Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 10 — page 7: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

a * ee ear . O_O . aa | with what he | - . — six months, some years since, at the end of a game at which some doctors (loaded dice) were discov- , ered, that I made acquaintance with two men of the troop now at Malines. We were in the same cell, and as I myself off for an nL SS 0) “be thief, they told me, without distrust, all their lig! t- red tricks; | and even gave me the minutest details of their singular existence, These people come from the country about Moldavia, where a hundred and fifty thousand of them vegetate, like the Jews in Poland, without the power | of fulfilling any office but that of executioner, Their name changes with their change of country; they are icuiners in Germany, gipsies in England, zingari in italy, gitanos in Spain, and Bobemians in france and Belvium., They thus traverse all Europe, exercising the Jowest and most dangerous trades. They clip (logs, tell fortunes, mend crockery, repair saucepans, | play wretched music at the public-house doors, specu- late in rabbit-skins, and change foreign mouey which | they find out of the usual circulation. ‘They sell specifics against the illness of cattle, and to promote the business, they dispatch trusty envoys, who, under pretenses of making purchases, get into the stables, and throw drugs into the mangers, which make the cattle sick, They then present themselves, and are received with > ea arms, and knowing the na- ture of the malady, they easily remove it, and the farmer hardly knows howto be adequately grateful. This is not all; for before they quit the farm they learn whether the husbandman has any crowns of such and such a year, orsuch and such a stamp, promising to give Sob para forthem. The interested countryman e all persons who but seldom find an opportunity o getting money, spreads his coin before them, of which they invariably contrive to pilfer a portion. What is almost incredible is, that they are seen to repeat with impunity the same trick frequently at the same house, Indeed, what is most villainous of all in their transac- | tions, is, that they prose by these circumstances, and | their knowledge of the localities of the country, to point out to burglars the detached farms in which there is | money, and the means of getting at it, and it is need- , ee add. that they come in for their share of the Ss “iralearet ave further details concerning the Bohe- | mians, which determined me on quitting their dan- | gzerous society as speedily as ible. He was speaking thus, looking into the streets from | time to time from the window near which we were seat- | ed ,when suctdenly I heard him exclaim, ** Oh, the devil! | My friends of the Rasphuys at Ghent!’’ Ilooked out, and | saw Christian walking very fast, and with an air of | busy import. I could scarcely help exclaiming aloud. | , profiting by the trouble into which his ex- | planation had thrown me, had not much difficulty in extracting from me how I was associated with the | Bohemians. Seeing me resolved on quitting their com- y, he proposed that I should accompany him to Goutrat, where, he said, he had some game in view. | After having taken from the inn the few things Thad | brought from the house of the duchess I set out with | my new associate, but we did not find at Coutrai the | friends Malgaret had relied on meeting there, and it was our cash, and not theirs, that was spent. Despair- | ing of their appearance, we returned to Lille; I had still | ne hundred francs left, and M t gambled with ‘hem on our mutual account, and lost them, together of his own, and I afterward learnt that he had confederated with his antagonist to cheat me out of what I had left. In this extremity, I had recourse to my abilities: and some fencing-masters, to whom I spoke of ry situatio gave mea benefit at a fencing-match, which produ me a hundred crowns. Set up with this sum, which for a time secured me from want, I frequented public ace balls, ete. I then formed an intimacy, of which he circumstances and consequences decided the des- | tiny of my whole life. Nothing could be more simple | than the commencement of this important episode of | — my pS I met at the Baldela Montagne witha oung la y with whom I was soon Sened th terms. | cine, for that was her name, ap much at- tached to me, and at every moment made me protes- | tations of fidelity, which did not, however, prevent her | pa giving private interviews to a captain of en- eers Ione day surprised them supping_ at a tavern in the eee Riourt, and, tra with rage, I heartily hum the astonish Francine, with her hair hanging loose, fled; but her ner remained and ere a charge against me, I was arrested and conducted to the prison of Petit Hotel. While my trial | was preparing, I was visited by many females of my ac- quaintance, who made it a duty to offer me their con- | solations. Francine learned and her jealous aroused, she dismissed the unfortunate