , and the saints in the 
 calendar ! Well, why put yourself out, my boy ? Hunger makes 
 the wolf leave the woods get out, get out yourself, boy, it is easy 
 enough if I had but my turkey of this morning if my friend Jules 
 were here he does not know, ah ! if he knew !' 
 
 Hotot said, as the people say, ' if the king knew ^ but whilst 
 he was deploring my ignorance, and so very far from foreseeing 
 the consequences of an arrest, which he supposed pretended, I, 
 exploring the little streets in the neighbourhood of the Place du 
 Chatelet, had joined Emilie Simonet, in one of those low haunts 
 
358 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 where, to suit light purses, a landlady keeps liquor and lasses, both 
 tending to the same end and serving for the same purposes. Here 
 the liquors are like the secret entrance of the lottery- office, a means 
 of deceiving the spy : the shamefaced lover enters, under the pretext 
 of taking a glass of wine, and is doubly poisoned. It is to this 
 sort of blind coffee-shop that the refuse of prostitutes crowd, and 
 heap their favours on the beastly drunkard, or make terms with the 
 poverty of their customer. More than one ci-devant beauty now 
 reduced to her calico petticoat, her coarse apron, and wooden shoes, 
 unless she prefer philosophes (shoes of fifteen, twenty, or twenty- 
 five pence), here boasts of the tradition, almost forgotten, though 
 recent, of those charms which procured for her the cashmere 
 and splendid veil which she displayed in the cavalcades of Mont- 
 morency, or else in the elegant tilbury which conveyed her to 
 Bagatelle. I have seen many of these vicissitudes, and to give one 
 of the million examples, there was a friend of Emilie, named Caro- 
 line, who had been the mistress of a Russian prince. In her days 
 of splendour, a hundred thousand crowns a-year did not pay the 
 expenses of her establishment ; she had equipages, horses, lackeys, 
 courtiers ; she had been very handsome, but her beauty had en- 
 tirely faded. She was Emilie's companion, and even more 
 degraded than her. Constantly muddled by liquor, she never had 
 a lucid interval. The lady of the house, who provided her attire, 
 for Caroline had no longer a rag of her own, watched her as closely 
 as a cat does a mouse, lest she should sell her clothes. A hun- 
 dred times she had been found at some low hole of vice, naked as 
 a worm \ she had drank away every article of dress, even to her 
 chemise. Such is the sad condition of these wretched creatures, 
 almost all of whom have had, at one time of their lives, a run of 
 good luck : after having the means of literally rolling in money, 
 they feel the want of a crust to stop the cravings of hunger, and 
 those palates on which the delicacies of Tortoni palled, find a relish 
 in the potatoes of La Greve. It is in this catalogue of courtesans 
 that are to be found those damsels who form the delight of the 
 paviors, messengers, and water-bearers ; kept by the libertines of 
 this laborious class, whose liberalities form their main chance, they, 
 in their turns, when not smitten by some fencing-master or street- 
 singer, support the thieves, or, at least, if they are in good keeping, 
 by way of return, they comfort them during their dungeon woes, 
 and in the dead season of the year. 
 
 The comrade of the Princess Caroline, Emilie Simonet, or 
 Madame Hotot, was one of this stamp : hers was a kind heart 
 perverted ; I met her at Mother Bariole's. Mother Bariole, a good 
 woman, if ever there was one, and as honest as it was possible in 
 
MOTHER BARIOLE. 359 
 
 her profession, had a sort of consideration amongst the debauched 
 beings who infest these places in double capacities ; these revolting 
 porticoes of a sanctuary, where, braving all disgust, lust and misery 
 caress each other by turns. For nearly half a century her establish- 
 ment was the providence and last refuge of those daughters of Lais, 
 whom the consequence of their fall from virtue, and time, so swift 
 in his outrages, have cast headlong under the same control as the 
 stream and the bank : it is the old seraglio, where no one must 
 penetrate who desires to rejoice his mind by delightful images : 
 here is no enchantress ! The Armida of the Chaussee d'Antin is 
 but a hideous trull, who, alternating between a prison and a hospital, 
 exhausts, in her own person, the vicissitudes of a career whose 
 last hope must be to die on a dunghill. In this asylum, the luxury 
 of the Rue Vivienne is superseded by the trumpery of the temple : 
 and she who, during the ephemeral triumph of her attractions 
 scarcely budded, disdained the first fruits of the fashion, finds still 
 wherewithal to deck herself in that faded finery, which, falling 
 lower and lower, has at length reached the wardrobe of Mother 
 Bariole. Thus we see a broken-down prag of the hackney drag 
 assume, with pride, the harness which humiliated him in the days 
 when his well fed carcass formed the glory of a splendid equipage. 
 If the comparison fails in nobleness of idea, it is just in fact. 
 
 It would be a curious history, and profitable to morality, to have 
 the narrative of some of Mother Bariole's nymphs : it might be to 
 the purpose to add to it the biography of this venerable matron, 
 who, placed for fifty years in the very centre of blows from fists, 
 kicks from feet, thrusts from swords, etc., has passed through the 
 whole period without a single scratch; the friend of the police, the 
 friend of the thieves, the friend of the soldiery, in fact, everybody's 
 friend, she has preserved herself invulnerable in the midst of 
 storms innumerable, and of the thousand and one battles of which 
 she has been spectatress. Sabine or Roman when the combat 
 commenced, woe to him who touched a hair of the mothers head ! 
 Her counter was like the holy arch, it was the neutral territory 
 which even the flying bottles respected. This is, indeed, being 
 loved ! not one of the Sabines who would not have shed her blood 
 for her. It was a glorious sight to see her in the morning, as they 
 were all thronging round her to tell their dreams about the lottery; 
 and at the approach of quarter-day, when the savings destined to 
 pay the rent were insufficient, because the money-box had been 
 broken open, the poor girls would work themselves ill to make up 
 the deficit! What misery if the abbess, to satisfy her landlord, was 
 compelled to spout her silver mugs ! In what could she then warm 
 the little sugared wine which she <^- an k with her Swiss, or her 
 
360 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 gossip, when, chatting together, and deploring the hardship of the 
 times, nose to nose, and with elbows on the table, they soothed 
 their sorrows with a cup of comfort ? Their dear Mother Bariole, 
 how often she sent to the Monte-de-Piete for the militia of good 
 conduct, to regale them with oysters and white wine ! How gene- 
 rous the inspectors found her, and how compassionate the thieves ! 
 The confidence of the latter she never betrayed. With what in- 
 terest did she listen to the wailings of those who were out of work, 
 and, sending a sprat to catch a herring, if she augured well of the 
 fortune of any one of them, under the guise of friendship she 
 handed over the cup of consolation ; nay, even the creature on 
 tick) if the unemployed cracksman was likely soon to be flush. 
 1 Work, my children,' she said to the labourers of all classes, ' to be 
 welcome to me you must always be doing* She did not advise 
 the soldiery in the same way, but gained their affections by atten- 
 tions that were endless ; she cursed the police with them, and to 
 perfect their pleasure, in case of a disturbance, she never sent for 
 the guard until the last extremity. She detested colonels, captains, 
 adjutants, sub-lieutenants, in fact, all epaulettes ; but then she 
 doated on worsted lace, and nothing could equal her affection for 
 subalterns in general, and particularly those who were well-looking ; 
 she was a mother to them all. * Ah, my darling !' I have heard 
 her often say, ' when you return with the sergeant you will be a 
 major/ 
 
 * Yes, Mother Barole, and between the hours of parade the house 
 shall be merry.' 
 
 Madame Bariole is still alive, but since I am not now called on 
 to visit her, I know not if her establishment be supported on the 
 same system. At the time I knew her she had all the love for me 
 which a spy could ever have expected from her. She was delighted 
 when I asked for Emilie Simonet, who was her favourite. Mother 
 Bariole thought I was about to throw the handkerchief in her 
 harem. 
 
 * You cannot ask me for anyone whom I would more readily 
 give to you.' 
 
 * Is she, then, your favourite ?' 
 
 1 What do you mean? I like women who take care of their 
 children : if she had put them out of the way, I would never have 
 looked at her again. Those poor little things did not ask to be 
 born ; why should not Christians have as much natural affection as 
 animals ? Her last is my godchild the very image of Hotot, the 
 very spit of him. I wish you could see her, she grows like a mush- 
 room ; she will be no fool ; there will be no occasion to teach her 
 anything ; she will know everything.' 
 
MOTHER BARIOLE. 361 
 
 ' She is forward, indeed.' 
 
 ' Yes, and pretty ; a little love ! let her only be until she is as 
 old as a fifteen-sous piece, and I know she will bring her mother 
 in as much money as she can carry. With a daughter one always 
 has a resource.' 
 
 ' Certainly/ 
 
 ' Yes, yes, the good God will bless her, Emilie ; and then she 
 has not, for a long time, had any mishap with the men.' 
 
 ' Does the good God meddle with these things ?' 
 
 'Ah, certainly; you chaps are unbelievers, you believe in 
 nothing.' 
 
 ' You have some religion, then, Mother Bariole ?* 
 
 ' I hope I have ; I do not like priests, but that is all the same. 
 It is not eight days since I had a nine days' devotion made at 
 Saint Genevieve for a safe passage of some liquor from Brussels, 
 and the butt arrived safe and sound.' 
 
 * And the end of the wax candle, have you burnt that ? 
 
 * Hold your tongue, you heathen.' 
 
 *I will lay a bet that you have some Easter cake at your bed head.' 
 
 * A little, my boy ; people should not live like brutes.' 
 Bariole, who did not like to be thwarted about her creed, began 
 
 to call to Emilie. 
 
 ' Come, make haste,' she cried ; ' wait, my son, I am going to 
 see if she has finished.' 
 
 ' That's right, for I am in a hurry.' Emilie soon appeared with 
 a corporal of artillery, who, without looking behind him, im- 
 mediately took leave of her. 
 
 * Since he did not ask for his dram,' observed Bariole, ' we will 
 put it back into the bottle.' 
 
 * I will drink it,' said Emilie. 
 
 * No, no, Lisette.' 
 
 ' You joke, it is paid for' (drinking). 
 
 ' Ah, there are flies in it.' 
 
 'That will make your heart gay,' I cried. 
 
 ' So it will, well said. Is it you, Jules ? what are you doing in 
 this quarter?' 
 
 ' I heard you were here, and said I to myself, I must see Hotot's 
 wife, I will have a drop with her.' 
 
 ' Agathe,' called Bariole, ' bring a pint ;' and Agathe, according 
 to custom, pretending to go down into the cellar, went out by the 
 back door to the vintner's, whence she brought a flask, of which 
 she reserved three parts, and by baptizing the rest, obtained the 
 quantity required. 
 
 ' This is not adulterated,' said Emilie to me, whilst I poured it 
 
362 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 out into her glass ; * see, it makes bubbles on the top, which is a 
 good sign ; I will drink again.' 
 
 I pleased her much by giving her plenty of drink, but that was 
 only the first step towards gaming her confidence ; and wishing to 
 reach, insensibly, to the catalogue of her complaints against Hotot, 
 I managed so skilfully, that the change of conversation did not 
 give her any suspicion. I first began by deploring my own lot, and 
 these girls, when lamentations are made which have any relation 
 to their own, are never slow in joining chorus. I have seen many 
 of them, before the second pint has been emptied, burst into tears 
 and weep like Magdalenes ; at the third, I became their best friend; 
 then there was no further restraint, all that was heaviest upon their 
 hearts came forth with a sudden explosion ; it was that moment 
 of overflowing confidence, when the exordium is always, ' The 
 world is full of trouble, and every one has his own. ' Emilie, 
 who had, during the day, tolerably well washed down her griefs, 
 was not slow in commencing her tale of woe on the subject of 
 her rival and Hotot's infidelities. 
 
 'Is he such a rover, your Hotot? Fellows like him do not 
 deserve to have wives. To leave such a woman as you for 
 
 a Fe'licite' ! between ourselves, that Felicite' is a - ; if I had 
 
 to make a choice, I give you my word that I would give you 
 the preference.' 
 
 * Come, Jules, you are buttering me down. You are trying 
 it on! I know well enough that Fe"licite* is the better looking; but 
 if I am not so swell^ I have my heart in the right place. You 
 saw it when I used to take the scran to Lorcefe (La Force) ; that 
 is the time to judge if one is true or not* 
 
 ' That is true j you took every care of him, I was witness to 
 that.' 
 
 * Now, Jules, have I not done all a woman could do for him ? 
 The blackguard, one can scarcely keep one's temper ! I did it to 
 the injury of my trade. I am sure that no one could say a word 
 against me ; a married wife "and all could not have done more.' 
 
 * What is it you say ? she would not have done so much.' 
 
 * To be sure not, but it is not only that, he knows how disposed 
 I am to have children whilst he had been fifteen months in quod, 
 did I have a young one without him ? Is not that virtue ? and 
 now he would deprive me altogether. My shoe knows what I 
 have undergone, and would tell long tales if it could speak ; did 
 it not have those ten-sous pieces which passed under the very nose 
 of Bariole ? He ought to remember them j but cut off the rope 
 from a rogue's neck and .' 
 
 ' You are right It was not Felicite', then, who gave them to 
 him?' 
 
HOTOTS WIFE. 363 
 
 ' Felicite* ! she would sooner have eaten him. But it is always 
 those that they love best ' (she sighed and drank, sighed and drank, 
 sighed and drank again). ' Since we two are together, tell me 
 have you seen them together lately ? tell me the truth, and on the 
 word of Emilie Simonet, which is my real name, may every drop 
 which has entered, and shall enter my lips, turn to poison, may I 
 die on the spot, or may I be nabbed when easing the next cull I 
 make a plant upon, if I open my mouth to him about it* 
 
 * Why should I tell you ? you women are all blabs.' 
 
 *On my word and honour' (assuming a solemn air and tone), 
 * by the ashes of my father, who is as dead as you are alive ' 
 
 This Homeric form of speech is no longer in use, except 
 amongst the priestesses of Venus-Cloacina. Whence it came to 
 them I know not. Had some washerwoman's daughter sworn by 
 the ashes of her mother but ' by the ashes of my father !' The 
 words are even more formidable than the prophetic nebulae which 
 alarmed Fontenelle : they comprise an entire monography. In the 
 mouth of a woman who would seem to be honest, they are always 
 a bad augury, whatever be her appearance or real situation ; with- 
 out running the risk of deceiving her, one can say, * I know you, 
 beautiful mask/ This oath, considering the quality of the persons 
 who use it, has always appeared to me so burlesque, that it has 
 never been uttered in my presence without exciting in me an irre- 
 sistible impulse to laugh. 
 
 * Laugh away, laugh away, 1 said Emilie to me, ' it is laughable 
 enough, is it not ? Come, now, be quiet : it is true, there is no 
 pleasure with him, he believes nothing. May I be the greatest 
 wretch under the canopy of heaven ; by all that I hold dearest in 
 life ; by the life of my child, which is an oath I never make ; may 
 all the miseries of life befall me if I speak of you to him.' At the 
 same time pulling forward the thumb of her right hand, the nail 
 of which, scraping against her upper teeth, escaped with a slight 
 noise she added, crossing herself as she spoke, ' Now, Jules, it is 
 sacred : now it is all as right as if a notary had signed articles be- 
 tween us.' 
 
 During this conversation our pint measure had been frequently 
 filled, and the more the Penelope of Hotot drank, the more pres- 
 sing 'she became, and the more solemnly pledged herself to silence. 
 
 * Indeed, my boy Jules, you should tell me, when I promise you 
 that he shall know nothing of it.' 
 
 ' Ah ! you are such a good wench that I can keep nothing from 
 you : but I forewarn you, do not nose, if so, take care of yourself. 
 I would not be the death of you, but Hotot is my friend, you 
 know.' 
 
364 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 There is no danger, and when anyone tells me a thing (point- 
 ing to her breast) it is there it is death.' 
 
 'Well, then, I went this evening to the Champs Elyse'es, and 
 there saw your man with Felicite' ; they were quarrelling at first ; 
 she declared that he had you in his room in the Rue Saint Pierre 
 aux Boeufs. He swore that he had not, and that he no longer 
 kept up any connection with you. You know that when she was 
 by I could not do otherwise than say as he did. They made it 
 up, and afterwards, from some words they let fall, I think he passed 
 the night before last with Felicite' at the Place du Palais Royal.' 
 
 *Oh, then, you're wrong, for he was with his friends.' 
 
 * With Caffin, Bicetre, and Linois ; Hotot told me that.' 
 
 * What, did he tell you ? He forbade my speaking of it : that 
 is just like him, and then afterwards, if any accident should happen 
 to him, he would fan me well.' 
 
 ' Oh, don't be alarmed ; I am not the man to bring a friend into 
 a scrape. If I am a spy, I have my feelings about me still !' 
 
 * I know, my dear Jules, that you were compelled to enter the 
 police, or else return to the Bagne.' 
 
 * It is all the same, police or not, I am all right still ; and if I 
 had anyone to lay my clutches on, Hotot is not the man.' 
 
 ' You are right, my boy, never snitch upon comrades : and now, 
 my lad of mettle, tell me, where did he go with the mot ? 
 
 * Do you wish to know ? They went to roost at Bicetre's. I 
 cannot give you the address, for I did not ask for it' 
 
 ' Oh ! gone to Bicetre's ! right as my hand, right as a trivet I 
 will go and stir them up.' 
 
 'I will go with you is it far off?' 
 
 * You know the Rue du Bon Puits ?* 
 'Yes.' 
 
 * Well, it is then at Lahire's, on the fourth pair of stairs. Now, 
 she shall carry my ten commandments in her face. Jules, have you 
 a six Hard piece ? let me have it, that I may mark the soles of her 
 feet with it.' 
 
 * I have not one.' 
 
 'Never mind, I have my key in my handkerchie Oh, I'll 
 kick up a h of a row. I thought something would turn up this 
 morning, for I had three knaves in my hand of cards.' 
 
 ' Listen to me, don't be too much in haste. That will not be 
 the plan to find if they be there or not. You can trust to me ; let 
 me have my way. If I remain you will know what it means 
 that I have found the birds at roost' 
 
 ' That's a good idea, let us be sure before we begin to make an 
 uproar.' 
 
HOTOTS WIFE. 365 
 
 We reached the Rue du Bon Puits, and I entered, when, having 
 assured myself that Bicetre was in his lair, I rejoined Emilie, 
 whose brain was actually turned by wine and jealousy. 
 
 * Well, now, see how unlucky we are ! they have just left with 
 Bicetre and his wife, to go and sup at Linois's. I asked where, 
 but they could not inform me.' 
 
 ' P'r'aps they would not ; but that is of no consequence, none at 
 all. I know where Linois hangs out, at his mother's. Come with 
 me ; you shall go and ask her, that they may have no suspicion of 
 anything.' 
 
 * Oh ! you will take me from place to place till morning.' 
 'What, Jules, do you refuse me? Ah, my dear boy, don't 
 
 refuse, you shall have no reason to repent it I will give you as 
 many kisses as you like.' 
 
 How could a kiss, and such a kiss, be resisted ? I went to the 
 Rue Jocquelot, and then I climbed to the sixth story, where I saw 
 Linois, who did not know my name. 
 
 ' I am looking for Hotot,' I said to him, ' have you seen him ?' 
 'No,' was the reply, and as he was in bed, I retired, after having 
 wished him good-night. 
 
 ' We have the luck of it ! I have again been thrown off my 
 scent : they have been here, but are now gone to seek for Caffin to 
 stand some wine. Where does Caffin pitch his tent f 
 
 ' Why, I should be puzzled to tell you, but as he is a petti- 
 coat hunter, I am sure we shall find him amongst the women in 
 the Place aux Veaux. Come along.' 
 
 ' Why, we shall traverse the four corners of Paris. It is getting 
 late, and I have no time to spare.' 
 
 ' Pray, Jules, do not leave me ; the inspectors will perhaps grab 
 me.' 
 
 As compliance was useful, I did not persist in my refusal. I 
 went with Emilie to the Place aux Veaux, and from ken to ken^ 
 taking draughts of courage in each cabaret, we flew onwards to the 
 place where I hoped to perfect my informations. We flew, I say, 
 though the expression is somewhat strong, in spite of the weight 
 on my arm ; Emilie, very much intoxicated, had much difficulty 
 to put her feet on the ground. Bufr the more she staggered, the 
 more communicative she became, so that she disclosed to me the 
 most secret thoughts of her faithless swain. I learnt from her all 
 that I required to know concerning Hotot, and I had the satisfac- 
 tion of convincing myself that I was not deceived in judging him 
 capable of directing the thieves whom he proposed to give up to 
 the police. Emilie hoping to find Hotot, and I to discover Caffin, 
 when a girl named Louison la Blagueuse, whom we met, told us 
 
366 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 that he was with Emilie Taquet, and that he would pass the night 
 either at Bariole's or at Blondin's, who was also an encourager of 
 loves. 'Thank ye, my little one,' said Simonet to the sister Cyprian 
 who gave us this welcome information. 
 
 ' It is just so,' she continued, ' Bicetre is with his wife, Linois 
 and Caffin are with theirs, Hotot is with Felicite, every Jack has 
 his Jill : the wretch ! he shall have my life or I will have his ; I 
 don't mind being killed (grinding her teeth and tearing her hair) ; 
 Jules, do not leave me, I will massacre them, my friend, I will 
 massacre them !' 
 
 During this ebullition of vengeance, we were still going forward, 
 until at length we reached the corner of the Rue des Arcis. 
 * What are you doing, Melie ?' grunted out a harsh voice, and a 
 female approached us. ' It is the petite Madelon,' cried Emilie. 
 
 * Ah, my lass ! how are you ? I am on the look-out ; have you 
 seen Caffin this evening ?' 
 
 * Caffin, do you say ?' 
 1 Yes, Caffin.' 
 
 4 They are at Mother Bariole's.' 
 
 No hour is unfitting that can be turned to its purpose. Besides, 
 Emilie was one of the house. We went in and learnt that Caffin 
 was there, but that Hotot had not made his appearance. On this 
 intelligence, Madame Hotot imagined that they wished to deceive 
 her. 
 
 * Yes, you encourage his vice, 1 she said to Bariole ; ' give me my 
 man, you old ' 
 
 I do not remember the epithets she heaped upon her, but there 
 was, for a quarter of an hour, an incessant firing, supported by a 
 succession of glasses of tape poured upon the wine which had 
 already fermented jealousy to its height. * Will you cease with 
 your bullying ?' interrupted Bariole, who was an excellent trum- 
 peter. * Your man ! your man ! he is at the mill, and the devil 
 may fetch him. Did you put him into my keeping? He is a fine 
 kiddy ! Everybody's man ! Such fellows as he are to be picked 
 
 up . You think he is with Caffin ? then go and see : go to 
 
 Taquet's chamber.' 
 
 Emilie did not allow her to say so twice, but went to convince 
 herself, and returned. 'Well,' said Bariole, 'are you satisfied 
 now?' 
 
 'There is no one there but Caffin.' 
 
 'Did I not tell you so? 1 
 
 ' Where is the brute, where is the monster ? 
 
 ' If you like,' I said to her, ' I will take you to him.* 
 
 9 Oh, pray do, I beg of you, Jules,' 
 
HOTOTS WIFE. 367 
 
 It is a long distance from here, at the Hotel d'Angleterre.' 
 
 ' Do you think he is there ?' 
 
 * I am sure of it ; he went to pass an hour or two and wait until 
 Felicite has finished her evening, and then he will go and meet 
 her in the Rue Froid Manteau.' 
 
 Emilie did not doubt but that I had exactly guessed the fact, 
 and would not delay a moment ; she was bursting with rage, but 
 would give me neither peace nor quiet until I had consented to 
 undertake to go with her to the Hotel d'Angleterre. The transit 
 appeared long, for I was the knight of a lady whose centre of 
 gravity, vacillating excessively, gave me much trouble to keep my 
 own equilibrium ; however, half carrying the belle, I reached the 
 Rue St. Honore* and the very door of the haunt where she trusted 
 to find her man. We went through the rooms, and without fear 
 of disturbing the amorous tete-d-tetes, glanced our eyes over each 
 closet which was ranged on both sides of the corridor. Hotot 
 was not there, and the rival of Fe'licite' was transported beyond 
 bounds ; her eyes were starting from their orbits, her lips covered 
 with foam ; she wept, she stormed, she was an epileptic, a demo- 
 niac ; with dishevelled hair, pale, her features frightfully and 
 spasmodically contracted, and the sinews of her neck stretched by 
 passion, she presented the hideous appearance of one of those 
 corpses to whom galvanism has restored motion. Terrible effects 
 of love and brandy, jealousy and wine ! Yet in the crisis which 
 thus agitated her, Emilie did not lose sight of me, but, clinging to 
 my arm, swore never to quit me until she had unkennelled the in- 
 grate who had thus tormented her. But there was now no more 
 that I wished to learn, and for some time I had been endeavouring 
 to rid myself of her, and make her understand that I was going to 
 inquire if Fe'licite' had returned, which was soon done, as she lived 
 in a house where there was a doorkeeper. Emilie, who had received 
 so much complaisance from me, could but be pleased with my 
 offer, and I went out without any attempt on her part to follow 
 me ; but instead of performing the commission I had undertaken, 
 I went to the corps de garde of the Chateau d'Eau, when, making 
 myself known to the chief officer, I begged him to arrest and keep 
 her in the closest confinement. It certainly pained me to push 
 matters to this extremity, for after all she had evinced it will be 
 agreed that Emilie deserved a better fate, but this night she cer- 
 tainly passed in the guard-house. How painful it is sometimes to 
 perform strict duty ! No one knew better than myself where was 
 the beloved whom she was cursing ; was I not necessarily deprived 
 of the satisfaction of proving him innocent when she supposed 
 him guilty ? Perhaps, before I proceed farther, it may not be use- 
 
368 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 less to say why I had caused Hotot to be apprehended. It was 
 that he might not have time to exculpate himself by the removal 
 of all traces of his share in the robbery, or in bargaining for his 
 safety with the police. But the tender Emilie, why imprison her? 
 Had 'I not to dread her return to Bariole's, where in the loquacity 
 of intoxication she might utter reminiscences which would put 
 Caffin on his guard ? It may be objected that she was not in a 
 state even to keep herself upright ; I will not dispute that ; but the 
 reader must remember that, from the experience of children and 
 drunkards, certain philosophers have been induced to think that 
 men (and women of course included) were originally quadrupeds. 
 Emilie, even on four paws, could have regained her domicile, and 
 then her tongue would soon have returned, and my measures must 
 infallibly have been betrayed. 
 
 After all these precautions, Hotot being already in my clutch, 
 I had only to secure his three accomplices, and I knew where to 
 prick for them all. I " took two agents with me, and soon after- 
 wards presented myself at Bariole's in the name of the law. 
 
 ' Ah f said the mother, ' when I saw you bring your body here 
 I feared all was not right What will these gentlemen take ?' she 
 added, addressing my two aide-de-camps. ' You will take some- 
 thing to be sure, what shall it be ? from the small bottle that I keep 
 for friends ?' and whilst speaking, she stooped to rummage in her 
 counter-draw, whence she took, from amongst a parcel of millinery, 
 an old gilt flask which contained the precious liquid. 'I am 
 obliged to hide it, or with these girls ah ! people are much to be 
 pitied who have to deal with women. I vow, if ever I can get a 
 means of living how happy they are who have an income to live 
 upon ! See, I have not enough to provide myself with an arm- 
 chair. Here is one like a skeleton, we can see its bones.' 
 
 * Oh ! come, tell us about your sofa ; it has beautiful hair, and 
 one leg in the air most gracefully,' said a young girl, who, when 
 we entered, was sleeping on a table in the corner of the room ; 'it 
 is like Philemon and Baucis.' 
 
 ' What, is that you, little Real ? I did not see you. What are 
 you chattering about, with your Philemus and Baucon ? What are 
 you talking about ? 
 
 * I said,' replied Fifine, 'that it is like the Sybil's tripod.' 
 
 ' Good, good, it is the tripeman's arm-chair ; you shall not say 
 so of it any longer. I will have it new stuffed. You see, she has 
 had an education, and is not an ignorant beast like us : see what 
 it is to have parents. But I know enough to carry on the war. 
 Come, come, Fifine, draw the cork of this bottle and have a 
 drop.' 
 
ARREST OF CAFFIN. 369 
 
 'You are very kind, ma'am.' 
 
 * Do not tell any of the others.' 
 
