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 C A R T OU CHE, 
 
 CELEBRATED ERENCH ROBBER. 
 
 BT 
 
 R. B. PEAKE. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 "Some authors in the vaiu attempt to be cutting and dry, give us 
 only that which is cut and d; ied " — Lacov. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HUGH CUNNINGHAM, 193, STRAND. 
 
 1844.
 
 Aird and Burstall, Printers, 2, Tavistock -street, Covent- garden.
 
 
 A FEW •VTOEDS BY "WAT OF 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THESE VOLU3IES, 
 
 MOST BESPECTFULLT ADDRESSED TO THE SHADE OF 
 
 DON FRANCISCO 
 
 DE QUEYEDO TILLEGAS, 
 
 CAVAJLLEBO DE LA OEDEX DE SANTIAGO, 
 ETC., ETC., ETC. 
 
 Puissant Spectre, 
 
 Once Lord of the to^\Ti ca.led 
 Villa de la Torre de Juan A bad, a Palatine 
 of Spain, possessing the authority of life 
 and death on your tenants and vassals, born 
 of the class termed Senores de Horca y Cu- 
 chillo — " id est," lords ^vith power of hang- 
 ing and beheading: You, on earth. Gay
 
 11 PREFACE. 
 
 Ghost, mastered higher qualifications and 
 gratifications; for your biographers have re- 
 corded that your proficiency in the He- 
 brew, Greek, Latin, Italian, and French 
 languages was pre-emment. That you have 
 " touched the Spanish," we all know ; that 
 you have touched the English, I fear it must 
 be owned, that we have been but partially 
 charmed with your wit, pleasantry, and 
 humour. 
 
 Comical Shade, your fun was peculiar, your 
 style had great breadth, but being a poet of 
 estate, you could afford to " go your lengths ;" 
 and notwithstanding you were in high feather 
 with the CoNDE Duque de Olivares, Prime 
 Minister to Philip the Fourth, you suf- 
 fered several years' imprisonment by way of 
 taking off the keen edge of your satire. 
 
 Facetious Phantom, we live in times, thank 
 Heaven ! (where you now, of course, are inti-
 
 PREFACE. Ul 
 
 mate) when stone walls do not form the bind- 
 ings of Hterature, though it must be confessed 
 that we still have books bound in marble, 
 which is certainly somewhat better than ha\^ng 
 them bound in Russia ! 
 
 Pardon these pirns, Lord of hanging and 
 beheading, and condescend to listen why I 
 have ventured to address these volumes to 
 you. The History of Paul, the Spanish 
 Sharper, from your racy pen, was written 
 Y?ith the intent that the tale should point a 
 moral ; and I have humbly endeavoured 
 throughout my story, to prove that rascahty 
 can never be permanently successful ; and, 
 although a ^dllain may for a brief period 
 triumph in the issue of his nefarious deeds, 
 the following day or hour brings its defeat and 
 punishment : and that neither a learned educa- 
 tion, nor brilliant talents, can make a young 
 man thrive in the world, should they be unac- 
 companied by just and honourable feelings.
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 Moreover, it may be that I address you, 
 because I would endeavour to place myself in 
 comfortable juxta-position with the reading 
 few and the discerning many ; and own at once, 
 that, CARTOUCHE-like, I have ventured to 
 steal from your depository. The robbery is 
 not very extensive, but you have described the 
 ragamuffins of Spain so charmingly, that I 
 could not resist transporting some of their 
 shades across the Pyrenees. 
 
 I remain, 
 Puissant Spectre of Quevedo, 
 
 (A humble admirer of your inimitable 
 
 humour ; and more candid 
 
 than many other gentlemen, who have 
 
 liberally stolen from you ;) 
 
 Your servant, much indebted, 
 
 The Author of Cartouche. 
 
 Queens Elm, May 1, 1844.
 
 THE 
 
 ADVENTURES OP CARIOUCHE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIETH, PARENTAGE, JlSD EDUCATIOX — JESUITS' COLLEGE — 
 EARLY PROPEXSITLES — ilT rRIENT) THE COUNT — MOXSIEUE 
 FU8EAU cartouche's FIRST SERIOUS PREDATORY ADVEN- 
 TURE — ITS RESULTS. 
 
 Louis Dominique Cartouche was born Anno 
 Domini 1693, in that elegant quarter of Paris, 
 then called La Courtille, near the fountain Aux 
 Echaudes. His father was by trade a cooper, 
 and the intention of the worthy parent was that 
 Louis Dominique should in time follow his call- 
 ing ; but it hereafter proved that the younger 
 Cartouche succeeded in making quite another 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 sort of hutt to those which were manufactured 
 by his father, who, though poor, was an honest 
 man. 
 
 We are apprehensive that a vast portion of 
 the genius of craftiness and intrigue was inhe- 
 rent in the brain of the mother of Louis Domi- 
 nique, at the period of her conception ; and that 
 the son, like a certain young author of the pre- 
 sent day, could avow (as he did publicly) " I 
 know who my mother is, but I am extremely 
 puzzled as to the identity of my father." 
 
 Louis Dominique Cartouche was soon disco- 
 vered to be a child who possessed abilities. Even 
 at the early age of seven, in his little wanderings 
 about the courts and alleys of the quarter in 
 which he resided, he never came home without 
 bringing his mother a present, such as a bunch 
 of turnips, a sausage, a piece of salted fish, or 
 anything that was portable, soup excepted, as 
 portable soup had not at that period been in- 
 vented. We do not positively affirm that the 
 boy purchased these articles, but he had ac-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. S 
 
 quired a most ingenious mode of watcliing when 
 the o\nier's head was turned another way, and 
 then whipping off the object he coveted. In 
 fact, Louis Dominique was like the young stork, 
 which, as it has been affirmed by some natu- 
 ralist, supported its aged parents. 
 
 Some of these trifling appropriations haviag 
 been discovered, the honest cooper became 
 rather alarmed, for he observed that his only 
 son and heir was the victim of a propensity that 
 might one day prove fatal to him, for he could 
 neither keep his hands from picking and steal- 
 ing, nor his tongue from e^dl speaking, lying, 
 and slandering. So he thought (with the ap- 
 probation of Madame Cartouche) that he had 
 better send him to the school at the college of 
 Clermont, at that period under the able direc- 
 tion of the order of Jesuits. 
 
 It may appear strange that so humble an in- 
 dividual as Louis Dominique Cartouche could 
 have found his way into the college founded by 
 William Duprat ; but it must be remembered 
 
 b2
 
 4* THE ADVENTURES 
 
 that it was a part of the crafty principles of the 
 Jesuits, that the schools were equally open to 
 the plebeian as well as to the noble. The pu- 
 pils were taught gratis : some of the freethink- 
 ing wits of the day were of opinion that it was 
 about an equivalent for the education adminis- 
 tered : and, as for the qualifications of Car- 
 touche, so far as health, no grievous deformity, 
 or mutilation, and the possession of natural 
 abilities, he was everything to be desired. But 
 then certificates of good conduct were required. 
 These his mother procured from several old 
 ladies, of easy virtue, of her acquaintance. 
 
 Our hero accordingly fell under the tuition 
 of the fathers of that celebrated society, that 
 were said to have excelled in the art of taming 
 man. It was wonderful the power they always 
 obtained over their fellow men, and yet their 
 whole society was upset by one woman ! 
 
 Had Father de Sacy been less rigid to Ma- 
 dame de Pompadour, the order of Jesuits would 
 not thenhavebeen suppressed in France ; butsuch
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. O 
 
 was the morality of the period, that the hreath 
 of an incensed concubine was of sufficient avail 
 to waft away, for ever, many thousands of pious 
 and learned men, and to devote them to depen- 
 dence and poverty ; and which led to the ulti- 
 mate dispersion, in other countries, of the erudite 
 disciples of Ignatius Loyola. 
 
 Well, Louis Dominique was provided with 
 his primer, and essayed in sundry copy-books 
 those hieroglyphics named by the learned, " pot- 
 hooks and hangers," and which appertain pecu- 
 liarly to French penmanship. Cartouche lite- 
 rally studied under a writing-master, who 
 flourished in the seventeenth century. 
 
 It is a fact in natural history that wherever 
 boys congregate, fruit-staUs follow. Most of 
 the pupils of Clermont College were the sons of 
 reputable citizens of the good city of Paris ; 
 there were a few black sheep in the flock, as 
 there must be in aU large seminaries. But 
 many of the youths were provided by their fond 
 parents vrith pocket-money. The treasury of
 
 6 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Cartouche pere being nearly as empty as his 
 own tubs, it must be evident that Louis Domi- 
 nique was without any other pecuniary resources 
 than those which his own industry could supply. 
 The boy, too, was not only partial to fruits of 
 all sorts, but had a stomach always craving, and 
 of a most rapid capacity for digestion. If he 
 contrived to drive the wolf from his door, he 
 never could make it emerge from his belly. The 
 ingenuity of Louis Dominique was always on 
 the stretch to obtain apples, pears, peaches, 
 plums, grapes, or chesnuts, on gratuitous terms ; 
 at one time he would, as he approached a stall, 
 raise a cry that a mad dog was coming dowTi 
 the street, and while the marchandes du 
 fruitage turned their terrified heads. Cartouche 
 seized as much as he possibly could, and rushed 
 into the gates of the college. At another period, 
 in cold weather, his appetite became so excited 
 by the scent of some chesnuts that were roast- 
 ing on an iron dish over a charcoal fire, that he 
 could no longer resist the temptation, and having
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. I 
 
 reserved a small quantity of gunpowder, from a 
 cartridge he had stolen from a mousquetaire, 
 he contrived with great address to throw it, 
 screwed tight in a piece of paper, on the burn- 
 ing embers ; the result of which was a flight in 
 the air of the dish of chesnuts, and the suppo- 
 sition of the poor vendor that she was tormented 
 by his Satanic majesty; as a matter of course. 
 Cartouche was on the look-out to profit by his 
 exploit, and picked up hot chesnuts in all direc- 
 tions. In fact, so successful was he in these 
 depredations that he became a stall-fed beast. 
 With these chesnuts in his various pockets he 
 had to scamper into the college school, and stand 
 up with his class for the Latin lessons ; when 
 his worthy tutor would wonder why he could not 
 stand still, little dreaming that the boy kept 
 fidgetting from one side to another, to try to 
 relieve his person from the scorching influence 
 of the burning chesnuts. 
 
 In after life, when the rigour of prison had 
 subdued Cartouche, and his approaching execu-
 
 8 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 tion was before his eyes, he avowed, that the 
 facility with which he contrived to plunder 
 these poor apple-women was the cause of all his 
 future crimes; for, being so successful in his 
 first essays, he was emboldened to attempt rob- 
 bery on a scale of greater magnitude. 
 
 An ingenious writer (Monsieur Mesange du 
 Marais) has imputed a robbery to Cartouche, at 
 an early period of his sojourn at the college of 
 Clermont, which we cannot conscientiously be- 
 lieve to have happened. He said that Cartouche 
 made a general swoop of one hundred and 
 twenty nightcaps belonging to his school-fellows, 
 which he subsequently sold. 
 
 We are not quite prepared to give credit to 
 this anecdote, though related by so respectable 
 an authority as Monsieur Mesange du Marais, 
 because we do not imagine that there were one 
 hundred and twenty nightcaps amongst the 
 whole number of boys in the school, many of 
 whom had heads but no caps, whilst others had 
 caps but no heads.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. ^ 
 
 Amongst the latter was a youth about the 
 same age as Louis Dominique, a younger son of 
 the Count Conconnas ; and although this little 
 nobleman was compelled to be as plainly dressed 
 as any of the other boys during the period he 
 studied at Clermont College (a regulation strictly 
 enforced by the directions of William Duprat, 
 the foimder), he was allowed plenty of pocket- 
 money by his father : and the sly rogue, Car- 
 touche, perceiving what Conconnas expended, 
 determined that part of his revenue should pass 
 through his own hands. 
 
 Louis Dominique accordingly beat about tlie 
 bush to see how he could obtain the confidence 
 and afiection of this young sprig of nobility. 
 He had no money to purchase any little present 
 for him, but an opportunity soon ofiered whereby 
 he could prove hispersonal regard ; for as Father 
 Balthasar, one of the tutors, was crossing the 
 court-yard, which served the boys as a play- 
 ground, he received a hard blow in the fattest 
 part of his loin (he was a corpulent Jesuit), in- 
 
 B o
 
 10 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 flicted by a large pebble which had been thrown 
 at him. The pain was so sudden and violent, 
 that the black serge breeches of the unfortunate 
 Balthasar came in contact with the wet pave- 
 ment ; and this collision with the damp through 
 the serge momentarily revived him, and caused 
 him to turn his head in the direction from 
 whence the stone must have been hurled. Un- 
 luckily, there were but two boys standing there 
 together, and these were the young Count Con- 
 connas and Louis Dominique Cartouche. 
 
 Father Balthasar had not a doubt on the sub- 
 ject. As soon as he could move, and it was not 
 without difficulty, for a fat man feels a bruise 
 or the effects of cold more acutely than a spare 
 body, he went and denounced Count Conconnas 
 and Cartouche to the superior, the Abbe Potter. 
 
 On the two boys being summoned into the 
 awful presence, the young nobleman, who had 
 mischievously thrown the stone, trembled vio- 
 lently : his companion, who had more courage, 
 saw him turn pale, and when the Jesuit (another
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 1 1 
 
 tutor) came up, Cartouche boldly avowed that 
 he himself had hurled the missile. Sorry are 
 we to speak in disrespectful terms of the proper 
 feeling of the juvenile aristocracy of the period, 
 but most certain it was that Coimt Conconnas 
 did not deny the falsehood Cartouche had 
 uttered, and he afterwards put it on a point of 
 high gentlemanly feeHng, that he could not find 
 it in his heart to dispute the word of his school- 
 fellow. 
 
 We presume that Cartouche had his motives 
 for his conduct ; and the shrewd lad might have 
 also noticed that the system of the masters of 
 Clermont CoUege was (as, indeed, with the 
 whole order of Jesuits), that they could accom- 
 plish much more with their pupils by persuasion 
 than by the infliction of coercion. We must, 
 however, make some exceptions to this rule, 
 when the fathers have happened to be connected 
 with the Holy Inquisition. 
 
 The superior assimied a stately irown, and 
 demanded of Louis Dominique the reason why
 
 1^ THE ADVENTURES 
 
 he had dared to assault Father Balthasar. Car- 
 touche, with the innocence that distinguished him, 
 answered that he had accidentally thrown the 
 stone, but Father Balthasar had run across the 
 court at the same instant, and that it touched 
 his back. Now, as the superior was perfectly 
 well aware that the corpulent Balthasar had not 
 attempted to run for the last twenty years, Car- 
 touche was sentenced to a flogging for the pal- 
 pable deviation from truth. This castigation 
 was administered so smartly, that with all the 
 writhing Cartouche could effect, he could not 
 elude a single switch, and he inwardly cursed 
 his own noble-minded devotion, and the co- 
 wardice of Count Conconnas. 
 
 When the punishment was over, the Count, 
 with great consideration, brought Cartouche a 
 cold slate to sit on. Cartouche determined to 
 make the Count pay for that which he had en- 
 dured, for tliough educated in a Jesuit's college, 
 he did not feel himself authorised to act up to 
 that beautiful Christian principle — that if you
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 13 
 
 are smitten on one cheek, you are immediately 
 to present the other. Cartouche had received 
 quite enough of it. We regret to say, that in- 
 stead of contrition, the passion of revenge was 
 uppennost in his mind, and though it was some- 
 what allayed by the ex and ^o^^erior application 
 of the cold slate, he, boy-like, inwardly wished 
 that he had pitched the stone into the bladder 
 of the corpulent Balthasar ; and he made up his 
 mind to watch his opportunity with his noble 
 young friend. 
 
 Nor was it long ere the opportunity befel. 
 The old Count Conconnas had an over-abundance 
 of that which is equally the root of all e\il and 
 the source of most of the good things of this 
 life ; and his only son's allowance, thanks to the 
 folly of parental fondness, was much more than a 
 schoolboy's share : pro\Tng the ancient proverb, 
 "He who has but one pig makes him fat." 
 
 Now precisely about this time a remittance 
 had come to hand ; a circumstance vnth. which 
 Louis Dominique very soon made himself ac-
 
 14 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 quainted through the medium of the young 
 Count's valet. This latter personage, who de- 
 lighted in the name of Fuseau, v^as one of the 
 most mercurial of his race, possessing all the 
 sprightliness and gallantry of a Figaro, with some- 
 where about a tithe of his honesty. It will be evi- 
 dent therefore that his moral thermometer was 
 not very many degrees above zero. It is said that 
 valets are always discreet when they are well paid 
 for their discretion ; but even this proposition is 
 not always sure of its coroUary, for in the case 
 before us, Fuseau being a lad of genius, had an 
 especial penchant for Cartouche, who was also a 
 genius in his way. They had therefore many 
 secrets in common, and it was part of our hero's 
 system to hold out to the dazzled eyes of the valet 
 a rich future reward for the confidence reposed in 
 him. As, however, the remittance amounted 
 to one himdred crov^ns. Cartouche conceived the 
 idea of an entire repayment of his obligations. 
 He had accurately counted the stripes inflicted, 
 twenty-five ; so he took the slate on which he 
 
 (
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 15 
 
 had already coolly calculated, and put down 
 each switch at four crowns. Rod versus 
 Crowns : 
 
 - Rod 25 
 
 Crowns 4 
 
 100 
 
 — the abstraction of which from the casket in 
 which they were locked, and which was safely de- 
 posited in the bed-chamber of the young Count 
 was the next object of Louis Dominique. To be 
 sure the valet might lose his place, or worse, be 
 suspected as the thief; but then Cartouche, being 
 rich, would be able to administer the most effec- 
 tual consolation. This mode of reasoning, by 
 way of syllogism, will show at what an early 
 period he had acquired original and peculiar 
 notions of right and wrong. 
 
 Monsieur Fuseau, having a good and easy 
 situation in the sendee of the Count Conconnas, 
 was trustworthy in the general sense of the 
 term, and confined his peculations to the pur-
 
 16 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 chases he made on account of his master, wherein 
 he contrived that his petty profits should be 
 stated at tlie mean average of thirty-five per 
 cent. 
 
 But to return to Cartouche : night and day 
 he dreamed of the golden adventure in pros- 
 pect. One hundred crowns! what a treasure 
 for one whose whole soul craved for fine clothes. 
 At a later period, he declared to those around 
 him, that for one whole week he was absorbed in 
 the anticipation of this scheme. But, we are not 
 to suppose that at eleven years of age, the 
 monitor conscience is so obtuse as to disregard 
 the consequences of crime ; and, truly. Car- 
 touche had many qualms in traversing the gulf 
 between his former petty thefts, and the career 
 of guilt which must follow his present daring act. 
 Ali Pacha, a robber of later times, and, upon a 
 larger scale, has compared such a course to the 
 ripple of the ocean, which becomes a wave, irre- 
 sistible in its progress. 
 
 Quickness of eye and of apprehension were
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 17 
 
 qualities for which Louis Dominique was equally 
 remarkable. He watched, cat-like, the move- 
 ments of the valet. 
 
 There was another person upon whom it was 
 necessary to keep a \dgilant surveillance, and 
 this was the Pere Hierome, conservator of the 
 college. This officer had the charge to see that 
 all the pupils were in their beds by a certain 
 hour, and in their absence from school, or on 
 holidays, he held the keys of the different rooms 
 in his custody. The greedily-coveted moment 
 at length arrived. The yomig Count Conconnas 
 received an invitation to pass the day at the 
 country house of his aunt, the Marchioness de 
 Bouille, at Versailles, where he was also to sleep. 
 Conconnas was to dispense with the services of 
 his college valet, as there were numerous ser- 
 vants at the chateau. Fuseau was delighted on 
 hearing this, as he had been asked to a wedding 
 in the city, and he took the opportunity of en- 
 treating his master's permission to go thither. 
 By the rules of the college of Clermont he was
 
 18 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 also compelled to solicit leave from Pere Hie- 
 rome, the conservator. The staid sober-visaged 
 father granted the request with an ill grace, and 
 required that the valet should be back v^^ithin 
 the walls before the tower clock chimed seven. 
 When Fuseau had got out of his hearing, he 
 muttered to himself, ** A cursed old brute ! I 
 wish he would pass his leisure hours as inno- 
 cently as I shall." And the valet was correct in 
 his remark, for the hypocritical Jesuit, at a cer- 
 tain period of the afternoon, always repaired to 
 take chocolate with a Spanish lady, a widow, 
 with large beaming black eyes, but who pos- 
 sessed some peculiar scruples of conscience that 
 required the spiritual comfort of Pere Hierome 
 as often as it suited his convenience to bestow it. 
 The Count had departed to his aunt's, but 
 prior to this, during the morning prayers. 
 Cartouche picked his noble friend's pocket of 
 the key of the door of his apartments. The 
 valet started off into the city with a capital appe- 
 tite, and, although his stomach was empty, he
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 19 
 
 had a full determination to enjoy himself. The 
 consen^ator went to his private conservatory, the 
 Spanish widow, scruples, and chocolate ; and 
 now Louis Dominique regarded the occasion as 
 exactly fitted to his purpose. 
 
 As Cartouche, free from immediate observa- 
 tion, made his way up the narrow staircase, his 
 heart beat, and his tongue was parched; he 
 arrived at the door of the apartments of the 
 young Count — consisting of an entry and two 
 small-sized chambers, respectively used as sitting- 
 rooms and bed-rooms, customary in France from 
 time immemorial. The French are a sagacious 
 people, they choose to sleep where they think ; 
 but as sleep renders mankind thoughtless. Mon- 
 sieur, by this course, ob\'iates the necessity of 
 profound meditation. 
 
 Cartouche now appKed the stolen key — Oh ! 
 what an " Open Sesame,^' according to the trans- 
 lation of the " Arabian Nights," by the highly 
 ingenious Antoine Galland. He entered the 
 room, into which he had not been admitted since
 
 20 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the receipt of the crowns. The way to the 
 Count's chamber lay through that of the valet. 
 But when Cartouche was fairly in, he sought in 
 vain for the casket which contained the trea- 
 sure ; he was certain that neither Conconnas 
 nor Fuseau had taken it away, for he had 
 watched them both out at the great gates ; he 
 looked under the bed — in the drawers — in the 
 closets — nowhere ? He bit his lips and his 
 fingers with disappointment, and he was on the 
 eve of giving up the pursuit. In gazing round 
 the room he observed two framed engravings, 
 the subjects not quite in unison, for one repre- 
 sented a figure of the Madonna, from a paint- 
 ing by Correggio, with her meek eyes looking 
 downward, and close by it, in a similar frame, 
 was a tawdry portrait of a celebrated female 
 opera dancer of the day, in a distorted attitude. 
 The Madonna's beautiful face was turned to- 
 wards the door, and seemed to say, " Go, and 
 sin not" — if Cartouche had fortunately been of 
 the disposition to have noticed such a warning :
 
 OF CARTOUCHE, 21 
 
 but the devil contrived to counteract this little 
 accidental intervention, by attracting the eye of 
 Louis Dominique to the poised leg and foot of 
 the dancing lady, which was pointed on high. 
 The glance of Cartouche followed the line, and 
 suddenly rested, to his infinite delight, on the 
 object of his wishes, the casket, perched on the 
 top of an armoire — a lofty old-fashioned carved 
 cabinet, or clothes-press. Louis Dominique 
 was breathless. He instantly de^-ised an esca- 
 lade and gained the top ; he then extended his 
 whole length on his stomach — for there was not 
 space enough between the upper part of the 
 cabinet and the ceiling of the room to enable 
 him to sit upright ; he reached his arms round 
 the casket, and pressed it closely to his bosom as 
 something long sought and dearly cherished. 
 There he lay in the dust of half a centur}" which 
 had collected on the top of the armoire. He 
 had no immediate means of getting the casket 
 down, but he had provided in his pocket a bent 
 nail to be used as a pick-lock ; so, \vith some
 
 yiZ THE ADVENTURES 
 
 labour, by niggling and twiddling, the casket 
 was opened, and before his eye lay the glittering 
 treasure ! Oh, how he gloated on it ! — " It is 
 mine ! — all mine ! — a mine of silver !" 
 
 But the course of thieving (we are thankful 
 that it is so) never did run smooth : and at the 
 very moment when all seemed bright and fair 
 as a poet's dream — a noise — footsteps — " What 
 fiend of hell is coming ?" thought Louis Domi- 
 nique. 
 
 Wanting the experience of an older practi- 
 tioner. Cartouche, intent on his prey, and secure 
 in the absence of any one who could probably 
 come to these apartments, had left the key in 
 the lock of the exterior door. 
 
 When Pere Hierome went, as was his custom 
 of an afternoon, to the apartments of the 
 Spanish lady, he found her whole establishment 
 in disorder, in consequence of the escape of her 
 favourite parrot from its cage, and the lady, 
 agonised at the loss, had gone herself in pursuit ; 
 for she valued the bird greatly, as it had be-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 2S 
 
 longed to her dear husband, dead and gone, and, 
 moreover, could sing a variety of hymns and 
 psalms, which made it a charming companion in 
 the absence of Pere Hierome. 
 
 So the Jesidt, recollecting that he had not re- 
 ceived the key from either Count Conconnas or 
 the valet, walked back again to the college of 
 Clermont, ascended the stairs, and suddenly 
 entered the room. Cartouche was in despair. 
 He thrust his face do^-n into the dust, and lay 
 on the top of the armoire in terrified ambush, 
 expecting instant and summary detection. In 
 so much danger, to stir was impossible ; and 
 even to breathe, in the stillness of that chamber, 
 amounted almost to discovery. The Pere 
 Hierome looked round the room, and seemed 
 surprised that it should be vacant, especially as 
 he had found the key in the door. He then 
 proceeded to open the doors of the armoire with 
 an air of curiosity, and from a shelf he took 
 down a bundle of private letters which had been 
 written to the young Count Conconnas : seated
 
 24 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 himself in an arm-chair, with his face turned 
 from the light towards the cabinet, and began 
 to amuse himself with reading these letters, 
 which he considered a very praiseworthy under- 
 taking, as gaining a knowledge and insight of 
 the affairs, secrets, and character of one of the 
 pupils. 
 
 He found some letters from the mother of the 
 Count, enjoining him to attend closely to his 
 classical studies, and to be sure to use his tooth- 
 brush daily; one mis-spelt billet-doux from a 
 young female, enclosing a lock of her hair, pas- 
 sionately desiring that Conconnas should come 
 and throw himself at her feet, and to be sure to 
 bring some money vrith him ! But the Jesuit 
 was most incensed on reading a letter in which, 
 to his surprise, he found his own name men- 
 tioned. This letter had been pemied by a crony 
 of the Count Conconnas, whose education was 
 finished, and who had quitted the college. The 
 passage that related to the worthy Pere run 
 thus :
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 25 
 
 ** And now, dear friend, tell me how goes on 
 old Fuzwig ? How fares our grave conservator? 
 Does he touch the Spanish now ? He who can- 
 not laugh, need but think of an old woman that 
 wears false locks. The most penitential ancho- 
 rite has now and then a small flight of vanity. 
 Oh ! Hierome, Hierome ! thou art indeed a 
 hypocrite, and settest but sC sorry example to 
 thy simple pupils." 
 
 The old saying has it, that listeners never hear 
 any good of themselves ; certainly the prying 
 Jesuit never imagined, when he surreptitiously 
 read the Count's correspondence, that he should 
 find out that his own peccadilloes were the sub- 
 ject of mirth for the school-boys. He there 
 closed the investigation of the correspondence, 
 and replaced the letters on the shelf in the 
 armoire — Cartouche, at full length, was bathed 
 in a cold perspiration. The Jesuit then left the 
 room, passed through the chamber of the valet, 
 and went out at the door, when Louis Domi- 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 26 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 nique, to his exquisite horror, heard the key 
 turn twice in the lock, and found that he was a 
 prisoner. Now, for it was the first moment that 
 he recollected it, he inwardly and bitterly cursed 
 his folly in leaving the key behind: it was use- 
 less to think of escape by the window, it was 
 three stories from the court-yard. The only 
 consolation he had was reaching handfuls of the 
 crowns, and cramming them into his pockets, 
 and at this moment he listened to an altercation 
 on the stairs; it was Fuseau, who had returned 
 from the wedding of his relative in the city, and 
 evidently was flustered with liquor. The con- 
 servator met the valet at the entry, and chided 
 him for his carelessness in leaving his master's 
 door open, and the key in it. Fuseau protested 
 vehemently that he never received the key. The 
 Jesuit told him that he was drunk, and that he 
 should report him to the principal in the morn- 
 ing. Fuseau defended his character with much 
 volubility so close to the face of the conservator 
 that Pere Hierome told him that he smelt un-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 27 
 
 bearably of onions and wine. Hierome walked 
 away very dignified, and the valet entered the 
 chamber, and locked the door, in drunken dis- 
 concertation. He hiccuped frequently, for in 
 truth he had eaten and drunk hugely at a bour- 
 geois dinner, and onions had been plentifully 
 dispersed ia the cookery. Fuseau was fond of 
 the vegetables, and knew how to get rid of the 
 strong odour of them, according to the mode of 
 a quaint old English author : — 
 
 " If leekes you like, but do their smell disleeke 
 Eat onyons, and you shall not smeU the leeke, 
 If you of onyons would the scent expeU, 
 Eat garlicke, that shall drown the onyons smelL" 
 Fhibsophers Banquet, 1633. 
 
 Fuseau had not the slightest iDcliQation to 
 sleep. The fumes of the wine rendered his 
 brain a little wild, and, in a laudable sense of 
 duty, he began to put his master's chamber to 
 rights, talking all the while to himself: " I 
 drunk, indeed ! a faithful servant like me ; one 
 who can be left entrusted with untold gold : aye, 
 aye, there's the casket safe enough, though my 
 
 c2
 
 28 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 young master did leave the outside door open* 
 Shall I take the box down and see what is in 
 
 it ? no, no, no, no ; be honest, Fuseau — 
 
 honesty is the best policy. I'll guard the trea- 
 sure of Count Con — con — Conconnas, with my 
 life. I'm in that humour that if a thief was to 
 break in, I would cut his throat from ear 
 to ear." 
 
 This soliloquy was rather unpleasant to the 
 organs of hearing of Cartouche, and he wished 
 himself as insensible as the casket. 
 
 Fuseau now lay down on his own bed, but, 
 the door to the Count's room being open. Car- 
 touche, from his elevation, could see the valet 
 distinctly. Sleepless from indigestion, he was 
 turning over the pleasures of the wedding-feast 
 in his imagination, and thinking aloud. First 
 he enumerated the guests : the pretty grisettes 
 that had made his mouth water — the savoury 
 dishes at table — (Cartouche was as hungry as a 
 hound) — and Fuseau dilated on every article, 
 from the indispensable potage to the hoeuf a la
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 29 
 
 vinaigrette, the turkey a la daube, the loin of veal 
 
 en epifframme, the sweetbreads a la dauphine, 
 
 the pigeons en poqueton, the lamb cutlets en 
 
 casserokf and the pheasants a la braise. This 
 
 was a city wedding, and there was no lack of 
 
 good eating — Cartouche's bowels rumbled aloud, 
 
 Fuseau presently began to recollect all the songs 
 
 that had been sung during the afternoon, and 
 
 amused himself, as he could not sleep, with 
 
 singing them. 
 
 " Vive Henri Quatre, 
 Vive ce roi vaillant ! 
 Ce diable a quatre 
 Au triple talent : 
 De boire et de battre, 
 Et d'etre un vert galant — " 
 
 roared Fuseau ; then, tuning his voice tenderly, 
 he warbled — 
 
 " Donne moi, seduisante amie, 
 Donne moi le plus doux baiser ; 
 En accordant a ma tendresse, 
 Un tendre baiser delicieux, 
 De mon sort, di\'ine maitresse, 
 Tu vas rendre jaloux les Dieux." 
 
 Cartouche heartily wished Fuseau and his
 
 30 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 songs at the devil. This was in vain, for on 
 
 went the vocal valet — 
 
 " Je sers un vieil original 
 
 Qui tous les jours crie et tempete ; 
 D pretend que je fais tout mal, 
 Mais moi, je sais lui tenir tete ; 
 Je crains peu d'etre renvoye. 
 Ce cher maitre (par parenth^se) 
 Ne m' ay ant jamais rien paye, 
 Chez lui je suis fort a mon aise." 
 
 Once Cartouche, whose position was now be- 
 coming exceeding painful, half resolved to 
 scramble dovm from his hiding place, and trust 
 to the mercy of Fuseau, and he made a move- 
 ment that caused the old armoire to creak. 
 
 The valet jumped up, and cried out, " Who 
 is there ?" and instantly drew a short couteau 
 de chassBf which hung at the bed-side, from its 
 sheath. He exclaimed — " In the name of the 
 Holy Trinity, be ye rat or thief; if ye dare 
 appear, I vdll disembowel thee." 
 
 Cartouche had every reason to believe that, if 
 he ventured down. Monsieur Fuseau, being a 
 little the worse for wine, would be as good as
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 31 
 
 his word. The night passed on most wearily 
 for Louis Dominique, who neither slept nor 
 dared to sleep, while his extended skeleton was 
 in perfect agony. 
 
 Mom at length dawned, and as the valet talked 
 much in his sleep. Cartouche could not stir ; 
 but on the clock striking six, Fuseau awoke by 
 habit, with his head aching, his tongue as dry, 
 and as hot, and as white, as a stick of horse- 
 radish, and he experienced all the sensations 
 that ensue from over-feeding and lax libation. 
 Up he got, however, and began reproaching 
 himself with all the sins he had ever com- 
 mitted ; amongst which was a neglect of his duty 
 in not keeping the apartments sufficiently 
 clean ; and he made a vow to dust the furniture 
 all over, beginning first with the most trouble- 
 some task — to brush up the old armoire. 
 
 Just as Fuseau had laid his hand on his broom, 
 and had lifted a stool, on which he intended to 
 mount, when the discovery of Cartouche would 
 have been inevitable, a loud rap at the outside
 
 32 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 door was heard. Fuseau answered the knock ; 
 but his manner was very much altered when he 
 addressed Pere Hierome — the exhiliration of 
 the over-night formed a strong contrast with the 
 depression of the morning ; and he spoke most 
 respectfully to the conservator, with his hand 
 over his mouth. The worthy Pere wished to 
 know if the valet had seen the boy Louis Domi- 
 nique Cartouche, during the preceding after- 
 noon, as he had been a truant from school. 
 Fuseau having pleaded his perfect ignorance, 
 the Jesuit made some allusions to the state of 
 inebriety in which the valet had appeared. Fu- 
 seau was all contrition. The conservator then 
 directed him to run to La Courtille, and find 
 out whether the boy was at home or ill. Fuseau 
 obeyed, Pere Hierome remarking, that he would 
 remain until he returned. The Jesuit then 
 descended the stairs into the court, with the 
 valet, his intention being, when Fuseau's back 
 was turned, to peruse the remainder of the 
 Count's precious epistles, and to destroy those
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 33 
 
 that mentioned his name in implication wdth the 
 Spanish lady. The Jesuit, previous to descend- 
 ing, locked the door. Poor Cartouche could 
 not remain one moment longer ; on the vacation 
 of the room, with his pockets filled with ill- 
 gotten gain, he scrambled down from his eleva- 
 tion. Alas ! evils are like rain, and come in 
 showers. At the instant that Louis Dominique 
 rested his feet on the floor, the outer door was 
 unlocked. Cartouche caught a glimpse of Hie- 
 rome, and after an ineffectual attempt to conceal 
 himself behind the hangiugs of the bed, he threw 
 himself on his knees before the print of the 
 Madonna. Here, to the infinite astonishment 
 of the Jesuit, was the boy of whom he was in 
 search, in an attitude of prayer, and as dirty as 
 a scavenger. 
 
 " How camest thou hither, Cartouche ?" in- 
 quired Pere Hierome. 
 
 " Pve been locked up here all night," readily 
 replied the boy, and with an air of great truth. 
 
 eg
 
 34- THE ADVENTURES 
 
 When the Jesuit heard this, he began to 
 wonder whether Louis Dominique had noticed 
 his curious perusal of the Conconnas corres- 
 pondence. 
 
 '* But how came you to be locked in here ?" 
 asked the Jesuit, mildly. 
 
 " The Count locked me up for fun," delibe- 
 rately lied Cartouche. 
 
 " And where did you sleep ?" asked Hie- 
 rome. 
 
 " I did not like to take the liberty to get into 
 the Count's bed, so I reposed on the floor." 
 
 " Ay, that is the reason your face and hands 
 are so dirty ; but I observed you on your knees 
 before Our Lady." 
 
 " I was offering up a prayer," replied the 
 young hypocrite, " that I might be preserved 
 from punishment." 
 
 " That is quite right, boy," said the Jesuit. 
 " Now, did you sleep soundly, Cartouche ?" 
 