captain, with- drew the charge against me which she had made at the | same time with bis, and beseec me to receive her, I weakly consented. The judges heard of this fact, | which was tortured into a premeditated pa between | me and Francine, and I was sentenced to t months’ | imprisonment. [rom the Petit Hotel I was transferred to St. Peter’s Tower, where I obtained a chamber called | the Bull’s-eye. Francine remained with me there for a part of the day, and the remainder I passed with the other prisoners, among whom were two old serjeant- majors, Gro and Herbaux, the latter son of a boot-— er at Lille, both condemned for forgeries; and a | laborer, named Boitel, condemned for six years’ con- finement for stealing Sekt Sogbeting this latter, who was the father of a large family, was always bewailing his imprisonment, which, he said, deprived him of the,' means of working a small farm, which he only knev howto turn to advantage. In spite of the crime he had | cormamitted, much interest was evinced in his favor, or rather toward his children, and many inhabitants of his Jistrict had drawn up and presented petitions in his favor, which were as yet unanswered, and the unfor- tunate man was in om geXd often repeating that he would give such and such a sum for his liberty. Grou- ard and Herbaux, who were in St. Peter's Tower, wait- ing to be sent to the galleys, thought they could get him pardoned by means of a memorial, which they drew up, or rather plotted together: a plan which was ultimate- ly so injurious to me. Grouard began to complain that he could not work quietly in the midst of the uproar of the common room, — in which were eighteen eg eh , swe and quarreling allday. Boitel, who had done me some little. kind offices, begged me to lend my chamber to the com- pilers of his memorial, and I consented, although very | unwillingly, to Irom the next the jafler freq went there sec! ee dad goings, and the mystery which Vidoeg, not reveal to ing the judge, te 0 | passed four it up to them for four hours a day. | relied on é nay were there installed, pas rior officer, charged with visiting St. Peter's These com-| which was pervaded them, ' ane eer ene. would have awakened suspicions in a man accustomed to the intrigues of a prison, but ignorant of their plans and occupied in drinking with the friends who visited me, I interested myself but too little with what was going on in the Bull’s-eye. At the end of eight days, they thanked me for m kindness, telling me that the memorial was concluded, and that they had every reason to ws for the pardon of the petitioner, without sending it to Paris, from the influence of the representations of the Pare at Lille. All this was not very clear to me, but I did not give it much attention, thinking it no business of mine; and there was no occasion for me to concern myself. But it took a turn which threw blame on my carelessness, for scarcely had forty-eight hours elapsed after the fin- ishing of the memorial, when two brothers of Boitel ar- rived by express, and came to dine with him at the jailer’s table. At the end of the repast, an order ar- rived, which being opened by the jailer, he cried, ‘*Good news, by my faith! It is an order for the liber- ation of Boitel;”” at these words they all arose in confu- sion, embraced him, examined the order, and congratu- lated him; and Boitel, who had sent away his clothes, etc., the previous evening, immediately left the prison without bidding adieu to any of the prisoners. Next day, about ten o’clock in the morning, the in- spector of the prisons came to visit us; and on the jailer’s showing him the order for Boitel’s liberation, he cast his eye over it, said that it was a forgery, and that he should not allow the prisoner to depart until he had referred to the authorities. The jailer then said that Boitel had left on the previous evening. The inspector testified his astonishment that he should have been de- ceived by an order signed by were unknown to him, and at last placed him under a guard. He then took the order away with him, and soon made himself certain that, independently of the forgery of the signatures, there were omissions and | persons whose names | errors in form which must have struck any person at | all familiar with such papers. It was soon known in the prison, that the inspector had placed the jailer under arrest, for having allowed Boitel to go out under a false order, and I began to sur- mise the truth. I desired Grouard and Herbaux to tell me the whole, observing, indistinctly, that the affair might compromise me; but they swore most solemniy that they had done nothing but draw up the memorial, and wers themselves astonished at iis Boden SUCCESS. I did not believe a word of this, but having no opposing proofs, I was compelled to wait for the event. The next day I wag summoned to the court, before the judge, and answWered, that I knew not of the fram- ng of the forged order, and that I had only lent my room, as the o quiet place in the for the reparation