 The glass was poured out, and a double row of pearls were 
 formed on the surface of the cognac* 
 
 1 It is delicious ; I say it is in the Costico Barbara! observed 
 Fifine. 
 
 ' Well, gentlemen,' resumed Bariole, ' shall we leave a drop for 
 the Capuchins ? Fill, I drink to you. Here's to you, my men ; 
 here we are all in perfect harmony, and yet we must die some day ! 
 It is so pleasant to agree when friends meet ! Ah ! my God, yes 
 we must die, and that pains me, and yet we have all toil and 
 trouble on this earth ; it is too much for me there is not a 
 minute when the idea does not pass through my mind ; but let us 
 live honestly, that is the main thing, and then we can always walk 
 with our heads up. Let us not be led into temptation. In my 
 case, die when I may, no one can reproach me with wronging them 
 of the value of a pin's head. But what leads you here at this 
 hour, my children ? Not for my girls ; they are all quiet j if you 
 want a sample, look at her (pointing to Fifine). But, by-the-by, 
 Jules, what have you done with Melie ?' 
 
 4 I'll tell you presently ; give us a candle.' 
 
 * I will bet you want Caffin. Good riddance ; I assure you he 
 is a regular fancy man' 
 
 4 And a woman thumper, too !' added Fifine. 
 
 * We don't often see the colour of his blunt? said Bariole. 
 ' See, Jules, on this slate are the expense and earnings of his 
 wife ; she cannot get enough for the fellow. If Paris could be 
 cleared of such vagabonds, we should be better off.' She offered 
 to lead me to the pensioner's chamber, but as I knew the way as 
 well as she did, I declined the offer. ' The second door,' she said, 
 1 with the key in it.' I could not mistake, and entering the room, 
 told Caffin he was my prisoner. 
 
 4 Well ! well ! what's the row ?' said he, waking ; c what, is it you, 
 Jules, who have nabbed me ?' 
 
 * What do you mean ? I am no conjuror, and if you had been 
 snitched, I should not have come to disturb your sleep.' 
 
 ' What, at the old game ? but it won't do ; old birds are not 
 caught with such chaff.' 
 
 4 Just as you please, it is your own affair; but if what they say 
 be true, your fortune is told you are bound for a trip to the 
 Bagne.' 
 
 4 Yes, believe that and drink water, you will never be full.' 
 
 * Well then, if you must have it all to convince you, listen. I 
 have no interest in pumping you. I repeat that I could not have 
 
 2 4 
 
370 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 guessed your haunt had I not been told that you filched some 
 double tripe (lead) on the Boulevard Saint-Martin, when you 
 narrowly escaped the watch, or you would not have needed my 
 visit. Are you -fly now ? Out of the quartette that made the 
 gang, one has bloivn the gaff ; guess the nose and I will tell you.' 
 
 Caffin reflected for a moment, and then, lifting his head up like 
 a horse who rears, * Jules,' he said, ' I perceive one of the party 
 has started ; take me to the big-wig an& I'll make a clean breast 
 on't too. There is no harm in peaching when others have nosed 
 first. It is another thing with you, who are a spy by compulsion, 
 for I know that if you could make a good hit, you would give the 
 police the go-by.' 
 
 * As you observe, my boy, if I had known what I now know, I 
 should not have been amongst them, but when our senses leave 
 us we do many things we cannot undo.' 
 
 ' Where are you going to take me to ?' 
 
 1 To the station of the Place du Chatelet, and if you will tell 
 the facts, I will inform the commissary.' 
 
 ' Yes, tell him to come, I will trap that Hotot, for it is 
 
 only he who could have blown us.' 
 
 The commissary came. Caffin confessed the crime, but at the 
 same time did not fail to accuse Hotot, whom he pointed out as 
 his only accomplice. He was not a false brother. His two friends 
 showed the same friendship ; surprised in bed, and interrogated 
 separately, they could not do otherwise than confess their guilt. 
 Hotot, whom they accused of their misfortune, was the only one 
 whom each inculpated. In spite of this nobility of feeling, worthy 
 of being cited with the fine traits of ' Active Morality,' this gene- 
 rous trio were sent to the galleys, and the traitor Hotot accom- 
 panied them. He is now at the Bagne, where, most probably, 
 he does but talk about the most curious particulars of his appre- 
 hension. 
 
 Emilie Simonet was released after six hours' captivity. When 
 set free, she was half paralyzed by the bumpers she had quaffed ; 
 she could no longer understand, speak, or see, nor had she pre- 
 served the least recollection of what had passed. When the first 
 rays of light broke in upon her, she asked for her lover, and on the 
 reply of one of her companions that he was at La Force, 
 ' Miserable man !' she exclaimed, ' what had he to do with taking 
 lead from roofs, had he not all that man could wish for with me ?' 
 Afterwards, the unfortunate Emilie showed herself inconsolable, 
 and the exemplary model of a grief that was daily poisoned ; if in 
 the morning she was only maudlin, by evening she was dead 
 drunk. Terrible effects of love and brandy, of brandy and love 
 
BOUCHER. 371 
 
 A theft of small extent has supplied me with an opportunity of 
 sketching a hideous picture ; and yet the sketch is very imperfect 
 and far from the abominable reality, from which the powers that 
 be, who are bound to promote all that is good and civilized, will 
 deliver us, when to them it seemeth best To permit these sinks 
 of corruption wherein the people plunge body and soul, and 
 which are never closed, is an insult to morality, an outrage upon 
 nature, and a crime against humanity. Let not these pages be 
 accused as licentious : they are not the recitals of Petronius, which 
 add fuel to the already inflamed imagination, and make proselytes 
 to impurity. I describe immorality, not to extend its influences, 
 but to make them abominated. Who that has read this chapter 
 is not horrified at the vices it depicts, since they produce the last 
 degree of brutalization ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The mania for turning spy Self-denounced female thief The treacherous kiss 
 The washerwoman's basket The stolen child The modern Sappho 
 Liberty not the first of blessings. 
 
 AMONGST professed robbers, there were but few who did not con- 
 sider it fortunate to be consulted by the police for information, or 
 employed in some enterprise. Nearly the whole of them would 
 have been cut into quarters to evince their zeal, under the per- 
 suasion that they thereby obtained, if not entire immunity, at least 
 some little allowance. Those who most feared its powers were 
 always most ready to serve it. I remember, as a case in point, the 
 adventure of a liberated galley-slave, called Boucher, alias Cadet 
 Poignon. For more than three weeks I had been on the look-out 
 for him, when by chance I met him at a cabaret in the Rue Saint 
 Antoine, at the sign of the Bras d'Or. I was alone, and he was in 
 a large company. To attempt to seize him ex abaupto would have 
 been to risk a failure, for he could have defended himself, and in- 
 sured assistance. Boucher had been an agent of police. I had 
 known him as such, and we were on very good terms together. It 
 occurred to me that I would accost him in a friendly manner, and 
 give him a specimen of my craft. On entering the cabaret, I went 
 directly up to the table where he was sitting, and offered him my 
 hand, saying, * Good-day, friend Cadet' 
 
 * Ah, Jules, my boy, will you have anything ? call for a glass, or 
 take mine/ 
 
 * Yours is good : there is no gall on your lips.' (I drank.) I 
 want to say a word in your ear.' 
 
 ' With pleasure, old fellow; I am with you.' 
 
 243 
 
372 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 He rose, and, taking him by the arm, I said, { Do you remembei 
 the little sailor who was in the chain with you ?' 
 
 ' Yes, yes, a little fat, short chap, who was in the second string, 
 wasn't he ?' 
 
 * Exactly so, at least, so I think. Should you know him again ?' 
 
 * As well as if I saw my own father. I think I see him now, on 
 Bench No. 13, making straps for the covie? darbies? 
 
 1 1 have just apprehended a chap, who I think is he, but am 
 not sure. By chance I went to the guard-house at Birague, and 
 as I went out saw you enter here. " Parbleu !" said I to myself, 
 " that is lucky ; here's Cadet, and he will tell me if I am right 
 or not." ' 
 
 ' I am quite ready, my boy, if I can oblige you ; but before we 
 go, we will have a glass or two. My friends ' (to his companions), 
 * do not be impatient ; it is only the affair of a minute, and I will 
 be with you again instantly.' 
 
 We started, and on reaching the guard-house door, politeness 
 required that I should go first, and I did the honours. He went 
 to the bottom of the room, looked sharply about him, but sought 
 in vain for the individual of whom I had spoken to him. 
 
 'Where,' said he, 'is this fagot* (galley-slave) 'that I am to 
 look at ?' 
 
 I was then near the door, and saw placed against the wall the 
 fragments of a looking-glass, such as is usually found in most guard- 
 houses for the use of the dandies of the garrison, and calling to 
 Boucher, I showed him the shattered reflector. 
 
 'Here,' I said, ' look here.' 
 
 He looked, and turning towards me, said : 
 
 ' Ah, Jules, you are chaffing me. I see only you and myself in 
 the glass ; but the man, the arrested man, where is he ?' 
 
 ' You must know that there is no man arrested here but yourself. 
 See the order for your apprehension.' 
 
 ' Ah ! this is a villainous trick.' 
 
 ' Don't you know that the most crafty man is he who prospers 
 best in this world ?' 
 
 ' The most crafty, certainly ; but it will do you no good to trap 
 honest fellows in this way.' 
 
 I had obtained the liberty of two celebrated female thieves, on 
 condition of their serving the police faithfully. They had already 
 given proofs of their skill in this way ; but employed without salary, 
 and compelled to plunder for an existence, they were taken again 
 in the very act of robbery. The sentence they underwent was that 
 of which I abridged the duration. 
 
 Sophie Lambert and the girl Domer, alias La Belle Lise, were 
 
SOPHIE. 373 
 
 thenceforward in direct communication with me. One morning 
 they came to tell me that they were certain of procuring the appre- 
 hension of one Tominot, a dangerous fellow, whom we had long 
 been searching for. They were going, they declared, to breakfast 
 with him, and he was to rejoin them in the evening at a vintner's 
 in the Rue Saint-Antome. Under other circumstances I might 
 have been duped by these women ; but Tominot had been arrested 
 by me the previous evening, and it was a rather difficult matter for 
 them to breakfast with him. I \\ as, nevertheless, determined to try 
 how far they would push the imposture, and promised to accom- 
 pany them to their rendezvous. I went accordingly, but as may 
 be supposed, no Tominot appeared up to ten o'clock, when Sophie, 
 pretending impatience, asked the waiter if a gentleman had not 
 inquired for them. 
 
 ' Him you breakfasted with ?' said he. ' He came at dusk, and 
 desired me to say that he could not be with you this evening, but 
 would not fail in the morning.' 
 
 I had no doubt that the waiter was an accomplice, who had re- 
 ceived his instructions ; but I evinced no suspicion, and determined 
 on seeing what these ladies would do next. For an entire week 
 they took me sometimes to one place, sometimes to another, 
 where we were always to find Tominot, but who of course never 
 appeared. At length, on the 6th of January, they swore they would 
 lead me to him. I waited for them, but they appeared without 
 him, and gave me such good reasons, that I could not be angry ; 
 on the contrary, I evinced much satisfaction at the measures they 
 had adopted ; and to prove how well contented I was with them, I 
 offered to give them a twelfth-cake. They accepted the offer, and 
 we went to the Petit Broc, in the Rue de la Verrerie. We drew 
 for king and queen, and the royalty fell to Sophie's share, who was 
 a queen in all her glory. We ate, drank, laughed, and when the 
 moment of separation approached, it was proposed to consummate 
 our gaiety by a few bumpers of brandy ; but a vintner's brandy, 
 stuff ! It was good enough for the ladies of the fish-market ; but 
 I scorned to use my queen in that way. At this period I was 
 established as a distiller in the Tourniquet Saint-Jean, and I offered 
 to go to my house and fetch them a drop of the right sort. At this 
 offer the party jumped for joy, and desiring me to return as quickly 
 as possible, I set out, and two minutes afterwards I appeared with 
 a half-bottle of cognac, which was emptied in a twinkling. The 
 flask being dried, I exclaimed, * Come, I have been a good boy to 
 you you must now do me a service.' 
 
 * Both, my friend Jules,' cried Sophie ; * let us see what it is.' 
 
 ' Why, this it is. One of my agents has apprehended two lady 
 
374 MEMOIRS OF VlDOCQ. 
 
 thieves; it is thought they have at home a great many stolen 
 articles, but to make the search we must find their abode, and they 
 refuse to give it. They are now at the guard-house of Saint-Jean ; 
 if you go there you must try and pump them. An hour or two will 
 suffice for you to draw them, and it will be easy work to two such 
 deep baggages as you.' 
 
 ' Be easy, my dear Jules,' said Sophie to me ; ' we will perform 
 the commission. You know you can trust to us, and you might 
 send us to the world's end if it could serve you j at least, I can 
 speak for myself.' 
 
 ' And for me too,' said La Belle Lise. 
 
 ' Well, then, you must convey a line to the officer on guard, that 
 he may know you.' 
 
 I wrote a note, which I sealed, gave it to them, and we went out 
 together. At a short distance from the market of Saint-Jean we 
 separated, and whilst I remained on the watch, the' queen and her 
 companion went to the guard-house. Sophie entered first, and pre- 
 sented the billet to the sergeant, who, on reading it, said : 
 
 1 All right, here you both are. Corporal, take four men with you, 
 and conduct these ladies to the prefecture.' This order was given 
 conformably to a note I had sent to the sergeant on going out to 
 get the brandy ; it was thus written : 
 
 * Monsieur the officer on guard will send under sure and good 
 escort, to the prefecture of police, the females Sophie Lambert and 
 Lise Domer, apprehended by order of M. le Prefet.' 
 
 These ladies must have made singular reflections, and doubtless 
 guessed that I was wearied with being made their plaything. Be 
 that as it may, I went to see them at the depot next day, and asked 
 them what they thought of the trick ? 
 
 1 Not bad,' replied Sophie, ' not bad ; we had not stolen though/ 
 Then, addressing Lise, * It is your fault ; why did you pretend to 
 seek for a man who was already caught ?' 
 
 * Did I know it ? Ah, if I had, I promise you Besides, 
 
 what do you want? He is caught, and they can accuse him.' 
 
 4 That is all very fine : but tell us, Jules, how long will they keep 
 us at Saint-Lazare ?' 
 
 ' Six months at least.' 
 
 ' Only that ?' they cried out together. 
 
 'Six months is nothing,' added Sophie; 'it is soon passed. 
 Well, my sweet lad, we are at the disposal of the prefer,' 
 
 They had a month less than I had told them, and as soon as 
 they were at liberty, came to bring me fresh informations ; and 
 this time they were true. One remarkable peculiarity is, that 
 

 SOPHIE. 375 
 
 female thieves are usually more incorrigible than males. Sophie 
 Lambert could never persuade herself to renounce her habitual 
 crime. From the age of ten she had entered on the career of 
 theft ; and when only twenty-five years of age had spent more 
 than a third of her life in prison. 
 
 A short time after my entrance into the service of the police, 
 I apprehended her, and she was sentenced to two years' imprison- 
 ment. It was principally in furnished houses that she exercised 
 her culpable industry : no one was more skilful in deceiving the 
 vigilance of the porters, nor more fruitful in expedients to escape 
 their questions. Once introduced, she halted at each landing to 
 make a survey. If she saw a key in any door, she turned it 
 without noise ; and if the person who occupied the apartment was 
 sleeping, no matter how lightly, Sophie had a hand still lighter, 
 and in no time, watches, jewels, money, all found their way to her 
 game-bag, the name she gave to a secret pocket under her apron. 
 If the tenant of the room was awake, Sophie had excuses enough 
 ready, declaring that she had made a mistake. Then if he awoke 
 during the operation, without being at all disconcerted, she ran to 
 the bed, and embracing him, exclaimed, ' Ah, my poor little Mim, 
 let me kiss you ! Ah ! sir, I ask pardon. What ! is not this 
 Number 17 ? I thought I was at my lover's.' 
 
 One morning a person, whose apartment she was ransacking, 
 having suddenly opened his eyes, perceived her near his drawers. 
 He made an exclamation of surprise, and Sophie immediately 
 began to play her scene ; but the gentleman was not to be deceived, 
 and was determined to profit by the pretended mistake ; if Sophie 
 resisted, a sound of money produced by the struggle might betray 
 the motive of her visit ; if she yielded the peril might be still 
 greater. What was to be done ? for any other than herself the 
 conjecture would have been very embarrassing. Sophie was not 
 cruel, and by the aid of a lie removed all difficulty, and the indi- 
 vidual, satisfied with what passed, allowed her to retire. He only 
 lost at this game his watch, his purse, and six spoons. 
 
 This woman was a daring creature : twice she ran headlong 
 into my snares, but, after her liberation, in vain did I try to entrap 
 her ; there was no watching which she did not baffle, so completely 
 was she on her guard. But what I could not effect by my utmost 
 efforts, to take her flagranle delicto^ I owed to a circumstance 
 entirely fortuitous. 
 
 Having left my home at daybreak, I was crossing the Place du 
 Chatelet, when I met Sophie face to face. She accosted me with 
 much ease. ' Good-day, Jules ; whither are you bound so early ? 
 I will wager that you are going to catch some poor rook.' 
 
376 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 * Perhaps so ; but certainly you are not the person ; but where 
 are you going?' 
 
 * I am going to Corbeil to see my sister, who is about to establish 
 me in a house. I am weary of the stone jug. I am getting 
 reformed ; will you have a drop of short 
 
 ' Willingly ; I will stand treat, and we will have it at Lepre*tre's. 
 
 ' Well, do as you like, but make haste, lest I lose the diligence ; 
 you will go with me, won't you ? it is only in the Rue Dauphine.' 
 
 ' Impossible ! I have business at La Chapelle, and am already 
 late. All I can do, is to take a small glass standing.' 
 
 We went to Lepretre, and after a word or two, and a glass, I took 
 my leave. 
 
 ' Adieu, Jules ; good luck !' 
 
 Whilst Sophie trudged away from me, I turned down the Rue 
 de la Haumerie, and ran to hide myself in the corner of the Rue 
 Planche Mibray; there I saw her file off towards the Pont-au- 
 Change, walking very fast, and looking behind her at every instant. 
 I felt assured that she feared being followed, and thereupon 
 determined to pursue her. I gained the bridge of Notre Dame, 
 and, crossing it rapidly, reached the quay in time not to lose sight 
 of her. On reaching the Rue Dauphine, she actually entered 
 the office of the Corbeil coaches ; but, persuaded that her departure 
 was but a ruse to deceive me as to the intention of her early ap- 
 pearance, I ensconced myself in a corner, whence I could observe 
 motions. Whilst thus on the watch, a coach passed, in which I 
 installed myself, and promised an extra fee to the coachman if he 
 would follow a female whom I should point out to him. For the 
 moment we were stationary ; the diligence started, but there was 
 no Sophie there, I would have betted my life ; but some minutes 
 afterwards she came to the office door, looked about on all sides, 
 and then started off towards the Rue Christine. She entered into 
 several furnished houses, and by her air I could perceive that no 
 opportunity had offered, but as she persisted in exploring the same 
 quarter, I drew the natural inference that she had not manoeuvred 
 successfully, and as I was persuaded that she had not yet finished, 
 I took care not to interrupt her. At length she entered (in the 
 Rue de la Harpe) a fruiterer's, and a moment afterwards appeared 
 carrying a large washerwoman's basket, which seemed heavy. She 
 walked, however, very fast, and soon reached the Rue Mathurins- 
 Saint-Jacques, and then that of Magons Sorbonne. Unfortunately 
 for Sophie, there is a passage which communicates with the Rue 
 de la Harpe and the Rue des Magons, and there, after having 
 alighted, I hastened to hide myself, and when she reached the 
 end of the alley I came forth, and we met face to face. On seeing 
 
SOPHIE AND THE BASKET. 377 
 
 me she changed colour, and attempted to speak, but was so much 
 agitated that she could not utter a word. However, she came to 
 herself gradually, and pretending to be in a great rage, said to me : 
 
 ' You see a woman in a passion ; my laundress, who was to have 
 brought my linen to the diligence, failed in her promise ; I have 
 just fetched it from her, and am going to convey it to a friend ; 
 that has prevented me from going to Corbeil.' 
 
 ' Just my case ; on going to La Chapelle, I met a person who 
 told me that my man was in this quarter, and that brought me 
 here.' 
 
 ' So much the better : wait for me, I am going a few steps hence 
 with my basket, and we will have a chop together.' 
 
 ' That I have no objection to ; I , but what do I hear ?' 
 
 Sophie arid I stood thunderstruck at hearing piercing cries issue 
 from the basket ; I lifted up the linen that covered it, and saw a 
 child of two or three months old, whose roaring would have split 
 the tympanum of a dead man. 
 
 ' Well/ said I to Sophie, ' the brat is yours, I suppose. Tell me, 
 is it a girl, or a boy ?' 
 
 ' Well, I am caught again. I shall remember this, and if ever I 
 am asked why, I shall answer, " Oh, nothing, a childish affair." 
 Another time when I steal linen I will first look at it.' 
 
 ' And this umbrella, whose is it ?' 
 
 4 Oh ! my God, yes As you see ; I had, however, where- 
 withal to shelter myself : but when the chance is against you, it is 
 in vain to attempt it.' 
 
 I conducted Sophie to M. de Fresne's, commissary of police, 
 whose office was in the neighbourhood. The umbrella was kept 
 as a convicting evidence. As to the child, whom she had unwit- 
 tingly carried off, it was instantly returned to its mother. The 
 thief had a sentence of five years' imprisonment. It was, I 
 believe, the fifth or sixth sentence she had undergone; she is still 
 in the hands of justice, and I should not be surprised if she 
 remains at Lazare for life. Sophie thought the trade she carried 
 m a very natural one, and its repression, when unavoidable, she 
 looked upon as an accident. Prison had no horrors for her far 
 from it ; she was, in a manner, in her sphere. Sophie had con- 
 tracted those inclinations, more than strange, which are not justified 
 by the example of Sappho of old, and under lock and key the 
 opportunities of abandoning herself to these shameful depravities 
 were more frequent ; it was not without a motive, as we see, that 
 she had so little liberty. If she were apprehended, it caused her 
 but trifling pain, as she consoled herself by perspective pleasures. 
 This woman was a strange character, as we may judge. A woman 
 
378 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 named Gillion, with whom she lived in culpable intimacy, was 
 taken whilst committing a theft. Sophie, who aided her, escaped, 
 and had nothing to fear ; but, unable to endure a separation from 
 her friend, she had herself denounced, and was not happy until 
 she heard the sentence read which was to reunite them for two 
 years. The majority of these creatures make a sport of prison ; 
 I have seen many, sentenced for a crime which they had committed 
 alone, accuse a comrade, and she, although innocent, make a 
 merit of resigning herself to her sentence. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Our friends our enemies The jeweller and the clergyman The hiding-place 
 and the coffer The Cossacks innocent The false soldier The cooper's 
 wife at Livry Local reputation I am a Jew My pilgrimage with the nun 
 of Dourdans My metamorphosis into a German servant I am imprisoned 
 The church rat- -The flesh-coloured coat My history Battle of Montereau 
 I have robbed my master Projects of escape Journey to Germany 
 The black hen My release Flight with an unfortunate companion A great 
 store of diamonds. 
 
 A SHORT time before the first invasion, M. Senard, one of the richest 
 jewellers of the Palais Royal, having gone to pay a visit to his 
 friend the cure* of Livry, found him in one of those perplexities 
 which are generally caused by the approach of our good friends 
 the enemy. He was anxious to secrete from the rapacity of the 
 Cossacks first the consecrated vessels, and then his own little trea- 
 sures. After much hesitation, although in his situation he must 
 have been used to interments, Monsieur le Cur decided on bury- 
 ing the objects which he was anxious to save, and M. Senard, who, 
 like the other gossips and misers, imagined that Paris would be 
 given over to pillage, determined to cover up, in a similar way, the 
 most precious articles in his shop. It was agreed that the riches 
 of the pastor and those of the jeweller should be deposited in the 
 same hole. But, then, who was to dig the said hole? One of the 
 singers in church was the very pearl of honest fellows, Father Moise- 
 let, and in him every confidence could be reposed. He would not 
 touch a penny that did not belong to him. For thirty years, in his 
 capacity of cooper, he had the exclusive privilege of bottling off 
 the wine of the presbytery, which was the best that could be pro- 
 cured. Churchwarden, sexton, butler, ringer, factotum of the 
 church, and devoted to his vicegerent, for whom he would have 
 risen any hour of the night, he had all the qualities of an excellent 
 servant, without including his discretion, intelligence, and piety. 
 In so serious a conjuncture it was plain that they could not fix 
 better than on Moiselet, and he was the chosen man. The hole, 
 made with much skill, was soon ready to receive the treasure 
 

 BURIED RICHES. 379 
 
 which it was intended to preserve, and six feet of earth were cast 
 on the specie of the cure, to which were united diamonds worth 
 100,000 crowns, belonging to M. Senard, and enclosed in a small 
 box. The hollow filled up, the ground was so well flattened, that 
 one would have betted with the devil that it had not been stirred 
 since the creation. 'This good Moiselet,' said M. Senard, rubbing 
 his hands, ' has done it all admirably. Now, gentlemen Cossacks, 
 you must have fine noses if you find it out !' At the end of a few 
 days the allied armies made farther progress, and clouds of Kirghiz, 
 Kalmucs, and Tartars, of all hordes and all colours, appeared in 
 the environs of Paris. These unpleasant guests are, it is well 
 known, very greedy for plunder : they made, everywhere, great 
 ravages ; they passed no habitation without exacting tribute : but 
 in their ardour for pillage they did not confine themselves to the 
 surface all belonged to them, to the centre of the globe ; and that 
 they might not be frustrated in their pretensions, these intrepid 
 geologists made a thousand excavations, which, to the regret of 
 the naturalists of the country, proved to them that in France the 
 mines of gold or silver are not so deep as in Peru. Such a dis- 
 covery was well calculated to give them additional energy ; they 
 dug with unparalleled activity, and the spoil they found in many 
 places of concealment threw the Croesuses of many cantons into 
 perfect despair. The cursed Cossacks ! But yet the instinct 
 which so surely led them to the spot where treasure was hidden 
 did not guide them to the hiding-place of the curd It was like 
 the blessing of heaven : each morning the sun rose and nothing new; 
 nothing new when it set. 
 
 Most decidedly the finger of God must be recognised in the im- 
 penetrability of the mysterious inhumation performed by Moiselet. 
 M. Senard was so fully convinced of it, that he actually mingled 
 thanksgivings with the prayers which he made for the preservation 
 and repose of his diamonds. Persuaded that his vows would be 
 heard, in growing security he began to sleep more soundly, when 
 one fine day, which was, of all days in the week, a Friday, Moise- 
 let, more dead than alive, ran to the curb's. 
 
 1 Ah, sir, I can scarcely speak.' 
 
 ' What's the matter, Moiselet ?' 
 
 ' I dare not tell you. Poor M. le Cure*, this affects me deeply, 
 I am paralyzed. If my veins were opened, not a drop of blood 
 would flow.' 
 
 ' What is the matter ? You alarm me.' 
 
 The hole.' 
 
 ' Mercy ! I want to learn no more. Oh, what a terrible scourge 
 \s war ! Jeanneton, Jeanneton, come quickly, my shoes and hat 1 
 
 'But, sir, you have not breakfasted.' 
 
380 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 ' Oh, never mind breakfast.' 
 
 'You know, sir, when you go out fasting you have such 
 spasms ' 
 
 * My shoes, I tell you.' 
 
 * And then you complain of your stomach. 1 
 
 * I shall have no want of a stomach again all my life. Never 
 any more no, never ruined !' 
 
 ' Ruined ! Jesus Maria ! Is it possible ? Ah ! sir, run then 
 run ' 
 
 Whilst the curd dressed himself in haste, and, impatient to 
 buckle the strap, could scarcely put on his shoes, Moiselet, in the 
 most lamentable tone imaginable, told him what he had seen. 
 
 * Are you sure of it ?' said the cure ; * perhaps they did not 
 take all.' 
 
 * Ah, sir, God grant it; but I had not courage enough to look.' 
 They went together towards the old barn, when they found that 
 
 the spoliation had been complete. Reflecting on the extent of his 
 loss, the cure nearly fell to the ground. Moiselet was in a most 
 pitiable state ; the dear man afflicted himself more than if the loss 
 had been his own. It was terrific to hear his sighs and groans. 
 This was the result of a love to one's neighbour. M. Senard little 
 thought how great was the desolation at Livry. What was his 
 despair on receiving the news of the event ! In Paris the police is 
 the providence of people who have lost anything. The first idea, 
 and the most natural one, that occurred to M. Senard was, that 
 the robbery had been committed by the Cossacks, and, in such a 
 case, the police could not avail him materially ; but M. Senard 
 took care not to suspect the Cossacks. 
 
 One Monday that I was in the office of M. Henry, I saw one of 
 those little abrupt, brisk men enter, who, at the first glance, we are 
 convinced are interested and distrustful : it was M. Senard, who 
 briefly related his mishap, and concluded by saying that he had 
 strong suspicions of Moiselet. M. Henry thought also that he was 
 the author of the robbery, and I agreed with both. ' It is very well,' 
 he said, ' but still our opinion is only founded on conjecture, and if 
 Moiselet keeps his own counsel we shall have no chance of con- 
 victing him. It will be impossible.' 
 