 " I never opened my eyes all night," answered 
 Louis Dominique.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 35 
 
 " Well, well, we must, I suppose, look over, 
 it this time," blandly remarked the consen^ator, 
 " since thou wast locked up in sport ; go, get 
 thee home, and wash thyself, and breakfast."
 
 36 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CARTOUCHE STARTS IN THE WORLD ON HIS OWN ACCOUNT — 
 "cheating play never thrives" — CARTOUCHE FALLS 
 INTO AGREEABLE C03IPANY — ROYAL ADVICE. 
 
 Cartouche did not lose one moment, but bowed 
 to the Jesuit, and made his way down to the 
 foot of the stairs as fast as he possibly could, 
 congratulating himself on his fortunate escape. 
 The first eifort of the boy was to run down two 
 or three retired streets. His himger and thirst 
 were intense, and he came into juxta-position 
 with one of the itinerants of Paris, who had on 
 his back an odd machine formed like a church 
 tower, near the bottom of which was a tap 
 from which, at the will of the marcJiand^ a 
 stream of very thin drink, called tisanne, issued.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 37 
 
 The mouth of Louis Dominique watered at this 
 relishing beverage, and he tendered a crown out 
 of his pocket to the vendor, who drew him three 
 or four of the tin cups-full. Cartouche waited 
 a minute for his change, but, somehow or other, 
 the marchand de tisanne had not sufficient small 
 coin in liis till, and Cartouche, observing a 
 Jesuit at the comer of the street, ran away, 
 exclaiming, " I shall see you again, monsieur.'* 
 
 " That's a young thief," remarked the mar- 
 chand, quietly putting the cro^vn into his inner 
 pocket. 
 
 He now dodged across an almost unfrequented 
 alley, when a charming scent regaled his olfac- 
 tory nerves, and caused an irresistible appetite. 
 This effluvia proceeded from a lady — no, from 
 the contents of a portable frying-pan, suspended 
 from the shoulders of an old female, with a char- 
 coal pot of fire beneath the pan, in which were 
 perambulating slices of bacon, undergoing the 
 process of the cuisine. Cartouche could not 
 withstand this delicacy ; the ancient temptress
 
 88 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 had slices of bread hanging at her chest in a bag, 
 and the hungry boy, again proffering a crown 
 piece, scalded his mouth with the savoury fry — 
 it was indeed so to him ; but the French do not 
 shine in bacon or pork — their pigs are grey- 
 hounds. The only endurable part of the animal, 
 to our notion, is the pied de cochon a la St. 
 Menehoud, and who that saint was, it has never 
 been our good fortune to discover. 
 
 Cartouche was eating away, to his heart's 
 content, the fried bacon and bread, when, look- 
 ing round, he saw Monsieur Fuseau, who was 
 returning from La Courtille. He immediately 
 darted behind the old woman, who in amaze- 
 ment turned suddenly round, and dashed her 
 charcoal apparatus against his cheek, almost 
 blinding him with the dust. Here was a sinner 
 with the embers on his head ! could he never 
 take warning from a holy omen ? Luckily for 
 Cartouche, the valet did not see him ; but his 
 fear overcame his prudence, and away he scam- 
 pered without his change, the old woman calling
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 39 
 
 after him, but it must be owned with a very- 
 faint voice, to come back for his money. He 
 had no sooner turned the comer of the street 
 than she scuttled away as fast as she could in 
 quite an opposite direction, blessing the saints 
 that she had made so good a morning's work of 
 it. Thus we observe, that ill-gotten riches never 
 make their possessor thrive, for Louis Domi- 
 nique had paid two cro\Mis for a breakfast that 
 was not worth two sous. Once more he found 
 himself the happiest of mortals — he had escaped 
 imminent danger, he was free, and had ninety- 
 eight crowns in his pocket. 
 
 Cartouche had a passion for fine clothes, and 
 he glanced on his school habilhnents with in- 
 finite contempt ; so he made his way to the Rue 
 de la Fripperie, and stopping at a broker's shop, 
 surveyed with a longing eye a coat trimmed with 
 silver lace. The broker invited Louis Domi- 
 nique into the shop, and a bargain was soon 
 struck up for the coveted dress. A pair of black 
 satin breeches were tried on in a trice, and a
 
 40 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 long-flapped padasuoy waistcoat, ornamented 
 with tambour-work, completed Cartouche's 
 costume. A small three-cornered hat edged 
 with feathers, formed a finish to this elegant ap- 
 parel, for which our hero paid about six times 
 the value, in his anxiety to be attired as a gentle- 
 man. The broker suggested to him the neces- 
 sity and decency of washing his face and hands, 
 and very good-naturedly offered the use of a 
 basin and towel. So far, all was of a piece, with 
 the exception of a very dirty shirt : but as finery 
 and filth were frequently in company together, 
 not only at that period in Paris, but are even in 
 vogue up to the present enlightened day, the 
 discrepancy was not by any means an object 
 worth notice. 
 
 Cartouche had still a want ; his hair was in 
 the formal cut of the Jesuit's college ; and now, 
 feeling himself to be somebody, as fine feathers 
 make fine birds, he entered the shop of a first- 
 rate perruquier, where he was received by a well- 
 dressed gentlemanly-looking person, with a
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 41 
 
 sword by his side. Cartouche very innocently 
 asked for the barber. 
 
 " Monsieur should be informed," replied the 
 gentlemanly-looking person, *' that the cogno- 
 men of barber is no longer in use in the fashion- 
 able world. Please to be seated." 
 
 Cartouche, sitting do\Mi, said — " Bless my 
 soul ! are you the hair-dresser ?" 
 
 " Pardon me, monsieur, no ; I am the phy- 
 siognomist ; give me leave to call my assistant ; 
 hola ! Fabien." And forthwith entered a gar9on 
 perruquieTf with all the necessary apparatus. The 
 physiognomist took Cartouche by the chin, that 
 he might examine his face the better — ^he gazed 
 at him gravely for a few seconds, and then ad- 
 dressing his assistant, " visage a marrojis" said 
 he, " marronnezj monsieur" The physiogno- 
 mist bowing, retired to an inner part of the shop, 
 while the gar9on proceeded with his task, and 
 soon gave to the exterior of the head of Car- 
 touche a very knowing and rakish appearance. 
 The young gentleman now determined to make
 
 42 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 up for his late abstinence and discomfort, by 
 enjoying himself to the utmost at the fair of St. 
 Germains, whither he repaired ; and there can 
 be no doubt that his intentions were fulfilled to 
 the letter, as he caused his crowns to fly about in 
 all directions. He had quite forgotten the past, 
 and all wore the sunny smile of pleasure, when — 
 so quickly does detection tread on the heels of 
 crime — on returning to Paris, and cogitating as 
 to how and where he should pass the night, he 
 was suddenly accosted by one of his schoolfel- 
 lows with the tidings that the robbery was dis- 
 covered ; that Fuseau, the valet, was in custody ; 
 that for playing the truant a complaint had been 
 laid before the principal of Clermont College, 
 and that a public punishment of rare and most 
 rigorous severity was in preparation for Car- 
 touche, under the direction of the Abbe Potter. 
 This was enough for Dominique ; to risk the 
 mercies of the Jesuits when seriously offended 
 were madness. So, without loss of time, after 
 bidding adieu to his schoolfellow, and giving
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 48 
 
 him a crown to say that he had not seen him, 
 he walked on in trepidation, scarcely knowing 
 whither he went. At length he found himself 
 in the suburbs of Paris, and, continuing to pace 
 on, arrived about twilight at Reine Moulin, so 
 exhausted as to be unable to proceed further. 
 Creeping within the verge of a wood. Cartouche 
 reclined himself at the root of an elm tree. 
 
 Notwithstanding the ** honour" which is said 
 to exist among thieves, certain it is that there 
 is less of esprit de corps ^ and more of distrust, in 
 that " honourable" fraternity than in any other. 
 This circumstance alone would be sufficient to 
 prove that thieves are excellent logicians, since 
 in reasoning from others to themselves they in- 
 variably premise a fallacy ; whereas, in deducting 
 from themselves to others, they adhere to truth 
 with a most praiseworthy scrupulousness. They 
 rob, for instance, under the allegation that all 
 property belongs to all men — excepting only 
 that which belongs to themselves ! We beg the 
 reader to pardon this digression, which he, or
 
 44 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 she will, we think, the more readily do, for the 
 moral which it involves. 
 
 Now, Cartouche, who had with so little com- 
 punction disregarded the meum and tuum of 
 social life, was not a little alarmed at the pros- 
 pect of being robbed himself of his ill-gotten 
 gains. And this apprehension it was that, though 
 wearied and foot-sore, prevented him from sleep- 
 ing for a good quarter of an hour after he had 
 thrown himself on the turf beneath the spread- 
 ing elm before alluded to. At the end of that 
 period he began to dose, and might eventually 
 have slumbered, but for the distant sounds of 
 voices and of steps. The approach of a number 
 of persons became manifest shortly after, as the 
 moonlight fell on them, and the lengthened 
 shadows moved rapidly over the patches of 
 greensward. At last, they were so near that 
 Louis Dominique could distinguish the phrases 
 they made use of ; but these were in a language 
 with which he had not the most remote ac- 
 quaintance.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 45 
 
 Cartouche was naturally courageous, and at a 
 later period in life would not have lost his pre- 
 sence of mind for an instant, merely because 
 some fifteen singularly wild-looking personages 
 had encamped within twenty yards of him ; but 
 inexperienced as he was, he trembled from head 
 to foot, and so grotesquely imintelligible were 
 their shouting, singing, dancing, and their witch- 
 like preparations for the evening's repast, that 
 he began seriously to question their identity 
 with mortals like himself. 
 
 These beings made a monstrous clatter with 
 their iron pots and pans, and a fire was briskly 
 kindled under a large cauldron ; their gestures 
 became at last so extravagant, and their rites so 
 startling, that Cartouche gave himself up for lost, 
 and imagined that each moment might see him 
 in the power of evil spirits, as a punishment for 
 his past crimes. Remorse took possession of 
 him, and he repeated aloud a short prayer with 
 which he was familiar at Clermont College ; and 
 which, as it happened to be for the repose of the
 
 46 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 soul of Ignatius Loyola, was not quite to the 
 purpose, but it was the first that occurred to 
 Louis Dominique, and he poured it forth. The 
 noise he made fell on the ear of one of the scouts 
 of the party, who instantly began to reconnoitre, 
 but perceiving that, in lieu of an enemy in am- 
 bush, there lay a shivering and helpless-looking 
 lad, he burst out into a laugh of derision, and 
 began to dance before him very much after the 
 fashion of a cacodemon during the last gasp of an 
 usurer. This circumstance convinced poor Do- 
 minique that his fears were but too well grounded, 
 and he commenced uttering such doleful lamen- 
 tations, that the scout deemed it advisable to 
 resort to means for tranquilising the youth, lest 
 his cries might bring around them unwelcome 
 visitants. He therefore made a signal, which 
 was promptly attended to, and some half-dozen 
 ragged rogues, seating themselves on the grass 
 near our hero, began to talk French to him, and 
 to assure him they were in reality no more than 
 flesh and blood like himself, though mayhap a
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 47 
 
 shade or two darker in complexion. He could 
 doubt no longer, and, when they politely invited 
 him to sup with them, he willingly, and at the 
 suggestion of a craving appetite, added to a 
 shivering sensation caused by dozing in the chill 
 night air, agreed to join their circle. Some 
 females, with intensely sparkling black eyes, 
 were busily employed around the cauldron, from 
 which reeked a very savoury odour, which made 
 Cartouche's mouth water. And yet all these had 
 appeared to him, only a short time before, no 
 better than so many devilish inventions. So 
 true it is that our eyes 
 
 " are the fools of the senses. 
 
 Or else, worth all the rest" 
 
 The reader will have concluded long ere this, 
 as to the precise character of the society into 
 which Cartouche had been introduced; for he 
 will have been aware that the romance of thievery 
 cannot be better exemplified than among a com- 
 munity of gipsies. 
 
 According to Pasquier, in his *' Recherches
 
 48 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Historiques," the people known as gipsies first 
 appeared in Paris, in August, 1427, and they 
 then came as penitents or pilgrims. They 
 represented themselves to be Christians driven 
 out of Egypt by the Mussulmans ; they obtained 
 permission to remain in the kingdom, proba- 
 bly because they were expert in certain small 
 trades; other troops of these erratics followed, 
 and they wandered about in all directions, com- 
 mitting petty depredations, and their women 
 invariably assuming the calling of fortune-tellers. 
 They were named by the French Bohemiens, 
 as they were supposed by some to have passed 
 over from Bohemia ; but an antiquarian author 
 asserts, that they derived the name from "-Boem," 
 an old French word signifpng a sorcerer. The 
 race was then, as it is now, dispersed all over the 
 habitable globe. Everywhere they exhibit the 
 same roving character, a dislike to a fixed settle- 
 ment and to the arts of husbandry, including 
 a general uncleanness in their diet; imbued with 
 profound ignorance, a disposition to pilfer, and
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 49 
 
 to impose on the credulity of others ; and it is 
 remarkable that, though they came evidently 
 from a warmer cHmate, while other beggars 
 lodge in bams, stables, or cow-houses, these 
 sturdy vagrants pride themselves in braving the 
 severities of winter, under the equivocal shelter 
 of a tattered blanket, extended on a few hazel 
 rods stuck into the earth at convenient distances. 
 When the meal was sufficiently cooked, the 
 contents of the cauldron were ladled and forked 
 out into a large metal dish ; and if variety con- 
 stitute the zest of a feast, this banquet did not 
 want that charm. The foundation of the potage 
 was four or five old hens, and a once jolly 
 cock; a gigot of questionable-looking mutton, 
 pigeons (there are pigeons at every feast in 
 France), and nine sucking pigs, which were so 
 exceedingly diminutive in size, as to lead one to 
 imagine that they had been, by some accident, 
 still-bom. Little did Cartouche imagine that he 
 was seated in a royal presence, but so it hap- 
 pened. The old chief of this party, although he 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 squatted on the turf, rejoiced in the title of King 
 of the Gipsies ; and there was a prodigious fuss 
 amongst the presiding goddesses of the caul- 
 dron, in hunting and groping to the bottom, to 
 pick out a peculiar delicacy that had been stew- 
 ing for his Majesty. This was a small quadruped, 
 whose flesh is in much esteem with the gipsies, 
 as being sweet and well flavoured — the Erina- 
 ceus Europceus, familiarly called the common 
 hedge-hog — an animal of great utility, not ex- 
 actly as to food and clothing, but food and 
 clothes-brush — that is, if ever gipsy brushed his 
 raiment ; and we have also heard on authority, 
 that the prickly skin was, in remoter times, used 
 by the Romans for hackling hemp. 
 
 The royal banquet could have been more nu- 
 merously attended; it might as easily have con- 
 sisted of three thousand as of the number of 
 which it was composed: but then there were 
 reasons (for, alas ! there was a police) which will 
 iimnediately suggest themselves in favour of this 
 mode of keeping a court, and travelling ^^^th the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 51 
 
 least possible ostentation, for a law, wliich had 
 passed in 1560, was still unrepealed, and this 
 ordonnance enjoined all impostors and vagabonds, 
 styled "Bohemiens" or "Egyptians," to quit 
 the kingdom under pain of the galleys. 
 
 In the course of the conversation, Cartouche 
 was given to understand that the name of the 
 clan was Curleople, and that, by tradition, they 
 were the descendants of some of Pharaoh's host, 
 that had miraculously escaped dro^vning in the 
 Red Sea. Cartouche felt a glow at the heart, 
 in being in presence of the scions of so ancient 
 a family. Moreover, he had seldom been in 
 such attractive company, for on his left hand sat 
 a rather remarkable specimen of gipsy beauty-. 
 She was about seventeen years of age, had raven 
 hair, black sparkling Andalusian eyes, a com- 
 plexion dark, but healthy, a form somewhat 
 slight, and, altogether, that captivating flexibility 
 of mien, which the Spaniards explain by the 
 word desinvoltura. Louis Dominique, albeit too 
 young to be violently in love, and to whom every 
 
 d2
 
 52 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 woman did not appear as an angel, was, never- 
 theless, much charmed with the attentions paid 
 him by the pretty Rose Coquillarde;* and her 
 sparkling eyes and white teeth, by a sort of 
 mesmeric influence, aroused in him all the latent 
 qualities of a mind, which was singularly buoy- 
 ant, though devoid of the highest attributes of 
 imagination. The King perceived this, and 
 detennined to draw out our hero, with a remote 
 view to drawing out his money, if, perchance, 
 he possessed any. 
 
 The King — ^but, in the name of loyalty, what 
 historians are we, that have left this worthy 
 with the bare mention of titular distinction? 
 
 Roy Colas (the original of our own " Old 
 King Cole") sat with much majesty, as dispenser 
 of the good things on this occasion ; and yet it 
 was a majesty overteeming with the recklessness 
 of fun. He was tall, and gaunt * of figure, with 
 a face composed, as it were, of four rubicund 
 dumplings ; his nose — a fifth smaller dumpHng, 
 * Coquillarde — argot, " Female Pilgrim."
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 5S 
 
 a glowing specimen of the claret class — threw a 
 sort of setting sunhght over everything ; he sang 
 with admirable voice and humour, and the twin- 
 kle of his eye betrayed an instant apprehension 
 of the ludicrous. His Majesty's attire was as 
 characteristic as it was curious, and consisted of 
 a buff jerkin, but patched in as many pieces as a 
 dissected toy-map ; his short cloak was of rusty 
 green, and embroidered with the shining shme of 
 snail tracks; his hose were odd, one scarlet, and 
 the other striped. Over these were dra^vn a 
 pair of jack-boots, exactly tmce as large as was 
 required by the shanks of their wearer, but they 
 had their utihty, for there was a space near each 
 calf to pop in a stolen fowl, or a snared rabbit. 
 We say nothing of the tags, poiats, ribbons, 
 orders of merit (?) ; but beneath his jerkin, on 
 the bare blade of his shoulder, he wore an order 
 (of demerit) which had been permanently affixed 
 by the gratitude of an enlightened government ; 
 and, so great was the modesty of Roy Colas, 
 that however warm he might have felt on the
 
 54 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 occasion of his receiving it, he was never known 
 at any period to have been vain enough to exhi- 
 bit it publicly. And this we attribute entirely 
 to the good sense of his Majesty. 
 
 The shaggy locks of Roy Colas were sur- 
 mounted by an antique chapeau 5ra*, the flat part 
 worn in front when the sun shone ; but, if the 
 weather was rainy, it was invariably turned the 
 other way, to keep the wet from trickling down 
 his Majesty's neck, and inconveniencing his 
 badge. This elegant hat was ornamented with 
 two cock's feathers. In a leather belt hung his 
 ^^jiamhe"ov short tuck sword, which would serve 
 for any occasion ; so excellent was its temper, 
 that it could rip up an enemy, embowel a porker, 
 pick a lock, open an oyster, strike a light against 
 a flint, cut his hair, scale a salmon-trout, dis- 
 lodge a trunk from a travelling-carriage ; in fact, 
 it was a sword of all work — a Aac^-sword. 
 
 The hedge-hog having been discussed, Roy 
 Colas, wiping his regal lips on the back of liis 
 hand, called " Ho ! Bras D'Acier, the wine-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 55 
 
 skin !" And now Cartouche saw that something 
 very much resembling a young porpoise was 
 thrown into the midst of the company ; and, at 
 the same moment, cups of wood and pewter 
 were placed before them. Then appeared Bras 
 D'Acier (who was the gentleman who had 
 amused him by his dancing), a fellow of a savage 
 physiognomy, who speedily tapped the wine- 
 skin, and, filling the King's cup and his own, 
 conunanded Cartouche to do the like by the rest 
 of the circle ; but the latter, whose spirit, under 
 any circumstances, was indomitable, was not to 
 be passively trodden on, and he therefore took 
 about as little notice of the frowns and immense 
 moustaches of Monsieur Bras D'Acier as though 
 he had been a paper Scaramouch. 
 
 Bras D'Acier raised a leathern thong which 
 served him for a girdle, and menaced Cartouche 
 with a heavy thwack ; but this was instantly 
 averted by the quick eye and address of Rose 
 Coquillarde, who suddenly plucked the belt 
 from the hand of the assailant, and threw it into
 
 56 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the cauldron. Louis Dominique gave the pretty 
 gipsy a grateful glance, which was not unob- 
 served by Roy Colas. Rose Coquillarde then 
 filled the vessels all round, and drank " To the 
 well-doing of the stranger !" 
 
 ** Let us know the stranger's name," said his 
 Majesty. 
 
 " Cartouche," replied Louis Dominique. 
 
 " Cartouche," repeated Rose. 
 
 " The son of the Emperor of Italy, doubt- 
 less !" remarked Roy Colas, with a wink ; " aye, 
 aye, and in disguise, for reasons of state. By 
 Saint Dindon I when / was about the age of the 
 Prince of Italy, I was not unwilling to bear a 
 wine-stoup round to the guests of the king, my 
 father ; and for an excellent reason — I always 
 had as much liquor as I could drink for my pains. 
 But come, come ; let the wine go round. Sit 
 ye down, Bras ; thou hast but one eye, my friend, 
 but it is better to have but one eye than to be 
 quite blind. Do not you see with half an eye 
 that our guest is a gentleman ?"
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 57 
 
 Cartouche was much tickled \\-ith the latter 
 part of this speech ; for, whatever might have 
 been faulty in the Jesuitical system, politeness 
 was, at all events, taught amongst them as a 
 virtue ; and of this quality Louis Dominique 
 was never known to be deficient, he therefore 
 felt complimented by his Majesty. 
 
 Roy Colas now addressed Cartouche, and said, 
 " Young Monsieur," his tongue squeezed into 
 his cheek, and an irresistible twinkle of Ms orbs 
 of vision, " depend upon it, that whensoever you 
 see a man that has but one eye, you may cer- 
 tainly conclude he has lost the other." 
 
 Cartouche was about to acknowledge the 
 truth of this axiom, when his Majesty said, " My 
 children and subjects, listen to my admonitions, 
 and I will tell ye a line of conduct to pursue, 
 that men and women may readily grant all you 
 ask of them." 
 
 " Aye, aye! — expound!" replied several voices. 
 
 " Hear !" exclaimed Roy Colas. " Desire the 
 women to take all you have, and the men to give 
 
 d3
 
 58 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 you nothing, and they will all grant it. And 
 now I will instruct you how to be beloved by all 
 mankind." 
 
 " How, how ?" asked the auditors of his 
 Majesty. 
 
 " Listen !" said the old chief. " Lend, and 
 never be paid — present, treat, bear, endure, do 
 good turns, hold yom: peace, and be cheated. 
 But, moreover, as we should all be prepared 
 for our end, I will teach you how to order it so, 
 that ye may not die without somebody to pray 
 by you." 
 
 As this point was interesting to many of the 
 company, curiosity was excited for the solution ; 
 and his Majesty, with a beneficent smile, said, 
 " Go and commit some heinous crime, and de- 
 pend on't, at the gallows, you'll not want some- 
 body to pray by you." 
 
 The motley tribe again grinned at the oft- 
 repeated jests of their chieftain. Roy Colas 
 did not, on> this occasion at least (according to 
 his translation into " Old King Cole"), call for
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 59 
 
 his " fiddlers three," but in lieu of that, he called 
 for his "posture masters four," who, in the 
 quality of serving men, had been hitherto re- 
 verentially stationed behind the sovereign's 
 sitting-place ; and if his Majesty had not been 
 considered as an absolute monarch, they might 
 have been supposed to have acted as a sort of 
 rump parliament. These gentlemen ate their 
 porridge in the back-ground, sometimes stand- 
 ing, sometimes cross-legged, a la Turque. At a 
 signal from the King of the Gipsies, they per- 
 formed a dance in illustration of many of their 
 professional practices, such as " Epouser la Fou- 
 candiere"* " Battre VAntiff;'\ " Dehacler la 
 roulante^'X ^' Faucher le pre.\\' But there was 
 no piece of their pantomime that seemed to give 
 such general satisfaction as the one denominated 
 
 * In Argot — " Throwing away stolen goods for fear of 
 being taken." 
 
 t " To run off." 
 
 X " Open a carriage in order to rob the traveners." 
 
 11 " Go to the galleys.''
 
 60 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " Etouffer le cure ;"* it afforded infinite amuse- 
 ment to Cartouche ; and we regret to narrate 
 that the King himself so far lost all sense of dig- 
 nity and propriety, as to join in the last-men- 
 tioned exploit, where he personated the cha- 
 racter of "/e cure!'' grunting to admiration, 
 while the other performers in this singular drama 
 were endeavouring to stifle him. Louis Domi- 
 nique, being wholly untrained in these exer- 
 cises so well adapted to promote digestion, was 
 compelled to remain a spectator. For a time he 
 was consoled with the presence of the pretty 
 Rose Coquillarde, who ever and anon pinched 
 his ear, whilst smiling in his face, and exhibiting 
 her pearly teeth. Cartouche discovered that 
 night a new feehng within him, which was not at 
 all decreased by beholding the picturesque form 
 of the young damsel preparmg to dance, and 
 next whirling about with the velocity and some- 
 what of the air of a Pythoness. He had never 
 before witnessed such animated gesture and dex- 
 * '^ Smother the hog.''
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 61 
 
 terity. Rose Coquillarde held in one hand a 
 small tambourine, ornamented with little knots 
 of gaily coloured worsted, and ever and anon, as 
 she footed near Cartouche, she touched him 
 smartly on the head with the instrument, which 
 produced on him a very striking effect. 
 
 And now, one of the oldest women of the 
 tribe placed herself close to Louis Dominique, 
 and the change was not at all palatable to the 
 young stranger ; but then she was most motherly 
 and kind in her attentions, and made him an 
 offer of a patched cloak, as well as a certain gar- 
 ment of flannel, or woolsey (probably so called 
 from the celebrated Enghsh cardinal, because he 
 was known to be warm in his pocket as well as 
 his temper). These habiliments were intended 
 to protect Cartouche from the dews of night, 
 and were presented with a grace that would not 
 admit of refusal. 
 
 The old lady told him she had chosen a retired 
 and quiet nook, where he would be free from 
 molestation, for the asses had all lain down for the
 
 62 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 night behind the back drapery of the tent, and 
 would greatly contribute to his warmth ; Car- 
 touche inwardly hoped that he might be the first 
 awake, as his outside companions in all pro- 
 bability, on rising in the morning, would bring 
 their hoofs in juxta-position with his head. And 
 donkeys generally have a good roll and kick 
 when they get up for the day. 
 
 The aged hag had prepared for him, after a 
 good old fashion, a night draught, which, with 
 his fatigues, she represented as indispensable. 
 And certain it is, that ere the vagrant revels 
 ended. Cartouche had resigned himself, and cares, 
 and pockets f to the old lady who presided over 
 his slumbers. She was commonly known by 
 the respectable cognomen of Madame Six- 
 Fingers.* 
 
 Long after dawn Louis Dominique awoke, 
 with a very unpleasant sensation of stilfiiess in 
 his joints, and an equally unwelcome absence of 
 
 * Possibly because she was accomplished in the art de- 
 scribed in " Argot," as " Greffir,^ that is " Deroher finement.''
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 63 
 
 the same quality in his pockets. He had, in 
 truth, been completely " cleaned out," and no 
 doubt by his amiable old friend. But remon- 
 strance would have been wasted on the winds, 
 and, as to redress, it was a vision. 
 
 Fortimately, in the act of disburthening their 
 ^est, the gipsies had dropped a single crown 
 piece, on the grass — but no, we will not do any 
 injustice even to gipsy nature. It had been de- 
 posited there by Rose Coquillarde, and under it 
 was one of the little coloured worsted knots, that 
 had been obsened on her tambourine the pre- 
 ceding evening. Cartouche saw at once in this, 
 the one friend he had secured ; but he was too 
 young to acknowledge the unbounded benevo- 
 lence, which, in spite of all the corrosions of 
 sin, makes its temple in the heart of woman.
 
 64 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 CARTOUCHE MEETS WITH A STRANGE GENTLEMAN, WHO IN- 
 VITES HIM TO BREAKFAST — CARTOUCHE IS INVITED TO A 
 CHATEAU — HE IS INTRODUCED INTO SOCIETY — THE STRANGE 
 gentleman's OPINION OP THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH'S 
 CABIPAIGN — THE STRANGE GENTLEIVLAN SKILrULLT RE- 
 TREATS — CARTOUCHE DESTITUTE — A CHANCE OF REFORMA- 
 TION, OF WHICH HE DOES NOT AVAIL HIMSELF. 
 
 Having picked up the crown piece, which he 
 gazed at wistfully, Cartouche endeavoured to 
 collect his scattered senses ; he looked around 
 him — the low tent blanket under which he had 
 slept had vanished, his joyous companions of the 
 previous night were not to be seen ; he was soli- 
 tary. An anonymous poet has so delightfully 
 described such a departure, that we cannot re- 
 frain from transcribiitg his lines : —
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 65 
 
 " You may see where we have been, 
 By the burnt spot on the green; 
 By the oak's branch drooping low, 
 Withered in our faggots' glow ; 
 By the grass and hedge-row cropped. 
 
 Where our asses have been grazing. 
 By some old torn rag we dropped. 
 
 When our crazy tents were raising. 
 You may see where we have been 
 Where we are — that is not seen ; 
 Where we are — ^it is no place 
 For a lazy foot to trace." 
 
 Cartouclie in his innocence, or want of know- 
 ledge of the world, at fii'st vowed that he would 
 pursue the strollers, and insist on the return of 
 his money ; then he recollected the fierce glare 
 of the one eye of Bras D'Acier, and the keen 
 edge of the tuck sword of Roy Colas ; and then 
 he pondered on the notion that he had stolen 
 the crowns himself, and that it was not quite an 
 imjust retribution. He had hardly recovered 
 from the ejffects of the night draught with which 
 he had been hocussed, and his limbs felt the 
 effect of another night draught — the chill air in 
 which he had slept. To return to Paris would
 
 66 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 be madness, so he resolved to walk on, and as he 
 walked to try to make up his mind as to what 
 conduct he should pursue. So he pushed on 
 briskly about a league ; the exercise removed in 
 some measure his rheumatic pains, and his spirits, 
 which were naturally buoyant, rose as he pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 Cartouche presently discovered a person walk- 
 ing before him : he was tall, of a spare figure, and 
 he stepped along with rather a jaunty air. Louis 
 . Dominique thought that he was an underling sort 
 of gentleman, for he wore a sword by his side. 
 
 He had on a clean starched band, and his hat, 
 though it had evidently seen some service, was 
 cocked up into a very knowing shape. His eye 
 was roving, bright, and intelligent, and as Car- 
 touche came up he saluted him with some grace, 
 which Cartouche returned with one of his best 
 Clermont College bows. 
 
 " It is more cheerful to travel in company than 
 alone," remarked the stranger. Louis Dominique 
 was of the same opinion, and right glad was he
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 67 
 
 to have encountered so respectable a person, 
 who might, perchance, put hiin in some way to 
 obtain a livelihood — nay, mayhap, might take 
 him into his own service. 
 
 " Where art thou joumejdng, little Mon- 
 sieur ?" asked the strange gentleman. 
 
 " In truth I hardly know," replied Cartouche; 
 " I go to seek my fortune, I have unluckily 
 quarrelled with my parents and acquaintance, 
 and I am in search of new friends." 
 
 " Thou hast a wide field before thee for se- 
 lection — a brave world to thrive in. I am 
 somewhat similarly circumstanced. I am a real 
 substantial gentleman, but what of that ? — my 
 pedigree would not produce me credit for a mess 
 of broth at the cook's shop. I have sold all, 
 even to my family tomb, that nothing may be 
 called mine when I am dead. My father lost 
 his whole substance, which ought to have been 
 my inheritance, by being security for others. I 
 have nothing left me but my quality as a gentle-
 
 68 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 marly and which is now useless, as every scoundrel 
 usurps it." 
 
 Cartouche nodded an assent to the latter part 
 of this speech. 
 
 " I am constitutionally of an indolent disposi- 
 tion," resumed the elegant stranger ; "I will 
 venture to avow that I lose three thousand 
 crowns annually by my shocking idleness. I 
 have no estate, real or personal, and yet I con- 
 trive to live in a gentlemanly way." 
 
 This sentence struck Cartouche, as it was 
 very much in unison with his o^vn ideas. 
 
 "And now," said this fascinating stranger, "as 
 we have both walked some distance, and it is 
 almost time for breakfast, I know an excellent 
 house of entertainment, where we may be well 
 suppHed, for I am not one of those miserly per- 
 sons who love to stint themselves." 
 
 Cartouche admitted that he felt hmigry. 
 
 "I disdain to be thought one of those hypo- 
 crites," continued the gentleman, "who flock 
 about the gate of a monaster}^, and make the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 69 
 
 friars believe that they take the bread and soup 
 out of devotion. I confess to have partaken of 
 convent alms, but then it has ever been from the 
 hands of a pretty lay sister," and here the stran- 
 ger smoothed his band, and cocked his hat on 
 one side with irresistible grace. "Monsieur," 
 said the gentleman, "much may be done in this 
 world by being on good terms with the women." 
 
 Another half-hour's' trudge brought them to 
 the door of a small cabaret; on the rude shutter 
 of the casement were painted, in colours that the 
 rays of the sun had neutraUzed, two bottles, 
 over which was inscribed ^^Bon vin" ^^ Bon 
 cidre^'' ^^ Billiards,'' — the latter was surmounted 
 by a representation of a mace, cue, and balls. 
 
 Here the gentlemanly stranger halted, and 
 remarked that, although the house of entertain- 
 ment was of small dimensions, it was clean, and 
 in great repute on the road. He then turned 
 suddenly round to Louis Dominique, and said, 
 " Pr'ythee, Monsieur, can you give me change 
 for a gold piece."
 
 70 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Cartouche was in his verdant state — ^very 
 green, indeed ; and he repHed, "No, Monsieur, 
 I have but a crown piece in jay pocket." 
 
 " 'Gad-so, that is unlucky," resumed the gen- 
 tleman, Hfting up his boot, and swishing the dust 
 oflf; "nevertheless, let us go in, and partake of 
 a hearty breakfast." 
 
 On entering the auherge, after the pedestrians 
 had been thoroughly scanned — and, indeed, so 
 much so, that Cartouche, with indignant feelings, 
 took out his crown piece, and exhibited it in the 
 sunshine which glared in at the window — ^bread, 
 eggs, wine, grapes, and pears, were put on the 
 table. 
 
 The gentleman stranger, calling to the woman 
 of the house, said, " Madame, I cannot help 
 thinking that you have grown much handsomer 
 since I last had the pleasure to see you — 
 your eyes are brighter, and your teeth are 
 whiter." 
 
 The little hostess's smile proved how agree- 
 able this piece of flattery was to her vanity, but
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 71 
 
 when her back was turned, he wiiiked slyly at 
 Cartouche, and whispered, — ^* What a master 
 key is flattery ! I have won that woman's heart 
 duriQg our sojourn here. This bread is excel- 
 lent, the eggs are delicious. I have drunk a 
 stronger wine than this, but never a purer 
 beverage. Monsieur, I pledge you — ^here is to 
 our better acquaintance. Allow me to cut you 
 a slice from this loaf. My friend the Duke of 
 Clarivaux (now dead and gone, God rest his 
 soul !) used to take a vast delight in seeiag me 
 carve a pullet." And he helped himself plenti- 
 fully, cramming as if for a wager. 
 
 " Now, Monsieur," continued he, " take my 
 advice — the ad\dce of a man of the world. You 
 are still young ; never fall in love unless it be to 
 earn your bread." 
 
 " But how am I to earn my bread ?" said Car- 
 touche. 
 
 " Why, if you must court a woman, never 
 choose one who is rich or beautiful ; you must 
 fish in deeper water. You may make love to
 
 72 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 your landlady for your lodging, to the female 
 tripe merchant for your meat, and to the clear- 
 starcher for your band; there is no existing 
 without a starched band." 
 
 At this moment, the cavalier put his hand 
 within the bosom of his doublet to take out 
 some crumbs he had dropped therein, and Louis 
 Dominique observed to his astonishment that, 
 although he considered a starched band as indis- 
 pensable, he was shirtless. Cartouche inquired 
 if the cavaher preferred that fashion ? To which 
 the other readily answered — 
 
 " Certainly, during the summer season I 
 neither wear shirt nor stockings; no one that 
 sees the boots on my legs would believe they 
 were on the bare skin. Sir, a gentleman can 
 live without these things, and so set an excellent 
 example of practical economy to the community 
 at large. Moderation in everything — ^he who 
 has a long nose will have the more to blow and 
 a better handle." 
 
 Such was the style of this gentleman's conver-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 73 
 
 sation wHle devouring a plentiful breakfast. 
 He then declared himself in\dgorated for the 
 day, and said he should go and pay the hostess. 
 Durino^ his absence Cartouche consrratulated 
 himself upon the good fortune of having fallen 
 in with so agreeable a companion, and one 
 v^dthal sufficiently liberal to treat him to a 
 breakfast. 
 