of the justificatory memorial. added, hat all these facts could be corroborated by the jailer, who frequently went into the room during their work, appearing to be niuch interested for Boitel. Grouard and Herbaux were also interrogated, and then placed in solitary confinement, while I returned to my chamber. Scarcely had I entered it, when Boitel’s bed- fellow came to me, and told me the whole plot, which I had only before suspected. Grouard, hearing Boitel so often repeat that he would willingly give a hundred crowns to procure his liberty, had planned with Herbaux the means of gett him out, and mon yp devised no mode so simple as that of forging a false order. Boitel was let into the plot, as may be supposed: they only told him, that as thero were many persons to n over, he must give four hundred francs. It was then that they applied for my | chamber, which was ee for the due concoc- tion and forging of the order, without being perceived by the other prisoners; moreover the jailer was in their confidence, to judge by his frequent visits, and the cir- cumstances which had preceded and followed the de- rture of Boitel. The order had been brought by a riend of Herbaux, named Stofflet. He appeared be- sides only to decide Boitel on giving four hundrex francs, which the forger had persuaded him were to be shared with me, although I had rendered him no other service than that of len ng my room. Thus instructed, I at first wished the person who had fo me these particulars to make a declaration of em, but he o — a secret confided to hisioath: and besides, he did not feel desirous of being knocked on the head by the prisoners for (urning nose ( pour avoir mange le morceau). He dissuaded meeven from inform- ling me that I was in no danger. But on arresting tel in the country, and bringing him to Lille, and putting him into solitary confinement, he Herbaux, Stofflet and Vidocq. On this confession, we were questioned at the tower, and I persisted in my first declaration, although I could have extricated myself in a moment, by disclosing all that Boitel’s bed-fellow had told me; but I was so fully convinced that it was im- possible to substantiate any charge against me, that I was thunderstruck when, at the expiration of my three months, I was prevented from quitting the prison by an entry stating me as arraigned as an “ accomplice in the forgery of authentic and public documents. CHAPTER V. I THEN began to think that this affair might turn out | roof | badly for me; but any other statement without would be more dangerous to me than silence, which it was now too late to think of breaking. All these re- flections affected me so much, that I had a severe ill- ness, during which time Francine attended me most carefully. was scarcely convalescent, when, unable to support the state of incertitude in which I found my affairs, I resolved on escaping, and to escape by the door, although that may appear a difficult step. me particular observations made me prefer this method in ference to any other. The wicket-keeper at St. re | Peter's Tower was a galley-slave from the Bagne (place of confinement) at Brest, sentenced for life. After the ' revision of the penal laws and the code of 1791, he had obtained a commutation of six years’ confinement in the prison at Lille, where he had made himself useful to the jailer, who, persuaded that a man who had years at the Bagne must be as watchful as since he must know every method of esca be, romoted him to the office of map tnna gat which he hought he could not confide more trustworthy han It was, however, on the stupidity of this pro- digy of cunning that I relied for the success of my pro- ect; and it ap the more easy to deceive as 6 was so confident in his-own sagacity. In a word, I passing by him under the of : supe- ower, an eagle, as 6 military prison, twice a week. Francine, whom I saw daily. ot me the requisite is he who has caged you; farew inately refused, saying thatrhe would | named as the aiders and abettors in his escape, Grouard, | 7 on a clothing, which she brought me in her muff. I imme diately tried them on, and they suited me exactly. Some of the prisoners who saw me thus attired assured me that it was impossible to detect me. I was the same hight as the officer whose character I was about to assume, and I made myself appear twenty-five years of age. Attheend of a few days, he made his usual round, and while one of my friends occupied his atten- tion, under pretext of examining his food, I disguised myself hastily, and presented inyself at the door, which the jail-keeper, taking off his cap, opened, and I went out into the street. Lran to a friend of Francine’s, as agreed on in case I should succeed, and she soon joined me there. I was there perfectly safe, if I could resolve on keep- ing concealed; but how could I submit to a slavery al most as severe as that of St. Peter’s Tower? As for three months [had been inclosed within four walls, ! was now desirous to exercise the activity so iong re- pressed. I announced my intention of going out; and, as with me an inflexible determination was always the auxillary of the most yo apo fancy, I did go. My first excursion was safely performed, but the next morning, as | was coming into the Rue Ecremoise, a sergeant named Louis, who had seen me during my imprisonment, stopped me, and asked if I was free. He was a severe, practical man, and by a motion of his hand could summon twenty persons. 