 * Impossible !' cried M. Senard ; ' what will become of me ? No, 
 no, I shall not vainly implore your succour. Do not you know all ? 
 can you not do all when you choose ? My diamonds ! my poor 
 diamonds ! I will give one hundred thousand francs to get them 
 back again.' 
 
 ' You may safely offer double, for if the robber has taken due 
 precautions, we can do nothing in the business.' 
 
 'Ah ! sir, you drive me to despair,' replied the jeweller, weeping 
 
MOISELET ARRESTED. 381 
 
 warm tears, and throwing himself on his knees before the chief of 
 the division. ' A hundred thousand crowns' worth of diamonds ! 
 if I must lose them, I shall die with grief. I beseech you to have 
 pity upon me/ 
 
 1 Have pity that is easy for you to ask : but if your man is not 
 excessively crafty, by setting some skilful agent to watch and cir- 
 cumvent him, we may perhaps obtain the secret from him.' 
 
 * How shall I evince my gratitude to you ? I care not for 
 money : fifty thousand francs shall be the reward of him who 
 succeeds.' 
 
 ' Well, Vidocq, what think you of it ?* 
 
 ' The affair is difficult/ I answered to M. Henry, * but I will 
 undertake it, and shall not be surprised if I come out of it with 
 honour.' 
 
 * Ah !' said M. Senard, squeezing my hand affectionately, ' you 
 restore me to life ; spare nothing, I beseech you, Monsieur Vidocq; 
 go to any expense requisite to arrive at a fortunate result My 
 purse is open to you, whatever be the sacrifice. Well, do you think 
 you will succeed ?' 
 
 ' Yes, sir, I do.' 
 
 ' Well, recover my casket, and there are ten thousand francs for 
 you yes, ten thousand francs. I have said it, and will not recede 
 from my word.' 
 
 In spite of the successive abatements of M. Senard, in propor- 
 tion as he believed the discovery probable, I promised to exert 
 every effort in my power to effect the desired result. But before 
 anything could be undertaken, it was necessary that a formal com- 
 plaint should be made ; and M. Senard and the cure* thereupon 
 went to Pontoise, and the declaration being consequently made, 
 and the robbery stated, Moiselet was taken up and interrogated. 
 They tried every means to make him confess his guilt ; but he 
 persisted in avowing himself innocent, and, for lack of proof to the 
 contrary, the charge was about to be dropped altogether, when, to 
 preserve it for a time, I set an agent of mine to work. He, clothed 
 in a military uniform, with his left arm in a sling, went with a billet 
 to the house where Moiselet's wife lived. He was supposed to have 
 just left the hospital, and was only to stay at Livry for forty-eight 
 hours ; but a few moments after his arrival, he had a fall, and a 
 pretended sprain suddenly occurred, which put it out of his power 
 to continue his route. It was then indispensable for him to delay, 
 and the mayor decided that he should remain with the cooper's 
 wife until farther orders. 
 
 Madame Moiselet was one of those good, jolly, fat personages, 
 who have no objection to living under the same roof with a wounded 
 conscript, and bore all the joking about the accident which delayed 
 
382 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 the young soldier at her house ; besides, he would console her in 
 her husband's absence, and, as she was not thirty-six years of age, 
 she was still at that time of life when a woman does not despise 
 consolation. This was not all evil tongues reproached Madame 
 Moiselet with not liking wine after it had been drunk ; that was 
 her local reputation ! The pretended soldier did not fail to caress 
 all the weak points by which she was accessible : at first he made 
 himself useful, and then, to complete the conciliation of the good 
 graces of his hostess, from time to time he loosened the strings of 
 his tolerably well-filled purse to pay for his bottle of wine. 
 
 The cooper's wife was charmed with so many little attentions. 
 The soldier could write, and became her secretary; but the letters 
 which she addressed to her dear husband were of a nature not to 
 compromise her not the least expression that can have a twofold 
 construction it was innocence corresponding with innocence. 
 The secretary pities Madame Moiselet and commiserates the 
 prisoner ; and, to provoke disclosures, he makes a parade of that 
 extensive morality which allows of every means of enriching one's 
 self ; but Madame was too deep to be duped by such language, 
 and constantly on her guard. At length, after a few days' experi- 
 ence, I was convinced that my agent, in spite of his talent, would 
 draw no profit from his mission. I then resolved to manoeuvre in 
 person, and, disguised as a travelling hawker, I began to visit the 
 environs of Livry. I was one of those Jews who deal in every- 
 thing clothes, jewels, etc., etc. ; and I took in exchange gold, 
 silver, jewels in fact, all that was offered me. An old female 
 robber, who knew the neighbourhood perfectly, accompanied me 
 in my tour : she was the widow of a celebrated thief, Germain 
 Boudier, called Father Latuil, who, after having undergone half 
 a dozen sentences, died at last at Saint Pelagic. She had been 
 confined for sixteen years in the prison of Dourdans, where the 
 semblance of modesty and devotion which she assumed had 
 caused her to be called the Nun. No one was a better spy over 
 women, or could easier tempt them by the lures of ornaments 
 and gewgaws. She had what is called the gift of the gab in the 
 highest degree. I flattered myself that Madame Moiselet, seduced 
 by her eloquence, and by our merchandize, would bring out the 
 store of the cure's crowns, some brilliant of the purest water, nay, 
 even the chalice or paten, in case the bargain should not be to her 
 liking. My calculation was not verified ; the cooper's wife was in 
 no haste to make a bargain, and her coquetry did not get the 
 better of her. Madame Moiselet was the phoenix of women. I 
 admired her; and, as there was no temptation which she did not 
 resist, convinced that I should lose my time by attempting to play 
 
IN PRISON. 383 
 
 any stratagem off upon her, I resolved to try my chance with her 
 husband. 
 
 The Jew hawker was soon metamorphosed into a German 
 servant ; and under this disguise I began to ramble about the 
 vicinity of Pontoise, with a design of being apprehended. I 
 sought out the gendarmes, whilst I pretended to avoid them ; but 
 they, thinking I wished to get away from them, demanded a sight 
 of my papers. Of course I had none, and they desired me to 
 accompany them to a magistrate, who, knowing nothing of the 
 jargon in which I replied to his questions, desired to know what 
 money I had ; and a search was forthwith commenced in his pre- 
 sence. My pockets contained some money and valuables, the 
 possession of which seemed to astonish him. The magistrate, as 
 curious as a commissary, wished to know how they came into my 
 hands ; I sent him to the devil with two or three Teutonic oaths, 
 of the most polished kind ; and he, to teach me better manners 
 another time, sent me to prison. 
 
 Once more the iron bolts were drawn upon me. At the moment 
 of my arrival, the prisoners were playing in the prison-yard, and 
 the gaoler introduced me amongst them in these terms, * I bring 
 you a murderer of the parts of speech ; understand him if you 
 can.' 
 
 They immediately flocked about me, and I was accosted with 
 salutations of Landsman and Meinheer without end. During this 
 reception, I looked out for the cooper of Livry. I thought he 
 must be a sort of clownish-looking tradesman, who, joining in the 
 concert of salutes which were addressed to me, had called me 
 Landsman in that soft, silky tone which is always acquired by those 
 church rats who are wont to live on the meats of the altar. He 
 was not over fat ; but that was constitutional with him, and, his 
 leanness apart, he was glowing with health : he had a narrow 
 forehead, small brown eyes sunk in his head, an enormous 
 mouth, and although, in detailing his characteristics, some of a 
 very sinister kind might be seen, the whole had that gentle air 
 which would tempt the devil to open the gates of Paradise ; be- 
 sides, to complete the portrait, this personage was at least four or 
 five generations behindhand in costume, a circumstance which 
 in a country where the Gerontes can make reputation for honesty, 
 always establishes a presumption in favour of the individual. 
 
 I know not why I had pictured to myself that Moiselet should 
 have the refinement of roguery, which, to give itself the appear- 
 ance of honesty, and to conciliate the confidence of old men, 
 dresses itself like them. In the absence of other more character- 
 istic signs, a pair of spectacles on a prominent nose, large buttons 
 on a coat of light hue and square cut, short breeches, a three- 
 
384 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 cornered hat of the old school, and clocked stockings, would have 
 instantly attracted my attention. The air and face were cor- 
 respondent, and I had every reason to believe that I had guessed 
 correctly. I wished to assure myself. 
 
 ' Mossie, MossieY I said, addressing the prisoner, who seemed 
 to think I said Moiselet, c now, Mossie Fine Hapit ' (not knowing 
 his name, I so designated him, because his coat was the colour of 
 flesh), sacrement, ter teufle, no tongue to me ; yer Frangois, I 
 miserable, I trink vine ; faut trink for gelt, plack vine.' 
 
 I pointed to his hat, which was black ; he did not understand 
 me ; but on making a gesture that I wanted to drink, he found me 
 perfectly intelligible. All the buttons of my great coat were twenty- 
 franc pieces ; I gave him one : he asked if they had brought the 
 wine, and soon afterwards I heard a turnkey say : 
 
 ' Father Moiselet, I have taken up two bottles for you/ The 
 flesh-coloured coat was then Moiselet. I followed him into his 
 room, and we began to drink with all our might. Two other 
 bottles arrived : we only went on in couples. Moiselet, in his 
 capacity of chorister, cooper, sexton, etc., etc., was no less a sot 
 than gossip ; he got tipsy with great goodwill, and incessantly 
 spoke to me in the jargon I had assumed. 
 
 ' I like the German much,' said he ; * you can remain here, my 
 jolly Kinserlique.' And the gaoler coming in to drink with us, he 
 desired him to make me a bed beside his. 
 
 1 Are you content, Kinserlique ?' 
 
 * As content as you.' 
 
 ' Do you trink much ?' 
 
 * I trink altimes.' 
 
 ' Altimes ! a good comrade ;' and more wine was ordered in. 
 
 Matters progressed well ; after two or three hours such as these, 
 I pretended to get stupid. Moiselet, to set me to rights, gave me 
 a cup of coffee without sugar ; after coffee came glasses of water. 
 No one can conceive the care which my new friend took of me ; 
 but when drunkenness is of such a nature it is like death all 
 care is useless. Drunkenness overpowered me. I went to bed 
 and slept, at least Moiselet thought so; but I saw him many times 
 fill my glass and his own, and gulp them both down. The next 
 day, when I awoke, he paid me the balance, three francs and fifty 
 centimes, which, according to him, remained from the twenty-franc 
 piece. I was an excellent companion ; Moiselet found me so, and 
 never quitted me. I finished the twenty-franc piece with him, and 
 then produced one of forty francs, which vanished as quickly. 
 When he saw it drunk out also, he feared it was the last. 
 
 * Your button again,' said he to me, in a tone of extreme anxiety, 
 and yet very comical. 
 
I she 
 
 tfl-t ^..i * ,-v.-3 
 
 IN PKSSON. 385 
 
 I showed him another coin. ' Ah, your large button again,' he 
 shouted out, jumping for joy. 
 
 This button went the same way as all the other buttons, until at 
 length, by dint of drinking together, Moiselet understood and spoke 
 my language almost as well as I did myself, and we could then dis- 
 close our troubles to each other. Moiselet was very curious to 
 know my history, and that which I trumped up was exactly adapted 
 to inspire the confidence I wished to create. 
 
 * My master and I come to France I was tomestic master of 
 mein Austrian marechal Austrian with de gelt in family. Master 
 always roving, always gay, goint regiment at Montreau. Montreau, 
 oh, mein Gott, great, great pattle many sleep no more but in 
 death. Napoleon coom poum, poum go gannon. Prusse, 
 Austrian, Rousse, all disturb. I, too, much disturb. Go on my 
 ways with master mein, with my havresac on mein horse poor 
 teufel was I but there was gelt in it. Master mein say, " Galu^, 
 Fritz." I called Fritz in home mein. Fritz galop to Pondi there 
 halt Fritz place havresac not visible ; and if I get again to Yar- 
 many with havresac, me rich becomen, mistress mein rich, father 
 mein rich, you too rich.' 
 
 Although the narrative was not the cleverest in the world, Father 
 Moiselet swallowed it all as gospel ; he saw well that, during the 
 battle of Montereau, I had fled with my master's portmanteau, 
 and hidden it in the forest of Bondy. The confidence did not 
 astonish him, and had the effect of acquiring for me an increase 
 of his affection. This augmentation of friendship, after a con- 
 fession which exposed me as a thief, proved to me that he had an 
 accommodating conscience. I thenceforward remained convinced 
 that he knew better than any other person what had become of 
 the diamonds of M. Senard, and that it only depended on him to 
 give me full and accurate information. 
 
 One evening, after a good dinner, I was boasting to him of the 
 delicacies of the Rhine : he heaved a deep sigh, and then asked 
 me if there was good wine in that country. 
 
 ' Yes, yes,' I answered, ' goot vine and charmong girls.' 
 
 * Charming girls too 1' 
 
 * Ya, ya !' 
 
 * Landsman, shall I go with you ?* 
 
 * Ya, ya, me grat content.' 
 
 1 Ah, you content, well ! I quit France, yield the old woman 
 (he showed me by his fingers that Madame Moiselet was three- 
 and-thirty), and in your land I take little girl no more as fifteen 
 years.' 
 
 * Ya, bien, a girl no infant : a ! you is a brave lad,.' 
 
 25 
 
3 86 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Moiselet returned more than once to his project of emigration: 
 he thought seriously of it, but to emigrate liberty was requisite, and 
 they were not inclined to let us go out. I suggested to him that 
 he should escape with me on the first opportunity and when he 
 had promised me that we would not separate, not even to take a 
 last adieu of his wife, I was certain that I should soon have him 
 in my toils. This certainty was the result of very simple reasoning. 
 ' Moiselet,' said I to myself, ' will follow me to Germany : people do 
 not travel or live on air : he relies on living well there : he is old, 
 and, like King Solomon, proposes to tickle his fancy with some 
 little Abishag of Sunem. Oh, Father Moiselet has found the black 
 hen ; here he has no money, therefore his black hen is not here ; 
 but where is she ? We shall soon learn, for we are to be hence- 
 forward inseparable.' 
 
 As soon as my man had made all his reflections, and that, with 
 his head full of his castles in Germany, he had so soon resolved to 
 expatriate himself, I addressed to the king's attorney-general a 
 letter, in which, making myself known as the superior agent of the 
 Police de Surete*, I begged him to give an order that I should be 
 sent away with Moiselet, he to go to Livry, and I to Paris. 
 
 We did not wait long for the order, and the gaoler announced it 
 to us on the eve of its being put into execution ; and I had the 
 night before me to fortify Moiselet in his resolutions. He per- 
 sisted in them more strongly than ever, and acceded with rapture 
 to the proposition I made him of our effecting an escape from our 
 escort as soon as it was possible. 
 
 So anxious was he to commence his journey, that he could not 
 sleep. At daybreak, I gave him to understand that I took him for 
 a thief as well as myself. 
 
 ' Ah, ah, grip also,' said I to him, { deep, deep Frangois, you 
 not spoken, but tief all as von.' 
 
 He made me no answer ; but when, with my fingers squeezed 
 together a la Normande, he saw me make a gesture of grasping 
 something, he could not prevent himself from smiling, with that 
 bashful expression of Yes, which he had not courage to utter. The 
 hypocrite had some shame about him, the shame of a devotee. I 
 am understood. 
 
 At length the wished-for moment of departure came, which was 
 to enable us to accomplish our designs. Moiselet was ready three 
 whole hours beforehand, and to give him courage, I had not 
 neglected to push about the wine and brandy, and he did not leave 
 the prison until after having received all his sacraments. 
 
 We were tied with a very thin cord, and on our way he made 
 me a signal that there would be no difficulty in breaking it. He 
 did not think that he should then break the charm which had till 
 
THE TREASURE. 387 
 
 then preserved him. The farther we went on, the more he testified 
 that he placed his hopes of safety in me : at each minute he re- 
 iterated a prayer that I would not abandon him ; and I as often 
 replied, 'Ya, Francois, I not leave you.' At length the decisive 
 moment came, the cord was broken. I leaped a ditch, which 
 separated us from a thicket. Moiselet, who seemed young again, 
 jumped after me : one of the gendarmes alighted to follow us, but 
 to run and jump in jack-boots and with a heavy sword was diffi- 
 cult ; and whilst he made a circuit to join us, we disappeared in a 
 hollow, and were soon lost to view. 
 
 A path into which we struck led us to the wood of Vaujours. 
 There Moiselet stopped, and having looked carefully about him, 
 went towards some bushes. I saw him then stoop, plunge his arm 
 into a thick tuft, whence he took out a spade : arising quickly, he 
 went on some paces without saying a word ; and when we reached 
 a birch tree, several of the boughs of which I observed were broken, 
 he took off his hat and coat, and began to dig. He went to work 
 with so much goodwill, that his labour rapidly advanced. Sud- 
 denly he stooped down, and then escaped from him that ha ! 
 which betokens satisfaction, and which informed me, without the 
 use of a conjuror's rod, that he had found his treasure. I thought 
 the cooper would have fainted ; but recovering himself, he made 
 two or three more strokes with the spade, and the box was exposed 
 to view. I seized on the instrument of his toil, and suddenly 
 changing my language, declared in very good French, that he was 
 my prisoner. 
 
 ' No resistance,' I said, ' or I will cleave your skull in two.' 
 
 At this threat he seemed in a dream ; but when he knew that 
 he was gripped by that iron hand which has subdued the most 
 vigorous malefactors, he was convinced that it was no vision. 
 Moiselet was as quiet as a lamb. I had sworn not to leave him, 
 and kept my word. During the journey to the station of the brigade 
 of gendarmerie, where I deposited him, he frequently cried out, 
 
 4 1 am done who could have thought it ? and he had such a 
 simple look too !' 
 
 At the assizes of Versailles, Moiselet was sentenced to six 
 months' solitary confinement. 
 
 M. Senard was overpowered with joy at having recovered his 
 hundred thousand crowns' worth of diamonds. Faithful to his 
 system of abatement, he reduced the reward one-half; and still 
 there was difficulty in getting five thousand francs from him, out 
 of which I had been compelled to expend more than two thousand: 
 in fact, at one moment I really thought I should have been com- 
 pelled to bear the expenses myself. 
 
 25 a 
 
388 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The stolen looking-glasses The Turk and his odalisquesGeneral Boucher- 
 Little Saint Jean The grand uniform, and the bank notes Capture of 
 twenty-two thieves What it is to be knowing The almoner of the regi- 
 ment Surprise at the Cafe Hardi I go to the Tuileries A great lord 
 The director of the police of the Chateau Assassination of the Due de 
 Berri The robber-giant A scene of Madame de Genlis I become 
 accoucheur Baptism of the child My gossip at St. Lazare The thieves' 
 alley The dangerous doctor Old friends A dinner at Capucin The trap 
 The Bohemians An exploit at a duchess's The moral hump-backed lady 
 Fair of Versailles Disturbed rest of a milliner Love and tyranny 
 Scenes of jealousy I vanish. 
 
 A SHORT time after the difficult affair which proved so fatal to the 
 cooper, I was employed to detect the authors of a nocturnal rob- 
 bery, committed by climbing and forcible entry in the apartments 
 of the Prince de Conde, in the Palace Bourbon. Glasses of a vast 
 size had disappeared, and their abstraction was effected with so 
 much precaution, that the sleep of two Cerberi^ who supplied the 
 place of a watchman, had not been for a moment disturbed. The 
 frames in which these glasses had been were not at all injured ; 
 and I was at first tempted to believe that they had been taken out 
 by looking-glass makers or cabinet-makers ; but in Paris these 
 workmen are so numerous, that I could not pitch on any one of 
 them whom I knew with any certainty of suspicion. Yet I was 
 resolved to detect the guilty, and to effect this I commenced my 
 inquiries. 
 
 The keeper of the sculpture-gallery, near the quincaux of the 
 invalids, gave me the first information by which I was guided. 
 About three o'clock in the morning, he had seen near his door 
 several glasses, in the care of a young man, who pretended to have 
 been obliged to station them there whilst waiting for the return of 
 his porters, who had broken their hand-barrow. Two hours after- 
 wards, the young man, having found two messengers, had made 
 them carry off the glasses, and had directed them to the side of the 
 fountain of the invalids. According to the keeper, the person h<- 
 saw was about twenty-three years of age, and about five feet an; 
 an inch (French measure). He was clothed in an iron-grey grer 
 coat, and had a very good countenance This information w;v 
 not immediately useful to me, but it led me to find the messengei 
 who, the day after the robbery, had carried some glasses of large 
 size to the Rue Saint-Dominique, and left them at the little Hotel 
 Caraman. These were, in all probability, the glasses stolen, and 
 if they were, who could say that they had not changed domicile 
 and owner ? I had the person who had received them pointed 
 out to me, and determined on introducing myself to her ; and that 
 my presence might not inspire her with fear, it was in the guise of 
 
THE LOOKING-GLASS SETTER. 389 
 
 a cook that I introduced myself to her notice. The light jacket 
 and cotton nightcap are the ensigns of the profession ; I clothed 
 myself in such attire, and fully entering into the spirit of my 
 character, went to the little Hotel de Caraman, where I ascended 
 to the first floor. The door was closed : I knocked, and it was 
 opened to me by a very good-looking young fellow, who asked me 
 what I wanted. I gave him an address, and told him that having 
 learnt that he was in want of a cook, I had taken the liberty of 
 offering my services to him. 
 
 * My dear fellow, you are under a mistake,' he replied, ' the 
 address you have given me is not mine, but as there are two Rues 
 Saint-Dominique, it is most probably to the other that you should 
 
 go-' 
 
 All Ganymedes have not been carried off to Olympus, and the 
 handsome youth who spoke to me had manners, gestures, and 
 language, which, united to his appearance, convinced me in an 
 instant with whom my business lay. I instantly assumed the tone 
 of an initiate in the mysteries of the ultra-philanthropists, and 
 after some signs which he perfectly understood, I told him how 
 very sorry I was that he did not want me. 
 
 * Ah, sir/ I said to him, * I would rather remain with you, even 
 if you only gave me half what I should get elsewhere ; if you 
 only knew how miserable I am ; I have been six months out of 
 place, and I do not get a dinner every day. Would you believe 
 that thirty-six hours have elapsed, and I have not taken anything ?' 
 
 ' You pain me, my good fellow ; what, are you still fasting ? 
 Come, come, you shall dine here.' 
 
 I had really an appetite capable of giving the lie I had just 
 uttered all the semblance of truth ; a two-pound loaf, half a fowl, 
 cheese, and a bottle of wine, which he produced, did not make 
 long sojourn on the table. Once filled, I began again to talk of 
 my unfortunate condition. 
 
 * See, sir/ said I, ' if it be possible to be in a more pitiable situa- 
 tion. I know four trades, and out of the whole four cannot get 
 
 mploy in one, tailor, hatter, cook ; I know a little of all, and yet 
 cannot get on. My first start was as a looking-glass setter.' 
 
 ' A looking-glass setter !' said he abruptly ; and without giving 
 him time to reflect on the imprudence of such an exclamation, I 
 went on : 
 
 ' Yes, a looking-glass setter, and I know that trade the best of 
 the four ; but business is so dead, that there is really nothing now 
 stirring in it' 
 
 * Here, my friend,' said the young man, presenting to me a small 
 glass, ' this is brandy, it will do you good ; you know not how 
 much you interest me ; I can give you work for several days.' 
 
390 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 * Ah ! sir, you are too good, you restore me to life ; how, if you 
 please, do you intend to employ me ?' 
 
 ' As a looking-glass framer.' 
 
 * If you have glasses to fit, pier, Psyche, light of day, joy of 
 Narcissus, or any others, you have only to intrust me with them, 
 and I will give you a cast of my craft.' 
 
 ' I have glasses of great beauty ; they were at my country house, 
 whence I sent for them, lest the gentlemen Cossacks should take 
 a fancy to break them.' 
 
 ' You did quite right ; but may I see them ? 
 
 4 Yes, my friend.' 
 
 He took me into a room, and at the first glance I recognised 
 the glasses of the Palais Bourbon. I was ecstatic in their praise, 
 their size, etc. ; and after having examined them with the minute 
 attention of a man who understands what he is about, I praised 
 the skill of the workman who unframed them, without injury to 
 the silvering. 
 
 ' The workman, my friend,' said he, * the workman was myself ; 
 I would not allow any other person to touch them, not even to load 
 them in the carriage.' 
 
 * Ah ! sir, I am very sorry to give you the lie, but what you tell 
 me is impossible ; a man must have been a workman to undertake 
 such work, and even the best he of the craft might not have suc- 
 ceeded.' 
 
 In spite of my observation, he persisted in asserting that he had 
 no help, and as it would not have answered my purpose to have 
 contradicted him, I dropped the subject. 
 
 A lie was an accusation at which he might have been angry, but 
 he did not speak with less amenity, and after having given me his 
 instructions, desired me to come early next day, and begin my 
 work as early as possible. 
 
 ' Do not forget to bring your diamond, as I wish you to remove 
 those arches, which are no longer fashionable.' 
 
 He had no more to say to me, and I had no more to learn. I 
 left him, and went to join my two agents, to whom I gave the de- 
 scription of the person, and desired them to follow him if he 
 should go out. A warrant was necessary to effect his apprehen- 
 sion, which I procured, and soon afterwards, having changed my 
 dress, I returned with the commissary of police, and my agents to 
 the house of the amateur of glasses, who did not expect me so 
 soon. He did not know me at first, and it was only at the termi- 
 nation of our search, that, examining me more closely, he said to 
 me : 
 
 ' I think I recognise you ; are you not a cook ?' 
 
MARECHAL BOUCHER. 391 
 
 t Yes, sir,' I replied ; ' I am cook, tailor, hatter, looking-glass 
 setter, and, moreover, a spy,-at your service.' 
 
 My coolness so much disconcerted him, that he could not utter 
 another word. 
 
 This gentleman was named Alexandre Paruitte. Besides the 
 two glasses, and two chimeras in gilt bronze, which he had stolen 
 from the Palais Bourbon, many other articles were found in his 
 apartments, the produce of various robberies. The inspectors 
 who had accompanied me in this expedition undertook to conduct 
 Paruitte to the depot, but, on the way, were careless enough to 
 allow him to escape, nor was it until ten days afterwards that I 
 contrived to get sight of him, at the gate of the ambassador of 
 his highness the Sultan Mahmoud, and I apprehended him at the 
 moment he got into the carriage of a Turk, who apparently had 
 sold his odalisques. 
 
 I am still at a loss to explain how, in spite of obstacles, which 
 the most expert robbers judged insurmountable, Paruitte 
 effected the robbery which twice compelled me to see him. He 
 was steadfast in his assertion of having no companions, for on his 
 trial, when sentenced to irons and imprisonment, no indication, 
 not even the slightest, could be elicited, encouraging the idea that 
 he had any participators. 
 
 About the time when Paruitte carried off the glasses from the 
 Palais Bourbon, some thieves effected an entrance in the Rue de 
 Richelieu, No. 17, in the Hotel de Valois, when they carried off 
 considerable property, belonging to Marechal Boucher, valued at 
 thirty thousand francs. All was fish that came to the net, from the 
 plain cotton handkerchief to the glittering uniform of the general. 
 These gentlemen, accustomed to clear off all before them, had 
 even carried off the linen intended for the laundress. This system, 
 which has its rise in a desire not to leave a fraction of anything to 
 the person robbed, is very dangerous for the thieves, for it com- 
 pels them to make minute researches, and occasions delays which 
 sometimes terminate most unpropitiously. But on this occasion 
 they had worked with perfect security ; the presence of the general 
 in his apartment had been a guarantee that they would not be 
 troubled in their enterprise, and they had emptied the wardrobes 
 and trunks with the same security as a broker who is making an 
 inventory after a death. How, I shall be asked, could the general 
 be present ? Alas ! he was but when one plays an active part at 
 a good dinner, can the result be doubted ! Without hatred, with- 
 out fear, without suspicion, we pass gaily from Beaune to Cham- 
 bertin, from Chambertin to Clos-Vougeot, from Clos-Vougeot to 
 Romance; then, after having thus overrun all the wines of Bur- 
 gundy and discussing their various^ merits, we come to champagne 
 
392 MEMOIRS OF VIDOC& 
 
 and the flatulent At, and but too happy is that guest who, full of 
 the joys of the delicious pilgrimage, does not get so far muddled 
 as to be unable to find his way home. The general, after a 
 banquet of this kind, had still preserved his reasoning powers 
 entire, at least I think so, but had returned excessively sleepy ; 
 and as in that state one is more anxious to tumble into bed than 
 to close a window, he had left his open for the convenience of 
 comers and goers. What imprudence ! I know not if he had 
 agreeable dreams, but I remember, that in his statement of the 
 transaction, he deposed that he had awakened from his sleep like 
 a little St. John. 
 