 Presently the cavalier without a shirt re- 
 entered the room, sa^dng, "Egad! in a house of 
 this repute and quality is it not remarkable that 
 they have not change for a gold piece? It 
 really is too ridiculous a sum to score up. Will 
 you, Monsieur, pay the reckoning out of any 
 small change you may have about you, and I 
 will make it up to you where we shall dine, 
 sup, and sleep ?" He uttered this with such an 
 easy air of nonchalance, that Louis Dominique 
 was taken by surprise, and felt himself obliged 
 to consent. 
 
 "Hallo, auhergiste,' bellowed the cavaKer. 
 The landlady entered. "What did you say was 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the amount for the two? — ^you need not sepa- 
 rate it." Then the gentleman turned to Car- 
 touche, and said — "Pay this good lady; did you 
 ever behold a more agreeable form, and such a 
 winning smile, too ? T declare it does my eye- 
 sight good to gaze on her." 
 
 The hostess grinned as she handled Cartouche's 
 crown piece, and returned him the change. 
 
 They took their departure ; the cavaHer 
 gallantly kissing the tips of the landlady's fin- 
 gers as he bade her good day. "'Fore 'gad," 
 said he, "a delicate creature truly, although her 
 hand smelt somewhat overstrong of garlic." He 
 then proposed that they should journey on to 
 a house where he was well known, and could 
 repay the courtesy of Cartouche. 
 
 The weather was fine, the birds whistled 
 merrily, and the companion of Louis Dominique 
 was chatty and amusing. He told him he 
 could put him in possession of many secrets 
 which would enable him to hve well, let his 
 income or inheritance be next to nothing : and
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 75 
 
 that he was in sanguine hopes that his advice 
 would produce beneficial effects on a person of 
 the capacity of Cartouche. 
 
 After walking for several hours, which health- 
 ful exercise thoroughly digested the cabaret 
 breakfast, they approached a solitary and me- 
 lancholy-looking house. The casements had 
 long discontinued the use of glass ; bits of board, 
 rags, and old hats, stopped up many of the 
 crevices ; the door was fastened, although it 
 rested but on one hinge ; and at a small upper 
 window there hung out a dead crow, plucked of 
 its feathers, the flesh almost of a purple hue, 
 and which, with its dull yellow beak and scraggy- 
 neck, was a most disgusting looking object. It 
 was undergoing an operation preparatory to 
 cooking — hanging out in the air in the vain 
 hope that it might become tender. It resembled 
 a young raw devil. 
 
 The shirtless cavaHer appeared to be famihar 
 with the locale, and struck the door with his 
 stafi". After a query, as it appeared to Cartouche, 
 
 e2
 
 76 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 in some foreign language that he did not com- 
 prehend, and a sort of pass-word given by his 
 companion, the portal was unbarred, and Car- 
 touche was invited to enter. Cartouche followed 
 his new friend in, and remarked that the 
 premises, though in a dilapidated state, were 
 much more roomy than the exterior indicated. 
 They entered an apartment in which were 
 seated several strange beings, variously clothed : 
 the materials of their clothing were evidently 
 composed of that which is imagined to be the 
 best manure for hop plantations — viz., old rags! 
 In fact, our hero was introduced to a beggar's 
 lodging house. As a friend of the cavalier, 
 Cartouche received a hearty welcome ; he 
 was embraced with more ardour than quite 
 pleased him, for he had good reason to decline 
 too close a contact with the illustrious strangers 
 who surrounded him. Cartouche observed an 
 elderly man who had hooked an arm of a coat 
 against the wall, and was with a needle and 
 twine drawing together the rents in the sleeve.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 77 
 
 An old woman ^viih. a face puckered \yith 
 wrinkles had pinned a threadbare rag, which had 
 once been dignified by the name of a sliirt, to a 
 line stretched across the comer of the room, and 
 was squirting at it with a leaden syringe, filled 
 with water from a cracked bowl, the only mode 
 of ablution the linen, or rather the tinder, 
 would bear, without gomg to pieces. It ap- 
 peared to be a specimen of misapplied in- 
 dustry. 
 
 A sturdy mendicant was ^^'ith a fiint beating 
 down the obtrusive points of the clouted nails 
 which had made their way through his coffin of 
 a shoe, and at every blow a cloud of road-side 
 dust flew up, which answered the purpose of 
 snuff to many of the inmates of the lodging- 
 house, for they sneezed in all directions. 
 
 " And may I inquire what branch of the pro- 
 fession those ladies with the tattered head- 
 cloths pursue ?" said Cartouche. 
 
 " Those ladies," replied his familiar communi- 
 cant, "are what are termed ^ palliardes.' They
 
 78 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 sit on the steps of the doors, or outside the 
 churches, with their own, or half-a-dozen bor- 
 rowed or stolen, children hanging about them, 
 crying through cold or pinching. These brats 
 are made to take a dose of vinegar before they 
 go out for the day, which afflicts them with an 
 undoubted real stomach-ache, and makes them 
 look pale. Thus they earn a deal of money and 
 food from the credulous and charitable." 
 
 And now a long sallow-faced, hypocritical- 
 looking fellow came in, attired in a rusty suit of 
 black, with a broad hat and dingy hat-band. 
 He pulled out a bag tolerably weU filled with 
 copper pieces, which the cavalier informed Car- 
 touche had been begged from door to door, on 
 the strength of a forged letter purporting to be 
 signed by a bishop, and that the bearer was a 
 collector for the missionaries sent out to China 
 to propagate Christianity, but as that measure 
 was not very popular \vith the head of the 
 government of that country, these pious men 
 appeared under the title of " His Majesty's
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. i\) 
 
 Mathematicians." It was evidently a fraud, but 
 then it was in a good cause. 
 
 And now it appeared that the repast had been 
 delayed until the arrival of this most respect- 
 able functionary ; for tliis sage community, imi- 
 tating the law of the Lacedaemonians, feasted at 
 a common table — and a yery common table it 
 certainly was. But in the place of the cele- 
 brated black-broth, was substituted a soup of 
 cabbages and onions, accompanied with rye- 
 bread; and the collector for the missionaries 
 having taken a pinch of snuff and said grace, 
 the mumpers, palliardes, and sham-abrams fell 
 to with ample appetites, imtil not a vestige re- 
 mained. Not a crumb fell to the ground, so 
 that the rats and mice of these premises, had 
 they remained, must have been starved to death. 
 
 " I have kept my word, and presented you a 
 supper," said the cavalier to Cartouche. The 
 latter grunted, as much as to infer that it was a 
 meal fit for a pig. 
 
 " No matter," continued the cavaHer ; '• we
 
 80 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 soldiers are accustomed to hard fare ; it is, more- 
 over, vi^holesome.'* 
 
 The growling in the stomach of Louis Domi- 
 nique responded not to that fact. " I must re- 
 enter the army,'* remarked the cavalier, " and 
 again join in the illustrious victories of our 
 grande monarque.''* 
 
 " Then the sooner you do so the better," said 
 the collector for the Chinese missionaries, " for 
 at no period has the King ever had more occa- 
 sion for your services." 
 
 " Why, v^hat has occurred ?" asked the man 
 of arms. 
 
 " It can now no longer be kept secret," re- 
 plied the collector. "The Duke of Marlborough 
 and Prince Eugene have annihilated our 
 army at Blenheim ; ten thousand French and 
 Bavarians are killed, thirty squadrons of horse 
 drowned in the Danube ; one hundred pieces of 
 cannon taken — ^numberless prisoners, standards, 
 kettle-drums, tents, coaches, all the wives of the 
 French officers, and all the mules and the mili- 
 tary chests."
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 81 
 
 " Curse it ! — why was I not there?" 
 
 " WTiy ?" he was asked. 
 
 " I do not imagine that affairs would have 
 been so disastrous," answered this paragon of 
 modesty. " What has become of Mareschal 
 TaUard?" 
 
 " A prisoner," sighed the collector. 
 
 " I should not have done that," remarked the 
 shirtless cavalier ; " and where is the Marquis of 
 Clerambaut ?" 
 
 " Drowned !" 
 
 " I should not have done that. Where Des 
 Nouvilles and the other officers of distinction ?" 
 
 " Capitulated, at eight in the evening, prisoners 
 of war, on condition that they should not be 
 rifled." 
 
 " I should not have done that," reiterated the 
 cavalier. 
 
 " No ; I believe you there," said the mis- 
 sionary ; " for,^ar Dieu, you would have rifled 
 them all!" 
 
 The incident we now communicate will go 
 
 e2
 
 82 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 some way to prove the folly of adhering to the 
 habits of early education. Cartouche had 
 hitherto (the previous night excepted) accus- 
 tomed himself to take off his suit of clothes be- 
 fore he retired to rest, and, in accordance with 
 this domestic usage, he stripped to his shirt, 
 prior to reclining on a miserable pallet, on which 
 were arranged some very questionable-looking 
 coverlids. HospitaHty appeared to be the ruling 
 passion of the cavalier; he had provided the 
 best bed the house afforded for his chance com- 
 panion — Cartouche was " a stranger," and, 
 without any scriptural allusion, " they took 
 him in'' 
 
 Cartouche inquired of his friend the cavalier, 
 whereabouts his own bed stood. 
 
 "An old soldier, like myself," replied the 
 other, " needs no mattress — a bare floor is all I 
 require ; it keeps my figure straight ; in fact, 
 if I must sleep in a bed, I should prefer a bed 
 of oysters, or a bed of onions, for then I could 
 recline and sup at the same time."
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 83 
 
 Cartouche acknowledged that there was some 
 reason in the remark. 
 
 The cavalier then, in the kindest manner, bade 
 Cartouche good night, and, stretching himself 
 on the floor, was speedily in the arms of Mor- 
 pheus. 
 
 The long walk and fatigue that Louis Domi- 
 nique had undergone soon sent him soundly to 
 sleep, spite of the blood-suckers by which he 
 was surrounded. 
 
 On awaking rather late in the morning, he 
 was somewhat surprised that his companion had 
 vanished; and, on stepping ofi" his pallet, he 
 made a discovery that smote him to his very 
 heart — his clothes were gone ; all, even to the 
 hat and feather — and, in lieu of them, the 
 habiliments of the shirtless cavalier were spread 
 in elegant confusion on the floor. 
 
 His first determination was to alarm the 
 house, and to insist on the restoration of his 
 raiment ; but after traversing several rooms and 
 passages of the old ruined dwelling, he found
 
 84 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 all was desolate, and that the mumpers had 
 already sallied forth to their various destinations. 
 Cartouche was deeply mortified at his loss, but 
 he had no remedy but patience, and it was at 
 no small exertion of that virtue that, sooner 
 than remain in a state of nudity, he attempted 
 to put on the clothes left behind by the cava- 
 lier ; he tried eight difierent times to attire 
 himself in the nether garment, which was in 
 eight pieces, nor could he discover the right side 
 from the wrong. In fact, he had not made the 
 art of dress so complete a study as the former 
 occupant of these picturesque habiliments. He, 
 however, succeeded in piiming the breeches to- 
 gether in some shape, and then exerted himself 
 to get on the doublet, but his arm went through 
 a hole, and the sleeve hung down like a broken 
 limb. At length his sad toilette was finished, 
 and, heartily cursing the premises, and the per- 
 son who had conducted him thither, he passed 
 out through the crazy old door without meeting 
 a soul. He had taken the precaution to secure
 
 OF CARTOUCHE, 85 
 
 the change out of the crown piece by tying it 
 tight in the corner of his shirt, or that would 
 have most assuredly vanished \vith his wardrobe. 
 
 Many bitter reflections came over him ; re- 
 pentance and rags coalesced : he dared not wend 
 his steps homeward. Had he summoned the 
 resolution to have returned a penitent, in all 
 probability he would have been spared the com- 
 mission of his after crimes and ignominious end, 
 and we should not have had to cover so many 
 sheets of paper with the records of his sins and 
 pranks. But, no ; his destiny was sealed, and 
 he determined to make his way along the road, 
 perhaps to reach some sea-port, and endeavour 
 to get employment on ship-board. So on he 
 trudged for several days, sometimes exciting 
 charity, but more frequently suspicion. His 
 small stock of money, however, kept his worst 
 enemy — ^hunger, away. 
 
 It was sunset as Cartouche arrived at that 
 point of the Mont St. Catherine which em- 
 braces the entire vale wherein reposes the an-
 
 86 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 cient city of Rouen ; looking down, the Seine 
 meandered in golden light through the rich pas- 
 tures and poplar-wooded islands, while here and 
 there the thin blue smoke rose up to Heaven 
 as if from fires fed by the incense of its wor- 
 shippers. 
 
 One only feeling of felicity seemed to pre- 
 vail over that wide and picturesque demesne, 
 and it was for the moment participated in by 
 Cartouche ; for in youth degradation cannot 
 utterly extinguish those better feelings which 
 the craft and worldly wisdom of maturer years 
 are ashamed to acknowledge. But as the sun 
 sank red over the territories of Robert le Dia- 
 ble, Cartouche, darkening into older habitudes, 
 recovered his pristine tendencies to evil, and 
 determined that the shelves of the nearest baker 
 should minister to his necessities. Cautiously, 
 therefore, descending the hill, as the dusk in- 
 creased, he found himself in the suburbs of St. 
 Etienne, and perceiving a worthy houlanger toy- 
 ing in the back apartment with a " second in-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 87 
 
 tended," lie deemed it ill-bred to disturb them, 
 and therefore dexterously whipped a loaf from 
 the window. Secretly wishing them joy of their 
 tete-a-tete, he withdrew, and making a sud- 
 den turn down an alley that led out to the 
 fields, he ran until he reached a clump of 
 poplars, where, throwing himself at their roots, 
 he eagerly devoured his bread, deeming it the 
 sweeter because it had been stolen. 
 
 At nightfall he entered Rouen, and slept with 
 some other houseless wretches on the steps 
 leading to the cathedral. For a fortnight he 
 contrived by begging and some ingenious petty 
 thefts to exist. His money was spent; but the 
 city where Joan of Arc perished becoming too 
 hot to hold him (as it did, pitiable heroine ! for 
 her), he was in extreme doubt as to his future 
 movements. 
 
 Now fortune threw in his way a chance of 
 reclamation at his last pitch of destitution. He 
 was sitting beside a stone post on the quay, 
 ruminating, chewing the cud of reflection, and.
 
 88 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 in an agony of appetite, searching for some stray 
 crust, cabbage-stalk, or end of carrot, from 
 among a heap which had just been emptied from 
 a basket, when he observed a person regarding 
 him with a glance of pity that a human being 
 should be reduced to such extreme distress. 
 Oh, mercy! he beheld his uncle, cher bon-homme, 
 who now recognised his deplorable kith and 
 kin. Unlike but too many in similar circum- 
 stances, he neither avoided nor reproached him, 
 but gently compassionating his nephew's misery, 
 desired him to follow him to his auherge. There 
 he informed Cartouche that he had arrived from 
 Paris some six days prior, and having completed 
 the business he was upon, should in as many 
 more return thither. In the meantime, our 
 hero was indulged with the opportunity of a 
 good scrubbing, and furnished with plain clothes 
 and wholesome food ; and his kind micle under- 
 took to write to his father, and attempt a 
 reconciliation. 
 
 By return of post the uncle received an answer
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 89 
 
 from Cartouche ^;er^, and alack! it was written, 
 naturally enough, in a spirit of extreme exaspe- 
 ration, and concluded with a threat that the only 
 reception he should give to a son who had so 
 dishonoured him would be to dash out his brains 
 with a cooper's adze, if he ventured to step 
 over his threshold. But, although all hope of 
 immediate pacification was at an end, the uncle 
 trusted in time to beget in his brother's mind a 
 more placable view of the case ; he, therefore, 
 counselled the young delinquent to accompany 
 him to Paris when he returned thither. Louis 
 Dominique was all gratitude to his excellent 
 relative, and promised to obey him in every 
 particular. 
 
 In a few days the uncle and nephew started 
 by the diligence for Paris, and as they traversed 
 the beautiful country, they could not help no- 
 ticing the slovenly manner in which the agri- 
 culture was performed — the women working like 
 beasts of burthen : the operation of tillmg the 
 land being effected by a clumsy plough, unim-
 
 90 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 proved since the days of Charlemagne, and drawn 
 by a jackass and two female peasants in the same 
 yoke, who were gallantly encouraged in their 
 heavy labour by the ploughman bawling out, 
 " TireZf vous betes ; tirez, Angelique; tirez, 
 Mademoiselle Taupine ! Hola ! cine /" With 
 such an occupation, with more than their share 
 of labour, with scanty food, a fruit breakfast, 
 bread and onions for dinner, and chesnuts for 
 supper, was it to be thought surprising that the 
 poor female French peasants should soon lose 
 every appearance of youth in the face ? — that 
 they should look old and wrinkled ? — that their 
 legs should grow like posts, and they should be- 
 come absolutely hideous ? All this degradation 
 of human nature was going on in Normandy, the 
 best part of northern France. Matters were 
 worse in Brittany, where the peasantry were in 
 a half-savage state ; and their condition, both in 
 Champagne and Picardy, was miserable and 
 hopeless, on account of their extreme ignorance, 
 the bad system of tilling the land, the too great
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 91 
 
 subdivision of property into small patches, and 
 the mistaken fiscal system of the country. 
 
 At the inn where the passengers of the dili- 
 gence stopped to dine, uncle Ambroise Cartouche 
 refreshed liis nostrils with some tahac from a gold 
 snufi'-box which astonished the glistening eyes 
 of his nephew — the yomig rascal was horn hanged 
 — and he determined that before the end of the 
 journey the tahatiere should be in liis pos- 
 session. In the night, therefore, whilst his uncle 
 was snoring loudly in the coach, and all their 
 fellow-travellers were asleep, Louis Dominique 
 contrived to pick the pocket of his only friend, 
 and concealed the gold snuff-box in some ob- 
 scure part of his o^^^l person. 
 
 What was the mortification of uncle Am- 
 broise, when thoroughly awake in the morning, 
 and intending to indulge in a fresh and early 
 pinch of the pungent powder, he discovered that 
 the box was gone ! It must be owned that his 
 suspicion at once fell on his runaway nephew, 
 who was fast asleep, or pretending to be so, and
 
 92 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 his uncle very unceremoniously searched all the 
 pockets of Cartouche narrowly, but without 
 finding his box. He then put the other pas- 
 sengers to a great deal of inconvenience in feeling 
 about every part of the diligence ; then each and 
 all of them became aggrieved and insulted at 
 being individually suspected, and insisted on 
 going before Monsieur le Maire of the next town 
 at which they might stop. The only hope of 
 uncle Ambroise was, that he had accidentally 
 left it behind on the table of the inn, as in that 
 case he would have been tolerably certain to 
 have regained the tahatiere, as the servants of 
 French hotels on the roads are proverbially 
 honest ; and, in nine instances out of ten, if an 
 article of value were so found, it would be de- 
 livered by the servant to the proprietor of the 
 inn, to be returned to the ovnier when inquired 
 for. 
 
 Uncle Ambrose was very uneasy — the gold 
 box had been the gift of his beloved wife on 
 the last anniversary of their wedding-day ; how
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. VS 
 
 could he look her in the face again ! The good 
 man actually, between grief for his loss and a 
 tenderness of thought for his amiable spouse, 
 shed tears ; and yet the obdurate little villain at 
 his side exhibited no sign of compimction — he 
 was without a conscience ; he had not the secret 
 tribunal at the bottom of his heart from which 
 there is no appeal. A speedy punishment 
 awaited him, however, for he had not been 
 twelve hours in his uncle's house at Paris before 
 he was seized with a t}-phoid form of disease, 
 (probably communicated to him from the bed- 
 ding of the beggar's lodging-house), which re- 
 duced him in the coiurse of a fortnight almost to 
 a skeleton, and then it was that, being sure he 
 was nigh unto death, he confessed his crime 
 against his excellent uncle, and produced the 
 stolen property. 
 
 Kind-hearted, benevolent Ambroise ! Thou 
 didst not even scowl, nor, with a heart vitrified 
 to pity, curse thy nephew ; but, on the con- 
 trary, didst bring to his bed-side his sterner
 
 94 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 father, to melt him with the sight of his son's 
 emaciation. And such was the effect produced. 
 From that day the invah'd rapidly recovered, 
 and at the end of a month again became a 
 healthy inmate of his sire's domicile. 
 
 The honest old cooper gave his rascal of a 
 son one more chance. On being convinced that 
 Louis Dominique had stolen the hundred crowns 
 from the box of the young Count Conconnas, 
 he borrowed part of the money, made up the 
 remainder from his hard earnings, and repaid 
 the loss. Poor Fuseau, who had no power to 
 prove that he had not committed the theft, re- 
 mained in prison until his master came, apolo- 
 gised, cried like a poltroon, and, obtaining an 
 order for his release, reinstated him in his ser- 
 vice. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good, 
 for the old Count Conconnas, who was a noble- 
 man in heart, on hearing the case, and the false 
 imprisonment of his son's valet, gave him the 
 hundred crowns he did not steal as an indemni- 
 fication. But it should not be omitted to men-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 95 
 
 tion that Fuseau, who was a very shrewd fellow, 
 got a cousin of his, who was a washerwoman, to 
 tell the whole story to the laundress of the 
 valet-de-chambre of the elder Count Conconnas, 
 and to insinuate what might be the probable 
 results to the young nobleman for keeping an 
 innocent man in prison for so considerable a time, 
 and merely on suspicion.
 
 96 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CAKTOUCHE AND THE GRISETTE — HE 3L4KES ACQUAINTANCE 
 WITH ANOTHER LADY, MORE USEFUL THAN ORNAMENTAL — 
 HE INTRODUCES HIMSELF TO TWO CELEBRATED AUTHORS — 
 A WEDDING FEAST — " HEAVEN SAVE ME FROM MT FRIENDS' 
 — A SON IN law's letter — MORE PRANKS BY CARTOUCHE 
 — HE IS DESTINED FOR THE BASTILE. 
 
 Again under the protection of his father, 
 Cartouche might have prospered and become an 
 honest being ; but he had not the smallest atom 
 of conscience ; he believed that — 
 
 " Conscience and nice scruples 
 Are tares that abound in none but meagre soils, 
 To choke the aspiring seeds of manly daring; 
 Those puny instincts which in feeble minds, 
 Unfit for great exploits, are miscaU'd virtue." 
 
 His mother, too, was foolishly fond of him, 
 and thought the dear youth a prodigy of clever-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 97 
 
 ness. She one day remarked to a gossip, " I pity 
 my Louis Dominique for having so much sense ; 
 for if he were a hlockhead he would make his 
 fortune, like his uncle." 
 
 He grew now considerably in stature, was 
 firmly knit and handsome ; he worked for a time 
 at his father's trade, and sang right merrily as he 
 handled the staves. 
 
 This was a happy and ahnost a regenerative 
 epoch for Cartouche ; but sorry are we to record 
 that it was not doomed to last. His second fall 
 he owed to the vanity of wishing to be thought 
 what he was not, a thirst of admiration, and a 
 woman. 
 
 In La Courtille lodged a grisette, by name 
 Pelagic, a lace-mender by profession — one of 
 a numerous class of females in Paris, neither gay 
 nor over-virtuous, who contrive to moderate at 
 once labour and pleasure ; who go to church in 
 the morning with their mothers, and to the ball 
 at night with their gallants. Pelagie had large 
 intelligent black eyes, an ohve complexion, and 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 a natural flow of good spirits, which render a 
 young female exceedingly fascinating. When- 
 ever Louis Dominique passed the window at 
 which she sat at work, she ceased her merry song, 
 and gazed at him with a side-long glance, which 
 pierced his heart through and through. He 
 soon ventured to speak to her, and he expe- 
 rienced a perfectly new feeling — it was very 
 agreeeble. 
 
 As for Pelagie, she soon fell into the dilemma 
 described by a French author — " In the love of 
 young women there are four ages. In the first 
 period, they love every one ; in the second, 
 comes their consciousness of their own impor- 
 tance — they then love themselves ; at the third 
 period, a strange, inexpKcable flame arises in 
 theii' bosoms, and now they love — love much 
 — love violently — ^but know not what they love; 
 at the fourth period, the riddle is explained, 
 their understanding is cleared — they love some 
 one.'' Pelagie became enamoured of Louis 
 Dominique Cartouche.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 99 
 
 Cartouclie was dissatisfied with his cvmi per- 
 sonal appearance — ^his dress was not sufiiciently 
 gay ; he longed for his red-feathered hat ; and 
 he wanted the means to make some elegant pre- 
 sents to Pelagie. His father would not give 
 him a sous. His evil star predominated, and he 
 wandered to the Pont-Neuf, which is a busy 
 thoroughfare at aU hours ; and, with admirable 
 dexterity, he, in a very short space of time, made 
 himself master of two watches, and several purses 
 variously fiUed, but which were speedily emptied 
 by him, and the purses thrown away. The 
 watches were disposed of to a noted receiver of 
 stolen goods, one Rebecca Mezzia, an elderly 
 lady of Israelite persuasion, who gave him about 
 a tenth part of the value of the pilfered articles. 
 The watches found their way to England, as 
 similar time -pieces stolen in London were made 
 to perform a journey to Paris, through the 
 agency of Madame Rebecca Mezzia ; and by 
 this clever interchange of property, detection of 
 the various robberies rarely occurred. Besides, 
 
 f2
 
 100 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 there was always a ready sale, both in London 
 and Paris, for the foreign article ; for there are 
 ladies and gentlemen who are never satisfied 
 with the manufacture of their own country, but 
 conceive it fashionable to be the possessors of that 
 which has been made abroad ; and, more parti- 
 cularly, if the articles should be prohibited or 
 contraband. Louis Dominique was now enabled 
 to present his beloved Pelagic with silk stockings, 
 ribands, handkerchiefs, bottles of scent, and fans. 
 But his father eyed with some doubt and sus- 
 picion the gay new scarlet hose with which he 
 had decorated his own legs. 
 
 At the residence of Madame Rebecca Mezzia, 
 Cartouche formed first the acquaintance, and 
 subsequently, the friendship of several gentlemen 
 of first-rate talent in the art of appropriation. 
 Two of these were his especial intimates. Mon- 
 sieur Thibault au De, and Monsieur Inigo. 
 From these ingenious persons he received lessons 
 to steal adroitly, and it was quite surprising what 
 an apt and ready genius the pupil possessed ; by
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 101 
 
 assiduity and industry he became ultimately so 
 accomplished that he made it his boast that he 
 had picked the pockets of almost every police 
 officer in Paris, and come off undiscovered. And 
 this was done merely for pastime, mingled %vith 
 a tincture of bravado. It, however, gained him 
 immense credit ^\'ith his companions, whose more 
 cautious notions rather impelled them not to 
 venture too near the persons of these same 
 poHce people. Probably they might have been 
 better known on visiting terms. 
 
 Cartouche occasionally accompanied his friends 
 and instructors to the vicinity of the suburbs of 
 Paris, where sometimes they would stop a 
 coach, and rob the inmates of all they had about 
 them. It was in one of these Kttle agreeable 
 excursions that they encountered the two cele- 
 brated authors, Alain Rene le Sage, and Bernard 
 le Bovier de Fontenelle, while taking an evening 
 airing in a carriage. To rob an author is at the 
 best a very shabby transaction. 
 
 The affair was publicly recorded by Le Sage,
 
 102 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 who drew up the following pleasant advertise- 
 ment, and which was also printed as a handbill, 
 and distributed in the cafes. 
 
 " Whereas, 
 
 "Six gentlemen (all of the same honourable 
 profession), having been more than ordinarily 
 put to it for a little pocket money, did on the 
 10th instant, in the evening, near St. Denis, bor- 
 row of two persons (in a coach) a certain sum of 
 money, without stajdng to give bond for the re- 
 pajrment : and whereas, fancy was taken to the 
 hat, peruke, cravat, sword, and cane, of one 
 of the creditors, which were all lent as freely as 
 the money : — these are, therefore, to desire the 
 said six worthies, how fond soever they may be 
 of the other loans, to unfancy the cane again, 
 and send it to the Cafe Pourcegnac, on the 
 Boulevards, it being only valuable as having 
 been the gift of a friend." 
 
 Cartouche, on seeing this bill, determined to
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 103 
 
 test the hardihood of his companions, and pro- 
 posed that one of the gang should go to the 
 Cafe Pourcegnac, and deliver up the walking- 
 stick. As a matter of course they individually 
 declined, when Cartouche, smiling with con- 
 tempt at them, swore that he would carry it back 
 to the owner himself. 
 
 Le Sage was seated in the Cafe Pourcegnac, 
 conversing with Charles Rollin (famous for his 
 skill in the helles lettres), when Cartouche, wdth 
 the greatest efironter}^, walked iiito the room. 
 He had in his hand one of the printed bills, and 
 he quietly enquired of a gargon if he knew 
 which of the Messieurs had issued the advertise- 
 ment. The waiter pointed to the table at which 
 sat the novelist and historian. 
 
 Louis Dominique approached them, and, 
 bowing low, laid the cane and the bill between 
 them ; and, with great gravity, bowing again, he 
 left their part of the coffee-room, and shortly 
 afterwards quitted the house. Le Sage was so 
 struck at this adventure that he could not credit
 
 104 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 that it was his cane that was returned. Rollin 
 laughed loudly, but inquired why Fontenelle 
 was not also stripped of his portable habiliments ? 
 Le Sage replied that the great fabulist had gone 
 out on that evening in deshabille, and that he 
 had not anything on worth stealing. As the gar- 
 ^on approached the table to replenish the coffee 
 cups of the authors, he discovered that the small 
 silver sugar dish was missing. Alack ! the rogue 
 Cartouche had carried it off as a memento — a 
 clincher to his hardihood. 
 
 The cash he obtained from Madame Rebecca 
 Mezzia enabled him to treat his grisette to the 
 play : the dramas of Moliere being at the pe- 
 riod the standing dishes, and in high repute ; 
 one of them, entitled Les Fourheries de Scapin, 
 was a favourite piece with Cartouche. 
 
 About this period. Cartouche pere had 
 arranged to fulfil a contract he had entered into 
 some years previously, which was no less than to 
 get his daughter (a very pretty girl) married. 
 The young man to whom she was affianced was
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 105 
 
 well off in the world : he had succeeded to the 
 business of his father, a timber-merchant, who 
 had for many years supplied the honest cooper 
 with the materials for his trade. 
 
 Monsieur Malasteque arrived in Paris, well 
 provided with money, preparatory to his entering 
 the blessed state of a bridegroom : and as he 
 intended passing his honey-moon in the gay city, 
 he had taken a small ready-furnished house to 
 carry his pretty wife to. 
 
 Cartouche Kstened ^^•ith greedy ears to the 
 details which his father recovmted of the amount 
 of the property of his future son-in-law ; and, 
 without the slightest remorse, or thought of how 
 it might affect the interests of his dear sister, he 
 determined to have a finger in the pie. So 
 he communicated liis plans to his associates at 
 Madame Rebecca Mezzia's. 
 
 Cartouche had ascertained that the cash of 
 his future brother-in-law was carefully deposited 
 in an ii'on box, and that it was kept in a cham- 
 ber next to his bed-room. 
 
 f3
 
 106 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 The night was fixed on which they were to 
 undertake the robbery, and Louis Dominique 
 had great confidence in success, as Monsieur 
 Malasteque was but a raw rustic. He had been 
 seeing all the sights of Paris, and was wearied 
 out, so that they guessed he would sleep 
 soundly. 
 
 They had provided themselves with the cus- 
 tomary tools of utiKty — ^picklocks, files, &c. ; 
 and after watching Malasteque into bed, they 
 quietly climbed up the balcony, and made their 
 way into the room by the window. But here 
 they had reckoned without their host, for Mon- 
 sieur Malasteque, having partaken of a very rich 
 matelote of eels for his supper, and eaten a great 
 quantity of melon afterwards, was suffering from 
 dyspepsia to that degree that he could not close 
 his eyes. Presently he heard a grating noise. 
 At first he imagined that it was his indigestion, 
 but he discovered that he was wrong, for the 
 sounds proceeded from the next room; so he 
 slipped silently out of bed, and, by the light of
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 107 
 
 the moon, saw three accomplished artists at work 
 on his iron chest, while a fourth watched at the 
 balcony to keep the coast clear. Malasteque 
 took the opportunity to remark particularly the 
 faces of these thieves, though he did not care 
 much about the breaking open the box, as he 
 had fortunately deposited his money in the Bank 
 that very morning. 
 
 But when at last they got the chest open, 
 three pair of hands dived into it at once, and 
 finding it empty, the whole party commenced 
 uttering the most horrid imprecations. Malas- 
 teque, with great presence of mind, overturned 
 a heavy carved table, which caused an alarm, 
 and at the same moment he bawled out, " Now ! 
 — the police ! — ^fire on the thieves ! — six of you 
 come up ; — fire !" Louis Dominique Cartouche, 
 Thibault au De, Inigo, and his other friends, 
 bolted with the utmost rapidity from the balcony, 
 and scampered through the streets in diiferent 
 directions. 
 
 Cartouche pere observed that Louis Domini-
 
 108 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 que was very indifferent about an introduction 
 to liis brother-in-law, and he thought it was 
 great impoliteness of conduct, that whenever 
 Monsieur Malasteque came to visit his daughter 
 at La Courtille, her brother should instantly 
 decamp by the back door. On making inquiry 
 of Louis Dominique for his reason for such be- 
 haviour, the young man modestly replied, "that 
 for some time past, and since his reformation, 
 he had made a vow as much as possible to avoid 
 all intercourse with strangers. 
 
 "But this is to be your brother," said the 
 father. " I assure you that your sister feels it 
 as a sort of insult to her intended, and she is 
 vexed with you ; I therefore shall insist that 
 you are present at our wedding feast, which is 
 to be given the night prior to the marriage." 
 Cartouche was compelled to assent. He did 
 not think he had been seen while opening the 
 chest, so, with a spirit of adventure, he deter- 
 mined to face it out ; and as there was much 
 preparation for festivity, he asked his father if
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 109 
 
 he might imdte t^vo or three young friends. 
 The good old man, pleased to think he had 
 got over the misanthropy of his son, agreed, 
 provided that Louis Dominique would vouch for 
 their good behaviour. Cartouche assured his 
 father " that there were not three better-dressed 
 gentlemen in all that quarter of Paris ; that they 
 were mteresting and amiable ;" and he might 
 have added, with great truth, that they all three 
 had quite " a taking way " with them. 
 
 Well, the important evenmg arrived, and 
 Madame Cartouche had made immense prepa- 
 rations. The ser\ices of a neighbouring res- 
 taurateur had been enlisted for some days, as 
 she had determined to do the thing in style, not 
 only on account of the festive occasion, but to 
 ake into consideration the high respectability of 
 their guests, amongst whom were ^lonsieur 
 Roide, cordonnier des dames; Madame Outarde, 
 tripiere ; Monsieur et Madame Jouilou, hras- 
 seurs: Monsieur D'Entraves, marechal f errant ; 
 Madame and three Mademoiselles Fanfaronade,
 
 110 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 couturieres, &c. &c. &c., who were all seated 
 round a substantial entertainment of many 
 dishes, and chattering in the height of French 
 gaiety. Monsieur Malasteque was enthroned 
 next to his blushing bride-elect. 
 
 Cartouche now entered, and was trying to 
 find a place in some corner where he could not 
 be seen, when the honest cooper, perceiving his 
 son, bawled out, " Hey day, my boy Dominique ! 
 come hither to the table ; let me welcome your 
 friends — there are chairs opposite your brother- 
 in-law." 
 
 Cartouche, followed by the well-dressed hang- 
 dogs, his companions, Thibault au De and Inigo, 
 were presently seated, and they began to make 
 themselves very agreeable, though now and then 
 slipping a silver fork into their breeches' pockets. 
 Monsieur Malasteque was at that moment too 
 much occupied with his love and a dindon 
 aux truffes to notice the new comers ; but 
 presently Cartouche pere, commanding all the 
 wine-glasses to be filled, proposed, in a speech
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. Ill 
 
 more remarkable for its length than its elegance, 
 "health and prosperity to the bridegroom elect." 
 This was drank with enthusiasm, " ViveVEpcmx.'" 
 It was now the turn of Monsieur Malasteque to 
 respond his grateful thanks ; but as he had not 
 been much accustomed to public speaking, 
 he kept his eyes steadily fixed on the remains of 
 the turkey, and in some embarrassment was at a 
 loss for words. The guests were all attention, 
 and Malasteque had got as far as "Ladies and 
 gentlemen," when, dropping his hand from 
 his bosom, he suddenly perceived Csirtouche and 
 the other ruffians, who had been filing away 
 at his money-box ! He could not utter 
 another word. He imagined, seeing no less 
 than four of them, that the whole company 
 were depredators. He felt faint, his countenance 
 assumed a greenish hue — he burst out into 
 a cold perspiration, and then burst out of the 
 room. He made his way into the street, and 
 never stopped once until he got home, where he 
 locked himself up in his chamber.
 