1 said that J would follow him; and begging him to allow me to bid adieu to my mistress, who was in a house of Rue de Hospital, he consented, and we really met Francine, who was much surprised to see me in such company; and then I told her that having refiected that my es- cape might injure me in the estimation of my judges, I had decided on returning to St. Peter's Tower to wait the result of the process. Francine did not at first comprehend why I had ex- nded three hundred francs, to return at the end of ‘our months to prison. A sign put her on her guard, aud I found an opportunity of a to put some cinders in my pocket while Louis and I took a glass of rum, and then set out for the prison. Having reached a deserted street, I blinded my guide with a handful of cinders, and regained my asylum with all speed. Louis having made his declaration, the gendarmes and police officers were on the full cry after me; and there was one Jacquard among them who undertook to se- cure me if I were in the city. I was not unacquainted with these particulars,and instead of being more circum- 2 ae in my behavior, I affected a ridiculous bravado. It might have been said that I ought to have had a pa of the premium promised for my apprehension. was certainly hotly pursued, as may be judged from the following incident. Jacquard learnt one day that I was going to dine in Rue Notre Dame. He immediately went with four as- sistants whom he left on the ground floor, and ascended the staircase to the room where I was about to sit down to table with two females. A recruiting sergeant, who was to have made the fourth, had not yet arrived. I recognized Jacquard, who never having seen me, had not the same advantage, and besides my disguise would have bid defiance to any description of my person. Without being at all uneasy, I 4 roached, and with the most natural tone I be im to pass into w closet, the glass door of which looked on the banquet- room. ‘It is Vidocq whom you are looking for,” said I; “if you will wait for ten minutes you will see him. There. is cover, he cannot be long. en he enters, 1 will make you a sign: but if you are alone, I doubt if you can seize him, as he is armed and resolved to defend himself.’ “I have my gendarmes on the staircase,” answered he, “and if he escapes—" ‘“‘ Take care how = place them then,” said I, with affected haste. “If ‘idocq should see them he would mistrust some plot, and then farewell to the bird.” “ But where shall 1 place them?’ “Oh, why, in this closet—mind, no noise, that would spot all; and I have more desire than yourself that he should not suspect anything.” a commi was bow shut up in four walls with agents. The door, which was very strong, closed with a double lock. Then,-certain of e to escape, I cried to my prisoners, **‘ You are etme for Vidocq—well, it ell.” And away I went like a dart, leaving the party shouting for help, and a me pe desperate efforts to escape from the unlucky coset. Two escapes of the same sort I effected, but at last I was arrested and carried back to St. Peter's Tower, where, for greater security, 1 was placed in a dungeon with a man named Calendrin, who was also thus pun- ished for two attempts at escape. Calendrin, who bad known me during my first confinement in prison, im- parted to me a fresh plan of escape, which he had de- vised by means of a hole worked in the wall of the dungeon of the galley-slaves, with whom we could com- municate. The third night all was managed for our escape, and eight of the prisoners who first went out were so fortunate as to avoid being detected by the sentinel, who was only a short distance off. Seven of us still remained, and we drew straws, as is usual in such circumstances, to determine which of the seven should first pass. I drew the short straw, and undressed myself that I might get with greater ease ‘through the hole, which was very narrow, but to the and hair-breadth ’scapes with much coolness, an ; ; great disappointment of all, 1 stuck fast, without the bility of advancing or » In vain did my companions endeavor to pull me out by force, I was caught as if in a trap, and the pain of my situation was so extreme, that not expecting further help from within, I called to the sentry to render me assistance. He approached with the precaution of a man who fears a surprise, and presenting his bayonet to my breast, forbade me to make the slightest movement. At his summons the guard came out, the poetars ran with torches, and I was dragged from my hole, not without leaving behind me a portion of my skin and flesh. Torn and