 I was very desirous of detecting the insolents who had perpe- 
 trated a robbery attended with circumstances so aggravating. In 
 the absence of all indications by which I might endeavour to trace 
 a path for myself, I allowed myself to be led by that inspiration 
 which has so seldom deceived me. The idea suddenly struck me, 
 that the thieves who had introduced themselves at the general's 
 might belong to the gang of one Perrin, a blacksmith, who had 
 long been pointed out to me as a most audacious fence. I began 
 by surveying the approaches to Perrin's domicile, which was in the 
 Rue de la Sonnerie, No. i ; but after several days' watching, 
 nothing occurred to guide me, and I felt convinced that to arrive 
 at any satisfactory result I must have recourse to a stratagem. 
 
 I could not go direct to Perrin, as he knew me, but I instructed 
 one of my agents, who would not be suspected. He went to see 
 him, and they conversed on various topics ; at length touching on 
 robberies, 
 
 T faith,' said Perrin, 'no bold hits are now made.' 
 
 ' What do you mean ?' replied the agent. ' I think those who 
 were at the general's, in the Hotel de Valois, have no cause for 
 complaint ; when I learn that in his full-dress uniform there was 
 concealed a sum of twenty-five thousand francs in bank-notes.' 
 
 Perrin had so much cupidity and avarice, that if he had been 
 possessor of the dress, this lie, which revealed to him riches of 
 which he had not dreamt, would necessarily make an impression 
 of joy, which he would be unable to dissemble ; if the uniform had 
 passed into other hands, and he had already disposed of it, a con- 
 trary feeling would betray itself. I had foreseen the alternative. 
 Perrin's eyes did not sparkle, no smile was seen upon his lips : in 
 vain did he seek to disguise his trouble, the feeling of his loss so 
 sorely smote him that he began to dash the floor with his foot, and 
 tear his hair most furiously : c Ah, mon Dieu, mon Dieu !' he 
 cried, ' these events always befall me, must I be for ever wretched ?* 
 
 ' Well, what do you mean ? Did you buy it ?' 
 
 'Yes, yes, I bought it, as you ask me, but I sold it again.' 
 
A CLEVER DETECTION. 393 
 
 * Do you know to whom f 
 
 ' Certainly I do : to a man in the Rue Feydeau, that he might 
 burn the lace.' 
 
 ' Oh, do not despair ; there is a remedy still left, if the melter be 
 an honest man.' 
 
 Perrin gave a jump. * Twenty-five thousand francs burnt ! 
 Twenty-five thousand francs ! That is not picked up every day ; 
 why was I in such haste about it?' 
 
 ' Well, if I were you, I should try to get back the embroidery 
 before it is put in the melting-pot. If you like, I will go to the 
 melter, and tell him that, having had a good offer for it from one 
 of the theatres, you are desirous of buying it back again. I will 
 offer him a premium, and probably he will not make any difficulty 
 about it.' 
 
 Perrin thought the plan admirable, accepted the proposition 
 eagerness, and the agent, desirous of rendering him a service, 
 ran to give me an account of what had passed. Then, taking 
 search-warrants, I made a descent upon the melter. The em- 
 broidery was untouched ; I gave them to the agent to convey to 
 Perrin, and at the instant when he, impatient to seize on the notes, 
 gave the first cut with his scissors to release the presumed treasure, 
 I appeared with the commissary. We found at Perrin's evidences 
 of the illicit trade which he carried on ; an abundance of stolen 
 property was found in his stores. Conducted to the depot, he 
 was examined ; but, at first, only gave very vague replies, whence 
 no intelligence could be collected. 
 
 After his imprisonment in La Force, I went to see him, and ask 
 him for information, but could only get from him some few indi- 
 cations ; he knew not, he asserted, the names of the persons who 
 constantly dealt with him. However, the little he told me aided 
 me in forming suspicions. I had a considerable number of sus- 
 picious characters marched out before him, and, on his detection 
 of them, they were put on their trials. Twenty-two were sentenced 
 to irons, and amongst them was one of the authors of the robbery 
 on General Boucher. Perrin was tried and convicted of receiving 
 the stolen booty, but in consequence of the utility of the informa- 
 tion he had given, only the minimum of punishment was pro- 
 nounced against him. 
 
 A short 'time afterwards, two other fences, the brothers Perrot, 
 in the hopes of clemency from the judge, followed the example of 
 Perrin, not only in making confessions, but deciding several other 
 prisoners or pointing out their accomplices. From their state- 
 ments I brought into the power of justice two famous robbers, 
 named Valentin and Rigaudi, alias Grindesi. 
 
 Never, perhaps, were there so many of those gentry, who unite 
 
394 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 the professions of thief and chevalier ^Industrie, as in the yeai of 
 the first restoration. One of the most skilful and most enterprising 
 was Winter de Sarre-Louis. 
 
 Winter was only twenty-six, and was one of those handsome 
 brown fellows, whose arched eye-brows, long lashes, prominent 
 nose, and rakish air, have such charms for a certain class of 
 females. Winter had, moreover, that good carriage, and peculiar 
 look, which belong to an officer of light cavalry, and he therefore 
 assumed a military costume, which best displayed the graces of his 
 person. One day he was an hussar, the next a lancer, and then 
 again in some fancy uniform. At will he was chief of a squadron, 
 commandant, aide-de-camp, colonel, etc. ; and to command more 
 consideration, he did not fail to give himself a respectable parent- 
 age ; he was by turns the son of the valiant Lasalle, of the gallant 
 Winter, colonel of the grenadiers of the imperial horse-guard; 
 nephew of the general Comte de Lagrange, and cousin-german to 
 Rapp ; in fact, there was no name which he did not borrow, no 
 illustrious family to which he did not belong. Born of parents in 
 a decent situation of life, Winter had received an education suffi- 
 ciently brilliant to enable him to aspire to all these metamorphoses; 
 the elegance of his manner, and a most gentlemanly appearance, 
 completed the illusion. 
 
 Few men had made a better debut than Winter. Thrown early 
 into the career of arms, he obtained very rapid promotion ; but 
 when an officer he soon lost the esteem of his superiors ; who, to 
 punish his misconduct, sent him to the Isle of Re", to one of the 
 colonial battalions. There he so conducted himself as to inspire 
 a belief that he had entirely reformed. But no sooner was he 
 raised a step, than, committing some fresh peccadillo, he was com- 
 pelled to desert in order to avoid punishment He came thence 
 to Paris, where his exploits as swindler and pickpocket procured 
 him the unenviable distinction of being pointed out to the police 
 as one of the most skilful in his twofold profession. 
 
 Winter, who was what is termed a downy cove, plucked a multi- 
 tude of pigeons even in the most elevated classes of society. He 
 visited princes, dukes, the sons of ancient senators, and it was on 
 them or the ladies of their circle that he made the experiments 
 of his mis-applied talents. The females, particularly, however 
 squeamish they were, were never sufficiently so to prevent them- 
 selves from being plundered by him. For several months the 
 police were on the lookout for this seducing young man, who, 
 changing his dress and abode incessantly, escaped from their clutch 
 at the moment when they thought they had him securely, when I 
 received orders to commence the chase after him, to attempt his 
 capture. 
 
WINTER. 395 
 
 Winter was one of those Lovelaces who never deceive a woman 
 without robbing her. I thought that amongst his victims I could 
 find at least one who, from a spirit of revenge, would be disposed 
 to put me on the scent of this monster. By dint of searching, I 
 thought I had met with a willing auxiliary, but as these Ariadnes, 
 however ill-used or forsaken they may be, yet shrink from the im- 
 molation of their betrayer, I determined to accost the damsel I 
 met with cautiously. It was necessary, before I ventured my bark, 
 to take soundings, and I took care not to manifest any hostility to- 
 wards Winter, and not to alarm that residue of tenderness which, 
 despite ill-usage, always remain in a sensitive heart. I made my 
 appearance in the character of almoner of the regiment which he 
 was thought to command, and as such introduced to the ci-devant 
 mistress of the pretended colonel. The costume, the language, 
 the manner I assumed were in perfect unison with the character I 
 was about to play, and I obtained to my wish the confidence of 
 the fair forsaken one, who gave me unwittingly all the information 
 I required. She pointed out to me her favoured rival, who, already 
 ill-treated by Winter, had still the weakness to see him, and could 
 not forbear making fresh sacrifices for him. 
 
 I became acquainted with this charming lady, and to obtain 
 favour in her eyes, announced myself as a friend of her lover's 
 family. The relatives of the young giddy pate had empowered 
 me to pay his debts ; and if she could contrive an interview with 
 him for me, she might rely on being satisfied with the result of the 
 first. Madame *** was not sorry to have an opportunity of re- 
 pairing the dilapidations made on her property, and one morning 
 she sent me a note, stating that she was going to dine with her 
 lover the next day at the Boulevard du Temple, at La Galiote. 
 At four o'clock T went, disguised as a messenger, and stationed 
 myself at the door of the restaurant ; and after two hours' watch, 
 I saw a colonel of hussars approach. It was Winter, attended by 
 two servants. I went up to him, and offered to take care of the 
 horses, which proffer was accepted. Winter alighted, he could not 
 escape me, but his eyes met mine, and with one jump he flung 
 himself on his horse, spurred him, and disappeared. 
 
 I thought I had him, and my disappointment was great ; but I 
 did not despair of catching my gentleman. Sometime afterwards 
 I learnt that he was to be at the Cafe' Hardi, in the Boulevard des 
 Italiens. I went thither with some of my agents, and when he 
 arrived all was so well arranged, that he had only to get into a 
 hackney-coach, of which I paid the fare. Led before a commis- 
 sary of police, he asserted that he was not Winter ; but, despite 
 the insignia of the rank he had conferred on himself, and the long 
 string of orders hanging on his breast, he was properly and officially 
 
396 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 identified as the individual mentioned in the warrant which I had 
 for his apprehension. 
 
 Winter was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, and would 
 now be at liberty but for a forgery which he committed while at 
 Bicetre, which bringing on him a fresh sentence of eight years at 
 the galleys, he was conducted to the Bagne at the expiration of 
 his original sentence, and is there at present. 
 
 This adventurer does not want wit : he is, I am told, the author 
 of a great many songs, much in fashion with the galley-slaves, who 
 consider him as their Anacreon. I append one of his produc- 
 tions : 
 
 ' Happy the days vhen I vorked avay, 
 
 In my usual line in the prigging lay ; 
 
 Making from this and that and t'other, 
 
 A tidy living without no bother. 
 
 When my little crib vas stored vith swag, 
 
 And my cly (a) vas a veil-lined money-bag. 
 
 Jolly vas I, for I feared no evil, 
 
 Funked (b) at nought, and pitched care to the deviL 
 
 I had, besides my blunt, my blowen, 
 
 ' So gay, so nutty (c), and so knowing ;' 
 
 On the wery best of grub (d) we lived, 
 
 And sixpence a quartern for gin I gived : 
 
 My toggs (e) was the sporting'st blunt could buy, 
 
 And a slap up out-and-outer was I. 
 
 Vith my mot on my arm, and my tile on my head, 
 
 That ere's a gemman every von said. 
 
 A-coming avay from Wauxhall von night, 
 I cleared out a muzzy covey (/) quite ; 
 He'd been a-strutting avay like a king, 
 And on his digit (g) he sported a ring, 
 
 A di'mond sparkle, flash, and knowing. 
 Thinks I, I'll vatch the vay he's going, 
 And fleece my gemman neat and clever, 
 Or, at least, I'll try my best endeavour. 
 
 " A'ter the singing and firevorks vas ended, 
 I follows my gemman the vay he bended ; 
 In a dark corner I trips up his heels, 
 Then for his tattler and reader I feels ; 
 I pouches his blunt, and I draws his ring, 
 Prigged his buckles and everything, 
 And saying, " I thinks as you can't follow, man,* 
 I pikes me off to Ikey Solomon (h). 
 
 Then it happened d'ye see that my mot, 
 Yellow (*") a-bit 'bout the swag I'd got, 
 Thinking that I should jeer and laugh, 
 Although I never tips no chaff (/), 
 
 (a) Pocket. (b) Feared. (c) Fond. (d) Victuals. 
 
 (t) Clothes. (/) Half-tipsy gentleman. (g) Finger. 
 
 (h) A celebrated fence or receiver of stolen goods. 
 (0 Jealous. (J) Humbug. 
 
THE TUILER1ES. 397 
 
 Tries her hand at the downy trick, 
 And prigs in a shop, but precious quick 
 " Stop thief!" vas the cry, and she vas taken | 
 I cuts and runs and saves my bacon. 
 Then says he, says Sir Richard Birnie, 
 " I ad wise you to nose on your pals (), and turn the 
 Snitch (/) on the gang, that'll be the best vay 
 To save your scrag (m)." Then, without delay, 
 He so prewailed on the treach'rous varmint (), 
 That she vas noodled by the Bow Street sarmint (o). 
 Then the beaks they grabbed me and to prison I vas dragg'd, 
 And for fourteen years of my life I vas lagg'd (p). 
 * My mot must now be growing old, 
 And so am I, if the truth be told ; 
 But the only vay to get on in the vorld, 
 Is to go with the stream and however vc're twirled, 
 To bear all rubs : and ven ve suffer 
 To hope for the smooth ven ve feels the rougher, 
 Though very hard, I confess, it appears, 
 To be lagged, for a lark (y), for fourteen years.' 
 
 Winter, when I apprehended him, had many associates in Paris, 
 and the Tuileries was the notorious place where the most daring 
 and celebrated thieves assembled, who recommended themselves 
 to public veneration by impudently bedecking themselves with all 
 the crosses of the orders of knighthood. In the eyes of an observer 
 who can discern accurately, the Chateau was then less a royal resi- 
 dence than a haunt infested by these thieves. There congregated 
 a crowd of galley-slaves, pickpockets, and swindlers of every class, 
 who presented themselves as the old companions-in-arms of Char- 
 ette, La Roche-Jacquelin, Stoflet, Cadoudal, etc. The days of 
 review and court assemblies witnessed the gathering of these pre- 
 tended heroes. In my office of superior agent of police, I judged 
 it my duty to keep a strict lookout after these royalists of circum- 
 stances. I stationed myself in their way, either in or out of the 
 apartments, and was soon fortunate enough to restore several of 
 them to the Bagne. 
 
 One Sunday, accompanied by one of my auxiliaries, I was on 
 the watch on the Place du Carousel ; we saw, going out from the 
 Pavilion de Flore, a person whose costume, not less rich than 
 elegant, attracted the attention of every person. This personage 
 must be a great lord ; had he not been covered with orders, he 
 would have been recognised by the delicacy of his embroidery, 
 the grace of his feather, the sparkling knot of his sword ; but in 
 the eyes of a police officer all is not gold that glitters. The agent 
 with me, in drawing my attention to this splendid signer, observed 
 that there was a striking likeness between him and one Chambreuil, 
 
 (fc) Impeach your accomplices. (/) Confess. (ni) Neck. 
 
 (n) S!anff ce for vermin. (0} Sermon. (/) Transported. (y) Bit of fun. 
 
393 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 with whom he had been at the Bagne at Toulon. I had seen 
 Chambreuil, and I went to station myself so as to see this person 
 face to face ; and, in spite of the dress a la Fran$aise, the breeches 
 d V Angleterre, the laced neckerchief and ruffles, I instantly recog- 
 nised the ex-galley-slave ; it was, in fact, Chambreuil, a notorious 
 forger, who had obtained much celebrity by his escapes from the 
 galleys. His first sentence was about the period of the successful 
 campaigns in Italy. At this time he followed the army, that he 
 might the more easily imitate the signatures of the purveyors. He 
 had a decided talent for this kind of imitation ; but having been 
 too prodigal of his abilities in this way, he had ended by procuring 
 for himself three years' imprisonment. Three years soon pass 
 away. Chambreuil could not, however, reconcile himself to his 
 prison j he escaped, and fled to Paris, where he put into circula- 
 tion a vast many notes of his own fabrication. This industry was 
 converted into a crime ; and, again placed on his trial, he was 
 found guilty, and sent to Brest, where, by virtue of his sentence, 
 he should have passed eight years. Chambreuil again escaped; 
 but as forgery was his constant resource, he was apprehended a 
 third time, and appended to the chain, which was sent to Toulon. 
 Scarcely had he arrived there, when he again endeavoured to elude 
 the vigilance of his keepers ; but apprehended and sent back to 
 the Bagne, he was placed in the too celebrated room, No. 3, where 
 he passed his time, increased by three years. During this deten- 
 tion, he endeavoured to amuse himself by dividing his leisure 
 between denouncement and swindling, which was no less to his 
 taste than his other pursuit. His choice, however, was forged 
 letters, which, on his leaving the Bagne, brought him two years' 
 imprisonment in the prison of Embrun. Chambreuil had just 
 arrived there, when S. A. R. le Due d'Angouleme passing through 
 this city, he caused a petition to be presented to this prince, in 
 which he stated that he was an old Vendean, a devoted servant, 
 whose royalism had drawn down persecution upon him. Cham- 
 breuil was immediately set at liberty, and soon afterwards began 
 to use his freedom as heretofore. When we recognised him, it 
 was easy to judge by the figure he cut, that he was in a good vein 
 of fortune. We followed him an instant, to convince ourselves 
 that it was indeed he ; and as soon as all doubt was removed, I 
 accosted him, declaring that he was my prisoner. Chambreuil 
 thought then to impose upon me, by spitting in my face a tre- 
 mendous series of qualities and titles which he asserted belonged 
 to him. He was nothing less than director of the police of the 
 Chateau, and chief of the royal stud of France ; whilst I was an 
 insolent scoundrel, whom he was to punish instantly. In spite of 
 threats, I persisted in making him get into a hackney-coach ; and 
 
CHAMBREUIL. 399 
 
 as he made some difficulty about it, we compelled him by main 
 force. In presence of M. Henry, M. le Director of the Police of 
 the Chateau was not at all disconcerted ; on the contrary, he as- 
 sumed a tone of arrogant superiority, which actually alarmed the 
 chief of the prefecture. They all thought that I had committed 
 a blunder. 
 
 1 1 will never put up with such an audacious insult,' cried Cham- 
 breuil ; ' it is an outrage for which I will have ample reparation. I 
 will let you know who I am, and we will see if you will dare to use 
 towards me those arbitrary measures, which even the minister would 
 not venture to employ.' 
 
 I actually thought the moment had arrived when they would 
 apologise to him, and reprimand me. They did not doubt but 
 that Chambreuil was an old galley-slave, but they were afraid they 
 had offended in him some powerful man, on whom court favours 
 were lavished. However, I asserted, with so much energy, that 
 he was only an impostor, that they could not avoid giving a warrant 
 to search his residence. I was to assist the commissary in this 
 operation, at which Chambreuil was to be present ; and on the 
 road he whispered to me : 
 
 * My dear Vidocq, there are in my secretary some papers, which 
 it is important to me to keep from inspection ; promise me that 
 you will get them, and you shall have no cause to repent it' 
 
 * I promise you.' 
 
 1 You will find them under a double lock, of which I will tell 
 you the secret.' 
 
 He told me how I was to proceed ; and I found the papers in 
 the place he had pointed out, which I kept to add to those which 
 confirmed the propriety of his apprehension. Never had a forger 
 so carefully arranged the materials of his swindling. There were 
 found at his house a quantity of printed papers, some with this in- 
 scription, Haras de France, others with the Police du Roi ; sheets 
 d la Telltire bearing the titles of the minister of war, statements of 
 services, brevets, diplomas, and a register of correspondence, always 
 open as if by accident, that any looker-in might the more easily be 
 deceived were among the documents, proving the high functions 
 which Chambreuil took upon himself. He was supposed to be on 
 terms of intimacy with the most distinguished personages; princes 
 and princesses wrote to him : their letters and his were transcribed 
 beside each other, and what appears very strange is, that he was 
 in correspondence with the prefet of police, whose reply was to be 
 found in his lying register, on the margin of one of his missives. 
 The light afforded by the search so well corroborated my assertions 
 respecting Chambreuil, that they did not hesitate sending him to 
 La Force, there to await his trial Before the tribunal it was im- 
 
400 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 possible to induce him to confess that he was a galley-slave, which 
 I persisted in calling him. He produced, on the contrary, authentic 
 certificates, which stated that he had not left La Vendee since the 
 year 2. The judges were for a time in doubt how to decide be- 
 tween him and me, but I added so many and such powerful proofs 
 in support of my assertions, that, his identity being recognised, he 
 was sentenced to hard labour for life, and imprisoned in the Bagne 
 of L'Orient, where he was not slow in resuming his old profession 
 of denouncer. At the period of the assassination of the Due de 
 Berri, in concert with one Gerard Carette, he wrote to the police 
 that he had information to give respecting this fearful transaction. 
 Chambreuil was known, and not credited ; but some persons, 
 absurd enough to believe that Louvel had accomplices, demanded 
 that Carette should be brought to Paris. This was complied with, 
 and Carette came; but nothing was elicited from him which threw 
 any additional light on the subject. 
 
 The year 1814 was one of the most remarkable of my life, 
 principally on account of the important captures which followed 
 one another. Some of them gave rise to most whimsical incidents, 
 and as I am in a vein I will relate one or two. During a period of 
 three years, a man of almost gigantic stature had been pointed out 
 as the author of a vast many robberies committed in Paris. By 
 the portraits which the sufferers drew of this individual, he could 
 be no other than Sablin, an excessively skilful and enterprising 
 thief, who, freed from many successive sentences (two of which 
 were in fetters), had resumed his old trade with all the experience 
 of the prisons. Many warrants were issued against Sablin, and the 
 cleverest agents of police set upon him, but in vain ; he escaped 
 all pursuit, and if they had notice that he had appeared in any spot, 
 by the time they arrived no trace of him remained. All the police 
 officers being wearied by the useless pursuit of this invisible person, 
 the task devolved on me to seek out and secure him, if possible. 
 For fifteen months I neglected no opportunity of endeavouring to 
 meet him, but he never made his appearance in Paris for more 
 than a few hours at a time, and as soon as the robbery was effected, 
 he was away again without our being able in any way to trace him. 
 
 Sablin was in a manner known only to me, and I, therefore, was 
 the person whom he most feared to meet. As he could see me 
 afar off, he took good care to keep out of my way, and I never 
 once got sight even of his shadow. However, as lack of perse- 
 verance is not my fault, I at length learnt that Sablin had just taken 
 up his residence at Saint Cloud, where he had hired an apartment. 
 At this news, I set out from Paris so as not to reach there until 
 nightfall. It was in the month of November, and the weather very 
 .bad. WJsgn 1 entered Saint Clopd, all my clothes were wringing 
 
ARREST OF SABLIN. 401 
 
 wet : I did not take the trouble of drying them, and in my impa- 
 tience to learn if I had been put on a false scent, I obtained, on 
 talking about new-comers, some news, which was that a female, 
 whose husband, a foreign merchant, was five feet ten inches (French 
 measure), had recently occupied a certain house pointed out to me. 
 Five feet ten inches (French) is not a common height even for 
 Patagonians ; and I no longer doubted but that I had at last found 
 the actual domicile of Sablin. But as it was too late to present 
 myself, I deferred my visit until the next day ; and that I might be 
 certain that my man did not escape me, I resolved, in spite of the 
 rain, to pass the night before his house. I was in ambuscade with 
 one of my agents, and at break of day, the door being opened, I 
 glided quickly into the house that I might take a survey, and see 
 if it were time to commence work. Scarcely had I put a foot on 
 the first stair, when I paused some one was descending. It was 
 a woman, whose features and painful step betokened a state of 
 suffering. On seeing me, she shrieked and went back again : I 
 followed, and entering with her into an apartment of which she 
 had the key, heard myself announced in these words, pronounced 
 in accents of horror, ' Here is Vidocq !' The bed was in an inner 
 room, towards which I darted. A man was in bed he raised his 
 head 'twas Sablin ; I flung myself upon him, and before he could 
 recognise me I had handcuffed him. During this operation, the 
 lady, having fallen into a chair, groaned very bitterly ; she writhed, 
 and appeared tormented by horrid pains. 
 
 ' What is the matter with your wife ?' I inquired of Sablin. 
 
 * Do you not see that she is in labour ? All night she has been 
 in the same state. When you met her, she was going out to 
 Mother Tiremonde's ' (the midwife). 
 
 At that moment the groans redoubled. 
 
 * My God ! my God ! I can move no longer, I am dying ; pray 
 have pity on me : relieve my sufferings ! give me help !' 
 
 Soon only half-choked sounds were heard. Not to be touched 
 at such a situation would have evinced a heart of marble. But 
 what could I do ? It was evident that a midwife was needed, but 
 who was to go in search of her? Two were not too many to 
 guard a fellow of Sablin's strength. I could not go out, nor could 
 I determine on leaving a woman to die ; and between humanity 
 and duty, I was the most embarrassed man in the world. Sud 
 denly an historical anecdote, well told by Madame de Genlis, 
 occurred to me : I recalled to mind the * Grand Monarque ' per- 
 forming the office of accoucheur to Lavalliere. ' Why,' said I, 
 * should I be more delicate than he ? Come, quick, a doctor : I 
 am one.' I immediately took off my coat, and in less than twenty- 
 
 26 
 
402 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 five minutes Madame Sablin was delivered : it was a boy, a fine 
 boy, to which she gave birth. I swaddled the infant, after having 
 made this toilet of his first ingress or first egress, for I believe that 
 in this instance the two expressions are synonymous ; and when 
 the ceremony was over, on looking at my work, I had the satis- 
 faction to find that both mother and child were doing ' as well as 
 could be expected.' 
 
 Then I had to fulfil a form, the entry of the little new-comer 
 on the register of the civil magistrates ; we were all anxious : I 
 offered to be subscribing witness ; and when I had signed, Madame 
 Sablin said to me : 
 
 ' Ah ! Monsieur Vidocq, since you are here, there is another 
 service you could render us.' 
 
 * What ?' ' I dare scarcely name it* 
 
 * Speak, if it be in my power ' 
 
 * We have no godfather would you be kind enough to stand for 
 the boy ?' 
 
 1 Certainly, as well as another ; where is the godmother ?' 
 
 Madame Sablin begged us to call in one of her neighbours; and 
 as soon as all was in readiness, we went to church, accompanied by 
 Sablin, whose escape I had rendered impossible. The honours of 
 this sponsorship did not cost me less than fifty francs, and yet there 
 was no christening feast. 
 
 In spite of the vexation which Sablin necessarily experienced, he 
 was so deeply penetrated by my proceedings, that he could not 
 forbear testifying his gratitude. 
 
 After a good breakfast, which was brought to us in the chamber 
 of the lying-in lady, I conducted her husband to Paris, where he 
 was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Being master-turnkey 
 at La Force, where he underwent his sentence, Sablin found in this 
 employment, not only a means of living well, but also that of saving, 
 at the expense of the prisoners and the persons who visited them, 
 a small fortune, which he proposed to share with his wife ; but at 
 the period of his liberation, my friend Madame Sablin, who also 
 had a partiality for the property of others, was expiating her crime 
 at Saint-Lazare. In the isolation consequent on the incarceration 
 of his mate, Sablin, like many others, turned to evil courses, that 
 is, having one evening in his pocket the fruits of his savings, which 
 he had turned into specie, he went to the gambling-table and lost 
 the whole. Two days afterwards, he was found suspended in the 
 wood of Boulogne ; he had selected as the instrument of his 
 death one of the trees in the Allde des Voleurs. It was not, as 
 in ay have been seen, without much trouble that I was able to 
 render Sablin up to justice. Certainly, if all my searches had been 
 of necessity as tedious and difficult, I could not have accora- 
 
THE SEB1LLOTTES. 403 
 
 plished them : but success generally attended me, and sometimes 
 was so close at hand, that I myself was amazed at it. A few days 
 after my adventure in Saint-Cloud, the Sieur Sebillotte, a vintner in 
 the Rue de Charenton, No. 145, complained of having been 
 robbed. According to his statement, the thieves had effected an 
 entrance by climbing, between seven and eight o'clock in the 
 evening ; had carried off twelve thousand francs in cash, two gold 
 watches, and six silver spoons. There had been force used ex- 
 ternally and internally. All the circumstances were so extra- 
 ordinary, that the veracity of M. Sebillotte was somewhat doubted, 
 and I was ordered to clear the affair up. A conversation I had 
 with him convinced me that his complaint comprehended only 
 plain facts. M. Sebillotte was a landlord; he was in easy cir- 
 cumstances, and out of debt; consequently, I could not detect 
 in his situation a shadow of a motive which might lead me to 
 believe that the robbery of which he complained was false ; and 
 yet it was of such a nature, that to commit it, the persons of the 
 house must have been perfectly well known to the thieves. I 
 asked M. Sebillotte what persons frequented his cabaret ; and when 
 he had mentioned some, he said : 
 
 ' That is nearly all, except chance customers, and those strangers 
 who cured my wife ; on my word, we were very lucky to have met 
 with them ! The poor thing had been suffering these three years, 
 and they have given her a remedy which has done her much good/ 
 
 * Do you often see these strangers ?' 
 
