Rapid as was Maillard's gait, he could not catch up with his quarry, who had three things in his favor, namely: ten minutes' start, the darkness, and the number of passengers on the Carrousel, in the thick of whom he disappeared.
But when he got out upon the Tuileries quay, the ex-usher kept on, for he lived in the working-quarter, and it was not out of his way home to keep to the water-side.
A great concourse was upon the bridges, flocking to the open space before the Palace of Justice, where the dead were laid out for identification, and people sought for their dear ones, with hope, or, rather, fear.
Maillard followed the crowd.
At a corner there he had a friend in a druggist, or apothecary, as they said in those days. He dropped in there, sat down, and chatted of what had gone on, while the surgeons rushed in and about to get the materials they wanted for the injured; for among the corpses a moan, a scream, or palpable breathing showed that some wretch still lived, and he was hauled out and carried to the great hospital, after rough dressing.
So there was a great hubbub in the worthy chemist's store; but Maillard was not in the way; on such occasions they were delighted to see a patriot of the degree of a hero of the Bastile, who was balm itself to the lovers of liberty.
He had been there upward of a quarter of an hour, with his long legs tucked well under him and taking up as little room as possible, when a woman, of the age of thirty-eight or so, came in. Under the garb of most abject poverty, she preserved a vestige of former opulence, and a bearing of studied aristocracy, if not natural.
[Pg 143]
But what particularly struck Maillard was her marked likeness to the queen; he would have cried out with amaze but for his having great presence of mind. She held a little boy by the hand, and came up to the counter with an odd timidity, veiling the wretchedness of her garments as much as she could, though that was the more manifest from her taking extreme care of her face and her hands.
For some time it was impossible for her to make herself heard owing to the uproar; but at last she addressed the master of the establishment, saying:
"Please, sir, I want an emetic for my husband, who is ill."
"What sort do you want, citizeness?" asked the dispenser of drugs.
"Any sort, as long as it does not cost more than eleven cents."
This exact amount struck Maillard, for it will be remembered that eleven coppers were the findings in Beausire's pockets.
"Why should it not cost more than that?" inquired the chemist.
"Because that is all the small change my man could give me."
"Put up some tartar emetic," said the apothecary to an assistant, "and give it to the citizeness."
He turned to attend to other demands while the assistant made up the powder. But Maillard, who had nothing to do to distract his attention, concentrated all his wits on the woman who had but eleven cents.
"There you are, citizeness; here's your physic," said the drug clerk.
"Now, then, Toussaint," said the woman, with a drawl habitual to her, "give the gentleman the eleven cents, my boy."
"There it is," replied the boy, putting the pile of coppers[Pg 144] on the counter. "Come home quick, Mamma Oliva, for papa is waiting."
He tried to drag her away, repeating, "Why don't you come quick? Papa is in such a hurry."
"Hi! hold on, citizeness!" cried the budding druggist; "you have only given me nine cents."
"What do you mean by only nine?" exclaimed the woman.
"Why, look here; you can reckon for yourself."
The woman did so, and saw there were just nine.
"What have you done with the other two coins, you wicked boy?" she asked.
"Me not know nothing about 'em," whimpered the child. "Do come home, Mamma Oliva!"
"You must know, for I let you carry the money."
"I must have lost 'em. But come along home," whined the boy.
"You have a bewitching little fellow there, citizeness," remarked Maillard; "he appears sharp-witted, but you will have to take care lest he become a thief."
"How dare you, sir!—a thief?" cried the woman called Oliva. "Why do you say such a thing, I should like to know?"
"Only because he has not lost the two cents, but hid them in his shoe."
"Me?" retorted the boy. "What a lie!"
"In the left shoe, citizeness—in the left," said Maillard.
In spite of the yell of young Toussaint, Mme. Oliva took off his left shoe and found the coppers in it. She handed them to the apothecary's clerk, and dragged away the urchin with threats of punishment which would have appeared terrible to the by-standers, if they had not been accompanied by soft words which no doubt sprung from maternal affection. Unimportant as the incident was in itself, it certainly would have passed without comment amid the surrounding grave circumstances, if the resemblance[Pg 145] of the heroine to the queen had not impressed the witness. The result of his pondering over this was that he went up to his friend in drugs, and said to him, in a respite from trade:
"Did you not notice the likeness of that woman who just went out to—"
"The queen?" said the other, laughing.
"Yes; so you remarked it the same as I?"
"Oh, ever so long ago. It is a matter of history."
"I do not understand."
"Do you not remember the celebrated trial of 'The Queen's Necklace'?"
"Oh, you must not put such a question to an usher of the law courts—he could not forget that."
