Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 196 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 La Marmoset, the Detective Queen. though dressed in male attire, as could be seen when the domino swayed aside, and closely masked so that not the slightest glimpse of her face could be seen, glided past the general and in the most deliberate manner possible dropped a pair of gloves at his feet. ow the American had often heard of the adventures that were to be met with in delight- ful, wicked Paris, and he was on the alert in an instant. In the most gallant manner possible he picked up the gloves and touched the arm of the un- known who had halted for a moment, ap- parently to gaze at the dancers, ‘‘Sir!” said the domino, in most excellent English, turning. **T beg Sse pardon, mademoiselle, but I think you dropped this pair of gloves,” he said, daliquied to find that he conta converse with er. The mask turned and faced him. The fea- tures of the unknown were so well covered by the disguise she wore that all that the general could see were a pair of the moss brilliant black eyes that he had ever inspected—wonderful eyes that could flame like angry stars with pas- sion’s fires or softly melt with love’s tenderness, but now the eyes were laughing eyes that fairly danced with merriment. ‘‘Thanks, monsieur, the gloves are mine,” and she extended an exquisitely-shaped white hand for them. The general, with an elaborate bow, yielded them up. ** But,” continued the stranger, ‘‘ monsieur is laboring under a mistake; I am not a mademoi- selle, but of the sterner sex.” And this declaration was made by one of the richest and most melodious female voices that it had ever been Calhoun’s luck to hear, The general laughed; he could not help it; for this magnificent creature, with the superb figure, the exquisite hands the beautiful eyes and the wonderful voice, to attempt to deny her sex was simply absurd. 4g emoiselle, at a masquerade I presume that any one has the right to proclaim them- selves what they please, and it is against the laws of decorum to doubt the assertion, but if le not a lady then my judgment is at ault. A low, musical laugh escaped from the lips of the unknown. _ **¥ou are not a Frenchman, I can easily see; no doubt you are an Englishman, for stubborn- ness is the badge of tha: nation.” *“No, mademoiselle, I am not an Englishman, but I am proud to say [am an American.” “An erican!” exclaimed the other, in a tone of delight, ‘‘a son of that great nation which has flourished like a green bay tree! Ah monsieur, I cannot explain to you how glad I am to meet you, and I trust that the acquaint- ance may continue beyond the walls of this place, for above all nations in this world I love the Americans, the children of liberty!” The general was deeply interested; as he would have expressed it, ‘ y long odds this girl discounted any female that he had ever seen,” for that the unknown was a woman, and a beautiful one, too, he felt assured, and she was no common woman either; everythin about her bespoke birth and breeding; Pe then, too, her words of praise affected him, for he wasa true American and dearly loved his native land. Soin this state of mind he eagerly improved the opportunity which the words of the lady afforded, ‘*Whether our acquaintance continues or ends here Sapenes entirely upon yourself, made- moiselle. For my. part 1 would lad to have it continue, for I will own dearly that, al- though you area complete stranger, you have interested me greatly.” v hifi $ will you persist in this delusion?’ the Pa as ed, impatiently. ‘Iam not what you ink. ‘lam too gallant a man to dispute a lady’s word, but Rp ep dare not show me your face, meee tala, feel sure, contradict what you have said, ‘* That is impossible here.” ‘Tt is easy enough to go elsewhere,” ‘*Will you come and drink a glass of wine with me, then?” the other said, in a way as if sbe half say nnn the words. ‘* With the greatest of pleasure,” “Come, then, and you will soon be satisfied.” The black domino led the way to the street, and the general followed without a moment’s hesitation. This was exactly the sort of adventure which he had been looking for ever since he entered Paris. Not the slightest thought of fear had he, for he was well-armed and carried no valuables of any consequence upon his person, and if any one had suggested that Paris was often a dan- gerous place for strangers, particularly those without friends or acquaintances, he would have _ repelled with indignation any insinuation that he might not be able to take care of himself. A coach was standing by the curb-stone. The mask, approaching the