 ' They used to come here, but since my wife is better, we only 
 see them occasionally. 1 
 
 'Do you know what they are? Perhaps they may have 
 observed ' 
 
 'Ah, sir!' cried Madame Sebillotte, who joined in the con- 
 versation, ' do not suspect them, they are honest ; I have proof of 
 that/ 
 
 ' Yes, yes !' added the husband, ' she has proof, which she will 
 tell you : you will hear. Tell the gentleman, my dear.' 
 
 Then Madame Sebillotte began her recital in these terms : 
 ' Yes, sir, they are honest, or I will be burnt alive. Well, you 
 must know, it is not more than a fortnight ago, it was just a week 
 after the term, I was counting out some money, when one of the 
 females who is with them came in ; it was she who had given me 
 the remedy, from which I have had so much relief; and I must 
 tell you, she would not accept a sou for it, quite the contrary. 
 You must suppose that I was very much pleased at seeing her ; I 
 made her sit down beside me, and whilst I was laying out the 
 money in parcels of a hundred francs, she saw one on which was 
 
 26 2 
 
404 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 a large man leaning on two young ones, with a skin on his 
 shoulders like a savage, holding a club : " Ah !" said she, " have 
 you many like these ?" " Why ?" said I. " Because, you must 
 know, that is worth a hundred and four sous. As many as you 
 have, my husband will take at that price, if you will lay them aside." 
 I thought she was jesting ; but in the evening I never was more 
 surprised than to see her return with her husband. We looked 
 over the money together, and as we found amongst it three hun- 
 dred pieces of a hundred sous, like those she had pointed out, I 
 let him have them, and he gave me a premium of sixty francs. 
 You may judge after that if they are honest people or not, since 
 they might, if they had liked, have had them coin for coin.' 
 
 By the work we know the workmen. The last sentence of 
 Madame Sebillotte informed me what sort of people were those 
 honest creatures whose eulogy she made ; nor did I need more to 
 be assured that the robbery, the authors of which I sought to 
 detect, had been committed by the Bohe'miens. The matter of 
 exchange was quite in their way ; and then Madame Sebillotte, in 
 describing them, only confirmed me more and more in my precon- 
 ceived opinion. I soon left the couple, and from that moment 
 all dark complexions were looked at by me with suspicion. I was 
 thinking how and where I should be most likely to fall in with 
 some of the persons I wanted, when, passing along the Boulevard 
 du Temple, I saw, seated in a cabaret, called La Maison Rustique, 
 two persons, whose copper-hued skin and foreign look awoke in 
 my mind reminiscences of my sojourn at Malines. I entered ; 
 who should I see but Christian, with one of his pals> whom I also 
 knew. I went up to them, and presenting my hand to Christian, 
 saluted him by the name of Coroin. He looked at me for 
 a moment, and then, my features becoming known to him, * Ah/ 
 he cried, jumping on my neck with transport, c my old friend !' 
 
 So long a period had passed since we met, that, of course, after 
 the customary compliments, we had many questions to ask and 
 reply to mutually. He wanted to know why I left Malines ; and 
 without intimating my intention to him, I trumped up a story which 
 passed current. 
 
 * All right, all right/ said he ; * whether true or not, I credit it : 
 besides, I find you again, and that is the main point. Ah ! all our 
 cronies will rejoice to see you. They are all in Paris. Caron, 
 Langarin, Ruffler, Martin, Sisque, Mich, Litle ; even old Mother 
 Lavio is with us ; and Betche too, little Betche.' 
 
 * Ah, yes, your wife.' 
 
 1 How pleased she will be to see you. If you will be here at six 
 o'clock the union will be complete j we are to meet here, and to 
 
CHRISTIAN A GAIN. 405 
 
 go to the theatre together. You shall be of the patty, but we will 
 not part now. You have not dined?' 'No.' 
 
 'Nor I either; we will go to Capucin.' 
 
 ' If you like ; it is close at hand.' 
 
 * Yes, only two steps, at the corner of the Rue d'Angouleme.' 
 This vintner and cook, whose establishment bears a grotesque 
 
 image of a disciple of Saint Francis as a sign, then enjoyed the 
 favour of the public, in whose eyes quantity is always more valued 
 than quality ; and then for the holiday keepers on Sunday and. 
 Saint Monday, for those jolly fellows who carry on the war the 
 whole week, is it not very pleasant to have a place where, without 
 faring badly or offending any person, they may appear in all sorts 
 of garbs, with any growth of beard, and in every state of intoxica- 
 tion ? Such were the advantages which offered themselves at Ca- 
 pucin's, without mentioning the large snuff-box always open on the 
 citizen's counter, at the service of whosoever, in passing, wished to 
 refresh his nostrils with a pinch. It was four o'clock when we 
 installed ourselves in this spot of liberty and joy. The space was 
 long till six o'clock. I was impatient to return to the Maison 
 Rustique, where Christian's companions were to meet. After the 
 repast we rejoined them ; there were six, in accosting whom Chris- 
 tian spoke in their peculiar language. They instantly surfbunded, 
 hailed, embraced, welcomed me with acclamation; pleasure 
 sparkled in their eyes. 
 
 * No play, no play,' cried the wanderers, with unanimous voice. 
 
 ' You are right,' said Christian ; * no play ; we will go to the 
 theatre another time ; let us drink, my boys, let us drink.' 
 
 4 Let us drink !' echoed the gipsies. Wine and punch circulated 
 freely. I drank, laughed, talked, and carried on my trade. I 
 watched their countenances, motions, actions, and nothing escaped 
 me. I recalled to myself some indications furnished by Monsieur 
 and Madame Sebillotte ; and the history of the hundred sous 
 pieces, which had only been the first slight groundwork of a con- 
 jecture, became the basis of confirmed conviction. 
 
 Christian, or his mates, I could no longer doubt, were the 
 authors of the robbery announced to the police. How did I com- 
 mend the casual glance, made so apropos, at the interior of La 
 Maison Rustique ! But it was not all to have detected the guilty ; 
 I waited until their brains were properly heated by the alcoholic 
 applications ; and when the whole party was in a state when one 
 candle was enough to show two persons, I went out, and, running 
 hastily to the Theatre de la Gaite, informed the officer on duty 
 that I was with some thieves, and arranged with him that in an 
 hour or two at the latest he should apprehend us all, men and 
 women. These instructions given, I returned quickly. My ab~ 
 
406 MEMOIRS Of VWOCQ. 
 
 sence had not been remarked ; but at ten o'clock the house was 
 visited, the peace officer presented himself, and with him a for- 
 midable body of gendarmes and agents. They secured each of us 
 separately, and then conducted us to the guard-house. The com- 
 missary had preceded us ; he ordered a general search. Christian, 
 who called himself Hirch, in vain endeavoured to conceal M. 
 Sebillotte's six silver spoons ; and his companion, Madame Ville- 
 main (the title the lady gave herself), could not preserve in secret, 
 from the rigid search she underwent, the two gold watches men- 
 tioned* in the complaint. The others were also compelled to pro- 
 duce money and jewels, which were taken from them. I was 
 anxious to know the opinion of my ancient comrades on this 
 matter. I thought I read in their eyes that they did not in the 
 least distrust me ; nor was I mistaken, for scarcely had we reached 
 the violon (the watch-house), than they made me excuses for hav- 
 ing been the involuntary cause of my arrest. 
 
 ' It was not purposely done/ said Christian, * but who the devil 
 could have expected such a thing ? You were quite right to say 
 you knew nothing about us : be quiet, and we will not say a word 
 to the contrary ; and, as nothing has been found on your person to 
 put you in any danger, you may be certain they will not long detain 
 you.' 
 
 Christian then recommended discretion to me, as to his real 
 name, as well as those of his companions. 
 
 ' Although,' he added, * the recommendation is superfluous, 
 since you are not less interested than we in keeping silence on 
 this score.' 
 
 I offered to the gipsies to use the first moments of my liberty in 
 their service ; and in the hope that I should not be kept long in 
 durance, they told me their domicile, so that in getting out I might 
 inform their comrades. About midnight the commissary sent for 
 me, under pretence of examining me, and we instantly went to the 
 Marche Lenoir, where dwelt the famous Duchesse and three other 
 pals of Christian, whom we apprehended by virtue of a warrant, 
 and after a search which produced all necessary proofs for their 
 conviction. This band consisted of twelve persons, six men and 
 six women ; they were all condemned, the former to irons, the 
 latter to close confinement. The vintner of the Rue de Charenton 
 recovered his jewellery, plate, and the greater portion of his money. 
 Madame Sebillotte was overjoyed. The specific of the Bohemiens 
 had the effect of rendering her health less precarious, the informa- 
 tion of the twelve thousand francs regained perfectly restored it, 
 and doubtless the experience she had was not lost upon her she 
 remembered that, once in her life, she had nearly been a great 
 
THE LOST SPANIEL. 407 
 
 loser, by having sold five-franc pieces for a hundred and four sous. 
 * A burnt child dreads the fire.' 
 
 This meeting with the gipsies was almost miraculous ; but in 
 the course of eighteen years that I have been attached to the 
 police, it has happened more than once that I have been casually 
 Drought in contact with persons whom in my early days I had 
 known. Apropos of occurrences of this kind, I cannot resist the 
 desire of mentioning in this chapter one of the thousand absurd 
 complaints which it was my lot to receive daily ; this in particular 
 procured for me a very singular renewal of acquaintance. One 
 morning, whilst I was occupied in drawing up a report, I was told 
 that a lady of respectable appearance desired to see me; ' she wishes 
 to speak with you on an affair of importance.' I ordered that she 
 should be admitted instantly. She entered. 
 
 * I have to beg pardon for disturbing you ; you are Monsieur 
 Vidocq ?' 
 
 ' Yes, madame ; and in what can I be of service to you ?* 
 
 * Oh, you can aid me materially, sir ; you can restore to me 
 appetite and sleep. I neither rest nor eat. Ah, how wretched is 
 it to be gifted with excessive sensibility. Ah ! sir, how I pity 
 persons of our sentiment ! I swear to you that it is the most dis- 
 tressing qualification that heaven can bestow ! He was so well 
 brought up, so interesting. If you had known him you could not 
 have forborne loving him. Poor dear !' 
 
 ' But, madame, condescend to explain ; you may perhaps suffer 
 by a causeless delay, and lose precious time.' 
 
 * He was my only comfort ' 
 
 ' Well, madame, what is it ?' 
 
 * I have not power to tell you.' 
 
 She put her hand into her reticule, and thence produced a paper 
 which she gave me with averted eyes, saying : * Read, read !' 
 
 * These are printed papers you have given me ; you must have 
 made some mistake.' 
 
 * Would that I did, sir ; would to heaven that I did. I beseech 
 you to cast your eyes over the number 32,740 ; my grief forbids 
 me to utter more ! Ah ! how cruel is my fate.' (Tears fell from 
 her eyes, the word expired upon her lips, she was convulsed by 
 sobs, and could with apparent difficulty prevent them suffocating 
 her.) * I am strangled ! I am choking ! I feel something swell- 
 ing in my throat. Ah ! ah ! ah ! ah !' 
 
 I handed a seat to the lady, and whilst she abandoned herself 
 to her sorrow, I turned over two or three leaves, until I reached 
 No. 32,740, under the head of lost property ; the page was moist 
 with tears ; I read : 
 
 * A small spaniel, with long silvery silky hair, dropping ears ; he is perfectly 
 
4 o8 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, 
 
 trimmed ; a mark of fire above each eye : physiognomy excessively animated, 
 the tail trumpet-fashion, forming the bird of paradise. His natural disposi- 
 tion is very endearing ; will eat nothing but the white of a chicken, and 
 answers to the name of Garon, pronounced with mildness. His mistress is 
 in despair ; fifty francs reward will be given to whosoever will bring him to 
 the Rue de Turenne, No. 23.' 
 
 ' Well, madame ! what am I to do for Gargon ? Dogs are not 
 under my control. I see that he was a most amiable creature.' 
 
 ' Ah ! sir, amiable ! that is the exact word,' sighed the lady, in 
 accents that penetrated the very heart ; ' and his intelligence could 
 not be surpassed; he never left me. Dearest Gargon ! Would 
 you believe it, that during the holy exercises, he had a more devout 
 look than myself? In truth, he was generally admired, his ap- 
 pearance alone was a lesson to mankind. Alas ! alas ! on Sunday 
 last we were going to the sacrament; I was carrying him under my 
 arm ; you know these little creatures have perpetual wants at the 
 moment we were entering the church, I put him on the ground, 
 that he might do as he wished ; I went onwards, not to disturb 
 him, and when I returned noGarcon. I called "Gargon, Gargon!" 
 he had disappeared. I left the Benedictine to run after him ; 
 and judge of my misery I could not find him. This is the 
 business that has induced me to trouble you to-day, to entreat that 
 you would have the excessive kindness to have a search made for 
 him. I will pay all that is needful ; but take care he is not ill- 
 used. I am sure the fault has not been his.' 
 
 * Indeed, madame, whether he is in fault or not is no concern 
 of mine ; your complaint is not of that nature to which I am 
 allowed to attend ; if we were to give our time to dogs, cats, aad 
 birds, there would be endless work.' 
 
 * Well, sir ; since you take that tone I shall address his excel- 
 lency. If there is no respect shown to persons who think well 
 Do you know I belong to the congregation, and that ' 
 
 ' You may belong to the devil for me ' 
 
 I could not finish my speech : a deformity which I observed 
 suddenly in the devout mistress of Gargon, produced from me a 
 sudden fit of laughter, which entirely disconcerted her. 
 
 ' Am I an object of mirth ?' said she ; ' laugh away, sir, laugh 
 away.' 
 
 When my sudden gaiety had a little abated, I said : 
 
 * Forgive, madame, this impulse, which I could not control ; I 
 did not know at first with whom I was conversing, but now I know 
 how I should behave. Do you really deplore the loss of Gargon ?' 
 
 4 Ah ! sir, I cannot survive it.' 
 
 * You have never then experienced a loss which more sensibly 
 affected you ?' * No, sir.' 
 
MADAME DUFLOS. 409 
 
 f Yet you have had a husband in this world, you had a son, you 
 have had lovers ' 
 
 1 I, sir ! how dare you ' 
 
 'Yes, Madame Duflos, you have had lovers; you have really 
 had them. Do you remember a certain night at Versailles ?' 
 
 At these words she looked at me attentively for a moment ; the 
 colour came to her cheek. 
 
 ' Eugene !' she cried, and instantly hastened from the room. 
 
 Madame Duflos was a milliner, whose clerk I had been for some 
 time, when, to hide from the search of the police at Arras, I had 
 concealed myself in Paris. She was a droll sort of woman ; she 
 had a fine head, bold eye, good eyebrow, majestic forehead ; her 
 mouth, elevated at the corners, was large, but adorned with thirty- 
 two teeth of dazzling whiteness ; hair of a beautiful black, and 
 aquiline nose, above a tolerably well-furnished moustache, gave to 
 her physiognomy an air which would have been imposing, if her 
 bosom placed between two humps, and her neck plunged into 
 these double shoulders, had not suggested the idea of a female 
 Punch. 
 
 She was about forty when I first saw her : her appearance was 
 most studiously attended to, and she gave herself the airs of a 
 queen ; but from the height of the chair whereon she was perched, 
 so that her knees were elevated above the counter, she seemed less 
 like a Semiramis than the grotesque idol of some Indian pagoda. 
 When I saw her on this species of throne, I had much difficulty 
 to be serious ; but I preserved the gravity which circumstances 
 demanded, and had just sufficient command over myself to con- 
 vert into salutations of the most respectful kind a strong disposition 
 to do entirely otherwise. Madame Duflos took from her bosom a 
 large eye-glass, through which she viewed me, and when she had 
 taken my dimensions from head to foot : 
 
 * What is your pleasure, sir ?' she said. 
 
 I was about to reply, but a clerk who had undertaken to present 
 me, having told her that I was the young man of whom he had 
 spoken, she looked at me again, and asked me what I knew of 
 business. Of business I was utterly ignorant ; I was silent ; she 
 repeated the question, and as she evinced some impatience, I was 
 forced to explain. 
 
 * Madame,' I said, * I know nothing of the business of fashions, 
 but with zeal and perseverance, I hope to give you satisfaction, 
 particularly if assisted by your advice.' 
 
 ' Well, I like that ; I wish people to be frank with me. I re- 
 ceive you ; you shall fill Theodore's situation.' 
 
 * I am at your orders as soon as you please, madame.' 
 
4 io MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 * Well, then, I engage you at once ; from this very day you may 
 b gin on trial.' 
 
 My installation was at once effected. In my situation as junior 
 clerk, I had the task of arranging the magazine and work-room, 
 where about twenty young girls, all very pretty, were employed in 
 fashioning gewgaws, destined to tempt the provincial coquettes. 
 Thrown amongst this bed of beauties, I thought myself transported 
 to a seraglio, and, looking sometimes at the brown and sometimes 
 at the fair, I thought of circulating the handkerchief pretty freely, 
 when, on the morning of the fourth day, Madame Duflos, who had 
 no doubt seen something not quite to her satisfaction, sent for me 
 to her room. 
 
 * M. Eugene,' she said, 'I am much displeased with you ; you 
 have been here but a very short time, and already begin to form 
 criminal designs upon my young people. I tell you that will 
 not do for me at all, at all, at all.' 
 
 Overwhelmed by this merited reproach, and unable to imagine 
 how she had guessed my intentions, I could only stammer out a 
 few unconnected words. 
 
 ' You would have considerable difficulty in justifying yourself,' 
 she added, * but I know very well that at your age we cannot re- 
 press our inclinations : but these girls must not be thought of in 
 any way ; in the first place, they are too young ; then, again, they 
 have no fortune ; a young man should have some person who can 
 assist him, some person of sense and reason.' 
 
 During this moral lesson, Madame Duflos, carelessly extended 
 on an easy couch, rolled about her eyes in a way that would in- 
 fallibly have led to an overpowering burst of laughter from me, 
 had not her head-woman entered very opportunely to tell her that 
 she was wanted in the work-room. Thus terminated this interview, 
 which proved to me the necessity of being on my guard. Without 
 renouncing my intentions, I only appeared to look on the young 
 women with indifference, and was skilful enough to set her pene- 
 tration at default ; she watched me incessantly, spied my gestures, 
 my words, my looks ; but she was only astonished at one thing 
 the rapidity of my progress. I had only passed one month's 
 apprenticeship and could already sell a shawl, a fancy gown, a cap, 
 or a bonnet, as well as the most experienced hand. Madame was 
 delighted, and had even the kindness to say, that, if I continued 
 as attentive to her lessons, she did not despair of making me the 
 cock of the mode. 
 
 * But,' she added, ' mind, no familiarity with the pullets you 
 understand me, M. Eugene ; you understand me. And I have 
 also another thing to recommend to you, that is, not to neglect 
 your personal appearance ; nothing is so genteel as a well-dressed 
 
MADAME DUFLOS. 411 
 
 man. Besides, I will undertake to provide your dress for the pre- 
 sent ; let we do so, and you will see if I will not make a little Love 
 of you.' 
 
 I thanked Madame Duflos, but as I feared with her extraordinary 
 taste she might make of me some such a Cupid as she was herself 
 a Venus, I told her that I wished to spare her the care of a meta- 
 morphosis which appeared to me impossible ; but that, if she would 
 confine herself to her kind advice, I should receive it with grati- 
 tude, and seek to profit by it. Some time afterwards Madame 
 Uuflos told me that, intending as usual to go to the fair of Ver- 
 sailles with some goods, she had decided that I should attend her. 
 We started the next day, and forty-eight hours afterwards, were 
 established at the Champ-de-Foire. A servant who had attended 
 us slept in the shop ; as for me, I lodged with madame, at the 
 auberge ; we had ordered two rooms, but in consequence of the 
 influx of strangers, we could only have one : resignation was com- 
 pulsory. In the evening, madame had a large screen brought, 
 with which she divided the room into two, so that we each had 
 our own apartment. Before we went to bed, she preached to me 
 for an hour. Afterwards, we went upstairs : madame entered her 
 division, I wished her good evening, and in two minutes was in 
 bed. Soon sighs began to escape her, doubtless caused by the 
 fatigue which she had experienced during the day ; she sighed 
 again, but the candle was out, and I went to sleep. Suddenly, I 
 was interrupted in my first nap, I thought some one pronounced 
 my name ; I listened. ' Eugene.' 
 
 It was the voice of Madame Duflos. I made no reply. 
 
 ' Eugene,' she called again, * have you closed the door properly?' 
 'Yes, madame.' 
 
 ' I think you mistake ; look, I beg of you, and see if the bolt is 
 properly secured ; we cannot be too careful in these auberges.' 
 
 I did as desired, and returned to my bed. Scarcely was 
 I laid once more on my left side than madame began to com- 
 plain. 
 
 ' What a miserable bed ! I am eaten up by the bugs, it is im- 
 possible to close an eye ! And you, Eugene, have you any of these 
 insupportable insects ?' 
 
 I turned a deaf ear to the question. 
 
 ' Eugene, answer me ; have you any of these bugs, as I have ?' 
 
 1 On my word, madame, I have not yet found any.' 
 
 ' You are very fortunate then, and I congratulate you ; as for 
 me, I am devoured by them, I have bites of such a size ! If it 
 goes on in this way I shall pass a sleepless night.' 
 
 I kept silence, but was compelled to break it when Madame 
 Duflos exasperated by her sufferings, and not knowing how, be- 
 
412 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 tween the biting and itching, to relieve herself, began to cry out 
 with all her strength 
 
 { Eugene ! Eugene ! do get up, I beseech you, and be so good 
 as ask the innkeeper for a light, that we may drive away these 
 cursed animals. Make haste, I entreat you, my friend, for I am in 
 hell.' 
 
 I went down, and came up again with a lighted candle, which I 
 put on the table near the lady's bed. As I was but lightly clad, 
 that is to say, with my flags flying in the wind, I retired as quickly 
 as possible, as well out of respect to the modesty of Madame 
 Duflos, as to escape the seductions of an elegant neglige, in which 
 there appeared to me to be some design. But scarcely had I got 
 round the screen, when Madame Duflos gave a piteous shriek. 
 
 * Ah ! what a size, what a monster. I can never have the cour- 
 age to kill it : how it runs, it will get away. Eugene ! Eugene ! 
 come here, I supplicate you.' 
 
 I could not retreat, but, like a second Theseus, I risked all, and 
 approached the bed. 
 
 ' Where, where,' said I, ' is this Minotaur ? let me exterminate 
 him !' 
 
 ' I conjure you, Eugene, not to jest in that way there, there, 
 see how it runs : did you see it on the pillow ? how it goes down 
 the bed what swiftness ! it seems to know the fate you have in 
 store for it.' 
 
 In vain did I use all diligence ; I could neither catch nor even 
 see the dangerous animal. I looked and felt everywhere to dis- 
 cover its hiding-place. I made every possible exertion to find it, 
 but in vain. Sleep overpowered us in our endeavours ; and if, on 
 waking, by return to the past, I was led to reflect that Madame 
 Duflos had been more fortunate than Potiphar's wife, I had the 
 pain of thinking that I had not all the virtue of Joseph. From 
 this time I had the job of watching every night that madame was 
 not tormented by bugs. My service by day was rendered much 
 easier. Considerations, anticipations, little presents nothing was 
 spared ; I was, like the conscript of Charlet, nourished, shod, 
 clothed, and put to bed at the expense of the princess. Unfor- 
 tunately, the princess was somewhat jealous, and her rule a little 
 despotic. Madame Duflos asked nothing more but that, in more 
 senses than one, I should amuse myself like a hump-backed man ; 
 but she went into most tremendous fits of rage if I even glanced at 
 another woman. At last, worn out by this tyranny, I declared one 
 evening that I would free myself from it. 
 
 ' Ah ! you will leave me then,' said she, ' we will see about that.' 
 
 Then, arming herself with a knife, she darted at me to plunge it 
 in my heart. I seized her arm, and her anger being appeased, I 
 
MADAME DUFLOS. 413 
 
 agreed to remain, on condition that she would be more reasonable. 
 She promised ; but, from the next day, curtains of green taffety 
 were placed over the windows of the room in which I was placed, 
 as madame had thought it fit to intrust me exclusively with keep- 
 ing her books. This proceeding was the more vexatious, as I had 
 then no prospect of any control over the workroom. Madame 
 Duflos was most ingenious in isolating me from the rest of the 
 world ; every day there was a new precaution for my security. At 
 last my slavery was so rigorous, that every person saw through the 
 tenderness of which I was the object. The shop girls, who liked 
 nothing better than teasing madame, came to speak to me every 
 instant, sometimes with one excuse, sometimes another ; poor 
 Madame Duflos was tormented to death by it ! how pitiable ! 
 Every hour in the day she poured forth her reproaches on me ; 
 and never gave me one instant's intermission. I could not for any 
 length of time remain easy under such a despotism. To avoid a 
 burst, which in my situation might have involved me (I had then 
 just escaped from the Bagne), I secretly took a place by the dili- 
 gence, and absconded. How little did I then think, that, after a 
 lapse of twenty years, I should meet again in the police-office my 
 little Humpina of the Rue Saint Martin : the proverb would have 
 it so : two mountains never meet. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 The jolly butcher A murder The magistrates of Corbeil Removal of the 
 body The criminating wound I hit upon the right man Arrest of a 
 su>pected pair The goguettes, or the bards to the Quai du Nord I become 
 a scullion Removal to the prefecture Confession A dealer in poultry, 
 etc. Somnambulism The guilty parties confronted A supper under lock 
 and key Departure from Paris. 
 
 FOR upwards of four months a great number of murders and high- 
 way robberies had been committed on all the roads conducting 
 to the capital, without its having been possible to discover the 
 perpetrators of these crimes. In vain had the police kept a strict 
 watch upon the actions of all suspected persons their utmost 
 diligence was fruitless ; when a fresh attempt, attended with circum 
 stances of the most horrible nature, supplied them with hints from 
 which they could at length anticipate bringing the culprits to 
 justice. A man named Fontaine, a butcher, living at La Courtille, 
 was going to a fair in the district of Corbeil, carrying with him his 
 leather bag, in which was safely deposited the sum of 1,500 
 francs ; he had passed the Cour de France, and was walking on in 
 the direction of Essonne, when, at a trifling distance from an 
 auberge where he had stopped to take some refreshment, he came 
 up with two very well-dressed men. As evening was approaching, 
 
414 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 Fontaine was not sorry to obtain fellow-travellers ; he therefore 
 addressed the two strangers, who were not slow in returning the 
 salutation, and a conversation soon arose between them. ' Good- 
 evening, gentlemen.' said he to them. ' The same to you,' replied 
 they. 'We shall soon have night overtake us,' resumed the 
 butcher. * We shall, indeed, sir,' answered one of the two pedes- 
 trians, ' and at this season of the year we must not reckon upon 
 much assistance from the twilight' 
 
 ' I should care very little about it,' added Fontaine, * but, unfor- 
 tunately, I have still a considerable distance to walk to-night.' 
 
 ' And where may you be proceeding to, if it be not too imperti- 
 nent a question ?' 
 
 'Where am I going? Why, to Milley, to purchase sheep.* 
 
 ' In that case, if agreeable to you, we may as well join company; 
 my friend and self are proceeding to Corbeil on business, so that 
 chance has been most favourable to us.' 
 
 * Agreed,' exclaimed the butcher ; ' things could not have fallen 
 out better ; nor shall I be slow in profiting by it ; for, in my humble 
 opinion, when one has money about one, travelling in good com- 
 pany is far more pleasant than being quite alone.' 
 
 ' You have money about you, then ?' 
 
 'You are right there, my friend, and a pretty considerable 
 sum too.' 
 
 ' Well, we likewise have large sums ; but we were informed 
 that we ran no risk, as this part of the country was considered 
 perfectly safe.' 
 
 ' Indeed ; I am glad to hear it ; but, were it otherwise, I have 
 something here ' (showing a huge stick) ' that would make a toler- 
 able resistance ; besides, I think the most daring thieves would 
 hardly have the courage to attack three such formidable antagon- 
 ists as we should make.' 
 
 ' No, no ; they would not dare to meddle with us.' 
 