 112 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 There was much consternation as to the 
 cause of his sudden illness. Madame Cartouche 
 attributed it to the quantity of supper, while 
 the bride was certain that the feelings of Mon- 
 sieur Malasteque were overpowered by the 
 enthusiastic manner in which his health had 
 been drunk. 
 
 Louis Dominique and his young friends now 
 became a little restless, but were much relieved 
 by the elder Cartouche proposing that they 
 should go after Malasteque, and find out what 
 was the matter. In the meantime, as they were 
 rising. Monsieur Jouflou, the brewer, who was a 
 bit of a wag, took up a table-spoon, and stuck 
 it in the button-hole of his coat. Madame Car- 
 touche inquired of him the reason for so doing; 
 when Jouflou replied, " That he had observed the 
 gentleman opposite, Monsieui' Thibault au De 
 (one of Louis Dominique's friends), pop a spoon in 
 his pocket, and he imagined that they were each 
 of them to have one on this joyous occasion." 
 
 The young friend apologised very gracefully.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 113 
 
 and said, that if he had put a spoon in his pocket, 
 he had done so in absence of mind, with which 
 he was afflicted ; and, feeling in his pocket, he 
 produced the spoon, which he handed to 
 Madame Cartouche, saying, "Good Heavens! 
 Madame, how much I am indebted to your 
 worthy friend yonder. What an aberration! 
 Really, it might have been supposed that I had 
 attempted to purloin the spoon, and my charac- 
 ter would have been lost for ever." 
 
 The moment Cartouche and his scamps got 
 into the street (under pretence of seeking Mon- 
 sieur Malasteque), they simultaneously burst 
 into a roar of laughter. As a matter of course, 
 they did not trouble themselves much about the 
 indisposition of the brother-in-law, but made 
 their way to Madame Rebecca Mezzia's, to dis- 
 pose of their superfluous plate. After their de- 
 parture from the feast, Madame Fanfaronade 
 remarked that they were extremely agreeable, 
 well-bred, young gentlemen ; and also observed 
 " with what readiness of good nature they all
 
 114 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 left their supper and wine to go in search of the 
 invalid. That, for her part, she had three 
 daughters, who would not be portionless, and it 
 would give her much happiness to see them 
 united to such dehonnaire young fellows." 
 
 The Demoiselles Fanfaronade simpered, and 
 looked sheepishly round the table. They all 
 had their first finger of the left hand very much 
 roughed in the skin by needlework, and they 
 all scratched their lips. 
 
 The wine, the ponche au rhurriy the jokes, and 
 the songs, went round with characteristic vi- 
 vacity ; but the bride-elect began to be uneasy 
 at the absence of her Strephon. Presently a 
 mysterious-looking letter was delivered to 
 Monsieur Cartouche pere, which had been 
 brought to the house by a porter. The old 
 cooper opened the billet^ hoping that it might 
 be an order for a hundred new hogsheads, when, 
 to his utter dismay, he read the following lines 
 from Monsieur Malasteque (to himself), and 
 they proved that if the young timber-merchant
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. H5 
 
 was not gifted with eloquence, he had a very 
 perspicuous style in his writing : — 
 
 "a mons. cartouche pere. 
 
 " Monsieur Malasteque presents his compliments 
 to Monsieur Cartouche pere^ and I am sorry to 
 say I never received such a dreadful shock in all 
 my life, and which caused me to leave the table 
 so suddenly. Monsieur Malasteque would not 
 have been so rude as to have quitted Mademoi- 
 selle and the other ladies, if I had not been, to 
 my astonishment, confronted with four thieves, 
 who the other night, broke open my iron box, 
 thinking to rob Monsieur Malasteque, only I 
 had luckily placed my money in the Bank of Paris 
 — so these four thieves were disappointed. 
 Monsieur Malesteque distinctly saw the counte- 
 nances of the four thieves on that occasion, and 
 I regret to affirm, on my sacramental oath, that 
 the second time Monsieur Malasteque beheld 
 these four thieves, was at the supper-table this 
 evening, on Monsieur Cartouche's premises ;
 
 116 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 and it grieves me to remark that one of these 
 four thieves was Louis Dominique Cartouche, 
 whom Monsieur Malasteque saw as plainly as 
 possible, and I could not be mistaken, with his 
 horrible leer when he saw my chest was empty. 
 Monsieur Malasteque entreats Monsieur Car- 
 touche pere not to be angry with him, although 
 his son was one of the four thieves that tried 
 to rob him. I never was so frightened in all 
 my life, and it was lucky there was a marble 
 table for Monsieur Malasteque to throw down 
 to alarm the four thieves, of which Louis Domi- 
 nique was one of the greatest. 
 
 " Under these circmnstances, sir, what is to 
 be done ? I cannot marry into a family con- 
 nected with thieves ; and what is more, Mon- 
 sieur Malasteque cannot mix himself up with 
 such company. I have been brought up 
 respectably in the country with my father, and 
 should not like to be obliged to furnish the tim- 
 ber for the gallows of any of my relations, 
 friends, or connexions, although it be my trade.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 117 
 
 Monsieur Malasteque solicits Monsieur Car- 
 touche pere to condole with Mademoiselle, and 
 tell her I think it is a great pity her brother is 
 a thief, as o\\'ing to that, it must break off the 
 match. 
 
 " Monsieur Malasteque offers his humble 
 salute to Mademoiselle, and I am much cha- 
 grined that such a shocking thing should have 
 happened. Kiss the hands of her mother for 
 me. 
 
 " Your humble servant to command, 
 
 " Etienne Victor Malasteque. 
 
 " P.S. — You shall have the two loads of oak 
 plank next Thursday ; Monsieur Malasteque is 
 very unhappy." 
 
 On the perusal of the above specimen of epis- 
 tolatory correspondence, in wliich the third and 
 first persons were so confounded, the cooper was 
 perplexed. It was not the style of his intended 
 son-in-law (for in fact he did not discover that)^ 
 but the matter of fact that posed him. His mis-
 
 118 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 chievous son had been a depredator before. Oh ! 
 what a Avretched situation for a father, and how 
 many an honest and well-intentioned affectionate 
 parent has been consigned broken-hearted to his 
 grave by the heedless, heartless, conduct of his 
 offspring ; nurtured with unremitting care, che- 
 rished by fondness — educated probably at an 
 expense beyond the father's means, his own 
 comforts reduced to privations to pay for the 
 schooling — and, after all, the unnatural junior's 
 only display of talent has been made by crime to 
 crush his progenitor. 
 
 The wedding party broke up very unplea- 
 santly. Mademoiselle Cartouche commencing the 
 first of a series of fainting fits ; not so much 
 that she was seriously attached to poor Monsieur 
 Timber-merchant, but that she had made up her 
 mind to be married. It had been her only offer, 
 and, under such circumstances, a young woman 
 cannot brook disappointment ; besides, her wed- 
 ding clothes had been purchased. What was to 
 console her for not having been seen by the neigh-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 119 
 
 hours in her large-patterned silk manteau, her 
 new fashioned head lappets, her pink satin shoes, 
 with buckles manufactured especially by their 
 distinguished guest, Monsieur Roide, for the 
 occasion ? Oh ! it was enough to turn a "vdrgin 
 utterly wild. 
 
 Equally disagreeable was it to Madame Car- 
 touche, on collecting her articles of silver at the 
 end of the evening, to discover that thi'ee forks, 
 two spoons, and a pepper-box, had absconded, 
 vanished, flitted away, besides Monsieur Ma- 
 lasteque. 
 
 Old Cartouche was in despair. To hope for 
 any reformation in the character of his scamp of 
 a son was now fruitless, and he began seriously 
 to turn over in his mind, that the only means to 
 save Louis Dominique from the gallows, would 
 be making interest at court to procure a lettre 
 de cachet to remove the wicked young dog into 
 the Bastile. But this difficult matter could not 
 be accompKshed. If Cartouche, indeed, had 
 written a satirical verse on one of the royal mis-
 
 120 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 tresses, or had he been lucky enough to have 
 sneezed at an archbishop, free quarters w^ould 
 have been provided for him in that formidable 
 fortress, originally erected for the protection of 
 the eastern side of the good city of Paris, but in 
 1634 converted into the strongest state prison in 
 Europe : where the detention of the unfortunate 
 offender was arbitrary, and the duration of his 
 captivity never specified. No possible channel 
 of communication with the relatives or friends 
 of the prisoner could take place, but through the 
 medium of the governor. He could suppress 
 any applications as he thought fit ; and he was 
 generally interested in the victims being de- 
 tained, as he contracted with the govermnent for 
 the maintenance of the prisoners, and derived a 
 profit therefrom. It was, therefore, almost 
 hopeless to think of a release. 
 
 Cartouche failed in obtaining the honour of 
 being introduced into such good company ; but 
 his father accidentally falling in with an old 
 monk of St. Lazare, who, hearing the detail of
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 121 
 
 the offences committed, advised that the son, to 
 keep him out of present mischief, should receive 
 a year's discipline in that monastery; that 
 he (the monk) had been an eye-witness of the 
 salutary effects of spare diet, confinement to 
 a cell, and occasional flagellation, and that many 
 young sinners had come out again quite altered 
 in their persons and manners. Cartouche pere 
 determined to follow this ad^dce ; but the 
 difficulty was first to find his son, and, secondly, 
 to convey him to the monastery. 
 
 He went to the Jesuits' College, where he 
 sought the valet Fuseau ; and he was perfectly 
 aware that the latter worthy would be delighted 
 to revenge himself by playing a trick on Louis 
 Dominique, in return for the scrape in which he 
 had involved him. He requested Fuseau to 
 go in search of his reprobate offspring, and 
 to persuade him to return home, as for- 
 giveness for the past would be the result. 
 The valet of Count Concomias midertook 
 the task ; for besides feeling that a twelvemonth's 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 1^2 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 discipKne at St. Lazare would be highly advan- 
 tageous to Cartouche, he could not forget his 
 own six weeks' confinement, for which he was 
 indebted entirely to his young friend.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 123 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CAETOrCHE IS COJTV'ETED TO A PEyiTENTIAKT, BUT DE- 
 
 CLI>'ES EXTEEING HE TAKES A PEOTINCIAL TRIP — CAK- 
 
 TOUCHE MAKES THE SOUTH OF FRANCE TOO HOT TO HLOD 
 HIM — OF THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES THAT BEFEL 
 HIM ON THE ROAD. 
 
 Louis Dominique now took up his residence 
 in the house of Madame Rebecca Mezzia, 
 occupying a bed-room, for wliich the old lady 
 charged him exorbitantly, and also made a 
 pro\iso that she was to be paid daily ; this stipu- 
 lation with the gentlemen who lodged with her 
 being deemedperfectly necessary. The old Jewess 
 would have nothing to do with their board. 
 She lived in her own way, according to the 
 peculiar tenets of her faith ; was partial to fried 
 carp and other scaled fish, delighted in a German 
 
 g2
 
 124 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Stew, attended the synagogue scrupulously, and 
 dealt in all sorts of stolen goods. 
 
 Cartouche, who had ever an excellent appetite, 
 one day passed a butcher's, and perceiving a 
 delicate griskin of pork hanging up, recollected 
 that he had nothing in the house for his supper. 
 To unhook the meat, poke it up the back of 
 his coat, and slink off, was the work of three 
 seconds. He went to Madame Rebecca's, and 
 requested to have it cooked and reserved for 
 him until the evening. His hostess affected 
 considerable abhorence at a portion of the 
 miclean beast finding its way into her kitchen. 
 With some very unpleasant reflections on it, the 
 griskin was roasted, and put by on a clean dish, 
 to be eaten cold for Cartouche's supper. Louis 
 Dominique was quite certain that the said 
 supper would be perfectly secure on the score of 
 his landlady's religious persuasion and scruples. 
 But he reckoned without his hostess, for three 
 nieces of Madame Rebecca Mezzia, wdth dark 
 lustrous eyes, luxuriant black hair, and aquiline
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 125 
 
 noses, and whose surname was Lazarus, had 
 walked from the opposite side of Paris, to call 
 upon their aunt, and poor dears ! required some 
 refreshment. Madame Rebecca, who was really 
 partial to the girls, placed some unleavened 
 bread before them; but perceiving from the 
 altered looks of the three pretty Jewesses that 
 they expected something more substantial, she 
 thought she would throw herself on the gal- 
 lantry of Monsieur Cartouche, her lodger, and 
 treat her \dsitors at his expense. She accord- 
 ingly proceeded to the pantry, and placed the 
 savoury \-iand before the young ladies. It must 
 be o"^Tied that they had walked all the way from 
 St. Denis, so the griskin was soon picked to the 
 very bones, without their caring whether it had 
 ever been entered into by a devil. 
 
 Much refreshed, they chatted and sung cheer- 
 fully. After staying with their aunt until near- 
 ly dusk, they took their departure. Cartouche, 
 coming home from a long ramble, had got up 
 his appetite to that point of perfection which
 
 126 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 causes the mouth to water when you anticipate 
 the enjoyment of a favourite dish, and he begged 
 of Madame Mezzia that she would let him have 
 his supper. 
 
 " Ah, Monsieur Cartouche," said Rebecca, 
 " how delighted you would have been." 
 
 " With what ?" he inquired. 
 
 " Oh, my dear, with three luscious young 
 creatures. They passed all the afternoon here, 
 and you absent !" 
 
 " Aye, indeed !" replied Cartouche. 
 
 " My nieces, the beautiful Lazarus'. I never 
 beheld such sparkUng eyes, nor whiter teeth. 
 So help me Heaven ! the teeth alone would 
 make a pearl necklace. How I wished you had 
 been at home. They were so witty, too — ^not 
 second-hand, but all bran new. Monsieur 
 would have been up to the ears in love with 
 them. Such lovely round arms, and taper 
 fingers." 
 
 Louis Dominique was excited by the glowing 
 encomiums of the old Jewess, but thought her
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 127 
 
 somewhat prolix in her description, particularly 
 when he had asked for the supper for which his 
 bowels craved. 
 
 " The youngest girl Leah is the prettiest 
 creature of the three. And how the spotted 
 turban became her poHshed marble forehead," 
 continued Rebecca. " And then, Rachael's long 
 silken eye-lashes. Ah, but nothing can possibly 
 equal the beautiful bust of Zarah." 
 
 Cartouche again gently hinted that he was 
 hungry. The old lady, not taking any notice of 
 this, reconmienced, " And it would have done 
 you good. Monsieur, to have heard their sweet 
 and flexible voices, when they sang some 
 "Hebrew melodies. Rachael went up so high I 
 thought she never would have come down again ; 
 and Leah trilled down so low that I imagined 
 she was singing at the bottom of a well ; while 
 Zarah tickled my lute until I beheved it was 
 going into fits." 
 
 Louis Dominique now interrupted her, and 
 asked if she had dressed his griskin of pork.
 
 128 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Rebecca replied in the affirmative, and added, 
 that although it was no favourite food of hers, 
 she was certain it must have been very delicious, 
 for she had never, in all her life, seen three 
 beautiful girls eat so heartily of it. 
 
 " Jewesses eat pork 1" ejaculated Cartouche, 
 faintly. 
 
 " They did not know it was pork, my dear," 
 replied Madame Mezzia. " I was perfectly 
 aware that you would not be angry at giving a 
 supper to three such charming fascinating crea- 
 tures, so I told them it was fatted passover lamb." 
 
 " Is it all gone ?" asked Cartouche. 
 
 " Every morsel," answered Rebecca. " You 
 would have been transported to have seen them 
 eat." 
 
 "Probably," muttered the disappointed Car- 
 touche, sullenly. *^But as the meat was so 
 good, I think you deprived your Israelite nieces 
 of the greatest pleasure of all." 
 
 "How ?" asked the old lady. 
 
 "By not telling them that it was interdicted
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 129 
 
 food. You should Lave told them it was pork, 
 and then let them enjoy the sin of eating it." 
 
 "Oh fie! fie! fie! How depraved! — that 
 would have been quite contrary- to my prin- 
 ciples," rephed the old lady. 
 
 "Plague take your principles, and you too," 
 said Cartouche. "I don't intend to say anything 
 that may appear to be impolite, but I heartily 
 wish, that before your hungry harpies of nieces 
 had gobbled up my supper, that they had all 
 gone to the de\'il." So saying, he left the house, 
 and banged the street-door after him. 
 
 In this moody fit, he immediately came face 
 to face with the valet Fuseau, who was seeking 
 him. Cartouche was at first cowed with the 
 sudden rencontre, but perceiving a smile on the 
 face of the valet, his confidence was restored, 
 and he said, " Ah ! my old friend — how goes 
 the world with you ?" 
 
 " Brisk as champagne," rephed Fuseau; "I 
 am rich enough to treat you to a bottle, and 
 laugh over old times." 
 
 g3
 
 130 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " Have with you," eagerly exclaimed Louis Do- 
 minique ; " I have just been done out of a supper." 
 
 Cartouche accompanied the valet of Count 
 Conconnas to a tavern, where, ordering a pullet 
 and a bottle, these worthies completely renewed 
 their former intimacy. The fowl and a salad 
 discussed, Cartouche recovered the tone of his 
 stomach, and as the glasses of wine disappeared 
 rapidly, the tongue of Louis Dominique ran 
 glibly, and he related all his adventures to Mon- 
 sieur Fuseau, who, it would seem, agreed in 
 opinion with the celebrated Roscommon — 
 
 " Wise were the kings, who never chose a friend 
 Till with full cups they had unmask'd his soul, 
 And seen the bottom of his deepest thoughts." 
 
 And, at the same time, that the valet heard of 
 Cartouche's rogueries, he became more confirmed 
 in his purpose of getting him back into the 
 hands of his father, that the necessary steps 
 might be taken to immure the young rascal in 
 the monastery of St. Lazare, and all for the 
 good of his future well-doing in the world.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 131 
 
 " To tell you the unaffected truth, my dear 
 Louis Dominique" (and here the treacherous 
 valet kissed him on both his cheek-bones), " I 
 have seen your worthy father, and he is dread- 
 fully distressed at the cause of your absence." 
 
 " What ! old Hoops ?" replied his dutiful son. 
 
 " Even so," said Fuseau ; " and although 
 almost distracted at the loss he has sustained by 
 being deprived of a husband for your sister, he 
 very sensibly looks to the point of luring him 
 back again, by proving that you were not so de- 
 praved as was imagined by Monsieur Malas- 
 teque. 
 
 " My sister is a pretty girl," replied Car- 
 touche, "and much too nice a morsel for that 
 imbecile, wooden-headed nobody." 
 
 " Pshaw ! tush !" said the valet, " you are too 
 particular. In the last census that was taken of 
 the population, Heavens! how the female sex 
 preponderated. It was to such an extent, that 
 husbands wiU be scarce for the next thirty years ; 
 and then, to add to that, how many of our poor
 
 132 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 young fellows have been sacrificed in the long 
 ambitious war with England and the aUies — " 
 
 Here a gentleman stepped up to their table, 
 and touching his three-cocked hat politely, said, 
 " No conversation on politics." 
 
 " And why not ?" asked Cartouche, boldly. 
 The gentleman replied, "I am an officer of 
 the police, and if you continue to depreciate 
 our glorious government and Grand Monarque, 
 I shall do myself the honour to invite you to 
 accompany me to the Conciergerie." 
 
 Fuseau and Cartouche turned pale, and were 
 silent. 
 
 What a beautiful order of affairs ! — how ad- 
 mirable the system. How dared any one to 
 hazard a political opinion ? If our hero had 
 continued half-a-dozen more anti-ruler senti- 
 ments, he would have rendered himself an eligible 
 candidate for the Bastile, and saved his father 
 and friends all the trouble and expense they 
 were enduring for him. Again, we repeat, what 
 a pity it was that he did not continue his auda-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 133 
 
 city. It might have preserved him from the 
 last resource the laws could eventually offer 
 him. 
 
 Fuseau presently prevailed on Louis Domi- 
 nique to accompany him home to his father's 
 house. Under the influence of the vdne, and a 
 tolerable stock of self-conceit, he perfectly be- 
 lieved that the whole affair could be easily 
 patched up. When they aiTived at La Cour- 
 tille, the honest cooper, who was an early riser, 
 had retired to rest ; they, however, obtained 
 admission, and Cartouche was once more in bed 
 under the parental roof. 
 
 In the morning his father was by the side of 
 his pallet ; and, with a stem au% told him that 
 he hoped his conscience had sufficiently rebuked 
 him, and that he should not revert to the painful 
 subject ; but he did not think his mother and 
 sister would let him off so quietly. Louis Do- 
 minique professed great penitence, and hoped, 
 with the kind aid of his father, that he might 
 obtain the forgiveness of his other relatives. He
 
 134 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 now perceived that his father was attired in his 
 best holiday suit, and he received his directions to 
 get up and dress himself, as he, the elder Car- 
 touche, was going, that morning, to enter into an 
 extensive contract for hogsheads and puncheons 
 for government, and he wished his son to ac- 
 company him, as a witness of the engagement, 
 
 Louis Dominique was delighted at this mark of 
 parental confidence, which he felt, and admitted, 
 he did not deserve. The old gentleman then went 
 down stairs to see whether a hired coach had arrived. 
 " For," said he, " when you go to effect a go- 
 venunent contract, appear as if you were in easy 
 circumstances, and then those vnth whom you 
 are about to deal will not haggle nor beat you 
 dovm." 
 
 Cartouche dressed himself, and perceiving on 
 a bureau three new napkins, he totally forgot 
 all his remorse, and, without any inquiry as to 
 whom they might belong, they found their way, 
 from the mere habit of appropriation, into his 
 coat pocket.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 135 
 
 His father presently summoned him, and they 
 entered a fiacre, which was at the door. As 
 Louis Dominique looked up at the window of 
 his mother's room, he saw her gazing at him 
 from behind a curtain, with her eyes flooded 
 with tears. His heart slightly smote him. He 
 imagined them to proceed from sheer anger and 
 vexation, whilst, in truth, the maternal parent 
 beheved that she was taking a last glance of her 
 unprincipled son, for at least twelve months, 
 which she presumed he was about to pass in 
 penitence and incarceration. 
 
 The coach drove on with the father and son, 
 and rattled through the old streets of Paris in 
 the direction of the Rue St. Denis. Presently 
 they drew up at an ominous-looking building, 
 very unhke a government office. Cartouche 
 'pere stepped out, wdth some mystery, and pulled 
 the bell, and a lay brother of St. Lazare, who 
 acted as porter, peered through a wicket. Louis 
 Dominique was told, by his father, to remain for 
 a minute or two in the coach, and he would re-
 
 136 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 turn to him. The old man then entered the 
 portal of the convent. 
 
 Strong suspicions now crossed the mind of 
 Cartouche, His father had been too cunning 
 in his measures. What the devil could the bre- 
 thren of St. Lazare want with a number of pun- 
 cheons and hogsheads ? Louis Dominique guessed 
 at the parental arrangements ; he recollected the 
 afflicted look of his mother ; and he beheld four 
 men advancing from another door of the monas- 
 tery, who had very much the appearance of 
 exempts. He had no doubt whatever that he 
 was betrayed, and that these fellows were 
 coming to arrest him. Cartouche was a lad of 
 genius — 
 
 " The keen spirit 
 Seizes the prompt occasion, makes the thought 
 Start into instant action, and at once 
 Plans and performs, resolves and executes." 
 
 How fortunate it was that he recollected the 
 three stolen napkins — what a treasure they 
 proved in his present situation ! He first tied up
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 137 
 
 his cocked hat in one of the napkins somewhat 
 in the form of a dish; he took off his coat 
 and peruke, and twisted the second napkin 
 round his head, so as to represent a night-cap ; 
 and the third, he inserted in his waistband, 
 apron fashion. He then opened the coach door 
 on the opposite side gently, so as not to disturb 
 the coachman, who was on the box ; and thus he 
 was most admirably disguised as a restaurateur 
 bearing a dish (his hat). He walked cahnly 
 and gravely along, passing the exempts who 
 were awaiting the order to seize upon the 
 gentleman in the coach, and got away safely, 
 with the loss of his coat and wig. 
 
 Presently, Cartouche j9erg returned with the 
 principal of the monastery, and the familiars 
 were beckoned up; but the bird had flown, 
 leaving a few of his feathers behind him. The 
 father was perfectly at a loss to imagine how he 
 had contrived to escape. 
 
 Louis Dominique traversed several streets, 
 still in his costume de la cuisine ; and it is so
 
 1^8 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 common a sight in the cooking city of Paris 
 to see the white caps and aprons dashing about, 
 that his appearance caused no surprise. He was 
 aware that it would be prudent to leave the 
 capital. He had some money in his pocket 
 remaining from Madame Rebecca Mezzia's 
 purchases, but he was without a coat. At this 
 moment he had arrived at his old quarters, 
 the college of Clermont — he reflected on the 
 perfidy of Fuseau. He entered the gates — still 
 passing for a cook's assistant — boldly went up 
 the old stair-case, pushed open the door of the 
 apartments of his old school-fellow. Count Con- 
 connas, and made his way to the well remem- 
 bered clothes-press, where he found a black coat 
 belonging to the Count, which fitted him ex- 
 ceedingly weU ; he dofied his napkins, untied 
 his hat, and within half an hour was in a 
 dihgence starting on the road to Bayonne. 
 
 We shall pass over a description of the jour- 
 ney, of the country, and of his fellow-travellers, 
 and content ourselves mth stating that he
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 139 
 
 arrived safe and sound in that ornament of the 
 south of France, the commodious and handsome 
 town of Bayonne ; where, his finances dwindling, 
 he re-commenced his system of pilfering, shop- 
 lifting, swindling, and picking pockets, on the 
 most extensive scale, and in the greatest variety 
 -of modes; in fact, he became a wholesale practi- 
 tioner, and dealer in every sort of article. 
 
 At length he was smoked ; and finding that 
 -Bayonne was becoming a little too hot to hold 
 him, he one morning early, on the opening of 
 the gates, marched out of the city veiy quietly, 
 with his portmanteau under his arm — intending 
 to make his way to Bordeaux, and tr}^ his 
 fortune there ; he travelled by the old road, 
 which was more direct than that through Mont 
 de Marsan. But as this journey was difficult to 
 achieve on foot, Cartouche resolved on hiring a 
 mule ; so, at an inn in the suburbs of St. 
 Esprit, he struck up a bargain for an animal, 
 which, in spite of all the eulogiums bestowed on 
 it by its owner, was but a sorry jade, though
 
 148 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 she was bred on the Spanish frontier. The 
 poor beast had been hard-worked and ill-fed, 
 and Cartouche repented that he had ever 
 mounted her back ; for it was hke riding upon a 
 saw, the teeth of which he could feel through 
 his worn-out saddle. As she stumbled at every 
 other step, her rider felt it necessary to remind 
 her that he wore spurs, which made the mule 
 sagaciously wince in her belly, till he pricked 
 his own heels — ^for, be it known, she was not 
 one of those wide-backed Flanders animals, 
 that will stretch a cavalier's legs two yards asun- 
 der. With all her good qualites, however, Car- 
 touche determined at the end of the first stage, 
 or at the very first opportunity, to get rid of the 
 beast : and presently he arrived at a hostelry, and 
 seeing the stable-door open, he at once rode his 
 mule in, and guided her into the darkest stall 
 he could find in the building. His object in 
 this was because he perceived a young lady, who 
 had the care of the stables, come clattering 
 across the filthy coui't in her sabots, making
 
 OF CARTOUCHF. 14l 
 
 more noise than if she was running in cocoa-nut 
 shells. Cartouche stood in the door-way to in- 
 tercept the light between the large black eyes 
 of the she-ostler and the figure of his mule ; 
 and observing that there were three other mules 
 feeding in the stable, one of which was covered 
 with a horseman's cloak, he pulled out a cro^^'n 
 of gold, and put it into the hand of the damsel, 
 ordering her to bring a measure of barley and 
 the change. (He sent the gold piece to gain a 
 little time.) But the moment the girl's face 
 was turned the other way to re-enter the cabaret, 
 he whipped off the long cloak from the mule, 
 backed him out of the stall, led his o^vn beauty 
 of a beast into its place, threw the horseman's 
 mantle over her in the exact form it was before, 
 and led his new mide into the dark corner. He 
 had scarcely accomplished this before he heard 
 the cocoa-nuts rattling across the yard, and 
 Angelique appeared with a sieve of barley. 
 Cartouche took the measure out of her hand, 
 and remarked that he alvrays made it a practice 
 to feed his o^\-n beast.
 
 }4^ THE ADVENTURES 
 
 He then received his change, and gave the 
 girl a small gratuity, bidding her to fetch him a 
 tumbler of wine mulled with spice. Away 
 trotted the cocoa-nuts ; and Cartouche, with the 
 consciousness that exchange is no robbery, led 
 out the fresh mule, and mounting him, after he 
 had strapped his portmanteau to the saddle, gave 
 him a touch with his rippers, and set off at a 
 swinging trot. A turn of the road soon put him 
 out of sight of the hostelry, and Cartouche con- 
 gratulated himself exceedingly on the vast im- 
 provement he had made in his means of travel- 
 ling; nor did Angelique, when she came out 
 with the mulled wine, discover the fraud — for 
 the poor mule was too much occupied with the 
 fodder in the rack to make the slightest objection 
 to the cloak with which it was covered — and 
 finding that the traveller was gone, mule and all, 
 she concluded that, as the fire had been low, 
 and they were a long time warming the wine, 
 the stranger could wait no longer. 
 
 The best of this was, that the good mule which
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 143 
 
 Cartouche had taken away was the property of 
 a Monsieur Sebastien Escroc, a minor officer 
 belonging to the criminal court of Bayonne. He 
 was reckoned a very sharp-sighted fellow at 
 knowing a thief, though he was not so well 
 skilled as he imagined, since he knew not him- 
 self. Sebastien Escroc had been sent, by order 
 of council, to make inquiries respecting an ex- 
 tensive burglary which had been committed at a 
 chateau at St. Sever, where plate, money, and 
 jewels were carried off. The seigneur of the 
 village had despatched a messenger with infor- 
 mation of the robbery to the authorities at 
 Bayonne. Judge the surprise, then, of this 
 important personage, while he was making his 
 inquiries in the inn, on discovering the wretch 
 of a mule underneath his cloak, and liis own 
 animal, ^vith its appointments, vanished. Mon- 
 sieur Sebastien Escroc, though an officer of 
 justice, was very superstitious, and at first attri- 
 buted the transformation to witchcraft; but when 
 he heard that a gentleman had been in the stable,
 
 144 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 he thought it proper to make the best use of a bad 
 bargain, and go on in pursuit of the gentleman, 
 who liad, probably in mistake, taken the wrong 
 mule. In the meantime. Cartouche pushed 
 briskly on through the cross country road be- 
 tween St. Sever and Roquefort, with little ap- 
 prehension of pursuit, and less of apprehension. 
 He was aware that the proprietor of the mule 
 could not tell which way he had decamped ; and 
 perceiving an inn, with more comfortable accom- 
 modation than was common, he resolved to stop 
 and regale ; for, be it remarked, a thief always 
 conscientiously pays due regard to his stomach, 
 if he never pays anything else. He therefore 
 pulled up, and dismounted at the Fleur-de-Lys, 
 giving his mule, with a very consequential air, to 
 the gar^on (Tecurie. 
 
 He then, with a keen appetite, discussed the 
 merits of a dish of cabbage soup, and pulled a 
 lanky, scraggy, fowl into strings, which he de- 
 voured, filling up any vacancies in his interior 
 with a greasy omelette and a bottle of capital 
 Bordeaux.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 145 
 
 Whilst sitting at his ease in his inn, Cartouche 
 was looking at the beautiful prospect from the 
 window, when he saw, in the distance, a portly 
 man lugging a mule along with some difficulty. 
 Cartouche could not be mistaken as to the iden- 
 tity of the animal ; there was but one of its ap- 
 pearance in the world. Camel-necked, pig- 
 headed, with one eye, and that looking like 
 an oyster, a pious mule, that was frequently 
 down on its knees, and knew what fasting was, 
 and yet if the rider said " go fast,'' the animal 
 could not comprehend him. 
 
 Cartouche, who had a very sharp sight, saw 
 Monsieur Sebastien Escroc, whose person he 
 knew very well — so well, indeed, that it had 
 always been his especial care to keep out of his 
 way — Escroc holding the eminent office of prin- 
 cipal thief-taker at Bayonne. Monsieur Escroc 
 did not know Cartouche ; but the latter worthy 
 was perfectly aware that there were lq the pos- 
 session of the functionary of the police written 
 descriptions of his figure, dress, &c., which had 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 been delivered to the authorities by sundry 
 trades-people and others with whom Cartouche 
 had dealings during his visit to Bayonne, and in 
 which he had not been over scrupulous. 
 
 To get out of the inn, mount the mule, and 
 trot off was the first impulse. No ! Sebastien 
 was in sight, and it was doubtless the thief- 
 taker's mule which he had stolen ; so Cartouche 
 thought he would make a virtue of necessity, 
 and return him the beast. 
 
 Cartouche ran across to the stable, and found 
 the ostler. He pulled off his coat, and ordered 
 Jocrisse to beat the dust from it ; he then in a 
 trice whipped off his long jack-boots, and gave 
 them to Jocrisse, with directions to grease them 
 (blacking in those days not having been in- 
 vented). He borrowed of the ostler a blue 
 smock-frock and a pair of sabots. As Jocrisse 
 went to another out-building with the coat and 
 boots. Cartouche popped up a ladder into a loft, 
 wherein he very correctly conjectured he should 
 find the materials for the simple toilet of the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 147 
 
 stable-boy ; bere he dipped his own brown head 
 of hair into a pail of water, threw a handful or 
 two of flour over his locks, and put on a greasy 
 cap which was lying on a bundle of hay. He 
 then came down the ladder, and perceived that 
 there were three other mules in the stable, be- 
 sides that of Monsieur Escroc. So he immedi- 
 ately led them all out round a large stone trough 
 or cistern filled with water, and there he stood 
 unbuckling their head-gear that the beasts 
 might drink. Jocrisse peeped out astonished ; 
 but Cartouche bawled to him, " Get you on 
 wth the boots, I will water the mules." And 
 Jocrisse disappeared. 
 
 We have already acquainted our readers that 
 Cartouche would have made an excellent actor ; 
 but the genius of his ambition did not lie that 
 way ; his accomplishments led him rather to the 
 tact of the successful author, as he had great 
 dexterity in appropriating and disguising the 
 property of others. So, when Monsieur Sebas- 
 tian Escroc arrived, Cartouche, assuming the 
 
 h2
 
 148 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 air of a country lout, began brushing a mule 
 down with a broom, and whistling. Escroc let 
 go the bridle of the beauty, who, by natural 
 instinct, dipped its nose into the water-trough, 
 and drank as if it intended to transform itself from 
 a sorry mule into a river-horse. He quickly 
 espied his own mule, and said to Cartouche, 
 " Hark ye, boy, who brought this beast hither ?" 
 
 Cartouche replied, in the patois of the pro- 
 vince, " That a cavalier had left it in their stable 
 three hours previously, and was to return for 
 it on the next day." 
 
 " This mule is mine," exclaimed the officer. 
 
 " Monsieur must give me some better proof 
 than that, if it so please him," answered 
 Cartouche, meekly. 
 
 " Let me speak to thy master instantly," said 
 Escroc. 
 
 " And I shall speak to my master, too, before 
 I part with the mule that is entrusted to my 
 charge," responded Cartouche ; " it is good to 
 keep an eye on the cat when you watch your 
 meat.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 149 
 
 "What art thou mumbling?" asked the 
 officer. 
 
 Cartouche, scratching the ear of his mule, 
 replied, " When you trust to the dog, the wolf 
 often slips in the sheep-fold." 
 
 " What meanest thou to insinuate, fool ? " 
 demanded Escroc, sharply. 
 
 " Monsieur," said Cartouche, gravely, " never 
 trust gipsies, the month of April, nor great men. 
 God preserve me from a young barber to prac- 
 tise on my chin." 
 
 Escroc, finding he could not make anything 
 of the gar^oriy seized his o^vn mule, led her into 
 the stable, fastened the door, and said, " In the 
 puissant name of the Supreme Criminal Coun- 
 cil of Bayonne, I arrest this beast." He then 
 strode towards the inn, to refresh himself, and 
 make enquiries. 
 
 Ha\dng made a thorough investigation in the 
 house of entertainment (as he imagined), he 
 was much vexed he could hear no news of the 
 depredators of whom he was in search ; nor
 
 150 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 could he find any body to bring into trouble ; 
 for Monsieur Escroc was of that order of 
 persons who desire no more than to turn up a 
 subject fitly disposed, and they know how to 
 give it a form. He then complained to the 
 hostess, a brisk little Basque woman, of the 
 utter stupidity of her stable-boy. She acknow- 
 ledged that Jocrisse had not much wit, but then 
 he was honest, and kind to the beasts he had in 
 his charge. At this moment, Jocrisse came 
 from the out-building with Cartouche's coat 
 and boots. Not seeing Louis Dominique in the 
 yard, he went towards the house with them in 
 his hand. At the sight of the coat, Monsieur 
 Sebastien Escroc, who professionally had an 
 excellent memory as to all the descriptions of 
 the violators of the law that had been entered 
 in his pocket-book, said, " Wait a moment, 
 young man ; let me look at that coat." 
 