driver, inquired if he was engaged, and although the speaker took particular pains to s quite low, yet the general’s ears, trained by a frontier life, re- markably sharp, overheard the speech, and, to his surprise, he found that the voice of the mask had changed in the most wonderful manner; instead of being sweet and liquid in its accents, the voice of a woman, it was harsh and coarse, the voice of a man! The American was astounded, but for all that determined to go on and see the matter through. The driver replied that his vehicle was at monsieur’s service. Evidently he did not take the speaker to be a woman. The two got into the coach, the mask last, and the direction given to the driver the Ameri- ean did not catch, and as it was given in French he would not have understood it if he had heard. Ten minutes’ brisk driving and the vehicle halted ina narrow street before a little wine- shop, nothing low or suspicious about the place, only it was small—such a eabaret as is generally supported by artisans, ‘**Do not, judge the place by the outside,” the mask reniatked, ‘*Tt is small and cheap, but keeps as good wine as any shop in Paris.” The American entered without fear. The mask, apparently well acquainted, led ye bi to a private room, and the general fol- owed. A bottle of wine was brought. The mask filled the glasses. ‘To our better acquaintance!” exclaimed the eneral, gallantly, as he drank. The other had extrously spilled the wine upon the floor unob- served by the American, so that it was an empty glass that he carried to his lips, but the trick was so neatly performed that the genera] did not perceive it. ‘‘And now, then, let us unmask and look upon each other,” the stranger said, in the rich and musical voice which the general would have been willing to swear could not come from any but a woman’s throat. The American's fingers seeemed to be all thumbs as he removed his mask; he had become strangely sleepy, all of a:udden. Then, with uncovered features the other looked upon him. Never in this life was the general to forget that sight! The face which the mask had covered was beautiful indeed—a woman’s face, yet with a very masculine look toit. The hair, which was short, and jet black in color, curled in little crispy curls all over the head; it might be the hair of a man or a woman, and there was a faint line upon the upper lip like the down of a coming mustache, And as the American aera he felt a strange sensation creeping over him; his head began to reel, his breath to come thick and fast. ‘‘Great heavens! is this death approaching?” he cried, as he tore open his shirt at the collar, as if he were strangling. *- You are entrapped, Monsieur American!” the woman or man, wh.chever it was, cried, triumphantly. And while the American reeled, fightirg des- perately sects the influence of the drugged wine which he had taken, and the insnarer watched him, a demon-like ey eson upon the handsome face, a secret panel, high up in the back wall of the apartment opened noiselessly, and in the open'ng, framed as if in a picture, appeared the head of an aged Indian warrior, feather-decked scalp-lock, full Wwar-paint, and with curious eyes he peered down upon the strange scene below. CHAPTER V. THE DETECTIVE QUEEN. CLOSE by the Quay Austerlitz is a little nar- row street where may be found some old stone houses that date back to the time when the Capets ruled in France. na little garret of one of these dwelt the woman, the female police spy, to whom the old lawyer had alluded. After leaving the Hotel de Morel, Chopine called a fiacre and was soon deposited on the quay; paying the man and dismissing him, the lawyer proceeded on foot up the little street. In the lower part of the house, which the law- yer sought, was a little restaurant, very dingy, and dirty, something akin to the obscure drink- ing-shops immortalized by Eugene Sue in “* The Mysteries of Paris.” An old, hag-like woman was the sole occu- pant of the place when the lawyer entered; she sat behind the counter, knitting, and she cast a suspicious glance at Chopine. ‘ ‘““You are Madame Bouilliant?’ he said, and as he looked at the woman he perceived that the name, which evidently was a nick-name, was well applied, literally translated it meaning boiling water. By her face one could see that she was a woman of violent passions. “Well, what of it?” ; ‘* Where can I find Mademoiselle Marmoset?” ‘‘ How should I know?’ the woman replied, with a glance full of Naptnal) f “T was told that you could inform me.” ‘“‘Humph! whoever told you had more tongue than brains.” _. ‘Tt was Monsiet? Preval,” the old lawyer re- marked. Brie’ The woman got down from the stool upon which she was sitting, an entire change in her manner, and she ducked her head, respectfully. ‘*‘ Aha! that is a horse of another color. Why didn’t you say so at first, my good sir? Any friend of Monsieur Preval is welcome to any- thing that there is in this house.” The name which had operated so like a talis- man was that of the chief of the secret police, ‘‘T wish to see Mademoiselle Marmoset, and immediately.” ‘‘ Upon business?” ** Yes, upon business,” The woman shook her head. **She is not in a eondition for much work; ar escaped convict, whom she had run to earth, was so enraged at heap aed of going back to serve out his time at Toulon that f gave that little neck of hers such a twist! She had to put a knife into him or she would have been a dead chicken,” ‘‘ And did she, single-handed, attempt to ar- rest an escaped galley slave?’ “‘Oh, yes, my master; and she clipped his wings for him, too; he’ll go back to the stone house to serve out his time, although I doubt whether he’ll ever be good for much after the nice little hole that she made in him. Monkeys are ugly things to play with, sometimes, mon- sieur, you know; they have sharp teeth, and they know how to use them.” ‘** Well, I will see her, at any rate.” **Certainly, monsieur! Here, Peter!’ In answer to the woman’s call, a shock-headed boy made his appearance, and the keeper of the cahehet directed him to show the gentleman up to Mademoiselle Marmoset’s apartment. In the garret-room the old lawyer found the police spy, who, although she was a woman, was reputed to be the most expert agent that the police could command in all France—the queen of detectives. The woman was dressed very shabbily in a loose robe, and was reclining on a poor apology for a sofa when the lawyer entered. Her head was all bound up so that her fea- tures were almost completely concealed. There was one very peculiar thing about the female spy, and that was she always managed to keep her face hidden. She had been in the pay of the police for nearly three years, and yet Monsieur Preval himself could not boast that he had ever seen her face. As he had often said, he doubted very much if he would have been able to recognize his most valuable agent. if he had met her in the street with uncovered features. Possibly this precaution was a shrewd device on the part of the spy to prevent herself from being known, acting on the theory that by so doing she would not be apt to be so easily rec- ognized when she was on the trail of a criminal, and it is safe to say so successful had she been, since she entered upon her peculiar vocation, that the criminal classes of Paris feared her more than all the rest of the secret agents put together. : he boy introduced the advocate and then withdrew, La Marmoset, as she was generally termed, did not move from her position upon the sofa, but merely turned her sharp eyes upon the visitor, and the glittering, hollow dark eyes, looking strangely unnatural, were about all of the woman’s face that Chopine could see. Why she had been called the monkey passed his comprehension, for she was not a little wo- man, but, as she lay upon the sofa, all wrapped up in shawls—well-worn, dirty shawls, much the worse for wear—she appeared to be above the medium hight and muscular in proportion. ‘* Have I the pleasure of addressing La Mar- moset?” asked the visitor. 4‘‘ That is my name.” The voice of the woman was coarse, harsh and discordant, more like the voice of a gross, brutal man than anything else. ‘‘T wish to see you upon a little matter of business. Monsieur Preval advised me to se- cure your services,” ‘* Monsieur Preval does me too much honor.” ‘*My name is Chopine—” ‘Oh, I know you—Master Chopine, advo- cate, and they say that you are an honest man, but I do not believe it. For a man to be honest in your trade is to starve to death.” he advocate rather opened his eyes at this blunt speech, but he had been warned by the chief of the secret police that he would find this woman detective and spy to be an odd crea- ture, and that to do anything with her she must be humored. “T certainly ¢ then, for I have not starved yet,” Chopine re- plied, good-naturedly ; ‘‘ but to business: I want to employ. your services.’ “T am in the market, but I’m a dear piece of goods if the service you require is at all impor- tant.” “Tt is important,” q ‘ ’ am an exception to the Tule, © ‘¢ Tl] bet a gold piece to a sou that it is some- | thing about this American affair,” the woman remarked, speaking more to herself than to the lawyer. a Despite his professional caution, which had a like a second nature to him, Chopine stared. et m eboo com S