 Conversing thus, the trio reached the door of a small house, 
 which the branch of juniper, decorating the entrance, designated 
 as a cabaret. Fontaine proposed to his companions to take a bottle 
 together. They entered, procured some Beaugency at eight sols 
 the flask, and seated themselves to enjoy it. The cheapness of 
 the wine its harmless nature their meeting with it at a time 
 when weariness had begun to steal over at least one of the party 
 were so many reasons for lengthening their stay. At last they 
 rose to depart ; and a general emulation arose as to who should 
 defray the reckoning. Nearly an hour, during which more than 
 one fresh bottle was discussed, passed in this amicable dispute, 
 which, being at last yielded in favour of Fontaine, completed 
 the elevation of his spirits, and raised him to the highest pitch 
 
THE JOLL Y BUTCHER. 41 5 
 
 of gaiety. Under similar circumstances, what man could have 
 harboured suspicion ? Poor Fontaine, delighted at having met 
 with such agreeable companions, thought he could not do better 
 than take them as guides for the remaining part of his journey ; 
 and, in full confidence of their integrity, abandoned himself to 
 their guidance along the by-road they were then travelling. He 
 walked on, therefore, with one of his newly found friends, whilst 
 the second followed close behind The night was very dark, 
 scarcely allowing the travellers to distinguish one step before 
 the other; but guilt, with its lynx-like eye, can penetrate the 
 thickest gloom ; and while Fontaine was unsuspectingly follow- 
 ing the path recommended by his companion, the one who 
 remained behind struck him over the head a violent blow with 
 his cudgel, which made him reel : surprised, but not intimidated, 
 he was about to turn round to defend himself, when a second 
 blow, more fatal than the first, brought him to the ground : imme- 
 diately the other robber, armed with a short dagger, threw himself 
 upon him, and ceased not to deal out murderous wounds, till 
 he believed his victim had ceased to exist. Fontaine had yielded 
 after a long and desperate struggle, and lay as apparently life- 
 less as his assassins would have had him. They quickly stripped 
 him of the contents of his money-bag, with which they made 
 off, leaving him weltering in his blood. Happily, it was not long 
 before a passenger, attracted by his groans, came to his succour, 
 and discovered the wretched man, whom the freshness of the 
 night air had recalled to his senses. After having rendered him 
 what assistance was in his power, the stranger hastened to the 
 nearest hamlet in search of farther aid information was imme- 
 diately despatched to the magistrates of Corbeil the attorney- 
 general arrived without delay at the place of crime, and com- 
 menced the most diligent inquiries respecting the slightest 
 circumstances attending it. Eight-and-twenty wounds, more or 
 less deep, bore ample testimony how much the murderers had 
 feared that their victim should escape them. Spite of the cruelty 
 of their intention, Fontaine was yet able to utter a few words, 
 although his extreme exhaustion from loss of blood rendered him 
 unable to give all the particulars which were necessary for the 
 ends of justice. He was removed to the hospital, and at the end 
 of two days so favourable a change took place, that he was pro- 
 nounced out of danger. The most minute exactitude had been 
 observed in removing the body. Nothing had been neglected 
 which might lead to the discovery of the assassins. Accurate 
 impressions were taken of the footmarks ; buttons, fragments of 
 paper dyed in blood, were carefully collected : on one of these 
 pieces, which appeared to have been hastily torn off to wipe the 
 
416 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 blade of a knife found at no great distance from it, were observed 
 some written characters, but they were without any connecting 
 sense, and, consequently, unable to afford any information likely 
 to throw a light on the affair. Nevertheless, the attorney-general 
 attached a great importance to the explanation of these fragments; 
 and, upon more narrowly exploring the spot where Fontaine had 
 been lying, a second morsel was picked up, which presented every 
 appearance of being part of a torn address : by dint of close 
 examination, the following words were deciphered : 
 
 *A Monsieur Rao -- 
 
 ' Marchand de vins, bar 
 1 Roche - 
 Cli - ' 
 
 This piece of paper seemed to have once formed part of a 
 printed address ; but of whose address ? It was at present wholly 
 impossible to make out. However that may be, as no circum- 
 stance is too slight to deserve notice in the absence of more sub- 
 stantial proofs, notes were carefully made of everything that might 
 be hereafter available information. The magistrates assembled on 
 this occasion received the thanks their extreme zeal and ability so 
 fully merited. So soon as they had fulfilled this part of their 
 mission, they returned with all haste to Paris, in order to concert 
 farther plans with the judicial and administrative authority. At 
 their desire, I had immediate conference with them, and, furnished 
 with a prods verbal prepared by them, I opened the campaign 
 against the assassins. Their victim had sufficiently described 
 them ; but how could I place implicit reliance on information 
 proceeding from such a source ? Few men in imminent danger 
 can preserve sufficient presence of mind to take accurate views of 
 all that is passing ; and upon the present occasion I was the more 
 inclined to doubt the testimony of Fontaine, from the extreme 
 nicety with which he detailed the most trifling particulars ; he 
 related, that during the long struggle he had with the assailants, 
 one of them had fallen on his knee, uttering a cry of pain, and that 
 he heard him moaning and complaining to his accomplice of suf- 
 fering extreme pain. Similar remarks to this which he pretended 
 to have made, appeared to me very extraordinary, considering the 
 state in which he was found. I could not bring myself to believe 
 that he himself felt quite assured of the correctness of his remin- 
 iscences. I determined, nevertheless, to turn them to the best 
 account I could ; but still I required a more definite point to start 
 from. The torn address was, in my estimation, an enigma, which 
 must first be solved ; and, to effect this, I racked my brains day 
 and night, and at last felt satisfied that, excepting the name (re- 
 
TRACKING THE MURDERERS. 41? 
 
 specting which I had but few doubts), the perfect address would 
 run thus : 
 
 ' A Monsieur , 
 
 * Marchand de vtns, 
 
 1 Barriere Rocheehouart. 
 'Chausste de Clignancourt? 
 
 It was therefore evident that the assassins were in league with a 
 wine-merchant of that neighbourhood ; perhaps the wine-mer- 
 chant himself was one of the perpetrators of the crime. I set my 
 plans to work, so as to know the truth as quickly as possible ; and 
 before the end of the day I was satisfied that I had been right in 
 directing my suspicions towards an individual named Raoul. This 
 man had become known to me under very unfavourable auspices ; 
 he passed for one of the most daring traffickers in contraband 
 goods, and the cabaret kept by him had long been marked out as 
 the rendezvous where a crowd of suspicious persons nightly cele- 
 brated their riotous orgies. Raoul had, moreover, married the sister 
 of a liberated galley-slave, and I was informed that he was linked 
 in with persons of both sexes, of characters as desperate as their 
 fortunes. In a word, his reputation was that of a loose and pro- 
 fligate man ; and whenever a crime was denounced, if he had not 
 positively participated in it, all thought themselves warranted in 
 saying to him, ' If it were not done by yourself, at least, it was the 
 work of your brother, or some of your relations.' 
 
 Raoul, however, contrived to anticipate every scheme laid for 
 entrapping him, either through his own sagacity, or the hints of 
 his associates. I resolved, as a first step, to keep a careful watch 
 over all the approaches to the cabaret ; and I charged my agents 
 to observe, with a scrutinizing eye, the different persons who fre- 
 quented it, in order to ascertain whether, amongst the number, 
 there might not be found one who was wounded in the knee 
 While my spies were at the post I had assigned to them, my own 
 observations soon informed me that Raoul was in the constant 
 habit of receiving at his house one or two persons of infamous 
 character, with whom he seemed upon terms of the closest intimacy. 
 The neighbours affirmed that they were frequently seen going out 
 together, that they made long absences, and that it was universally 
 believed that the greater part of honest Raoul's profits were those 
 drawn from his dealings in contraband goods. A wine merchant, 
 who possessed the greatest facility of observing what was going on 
 in Raoul's domicile, told me that he had often observed these 
 worthy friends stealing from the house in the gloom of the evening, 
 and returning at an early hour the following aborning, apparently 
 
4i 8 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 exhausted with fatigue, and splashed up to the neck. I farther 
 learned that he had set up a target in his garden, and was con- 
 stantly practising firing with a pistol. Such were the particulars I 
 gathered respecting this notable character from all who knew any- 
 thing of him. At the same time my agents brought me the intelli- 
 gence of their having observed at the house of Raoul a man whom, 
 for many reasons, they had surmised to be one of the assassins we 
 were in search of. This person had first attracted their suspicions 
 by a halt in his gait, proceeding not so much from habitual lame- 
 ness, as from recent injury ; and upon farther examination of his 
 person and dress, both were found in close agreement with the 
 description given by Fontaine of one of the robbers. My agents 
 farther informed me that the man in question was generally accom- 
 panied by his wife ; and that both appeared on the best possible 
 terms with Raoul. My emissaries had succeeded in tracing their 
 abode, which was on the first floor of a house situated in the Rue 
 Coquenard ; and here, in the apprehension of giving the slightest 
 hint of their suspicions to the suspected party, their investigations 
 had rested. These particulars strengthened all my conjectures, 
 and I was no sooner in possession of them, than I determined to 
 go myself, and watch near the house which had been described to 
 me. It was now night, and I was compelled to defer my purpose 
 till the coming morn ; however, before the sun had risen, I was on 
 the lookout in the Rue Coquenard. I remained there without 
 perceiving anything worthy of notice till four o'clock in the after- 
 noon, and was beginning to grow impatient of the little success our 
 plans seemed likely to realize, when my agents pointed out to me 
 an individual, whose features and name suddenly occurred to my 
 memory. ' See ! there he is,' cried they; and scarcely had my eyes 
 glanced over him, than I recognised a person named Court, whom, 
 from previous circumstances fresh in my recollection, I instantly set 
 down as one of the assassins I was in search of. His principles, 
 which were of the most abandoned nature, had drawn down upon 
 him, on many important occasions, severe consequences. He had 
 just been punished by a six months' imprisonment for some frau- 
 dulent act, and I well remembered having arrested him once before 
 for a highway robbery. In a word, he was one of those degraded 
 beings, who, like Cain, bore on his forehead the stamp of shame 
 and death. Without being much of a prophet, one might boldly 
 have predicted that this man was destined to a scaffold. One of 
 those presentiments, which have never deceived me, told me that 
 he had at length reached the term of that perilous career to which 
 a blind fatality had conducted him. However, not wishing to 
 hazard success by precipitancy, I inquired, with all possible caution, 
 what were his means of procuring a subsistence. No one could 
 
ARREST OF COURT. 419 
 
 satisfy me ; and it appeared a notorious truth, that he was never 
 known either to possess a shilling or to have any ostensible method 
 of earning one. The neighbours, when questioned, assured me 
 that he led a most dissolute life, and, in fact, was considered as 
 a person of extremely bad connections and pursuits ; his very looks 
 would have condemned him in a court of justice ; and for my 
 own self, who had such powerful reasons for concluding both him- 
 self and his confederate Raoul to be finished rogues and highway- 
 men, it may be readily supposed I lost no time in applying for 
 warrants for their apprehension. The necessary papers were no 
 sooner asked for than given ; and the very next morning, almost 
 before daylight appeared, I repaired to the house where Court 
 lodged ; having ascended the stairs till I reached the landing- 
 place on the first floor, I knocked at his door. 
 
 ' Who is there ?' asked a voice from within. 
 
 ' Who should it be but Raoul ?' said I, imitating the voice of 
 the latter ; ' come, come friend, open the door.' 
 
 ' Well, don't be in a hurry then,' answered he ; and listening, I 
 could distinctly hear the hasty movements of some one preparing 
 to unfasten the door, which was no sooner unclosed, than believing 
 he was speaking to his friend Raoul, ' Well,' exclaimed he, ' what 
 news ? anything fresh turned up ?' 
 
 ' Yes, yes,' replied I, * I have a thousand things to say to you ;' 
 but by this, through the glimmer of morning twilight, he discovered 
 his error, and cried out, in a voice expressive of the greatest alarm, 
 ' Bless me, if it is not M. Jules !' (This was the name by which 
 I was generally called by common women and thieves.) 
 
 ' M. Jules !' repeated the wife of Court, still more alarmed than 
 her husband. 
 
 1 Suppose it is M. Jules,' said I, ' why should that frighten you ? 
 The devil is never so black as he is painted.' 
 
 1 To be sure,' observed the husband ; * M. Jules is a good fellow ; 
 and although he nabbed me once, never mind, I owe him no ill- 
 will for it' 
 
 * 1 know that, my regular J said I ; ' besides, why should you be 
 angry with me ? is it my fault if you do a bit of moonlight T 
 
 1 Moonlight ! Ah !' replied Court, with the accent of a man 
 who felt himself all at once relieved of the weight of a mountain 
 ' moonlight ! Oh, M. Jules, if it were so, you know very well I should 
 make no secret of it with you ; however, you are welcome to look 
 about you, and see what is to be seen.' 
 
 Whilst he was every moment becoming more tranquil as to the 
 nature of my visit, I proceeded to turn over everything in the 
 apartment, in which I found a pair of pistols ready loaded and 
 
 272 
 
420 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 primed ; some knives ; clothes, which appeared to have been 
 recently washed ; with several other articles, all of which I seized. 
 There now only remained to put the finishing stroke to my ex- 
 pedition, by arresting both husband and wife ; for, to have allowed 
 either of them to remain at large, would have insured the destruc- 
 tion of my plan for entrapping Raoul, who would have learned 
 from them sufficient to defeat my scheme. I therefore conducted 
 them both to the station in the Place Cadet. Court, whom I had 
 pinioned, relapsed all of a sudden into his original terror and be- 
 came gloomy and pensive. The precautions taken by me rendered 
 him uneasy, and his wife appeared to participate in his terrible re- 
 flections. Their consternation was complete, when, upon our 
 arrival at the guard-house, they heard me give orders that they 
 should be kept apart and carefully watched. I directed that they 
 should be plentifully supplied with food ; but they were neither 
 hungry nor thirsty. Whenever Court was questioned en the sub- 
 ject, a mournful shake of the head was the only answer returned ; 
 and eighteen hours elapsed without his opening his lips. His eye 
 was fixed and heavy, and his whole countenance rigid and im- 
 movable. This impassibility convinced me but too well that he 
 was guilty. Under similar circumstances I have almost always 
 observed the two extremes, a profound silence, or an extreme 
 volubility. Court and his wife being in a place of safety, my next 
 business was to seize Raoul. I immediately repaired to his 
 cabaret ; he was not at home. The waiter left in charge of the 
 house told me that he had slept in Paris, where he possessed a 
 small country-seat ; but that being Sunday, he would be sure to 
 return home quite early. This absence of Raoul was a mischance 
 I had not calculated upon, and I trembled, lest on his way home 
 the whim might have seized him of calling upon his friend Court. 
 In that case he would of course have learned his arrest ; and the 
 knowledge of that might put him too much on his guard to enable 
 me to lay hold of him. I feared likewise that he might have had 
 a view of our expedition from the Rue Coquenard ; and my appre- 
 hensions were redoubled when the waiter told me that his master's 
 country-house was in the Faubourg Montmartre. He had never 
 been at it, and could not point out the road to me, but he believed 
 it was in the close vicinity of the Place Cadet. Every additional 
 particular I derived from him redoubled my fears, and led me to 
 attribute the unusual absence of Raoul from his business to his 
 having got scent of my intentions towards him. At nine o'clock 
 he had not returned ; and the waiter, whom I questioned as closely 
 as I could do, without allowing him to see into my designs, ap- 
 peared all wonder and uneasiness that his master should delay his 
 return upon so busy a day as Sunday invariably was with them. 
 
RAOUL. 421 
 
 Even the servant, who was busied in preparing the breakfast I had 
 ordered for myself and my agents, expressed her surprise at her 
 master, and still more her mistress, being so much less exact to 
 their usual hour for appearing than she had ever known them. * If 
 I only knew where to send to,' said the poor woman, * I would cer- 
 tainly inquire whether any accident can have befallen them.' 
 
 Although fully persuaded that her fears were without foundation, 
 I felt as much at a loss as the whole household to guess the reason 
 of his non-appearance. Twelve o'clock struck, still no tidings had 
 reached us, and I began really to believe that the train had blown 
 up, when the waiter, who had for the last half-hour been posted 
 sentry before the door, came running towards me, crying out, 
 ' Here he is ; here he comes !' 
 
 * Who wants me ?' asked Raoul as he entered. But scarcely 
 had his foot crossed the threshold, than, recognising me, he ex- 
 claimed : * Bless me, Jules ! why, what brings you in our neigh- 
 bourhood this morning?' He had evidently not the slightest sus- 
 picion that it was on his account I had come, and I endeavoured 
 to lead him still farther from guessing the true nature of my visit. 
 ' So, friends !' said I, ' you are a liberal, are you ?' * A liberal? 
 
 f Yes, even so ; and you are farther accused ; but this is 
 
 no place for conversation. Can I speak to you alone ?' 
 
 * Certainly ; step up to the room on the first floor, and I will 
 follow you in a minute.' 
 
 I did so, after having by signs instructed my agents to keep a 
 strict eye over Raoul, and to take him into custody if he discovered 
 the least disposition to quit the house. However, the unhappy 
 man had no intention of escape, for in a very few minutes he 
 joined me, and, with a look and manner expressive of jovial con- 
 tent, desired I would let him into the mighty mystery of my pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 ' Well, then,' said I, ' now that we can converse without inter- 
 ruption, I will frankly explain the cause of my present visit. But 
 tell me first, can you not partly guess it ?* 
 
 * Not I, upon my honour.' 
 
 * You have already experienced great inconveniences on account 
 of those singing clubs, which you have persisted in holding in your 
 cabaret, spite of the formal prohibition issued by the police against 
 them. Information has been given that every Sunday there are 
 meetings held in your house, at which seditious toasts and songs 
 libelling Government are permitted. Not only is it known that 
 you countenance the assembling of a mass of suspicious characters, 
 but it is understood that this very day a more than usual number 
 is expected to collect within these walls from twelve to four o'clock. 
 You see there is no blinding the police as to your goings on. This 
 
422 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 is not all ; you are farther accused of having in your possession a 
 vast quantity of disloyal and immoral songs, which are so carefully 
 concealed by you, that my orders were not to appear before you 
 except in a disguise, that would have prevented your recognising 
 my person, and to defer my operation till the gentlemen of the 
 singing club should have opened their meeting. I am truly con- 
 cerned to be charged with so very unpleasant a mission. Had I 
 been apprised that you were the person alluded to, I should most 
 certainly have declined the office : for with you, what would a dis- 
 guise avail me ?' 
 
 Raoul smiled : ' I think, Master Jules,' said he, ' I should have 
 been much amused at seeing you attempt to deceive me thai way/ 
 
 1 Still,' continued I, * it is better for you that I should be em- 
 ployed on this business than a stranger ; you know very well that 
 I have no ill-will against you. So take my advice, and give me up 
 every song in your possession : and farther, to dispel the present 
 doubts against you, refuse admission to every person whose pre- 
 sence here might, in the most trifling degree, compromise your 
 safety.' 
 
 ' Upon my word,' said Raoul, ' I had no notion before how deep 
 a politician you were.' 
 
 ' Why, as to that, friend,' cried I, ' a little of everything is a use- 
 ful trade, and I for one find that if I desire to get on in this world, 
 I must be able to ride on any saddle.' 
 
 * Well/ replied Raoul, ' you can't help it, Master Jules, but as 
 true as my name is Clair Raoul, I swear to you that I am wrongly 
 accused. People have surely gone mad ! I, who think of nothing 
 but just how to earn a bit of honest bread ! What a world is this ! 
 Nothing but envy and spite against those who seem likely to meet 
 with anything like success ! however, M. Jules, if you doubt my 
 word, you can easily judge for yourself just make up your mind 
 to stay here with your people ; observe us well throughout the day, 
 and form your own opinion of our principles and loyalty.' 
 
 ' Agreed,' said I, ' but hark ye, friend Raoul, no gammon, if you 
 please ; you are just the chap to destroy all these objectionable 
 songs, and nothing would be easier than for you to give a hint to 
 your company, that would effectually silence the singers from com- 
 mitting themselves in my hearing/ 
 
 * Who do you take me for, sir ?' exclaimed Raoul, with quick- 
 ness. ' I am incapable of such conduct ; if I promise you to let 
 everything proceed as if you were not present, nothing could in- 
 duce me to deviate from it ; you can either believe me or not, at 
 your pleasure, but to convince you of my honour in the business, 
 you shall remain by my side the whole of the day ; I pledge my- 
 self not to breathe one word respecting you to a living soul, not 
 
RAOUL, 423 
 
 even to my wife when she comes home, so that you may be very 
 sure ; however, you will, I hope, see no objection to my attend- 
 ing to my customers as usual.' 
 
 ' Assuredly not ; let everything go on as usual, and to lull all 
 suspicion I don't care if I lend you a helping hand.' 
 
 * Your offer is too agreeable to be refused,' replied Raoul : * so 
 if you please, M. Jules, we will proceed to work at once.' 
 
 1 Come on then,' said I, and we descended the stairs together. 
 Raoul prepared his huge carving-knife, and, with my sleeves tucked 
 up, and a napkin fastened before me, I aided him in carving the 
 veal, which, with the accompaniment of sorrel sauce, was destined 
 for the banquet of the Luculluses of the cabaret From the ve;<l 
 we proceeded to the mutton ; we set out some dozens of chops in 
 the most tempting manner, and trimmed up the leg, that delicate 
 morsel so generally relished and longed for. I next assisted in 
 preparing some turkeys for the spit, after which we cleared away 
 the litter, and repaired to the wine-cellar, where I made myself 
 equally useful, by helping my companion to manufacture genuine 
 wine at six sols the flask. During this operation I was quite alone 
 with Raoul, who passed me off to every one as his most intimate 
 friend. I stuck as close to him as his very shadow, and he himself 
 appeared as unable to dispense with me as with his large carving- 
 knife. I must confess that several times I trembled lest he should 
 suspect the motive of my watching him so closely ; had he done 
 so, he would certainly have murdered me, and I must have 
 perished beneath his violence, without any human creature being 
 able to assist me ; happily he saw in me only a familiar of the 
 political inquisition, and as to the seditious imputations urged 
 against him, he was perfectly at his ease. Up to four o'clock I 
 continued my assistance as second in office, when the commissary 
 of police, whom I had informed of the affair, arrived I was on 
 the ground-floor, when I perceived him at a distance, and hasten- 
 ing to him, I begged he would not make his appearance for a few 
 minutes. I then returned to Raoul, and affecting to be exceed- 
 ingly angry, ' The devil take them !' cried I ; * the police have just 
 sent to me to say that our business lies at your house in Paris, and 
 that we must remove thither instantly.' 
 
 * Oh, if that be all,' said Raoul, * let us go there at once.' 
 
 * Yes,' replied I, * and when we are there we shall be ordered 
 back again here ; faith, they do not stand very nice as to the 
 trouble they give us with the contradictory orders ; if I were in 
 your place, since we are in your house, I would send to request 
 the commissary of police to allow your premises to be searched ; 
 it would be a convincing argument that you were wrongly accused.' 
 
 Raoul applauded this advice as most excellent, did as I recom- 
 
424 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 mended, and having obtained the commissary's consent, the 
 strictest search took place, without, however, its producing any- 
 thing to criminate him. 
 
 * Well,' cried he (when the whole was concluded), with that tone 
 of exultation which might have sprung from a man of conscious 
 integrity ; ' well, gentlemen, I hope you are now satisfied. Upon 
 my word, I do not think myself at all well used to be suspected 
 and searched in this manner. Why, you could not have done 
 more had I committed murder !' 
 
 The assurance with which the latter part of the sentence was 
 pronounced really startled me, and for a moment I repented of 
 having ever suspected him, but the many reasons I had for con- 
 cluding him guilty quickly effaced my regret. Still, it was frightful 
 to consider that a robber and murderer like himself, whose hands 
 were yet reeking with the blood of his victim, could, without a 
 shudder, utter words which thus recalled his guilt. Raoul was 
 calm and almost triumphant in his manner ; and when we were 
 seated in the hackney-coach which was to transport us to Paris, 
 an indifferent spectator might have supposed he was proceeding 
 to a festival ; he rubbed his hands, and said with all the glee 
 imaginable, ' I am thinking how my wife will be astonished at see- 
 ing me return to her in such good company.' It happened to be 
 his wife who opened the door ; at the sight of us her countenance 
 underwent not the slightest alteration ; she presented us with 
 seats, but aswe had but little time to lose, the commissary and myself 
 immediately set to work to perform our task of examining the 
 house. Raoul did not appear desirous of quitting us for a moment, 
 but guided us through our search with the utmost complaisance. 
 In order to give a colouring to the story I had first told him, we 
 affected the greatest solicitude respecting his papers ; he gave me 
 the key of his escritoire. I seized upon a bundle of papers, and 
 the first upon which I cast my eyes was a direction, part of which 
 had been torn off. Instantly the shape of the torn fragment, on 
 which was written the address found on the place of murder, and 
 affixed by the magistrates of Corbeil to their prods verbal, occurred 
 to my recollection. The piece now before me had evidently 
 formed part of it. The commissary, to whom I communicated my 
 opinion, coincided with me in it. Raoul had at first seen us take 
 up the note and examine it with perfect indifference : possibly, 
 he might not himself recollect, just at that moment, its fatal signifi- 
 cation ; but as he observed our scrutiny more and more directed 
 to it, his memory evidently refreshed him with its full force : his 
 countenance changed in an instant ; the muscles of his face con- 
 tracted ; a ghastly paleness came over him ; and springing towards 
 a drawer in which were his loaded pistols, he endeavoured to seize 
 
ARREST OF RAOUL. 425 
 
 them ; when, by an equally rapid movement, my agents and my- 
 self threw ourselves upon him, and soon deprived him of all power 
 of resistance. It was nearly midnight when Raoul and his wife 
 were conducted to the prefecture ; Court arrived there a quarter 
 of an hour afterwards. The two accomplices were separately con- 
 fined. Up to this period there had been nothing but presumptive 
 evidence against them ; I therefore undertook to obtain their own 
 confession whilst they remained in their first stupor. It was on 
 Court that I first employed my eloquence. I worked him, as it is 
 called, in every possible way. I used every species of argument 
 to convince him that it was to his own interest to make a full 
 avowal. 
 
 1 Take my advice/ said I to him, ' declare the truth of the 
 matter ; why should you persist in endeavouring to conceal what 
 is known to everyone ? you will find, by the very first question put 
 to you at your examination, that your judges are much better in- 
 formed than you think for death has not sealed the lips of all the 
 persons you have attacked. Many of those you believed your 
 victims will produce overwhelming proofs against you ; you may be 
 silent if you please, but your silence will not prevent your condem- 
 nation : public execution is not all you expose yourself to; think 
 of the punishments and severity with which your obstinacy will be 
 visited ; justly irritated against you, the magistrates will show you 
 no mercy up to the hour of execution ; you will be watched, tor- 
 mented, worse even than by the tortures of a slow consuming fire : 
 if you persist in your obstinate refusal to make a full confession, 
 your prison will be a perfect hell to you. On the contrary, by 
 avowing your past iniquities, expressing sorrow and contrition for 
 them, and meeting your fate with resignation (since you cannot 
 hope to escape from it), you will at least have a chance of exciting 
 the pity of mankind, and the humane consideration of those ap- 
 pointed to try you.' 
 
 I had carefully forborne mentioning to Court of what murder 
 he was accused ; fully impressed with the idea of his having been 
 accessory to more than one, I avoided specifying that of which he 
 then stood charged. I hoped that, by using only vague words, 
 and refraining from every precise detail, I might be enabled to draw 
 him on to the confession of other crimes besides the one for which 
 he was then in custody. Court reflected for a moment * Well, 
 then,' said he, 'since you advise it, I acknowledge that it was I who 
 murdered the travelling poulterer Why, his soul must have stuck 
 faster to his body than I guessed it could poor devil ; and did he 
 really come back to life after such a dressing as I gave him ? I'll 
 tell you, M. Jules, how the thing happened, and I wish I may die if I 
 tell a lie about it ; A number of Normans were returning home, 
 
426 MEMOIRS OP VIDOCQ. 
 
 after having sold their wares at Paris. I fancied they must be 
 loaded with money, and, in consequence, lay in wait for them. I 
 stopped the first two who came by, but found little or nothing 
 upon them. I was at that time in the most extreme necessity: 
 want drove me on to the deed, for my wife was destitute of every- 
 thing, and. the thoughts of her wretched state wrung my heart. At 
 last, whilst I was giving myself up to despair, I heard the noise of 
 wheels ; I hastened to meet it ; it was a poulterer's cart ; the poor 
 wretch was half asleep when I called to him to deliver up his 
 purse. He emptied his pockets. I felt in them myself, but his 
 whole possessions were 80 francs ! 80 francs ! What was that to 
 me, who was in debt to everyone ? I owed two quarters' rent, 
 and my landlord was hourly threatening to turn us out of doors. 
 To heighten my misery, I was dunned by other creditors equally 
 merciless. What was I to do with this paltry supply of 80 francs ? 
 Rage took possession of me. I seized my pistols, and, without 
 one moment's reflection, discharged them both at my gentleman's 
 heart. A fortnight afterwards I learned that he still lived ! you 
 may imagine, therefore, that my present situation does not surprise 
 me ; for, since the moment I have been describing to you, I have 
 never enjoyed one hour's peace, in the fear of his paying me off 
 sooner or later.' 
 
 * Your fears were well founded,' said I, ' but this unfortunate 
 dealer in poultry is not your only victim ; what do you expect from 
 the butcher whom you pieiced through and through with your 
 knife, after having carried off his purse ?' 
 