 Jocrisse w£is surprised, but gave it to him. 
 The official examined it neirrowly, turned it in- 
 side and out, felt in the pockets, and referred to
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 151 
 
 his book. " Dressed in a greeny square-cut 
 frock, laced and frogged with dark marone, 
 marone silk buttons, coat lined with black cali- 
 manco ; stolen by Louis Dominique Cartouche 
 from Alexandre Ccesar Pompey Puce, tailor.'' 
 
 Escroc assumed an authoritative air, and said, 
 " In the name of the Supreme Criminal 
 Council of Bayonne, I arrest this coat. Do 
 the boots belong to the same person from whom 
 you received the coat ?" 
 
 Jocrisse answered in the affirmative. 
 
 The officer then repeated gravely, " I arrest 
 these boots." 
 
 Escroc proceeded to demand of Jocrisse, 
 " where was the owner of the coat and boots ?" 
 
 Jocrisse simply replied, that he had left him 
 with the mule he had brought with him in the 
 stable. The officer strode across the yard, and 
 there found Cartouche rubbing up a bit and 
 a bridle. He accosted Louis Dominique sharply, 
 and interrogated him as to the person of the 
 man who brought the mule, referring as before 
 to his book.
 
 152 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " Olive complexion ?'* 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Chesnuthairr 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Nose aquiline ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir; something like mine." 
 
 " Yours, you clown ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; the gentleman was about my 
 height, and seemed in a vast hurry to get away,*' 
 
 " I do not wonder at it," remarked the func- 
 tionary, " the rascal had stolen my mule ; but I 
 have, by a wonderful effort, recovered the ani- 
 mal, and have him now under lock and key." 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered Cartouche, with assumed 
 simpHcity ; " the bread that costs nothing is 
 always best tasted ; but he who bites sour fruit 
 makes ugly faces." 
 
 " Confound your musty sayings," exclaimed 
 Escroc ; and he turned his back on the supposed 
 ostler. 
 
 At this moment was discovered, winding up 
 the road in the distance, a funeral procession.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 153 
 
 attended by two persons in religious habits, and 
 four laymen in deep mourning. These sur- 
 roimded and followed a car which was drawn by 
 two mules, on which rested the coffin. They 
 advanced slowly until they arrived at the inn. 
 The two priests stopping, told the others that 
 they should rest there a short time, and sing a 
 hymn to the repose of the soul of the dead. 
 Accordingly, they broke out in an ^^ Ad te, 
 Domine, levavi,'' enough to bring the sign of 
 the inn down. We have already observed that 
 Monsieur Escroc was of a superstitious turn, 
 and had a particular aversion to anything relating 
 to the dead. One of the priests, percei\'ing 
 him to hang back, took him firmly by the hand, 
 and led him towards the bier, and begged him 
 to look at the coffin. The officer, who had 
 great apprehensions of converse with the inhabi- 
 tants of the other world, struggled to get away, 
 alleging that he had no curiosity, and that the 
 finest corpse in the world was unpleasant tvsenty- 
 four hours after departure. So Escroc made his 
 
 h3
 
 154 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 way to the stable, mounted his own mule, which 
 proceeding no one opposed, and added to his 
 baggage the coat and boots of Cartouche as 
 testimonials. Cartouche had the effrontery to 
 hold the stirrups of the functionary, wishing 
 him a safe journey. He also assisted him in 
 buckling on his paraphernalia. Escroc told him 
 to look sharp. 
 
 " I am always for quick work," replied Car- 
 touche. " Rather cut my throat with a sharp 
 razor than tickle me to death with a straw." 
 
 " Thou eternal talker," said Escroc, and he 
 set his mule in motion.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 155 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CAETOUCHE IS HLRED AS A MOUEXEE AT A ruyERAI. — HE 
 WITNESSES A STRANGE SCENE, TAKES AS i:>'EXPECTED RIDE, 
 AND INTERRUPTS A BISHOP'S DINNER — HE IS INDUCED TO 
 BECOME A CHURCHMAN. 
 
 In the meantime, the priests and mourners 
 had placed the coffin very reverentially and 
 carefully on a long table under a portal, and 
 they had a supper laid out on another table close 
 by, so that they could watch their precious 
 charge. Cartouche went in and seated himself 
 without any ceremony, and shortly observed 
 that grief must have made the mourners very 
 dry, for they rapidly emptied one flagon of wine 
 after another. They then, with enormous 
 appetites, attacked the supper, washing down
 
 156 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the substantials with Medoc and Cogniac. The 
 landlady of the Fleur-de-Lys was somewhat sur- 
 prised to see these attendants on death so little 
 concerned, and very innocently said, "Goodgen- 
 tlemen, keep up your spirits, right are ye to make 
 merry, for I dare say there are others that lament 
 for that poor body you bring. God give it 
 rest." 
 
 The principal mourner, who sat at the head 
 of the table, answered, "Ah, Madame! it is 
 indeed very certain that the house from whence 
 this body, as you call it, came, is now under great 
 affliction; and what grieves them the more 
 is, that this person was taken away suddenly, to 
 their eternal sorrow." 
 
 As the landlady gazed with a piteous air, she 
 was astonished that the clergy and mourners all 
 burst out laughing at the remark of their princi- 
 pal ; he, however, endeavoured to turn it off* by 
 saying, " Pray Heaven we may carry him safe to 
 the place appointed! and be not scandalized 
 to see us take a little refreshment ; the fatigue
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 157 
 
 of attending a-foot requires good nourishment. 
 Have you not another cold turkey ?" He then 
 drank the hostess's health, and putting a glass of 
 wine into her hand, desired she would pledge 
 him. 
 
 There never before were assembled, even at 
 an Irish funeral, such a company of swilling 
 mourners. It appeared as if they were en- 
 deavouring to drown their grief outright. Pre- 
 sently the chief mourner turned to Cartouche, 
 and offered him a replenish from his flagon, the 
 excellent wine of the country being dra^vn from 
 the cask. Louis Dominique, nothing loath, 
 accepted the offer ; but as the liquor circulated, 
 he could not help remarking that not only 
 the mourners, but even the two religious men, 
 let loose their tongues in a strange manner. 
 One gave an account of how he had picked 
 his father's padlock, to get at some broad pieces 
 he wanted. Another related that when he 
 quitted Bordeaux, he Wcis so rude as to bid 
 nobody farewell, for fear of being arrested by
 
 158 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 his creditors. The eldest priest boasted of 
 the high favour he was in with many courtezans; 
 whilst the younger holy man offered to bet 
 twenty crowns, or a new peruke, that he was the 
 father of the most numerous progeny of all the 
 company. He then began eugolising and enu- 
 merating the Julies, Marguerites, Arabelles, Su- 
 sannes, and Isabelles, with whom he had the 
 honour to be intimate. 
 
 "/« vino Veritas,'' thought Cartouche. 
 
 And now the wine proved too powerful for 
 one of the mourners, for, after reeling and 
 stammering for a few seconds, he fell on the 
 floor in a species of fit, and then into a profound 
 sleep, interrupted only by a heavy snore. This 
 did not in the least interfere with the convivi- 
 ality of his companions, who only remarked, in 
 their flash jargon, or argot, that the **mion" 
 was "piole.'' On hearing this, Cartouche ob- 
 served, in the same eloquent diction, that the 
 " lickeur " was " sous le marpeaux" The two 
 clergymen stared to find that Cartouche under-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 159 
 
 stood them, and put several other questions to 
 him, which he readily answered ; for although 
 he was now aware of the society into which he 
 had been thus introduced, he could not help 
 wondering what these persons could be doing 
 with a corpse in a coffin. Evening was now 
 coming on, when the leader of the party, who 
 was also the most sober of them — not that he 
 had taken less drink than any of the others, but 
 that his head was harder — deemed it time to 
 depart, because it ^was not their intention to He 
 there that night : so the mules were brought 
 out, and harnessed to the car. He then paid 
 the hostess very liberally, who in return gave 
 them a thousand blessings, and offered up 
 many brief prayers for the departed. 
 
 Every attempt to wake the fellow on the floor 
 proving unavailing (for he was absolutely dead 
 drunk), they desired the landlady to take care 
 of the man that was asleep, who would follow 
 them when he awaked, and considering that the 
 mourner's habit he had on was of no farther use
 
 160 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 to him, they quickly stripped him of it, seeming 
 desirous to hire another man in his stead. The 
 leader, after a short consultation with his com- 
 rades, took Cartouche on one side, and thus 
 poHtely addressed him : — 
 
 " Monsieur, to put aside disguise, I appre- 
 hend I have the honour to address a first-rate 
 professor in the art of thieving ?'* 
 
 Cartouche modestly replied that he had made 
 some little progress in his studies. 
 
 " We have found thee," s^id the leader, " a 
 jovial companion at supper. Thou hast a look 
 of a man of determined courage, can talk argot, 
 and doubtless have a goodguai'd; wilt thou join 
 us in an adventure ? If so, without at present 
 asking further questions, put on that mourning 
 suit, and fill up yonder sleeper's vacant post." 
 
 Cartouche, recollecting that his coat and boots 
 were in the custody of Monsieur Sebastien 
 Escroc, and that the officer had been in his 
 presence, thought tliat he could not get better 
 across the country than with this agreeable
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 161 
 
 company (the dead body excepted). So lie put 
 on tlie sable habiliments, and made an exchange 
 with Jocrisse, giving his beauty of a mule for 
 an old pair of boots, and returning him his frock 
 and sabots ; and off they set merrily, leading 
 their friend entranced under the power of 
 Bacchus. 
 
 No sooner were they out of sight of the inn 
 than they quitted the high road, and went across 
 a very lone part of the country, at which the 
 new mourner was not a little surprised, but he 
 felt that he was with a set of men of whom it 
 would not have been quite safe to ask imperti- 
 nent questions; so on they travelled through- 
 out the night, which at this period of the year 
 was short. At about half-past three in the 
 morning, the leader of the party ordered a halt 
 in an extremely sinister-looking place, the habi- 
 tation of wolves and Avild boars. The leader, 
 then, untying from the car a great wicker -bound 
 bottle of brandy, which held at least a gallon, 
 proposed that ever}^ one should drink, as they
 
 16^ THE ADVENTURES 
 
 were at their journey's end. Cartouche was 
 much astonished at this. A pewter cup being 
 produced, the clergyman and mourners each 
 drank off a potent dram, when the chief said — 
 
 " Now, brethren, we are out of the reach of 
 pursuit, even if the King of France wanted us. 
 It is time to divide this body." 
 
 " Well said," answered the others, " This is 
 a convenient place for our purpose ; here we are 
 secure from interruption." 
 
 Cartouche was never so startled in his life 
 as at hearing this proposition, and he drew a 
 little aside. A long and fierce discussion now 
 arose amongst them as to what amount of share 
 the new comer should have ; and this dispute 
 was mingled with horrible oaths, and a great 
 deal more brandy. Cartouche had seen much 
 of depravity, but he never before had fallen in 
 with so peculiar a sight as that which now pre- 
 sented itself. Here was a bier, and the priests 
 and mourners all vociferating and swearing 
 together in a most infuriated manner, the brandy ^
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 163 
 
 having taken its full effect on the lees of the 
 wine. The chief mourner vowed that Car- 
 touche should receive an equal share with the 
 rest; the others swore that he should not. 
 From words they came to hlows, dra^sing out 
 short swords and daggers and pistols from under 
 their sacerdotal and sable robes. At the sight 
 of these warhke preparations, Louis Dominique 
 — who had not any inclination to interfere with a 
 parcel of drunken brawlers, and being rather 
 foot-sore in Jocrisse's boots, which did not fit 
 him — ^ventured to sit on the car on which the 
 coffin was placed. The disputation did not 
 cease for a moment, but increased violently, and 
 the antagonists cut away at each other with their 
 swords ; two of them fell wounded, and the 
 clergyman, cocking a pistol, shot one of the 
 mourners through the cheek, shattering his jaw- 
 bone. Two more pistols were instantly dis- 
 charged, which put the mules in such a fright 
 that they began snorting, braying, and kicking, 
 and then galloped off of their own accord, drag-
 
 164 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 ging the car, the precious corpse, and Cartouche 
 after them. 
 
 Now this was, really, what melo -dramatists 
 call a " situation." All Cartouche could do was 
 to hold on firmly by the car. One shot was 
 fired at him from the mourners, and the slug 
 made its way, as other slugs have done from time 
 immemorial, into the trunk of a tree. There 
 was much peril, and no fun, in this movement, 
 as the mules clattered along. The way they 
 took was very uneven, but it is proverbial that a 
 mule is not only a sagacious, but a sure-footed 
 beast ; the cofiin was securely fastened on the 
 car, and such was the rapidity of the motion, that 
 Cartouche had not the opportunity of jumping 
 off" — even if he had willed it so — ^without the 
 certainty of broken limbs. The beasts were 
 powerful, and had been well fed on the journey; 
 and they continued their pace, appearing, by a 
 sort of instinct, to make their way towards a 
 high road, and when, after a run of an hour-and- 
 a-half, they attained it, they moderated their
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 165 
 
 pace, and went at a sharp trot, as if they were 
 well aware as to the point to which their 
 steps approached. 
 
 Now the fact was, that these mules were the 
 property of the Bishop of Agen, from whom they 
 had been stolen about ten days before ; but 
 now, finding themselves at Hberty, to a certain 
 degree, had made up their minds to return home 
 to their snug stalls in their master's stables of 
 his country house. 
 
 The seigneur of the \dllage, who had been 
 robbed of property to a large amount at St. 
 Sever, had called in the aid of the police au- 
 thorities of Bordeaux ; and a party of soldiers, 
 under the direction of an active police officer, 
 made a strict search through the country. On 
 arriving at the inn, the Fleur-de-Lys, they found 
 the man who had been left behind asleep. He 
 was immediately arrested, as he was a known 
 desperate character ; and giving no satisfactory 
 replies to any of the questions politely put to 
 him, they bound him, and kept him in safe
 
 166. THE ADVENTURES 
 
 custody until they arrived at the next town ; 
 moreover, as all judicial affairs were conducted, 
 at that period, in a very summary way, they 
 placed him on the rack: when, sustaining a 
 shock or two that seemed to wake him up, and 
 make him perfectly communicative, he soon 
 owned as much as they desired, and discovered 
 some strange secrets. He confessed that he was 
 the sixth person concerned in an extensive rob- 
 bery at the chateau of St. Sever, of money, jewels, 
 plate, hangings, clothes, &c. The exploit had 
 been planned some time previously, and for the 
 safer removal of the stolen property, the car had 
 been prepared, a coffin purchased, elegantly or- 
 namented, and the thieves themselves disguised 
 in the apparel of mourners that attend at 
 funerals ; that this contrivance had succeeded, 
 as they had eluded search. The deponent 
 needed no further racking of his invention, to 
 tell them that he, falling asleep through weari- 
 ness at the inn where the whole gang re- 
 freshed themselves, they had left him behind.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 167 
 
 and carried away his mourner's garb, to his 
 infinite mortification. Ha\Tng this clue, the 
 officer locked up his prisoner in the tovra dun- 
 geon, and then proceeded in his search. 
 
 Cartouche in the meanwhile jogged on briskly, 
 wondering what would be the end of the adven- 
 ture. The mules kept a straight-forward path : 
 they belonged to a bishop, so it was not so much 
 to be wondered at. To be sure, the sight of 
 the equipage occasioned some surprise to the 
 roulage drivers on the road, and also to the 
 market-people. A bier — a coffin — and one 
 queer mourner ! Some of the merriest lookers- 
 on said that he was attending his own madame 
 to the grave, and chose to have all the pleasure 
 to himself. Cartouche began to wonder when 
 the mules would condescend to stop. At length 
 they came in sight of a handsome but anciently 
 built chateau, to which was attached a small 
 gothic chapel. The mules snorted and made 
 most unearthly noises, noises which were simi- 
 larly repeated from the denizens of the stables
 
 168 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 of the chateau ; the dogs barked in the court- 
 yard, and there was an evident sensation created 
 therein, not only with the pigs, but with the 
 turkeys. It communicated also to two peacocks, 
 with their discordant notes — the birds of whom 
 the Italians remark, that they possess " the 
 beauty of an angel, the voice of the devil, and 
 the guts of a thief." 
 
 On a sudden, the mules stopped at a large 
 pair of curiously-ornamented iron gates. Car- 
 touche communed with himself for a moment 
 — it was the first moment that the hybrids had 
 given him leisure to think — and he said to him- 
 self, " I have no business here ;" so he slipped 
 oiF the car, very glad to get rid of his com- 
 pagnons du voyage. The mules brayed loudly 
 — in the same spirit that the knights of romances 
 were said to sound a large horn at the castle- 
 gates to summon the warder. The Bishop of 
 Agen's porter opened the porte cocher, and to 
 his utter surprise beheld the mules ; but, when 
 he came to see the coffin, he crossed himself de-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 169 
 
 voutly. The circumstance was so extraordinary 
 that he determined, though the Bishop was at 
 dinner with some guests — and it was a period 
 of the day in which his reverence could not pos- 
 sibly be disturbed — to send in the communica- 
 tion to the dining-chamber. So he despatched 
 a message to the maitre d'hotel, and begged to 
 speak to him. The maitre d^hotel returned an 
 answer by a lacquey, that the Bishop was so en- 
 gaged on a dish which he had ordered to be pre- 
 pared expressly that day, that he, the maitre 
 dChotel, avowed that it was more than his place 
 was worth to interrupt the holy man : and this 
 dish was a pig a la Pere Duillet ; that the 
 worthy Pere Duillet himself was at table ; 
 and that this splendid effort of the cuisine had 
 been concocted by the invention, and consum- 
 mated under the immediate direction, of the 
 pere, who was most anxiously awaiting the 
 opinion of his ecclesiastical superior, the Bishop. 
 The eyes of four other corpulent, smooth- 
 skinned churchmen were all glancing in one 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 direction; so that, had it been in England' 
 instead of France, it positively must have been 
 supposed a tithe-pig. The obsequious pere was 
 describing how this animal (which was a Jong 
 one) had been dressed; divided into quarters, 
 larded with bacon, and stewed with its liver, &c., 
 and green parsley laid over all. It was Ijdng 
 soaking in wine, and the flesh being of a deadly 
 white, it really somewhat resembled an em- 
 balmed christian. Just as his reverence the 
 Bishop of Agen had stuck his fork into the 
 meat, the maitre d'hotel, who had been out 
 to the porter, determined at any rate to make 
 his master acquainted with what had happened ; 
 so he said, in a low voice, " Pardon me, my 
 lord, but the two mules, Daisy and Hannibal, 
 which have been missing for ten days, have 
 returned home." 
 
 "The saints be praised!" replied the Bishop, 
 without takii^ his eyes from the pig. " Heaven 
 hath returned the stolen or strayed property of 
 the righteous."
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 171 
 
 "Yes, my lord ; but they have returned 
 harnessed to a bier !" said the maitre d'hotel. 
 
 "A bier?" inquired the Bishop, with an air 
 of surprise. 
 
 "Even so, my lord; and thereon a coffin %vith 
 a dead body." 
 
 The Bishop let the arm of the pale-looking 
 pig drop plump into the gravy. Pere Duillet 
 exhibited symptoms of profound disappointment. 
 
 " This is an ill omen," mournfully remarked 
 the Bishop. 
 
 When the diocesan had uttered this, as a 
 matter of course, his inferiors in office all 
 agreed " that it augured e\dl." There was a 
 dead pause, during which the Bishop had taken 
 his spectacles from his clammy forehead, and 
 wiped the glasses with his serviette. The Pere 
 Diullet was fearfully fidgetty, and hinted that 
 the stewed pig woidd be entirely spoiled, and 
 would not be good, neither hot nor cold. 
 
 *' Brother," said the Bishop, gravely, " this is 
 a warning from Heaven. A corpse thus mi- 
 
 i2
 
 172 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 raculously brought to one's very portal, is an 
 awful event." 
 
 Now, as the Bishop of Agen was of a very 
 superstitious, as well as bilious nature, his sto- 
 mach heaved as he glanced momentarily at the 
 Pere Duillet's pig, and he gave orders that the 
 coffin should be conveyed into the vault under- 
 neath the chapel. Thus was the Bishop's dinner 
 spoiled, to the infinite chagrin of his guests, who, 
 out of courtesy and deference, imitated their 
 superior, who could converse on nothing else but 
 this marvellous arrival; while the churchmen, 
 who had come prepared to partake of a splendid 
 banquet, were compelled to try to assuage the 
 cravings of their appetites by rolling up bread 
 pills with their fingers, and swallowing them 
 surreptitiously. 
 
 Meanwhile, the police agent of Bordeaux, 
 having received a clue from the rogue in custody, 
 of the route the mourners had taken, accom- 
 panied his soldiers to the spot where the in- 
 tended division of the booty was to be made,
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 178 
 
 and where the fierce quarrel took place ; there 
 they discovered two of the robbers stretched out 
 dead ; the elder clergyman was ham-strung, and 
 the chief mourner had half his face sliced off. 
 They borrowed a wagon, and brought the whole 
 party, both killed and wounded, to the town 
 dungeon in which their comrade was lodged. 
 
 The news was soon spread of the strange 
 arrival at the Bishop's, and the people flocked 
 about the gates of the chateau and the chapel. 
 The pious Bishop of Agen ordered a service for 
 the dead to be performed that evening, at which 
 the Pere Duillet officiated, outwardly with very 
 earnest gesture, but inwardly bewailing that he 
 had been compelled to fast as well as pray ; but 
 before the conclusion of this solemn (and in 
 more than one way imposing) ser^-ice, the police 
 officer arrived with his patrole. He very pro- 
 perly, as a good catholic, waited until the Pere 
 Duillet had quite concluded, and even joined 
 with his voice in the choral responses, when he 
 begged that the Bishop might be sent for, as he
 
 174 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 had authority to open the coffin, and com- 
 mence a proceS'Verhal on the nature of its con- 
 tents. 
 
 If the bishop was astonished at the return of 
 his mules and their wonderful burden, how much 
 more was he surprised when the police officer, 
 with some difficulty, had unscrewed the coffin, 
 and found, therein, no body ; he could not 
 help expressing his admiration at the ingenuity 
 of the thieves in packing up the gold, silver, 
 jewels, family plate, tapestry, china, cabinet 
 pictures, wearing apparel, &c., too numerous to 
 record. The seigneur of the village of St. 
 Sever was soon apprised of the miraculous re- 
 covery of his property. 
 
 The good Bishop of Agen, dreading to be 
 scandalised for having ordered a soleimi service 
 of the church to be said and sung over the 
 stolen chattels, retired for the evening ; and his 
 portly guests, not excepting the Pere Duillet, 
 having gone without their dinners, were com- 
 pelled to go without their suppers. In the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 175 
 
 Roman Catholic creed mortification is occa- 
 sionally enjoined, and endured, when unavoid- 
 able. 
 
 But what has become of Cartouche ? The 
 sagacious young man was in a moment aware 
 that the mules had found their way to their own 
 home ; what account could he, if asked, give of 
 the coffin? So he slunk away from the chateau, 
 keeping himself as much concealed under the wall 
 as possible, until, turning through an avenue of 
 apple trees, he took another road that led directly 
 out of the \'illage. 
 
 About a mile from the Bishop's chateau, dwelt 
 the old Marchioness of Cassemacasse, a lady of 
 large property ; but, she being far advanced in 
 years, resided \vith two or three female com- 
 panions, who had also arrived at that period of 
 life when good christians begin to think of their 
 ends; in fact they were all devotees. The an- 
 cient servants of the Marchioness, who had 
 passed their hves under her roof, were more or 
 less tinctured v^dth a proper piety ; there was not
 
 176 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 any hypocrisy in the establishment of the Mar- 
 chioness of Cassemacasse ; none of the inmates 
 went about with the Bible in their hands, and 
 the Alcoran in their hearts. Perhaps the worst 
 trait that could be adduced in the whole house- 
 hold was in the person of a pretty soubrette, and 
 she was almost the only juvenile domestic in the 
 chateau (may Heaven pardon her misdoing !), 
 who, during a very lengthened sermon in the 
 private chapel preached by the Pere Duillet 
 (who drove an old-fashioned carriage over from 
 Agen), converted an intense yawn into a deep 
 sigh, with a view of letting her lover, Henri, 
 know whereabouts she sat. 
 
 The old Marchioness had been for some time 
 ailing, and when she could be removed from 
 room to room, she was wheeled about in a large 
 elbow chair. At this period one of the elderly 
 dames who resided with her had received a letter 
 from a relative in Spain, giving an account of a 
 holy man, a popular preacher of Valladolid, who 
 was esteemed such a saint that the devout went
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 177 
 
 SO far as to say he performed miracles ; and the 
 old confidante proposed that this pious person 
 should be sent for, across the frontier, as, per- 
 chance, his prayers, being of a well-assorted 
 order, might give relief to the bodily and mental 
 infirmities of the Marchioness. The bare men- 
 tion of this notion relieved her ladyship, and she 
 afltaied that she should not be easy until Fra 
 Jose (the aforesaid di\'ine) was under her roof. 
 So an in\-itation was written — a very flattering 
 offer to an humble street-preacher ; and an an- 
 swer was returned that Fra Jose would accept 
 the offer, having been persuaded to do so with 
 much difficulty. It was not the peril of travel, 
 or the distance, but it was an apprehension that 
 during his absence from Valladolid, the lower 
 order of the population, by whom he had been 
 idoHzed, would relapse into the wicked and 
 fatal courses from which his energetic sermons 
 had partially relieved them. In fact, he had 
 addressed himself most particularly to the female 
 sex, and having efiected something like a reform
 
 178 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 in them, as a natural result, the males underwent 
 improvement, and it must be owTied it was not 
 before it was required by both genders. The 
 answer went on to state that Fra Jose (as bound 
 by his vows) would travel on foot, and that his 
 appearance was that of a meek and lowly order 
 of priest* 
 
 About the period that Jose's arrival had been 
 calculated on at the chateau of the Marchioness 
 of Cassemacasse, it accidentally happened, that 
 the Bishop of Agen's mules had dropped Car- 
 touche at his gate, when our hero thought it 
 prudent to creep away out of the sight of men. 
 
 The old Marchioness, impatient at the non- 
 arrival of the saint, Fra Jose, dispatched for 
 several days together one of her female confi- 
 dantes, attended by two old valets and a 
 gardener, to meet the holy man on his road, and 
 convey him with all due respect to the chateau 
 Cassemacasse. 
 
 Cartouche had run as fast as his mourning 
 habiliments would permit him, to get out of the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 179 
 
 track of any pursuit, for lie had been rather 
 apprehensive since his rencontre with Monsieur 
 Escroc ; and just as Louis Dominique came, 
 puffing and blowing up a hill, in the neighbour- 
 hood of the chateau, to which he was quite a 
 stranger, he observed an old lady, in a formal 
 veil, and dark-coloured suit, standing with three 
 sexagenarians (the gardener and the two valets), 
 one of whom was in demi-toiletfe, vdth his 
 scanty hair unpowdered and mpapillotes. He 
 had in the course of years entirely spoiled his 
 locks, either by the constant use of curling irons, 
 or by shaking cinders over them in Ember-week. 
 
 Cartouche, finding that he was perceived, was 
 at first at a stand still. Thought is more rapid 
 than the vdnd ; thought he, " they are four old 
 imbeciles. One sneeze would blow them all 
 over." So he advanced. 
 
 At a motion from the fan of a female devotee, 
 which Louis Dominique at first construed into 
 an order of "seize that scoundrel," the an- 
 cient valet with his hair in papers approached
 
 180 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 bowing, and knelt before him, taking up the 
 edge of his black cloak, and kissing the hem. 
 " Ahem !" thought Cartouche, " what in Hell's 
 name is all this ?" As the valet was still on his 
 knees, and, moreover, as he was advanced in 
 years, Cartouche, by a natural impulse, 
 stretched forth his hand to assist him to rise, 
 instead of which the fist of the rascal was most 
 reverentially saluted by the lips of the ancient 
 vsdth the papillotes. " I will pick that old 
 ass's pocket," thought Cartouche. The elderly 
 confidante of the Marchioness of Cassemacasse 
 now approached, and, making a profound obei- 
 sance, said — 
 
 " Sir, we have been expecting your arrival 
 these three days past." 
 
 Cartouche was surprised, but kept a grave 
 countenance. 
 
 " My lady Marchioness vdll greet you lov- 
 ingly." " The devil she will !" thought Car- 
 touche. 
 
 The old devotee then gave the holy man the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 181 
 
 invitation to the chateau, where his chamber 
 was prepared, and remarked, that, after his long 
 and fatiguing journey, a supper would doubtless 
 exhilirate him. 
 
 At the words " bed and supper," Cartouche's 
 heart almost jumped up out of his throat. It 
 was evident to the cunning rascal that he was 
 taken for somebody else. He required conceal- 
 ment and rest for the night ; it could only be 
 discovered, after all, that he was the wTong 
 person : it was not his fault, if fomid out, but 
 theirs. 
 
 His momentar}^ reverie was interrupted by 
 the old confidante, who said — 
 
 " Please you, sacred sir, accompany us." 
 
 So on hobbled the old lady. Cartouche, fol- 
 lowing in his dusty mourning, and, while the 
 two aged valets-de-chamhre brought up the 
 rear, the old gardener stumped on sturdily be- 
 fore to apprise the household that the miracu- 
 lous saint had arrived ; the Marchioness of 
 Cassemacasse having pre^'iously given directions
 
 182 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 that the arrival of Fra Jose should be notified 
 by the ringing of the chapel bell, that all her 
 household might be assembled to receive the 
 saintly man in due form.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 183 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CAKTOUCKE OBTAINS PREFEKMEKT 1» THE CHITRCH, BOAKD 
 AND LODGING INCLUDED — HE BECOMES, UNINTENTIONALLY, 
 A CONFESSOK — THE CONFESSION — THE MYSTERIOUS IN- 
 FANT — CABTOUCHE FINDS EVERYTHING COMFORTABLE FOB 
 THE PRESENT. 
 
 As the presence of the celebrated preacher 
 had been hourly expected, a great sensation was 
 excited in the minds of the bigoted old Marchi- 
 oness and her numerous retainers, every one of 
 whom was prepared, with a lighted wax taper 
 in hand, to receive him. And most certainly 
 Cartouche, albeit accustomed to strange adven- 
 tures, as this narrative will sufhciently prove, 
 was astonished with his reception; several of 
 the maids feU on their knees before him, and 
 entreated his blessing. . It was to no purpose
 
 184 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 that he expostulated with them: they attri- 
 buted it to his more than christian urbanity. 
 The domestics, male and female, crowded 
 around him with their tapers, until he thought 
 they were going to consign him to the same 
 fate as Don Juan, in the last scene of the Festin 
 de la Pierre, only they were not fiends ; then 
 there was a rush as to who should be sufficiently 
 fortunate to touch their beads against his person, 
 and the most zealous began to cut small pieces 
 from his black mourning cloak as relics. Car- 
 touche could not divine their intentions ; he 
 hardly knew whether he was bewitched, or 
 whether he dreamed. The Marchioness of 
 Cassemacasse was wheeled into the hall in her 
 easy chair, and she begged that she might be 
 permitted to kiss the hand of the blessed saint. 
 It was now wittily suggested that the holy 
 man must be fatigued and hungry ; and 
 although it was a maigre day, and the inmates 
 of the chateau were strict as regarded diet in 
 not touching flesh, our hero was lighted into a
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 185 
 
 chamber, where a supper was plentifully laid 
 out, with varions dishes of exquisitely cooked 
 fish, sundry preparations of eggs in several forms, 
 and cray-fish soup, of which a celebrated French 
 epicure has recorded — " Un hon coulis d^ ecrevisses 
 est le Paradis sur la terre, et digne de la table des 
 Dieux" A profusion of elegant confectionary 
 wound up thj^ banquet of these pious persons, 
 and be it remembered it was a fast-day. The 
 mock Fra Jose was solicited to say grace, and 
 such was the curiosity to catch the sound of his 
 voice, and the style of prayer that he would use, 
 that you might have heard a pin drop. 
 
 Cartouche was at a loss to recollect the 
 Clermont College '' grace before meat," so he 
 put his hand over his face, and made some 
 mouths as if he was pra^ang inwardly, when, 
 after all, the subject-matter that was passing in 
 his mind was, " Won't I tuck into these eatables 
 and drinkables ! Oh, inwards, how you grum- 
 ble ! Amen." 
 
 Now all were assiduous for the honour of
 
 186 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 filling his plate, and helping him to the daintiest 
 bits ; and all were enraptured to observe that 
 the holy man had so excellent an appetite after 
 his fatiguing journey. Plate after plate was 
 cleared off. They all declared that it comforted 
 not only their hearts, but their very souls, to 
 witness the extreme enjoyment of Fra Jose at 
 his repast ; indeed, the old valet ^ the papil- 
 lotes remarked, that for quantity, and the 
 rapidity in consuming it, the saintly man was 
 only exceeded by the Pere Duillet himself. 
 
 When Louis Dominique had eaten as much 
 as he could possibly contain, and drank in pro- 
 portion, at which some of the most staid of the 
 household were rather surprised, a hint was 
 thrown out by one of the elderly ladies that Fra 
 Jose should comfort them with a holy exhor- 
 tation before they retired to rest. On being 
 pressed on the point. Cartouche pleaded great 
 fatigue of body and mind, and begged to depart 
 to his chamber. Some disappointment was 
 felt, but his wish was instantly met; for his
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 187 
 
 will amongst these devotees appeared to be law. 
 The ancient valet was instructed to light the 
 saintly visitor to the apartment wherein he was 
 to sleep. 
 
 The whole company made profound obeisances 
 to Fra Jose as he quitted the saloon, wliich he 
 returned by crossing his hands on his breast, 
 and bowing, shaking his head all the while as 
 though he was uttering a solemn benediction. 
 
 When they arrived at the bed-chamber, the 
 old valet, after apologising for the great liberty, 
 ventured respectftdlY to inquire of Fra Jose, in 
 the simplicity of his ignorance, whether his prin- 
 ciples were Arian ? Cartouche did not know 
 exactly what was meant by the question, and 
 thought it safest and easiest to reply in the ne- 
 gative ; and his conduct on this occasion must 
 be acknowledged as quite correct, for in rehgion 
 or morals. Cartouche was a decided Nothing- 
 arian, 
 
 Cartouche, after reflecting on the extreme 
 oddity of his adventure, tumbled into a better
 
 188 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 bed than those to which he had of late been 
 accustomed; and feeling himself secure from 
 pursuit, and much wearied, he fell into a pro- 
 found slumber, which was only interrupted 
 by the ancient valet in the morning bringing 
 water for his ablution. Having shaken his old 
 mourning robes, he made himself as respectable 
 as it was in the nature of the person to accom- 
 plish, although he could not help again reflecting, 
 as he surveyed his face in a glass, that he was 
 rather a "gallows " looking clergyman : but he 
 found it necessary to keep up the farce as long 
 as it should prove convenient. As he passed 
 quickly across the corridor, he felt something 
 touch his sleeve slightly. He started round; for 
 at that moment his mind was deeply engaged in 
 planning a highly ingenious mode of robbing the 
 chateau prior to proceeding on his journey. Now, 
 although Louis Dominique was decidedly har- 
 dened by vice, yet a touch on the shoulder 
 always brought with it certain sensations per- 
 fectly unknown to a strictly honest man. Car-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 189 
 
 touche's momentary fears were dispelled by the 
 joyous voice of Jeamiette, the pretty souhrette 
 we have already mentioned. 
 
 "Father," she said, "have the goodness to 
 follow me. Madame de Poquefouville wishes to 
 see you in the chapel." 
 
 "And who is Madame de Poquefouville ?" 
 asked Cartouche. 
 
 "She is the principal companion of the 
 Marchioness of Cassemacasse," replied Jeamiette, 
 " and high in her ladyship's confidence." 
 
 Louis Dominique could do no less than 
 foUow the souhrette to the door of the chapel, 
 on entering which Jeannette quitted him. The 
 eye of Cartouche, with an instinct natural to his 
 profession, tm-ned towards the altar. What 
 a massive ser\dce of silver plate — how elabo- 
 rately chased — how beautifully formed ! What 
 superb antique lofty candlesticks ! His heart 
 beat quickly, his whole frame became agitated. 
 He approached the objects of his adoration with 
 seeming reverence, and being completely lost in
 
 190 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the contemplation of the surpassing beauty of 
 the plate, he was just in the act of slipping 
 a magnificent cup into his sleeve, when the 
 sound of a deep sigh caused him to turn, and he 
 perceived Madame de Poquefouville on her 
 knees before a figure of the Virgin ; this awoke 
 Cartouche to a sense of his peculiar situation, 
 though he was puzzled as to the means by 
 which the humble penitent had contrived to 
 kneel down. A sacque and petticoat of the 
 stiffest paduasoy, hooped with cane and whale- 
 bone, enveloped her withered person, and gave 
 it a would-be air of natural rotundity, which her 
 shrivelled and sallow features instantly belied. 
 