"Well, you must recall one Nicole Legay, alias Oliva."
"Oh, of course; you are right. She played herself as the queen upon the Prince Cardinal Rohan."
"While she was living with a discharged soldier, a bully and card-cheat, a spy and recruiter, named Beausire."
"What do you say?" broke out Maillard, as though snake-bitten.
"A rogue named Beausire," repeated the druggist.
"Is it he whom she styles her husband?" asked Maillard.
"Yes."
"And for whom she came to get the physic?"
"The rascal has been drinking too hard."
"An emetic?" continued Maillard, as one on the track of an important secret and did not wish to be turned astray.
"A vomitory—yes."
"By Jupiter, I have nailed my man!" exclaimed the visitor.
"What man?"
"The man who had only eleven cents—Captain de Beausire, in short. That is, if I knew where he lives."
[Pg 146]
"Well, I know if you do not; it is close by, No. 6 Juiverie Street."
"Then I am not astonished at young Beausire stealing two cents from his mother, for he is the son of the cheat."
"No cheat there—his living likeness."
"A chip of the old block. My dear friend," continued Maillard, "straight as a die, how long does your dose take to operate?"
"Immediately after taking; but these fellows fight shy of medicine. He will play fast and loose before he takes it, and his wife will have to make a cup of soup to wash the taste out of his mouth."
"You mean I may have time to do what I have to do?"
"I hope so; you seem to feel great interest in our Captain Beausire?"
"So much so that, for fear he will be very bad, I am going to get a couple of male nurses for him."
Leaving the drug store with a silent laugh, the only one he indulged in, Maillard hurried back to the Tuileries.
Pitou was absent, for we know he was attending on the Countess of Charny, but Lieutenant Maniquet was guarding the post. They recognized each other.
"Well, Citizen Maillard, did you overtake the fellow?" asked Maniquet.
"No; but I am on his track."
"Faith, it is a blessing; for though we did not find the diamonds on the knave, somehow I am ready to bet that he has them."
"Make the bet, citizen, and you will win," said the usher.
"Good; and can we help you catch him?"
"You can."
"In what way, Citizen Maillard? We are under your orders."
"I want a couple of honest men."
[Pg 147]
"You can take at random, then. Boulanger and Molicar, step out this way."
That was all the usher desired; and with the two soldiers of Haramont he proceeded at the double-quick to the residence of Beausire.
In the house they were guided by the cries of young Toussaint, still suffering from a correction, not maternal, as Papa Beausire, on account of the gravity of the misdemeanor, had deemed it his duty to intervene and add some cuffs from his hard hand to the gentle slap which Oliva had administered much against her will with her softer one to her beloved offspring.
The door was locked.
"In the name of the law, open!" called out Maillard.
A conversation in a low voice ensued, during which young Toussaint was hushed, as he thought that the abstraction of the two cents from his mother was a heinous crime for which Justice had risen in her wrath; while Beausire, who attributed it to the domiciliary visits, tried to tranquilize Oliva, though he was not wholly at his ease. He had, moreover, gulped down the tartar as soon as he had chastised his son.
Mme. Beausire had to take her course, and she opened the door just as Maillard was going to knock for a second time.
The three men entered, to the great terror of Oliva and Master Toussaint, who ran to hide under a ragged straw-bottomed chair.
Beausire had thrown himself on the bed, and Maillard had the satisfaction of seeing by the light of a cheap candle smoking in an iron holder that the physic paper was flat and empty on the night-table. The potion was swallowed, and they had only to abide the effects.
On the march, Maillard had related to the volunteers what had happened, so that they were fully cognizant of the state of matters.
[Pg 148]
"Citizens," he restricted himself to saying, "Captain Beausire is exactly like that princess in the Arabian Nights' Entertainment, who never spoke unless compelled, but who, whenever she opened her mouth, let fall a diamond. Do not, therefore, let Beausire spit out a word unless learning what it contains. I will wait for you at the Municipality offices. When the gentleman has nothing more to say to you, take him to the Chatelet Prison, where you will say Citizen Maillard sent him for safe keeping, and you will join me at the City Hall with what he shall have delivered."
The National Guards nodded in token of passive obedience, and placed themselves with Beausire between them. The apothecary had given good measure for eleven cents, and the effect of the emetic was most satisfactory.
About three in the morning, Maillard saw his two soldiers coming to him. They brought a hundred thousand francs' worth of diamonds of the purest water, wrapped in a copy of the prison register, stating that Beausire was under ward and lock. In his name and the two Haramontese, Maillard placed the gems in charge of the Commune attorney, who gave them a certificate that they had deserved the thanks of the country.