 'Oh, as to that,' exclaimed the villain, ' may God receive his 
 soul ! I will answer for it, that if he witnesses against me, it can 
 only be at the last judgment.' 
 
 * You are mistaken, the butcher did not die of his wounds, any 
 more than the former victim you were speaking of.' 
 
 1 Ah ! so much the better,' cried Court. 
 
 ' No, he lives ; and I must warn you that he has pointed out 
 both you and your accomplices, in a manner too distinct to admit 
 of any mistake.' 
 
 Court endeavoured to persist in affirming that he had no accom- 
 plices ; but he became weary of his own falsehood, and at length 
 admitted that Clair Raoul had participated in the crime for which 
 he was accused. I urged him (but in vain) to name others as 
 well : he maintained the same story, and I was compelled to con- 
 tent myself with what I had already drawn from him ; however, 
 in the fear of his retracting, I summoned the commissary, in whose 
 presence Court repeated, and even enlarged upon, what he had 
 previously told me. To have brought Court to an acknowledg- 
 ment of his crime, and to obtain from him a written declaration 
 
RAOUL ASLEEP. 437 
 
 of it, was no doubt an important point gained ; but a more diffi 
 cult battle remained to be fought ere Raoul could be persuaded to 
 follow his example. To effect this, I stole softly to the room in 
 which he was confined. He was sleeping ; and, stepping cautiously 
 in the fear of awaking him, I placed myself beside him, and 
 whispered gently in his ear, in the hope of leading him, as under 
 the influence of a dream, to answer the questions thus put to him. 
 Without raising the low tone in which I had first addressed him, I 
 interrogated him as to the particulars of the murder. Some unin- 
 telligible words escaped him, but it was impossible to make any 
 sense of them. This scene lasted for nearly a quarter of an hour, 
 when, at my asking him * What became of the knife with which 
 you murdered your victim ?' he gave a sudden start, uttered some 
 inarticulate sounds, and, flinging himself from the bed on which 
 he was lying, opened his wild and glaring eyes full upon me, as if 
 he dreaded the apparition of some horrid vision. From the terror 
 and astonishment with which he continued to regard me, even 
 after he had recognised my person, it might easily be perceived 
 that he dreaded my having been the witness to his late severe 
 internal struggle, and I could readily see in his eyes the eagerness 
 with which he sought to divine how far his restless guilty con- 
 science had betrayed him during his unquiet slumbers. A cold 
 perspiration covered his face, he was deathly pale, and whilst he 
 endeavoured to force a smile, his teeth chattered and ground 
 together in spite of him ; he presented an exact representation of 
 a damned spirit in all the tortures of an agonizing conscience a 
 second Orestes pursued by the Furies. Ere the last vapours of his 
 uneasy dreams had passed away, I wished to turn the circumstances 
 to account ; it was not the first time I had called the nightmare 
 to my aid. 
 
 ' You appear,' said I to Raoul, ' to have had a frightful dream ; 
 you have been talking a great deal, and seemed to be in great 
 pain ; I could not bear to see you suffer so much, and woke you to 
 dispel the anguish and remorse to which you seemed a prey. Do 
 not feel displeased at this language it is in vain to dissimulate 
 farther ; the confessions of your friend, Court, have informed us of 
 everything justice is in full possession of every circumstance 
 relative to the crime whereof you are accused Do not seek to 
 palliate your participation in it, the evidence of your accomplice 
 cannot be invalidated by anything you can say ; if you seek to save 
 yourself by a system of denial, the voice of your unhappy asso- 
 ciate will confound you in the presence of your judges ; and if 
 that be not sufficient, the butcher whom you murdered near Milly 
 will appear as your accuser.' 
 
 At these words I steadily examined the countenance of Raoul; 
 
423 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 a slight discomposure was observable in his features, but it soon 
 passed away, and recovering himself, he replied with firmness : 
 
 M. Jules, you are trying to entrap me ; you only throw away your 
 time; you are deep and cunning, but I know my own innocence. 
 As to what you say of Court, you will not persuade me that he is 
 guilty ; still less do I believe that he can have implicated my 
 name, when there exists not the slightest appearance of probability 
 of his doing so.' 
 
 I again declared to Raoul that it was useless for him to seek to 
 conceal the truth from me * Well, then,' said I, ' if nothing else 
 will do, you shall be confronted with your friend ; we shall then 
 see whether you will venture to persist in denying the facts he has 
 sworn to.' 
 
 ' Let him come,' cried Raoul, * I do not ask for anything better ; 
 I am confident that Court is incapable of a bad or dishonourable 
 action. Why should he accuse himself of a crime he has not 
 committed, and implicate me in it for mere wantonness ? unless, 
 indeed, he has lost his senses, which is not very likely. Hark ye, 
 M. Jules ; I am so certain of what I assert, that if he says he com- 
 mitted this murder, and that I had a share in it, I consent to pass 
 for the greatest scoundrel that ever walked the earth. I will 
 acknowledge, as true, whatever he may say ; and I farther engage, 
 either to clear my innocence through his means, or to ascend the 
 same scaffold with him. I do not dread the guillotine, whether 
 its blow descend for this or any other offence ; if Court confirms 
 what you have said, be.it so all is over the veil is raised, and 
 two heads will fall at once.' 
 
 I quitted him in these dispositions, and went to propose the in- 
 terview with his comrade : this latter, however, refused, declaring 
 that, after the confession he had made, he had not the courage to 
 encounter Raoul. * Since I have regularly signed and attested my 
 deposition,' said he, ' let it be read to him, it will suffice to convince 
 him ; besides, he will recognise my writing.' 
 
 This repugnance, which I was far from expecting, vexed me so 
 much the more, as I have frequently known the thoughts of a man 
 arraigned of crime to change in an instant from one opinion to the 
 opposite extreme. I exerted all my influence to overcome Court's 
 objections, and at length succeeded in deciding him to act as I 
 wished. After a trifling delay, the two friends found themselves 
 in each other's presence : they embraced ; and the ingenuity of 
 Court suggested a ruse by which to palliate his having involved 
 his coadjutor in his acknowledgment of guilt; and this, without 
 having originated in my advice, materially assisted my plans : 
 
 * Friend Raoul,' said Court, ' I am informed you have followed my 
 sample, and made a full confession of our unfortunate crime. It 
 
ARRIVAL AT CURBEIL. 429 
 
 was the very best thing we could either of us do ; for, as M. Jules 
 observes, there are too many convincing proofs against us, to make 
 farther denial of any avail.' 
 
 The person to whom these words were addressed stood for an 
 instant as if petrified with astonishment ; but, quickly gathering 
 his spirits, ' Faith, M. Jules !' exclaimed he, 'you have managed 
 well we are both completely drawn ! Now, then, as I am a man 
 of my word, I will keep that I gave you, by concealing nothing ;' 
 and immediately he began a recital which fully confirmed that of 
 his associate. These new revelations having received the usual 
 forms of law, I remained in conversation with the two assassins, 
 who bore their part in it with inexhaustible mirth and hilarity, 
 the general effect of confession with the greatest criminals. I 
 supped with them, and although they ate heartily they drank very 
 moderately. Their countenances had resumed their usual calm- 
 ness, and no vestige was perceptible of the late catastrophe \ they 
 looked upon it as a settled thing, that by their confession they had 
 undertaken to pay their debt to offended justice. After supper I 
 informed them that we should set out in the night for Corbeil. 
 ' In that case,' said Raoul, ' it is not worth while going to bed ;' 
 and he begged of me to procure him a pack of cards. When the 
 vehicle which was to convey us was ready, they were as deeply en- 
 gaged with their game of piquet as any two peaceful citizens of 
 Paris could have been. They ascended the carriage without 
 appearing to suffer the least emotion at so doing, and we had 
 scarcely reached the Barriere dTtalie, when they were happily 
 asleep and snoring ; nor had they aroused themselves when, at 
 eight o'clock in the morning, we entered CorbeiL 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Arrival at Corbeil Popular legends Poulailler and Captain Picard The 
 dealer in turkeys General Beufort Public opinion on myself Terror of 
 a sous prefet Assassins and their victim Important discoveries, etc. 
 
 THE noise of our arrival was quickly spread abroad, and the in- 
 habitants flocked to have a view of the assassins of the butcher 
 whose story had excited so much commiseration. I was equally 
 an object of curiosity to them, and was pleased with the present 
 opportunity of learning the opinion entertained of me at the dis- 
 tance of six leagues from Paris. I hastened to mingle in the crowd 
 assembled before the prison, from whence I could easily overhear 
 the most n musing observations ; 'There he is, that is he,' exclaimed 
 
430 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 the spectators, raising themselves on tip-toe every time the wicket 
 opened to allow ingress or egress to any of my agents. 
 
 * Look, look, do you see him ?' said one of them, ' that little hop 
 o' my thumb there, scarcely five feet high.' 
 
 4 Stuff! a shrimp like that ! I could put fifty such in my pocket.' 
 
 * Shrimp as you call him, he is more than a match for you : he 
 is a first-rate boxer, and has a sort of a back throw that would 
 astonish you.' 
 
 ' All fudge, I dare say ; do you suppose he is the only one that 
 knows a good thing ?' 
 
 ' No, no !' bawled out a second spectator, ' this is he, this tall 
 slender fellow with the red hair.' 
 
 * What a lath !' cried out the next bystander, ' why with one 
 hand in my pocket I could double him in two.' ' You could ?' 
 'Yes, I could !' 
 
 1 And do you fancy that he would allow you to lay your fingers 
 upon him ? No, no ! you have mistaken your man ; he comes 
 sometimes as if meaning to speak amicably to one, and just the 
 moment you least expect it, comes a dig in the bread-basket, or, as 
 he may happen to prefer, a pelt of the conk, which will make you 
 see fifty candles at once.' 
 
 ' The gentleman who spoke last is perfectly right,' said an old 
 citizen, eyeing me through his spectacles ; * this Vidocq is a most 
 extraordinary character ; I have been told that when he wishes to 
 seize a man, he has a certain blow, which once aimed never fails 
 to deprive the person against whom it is directed of all power of 
 resistance.' 
 
 ' And I have been told,' said a carman, joining in the conversa- 
 tion, ' that he never goes without large clouts in the soles of his 
 shoes, and whilst he is giving you a punch of the head, he breaks 
 your shins with a kick a thousand times heavier than any horse/ 
 
 ' Mind where you are walking, you great clodhopper,' exclaimed 
 a young girl, whose corns the clumsy carman had been most un- 
 ceremoniously stamping on. 
 
 ' Just a little treat for you, my pretty one,' replied the rustic. 
 * Never mind trifles like that, you are not quite killed. I dare say 
 if Vidocq were to give you a gentle taste of the heel of his boot 
 upon your favourite toe you might indeed call out.' 
 
 ' Indeed, I should like to see him dare to do so.' 
 
 1 Ah ! he would spoil your dancing, I can promise you but who 
 is that coming from the prison ? look.' 
 
 At this instant I addressed the carman. ' I hope,' said I, * that 
 the sparkling eyes of my pretty neighbour here would insure her 
 safe'y from Vidocq, wicked as he may be.' 
 
 ' Yes, yes !' rejoined the carman ; ' I believe he is vastly civil to 
 
OPINIONS ON VIDOCQ. 431 
 
 the women. I have been told that he is a merry fellow enough 
 with them, and bears an excellent reputation. Although many a 
 pretty girl has lost hers through the honour of his good company.' 
 These words were accompanied by a loud horse-laugh, in which 
 the rest of the company joined. 
 
 ' What is the matter there ? cried some who were not sufficiently 
 nigh the scene of action to understand the cause of the burst of 
 voices which assailed their ears. ' Hats off.' 
 
 * Do you observe that man in the wig ?' 
 
 Are those the murderers ?' ' There he is, there he is !' 
 Who ? who ?' ' Do not crowd so dreadfully.' 
 1 Take you hands off, you blackguard.' 
 ' Knock him down ! down with him !' 
 
 * How wrong of females to risk their lives by coming to a scene 
 like this.' 
 
 1 Here, climb up on my shoulder.' 
 
 * Down there, you are not made of glass.' 
 
 * Are they all mad to make such a noise ?' 
 
 ' Oh, it is nobody, after all only a guardsman.' 
 
 * Are any of the spies amongst them ?' 
 
 * Spies ? Yes, four, I have been told.' 
 
 By the time these different exclamations were ended, the flux 
 and reflux of the multitude had borne me away to the midst of a 
 fresh group, where a dozen gossips were busily conversing of me in 
 the following manner : 
 
 FIRST GOSSIP. (This speaker appeared, by his silvery locks, of 
 venerable age.) 'Yes, sir, he was condemned to the galleys for a 
 hundred and one years commuted from sentence of death.' 
 
 SECOND GOSSIP. ' A hundred and one years ! bless me, why that 
 is more than an age !' 
 
 AN OLD WOMAN. ' The Lord be good unto me, what is that you 
 favoured me by saying ? A hundred and one years ! indeed, as the 
 other gentleman observed, that is rather more than a day !' 
 
 THIRD GOSSIP. * No, no ; something more than a day, indeed ; 
 upon my credit, a tolerably long lease of it.' 
 
 FOURTH GOSSIP. ' And so he had committed murder, had he ?' 
 
 FIFTH GOSSIP. * Why, did not you know that ? bless you, he is 
 a villain loaded with every sort of crime ; he has been guilty of 
 every enormity by turns, each of which has merited the guillotine; 
 but he is a deep rascal, and has managed to keep his head on his 
 shoulders, to the surprise of everyone.' 
 
 ANOTHER GOSSIP. (In what order his speech was made I do not 
 now remember ; I recollect only that he was dressed in black, and 
 from the style of his dress and hair I concluded him to be one of 
 the churchwardens of the parish.) 
 
4.32 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 THE FLEUR DE Lis. ' No, better still ! I am informed by my 
 friend, the commissary, that this Vidocq always accustoms himself 
 to wear a ring round his leg is it not strange?' 
 
 MYSELF. ' Come, do not seek to gammon us with your stories 
 of rings. Do you suppose we could not perceive it, if it were worn 
 as you say ?' 
 
 THE GOSSIP IN BLACK (gravely). c No, sir, you could not see 
 it ; in the first place, you are not to imagine it an iron ring of four 
 or five pounds weight. No, it is a golden ring, as light as possible, 
 and nearly imperceptible. Ah ! indeed, if like me he wore short 
 knee-breeches, you would soon discover it ; but those trousers 
 hide everything. Trousers indeed ! an absurd fashion. We may 
 thank the revolution for that introduction, as well as for cropped 
 heads hair a la Titus as they term it, which no longer leave it 
 possible to discover a gentleman from one who has tugged at the 
 galleys. I only ask you, gentlemen, whether, if this Vidocq were 
 to introduce himself amongst you, you would feel particularly 
 flattered by his company ?' 
 
 ' Pray,' asked the old woman who had before spoken, ' is it true 
 that he was publicly branded ?' 
 
 * Certainly, madam ; that, too, with a red-hot iron on both shoul- 
 ders. I will answer for it that if he were stripped, you would read 
 the mark in all its brightness.' 
 
 A gendarme, who had been seeking me amongst the spectators, 
 approached me, and, gently touching my shoulder, said, *M. Vidocq, 
 the king's solicitor has been inquiring for you, and wishes to see 
 you immediately.' It was really ludicrous to see how every coun- 
 tenance changed at these words. ' What ! can it be Vidocq ?' 
 exclaimed my late audience, with lengthened faces. ' Vidocq ! 
 Vidocq !' shouted out others, and immediately all was fighting, 
 struggling, and confusion, to endeavour to force a passage for the 
 eager looks of those who were not sufficiently near to gratify their 
 eye-sight with a view of the so much coveted monster, for such 
 they certainly expected to find me. Some even climbed on the 
 shoulders of their neighbours, to satisfy themselves as to whether I 
 really was a human creature or not ; of this I had convincing proofs 
 by the following flying remarks which reached my ears: ' Bless me! 
 light complexion ! I fancied him quite dark. I heard he was ill- 
 looking. I see nothing so very ugly about him. What a strange 
 manner of walking he has !' 
 
 These and similar observations were made by the crowd, whose 
 sole interest now seemed centred in noting down every particular 
 relative to my personal appearance. So great was the concourse of 
 ga::ers, that I had much difficulty in forcing my way along to the 
 procureur. This magistrate wished me to conduct the accused 
 
THE ASSASSINS AND THEIR VICTIM. 433 
 
 persons before the interrogating judge. Court, whom I first led 
 thither, appeared intimidated at finding himself in the presence of 
 so many persons ; I exhorted him to keep up his courage, and to 
 confirm his confessions. This he did without any great difficulty, 
 as far as related to the assassination of the butcher ; but when 
 questioned on the subject of the poulterer, he retracted all his pre- 
 vious declarations, and it was impossible to lead him to confess that 
 he had had any other accomplices than Raoul. This latter, when 
 introduced into the chamber, unhesitatingly confirmed every fact 
 mentioned in the prods verbal, which had been drawn up after his 
 arrest. He related in full detail, and with the most imperturbable 
 sangfroid, all that had passed between the unfortunate Fontaine 
 and his murderers, up to the moment of his striking the first blow 
 at his victim. 
 
 'The man,' said he, ' was only stunned by the two blows he re- 
 ceived from a stick ; when I saw that they had not sufficed to bring 
 him to the ground, I drew near, as if to support him, holding in 
 my hand the knife which is lying upon that table ;' pronouncing 
 these words, he sprang towards the desk, abruptly seized the 
 instrument of his crime, made two steps backwards, and rolling his 
 eyes, sparkling with fury, he assumed a menacing attitude. This 
 movement, which was wholly unexpected, filled with terror all who 
 were present ; the sous prefet was nearly fainting, and I myself 
 underwent some alarm. Nevertheless, I felt the necessity of con- 
 cealing from Raoul the effect he had produced, and I even sought 
 to attribute his violent gestures to a good motive. * Gentlemen !' 
 cried I, smiling, ' what is it you fear ? Raoul is incapable of acting 
 like a coward, and abusing the confidence reposed in him ; he 
 merely took up the knife the better to explain his share in the 
 business.' ' Thanks, M. Jules !' cried he, delighted with my ex- 
 planation, and quietly laying down the knife on the table, he added, 
 * I only wished to show you how I made use of it.' 
 
 To complete the preliminaries, it only remained to confront the 
 accused with Fontaine ; the surgeon was applied to, to ascertain 
 whether the sick man was sufficiently recovered to bear so trying a 
 scene, and he having replied in the affirmative, Court and Raoul 
 were taken to the hospital. Introduced into the apartment occu- 
 pied by the butcher, their eyes eagerly sought their victim. Fon- 
 taine, with his head and face nearly covered with bandages, and 
 his whole person wrapped in linen cloths, was indeed scarcely to 
 be recognised ; but beside him were displayed the clothes and shirt 
 worn by him on the night he was so cruelly assaulted. * Ah ! poor 
 Fontaine !' cried Court, falling on his knees at the foot of the bed, 
 decorated by these bloody trophies; 'forgive the miserable wretches 
 
 28 
 
434 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 who have reduced you to this condition ; that you still survive is a 
 striking interposition of Providence, who has been pleased to pre- 
 serve you the better to punish us as our crimes deserve.' 
 
 Whilst he was expressing himself thus, Raoul, who had likewise 
 knelt down, preserved a deep silence, and appeared plunged in the 
 deepest affliction. 
 
 * Stand up, both of you, and look the sick man in the face,' said 
 the judge who accompanied them. They rose up. 
 
 ' Take those murderers from my sight !' shrieked Fontaine ; 'their 
 countenances and voices are but too familiar to me.' 
 
 This recognition, and the manner of the culprits, was more than 
 sufficient to establish the fact of Court and Raoul having been the 
 actors in this frightful tragedy ; but I was firmly persuaded that 
 they had other crimes besides this with which to reproach them- 
 selves, and that, in order to commit them, they must have been 
 more than two in number. This was a secret of the greatest im- 
 portance. I determined to exert myself to the utmost to come at 
 the truth, and not to quit them till I had induced them to unload 
 their consciences by a full confession of their past misdeeds. On 
 our return to the prison after this meeting, I caused supper to be 
 served for the accused and myself. The porter inquired whether 
 he should place knives on the table. 
 
 ' Yes, yes !' cried I ; ' set knives to each gentleman, by all means.' 
 
 My two guests ate their meals with as great an appearance of 
 appetite, as though they had been the most honest men breathing. 
 When they had drunk a few glasses of wine, I dexterously brought 
 back the conversation to the subject of their crime. 
 
 ' You are not naturally bad fellows,' said I to them ; ' I'll engage 
 that you have been led into all this by some scoundrel or other ; 
 why not own it ? From the confession and repentance you dis- 
 played at the sight of Fontaine, it is easily seen that you would 
 willingly recall, at the price of your own blood, the violence he 
 received at your hands. And do you not consider that, by con- 
 cealing your accomplices, you are responsible for all the crimes 
 they may commit? Many persons who have come forward to depose 
 against you, have declared that you were at least four in number in 
 all your expeditions.' 
 
 * They were mistaken then,' exclaimed Raoul ; * I give you my 
 word of honour, M. Jules, that they were ; we were never more 
 than three. The other is an old officer of the customs, named 
 Pons Gerard ; he lives just on the frontier, in a little village be- 
 tween Capelle and Hirson, in the department of the Aisne ; but 
 if you think to catch him, I must warn you that he is not to be 
 caught napping. He always sleeps with one eye open whilst the 
 other is shut.' 
 
DENUNCIATION OF PONS G&RARD. 435 
 
 'No !' said Court, 'it would be no easy job to nab him, and if 
 you do not set your wits to work, you will only get your labour for 
 your pains/ 
 
 * Oh, he is a queer hand indeed,' cried Raoul ; ' you are no 
 bungler yourself, M. Jules, but ten like you would not frighten him. 
 At any rate, you must be on your guard if he gets scent of your 
 being in search of him ; he is not far from Belgium, and will soon 
 be off; if you surprise him, he will make a desperate resistance, so 
 try if you cannot manage to take him asleep.' 
 
 ' Yes, if you could find out that he ever does sleep,' added Court. 
 
 I made strict inquiries as to the usual habits of Pons Gerard, 
 and obtained a full description both of them and his person. As 
 soon as I had learned every particular requisite for being secure of 
 identifying my man, thinking to stamp the confession I had just 
 elicited with all possible authenticity, I proposed to the two prisoners 
 to write off immediately for a magistrate to receive their depositions. 
 Raoul instantly took up his pen, and when his letter was Completed, 
 I carried the letter myself to the king's solicitor ; it was conceived 
 in the following terms : 
 
 ' SIR, Being now in a frame of mind more suitable to our un- 
 happy condition, and resolving to profit by the advice you bestowed 
 upon us, we have come to the resolution of acknowledging to you 
 every crime of which we are guilty, and to point out to you a sharer 
 in them, whose name is at present unknown to you. We entreat 
 of you, therefore, to have the kindness to visit us in our prison, in 
 order to receive our depositions.' 
 
 The magistrate lost no time in acceding to their request, and 
 Court as well as Raoul repeated before him all that they had pre- 
 viously told me of Pons Gerard. 
 
 This latter now occupied all my thoughts, and as it would not 
 do to allow him time to learn the destruction of his comrade's 
 schemes, I instantly obtained an order to arrest him. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 A journey to the frontiers A robber Mother Bardou A feigned recognition 
 The false smuggler A brigand astonished I deliver the country from a 
 scourge Hercules with the skin of a bear. 
 
 DISGUISED as a dealer in horses, I set out with my agents Clement 
 and Goury, who passed for my ostlers : and such was the diligence 
 used by us, that, in spite of the severity of the season and the bad- 
 ness of the roads (for it was in the midst of winter), we arrived at 
 La Capelle on the evening of the following day, which happened, 
 
436 MEMOIRS OF VIDOC& 
 
 fortunately for my purpose, to be the eve of a large fair. Having 
 traversed the country more than once during my military career, I 
 required but a very short time to arrange my plan of action, and 
 to assume the dialect of the place. All the inhabitants to whom 
 I spoke of Pons Gerard described him to me as a robber, who 
 subsisted only by fraud and rapine ; his very name was sufficient 
 to excite universal terror, and the authorities of the place, although 
 daily furnished with proofs of his enormities, durst take no steps 
 to repress them. In a word, he was one of those terrible beings 
 who compel obedience from all who surround them ; for my own 
 part, little accustomed to draw back from a perilous enterprise, 
 these particulars only stimulated me the more to enter upon the 
 undertaking. My vanity was piqued to accomplish a task which 
 appeared to vie in difficulty with the labours of Hercules, but did 
 I know that success would attend my arduous attempt ? As yet I 
 was ignorant of many essential points, but, trusting for the best, I 
 sat down to breakfast with my agents, and when we had sufficiently 
 fortified our stomachs, we set out in search of the hardened ac- 
 complice of Court and Raoul. These latter had pointed out to 
 me a lone auberge as the favourite haunt of Pons. This house was 
 the rendezvous of a nest of smugglers, and the woman who kept 
 it, considering Pons as one of her best customers, felt great interest 
 in all that concerned him. So well had this auberge been described 
 to me, that I required no further directions to find it; I therefore 
 repaired thither with my two companions, and entering, seated 
 myself without any ceremony, assuming the tone and manner of 
 one well used to the ways of the house. 
 
 * Good day to you, Mother Bardou, how goes all with you ?' 
 
 ' The same to you, my good friends, and many of them. You 
 are welcome to my poor place ; thank God, we are all pretty com- 
 fortable, thanks for your inquiry. What would you please to have, 
 gentlemen ?' 
 
 ' Dinner, dinner ! my good soul ; we are starving with hunger.' 
 
 ' You shall have it directly, sirs ; please to step into the next 
 room, where you will find a good fire.' 
 
 Whilst she was employed in laying the cloth, I drew her into the 
 following conversation : ' I begin to fancy, my good hostess, that 
 you have forgotten my features.' 
 
 1 Wait a little till 1 have time to look well at you.' 
 
 1 Why, what a memory you must have, to forget how I used to 
 come with Pons to your house last winter ! many a time have we 
 paid you a moonshine visit.' 
 
 1 Bless me ! now I begin to recollect* 
 
 'To be sure you do, look again.' 
 
 * Oh ! now I remember you perfectly.' 
 
THE A UBERGE. 437 
 
 ' Well, how is our jolly cove Ge"rard, how is he getting on ? quite 
 strong and hearty, eh ?' 
 
 ' I'faith is he, he was here only this morning, and took a glass or 
 two on his way to Lamare house, where he had employment.' 
 
 Of this house, or of its situation, I was utterly ignorant ; never- 
 theless, as I had given myself out as a person well acquainted with 
 the neighbourhood, I was careful not to betray myself by risking 
 any inquiry. Still I trusted that, without directly asking the ques- 
 tion, I should be enabled to lead my voluble friend, by indirect 
 means, to the point at which I wished to arrive. Accident favoured 
 me, for scarcely had we swallowed a few mouthfuls of our dinner, 
 than Mother Bardou entered the room. 'You were talking of 
 Gerard just now,' said she, * his daughter has just called in.' 
 
 ' Indeed ! which of the daughters ?' * The youngest' 
 
 I rose immediately, and running up to the child, embraced her 
 before she had time even to look at me ; and rapidly naming each 
 member of her family, made many and warm inquiries after their 
 health. When she had replied to them, I cut short the parley by 
 giving her a trifle of money, and recommending her to hasten 
 home, whither I would accompany her, as I was extremely anxious 
 to present myself to her excellent mother ; beckoning to my com- 
 panions, we left the house, following the footsteps of our little 
 guide, who, surprised at the novelty of the rencontre, was making 
 with all speed for the dwelling of her mother. No sooner, how- 
 ever, had we got out of sight of the auberge, than I called to the 
 girl, ' Hark ye, my little one, do you know the place they call 
 Lamare house ?' ' It stands just down there,' said she, pointing 
 with her finger to the other side of Hirson. 
 
 ' Well, then, I'll tell you what you shall do ; just run on and let 
 your mother know that you have met three particular friends of 
 your father, and that we shall return to sup with him. So that she 
 may as well have it all ready for four of us. That's right make 
 the best of your way ; good evening, my pretty maid.' 
 