 On beholding the supposed Fra Jose, Madame 
 de Poquefouville said, with infinite humility, 
 " Holy father, in me you see a penitent lamb, 
 appertaining to this worldly fold of wickedness 
 and vanity." 
 
 Cartouche asked the old lady to communicate 
 her wishes to him ; and Madame de Poquefou- 
 ville, pointing to a confessional box, requested
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 191 
 
 him to enter it, that she might receive his 
 ghostly advice after confessing her. Now, Car- 
 touche thought that this was paying rather dearly 
 for his supper and bed, but as he remembered 
 that advice costs nothing — so it is more fre- 
 quently liberally given than gratefully received 
 — ^he decided that he had better consent with a 
 good grace. 
 
 " Proceed, daughter" said he to the lady, who 
 was old enough to be his grandmother. 
 
 After some preparatory coughing, for the fair 
 penitent was rather asthmatic, she said, " Holy 
 Fra Jose, it is I who have been the cause of 
 your joiuTiey hither; hearing of your wondrous 
 fame in Spain, from some of my female rela- 
 tives, I induced the noble Marchioness, who is 
 as rich as she is deaf, to send for you ; when in 
 reality my chief object has been to be absolved 
 by so saintly a father of the church. My con- 
 science compels me to confess to you a sin I com- 
 mitted in the hey-day of youth, fifteen years ago." 
 
 ** The hey-day of youth, fifteen years ago ?"
 
 192 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 interrupted Cartouche, gravely. " Think again, 
 daughter, and conceal nothing from me." 
 
 "My memory has not been good of late," 
 answered Madame de Poquefou\dlle ; " it may 
 be twenty-five, or thirty-five years ago." 
 
 " Almost long enough to have forgotten all 
 about it," observed Fra Jose ; " henceforth, be 
 more particular as to dates." 
 
 " Alas ! holy father," continued Madame de 
 Poquefou\ille, " I doubt not but I must mortify 
 myself to the utmost ; but to expiate my crime 
 in part, let me first confess it." 
 
 Cartouche, who was beginning to be ra- 
 ther impatient, said, " Come, old lady, get on, 
 for God's sake." 
 
 The penitent thought her confessor rather 
 brusque in his manner, but set it down to the 
 cause that Fra Jose had habitually gained this 
 rough mode by constantly having to listen to the 
 confessions of the lower order of people, who 
 naturally must have some very gross communi- 
 cations to make.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 193 
 
 " Deprived of the care of my mother in in- 
 fancy," proceeded the old lady, " I was educated 
 in a convent." 
 
 "Stay," said Fra Jose, " I must be made 
 aware how you lost your mother ?" 
 
 " To my grief be it spoken," repUed the peni- 
 tent, " she eloped with a captain of the Mous- 
 quetaires." 
 
 Fra Jose uttered an ominous " Humph !" 
 which seemed to imply, " Like goose, like 
 gosling !" 
 
 " The convent of St. Andre was situated 
 near the Spanish frontier, I was immured there 
 for several years, but on the evening of my 
 fifteenth birth-day — a day which had been cele- 
 brated as a fete amongst the boarders — I re- 
 tired to my chamber, the grated window of 
 which overlooked a charming extent of country, 
 when suddenly I heard a deep, rich, manly voice 
 beneath the casement, singing a wild yet beau- 
 tiful melody, and accompanied by a mandoline. 
 The words of the singer equalled the melody in 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 passionate expression. They were so pathetic 
 that Monsieur Le Sage has introduced them 
 into his new novel, Le Diahle Boiteux; they 
 ranthus — 
 
 " I burn and weep incessantly, 
 Without my tears ever quenching my flames, 
 Or my flames drying up my tears!" 
 
 and I owned I listened to the strange minstrel 
 for three hours, during which time he did not 
 vary his ditty." 
 
 " You must have been damnedly in love !" 
 said the confessor. 
 
 " I own it," meekly replied the communicant. 
 " He came night after night, and I at last ven- 
 tured to speak to him." 
 
 " What didst thou say?" asked Fra Jose. 
 
 " Alas !" answered the old lady, " they were 
 the words of worldly vanity, and to repeat 
 them to your righteous ears were a sacrilege. 
 However, I told the handsome stranger, that in 
 three days I was going home to my father's 
 chateau, where I should be more at liberty, and
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 195 
 
 begged of him to be polite enough to come and 
 serenade me there. He most respectfully in- 
 quired where my father's residence was situated. 
 I acquainted him that it was called the Chateau 
 Henault, situated in the neighbourhood of 
 Tartas. My unknown admirer came to see me 
 at my good, unsuspecting papa's house. He 
 stated himself to^be an exiled nobleman, by 
 birth an Itahan, but of mixed parentage, for 
 his father was a Swiss, and his mother a Ger- 
 man." 
 
 " It does not matter a fig who or what his 
 father or mother were ; but do push on," rephed 
 Cartouche, wanting his breakfast. 
 
 " His person, manners, and address so sup- 
 ported this statement, that I entirely confided in 
 its truth. He assured me, with vows to the 
 Virgin, that although his patrimonial estates 
 were confiscated, he was well provided with 
 money. In fine, holy father, I consented to 
 elope with him on the following night ! Con- 
 sider my youth and inexperience !" 
 
 k2
 
 196 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " I consider nothing but your damnable sin," 
 muttered Fra Jose. "Of all the cats I have 
 ever met, you are the worst." 
 
 The penitent vdnced and wept at being called 
 " cat," but owned sincerely that she deserved it. 
 After she had partially recovered herself, she 
 continued — " My lover, whose name was Giulio 
 Mordecai — " 
 
 "Stay!" said Cartouche, "that is not an 
 Italian name ; it sounds to me rather Jewish." 
 
 " Whatever the dear man might have been, he 
 was born in Italy ; and as for his persuasion — " 
 " Ah !" exclaimed Fra Jose, " it was his per- 
 suasion that led you to sin." 
 
 " Too true !" said Madame de Poquefouville. 
 " Poor Giulio Mordecai hinted to me the neces- 
 sity of taking with us some rouleaux, or plate, 
 or jewels — " 
 
 " Ay, ay, a sensible dog," said Cartouche. 
 " And I grieve to say," continued the peni- 
 tent, " that as I knew where my father's treasure 
 was deposited, I had only to obtain possession
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 197 
 
 of the key of the iron casket to meet the wishes 
 of my inamorato." 
 
 " Ton my Hfe !" said the supposed Fra Jose, 
 " you were a deviKsh deal cleverer than I 
 should have taken you to be, from your present 
 looks." Here the eyes of Cartouche glistened, 
 and his mouth watered so that he was obliged to 
 wipe it on the sleeve of his mourning cassock. 
 The poor trembling communicant, although 
 astonished at the language of the severe street- 
 preacher, thought she felt his warm tears of 
 compassion fall on her outstretched skinny 
 hands. Of course she had a few simulta- 
 neous drops. Women have very tender hearts. 
 
 Madame de Poquefouville then proceeded in 
 her confession : " Oh, holy sir, I fled with my 
 husband across the Spanish frontier. Fatigued, 
 we took refuge in a venta, where Signor Giulio 
 Mordecai appeared to be well known and much 
 respected." 
 
 " Oh ! of course," said Fra Jose, vnth impa- 
 tience.
 
 198 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " We passed three days in mutual aiFection." 
 " I have no doubt of it," remarked the con- 
 fessor ; " but do get on, there*s a good lady.*' 
 
 " Our situation would have been most de- 
 lightful, but for the intense smell of tobacco 
 which proceeded from a trap-door opening from 
 our sitting apartment into a cellar under ground. 
 If it had not been for this, I should have been 
 perfectly charmed with the rustic air of sim- 
 plicity pervading the whole place. To be sure, 
 the little inn could only supply us with eggs and 
 onions — no bread — ^but what of that? We 
 existed on love. But my dream of happiness 
 received a sudden shock, for one night I per- 
 ceived my beloved husband, Giulio Mordecai, to 
 descend into this subterranean place, accompa- 
 nied by Senora Garcias, our landlady; and, 
 naturally enough, curious to know what tlie ob- 
 ject of their visit could possibly be, I cautiously 
 raised the trap-door, and, applying my eyes to 
 the opening, imagine my feelings when I dis- 
 covered the landlady with an infant cliild in her
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 199 
 
 arms, in long swaddling clothes ; Senora Garcias 
 appeared to be tying on its little cap, and 
 having enveloped it in a large mantle, gave it to 
 my husband, who caressed it with smiles. Oh ! 
 holy father, imagine the unpleasant thoughts 
 that entered my head when I heard Giulio say, 
 * My own dear child! By St. Anthony ! Garcias, 
 thou hast dressed it better than ever ; and how 
 it has grown, too, though I am afraid we shall 
 never be able to get it much larger. Ha ! ha ! 
 ha! we must stuff it well with tobacco, and 
 shall make a better profit than ever.' I own I 
 was perfectly astonished at the idea of stuffing 
 an infant with tobacco ; and not less so than at 
 my husband approaching, followed by Senora 
 Garcias, bearing the infant with its face muffled 
 up. * My love !' said Giulio Mordecai, in one 
 of his blandest tones, ' light of my soul ! I 
 have a favour to ask of you which I am sure is 
 granted before it is named. It is necessary that 
 this little child, who, I need scarcely add, is 
 particularly dear to me, should be conveyed to
 
 200 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Oleron, and we must start to-night ; and I 
 know not to whom to trust it but yourself. 
 There are two sure-footed mules at the door, 
 with an intelligent boy, who will serve as a guide. 
 If you will favour me by taking the infant 
 yourself, you will everlastingly oblige me V 
 ' But will you not accompany me ?' said I. 
 
 * Charmer of my existence ! no,' replied Morde- 
 cai ; * it might endanger my liberty, nay more, 
 my life.* * But why this mystery to your newly- 
 married wife V I inquired very naturally ; 
 
 * whose infant is this ?' * You shall know all on 
 your return, beloved idol of my heart.' I re- 
 luctantly consented, and my husband assisted 
 me on the mule. The boy mounted the other, 
 and Mordecai placed the child on my lap. I 
 was struck by its extreme weight ; it laid like a 
 mass of metal, neither moving nor uttering a 
 plaint of any kind. T longed to have a peep at 
 its face, but I reflected that if I chanced to dis- 
 turb it, I might be tormented by its outcries 
 during the whole journey, so I contented myself
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 201 
 
 by singing a soothing lullaby wherever the roads 
 were rough, and I do not remember a level bit 
 during the w^hole route. The boy knew to 
 whom and where this mysterious child was to 
 be delivered, but to all my inquiries he preserved 
 a dogged silence. After we had travelled until 
 daylight — and I was horribly fatigued with the 
 weight of the infant, which I was utterly sur- 
 prised to discover had no calls of nature — we 
 suddenly encountered five or six horsemen. 
 * Halt !' cried the leader, when they were witliin 
 a dozen yards of us ; * here is the child we seek,' 
 and he approached me. * And I am sure,' I 
 replied, * that you are exceedingly welcome to 
 the dear infant ; I give you my word that it is 
 as quiet a child as ever lived.' The soldier 
 smiled grimly, and, to my utter horror, ran the 
 point of his sword as far it would go into the 
 infant's body! I dropped it in speechless agony ; 
 in an instant the clothes were torn off, and a tin 
 case appeared to my view, crammed full of 
 tobacco, which one and all rifled in the best 
 
 k3
 
 202 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 possible humour. I was conveyed, sorely against 
 my will, to Oleron, where I was taken before 
 the authorities as a smuggler, when, dreading 
 the results, I thought it best to confess my 
 egregious folly, and discover all I knew of the 
 dear perfidious Giulio Mordecai, who I now 
 learned was a notorious contrabandista, and who 
 had by his ingenuity contrived for years to elude 
 all custom-house officei*s, and introduce large 
 quantities of smuggled tobacco into France across 
 the Spanish frontier." 
 
 Fra Jose laughed, and thought that he had 
 never known a better expedient for getting rid 
 of a wife, especially when he heard Madame de 
 Poquefouville say, " Not an atom of the plate, 
 not one solitary coin of all the treasure 1 con- 
 fided to my husband, did I ever see again. My 
 justly-incensed father refused to receive me be- 
 neath his roof, and after a lengthened sojourn 
 in a penitential religious house, I was induced 
 to accept the situation in which you now find 
 me. My patroness is rich and bountiful, and I
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 203 
 
 shallremain with her for the remainder of my days. ' 
 (Here the fair penitent took a pinch of snuff.; 
 
 Cartouche, whose patience was exhausted by 
 this long-winded confusion, told the old lady 
 that he should turn over in his mind the penance 
 he intended to enjoin. He then, quitting the 
 chapel, to his infinite satisfaction, was sum- 
 moned to the morning repast. He was, at that 
 moment, holding to his judgment a pair of scales 
 delicately balanced ; one side was filled with all 
 the charms of good eating and drinking, a com- 
 fortable couch, and present security ; in the 
 opposite scale was the abominable trouble of 
 shriving three ugly old women, the irksomeness 
 of having to keep up the sacerdotal character of 
 Fra Jose, while it cost Louis Dominique incal- 
 culable pains to conceal a variety of vicious 
 propensities which would hourly become more 
 and more apparent, and, added to this, the love 
 of a free and roving life. But at the very in- 
 stant that the heavy-tongued bell of the chateau 
 summoned the appetite to arms. Cartouche felt
 
 204 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 his soul gently incline towards the first-men- 
 tioned scale, and he combated the desires of a 
 naturally craving stomach no longer. Louis 
 Dominique proceeded to the hall, in which the 
 breakfast was to be served, with a certain juve- 
 nile and high-spirited elasticity of step which 
 accorded ill with the coimtenance of the sup- 
 posed Fra Jose, drawn up as it was with a 
 sedate and highly mortified appearance. The 
 corners of his mouth were turned down, aud his 
 eyes being cast up made a great addition. His 
 nostrils were drawn in, his lips were compressed, 
 and his hands (nervously twitching all the while 
 at the sight of various tempting objects of value 
 and vertu in the apartment) were folded meekly 
 and humbly upon his bosom. 
 
 The Marchioness of Cassemacasse had with 
 difficulty risen from her chair, for the purpose 
 of receiving, with due form, the reverend father. 
 She was upwards of seventy years of age, and a 
 vast quantity of superfluous fiesh had been ac- 
 cumulating around her bones in all directions
 
 OP CARTOUCHE. 205 
 
 for half a century. To Cartouche she appeared 
 as if a feather-bed had suddenly encircled his 
 hreat grandmother (if his pedigree could boast of 
 such an ancestress), and carried her off in spite 
 of her inclinations. The Marchioness was most 
 profoundly deaf, yet, as is ver}- often the case 
 with persons similarly afflicted, if her com- 
 panions happened to remark to each other, 
 " That their poor, dear, kind, mistress was un- 
 usually fidgetty and petulant," a bhghtuig frown, 
 or a thrust with her ear-trumpet (the only mu- 
 sical instrument on which the Marchioness now 
 performed), hinted to Madame de Poquefouville 
 or the other ladies, that a Httle more caution 
 was necessary in their conversation. 
 
 To the eyes of Louis Dominique by far the 
 most delightful object in the apartment was the 
 table spread with all the goodly characteristics 
 of a French breakfast. There were cold roasted 
 capons reposing on beds of water-cresses, and 
 white soup and oysters, and eggs cooked in 
 eight different ways, plenty of excellent Bor-
 
 206 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 deaux wine, and coffee and chocolate served up 
 in costly Sevi'es china. 
 
 Madame de Poquefouville evinced the utmost 
 solicitude to assist the holy father to the delica- 
 cies, and it must be owned that Cartouche 
 did ample justice to her kindness ; the capon 
 vanished as if by magic, and plats of eggs were 
 drowned in claret, like Pharaoh's host in the 
 Red Sea. 
 
 The Marchioness made some ineffectual at- 
 tempts to introduce pious conversation, but 
 Louis Dominique was too seriously engaged 
 to collect his thoughts sufficiently to reply to 
 her ladyship's remarks. 
 
 Madame de Poquefouville then ventured a 
 trifling observation on maigre days and flesh 
 days, and vowed that her pillow was infinitely 
 smoother after the former than after the latter; 
 and she begged to ascertain the holy father's 
 opinion on this subject. Cartouche, who was at 
 this moment forking down large oysters, replied, 
 after some due consideration, "That he highly
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 207 
 
 approved of their sentiments (exit an oyster); 
 that there were good catholics who could not be 
 brought to consider (eocit another oyster) five 
 maigre days a week, in a necessary light. (Exit 
 an oyster.) These people were troubled with 
 such gross appetites, and the craving of always 
 having something in their mouths. (Another 
 oyster bolted.) He once knew a lady of rank, 
 who, on the approach of the Holy Week, said to 
 her fiiend, * We must mortify ourselves a little.' 
 * Well, Madame la Comtesse,' replied the other, 
 *let us make our servants fast.''' Here was 
 heard a groan of surprise from the domestics 
 waiting at table, and Cartouche swallowed four 
 more oysters. "No one knows how / have 
 fasted," added the false Fra Jose; "thi'ice have 
 my bones been through my skin!" 
 
 The Marchioness observing a general look 
 of commiseration, and not hearing the remarks 
 of the holy man, laid her trumpet in despair on 
 the table, and inquired eagerly the subject 
 of his discourse. Louis Dominique, somewhat
 
 g08 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 elated, forgot in a trifling degree his priestly 
 character, and lifting the ear-trumpet up to his 
 mouth, he bawled through it hke a ship -pilot — 
 "Thrice have my bones been through my skin!" 
 Madame de Poquefouville and the attendants 
 were astonished. 
 
 The poor old Marchioness stared, and almost 
 expected that it was the last trump; but 
 presently observed how extremely edifying 
 would a sermon be, preached by such a saintly 
 person as Fra Jose, and concluded by politely 
 entreating Cartouche to give them a Httle 
 ghostly advice in the chapel; or, as her ladyship 
 expressed it, to show them the light of his 
 countenance. 
 
 To this, as he was situated, Louis Domi- 
 nique could only reply by a meek bow. 
 
 The ladies surrounding Fra Jose, the domes- 
 tics formed in procession, and all wended their 
 way to the chateau-chapel, our hero inwardly 
 reflecting, like the peasant at the puppet-show, 
 "What the deuce is coming next?"
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 209 
 
 CIL\PTER VIIT. 
 
 CABTOUCHE 18 SEDUCED TSTO PREACHI>'G A SERMON, "WHICH 
 IS DISAGREEABLY IKTERRUPTED^HE RELIi^QOSHES HIS 
 MTSISTRT AFTER PBOVIDIKG THE SUPPLIES — ^HE IS IlflTI- 
 ATED ESTO THE SCIENCE OF FALCOXBT — VISITS A X0BLE3LLH 
 ANT) TURKS DIAMOKD iIERCHA2?T. 
 
 Louis Dominique Cartouche, finding- himself 
 so wonderfully respected, and surrounded by 
 such a community of old fools, at once resolved, 
 before he robbed the chateau and made his 
 escape, to endeavour to meet the wishes of the 
 inmates, that he should address them from the 
 pulpit. 
 
 The pupil of the Jesuits, with his versatility, 
 did not greatly dread the task ? and he was of 
 that class of preachers who would impress on his
 
 210 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 his congregation " Do what I say, not what I 
 do.'" So he boldly ascended the stairs, without 
 at the moment determining on the subject of his 
 discourse. The whole of the inmates of the 
 chateau assembled with eager curiosity. The 
 Marchioness de Cassemacasse had elevated her 
 trumpet to the drum of her ear, and the peni- 
 tent De Poquefouville listened with devout 
 attention. 
 
 Cartouche hemmed to clear his voice ; he had 
 thought rapidly within himself, " The more 
 outre I give it, the better they will be pleased." 
 He commenced (after the accustomed genu- 
 flexions, &c.) — 
 
 " Pious sisters and brethren — the subject upon 
 which I am about to dilate must at once strike 
 the truth of it to your inmost hearts ; I am not 
 going (like other pastors) to trouble you on the 
 head of purgatory, which I look upon to be the 
 correctional police of the other world ; nor am 
 I one who would insist that you should individu- 
 ally torment yourselves in this world, in order
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 211 
 
 that you may be saved in the next. My views 
 on all these points are fair and open." (" What 
 the devil shall I say next ?" thought Cartouche, 
 as he paused, and wiped his mouth with the 
 back of his hand.) His eye fortunately caught 
 a view of a painting, on which was rather bar- 
 barously depictured a figure of St. Denys, with 
 his head under his arm. 
 
 " Pious sisters and brethren, we are fully 
 aware that Saint Denys, after having been decol- 
 lated, walked five miles out of the city of Paris 
 to found an abbey, carrying his head under his 
 arm ; he rested seven times, at seven equal dis- 
 tances, to shift his head from one arm to the 
 other, and to bless and console his wondering 
 admirers and followers. The only point wherein 
 I do not resemble Saint Denys is, that my head 
 is on my shoulders." 
 
 At this moment a stranger, in a plain dark 
 sacerdotal habit, who had been seated in a 
 gloomy part of the chapel, gravely inquired of 
 the soubrettBy Jeannette, the name of the person 
 in the pulpit.
 
 212 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " The celebrated Fra Jose, sir," was the inno- 
 cent reply. 
 
 " Indeed !" said the stranger, with evident 
 surprise. 
 
 Cartouche thought it was now time to make 
 an impression on his audience by attacking them, 
 not en masse, but at their individual sins. So 
 he, with the utmost impudence, continued, 
 " My sisters and brethren, I hereby give you 
 notice that, to avoid confusion, I shall classify 
 your sins. I shall confess all the liars on Mon- 
 day!" Here the congregation looked strangely 
 at each other. 
 
 " I shall confess all the covetous people on 
 Tuesday !" Here the young folks glanced at 
 their more elderly companions. 
 
 " I shall confess all the slanderers on Wed- 
 nesday ! All the thieves on Thursday ! All 
 the libertines on Friday !" Here the femmes 
 de chambre exchanged looks with the pages. 
 
 " And all the bad-women on Saturday !" 
 Madame de Poquefouville sighed like a furnace.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 213 
 
 The stranger in the dark habit now stood up 
 erect, with a pair of intensely black Spanish 
 eyes, which flashed, most indignantly, all over 
 the chapel. Cartouche did not let this escape 
 hiin, he instantly perceived that this was the 
 person for whom he had been taken ; he puzzled 
 himself momentarily as to the means of ex- 
 tricating his person from this new scrape, when, 
 to his additional mortification, he observed 
 burly Monsieur Sebastien Escroc enter the 
 chapel, cross himself, and mutter something 
 into his hat, shaking his head. On perceiving 
 that worthy officer. Cartouche placed his palm 
 on his forehead to disguise his features, and 
 exclaimed, " Oh ! my brethren, there is one 
 most wicked now standing up among us." 
 
 Upon this, Louis Dominique scuttled down 
 the stairs of the pulpit, and walked towards the 
 altar, when, perceiving a side door, he bolted 
 through it, and vanished from the congregation. 
 This was the portal of the apartment wherein 
 the chapel vestments were changed ; and thus 
 suspicion was eluded.
 
 2\4f THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Monsieur Escroc, hearing what the preacher 
 said, eyed the stranger narrowly ; and approach- 
 ing him, said, " I arrest you in the name of the 
 Criminal Court of Bayonne !" 
 
 It was in vain that Fra Jose (who, for a holy 
 man, lost his temper too quickly) expostulated. 
 All the chapel was in a state of disturbance; 
 many were vexed that the excellent sermon that 
 had been just commenced, and which was likely 
 to prove of very high interest, should be so 
 abruptly terminated. Fra Jose gesticulated, 
 ejaculated, and fulminated, with all the natural 
 energy of a person who had been accustomed to 
 hold forth to a street mob ; and, while this was 
 going on, Cartouche, seeing a livery coat and 
 hat of one of the Marchioness's pages hanging 
 on a peg, threw off his dingy cassack into the 
 bottom of a closet, instantly attired himself in a 
 new disguise, and rushed through several apart- 
 ments of the chateau, laying his hands on every 
 portable article ; amongst the rest, a small casket 
 which was on a marble table in the Marchioness
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 215 
 
 of Cassemacasse's boudoir. He made his way 
 through the window into the extensive pleasure 
 grounds, and walked leisurely in the direction 
 from the house. Being dressed in the livery 
 worn by the lacqueys of the chateau, he felt 
 tolerably certain that he should not be disco- 
 vered ; but he looked about anxiously for a 
 scalable portion of the high wall that surrounded 
 the gardens. Presently his quick eye beheld a 
 point at which he could cKmb, where, making 
 his way over, and leaping a moat, with all his 
 weight about him, and with the dexterity of a 
 squirrel, he pushed into the forest, and fortu- 
 nately got upon a beaten track, which he pur- 
 sued till nightfall. 
 
 In the meantime. Monsieur Sebastien Escroc 
 had brought his reverend prisoner into the ser- 
 vants' hall of the chateau, where he gravely com- 
 menced a proces verbal, occupying three hours ; 
 while, with the utmost arrogance and self-conceit, 
 he would not listen to any attempt on the part 
 of Fra Jose to justify himself. It must also be
 
 S16 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 related that the dialect of the worthy pastor was 
 in a provincial Spanish French, which was not 
 always comprehended by the erudite officer of 
 police. 
 
 The night was not very dark when Louis Do- 
 minique discerned at a distance some lights, 
 which proceeded from windows, as he suspected, 
 of the town of Roquefort, where he determined 
 to pass the hours until morning. He knocked 
 up the chamberlain of an inn, and procured 
 bread, wine, and a bed. No sooner did day 
 break than Cartouche also broke open the casket 
 he had brought from the Cassemacasse boudoir. 
 
 Lo! now his rascally eyes were greeted with 
 several rouleaux of gold pieces of former reigns 
 that had been carefully hoarded up ; for what 
 purpose ? to fall into the clutch of a confirmed 
 and hardened robber. In the casket also was 
 a massive ring, set with a large diamond, and 
 surrounded by a circle of smaller brilliants of 
 first water. A change of dress was again neces- 
 sary, so a inarchand fripeur was sent for, who,
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 217 
 
 being informed of the articles required by Car- 
 touche, quickly supplied him with linen, a buff 
 coat trimmed with lace, flapped vest, a belt round 
 his girdle, and high boots ; a feathered hat 
 completed the costume, which made a tolerable 
 appearance, although the clothing was but se- 
 cond-hand. Paying liberally for these, without 
 attempting any abatement of price. Cartouche 
 dismissed the fripeur, and made inquiry' as to 
 where he might purchase a good nag : when the 
 proprietor of the inn where he lodged, had, for- 
 tunately (as usual), a horse to dispose of, which, 
 of course, he was very sorry to part with, on ac- 
 count of its various excellent qualities. The 
 caparisons were also to be sold. 
 
 Louis Dominique became an immediate pur- 
 chaser, and securing his effects in a small valise, 
 he mounted, to try his Bucephalus. 
 
 " By Saint Louis," exclaimed the landlord, 
 " Monsieur sits with the same grace in his saddle 
 as the Marquis de Groc ?" 
 
 " Aye, indeed," repHed Cartouche, curveting 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 as if on a rocking-horse ; " and who may be the 
 Marquis de Groc ?" 
 
 " You must be a stranger, indeed," said the 
 vintner, " not to be acquainted with the Marquis. 
 Why, he is a nobleman of extensive property in 
 these parts, and, were it not treasonable, we 
 look up to him as a king. He is the greatest 
 and most hospitable man in the Landes, and 
 keeps open house." 
 
 This was enough for the fertile genius of 
 Cartouche, who cheerfully paid for his steed, 
 raised his feathered hat gracefully, and turned 
 the nose of the charger in the direction to which 
 the landlord pointed. He now in joyous spirits 
 tried the mettle of the animal, and, bating that 
 he was touched in the wind, so that his trotting 
 pace had a running roaring accompaniment. 
 Cartouche did not repent of his bargain. After 
 three hours' riding. Cartouche heard a cheerful 
 whooping, and presently he beheld a lordly 
 heron in the air, and a hawk cleaving the breeze, 
 ascending by a succession of small circles, each
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 219 
 
 « 
 
 going higher and higher, like the steps of a 
 winding corkscrew staircase. At times, both the 
 pursuer and pursued would fly so high as almost 
 to be lost in the clouds. When the hawk reached 
 a proper elevation above the heron she shot 
 down upon it with all her force and velocity, 
 and having firmly grappled it, they tumbled from 
 the sky together, and dropped close to the feet 
 of Cartouche's horse. Cartouche instantly dis- 
 mounted, and placing the heel of his hea\y boot 
 on the wing of the heron, assisted the falcon in 
 her struggle with her prey. 
 
 At this moment, a well-dressed young gen- 
 tleman in falconer's attire rode up, followed 
 by several attendants; he held in his hand 
 a tasseled hood, and was well mounted. One of 
 the sportsmen broke the heron's legs, and 
 Cartouche handed the hawk to the young gentle- 
 man, who thanked him with much courtesy. 
 
 "I was correct," he exclaimed. " Practice 
 only can make us perfect in falconry science. 
 La Fleur proposed ^far jettee." I said * No, 
 
 l2
 
 220 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 jettee serre must be adopted.' I let my hawk 
 fly as soon as possible after the game had taken 
 wing. I calculated the species of the quarry, 
 the peculiar quality of my falcon on hand : 
 I know the nature of the country, and ob- 
 served the force and direction of the wind. 
 Voila la fin r 
 
 Cartouche having uttered some artful compli- 
 mentary remarks, received a hearty invitation to 
 join their party, on accepting which he soon 
 discovered that the yoimg gentleman was the 
 Count Duchatelet, eldest son to the Marquis de 
 Groc ; and before Louis Dominique had ridden 
 half an hour by his side he contrived to impress 
 the Count with a most favourable opinion of his 
 talents and character. The young nobleman, 
 with some ostentation, dwelt on the extent of 
 his father's possessions ; liis acres of forest ; his 
 numerous mules, sheep, serfs, and villages ; the 
 beauty and high alHances of his sisters ; and, as 
 a climax (by far the most interesting one to his 
 new friend), his mother's jewels ! The mouth of
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 221 
 
 Cartouche watered. He resolved to pay imme- 
 diate and unremitting court to his new patron, 
 for so he resolved to have the honour to make 
 him, for his own particular purposes. 
 
 The day's sport being over, the Count Ducha- 
 telet told Cartouche that his father, after the 
 good ancient fashion, kept open house, and that 
 he would be welcomed as a stranger to bed and 
 board. This was exactly what Louis Dominique 
 wanted, for in this magnificent chateau he would 
 be, as long so he chose to stay, quite safe from 
 the results of his pranks at the Marchioness 
 de Cassemacasse's. 
 
 Behold now our imperturbable ruffian seated 
 at supper between the noble host and his incau- 
 tious son, and surrounded by their guests ; for 
 not satisfied to remain imnoticed among the 
 promiscuous herd assembled round the ample 
 hearth, there was a something in his mien (being 
 now well clothed), a self-possession not unmixed 
 with courtesy, which gave him an immediate 
 
 title to the good graces of the hospitable 
 Marquis.
 
 222 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 When the supper was over, and the Marquis 
 de Groc had retired to his private apartments for 
 the night, the Count, excited by his field sports, 
 drank more wine than was his custom. Car- 
 touche listened to all the young gentleman's 
 digressions on falconry, until he himself almost 
 became qualified to practise as a " licensed 
 hawker r More wine was ordered (and oh 
 what wine ! in that country !), when Cartouche 
 adverted to the subject of diamonds, of which, 
 indeed, he had derived some little knowledge, 
 in his sojourn with Madame Rebecca Mezzia, 
 who was well aware in what quarters the most 
 valuable were deposited. 
 
 Cartouche remarked that he was a diamond 
 dealer — not a mere jeweller; but diamonds were 
 the sole commodity in which he trafficked. The 
 young Count again eugolised the family jewels 
 of the house of De Groc. Cartouche stated that 
 he had seen those of the Duchess de Vantadour ; 
 in fact, that one, formerly the property of 
 the Duchess, was now in his possession, and he
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 22S 
 
 took from his inner pocket the diamond ring 
 he had stolen from the Marchioness de Cassema- 
 casse. The young Count 'admired its sparkHng 
 beauty, but Cartouche expressed some incredu- 
 lity as to any diamonds being in that department 
 of France that could equal his gems on the ring; 
 "Indeed," he added, "you could only meet one 
 like it in the nose of the Shah of Delhi, or on 
 the OS frontis of the Queen of Portugal !" 
 
 The Count Duchatelet was a young man ; in 
 disposition without guile, but inordinately proud 
 of the family possessions. He was of course 
 extremely piqued at so withering a remark ; and, 
 under the influence of an unusual quantity of 
 the most delicious old Bordeaux, took an 
 immediate opportunity of giving Cartouche 
 ocular demonstration, in proof of what he had 
 asserted, in regard to the De Groc diamond. 
 
 Cartouche begged that he would on no ac- 
 count trouble himself, that he was perfectly 
 satisfied, and took the liberty to refill his friend's 
 wine glass, as well as his own.
 
 224f THE ADVENTURES 
 
 But the Count Duchatelet insisted, and in- 
 vited Louis Dominique to follow him. Taking 
 a half burnt out taper in his hand, he proceeded 
 along certain corridors, on the walls of which 
 hung family portraits of the De Grocs, from the 
 days of Charlemagne, in every conceivable 
 variety of costume. Of course Cartouche 
 begged, as a profound favour, to inspect the 
 pictures, and inquired, in the most interested 
 manner, the history of every one of them. 
 Upon the subject of his ancestotfe^* the young 
 Count was eloquent. The junior scion of the 
 house had as yet only made himself eminent in 
 his superior knowledge of falconry, but now 
 his pride called his deceased and illustrious 
 relatives from the tomb that he might identify 
 himself with them. 
 
 Cartouche's only point was to get as much of 
 the wax-candle burned as possible. 
 
 " You shall see our diamonds," said the Count; 
 and approaching the end of a corridor, a strong 
 iron studded door presented itself. Duchatelet
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 225 
 
 touched a secret spring, the portal opened, and, 
 ascending the steps of a turret. Cartouche found 
 himself in an antique but richly-furnished 
 boudoir. An Indian cabinet, which met his 
 view on entering, was the receptacle of the De 
 Groc treasures, which were, in truth, of extra- 
 ordinary beauty. One eye of Cartouche gloated 
 on them, while the other was wickedly fixed on 
 the expiring taper. 
 
 Cartouche exclaimed, " Splendid ! superb ! 
 magnificent ! I give up my point !" and here 
 the candle flickered. 
 
 " What is the matter with the light," said the 
 Count, and he momentarily turned to remedy the 
 defect ; but, alas ! in that brief moment, the 
 practised hand of Cartouche found no difficulty 
 in abstracting two of the most valuable gems in 
 the cabinet. 
 
 " Let us get down stairs before the Hght goes 
 out," demurely remarked Cartouche. 
 
 " Good," replied the young Count. " How 
 silly it was in me not to have been provided with 
 a better light." l 3
 
 226 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " Oh, it has answered the purpose uncom- 
 monly well," said Cartouche ; " pray close the 
 cabinet, and let us descend." 
 
 Under these circumstances speedy detection 
 was not likely to follow. Wishing his noble 
 young host good night, and expressing his pro- 
 found obligations for the hospitality he had re- 
 ceived, and the high honour that had been con- 
 ferred on so humble an indi\'idual as himself, in 
 forming the acquaintance of such an ancient and 
 renowned family, he kissed the Count Ducha- 
 telet's hand, and retired to the chamber destined 
 for his repose. And yet this monstrous villain 
 did sleep. 
 
 Cartouche thought it prudent to be an early 
 riser on the following morning ; and in that kind 
 of noble hostelry found no impediment in the 
 way of departing on horseback as he came. 
 
 He now turned affairs over in his mind. He 
 had committed two important robberies which 
 would most assuredly create a sensation. A pur- 
 suit must naturally be made after him. Crossing
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 227 
 
 the coiintry, and reaching Langon, he put up his 
 horse at a small cabaret, giving strict directions 
 that it should be well fed until he returned for 
 it. 
 
 He then passed the river Garonne in a ferry 
 boat to St. Macaire, where he made a substan- 
 tial breakfast ; and jumping on board a gahare, 
 went rapidly down the tide to Bordeaux. 
 
 Arrived at the fine old city, and putting up at 
 an inn in the neighbourhood of the ancient feu- 
 dal edifice, the Chateau Trompette, which had 
 recently been strengthened with new works by 
 Vauban, by order of Louis XIV. ; Cartouche 
 conceived it to be advisable to assume an extreme 
 plainness of dress, and the quiet abstract air of 
 a person engaged in mercantile pursuits. He 
 soon found his way to the Rue de I'lntendance, 
 where the principal tradesmen had their shops 
 and residences, and which was a kind of Rialto 
 for merchants in general. The quick eye of 
 Cartouche was caught as he entered the locality 
 by a sign-board inscribed with
 
 22S THE ADVENTURES 
 
 GARIGUES. 
 
 JOUALIER A LA 
 
 REINE d'eSPAGNE. 
 
 On entering the shop, Louis Dominique was 
 received with abundant civility by a fat good- 
 tempered Gascon tradesman, in full peruke, on 
 which the flies were crawling up one side and 
 down the other, attracted by the pomatum with 
 which the said peruke was mterlarded. 
 
 Cartouche's own manner was rather reserved 
 than otherwise as he glanced at the articles dis- 
 played in the shop ; he made a purchase of one 
 or two of them to the amount of ten Louis. 
 This appeared to loosen, still more, the usually 
 voluble tongue of Monsieur Garigues, who stated 
 that he was preparing an ecrin of marvellous 
 beauty (" absolument ravigottant T ) for her 
 Majesty the Queen of Spain, but that he wanted 
 a diamond of a certain size to complete it. 
 
 Madame Garigues, who had been seated at a 
 further comer of the shop, presently approached. 
 At the period of which we are writing up to the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 229 
 
 present time, the wife of the French tradesman 
 is always part of the stock in the business, par- 
 ticularly if she should happen to be handsome ; 
 Madame Garigues had been pretty, but her face 
 was destroyed by affectation. She had good 
 eyes, a good mouth, and good hands ; but she 
 valued herself on her eyes, and ogled, cast such 
 languishing looks, and darted such glances, that 
 it was almost imendurable ; then her lips were 
 ever tucked up — she grinned eternally ; to ex- 
 hibit her well-formed hands, she was constantly 
 beating time to all she said, arranging her dress, 
 taking her rings off, putting them on again, and 
 playing with her fingers. 
 
 Cartouche paid profound attention to Madame 
 Garigues, and gazed at her with extreme admi- 
 ration. Presently he declared himself to be a 
 foreign diamond merchant, but regretted that he 
 had only t^vo diamonds by him at that time of 
 any value (excepting, indeed, an indifferent good 
 one in a ring), but that he was afraid neither of 
 them would suit Monsieur Garigrues.
 
 230 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 The larger of the two gems, which had been 
 set in an old-fashioned agraffe, was produced. 
 The Gascon put on his spectacles, and declared 
 it to be all that he wished, and began to inquire 
 about the price. At this moment the beautiful 
 hand of Madame Garigues touched that of Louis 
 Dominique as if by accident, and she then 
 looked at him with her large stag eyes as if she 
 would have pierced him through ; then she 
 smilingly exhibited her whole range of teeth, 
 and apologised in the sweetest tone, and with 
 the most innocent confusion imaginable. 
 
 This gave time for Cartouche to make a de- 
 mand, and he boldly said he required 5,000 
 crowns for his diamond. The Gascon cried 
 alas ! that he could not at that time raise that 
 amount, although he admitted the jewel to be 
 worth the money. 
 
 Cartouche, assuming an air of mmiiiicence, 
 said, " Hark ye. Monsieur Garigues, you and 
 your charming Madame have lived in great re- 
 pute here at Bordeaux for a nimiber of years ;
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 231 
 
 you are a tradesman of honourable principles ; 
 on the score of the crowns you need not trouble 
 yourself; you can pay me half the amount, and 
 the remainder whenever it is convenient." 
 
 The eyes of the lady again flashed trium- 
 phantly, as much as to indicate, " / have effected 
 this." 
 
 The Gascon was enchanted with the conduct 
 of Louis Dominique, and paid him over 2,500 
 crowns. 
 
 After a slight whisper with Madame, who 
 glanced a vi\^d assent, Garigues said, " Mon- 
 sieur, to-morrow is the anniversary day of our 
 patron saint, St. Paulinus of Nola ; my wife and 
 myself, make a holiday on that afternoon, and 
 visit oui propriete (a vineyard) at ^lontesquieu. 
 Will you favour us with your company to a slight 
 dinner, and a friendly glass of good wine ?" 
 
 Cartouche affected to ponder as to whether he 
 had a prior engagement ; but when he saw the 
 honest Gascon deposit the jewels of the Queen 
 of Spain with much care into an iron-safe, the
 
 232 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 key of which he carried tied to a riband around 
 his neck, he accepted the proffered invitation 
 vdth great satisfaction. 
 
 It was arranged that Louis Dominique was to 
 call on Monsieur Garigues at noon on the follow- 
 ing day, and that he would drive his guest down 
 in his cabriolet to their cottage retreat at Mon- 
 tesquieu. 
 
 After Cartouche had departed, the Gascon 
 said that in his life he had never met with a more 
 liberal dealer; that the diamond he had that 
 morning purchased was worth at least 8,000 
 crowns, and that he should charge her Majesty 
 of Spain 10,000 for it when set in the ecrin, 
 
 "Aye, my dear friend," replied his wife, "you 
 little know how much of your good fortune you 
 owe to me : / dazzled him, / fascinated him. 
 Some people are capable of looking diamonds — 
 C2in display natural pearls. When you married 
 me, my dear, you wedded yourself to a trea- 
 sure." 
 
 Garigues being much accustomed to his wife's
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 233 
 
 arguments on such matters, was always of the 
 same opinion wdth her, as it saved much useful 
 time that might other^vise be lost in speaking 
 the homely truth, and moreover it avoided an 
 abundance of contradiction. 
 
 At the appointed hour, Cartouche was with 
 his new acquaintances ; and the cabriolet — a 
 species of carriage that has since undergone con- 
 siderable improvement — was at the door. This 
 cabriolet seemed to be designed for the north pole, 
 since there was no spring to it ; it stood a great 
 height from the ground, and had, like its owner, 
 an enormous leather head. A female servant of 
 Monsieur Garigues was strapping a basket be- 
 hind, containing the eatables and wine for their 
 country repast. In the shafts was harnessed a 
 large roan horse, with Kght blue eyes, and a 
 white mane and tail. The cabriolet was so 
 high that Madame Garigues found herself imder 
 the necessity of first mounting on a chair, 
 brought from the shop, to get on the step of the 
 carriage. Cartouche handed Madame with an
 
 234 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 air of gallantry ; and a brisk breeze down the 
 street exhibited a new point of attraction, in 
 the lady's possession of a handsome leg. Car- 
 touche was the next to ascend the tall cabriolet, 
 and lastly, whip in hand, the fat Gascon wedged 
 himself in, and the whole party were neatly 
 dove-tailed. 
 
 A chuck with the reins set the blue eyed 
 horse in motion, and off he trotted, whisking the 
 flies with his ample tail. At that happy period 
 (for horses) meddling man had not cruelly de- 
 prived the animal of his natural weapon, given 
 benevolently by the Creator for chasing away 
 stinging insects. 
 
 Monsieur Garigues weighed several pounds 
 more than might be guessed at a mere venture. 
 Cartouche was apprehensive that the cabriolet 
 would not convey the trio (with a rattling ac- 
 companiment) either with safety or with expe- 
 dition on their journey ; but he was mistaken 
 in the vehicle, which, though the jolting was 
 intolerable, was so built as to defy extra weight ;
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 235 
 
 and the load of live lumber was adjusted with 
 great nicety. 
 
 Although we shall not attempt a minute de- 
 scription of the manner in which the party 
 passed the day, yet, under several brief heads, 
 our readers shall be put in possession of the 
 particulars : — 
 
 THE PROPRIETE OF MONSIEUR GARIGUES. 
 
 Villa small, better calculated for summer than 
 wLQter, as the ^^dndows, like most French case- 
 ments, let in a considerable quantity of whole- 
 some fresh air. The once gay paper-hangings 
 had sustained some injury by the damp ; subject 
 mythological, Actason and Diana. The chaste 
 Diana exceedingly mothery ; the skins of most 
 of the hounds had peeled off, and the captured 
 stag's wounds only presented the bare plaster. 
 The balmy sununer air, however, which was 
 ripening the vines and fig trees, had dried up all 
 humidity.
 
 236 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 THE GARDEN. 
 
 A profusion of vines, some trellising, others 
 cut close down, numberless bunches of grapes ; 
 various sorts of fruit trees trained on espaliers ; 
 melons, in perfection, in the open air. A foun- 
 tain formed by a young gentleman, made of lead, 
 in a state of nudity, and painted after nature, 
 spouting a small stream of water into a large 
 cockleshell. Endive, sorrel, and spinach, in 
 abundance ; large onions, and garlic, ditto ; 
 an armed grenadier, painted on the wall, to 
 frighten away the crows. 
 
 MADAME GARIGUES' COSTUME. 
 
 A black silk petticoat, with a red and white 
 calico border; cherry-coloured stays, trimmed 
 with blue and silver ; a red and dove-coloured 
 damask gown, flowered with large trees ; a yel- 
 low satin apron, trimmed with white Persian ; 
 muslin head cloths, with crow-foot edging; 
 double ruffles, with fine edging ; a black silk 
 furbelowed scarf, a spotted hood, and white ca- 
 limanco shoes.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 2S7 
 
 THE DINNER. 
 
 Although it was a saint's day, Monsieur Gari- 
 gues would not be so inhospitable as to invite a 
 diamond merchant to dine on maigre fare. So 
 he stifled his religious scruples, and unpacked 
 from the basket a boar's head, dressed on the 
 most recherche principles ; a cold raised pie 
 of partridge, pheasant, hare, duck, and pigeons, 
 with a cement forcemeat of veal, bacon, and 
 savoury herbs ; a jar of most delicious pickled 
 tunny from the Mediterranean ; and these, 
 with an exquisite fresh salad from the garden, 
 formed the main part of the repast. Bread and 
 Bordeaux at discretion ; and so the sequel will 
 prove, 
 
 Madame Garigues was as gay in her conversa- 
 tion as she was gaudy in her apparel, and took 
 a thousand opportunities to display her charms, 
 GRATIS ; which word, by the way, is so foreign 
 to French manners and customs, that it has been 
 borrowed from a dead language. 
 
 The jeweller was all bustle and hospitality,
 
 238 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 and his gasconades were infinitely amusing, after 
 a few tumblers of his admirable wine had been 
 discussed; but, alas! the Bordeaux was not 
 taken at discretion. 
 
 It is the custom in the south of France, 
 doubtless derived from their Spanish neighbours, 
 to take a siesta after dinner; to aid the digestion 
 of a plentiful meal Madame Garigues stepped 
 gracefully into an adjoining apartment to repose 
 on the sofa. As a matter of course Cartouche 
 was seized with yawning sensations, which were 
 certainly catching, as the old fat Gascon opened 
 his mouth to that width that Louis Dominique 
 expected his head to come in two parts. 
 
 Cartouche professed to keep the jeweller 
 company in an arm-chair near him. By some 
 chance or other, though apparently fast asleep, 
 Cartouche remained " wide awake," and just as 
 his friend Garigues began to snore heavily, he 
 leaned forward in his seat, and felt some curiosity 
 as to the way in which the key of the iron-safe 
 was deposited in his waistcoat pocket. With
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 239 
 
 great dexterity, he, with a sharp knife cut 
 through the rihand by which the key was 
 attached and worn round the jeweller's fat neck. 
 Just as he had obtained the coveted possession 
 of the key, he unluckily with his elbow over- 
 turned an empty wine-bottle on the table, but, 
 at the same moment, he fell back fast asleep in 
 his chair ; through the crevices of his eyelids he 
 saw Garigues arouse, stare stupidly around, and 
 then recUne again without discovering his loss. 
 
 Cartouche, breathless and on tip-toe, stole 
 out of the saloon (he was accustomed to steal- 
 ing) ; he crossed the Uttle hall, and entered the 
 garden, in a small pavilion of which he found 
 the gardener, who also acted as groom, fast 
 asleep hke the rest, so, thinking it a pity to dis- 
 turb him after his fatigues and labours, he 
 entered the stable, and coolly began to harness 
 the roan with blue eyes, which had already done 
 its duty so well, and was munching some fresh 
 cut fodder. The poor beast did not seem ex- 
 actly to understand why he shoidd so soon
 
 240 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 return to to'WTi, looking as if he would much 
 rather have been put on the rack. If that 
 was his equinine desire, Cartouche provided 
 an excellent substitute for it in the wliipy 
 which he used most unmercifully after he had 
 driven the old rattling cabriolet into the high 
 road; on, on, he urged poor blue eyes, till his 
 flanks reeked with perspiration, and his fine 
 white mane and tail dripped in a most dishe- 
 velled manner. He boldly drove up to the shop- 
 door, in the Rue de I'lntendance, and rimg the 
 bell. An old employe, who acted as an assistant 
 to Monsieur Garigues, and the female servant, 
 appeared, and were amazingly surprised to be- 
 hold the horse and cabriolet, without master or 
 mistress. 
 
 " Fly, mes amis,'' said Cartouche, in a tone of 
 great concern, " Fly for the doctor ! Monsieur 
 Garigues has fallen into a bad fit, but his life 
 may still be saved !" 
 
 He put the reins into the hands of the shop- 
 man, who was all nervously aghast at hearing
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 241 
 
 the misfortune which had befallen his master. 
 " Go you, Margot," said he to the female, "for 
 another medical man, in case your own doctor 
 should be out. If dispatch be used, we may 
 yet save his valuable life ; no time is to be lost. 
 I will remain here with the horse." 
 
 The two terrified domestics scuttled off ui 
 different directions, without waitiQg to reflect, 
 in search of the doctors. The instant their 
 backs were turned. Cartouche entered the pre- 
 mises, made his way to the safe^ and was not 
 long in possessing himself of the ecrin of her 
 Majesty of Spain, and of his own (De Grroc's) 
 diamond, with several others into the bargain. 
 He then carefully re-locked the iron safe, and 
 decamped, dropping the key into the Garonne, 
 as he crossed the wooden bridge to La Bastide, 
 on the opposite shore. Moimting the aclivity 
 he frequently turned round, but not to admire 
 the truly oriental magnificence of the large city 
 now in mid-distance, with its long Unes of mer- 
 cantile palaces and pleasure-grounds, glowing in 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 24S THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the glorious sunset, and glassed in the rapid- 
 rolling Garonne. He turned to see if any stray 
 vehicle might offer him the means of pursuing 
 his route to Paris ; he was kept in a state of 
 suspense for some time, when, ascending the hill, 
 a courier approached leading two spare horses, 
 and wearing the livery of the Duke de Niver- 
 nois. This was a lucky rencontre. Cartouche 
 stopped the courier, and told him that the dili- 
 gence had gone off without him. Some louis- 
 d'ors were produced, a bargain was soon struck ; 
 a roquelaire was unstrapped from behind the 
 courier, and quickly enveloped the person of 
 Cartouche. The courier's route was not the 
 direct one to Paris — all the better ; and, dashing 
 off to the left, they soon reached Bergerac, where 
 they refreshed themselves and cattle ; and then 
 crossing through the wooded plains of La Grat- 
 sege, they reached on the following day the old 
 city of Chateau-neuf. 
 
 To return to Monsieur and Madame Garigues 
 (which Cartouche neglected to do). The lady
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 24:3 
 
 first awoke from her siesta ; she occupied some 
 Httle time before a mirror, Lq putting her hair in 
 proper trim, for her cap was a little displaced by 
 the nodding in the nap in which she had indulged. 
 The next movement was to take from her pocket 
 a smaW papier-mache box of rouge, with which 
 she shghtly renovated each cheek with a bit of 
 Spanish wool. Her next care was to look that 
 her shoes and stockings were in proper order. 
 She then made a pretty fluttering trip into the 
 next room, and beheld Monsieur her husband in 
 full snore. She supposed that the diamond 
 merchant had sauntered into the garden. 
 
 She resolved to wait a few minutes. She then 
 went into the pleasure-ground, where she sud- 
 denly met the gardener, rubbing his eyes, and in 
 a state of great perplexity. He had most unac- 
 countably missed the roan horse and cabriolet. 
 Madame was much puzzled. 
 
 Garigues, with the fumes of the ^^ine, was 
 dreaming that he had been ushered into the pre- 
 sence of her Majesty the Queen of Spain, and 
 
 m2
 
 244 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 was on his knees before her, exhibiting his mag- 
 nificent manufacture, the ecrin: when his wife 
 entered, and rather roughly shook him to awake 
 him. 
 
 " So, please your Majesty," said he, " be not 
 angry ; I could not get it completed earlier, 
 humbly craving your Majesty's pardon." 
 
 Madame again shook him, and pinched his ear 
 and his nose to awake him ; but when the con- 
 fused state of intellect, usually produced after 
 sleeping on a full meal, had partially subsided, 
 and he found that his guest and the cabriolet 
 had vanished, his heart misgave him. He then 
 instinctively felt for the key of the iron-safe — 
 it was gone ! 
 
 '*Diantref mille Diantres!" roared Garigues, 
 foaming at the mouth ; and when a Frenchman 
 chooses to swear, or execrate, with what perfec- 
 tion he accomplishes it ! how he grinds and rat- 
 tles the letter r in his throat! 
 
 Garigues dashed his full bottomed powdered 
 peruke at the gardener, stamped with both feet
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 24-5 
 
 on it, then picked up the peruke again, and 
 hurled it at his wife ; the effect of which was like 
 that of an avalanche falling on an unoffending 
 village. 
 
 "Que je suis melon!* the mechant ! the 
 the robber ! the ecrin ! What will the Queen 
 of Spain say or do ? Ruined ! ruined !" — and 
 here the unhappy jeweller dashed his wig through 
 the window into the little leaden boy's water- 
 fall, and then seizing a garden-spade, he flou- 
 rished it, exclaiming — 
 
 " War ! war ! to the knife ! " 
 Madame Garigues was au desespoir. 
 
 * Melon (Gascon) Imbecile.
 
 246 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CARTOUCHE ACCIDENTALLY FALLS INTO THE PRESENCE OF 
 A COUNTESS — HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HER — HE ASSUMES 
 NOBILITY — HE ENCOUNTERS TWO OLD ACQUAINTANCES, 
 WHOM HE CONTRIVES TO MYSTIFY — THE COUNTESS CON- 
 SENTS TO TRAVEL WITH HIM TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 The courier here having to bait his master's 
 well-bred horses, Cartouche took the oppor- 
 tunity, being in possession of a well-filled purse, 
 to make liis way to a dealer in clothes in the 
 Grand Rue, where he purchased a complete 
 change of apparel, the most splendid he could 
 procure. He also bought a new auburn peruke 
 with which he had fallen in love. These he 
 placed in a commodious valise, and returning to 
 the inn, greased the wheels of the conscience 
 of the courier of the Duke de Nivemois with an-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 247 
 
 Other louis d'or, stipulating tliat he should let 
 him ride one of the spare steeds on to Bourhon. 
 
 As they journeyed on they overtook a carriage 
 in which was a young lady of considerable 
 beauty, attended only by an elderly female, 
 whose dress did not denote her as a servant, but 
 seemed more to resemble that of a companion 
 or gouvernante. 
 
 Louis Dominique was particularly struck ^vith 
 a certain charming arch expression of the eyes 
 of the fair traveller, and contrived several times 
 to gaze with an air of the most profound respect 
 into the carriage, when he was vain enough to 
 imagine that he had not entirely been unnoticed. 
 
 French roads at the period we are describing, 
 required strong-built carriages : and though the 
 administration of the Grand Monarque had done 
 much to improve the highways, there was still 
 considerable room for amendment. In dragging 
 heavily up a hill, one of the axle-trees of the 
 coach in which the ladies were seated, broke 
 with a crash that alarmed the inmates. The
 
 24S THE ADVENTURES 
 
 postilion leaped out of his huge portmanteau- 
 looking boots, and instantly set about repairing 
 the accident. Cartouche immediately rode up, 
 and gallantly asked the ladies if he could be of 
 any service. Seeing that the carriage was broken 
 down, they accepted his offer of assistance to 
 alight, and Louis Dominique's heart beat as he 
 discovered that the closer he approached the 
 younger female the handsomer she appeared. 
 
 The driver, in a patois of extreme volubility, 
 apologised for the misfortune, saying that he 
 had never done the like before in his life. 
 
 " You have overturned the carriage as cleverly 
 as if you had done it a hundred times," replied 
 Cartouche. 
 
 However, there was nothing to be done with- 
 out the assistance of a smith. The postilion 
 said there was a forge about a mile further on ; 
 so Cartouche told the courier to ride on to pre- 
 pare the artisan in iron to get his implements 
 ready, while the postilion walked by the side of 
 his horses, and Cartouche and the ladies ap-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 249 
 
 peared to be attending as mourners at the fu- 
 neral of the broken coach. 
 
 Cartouche had observed the ladies glance \vith 
 some curiosity at the emblazoned arms of Niver- 
 nois on the housings of the steeds, and a cun- 
 ning thought spread itself across his fertile brain. 
 
 The weather being delightfully fine, Cartouche 
 trusted that the ladies were not incommoded by 
 being obliged to walk the distance. He then 
 suddenly, in a rather careless tone, said, " I 
 shall stay at Bourbon for a day or so. My 
 horses and courier may go on to Nivemois." 
 
 At this point, the manner of the tvvo ladies 
 very much changed, and they answered the 
 queries of Cartouche in a vivacious, but most 
 respectful tone. The cunning rascal immediately 
 perceived that he had impressed them with the 
 idea that he was a person of rank ; nay, that he 
 might turn out to be the Duke de Nivemois 
 himself. 
 
 After a delightful hour's chat, the damage of 
 the coach was sufficiently repaired to enable the 
 
 M 3
 
 250 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 ladies to continue their journey ; Cartouche re- 
 mounted the Duke's steed, and occasionally ad- 
 dressed a few agreeable remarks at the carriage 
 window. 
 
 The party now approached the banks of the 
 Allier, and were speedily in the valley, sur- 
 rounded by steep hills, which forms the approach' 
 to the town of Bourbon ; they passed the old 
 castle, once the stronghold of the Sires of Bour- 
 bon, and admired the chapel with its exquisite 
 stained glass casements. 
 
 Rattling through several streets, the carriage 
 drew up at the hotel, the Coq d'Or ; Cartouche 
 politely handed his new acquaintances from 
 their coach. He then dismissed the courier of 
 the Duke de Nivemois (who bowed most cere- 
 moniously on riding away) with another gold 
 piece : and a gargon preceded Cartouche into 
 the hotel, bearing his valise : here, securing a 
 chamber, he unpacked the trunk, and adorned 
 himself in his splendid suit, and new flowing 
 peruke, and having hung on his sword with a
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 251 
 
 jaunty air, with his hat under his arm, he most 
 impudently found his way into the saloon, where 
 the table d'hote was laid out. Presently, to his 
 great satisfaction, he perceived his fair fellow 
 traveller and her companion enter the room, and 
 observed that they had also changed their dresses 
 for a very becoming costume ; Cartouche seated 
 himself next them at dinner. Good cheer and 
 good wine are admirable adjuncts to conversa- 
 tion, and the trio soon became agreeably com- 
 mimicative. The young lady described herself 
 as the Countess de Bergerac, proceeding to 
 Paris to receive the fortune left by her maternal 
 uncle, a.fer77iier generalfWho had died immensely 
 rich. She appeared to be intimately connected 
 with persons of high rank, many of whose names 
 she mentioned, inquiring if Cartouche was 
 acquainted with them. Louis Dominique, of 
 course, answered in the affirmative, though 
 Heaven knows he had never been in the position 
 in life to have heard of them. 
 
 A dish of green peas being placed before the
 
 252 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 party at table, the elder lady smiled graciously, 
 and said, "My dear Countess, I never see green 
 peas, without thinking of the gallantry of your 
 rejected lover, the gxedit financier ." 
 
 The Countess affected to have forgotten the 
 story, but as Cartouche (we beg pardon, the 
 Duke de Nivemois) had never heard it, he 
 begged Madame would be good enough to 
 relate the circumstance. 
 
 " The financier, who was the very humble 
 servant of the Countess," continued the old 
 lady, " was aware that she was desirous to eat 
 the first green peas of the season, so he one day 
 bought her a dish for which he paid one hun- 
 dred crowns." 
 
 " Dear, for peas," said Louis Dominique. 
 
 " * Alas ! monsieur,' said the Countess to the 
 financier, * I cannot avail myseK of your atten- 
 tion ; my physician has put me on a milk diet.' 
 
 " * Well, Madame,' answered he gallantly, 
 * there is a remedy for eveiy evil.* 
 
 *' So he caused the peas, for which he had paid
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 253 
 
 one hundred crowns, to be given to the cow 
 from which she had her milk." 
 
 *'What tender sentiment," said Cartouche, 
 " what a devoted lover ! That is precisely the 
 conduct I should pursue to the lady who would 
 honour me with her affections." 
 
 The Countess fixed her beautiful eyes on 
 Louis Dominique, and remarked, *^ But I did 
 not honour him with my affections." 
 
 Cartouche rapidly thought within himself, 
 " The more fool you; \hsitjinancier should have 
 been a cow that I would have milked thoroughly 
 dry." The hours passed rapidly, the Duke de 
 Nivemois ordered a petit souper in his o^vn 
 apartments, and the Countess de Bergerac and 
 her gouvernante, after some slight scruples, 
 accepted his invitation to pass the remainder of 
 the evening there, prior to retiring to rest. 
 
 Cartouche was animated. A fine woman and 
 his own fine clothes had wrought a wonderful 
 effect on him. He felt tolerably certain that 
 he had, for the present, eluded the vigilance of
 
 254 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the police of Bordeaux and Bayonne — and as 
 for thev representative of the latter, his old 
 friend Sebastien Escroc, he did not care a solitary 
 Hard, 
 
 Prompted by vanity, and thinking to ingra- 
 tiate himself with the beautiful Countess, he 
 produced for inspection the three diamonds, at 
 the sight of which both ladies were entranced ; 
 indeed. Cartouche thought that they would 
 never take their eyes away from them. Car- 
 touche now turned the attention of the ladies 
 as to their mode of travelling on the follow- 
 ing day, and vowed that to proceed in the 
 damaged vehicle would be a dangerous ex- 
 periment; he then stated that he was going 
 on to Paris, on some private busmess, and 
 for that purpose he had dismissed his cou- 
 rier and horses to Nivemois. He proposed that 
 he should hire a chaise de poste, and that they 
 would do him the honour to accept of seats 
 therein. 
 
 Here both ladies remonstrated ; their charac-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 255 
 
 ters, the character of the family, might be ruined 
 for ever. Cartouche was politely determined ; 
 and at length the Countess de Bergerac some- 
 what reluctantly acceded, on condition, that 
 within ten miles of Paris, their new friend must 
 quit them, as she had to meet Monsieur de Mon- 
 nopet (the administrator under the \viU of her 
 late uncle), and Monsieur le Marquis D'Aigue 
 Blanche, and the Count de Viry, her cousins. 
 To this arrangement, Louis Dominique, with a 
 sigh, consented. 
 
 While they were enjoying a delicate supper 
 of some soujpe a la Reine, larded partridges, and 
 stewed trout, from the river Barge, and washing 
 it dowTi with the most delicious Monrachet, the 
 functionary Sebastien Escroc, arrived at the Coq 
 D'Or. He had not, by any professional saga- 
 city, taken this route in pursuit of his game, 
 but almost by chance made his way to Bourbon. 
 His first inquiry of the landlord of the Coq 
 D'Or was as to the persons in his house, their 
 quaht}", or profession. The landlord, who had
 
 256 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 witnessed the arrival and departure of the Duke's 
 courier and horses, at once (elevated with the 
 notion of entertaining a nobleman of distinction 
 on his premises), announced that the Duke de 
 Nivemois and two ladies of rank sojourned in 
 his hotel. 
 
 Warmed with the generous wine, Cartouche 
 became more and more confident ; and he was 
 quite convinced in his own mind that he had 
 made a very serious impression on the heart 
 of the young millionaire — so serious indeed, 
 that his oifer of marriage was listened to 
 blushingly, and in silence. He felt triumphant 
 that he had not neglected a golden opportunity. 
 
 The ladies, after many tender adieux had 
 been exchanged, retired to their chamber for 
 the night. 
 
 After they had gone, he reflected that now 
 indeed he was in the main road to fortune ; he 
 had captured the heai't of a lovely, wealthy, 
 interesting young creature (to use his own 
 phrase), in little more than a " brace of shakes."
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 2ol 
 
 It was yet too early tor Cartouche to retire to 
 rest ; and, somewhat excited by the Monrachet 
 nectar, of which he had partaken sufficient to 
 make him as bold and as cunning as Beelzebub, 
 he resolved to go down to the saloon, and enact 
 the Duke therein. Louis Dominique descended ; 
 but when he entered, he, at once, cursed his 
 arrogant folly, for he instantly observed, among 
 some dozen sojourners of the hotel who were 
 sipping their coffee, liqueurs, and orgeat, two 
 old acquaintances — the one was Monsieur Se- 
 bastien Escroc, and the other no less than the 
 Principal of Clermont College, the Abbe Potter, 
 his hated ci-devant schoolmaster, whose stripes 
 rose up in all their smarting and original ma- 
 lignity, and warranted (to Cartouche) any equi- 
 valent revenge that he might exercise. He was 
 aware that he was well disguised, and he was so 
 grown in stature, and altered in appearance, 
 that it may well be supposed that he was utterly 
 unknown to the worthy superior of the Jesidts' 
 College. As for Escroc, why he had deceived
 
 258 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 him before, and he had very little fear that he 
 should do him again ; so, instead of retreating 
 from the apartment, with the coolness and 
 effi-ontery for which Cartouche was remarkable, 
 he seated himself at the same table, at a little 
 distance from the police-officer, who was dis- 
 cussing a dish of stewed lentils for his supper. 
 On perceiving a person of so showy a figure, 
 Sebastien Escroc whispered an inquiry into the 
 ear of the gargon as to who he was ? when the 
 waiter replied that it was the Duke de Ni- 
 vemois. 
 
 Cartouche was quite at his ease. He ordered 
 some Maraschino, and a caraffe of iced water. 
 
 The Duke de Nivemois entered into conversa- 
 tion with Escroc ; spoke of the exceedingly unsafe 
 state of the pubHc roads, the frequent robberies, 
 the necessity of a more nmnerous police. He 
 intimated that he had sufiered materially on his 
 own estates ; that his sheep and cattle had been 
 stolen, and that vast depredations had been made 
 on his forests, and on the game. He further
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 259 
 
 Stated that he had been for a considerable time 
 on the look out for a clever intelligent person, 
 to whom he might offer a liberal stipend, to head 
 a force of his tenants and vassals, to extirpate 
 the thieves, and protect his property. 
 
 Monsieur Sebastien Escroc's pig-eyes glistened 
 and winked. Bowing very low, with his mous- 
 taches dipped into the plate of lentils, he said, 
 with profound reverence, " Monsieur Le Due 
 should be informed that the person he has done 
 the honour to address, holds the office of a chej 
 de la police of Bayonne.'* 
 
 " Aye, indeed !" replied the Duke. " I recol- 
 lect my intimate friend, the principal judge of 
 the criminal court, telling me that robbery was a 
 rarity at Bayonne, and was rendered so by the 
 activity of one Mescro, or Pesco, or Questocq, 
 or some such name." 
 
 " Escroc is my name," said the oaf of a func- 
 tionar}', with another humble bow. 
 
 The Duke produced his tablets, and re- 
 quested that Monsieur Escroc would write his
 
 260 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 name and address thereon ; and that, in all pro- 
 bability, he would hear of something greatly to 
 his advantage. 
 
 Completely bKnded, the officer having inserted 
 his autograph, proceeded to relate anecdotes of 
 his extreme activity in the service of justice, and 
 that he had been so successful, only one rogue 
 had escaped him, and he had driven him out of 
 Bayonne — this rogue was one Louis Dominique 
 Cartouche. He also highly amused the hero of 
 our story with a rather lengthened detail of the 
 exploits of this same delinquent ; some of them, 
 indeed, so highly coloured, that once or twice 
 Louis Dominique had it on the tip of his tongue 
 to contradict him, and cry out, " Oh, what an 
 abominable lie." 
 
 Monsieur Escroc then stated to the Duke 
 that in a few hours he should start for Paris, 
 where he hoped to pounce* on Cartouche. 
 The Duke de Nivernois inquired with great 
 sangfroid, if Escroc knew the person of this 
 same Cartouche ? — to which the intelligent
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 261 
 
 officer replied, " Oh, perfectly well, perfectly 
 weU!" 
 
 Louis Dominique grew tired of this bahbler, 
 who had told him all that he thought, and all 
 that he knew. When that subject failed him, 
 he told all that he did not know. 
 
 The Duke, therefore, bade him adieu, and 
 wished him all possible success, though, for 
 his o^\n part, he feared that Monsieur Se- 
 bastien Escroc was a trifle too sanguine. 
 
 The police-officer then went to the stable to 
 see his horse fed. 
 
 The Abbe Potter had been an attentive 
 Kstener at the next table to the fore-mentioned 
 conversation; and, turning to the supposed 
 nobleman, who was now disengaged, said, " I 
 beg your pardon. Monsieur, you mentioned 
 the name of the Duke de Nivernois?" 
 
 " I did," replied Cartouche, guardedly. 
 
 " I hope the Duke is quite well ?" said the 
 Abbe. 
 
 " In just as good health as I am," answered 
 Louis Dominique.
 
 262 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 "I am extremely glad to hear that," continued 
 the Abbe, " as I have the honour of his grace's 
 friendship and patronage." 
 
 " The devil you have," thought Cartouche ; 
 •' that is rather unlucky." 
 
 " Strange enough," said the Abbe Potter, 
 who was rather loquaciously inclined, " that 
 another name should have been accidentally 
 mentioned this evening with which I have had 
 some acquaintance." 
 
 " What name was that. Monsieur ?" 
 
 " Cartouche," replied the Jesuit, " Louis 
 Dominique Cartouche, once a student in Cler- 
 mont College, now a criminal, of whom, it 
 seems, the officers of justice are in pursuit ; but 
 who has committed no crime equal to that 
 of disgracing the place of his education, of 
 which I was the principal." 
 
 " I was not aware," continued our bare-faced 
 impostor, " that I had the honoiu to be in 
 company with the Abbe Potter, so renowned for 
 his learning ; and to whom we owe that startling
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 263 
 
 inquiry as to how many millions of angels 
 can dance on tlie point of a needle ! Such men 
 are invaluable, and every arm should be raised 
 to shield them from danger." 
 
 The Abbe meekly bent his head, and humbly 
 trusted his " calling " would always protect him. 
 
 " I would not have you too sure. Monsieur 
 L'Abbe," replied Louis Dominique, *' for when 
 at Chartres, a few days since, I was informed 
 that the last act of tliis monster Cartouche was 
 that of cutting out the tongue of a Jesuit who 
 had villified him, and leaving him to bleed 
 to death in the high road." 
 
 After this appalling communication, the good 
 
 Abbe took an early opportunity of leaving the 
 
 room, and retmng to repose, feeling a little 
 
 feverish about the tongue. 
 
 " O ! mischief, thou art swift 
 To enter in the thoughts of desperate men !" 
 
 So said Shakspere ; Cartouche perfectly agreed 
 with him ; and he resolved, after a fashion of his 
 own, to make his two late companions, the
 
 264 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Abbe Potter and Monsieur Sebastien Escroc, 
 better acquainted with each other. He had in 
 the course of conversation ascertained that they 
 were pursuing the same route towards the capi- 
 tal ; so he retired to his chamber, and wrote, in 
 a large and disguised hand, on a sheet of paper : — 
 
 " You have this day been in the presence of 
 Cartouche, who came to Boiu-bon, with a plan 
 to rob, if not to murder, the Abbe Potter. Car- 
 touche will proceed in a hired carriage with four 
 horses to Paris, disguised as the Abbe, to avoid 
 detection ; all this he has accomplished, but you 
 may overtake him if you start instantly, keeping 
 the high road. 
 
 (Signed) A Repentant Sinner." 
 
 Having overheard the Abbe order the carriage, 
 &c.. Cartouche rose at an early hour, and 
 watched from his bed-room window to observe 
 his departure ; he presently descended into the 
 street, to watch the motions of Sebastien Escroc,
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 265 
 
 who, ha-\dng made a substantial dejeuner a la 
 fourchette, was not ready to take his leave of 
 the Coq d'Or until a considerable time after the 
 Principal of Clermont had set off. 
 
 At last he mounted in his saddle, looked at 
 his heavy pistols, and replaced them in the hol- 
 sters : when a beggar-boy (dispatched by Car- 
 touche, who was out of sight, but who had 
 given his little messenger a gratuity) put the 
 above admonitory note into the hand of the 
 police-officer, and slipped away. 
 
 On reading this, Escroc was surprised, and much 
 chagrined that his prey had again baffled him ; 
 and, without much fuilher reflection, he re- 
 solved to re-commence a hot and vigorous pur- 
 suit. 
 
 Cartouche now sought the Countess de 
 Bergerac and her companion, to propose that 
 they should breakfast together. He found the 
 Countess alone, attired in a very becoming morn- 
 ing dishabille, which disclosed to his enamoured 
 \dsion a thousand new beauties. She stated that 
 
 VOL.I. N
 
 266 THE ADVENTURE^ 
 
 her friend had gone forth early in the morning 
 to her devotions, never allowing herself on any 
 occasion to neglect the church. — " For my part," 
 said the Countess, "religion is a very good 
 thing in its way, but one may have too mueh 
 of it." 
 