 The daughter of Gerard pursued her way, and we were not slow 
 in following the road she had described to us, which brought us 
 nearly facing the house we sought, but no persons were to be seen 
 about, and upon questioning a countryman whom we met, he in- 
 formed us that Pons was at work with a number of labourers at a 
 short distance from thence ; we proceeded onwards, and having 
 gained an eminence, obtained a view of about thirty men employed 
 in repairing the high road. Gerard, by virtue of his office of over- 
 seer, was in the midst of this group. We advanced within fifty 
 steps of the workmen, when I made my agents observe an individual 
 whose countenance and general appearance exactly corresponded 
 with the description we had received of the ferocious Pon's; although 
 
438 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 we entertained no doubt of his being the man, we durst not attempt 
 to seize him, for should his companions undertake his rescue, we, 
 of course, should come off but badly, and even his single arm, when 
 impelled by the fear of being taken prisoner, might be more than a 
 match for my small party. Our situation was embarrassing enough, 
 yet had we displayed the least symptom of it, Gerard would either 
 have made us pay dearly for our temerity in daring to attack him, 
 or he would escape our grasp by a hasty retreat to the frontier. 
 Never had I felt a greater need of prudence and self-possession. I 
 consulted with my agents, two firm and intrepid men. * Act as 
 you think proper,' said they, ' and rest assured of our seconding 
 you in whatever steps you may take.' 
 
 * Well then/ cried I, ' follow me, and do nothing till a fit oppor- 
 tunity arrives ; and perhaps we may turn out the more cunning 
 party of the two, although the enemy may have the advantage of 
 superior strength.' 
 
 I walked directly up to the individual whom I supposed to be 
 Gerard, my two companions keeping at a little distance. The 
 nearer I approached the more assured did I feel that I had not 
 mistaken my man ; thus convinced, and without farther hesitation 
 I hurried up to Pons, and embracing him with every demonstra- 
 tion of regard, exclaimed, ' Pons, my good fellow, how are you ? 
 how is your excellent wife, and all your family ? quite well, I trust ?' 
 
 Astonished at this unexpected salutation, Pons remained in 
 silent examination of my face for some minutes ; * Devil take me,' 
 said he at last, ' if I know who or what you are ; where the deuce 
 did you spring from ?' 
 
 ' What !' said I, ' not recollect me ? am I then indeed so much 
 altered?' 
 
 ' Not I, I do not remember ever seeing you in all my life ; can't 
 you just tell me your name? Stay, now I look again, I feel 
 certain that I have met that face of yours somewhere or other, 
 although where I have seen you is more than I can tell.' 
 
 * I am a friend of Raoul and Court,' said I, whispering in his 
 ear, 4 and am sent to you by them.' 
 
 * Ah !' cried he, pressing my hands warmly in both of his, and 
 turning to the workmen, who were gazing in wonder at this 
 unexpected change of his reception of me, * I must have lost my 
 senses, I think, not to remember one of my best friends ! Not to 
 recognise my dear friend ! the devil must have flown away with 
 my memory. My dear fellow, let me embrace you ;' and, suiting 
 the action to the word, he gave me such an emphatic hug as well 
 nigh stifled me. 
 
 During this scene my agents had insensibly advanced nearer to' 
 the spot where we stood. Pons perceiving them, inquired if they> 
 belonged to me. ' They are two of my ostlers,' said I. 
 
PONS GERARD. 439 
 
 ' I thought so, but you must stand greatly in need of refresh- 
 ment, and those gentlemen yonder would, I dare say, have no ob- 
 jection to a glass of something good ; what say you ?' 
 
 * With all my heart. A bottle of your best wine will do us no harm.' 
 
 * Well, then, let us go ; but in this cursed place, which produces 
 nothing but wolves, there is nothing to be had ; however, if you 
 don't mind walking over to Hirson (which, to be sure, is a good 
 league from hence), we shall get as good a bottle of wine as ever 
 was uncorked.' 'Come along then, let us go to Hirson.' 
 
 Pons bade adieu to his comrades / and we 'set out together. As 
 we walked along I could not help confessing that the immense 
 strength of this man did not appear to have been at all exagge- 
 rated by Raoul or Court ; he was but of middling height, probably 
 not more than five feet four inches at the utmost, but square built, 
 and exhibiting every indication of muscular power. His swarthy 
 face, embrowned still more by a constant exposure to the sun and 
 wind, was distinguished by deeply marked features, expressive of 
 energy and determination ; he had enormous limbs, and a strong, 
 sinewy throat, in strict accordance with the whole of his robust 
 frame ; in addition to this he wore immense whiskers, and a more 
 than usual quantity of beard ; his hands were short, thick, and 
 covered with hair, even to the fingers' ends ; his harsh and pitiless 
 air seemed to belong to a countenance which might exhibit a me- 
 chanical relaxation of the risable muscles, but had never once 
 smiled from an internal feeling of benevolence or good-will. 
 
 Whilst I was intently occupied in making these observations, I 
 could perceive that Pons was regarding me with equal attention ; 
 at last, stopping suddenly, as if to take a closer view, he exclaimed, 
 ' Why you really are a very fine fellow, and fill out your clothes as 
 well as I have ever seen a man ! I think you and I should make 
 an excellent pair, for I am none of the slightest figures any more 
 than yourself; not like that little hop-o'-my-thumb,' added he, 
 pointing to Clement (who was the smallest man amongst my 
 agents) ; ' why, I could swallow a dozen such as he at my breakfast.' 
 
 * Don't flatter yourself,' said I ; * you might not find it so easy 
 a task as you may fancy.' 'Very possibly,' replied he; 'these 
 undersized chaps are frequently all nerve and muscle.' 
 
 After these trifling remarks, Pons inquired after his friends. I 
 told him that they were quite well ; but that not having seen him 
 since the affair of Avesnes^ I had left them very uneasy as to what 
 had become of him. (The affair of Avesnes was a murder. 
 When I alluded to it, his countenance exhibited not the slightest 
 emotion.) 
 
 ' Well, and what brings you to this part of the country ?' asked 
 he ; ' are you after a bit of moonshine, eh ?' 
 
 'You have just hit it, my friend/ said I. 'My business here is 
 
440 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ,. 
 
 to endeavour to dispose of a string of broken-down horses, which 
 are famously doctored up for taking-in the knowing ones. Our 
 friends told me that you could lend me a helping hand.' 
 ' Ah, to be sure, you may depend on me,' protested Pons, 
 With this sort of conversation we reached Hirson, where we 
 halted at the house of a clock-maker who sold wine. We were 
 soon placed round a table ; our wine was brought, and, whilst we 
 were drinking it, I led the conversation back to Court and Raoul. 
 * Poor fellows,' said I, * I fear that at this present moment they are 
 very queerly situated.' ' How so ?' asked he. 
 
 * Why, I did not wish to tell you all at once ; but the fact is, 
 they are in considerable trouble ; they have been arrested, and I 
 greatly fear that they are now in prison.' * On what account ?' 
 
 ' Of that I am ignorant ; all I know is, that I was breakfasting 
 with Court and Raoul, when the police broke in upon us, and, 
 after closely interrogating us all three, they allowed me to go 
 about my business. As for our two poor friends, they were 
 detained in solitary confinement ; nor would you have learned their 
 misfortune had not Raoul, in returning from his examination, 
 managed to whisper a few words to me unobserved, begging me to 
 warn you to be on your guard, for that they had been closely 
 questioned as to their acquaintance with you. I cannot give you 
 any farther particulars.' 
 
 * And who arrested you ?' inquired Pons, who seemed thunder- 
 struck at the intelligence. ' Vidocq.' 
 
 4 Oh ! the scoundrel, the scamp ! But who is this Vidocq, of 
 whom we hear so much ? I have never been able to meet him 
 face to face ; once only I perceived him following an individual 
 into the house of Causette. I was told it was him, but I forget all 
 about him ; and I would cheerfully give half-a-dozen bottles of 
 wine to anyone who would procure me a good stare at him.' 
 
 1 Bless you, it is easy enough to meet with him,' replied I ; ' he 
 is always about in one place or another.' 
 
 1 Well, I would advise him to keep out of my reach,' exclaimed 
 Pons. ' If he were here, I will engage he would pass the worst 
 quarter of an hour he ever experienced in his life.' 
 
 4 Oh ! you are like all the rest of them, talking of what you 
 would do ; and yet if he were before you at this moment, you 
 would sit perfectly still, and be the first to offer him a glass of 
 wine.' (At the time I was saying this I held out my glass, which 
 he filled.) 
 
 * I ! I offer him wine ! May a thousand devils seize me first 1* 
 ' Yes, you, I say, would invite him to drink with you.' 
 
 'I tell you I would die sooner.' 
 
 * Then you may die as soon as you please, for / am Vidocq, and 
 I arrest you.' 
 
ARREST OF PONS. 441 
 
 ' How, how ; what is this ?' 
 
 ' Yes, I arrest you !' and approaching my face to his, ' I tell you, 
 villain, I arrest you, you are done ; and if you dare to stir one 
 step, I will tweak off your rascally nose. Clement, handcuff this 
 worthy gentleman.' 
 
 The astonishment of Pons defies description. Every feature 
 appeared distorted, his eyes starting from their sockets, his cheeks 
 quivering, his teeth chattered, and his hair stood on end ; by 
 degrees these symptoms of a general convulsion, which had affected 
 only the upper part of his frame, gave way to a fresh revulsion of 
 nature. After his arms were fastened, he remained for nearly half 
 an hour motionless, and as though petrified. His lips were apart, 
 and his tongue glued to the palate of his mouth ; and it was only 
 after repeated efforts that he succeeded in detaching it ; in vain his 
 parched and swollen tongue sought a moisture, which the dried-up 
 lips were unable to afford, and the countenance of the ruffian ex- 
 hibited alternately the pale, livid, cadaverous hues of a corpse ; at 
 last, recovering from his lethargy, Pons articulated these words : 
 
 'What, are you Vidocq? ah, had I but known it when you first 
 spoke to me, I would have rid the earth of such a sneaking 
 beggar.' 
 
 ' Well,' said I, ' I thank you all the same for your kind inten- 
 tions : meanwhile, as you have fallen into the trap, you owe me 
 the six bottles of wine you promised to whoever would show you 
 Vidocq, and you cannot deny my having done so. Another time 
 I advise you not to tempt the devil.' 
 
 The gendarmes who were called in after the arrest of Pons 
 could scarcely credit their eyes ; during the search we had been 
 directed to make throughout his house, the mayor of the place 
 begged to see us, that he might express his grateful sense of the 
 service we had rendered to the whole province. 
 
 * You have,' said he, 'delivered us from a frightful scourge, from 
 a wretch who was our torment and dread.' 
 
 All the inhabitants joined in expressing their joy at the capture 
 of their late foe, as well as their astonishment at the ease with which 
 it had been effected. 
 
 The search over, we removed to sleep at La Capelle. Pons was 
 closely handcuffed to one of my agents, who had orders not to 
 quit him night or day : at our first halt, I caused him to be un- 
 dressed, in order to ascertain whether or not he had any concealed 
 arms about him. When he was stripped, I really doubted his 
 belonging to the human race ; the whole of his body was covered 
 with a thick bushy glossy hair ; he might, indeed, have been mis- 
 ta u en for the Hercules Farnese, enveloped in the skin of a bear. 
 
 Pons appeared perfectly tranquil, nor did anything more than 
 common arise till the following day, when I ascertained that, during 
 
442 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 the night, he had eaten more than a quarter of a pound of tobacco. 
 I had, from previous observation, noticed, that men who are greatly 
 accustomed to the use of either tobacco or snuff, make an immode- 
 rate use of it in times of great peril or emergency. I knew well that 
 a pipe is never more quickly consumed than when in the hands of 
 a condemned criminal, whether it be immediately after receiving 
 his sentence, or on the eve of its being put into execution ; but I 
 had never yet seen a prisoner, situated as Pons was, introduce 
 into his stomach a substance, which, taken in so large a quantity, 
 might produce the most fatal effects. I very much feared that he 
 would suffer from his excess, and even suspected he had committed 
 it in the hope of its acting as poison. I therefore took from him 
 what tobacco he had remaining, and gave orders that it should 
 only be dealt out to him in small doses, and this on condition that 
 he would engage only to chew it. Pons yielded with a tolerably 
 good grace to this regulation ; he ceased to devour his tobacco, 
 although I never had any reason to suppose he had experienced 
 the slightest inconvenience frum what he had previously taken. 
 
 CHAPTER XL, 
 
 A visit to Versailles Resignation A criminal's agony Sleep of a murderer 
 New converts They invite me to witness their execution Reflections on 
 a gold box The fatal hour The Carline The crucifixes I embrace two 
 death's-heads Spirit of vengeance A last adieu Eternity. 
 
 I RETURNED directly to Paris, and then proceeded with Pons to 
 Versailles, where Court and Raoul were confined; immediately 
 upon my arrival I went to see them. 
 
 4 Well,' said I to them, 'our man is taken !' 'You have caught 
 him !' exclaimed Court, ' so much the better.' ' But,' inquired 
 Raoul, * tell us how you managed to cage him, you must have had 
 a fine business to tame so fierce a creature.' ' He fierce !' said I, 
 ' on the contrary, he has been as gentle as a lamb.' ' What, did he 
 make no defence ? ha ! ha ! Raoul, do you hear that ? he did not 
 even defend himself !' * The particulars you gave me of him,' said 
 I, ' were not thrown away upon me ' Before quitting Versailles, I 
 wished to show my sense of the kindness of the prisoners in thus 
 aiding me in the capture of the ferocious Pons, and, accordingly, 
 invited them to dine with me. My invitation was accepted with 
 the most lively satisfaction, and during the remainder of the time 
 we passed together, not the least gloom or sadness could be ob- 
 served on their countenances ; they appeared entirely resigned to 
 their fate, and even their language seemed to have undergone 
 some change, indicative of better feelings having resumed their 
 empire over their minds. ' It must be confessed, my friend,' said 
 Court, ' that we were following a rascally trade.' * Oh 1' returned 
 
A CRIMINALS AGONY. 443 
 
 the other, ' do not mention it ; it makes no one rich in the end but 
 the executioner.' 'And that is not the worst part of it to be in 
 continual misery from constant alarm never to know one 
 moment's tranquillity to tremble at the sight of a stranger.' 
 
 ' True, indeed ! I used to fancy I saw spies or disguised gen- 
 darmes in all who approached me, and the least noise, nay, my 
 own shadow, would sometimes frighten me out of my senses.' 
 
 'And, for my part, if I perceived myself an object of notice to 
 any person, I instantly supposed he was taking down the descrip- 
 tion of my person, and the blood would rush to my face with such 
 impetuosity as to suffuse my eyeballs with a guilty blush.' 
 
 ' Little indeed are the pangs of remorse and the terrors of a 
 guilty conscience guessed by those who are innocent of crime ; for 
 my own part, rather than endure them as I have done for years 
 past, I would blow out my brains.' 
 
 * I have two children, but if I thought they were likely to tread 
 in the steps of their unhappy father, I would implore of their 
 mother to strangle them.' 
 
 ' Ah, my friend ! had we but employed half the care and reflec- 
 tion in doing well it has cost us to prosecute our wicked schemes, 
 we might now be enjoying a very different lot, and anticipating far 
 brighter prospects than those before us.' 
 
 * Well, well ! 'tis useless repining, I suppose it was our fate.' 
 
 * Don't tell me that, there is no such thing as fate ; we are the 
 workers of our own destinies, depend upon it ; and I do not seek 
 such a weak excuse for my crimes ; no, I acknowledge that to a 
 love of bad company alone I may attribute my being the wretch I 
 am : do you not remember how, after every fresh act of wicked- 
 ness, I sought to drown the whispers of a reproachful conscience 
 by drunken excess? I felt as though the weight of a mountain 
 were upon me, and had I swallowed gallons it would have been 
 insufficient to remove it.' 
 
 ' And, for my part, I used to feel as though I had a hot iron 
 gnawing my very vitals ; if I fell into a short sleep, a thousand 
 devils seemed dancing around me ; sometimes I fancied myself 
 discovered in clothes dyed in blood, burying the corpse of a 
 victim ; or stopped whilst in the act of conveying it away on my 
 shoulders : shuddering I have awoke, bathed in perspiration, 
 wrung from me by the horrid visions of my tortured spirit ; drops 
 of agony, which might have been gathered in spoonfuls, stood upon 
 my aching brow ; in vain have I sought my pillow, which seemed 
 filled with thorns, even the pressure of my nightcap has appeared 
 to my throbbing brain like the sharp points of an iron band, which 
 drove its ru.sged teeth through my temples.' 'Ah ! I know well 
 what all this is, I have felt as though a thousand needles were 
 piercing every nerve.' * Possibly what you have described may 
 
444 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 be what is generally styled remorse/ ' Remorse or not, it has been 
 a fiery torment a torment, M. Jules, which I am weary of ; I can 
 bear it no longer, and it is time to end my misery. Some persons 
 might owe you a grudge for the part you have acted towards us, 
 but for my part I consider that you have done us a service ; what 
 say you, Raoul ?' * Since our confession, I feel as though I were 
 in Paradise in comparison to my former sufferings. I know that 
 we have a trying scene to go through, but our poor victims suffered 
 as much at our hands, and it is but fair that we should serve as 
 examples to others.' 
 
 At the moment of separating from them, Raoul and Court 
 begged of me to do them the kindness to come and see them 
 directly they had received their sentence ; this I promised, and I 
 kept my word. Two days after they had been condemned to 
 death, I went to them. When I entered their dungeon, they both 
 uttered a cry of joy, and made its gloomy walls echo with the joy- 
 ful welcome of their ' liberator,' as they termed me. They assured 
 me that my visit afforded them the greatest pleasure that they were 
 capable of receiving, and entreated me to bestow on them one 
 friendly embrace, in token of my forgiveness of their past, and satis- 
 faction at their present conduct. I had not the heart to refuse 
 them. They were fastened to a camp bed, with their hands and 
 feet heavily fettered. I advanced towards them, and they pressed 
 me in their arms with all the warmth and enthusiasm with which 
 the sincerest friends would welcome each other after a long separa- 
 tion. A friend of mine, who was present at this interview, ex- 
 perienced considerable alarm at seeing me in a manner entirely at 
 the mercy of two assassins. 
 
 'Fear nothing,' said I. 'No, no/ exclaimed Raoul, 'fear 
 nothing, there is little chance of our wishing to injure our good 
 friend M. Jules.' ' M. Jules!' cried Court, 'no, indeed, he is our 
 only friend j and what is more, he does not forsake us now !' 
 
 As I was leaving them, I perceived two small books lying beside 
 them, one of which was half open, and was entitled ' Christian 
 Meditations.' 
 
 ' You have been reading, my friends,' said I ; ' is religion a 
 favourite study with you ?' ' Oh no,' said Raoul, * I know very 
 little about it ; these books were left us this morning by a clergy- 
 man who has been to visit us. I have just opened them, and cer- 
 tainly if people would follow the precepts they contain, the world 
 would be better than it now is.' ' Yes, so I think,' said Court, ' I 
 am beginning to see that religion is not such a humbug as I once 
 thought it ; depend upon it, we were not sent into the world to live 
 and die like brutes.' I congratulated the new converts upon the 
 happy change which had taken place in them. ' Who would have 
 thought, two months back,' resumed Court, ' that I should suffer 
 
THE SNUFF-BOX. 445 
 
 myself tobe noodled by apriest !' ' And you know,' rejoined Raoul, 
 ' my contempt for them and their sermons, but when men stand in 
 our present awful extremity, it becomes them to look well about 
 them ; not that death alarms me ; I care as little for it as I do for 
 this cup of water. You will see whether I dread merely leaving this 
 world, M. Jules.' ' Ah yes !' said Court to me, * you must come.' 
 'I will do so, I promise you.' 'Honour.' 'I pledge you my honour 
 I will be present' The day appointed for the execution I repaired 
 to Versailles; it was ten o'clock in the morning when I entered the 
 prison ; the two unhappy men were deeply engaged with their con- 
 fessors. They no sooner perceived me than, precipitately rising, 
 they approached me. 
 
 RAOUL (taking my hand). ' You do not know what pleasure the 
 sight of you affords me, my friend ; we were just preparing to leave 
 this world with a clear conscience.' 
 
 MYSELF. * Pray do not let me interfere with so sacred and im 
 portant a duty.' 
 
 COURT. 'You disturb us, M. Jules ! surely you are jesting.' 
 
 RAOUL. ' Our time draws to a close, we have but a poor ten 
 minutes before us.' (Turning to the ministers.) * These gentle- 
 men will excuse us.' 
 
 RAOUL'S CONFESSOR. ' Proceed, my son, proceed !' 
 
 COURT. ' There are but very few in the world like M. Jules ; 
 nevertheless, he it was who caged us but that is nothing.' 
 
 RAOUL. ' If he had not done so, some one else would.' 
 
 COURT. * Yes, and some person, in all probability, who would 
 not have treated us half so well.' 
 
 RAOUL. ' Ah ! M.Jules, I shall never forget all your kindness to me.' 
 
 COURT. ' No friend could have done more.' 
 
 RAOUL. * And to come and witness the last concluding scene 
 into the bargain.' 
 
 MYSELF (offering him some snuff in the hope of changing the 
 conversation). ' Come, my friend, take a pinch, you will find it 
 very good.' 
 
 RAOUL (taking a hearty pinch). 'Not so bad' (he sneezes 
 several times) ; ' this is notice to quit, is it not, M. Jules ?' 
 
 MYSELF. ' I fear you may, indeed, look upon it as such.' 
 
 At this moment Raoul opened the box, which he had taken into 
 his own hands, looked at it attentively, and offering it to Court, in- 
 quired his opinion of it. ' It is a fine thing of the sort, is it not, 
 Court ? tell me of what material it is composed.' 
 
 COURT (turning away and shuddering). * It is gold.' 
 
 RAOUL. ' You are right to avert your eyes from the sight of that 
 fatal metal, which has caused the ruin of man since its first intro- 
 duction ; alas ! we are melancholy instances of the pernicious 
 effects it has produced.' 
 
446 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 COURT. ' To say that for such trash we should draw down so 
 much trouble and suffering upon ourselves ; how much better had 
 we devoted our time to honest labour. We had both of us excellent 
 parents ; what are we now but a disgrace to them and our families ?' 
 
 RAOUL. ' That is not my greatest grief at this awful moment. 
 Think of the gentlemen whose weasands we have cut ! the unfortu- 
 nate beings ! my heart bitterly reproaches me for their sufferings.' 
 
 COURT (embracing him). ' But you sincerely repent of your 
 past offences, and are about to pay with your own life for those 
 lives you have taken. " He who sheddeth man's blood, by man 
 shall his blood be shed." I think that was what the worthy father 
 here was reading to me as M. Jules entered.' 
 
 COURT'S CONFESSOR. 'Come, my children, time is hastening on.* 
 
 RAOUL. * 'Tis all in vain ; the Supreme Being (if there really be 
 one) can never pardon such guilty wretches as we are.' 
 
 COURT'S CONFESSOR. ' God's mercy is inexhaustible. Jesus 
 Christ dying on the cross interceded with His Father for the 
 penitent thief 
 
 COURT. * May He be pleased to intercede for us likewise.' 
 
 ONE OF THE CONFESSORS. 'Raise your soul to God, my children, 
 prostrate yourself in humble prayer before him.' 
 
 The two sufferers looked at me as if to discover what they ought 
 to do. They appeared to fear my ridiculing any devotional feel- 
 ings as the result of cowardice or weakness. 
 
 MYSELF. ' Let no false shame prevent your obeying the reverend 
 father.' 
 
 RAOUL (to his comrade). * My friend, let us recommend our 
 souls to our Maker.' 
 
 Both Raoul and Court kneeled down, and remained for about 
 a quarter of an hour in that position. They seemed rather col- 
 lected than absorbed. The clock struck half-past eleven ; they 
 looked at each other, and both speaking together, exclaimed : 'In 
 half an hour it will be all over with us.' As they pronounced these 
 words they rose; I saw that they wished to speak with me, I there- 
 fore drew aside, and they approached me. ' M. Jules,' said Court, 
 * we would beg a last favour in addition to those we already owe you.' 
 
 ' What is it ? depend upon my readiness to perform whatever 
 you may require.' 
 
 ' We have each of us a wife in Paris. My kind wife ! the 
 thought of her breaks my heart it overcomes me !' Tears filled 
 his eyes, his voice became inarticulate, and he could not proceed. 
 
 ' Come, Court,' said Raoul, ' what is the matter with you ? 
 Come, never play the baby , after all, you astonish me ! can you 
 be the brave fellow I took you for ? Have not I a wife as well as 
 you ? Come, my boy, courage, courage !' 
 
 ' 'Tis over now,' resumed Court ; ' what I had to say to M. 
 
PARTING WITH COURT AND RAOUL. 447 
 
 Jules was respecting some commissions we would fain intrust him 
 with for our poor widows.' 
 
 I pledged my word for the exact fulfilment of their desires ; and 
 when they had made known their wishes, I renewed the assurance 
 of their being strictly performed. 
 
 RAOUL. *I was quite sure that you would not refuse us.' 
 
 COURT. 'Ah, M. Jules, how can we hope to repay your kindness?' 
 
 RAOUL. ' If what our ghostly friend here asserts be true, we 
 shall meet in another and a better world.' 
 
 MYSELF. * I trust so ; and sooner perhaps than we at present 
 ihink for.' 
 
 COURT. Ah, 'tis a journey that must be taken sooner or later. 
 We are upon the eve of our departure.' 
 
 RAOUL. * M. Jules, is your watch correct ?' 
 
 MYSELF. 'I believe it is too fast' (I drew it from my pocket.) 
 
 RAOUL. * Let us see twelve o'clock.' 
 
 COURT. ' The hour for our execution ; heavens ! how the time 
 gallops on 1* 
 
 RAOUL. 'Look, the large hand is just about to overtake the 
 small one ! We shall never be weary of talking with you, M. 
 Jules, but still we must part. Here, take these prattlers, we have 
 no farther need of them.' (The prattlers were the books I have 
 before described.) 
 
 COURT. * And these two crucifixes, take them also ; they will at 
 least serve to remind you of us.' 
 
 A noise of carriages was heard, the two culprits turned pale. 
 
 RAOUL. * It is a wise plan to repent of our sins, but what if I 
 determine to die game ? No ; let me not turn bravado, as many 
 have done, but meet my fate with the courage of a man, and the 
 resignation of a sinner.' 
 
 COURT. * Well said, my friend, let us be firm, yet contrite.' 
 
 The executioner arrived at the moment for ascending the fatal 
 cart, and the sufferers bade me adieu. 
 
 1 You have just embraced two death's-heads,' said Raoul, as he 
 followed his friend 
 
 The procession moved on towards the place of punishment. 
 Raoul and Court were intently listening to their confessor, when, 
 all at once, I saw them start ; a voice, never to be forgotten, had 
 struck upon their ear ; it was that of Fontaine, who, recovered 
 from his wounds, had mingled with the spectators ; animated by 
 the spirit of vengeance, he abandoned himself to the most ferocious 
 expressions of joy. Raoul recognised him, and casting a look to- 
 wards me, full of contempt and pity for the unmanly exultation 
 displayed by the man to whom he was making all the atonement 
 in his power, he seemed to express that the presence of Fontaine 
 wa" unpleasant and painful to him. As the vindictive butcher had 
 
448 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 
 
 taken his station close by me, I lost not an instant in compelling 
 him to withdraw, and by a slight movement of the head, both 
 Raoul and his companion testified their grateful sense of this atten- 
 tion to their wishes. 
 
 Court was first executed ; even when he had ascended the scaf- 
 fold his eye sought mine, as if to inquire whether I was satisfied 
 with him. Raoul displayed equal firmness ; he was in the very 
 prime of life ; twice did his head rebound upon the fatal plank, 
 and the blood spirted out with so much violence as to cover the 
 spectators even at the distance of twenty paces : 
 
 Such was the end of these two men, whose villainy was less the 
 effect of natural depravity than the consequence of having asso- 
 ciated with dissolute characters, who in the very bosom of society 
 form a distinct race, possessing their own principles, virtues, and 
 vices. Raoul was only thirty-eight years of age, tall, active, agile, 
 and vigorous ; his eyebrows were high and arched, his eyes small, 
 lively and of a sparkling black ; his forehead, without being de- 
 pressed, retreated backwards a little, and his ears, which stood out 
 from his head, appeared as though grafted upon two protube- 
 rances, like the generality of the Italians, whom he likewise 
 resembled in the olive tint of his complexion. Court possessed 
 one of those countenances which defy the rules of physiognomy ; 
 he had a half-squint with one eye, and the whole of his features 
 could be said to boast of neither a good nor a bad expression ; 
 unless the sharp angles and projecting cheek bones might be con- 
 strued into an indication of ferocity. Probably these symptoms 
 of a bloodthirsty disposition had developed themselves through 
 the constant murders and other atrocious acts in which he was 
 constantly engaged. Court was forty-five years of age, and from 
 his youth had been continually involved in guilty courses : to 
 have gone on so long with impunity must have required a more 
 than ordinary supply of boldness and cunning. The commissions 
 entrusted to me by the two murderers were of a nature to prove 
 that their hearts were yet accessible to good feeling. I discharged 
 them with punctuality ; as to the presents which they made me, I 
 have preserved them, and can still show the books and the two 
 crucifixes. Pons Gerard, whom it was impossible to convict of 
 the murder, was sentenced to perpetual hard labour. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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