 " Particularly," replied Cartouche, " in the 
 mode the service of the church is celebrated in 
 this country ; a great portion of it has been com- 
 posed in Hebrew, and translated into Latin, for 
 the benefit and use of those who understand 
 neither the one nor the other." 
 
 " I assure you I am not one of those who 
 undertake to torment themselves in this world 
 in order to be saved in the next ; nor do I see 
 the utility of devoting yourself to salted fish on 
 certain days of the week," said the Countess. 
 
 " Exactly my notions on the subject, my dear 
 Countess," exclaimed Cartouche. " But still 
 the practice is very necessary to support the com- 
 merce of the heretics who have fisheries at New- 
 foundland."
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 267 
 
 After expatiating on a few more liberal 
 doctrines, Louis Dominique requested per- 
 mission to remove one of the little black patches 
 with which the Countess had decorated her face 
 from its station above her left eye-brow, to the 
 side of the dimple on her chin ; while thus 
 employed, he could not refrain from stealing — 
 a kiss. 
 
 The gouvernante entered at that moment \\'ith 
 
 her beads in her hand. She started ; the 
 
 Countess appeared confused ; and the old lady, 
 
 with a solemnity of utterance that was quite 
 
 starthng, said, 
 
 " Woman, like china, should be kept with care, 
 One flaw debases her to common ware^ 
 
 Cartouche acknowledged the perfect truth of 
 the distich, which he begged the gouvernante 
 again to repeat, that he might transcribe it 
 on his tablets, and impress it on his memory. 
 On opening the tablets, however, the first thing 
 that presented itself to his sight, was the formal 
 handwriting of " Sehastien Escroc, officier de 
 
 n2
 
 268 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 la Cour Criminalef Bayonne.'' So he hastily- 
 shut them up again. 
 
 We will leave Cartouche and the ladies at 
 breakfast, where he again exhibited his diamonds 
 without the slightest compunction as to what 
 her Majesty of Spain would deign to do with 
 the unfortunate Garigues, or the least care 
 whether the worthy jeweller had taken any steps 
 to regain the stolen property. In the meantime 
 Escroc rode on in the hope of overtaking the 
 Abbe Potter's carriage, which, travelling vdth 
 fresh post-horses, rendered the task of the 
 police-officer a difficulty. He, however, perse- 
 veringly trotted throughout the day, tracing the 
 coach and its inmate from Poste Royale to Poste 
 Royale, but always four hours too late. At 
 length he discovered that this mode of proceed- 
 ing would not be Hkely to answer, so he hired a 
 caleche, and ordering post-horses, he unluckily 
 obtained a pair that had to be fetched from 
 plough, and where a stiff soil all the morning 
 had taken the pluck out of them. In spite of
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 269 
 
 this delay, Monsieur Sebastien Escrocmade con- 
 siderable progress while the Abbe slept for some 
 hours at an inn. He followed hiin to the town 
 of Melun, which is about twenty-eight miles 
 south-east of Paris. Here, finding again that the 
 supposed Cartouche had got the start of him, he 
 made his way to the ancient Benedictine Abbey, 
 which was the residence of the prefect, who 
 ordered two dragoons on fast horses, to ride 
 rapidly to the intendant of police at Paris, and 
 announce the matter, and to make all due prepa- 
 ration for the arrest of the robber Cartouche in 
 the disguise of the Abbe. The dragoons were 
 so diligent that on the arrival of the carriage it 
 was instantly surroimded by exempts of the 
 poHce ; and, on the door being opened, there 
 sat, palpably enough, the person described. 
 He was much agitated, and well he might be, 
 under the circumstances ; for the roughness 
 with which he was dragged out, put into irons, 
 and locked up m one of the strongest dmigeons of 
 the Conciergerie, was not calculated to promote
 
 270 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 liis serenity. On the following morning, the 
 prisoner was taken out of his cachoty and brought 
 up for examination. All eyes were fixed on the 
 culprit, and intense excitement prevailed, when, 
 to the great amusement of the assembled crowd, 
 and the equal mortification of the officers of 
 police, he was discovered not to be Cartouche, 
 but was veritably identified as the Abbe Potter. 
 
 As a matter of coui'se, a man of the learned 
 Abbe's distinction was not to be so grossly in- 
 -sulted with impunity, and a strict investigation 
 of the afiair took place. The dragoons who 
 brought the information were committed to 
 prison, and orders were issued for the arrest of 
 Monsieur Sebastien Escroc, who was met within 
 a few miles of Paris, and conveyed to the Con- 
 ciergerie, to his utter dismay and astonishment. 
 
 Cartouche chuckled within himself at the 
 probable success of a scheme by which his ci- 
 devant tyrant might be almost frightened out of 
 his senses, and his pursuer put on a wrong 
 scent. He was in gay spirits, for had he not
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 271 
 
 subjugated the heart of one of the loveliest and 
 richest of her sex ? Was he not soon to become 
 the possessor of wealth and power sufficient to 
 silence the scruples of the sternest stuff in the 
 shape of a minister of police ? The prospect 
 was enchanting, but on the safety of the day 
 depended the glories of the morrow. 
 
 As the Countess de Bergerac had condescended 
 to consent to travel in the same carriage with 
 him, he thought he would give her a proof of 
 his entire confidence by requesting her to take 
 charge of the valuable diamonds in her jewel- 
 box ; a mark of reliance which the eyes of both 
 the elder and young lady showed was highly ap- 
 preciated. On their journey, the gouvernante 
 frequently indulged in a brief nap, during which 
 the lovers enjoyed numberless innocent caresses. 
 The gouvernante was, indeed, a very agreeable 
 and discreet travelling companion, for she pos- 
 sessed the art, in perfection, of being blind with 
 one eye, and not being able to see out of the 
 other.
 
 272 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 But, alas ! bliss is fleeting. On arriving near 
 the capital, Cartouche was told by the lovely 
 Countess that he must quit the carriage, at the 
 end of the next stage, for the sake of her cha- 
 racter, as she was to meet Monsieur Monnopet, 
 the administrator, at the hotel in the small town of 
 Rambouillet. But she said to him with great 
 tenderness, " When I am put in possession of 
 my fortune, I shall be perfectly my own mis- 
 tress; and then you can follow me like a true 
 knight-errant to Rambouillet, and demand me 
 as your bride." With that, she begged of him 
 to get out of the coach, and gave him her beau- 
 tiful hand to kiss. The door of the carriage 
 was closed, and off trotted the horses. Car- 
 touche gazed after the veliicle that bore away 
 his prize ! 
 
 When the carriage was nearly out of sight, 
 Cartouche recollected that his valise was in it, 
 and he breathed a fond hope that his beloved 
 Countess would not forget to take great care of 
 the diamonds. He determined now to leisurely
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 273 
 
 make his way along the high-road until he came 
 to the turning that led to Rambouillet. 
 
 He felt that the " Duke de Nivemois" was 
 very speedily to be introduced (as the lovely 
 Countess had informed him during the inter\^als 
 of their tojdng in the coach) to the families of 
 the Bouillons, the Penthievres, the Crequis, the 
 Lauzuns, the Montmorencies, &c., although the 
 fair lady herself frankly informed him that her 
 own family comiections were chiefly among the 
 aristocracy of wealth. 
 
 " Give me the mopuses, and let anybody else 
 have the nobihty," said Cartouche. " I shall be 
 master of a rent-roll of 400,000 francs, and 
 with that where would be the difficulty of 
 making even a Coimtess happy ?" 
 
 At this moment he heard the tramp of several 
 horses behind him, and turning his head, four 
 persons mounted, appeared, coming on at a brisk 
 trot ; Cartouche was blessed with a very keen 
 sight, and he was not quite satisfied with the 
 armed array of three of the riders, so he took 
 
 n3
 
 274 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the precaution, notwithstanding his gay costume, 
 to leap into a small gravel pit, overhung by 
 bushes, but wherein he could observe, without 
 the disadvantage of being seen. Situated as he 
 was, he could wdth difficulty repress his laughter 
 when the cavalcade passed, which consisted of 
 Monsieur Sebastien Escroc strapped on his 
 horse, and handcuffed, guarded by three police- 
 officers, each with his finger on the lock of his 
 arquebuss. He now absolutely gloried in the 
 success of his scheme, for he was assured, by the 
 melancholy spectacle before his eyes, that it had 
 not failed. 
 
 Cartouche remained in his ambuscade until 
 he no longer heard the hoofs of the horses, 
 when he proceeded on his route to Rambouillet, 
 full of high hope. 
 
 " Hope! fortune's cheating lottery! 
 Where for one prize a hundred blanks there be ; 
 Fond archer, Hope ! who tak'st thy aim so far, 
 That still or short or wide thine arrows are!"
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 275 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CARTOUCHE MEETS WITH TWO OLD FRIENDS, AXD A 
 DISAPPOIXTMEKT — RELINQUISHES DEALING IN DIAMONDS — 
 HE RETURNS TO PARIS, AND ROBS A USURER — IS INTRO- 
 DUCED INTO AGREEABLE SOCIETY — BUT IS OBLIGED TO 
 RE3IAIN IN-DOORS. 
 
 The weather was fine, the bjeeze balmy, the 
 larks were pouring forth their melody to the clear 
 air, in rivalry, as they ascended higher and 
 higher. Cartouche compared himself to a lark, 
 and commenced a blithe song; he felt certain 
 that he was going up in the world, and once in 
 possession of the lovely Countess, her fortune 
 would place him as near to heaven as he wished 
 to be at his time of life. So he continued to 
 stride on until he reached the road which turned 
 off to Rambouillet, where he was to rejoin the
 
 276 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 object of his affections, and to be introduced to 
 Monsieur Monnopet, the Marquis de Viry, and 
 other noble friends of his betrothed. He arrived 
 at the gateway of the hotel at Rambouillet, 
 where, to his mortification, he recognised two of 
 his early associates, Thibault au De and Inigo, 
 who, it vdU be remembered, were among the 
 company assembled in honour of poor Monsieur 
 Malasteque's wedding, and who walked off with 
 the spoons and forks. Cartouche was consider- 
 ably embarrassed at meeting with these unlucky 
 dogs at this moment, although they were ex- 
 ceedingly well dressed. He endeavoured to 
 avoid them, but they recognised him, approached, 
 and repeatedly embraced him. But in the 
 midst of these proofs of their old friendship, 
 their profession was not forgotten nor neglected, 
 for during the warmth of their caresses. Mon- 
 sieur Thibault au De contrived to unfasten a 
 large sho\\y brooch that graced the cravat of 
 Cartouche, while Inigo dexterously cleared the 
 tahatiere from his waistcoat-pocket.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 277 
 
 Cartouche, although he felt compelled to make 
 an exterior show of cmlity, yet, at the same 
 time, wished his two friends at the farthest ex- 
 tremity of the hottomless pit. He made inquir}^ 
 as to whether they knew if the Marquis d'Aigue 
 Blanche and the Count de Viry were in the 
 hotel, as he had particular business with them. 
 
 At this question the two thieves burst out into 
 imgovemable laughter, and were compelled to 
 hold the gate-posts to prevent their falling into 
 the street. 
 
 Cartouche imiocently asked the meaning of 
 their merriment, when Inigo, taking Thibault 
 by the hand, bowed low to Louis Dominique, 
 and said, " Permit me to introduce to your 
 notice the Marquis d'Aigue Blanche." Cartouche 
 stared incredulously. 
 
 Thibault au De now bowed in his turn, and 
 said, " Monsieur Cartouche, allow me the 
 honour to present Count Viiy to you," as he 
 led Inigo towards him. 
 
 With a half-choked voice Cartouche stam-
 
 278 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 mered out, " Have two ladies arrived hither in 
 a carriage — the — the Countess de Bergerac ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," rephed Thibault au De, vmiking. 
 
 " Where are they?" asked Cartouche, turning 
 pale. 
 
 "Gone on to Paris," said Inigo, "and hark ye, 
 my boy, we wdll let you into a secret. We are 
 all out Jlat-catching, ladies and all ; they have 
 made a profitable trip from Bordeaux. We are 
 at present on the watch for a gull. We have 
 got into our net no less a person than the young 
 Duke de Nivemois," 
 
 "Have you?" ejaculated Cartouche, "then 
 my diamonds are gone, never more to return." 
 He now gave way to a fit of passion, for a 
 sharper never loses his temper more than when 
 he discovers that he has been outwitted. His 
 friends roared with laughter, on gradually draw- 
 ing forth his adventure, and pronounced him to 
 be an extremely clever fellow; but, notwith- 
 standing his tact, he had suffered cleverer thieves 
 in petticoats to get the advantage of him.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 279 
 
 Cartouche sighed when he contrasted his 
 sanguine hopes mth the present change of 
 affairs. He really regretted the loss of the false 
 Countess, but admitted that the lsid.j-gouvernante 
 had added much to the deception by going to 
 church so early in the morning. 
 
 " What, ha ! ha ! old Mother Mion de 
 Boule I* She is indeed a first-rate artiste,'' 
 said Thibault au De. " Thou art as yet but a 
 no\ice when compared -^ath those who have so 
 recently relieved thee of thy superfluous wealth. 
 But be of good heart, thou hast still an 
 excellent suit of clothes, and a bold im em- 
 barrassed air ; so join our band, and accompany 
 us to Paris, where we will provide thee \vith 
 free quarters until thou art again in fit condition 
 to be plucked." 
 
 Cartouche cursed his ill-fortune ; but, ever 
 bent on making the best of a bad bargain, 
 he resolved to return to the capital, where, for 
 
 * Argot. Cut-purse.
 
 280 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 a time at least, he felt assured that he was not 
 known to the police authorites, and it could be 
 only the failure of some eminent stroke in the 
 professional way that could obtain him an intro- 
 duction to them. 
 
 Monsieur Thibault au De and Monsieur 
 Inigo, after a plentiful meal at the hotel, 
 in which Cartouche participated — for mis- 
 frotune, although she had deprived him of 
 his ill-gotten treasure, could not dismember his 
 appetite — proposed that they should journey 
 back to Paris. 
 
 " In the meantime," whispered the illustrious 
 Thibault, " as we have sent a Countess from the 
 hotel, and we have the Duke de Nivernois 
 in company, I consider that to be qmte a suffi- 
 cient honour to this house of entertainment, 
 without troubling ourselves to pay the bill." 
 
 Inigo agreed with his friend, and said that 
 ** the presence of Hhe Duhe' at their dinner 
 really edified him ; indeed, it was " his grace 
 after meatT
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 281 
 
 After a proper quantity of wine, and on 
 Cartouclie declining to take any more, he was 
 politely requested by Thibault au De to walk 
 forth quietly to gain the high road to Paris ; and 
 leave them to bilk the landlord of the hotel. 
 So Cartouche arranged his peruke, cocked his 
 hat, smoothed his ruffles, and departed ; as 
 he passed the hostess he bowed and smiled, and 
 strutted out ; but on arranging his cravat he 
 missed his brooch, and this loss occasioned him to 
 feel for his snuff-box, which he found he could 
 not find ; he, however, went on. 
 
 Presently Inigo rapped with the handle of 
 a knife against a wine-glass, and on the appear- 
 ance of the landlord (who acted as his own 
 waiter), the sharper somewhat authoratively 
 ordered the bill. When they heard their host 
 re-entering the saloon with the little account in 
 his hand, Thibault au De said, " No, Count 
 Vity, no ; if we took such a gross liberty the 
 Duke de Nivemois would never pardon us — nay, 
 never invite us asfain."
 
 282 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 "True," replied Inigo, "I really forgot that 
 we had the honour to be his guests, or I should 
 not have proposed to pay." 
 
 " His grace sleeps here to-night," continued 
 Thibault; and then, aifecting to see the inn- 
 keeper, he inquired if the Duke de Nivemois 
 had ordered his bed-chamber to be prepared. 
 
 On hearing that the Duke had forgotten to do 
 so, Thibault au De carelessly remarked, "Ah! 
 ah ! it is always the way with these noblemen of 
 high rank, who are so surrounded by maitres 
 d'hotel, gentlemen ushers, and valets-de-chambre, 
 that they utterly forget, or neglect, their com- 
 monest wants. 
 
 " Good Heaven !" said Inigo, " suppose the 
 Duke, in travelling without his domestics, should 
 have been put into a damp bed !" 
 
 ** It pains me to think of it," replied Thibault, 
 shrugging his shoulder, " but I should imagine 
 that in a hotel of this respectability such an 
 event would be quite impossible." 
 
 The landlord, here feehng his professional
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 283 
 
 character at stake, remarked, "That althougli lie 
 was aware that it was the common practice at 
 imis merely to sprinkle the sheets with water, 
 between the occupation of one lodger and his 
 inunediate successor, that his femmes-de-chamhre 
 had positive and peremptory directions to serve 
 each guest with clean bed-linen, perfumed with 
 lavender." 
 
 "Monsieur," said Inigo, vdth a patronising 
 smile, " this sort of dealing is the sure mode of 
 keeping up the custom of your hotel, -with 
 persons of consideration. But let us seek the 
 Duke." 
 
 " His grace was a little out of appetite at 
 dinner," continued the artful rogue Thibault. 
 " He will doubtless be hungr)^ at supper time. 
 Have you any dehcacy in your house, Mon- 
 sieur?" 
 
 The landlord said that he had a very fine 
 fresh cow's tongue which they could stew. 
 
 "An admirable dainty, truly," remarked 
 Inigo, "pr'ythee get it ready by nine of the
 
 284 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 clock ; by that hour, with his walk, the Duke 
 will have regained his stomach ; we will join his 
 grace until supper time." 
 
 And here these two scape -graces walked out 
 arm-in-arm with the utmost composure. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that they sought 
 their fellow vagabond, and each put his best 
 foot forward towards Paris ; while the inn- 
 keeper and his cara sposa went hard to work, 
 preparing the bed-chamber of the Duke de 
 Nivemois, and concocting a racy stew of the 
 tongue of an animal that had died of the cow- 
 pock the previous day, and very feverish it was. 
 
 The three rogues wended their way sturdily 
 along, but Cartouche was compelled to submit 
 with an ill grace, to the innumerable gibes hurled 
 at him by his conu*ades. 
 
 A professed jester, who cares not a straw 
 about the feelings of those on whom he bestows 
 his mtticism or sarcasm, is always the most sen- 
 sitive and thin-skinned person when a sharp joke 
 is levelled at himself.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 285 
 
 Thej were now looking out for some sort of 
 carriage, in which they might be conveyed to 
 the gates of Paris, when they were fortunately 
 overtaken by one of those cars (more useful than 
 ornamental) on which defunct horses are hoisted 
 on their final transmission to the flayer's esta- 
 blishment. A bargain was soon made \\'ith the 
 driver, who was on his road to the city, to bring 
 away the corpse of a deceased palfrey ; and the 
 illustrous Duke de Nivemois, Count Viry, and 
 Monsieur le Marquis D'Aigue Blanche, holding 
 tight by each other, chatted merrily during the 
 jolting of the car at a s^\'ing trot, until they 
 arrived within a few hundred yards of the 
 barriers of the capital. Here they deemed it 
 prudent to part company, that they might make 
 their entry at different gates, promising to 
 rendezvous at the residence of Thibault au De. 
 
 We must now let our readers a little fur- 
 ther into the history of the last mentioned 
 worthy. Monsieur Thibault au De resided 
 in a street of the same name, hard by the
 
 286 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 Pont au Change. Whether he took his name 
 from the street or not we cannot vouch authen- 
 tically ; at any rate, it v^ras a convincing proof of 
 his rank in the social scale of life. His pro- 
 fession w^as two-fold. He was captain of a 
 small commonwealth of six highly finished 
 gentlemen ; and he was also an equally accom- 
 plished gambler with his grandfather (who was 
 hanged) before him. Let it not be supposed, 
 however, that this peculiar mode of exit caused 
 his descendant any sense of shame or uneasiness ; 
 he was, on the contrary, proud of it, as only 
 persons of gentle blood were favoured \vith the 
 sus. per col, whereas low fellows were invariably 
 broken upon the wheel. 
 
 Louis Dominique had arrived at the Pont au 
 Change, which at that time presented a very 
 singular structure, chiefly of wood, and having 
 on either side a row of houses wearing all the 
 forms of the picturesque peculiar to the 
 medioeval ages; on one side were located, by 
 royal ordonnance, all the money-changers, and
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 287 
 
 on the other, most of the goldsmiths of the good 
 city of Paris. Having passed through the street 
 "between wind and water," he came to the 
 stands of the bird-sellers, who held their stalls 
 by tenure, which enjoined that on the accession 
 of a new monarch to the throne of France, they 
 were to give liberty to some three hundred 
 feathered prisoners. How characteristic of 
 Parisian display ! Here stood the figure of a 
 man somewhat bent and spare, whose cold glassy 
 eye seemed to express little interest in anything 
 around him. His dress was plain, almost to 
 poverty, and yet there was something in his mien 
 which indicated a sense of power over others. 
 This was the celebrated Nicholas Flamel, the 
 usurer, who was stealthily taking his evening 
 mouthful of fresh air, and pondering on the 
 gains of the day. He was a grammatical calcu- 
 lator ; as a money lender he would serve you in 
 the present tense, he would discourse in the 
 conditional mood, keep you in the subjunctive, 
 and ruin you in the futm'e. Gold was his idol ;
 
 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 the richer he became the fiercer burnt his pas- 
 sion of avarice, and its violence increased like a 
 furnace in the same proportion vdth the quantity 
 of combustible matter heaped on it as fuel. He 
 had but one mistress, and that was Money; and, 
 although desperately fond of her, he was afraid 
 to touch her, lest he should take from her 
 charms. 
 
 Whatever the cogitations of Nicholas Flamel 
 might have been, they were speedily interrupted 
 by the arrival of a religious procession, which 
 wended its way along the Quai de Ges\Tes, in 
 the direction of the cathedral of Notre Dame. 
 
 As a professed Catholic, the miser could not, 
 of course, either look or express discontent vdth 
 the doings of those who had the cure of souls ; 
 but he did nevertheless think that much of the 
 ringing of bells, so many glittering crosses, and 
 white-robed acolothists, and sucli an enormous 
 quantity of smoking incense, all of which " cost 
 money," were superfluous to any well-regulated 
 establishment.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 289 
 
 Nicholas Flamel compared his owai household 
 to the English watch in his pocket, which went 
 well wT'th the least possible quantity of oil ; and 
 which he said, chuckling to himself, " T have 
 worn for twenty years, in spite of all the thieves 
 in Paris." At this precise conjuncture, a slight 
 swaying of the crowd of gazers at the proces- 
 sion brought some of the latter so close to him, 
 that his toes were trodden on, and when the 
 crowd retired, his watch retired with them. 
 
 With a somewhat quickened step. Cartouche 
 was proceeding along the Quai, wholly unobser- 
 vant of the glances of the pretty milliners, 
 whose shops were there situated ; and he walked 
 still more rapidly as he entered the Rue St. 
 Denis, regarding not for one instant that t-errible 
 prison-house the Grand Chdtelet,^ nor troub- 
 ling himself with the romance of the " Puits 
 d' Amour f' in which a yoimg lady did veritably^ 
 drown herself for love in the thirteenth century. 
 
 * Formerly a fortress, and used as a protection against 
 the English and Normans. 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 29^ THE ADVENTURES 
 
 F^jeaently Louis Dominique was seized forci- 
 bly by the arm, his unceremonious companion 
 saying, " He wished to have a word with him." 
 How this was to end Cartouche knew not, but 
 he was perfectly collected, and walked on. At 
 the comer of the £,iie de la Couture^ the stran- 
 ger suddenly stopped. " My firiend," said he 
 to Cartouche, " your purse 1" 
 
 " It is at the point of my sword," said Car- 
 touche, drawing his weapon- 
 
 " Elnough, my fine fellow," rejoined the other. 
 " I wished to ascertain whether your courage 
 was equal to your address." He then, in an 
 under tone, continned, " I observed you to 
 take a watch from that hard-hearted scoundrel, 
 Nicholas Flam el, the usurer, whom it is a plea- 
 aore to rob, as he knov^ not how to deal as a 
 gentleman. ' 
 
 Here Cartouche thought he recollected the 
 sound of a voice he had heard before. 
 
 "' It is reported," said the stranger, " that 
 Nicholas Flamel sups nightly with the devil.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 291 
 
 who has let him into the secret of making 
 money fast ; gold sticks to his fingers. You, 
 by stealing his watch, have deprived him of 
 the only thing he was ever known to give, 
 namely, the time of day. All I want now 
 is to give you, as a young man, a few 
 words of advice ; you are adroit, I wish to 
 possess your friendship and confidence ; we 
 have met before." 
 
 Here the stranger abruptly quitted Cartouche, 
 who was not at all satisfied. Might not this 
 gentleman be a spy prepared to give him into 
 the hands of the archers of the Guard, posted 
 in the vicinity ? Why did he leave him so 
 suddenly ? He soon discovered why. The 
 stranger turning down a cross street which led 
 to a mansion, before which stood several car- 
 riages, and where a number of smart lacqueys 
 were kicking their heels, very shortly returned 
 witli a purse well filled. Dravnng Cartouche to 
 a comer, he offered a division of the spoil. 
 On Louis Dominique expressing his surprise at
 
 292 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 such a measure, the stranger said, "I owe thee 
 some recompense ; thou didst once treat me to 
 a breakfast, and I repaid thee by robbing thee 
 of thy suit of clothes ; that change of apparel 
 was the foundation of prosperity to me. I 
 wish now to repay thee like a gentleman." 
 
 Cartouche looked into the face of his com- 
 panion, and smiled as he recognised the shirtless 
 cavalier ! 
 
 "Come," said the latter, who was well 
 dressed, " let me introduce thee to my home." 
 
 " Stay," answered Cartouche, " can you 
 direct me to la Hue Thibault au De V 
 
 " Most assuredly," replied the cavalier, 
 "since I dwell there. May I make bold to 
 inquire for whom you seek ?" 
 
 " For Monsieur Thibault au De himself," 
 replied Louis Dominique. 
 
 " Have with you, then, for that first-rate 
 professor is of our fraternity, let me conduct 
 you to him." 
 
 This proposal at once obliterated any suspi-
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 293 
 
 cion that remained in the mind of Cartouche, 
 and he followed his acquaintance tlirough some 
 half-dozen obscure streets, skirted with tall 
 gloomy houses, chiefly built of stone. It was 
 almost dark, for the lanterns (exchanged for 
 the open falots in 1677) were only ordered 
 to be lighted from the 20th of October to the 
 end of March. 
 
 At length they halted opposite to a house of 
 somewhat dingy outward aspect, and entering, 
 mounted up to the fifth stoiy. Here was to be 
 seen a door of considerable strength, in which 
 a wicket was inserted, with a sliding panel. 
 
 On giving a pecuhar knock, after a brief 
 space, the shutter behind the wicket was with- 
 drawn, and an eye glared through it ; the glance 
 was satisfactory, and the portal was unbolted. 
 
 The cavalier and Cartouche were admitted to 
 a bare-looking, meanly-furnished apartment. 
 This was the lodge of their jam'tress, a sinister- 
 looking old woman, with a soHtary orb of vision, 
 whom the cavalier, in a bland tone of voice, 
 
 o2
 
 294 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 introduced as Madame Douce Esperance, a 
 name of which she was evidently proud, on 
 account of its appropriateness. After the out- 
 side door had been cautiously bolted and barred, 
 the cavalier opened a sort of closet, in which 
 were arranged various articles of earthenware, 
 and invited Cartouche to follow him. Then the 
 cavalier placed his hand on what appeared to be 
 a window with a closed exterior shutter, which 
 going back on hinges, admitted them into an 
 ante-room, fitted up with some pretensions 
 to comfort ; passing onward, they entered a 
 salon, which was furnished so luxuriously as to 
 make it obvious that Monsieur Thibault au De 
 carried on the diplomacy of his bi-fold profes- 
 sion to some purpose. Clocks, china, bijouterie, 
 pictures, tapestries, ancient arms, were arranged 
 tastefully : but nothing was of a piece, for there 
 were no two chairs alike. Every article of 
 furniture seemed to be selected frem various 
 repositories, and collected into one deposi- 
 tory.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 295 
 
 Here Thibault and Inigo welcomed Cartouche 
 and the shirtless cavaher, who was introduced 
 under the name of Monsieur Bavarde de Trom- 
 perie, and who, now beholding Louis Dominique 
 in a well-Kghted apartment, begged to embrace 
 him, and congratulated him on his improved 
 appearance since he last had the honour of 
 being in his company. 
 
 " Say and do what you please in these cham- 
 bers," exclaimed Thibault au De, " these walls 
 have no ears. I am delighted that you two 
 artistes have met before. By St. Launcelot,we 
 will have a night of it, and I must present you 
 to Madame Thibault au De." 
 
 A female shortly made her appearance, 
 showily dressed ; she wore a great variety of 
 ornaments — diamond, pearl, ruby, and emerald, 
 and her clothes were of silk, satin, and velvet ; 
 she received Cartouche with a grace only to be 
 assumed by French women. 
 
 *' My wife," said Thibault. " Does not she 
 look bravely ? I pledge you my honour that
 
 296 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 every article of apparel she wears, I stole with 
 my own hands." 
 
 " Acknowledged like a gentleman," remarked 
 the cavalier, as he approached Madame Thibaidt 
 au De, and gallantly placed the purse he had 
 recently purloined into her hands ; not to be 
 lacking in courtesy, Cartouche begged the lady 
 to accept of an English watch, which, by a 
 strange accident, had found its way into his 
 possession ; a hint that was commented on with 
 much humour by Monsieur Bavarde de Trom- 
 perie, and which afforded infinite merriment to 
 the whole party at the expense of old Nicholas 
 Flamel, for whom de Tromperie owned that he 
 felt a compound interest, 
 
 A celebrated critic has asserted that the man 
 who will make a pun, will pick a pocket ; now, 
 fortunately, Bavarde de Tromperie could do 
 both. 
 
 Supper being announced by Douce Esperance, 
 the shirtless cavalier led the lady into an adjoin- 
 ing chamber, where soup, roasted pullets, and
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 297 
 
 other delicacies were laid out in profusion, to 
 which, and sundr}' bottles of wine, the whole 
 party did ample justice. 
 
 Then it was that Thihault au De entered upon 
 the subject of their profession, and expressed 
 his wonder that Cartouche, ha\Tng acted without 
 the concurrence of others, had escaped the 
 thousand dangers which had beset him. It 
 could only have been, he said, through singular 
 good fortune that such had been the case. 
 
 " But is there no such thing as talent in the 
 world ?" asked de Tromperie. 
 
 " I will allow Monsieur Cartouche to possess 
 talent, nay, genius," replied Thibault. " But, 
 believe me, the assistance to be derived from 
 accomplices is of the most valuable kind in 
 diverting attention or creating tumult." 
 
 " Ah, my dear au De," said Madame, " how 
 very effective we have found it, when you have 
 knocked a man's hat, at one blow, over his eyes ; 
 bonneting, I think, you call it." 
 
 " True, my love," replied her husband. '' But
 
 298 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 I certainly should not advise Monsieur Cartouche 
 to rely upon a continuance of such luck, but to 
 associate himself with two or three friends of 
 skilful habits." 
 
 " Dear me, my love," said Madame Thibault, 
 what should I have done without your assist- 
 ance ? When I have taken an article, some- 
 times a cumbrous one, off the counters of our 
 tradesmen, why you have stowed it away in no 
 time. You call that shop-lifting, dear, do you 
 not ?" 
 
 " Yes, my love," said Thibault au De, with an 
 air of gallantry, " and I acknowledge your great 
 abilities, to which I have been very highly in- 
 debted. My wife — and proud, indeed, I am of 
 her — can remove a clock while it is striking the 
 hour, unobserved, unnoticed from the mantle- 
 shelf of any premises." 
 
 Here an ornamental clock in the room began 
 to chime — " Vouching for the truth ; corrobora- 
 tive evidence, by my honour !" remarked the 
 cavaHer.
 
 ) 
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 299 
 
 Inigo, chuckling ^vith laughter, ventured to 
 wonder whether the supper of the Duke de 
 Nivemois was ready prepared at Rambouillet ? 
 
 " Where are the diamonds," inwardly thought 
 Cartouche. " Oh, that accursed false Countess !" 
 
 Monsieur Bavarde de Tromperie now soli- 
 cited Madame to favour them with a song. 
 She complied most graciously, and begged her 
 husband to fetch her lute from the next room. 
 On handing it to her, she touched it to find if it 
 was in tune, and carelessly remarked, you " nib- 
 bled this guitar in the Place des Victoires, if 
 my memory serves me, dear ?" 
 
 " I did, my love," said Thibault. 
 
 The cavalier entreated that she would com- 
 mence, and " ravish his ears." 
 
 " Do you then take Madame for the pillory?" 
 asked Inigo. 
 
 " I have great sensibility as regards melody," 
 contmued de Tromperie, sighing; "happy is 
 the parent whose son's eye is moistened with 
 music !'
 
 ( 
 
 300 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 " Or brandy," replied Inigo. 
 
 "By the way," replied Thibault, "I forgot 
 the brandy ; let us have un petit gouty' w^here- 
 upon he poured out glasses all round. 
 
 Madame Thibault, on putting it to her lips, 
 observed, "You smugged this in the Rue St. 
 Honor Cy love?" 
 
 " Quite right, again, my dear," replied the 
 affectionate husband. 
 
 The lady having requested that her friends 
 would join in chorus, commenced as follows : — 
 
 " J'entends un sage me dire 
 Que la gaite fait la sante • 
 Buvons amis pour bien rire 
 
 Le vin inspire 
 
 La gaite, 
 " En debiteur insolvable 
 Je bois a mon creancier; 
 Sans peine on oublie a table 
 Ce qu'on ne saurait payer, 
 
 Chorus — J'entends," &c. 
 
 It would be too much for the reader's patience 
 to insert here the other fifteen verses of the song, 
 which were duly chorussed with inspiriting 
 effect.
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 301 
 
 The French are proverbially sober, but the 
 party on this evening formed a slight exception 
 to the general rule. 
 
 Inigo, who had travelled much in his day, and 
 gained much experience and knowledge, asserted 
 that in England they spelt "Vin" thus — 
 " Gin." 
 
 We wiU leave them all to find their way to 
 bed in the best manner they were able. 
 
 Robbing a crowned head is a very distinct 
 matter from depredation on a commoner. And 
 this soon became apparent, for poor Garigues 
 having made the abstraction of the diamonds 
 known at the court of Spain, Her Majesty was 
 most indignant at the loss of her jewels, and the 
 Spanish envoy at the French court was ordered 
 to make a representation of the theft to the 
 government. Monsieur d'Argenson, lieutenant 
 of police at Paris, was instantly commanded to 
 use every energy to recover the gems of the 
 Spanish Queen. 
 
 The chemists and philosophers about that 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 S02 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 period were anxiously examining into the na- 
 ture of the diamond. Sir Isaac Newton, in 
 1673, had stated in his Optics, that from its 
 great refracting power, the diamond must be 
 combustible, and that it might be an unctuous 
 substance coagulated. But the celebrated 
 Averaiii, in 1695, in presence of the Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany and several philosophers, 
 showed, by concentrating the rays of the sun 
 upon it, that the diamond was exhaled in 
 vapour, and disappeared entirely. 
 
 The Queen of Spain, who did not much en- 
 courage scientific pursuits, formed a decided ob- 
 jection to her jewels being exhaled, and entirely 
 disappearing. 
 
 The spies of the Parisian police were set to 
 work in all directions. Old Nicholas Flamel, 
 the usurer, who had purchased the stolen gems 
 of Madame Mion de Boule {gouvernante to the 
 supposed Countess de Bergerac), became 
 alarmed, obtained an interview of Monsieur 
 d'Argenson, and cunningly made terms with the
 
 OF CARTOUCHE. 303 
 
 lieutenant of police for the repajrment to him of 
 the small sum he had advanced on the diamonds, 
 which he delivered up : and putting the officers 
 on the scent, the Countess and her gouvernante 
 vieie soon lodged in the Conciergerie. The 
 Queen of Spain's diamonds were restored to her 
 Majesty, and Monsieur d'Argenson was pro- 
 nounced to be a most admirable and efficient 
 lieutenant of police. 
 
 A close description of Cartouche was printed 
 and circulated over every part of the kingdom ; 
 he was therefore constrained for a time to remain 
 a captive mthin the walls of the sanctuary' of 
 Thibault au De, where his days would have 
 passed merrily enough, if, with the distrust 
 always cankering in the bosom of a ^-illain, he 
 had not fancied that one day or other, either 
 Thibault, Inigo, or Bavarde de Tromperie, 
 would deliver him up to justice for the sake of 
 the large reward offered for his apprehension. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 Aird and BuTstall, Printers, 2, Tavistock- street, Covent-gaiden.
 
 
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