"Who and what is this man?"
"A shopkeeper in the Rue des Lombards, who has great
influence upon the commerce of his quarter."
"What is his name?"
"He is named Planchet, who himself also caused a rising
about six weeks ago; but as he was searched for after this
emeute he disappeared."
"And can you find him?"
"I hope so. I think he has not been arrested, and as I am
his wife's confessor, if she knows where he is I shall know
it too."
"Very well, sir, find this man, and when you have found him
bring him to me."
"We will be with you at six o'clock, my lord."
"Go, my dear curate, and may God assist you!"
"And you, sir?" continued Gondy, turning to the curate of
St. Sulpice.
"I, my lord," said the latter, "I know a man who has
rendered great services to a very popular prince and who
would make an excellent leader of revolt. Him I can place at
your disposal; it is Count de Rochefort."
"I know him also, but unfortunately he is not in Paris."
"My lord, he has been for three days at the Rue Cassette."
"And wherefore has he not been to see me?"
"He was told -- my lord will pardon me ---- "
"Certainly, speak."
"That your lordship was about to treat with the court."
Gondy bit his lips.
"They are mistaken; bring him here at eight o'clock, sir,
and may Heaven bless you as I bless you!"
"And now 'tis your turn," said the coadjutor, turning to the
last that remained; "have you anything as good to offer me
as the two gentlemen who have left us?"
"Better, my lord."
"Diable! think what a solemn engagement you are making; one
has offered a wealthy shopkeeper, the other a count; you are
going, then, to offer a prince, are you?"
"I offer you a beggar, my lord."
"Ah! ah!" said Gondy, reflecting, "you are right, sir; some
one who could raise the legion of paupers who choke up the
crossings of Paris; some one who would know how to cry aloud
to them, that all France might hear it, that it is Mazarin
who has reduced them to poverty."
"Exactly your man."
"Bravo! and the man?"
"A plain and simple beggar, as I have said, my lord, who
asks for alms, as he gives holy water; a practice he has
carried on for six years on the steps of St. Eustache."
"And you say that he has a great influence over his
compeers?"
"Are you aware, my lord, that mendacity is an organized
body, a kind of association of those who have nothing
against those who have everything; an association in which
every one takes his share; one that elects a leader?"
"Yes, I have heard it said," replied the coadjutor.
"Well, the man whom I offer you is a general syndic."
"And what do you know of him?"
"Nothing, my lord, except that he is tormented with
remorse."
"What makes you think so?"
"On the twenty-eighth of every month he makes me say a mass
for the repose of the soul of one who died a violent death;
yesterday I said this mass again."
"And his name?"
"Maillard; but I do not think it is his right one."
"And think you that we should find him at this hour at his
post?"
"Certainly."
"Let us go and see your beggar, sir, and if he is such as
you describe him, you are right -- it will be you who have
discovered the true treasure."
Gondy dressed himself as an officer, put on a felt cap with
a red feather, hung on a long sword, buckled spurs to his
boots, wrapped himself in an ample cloak and followed the
curate.
The coadjutor and his companion passed through all the
streets lying between the archbishopric and the St. Eustache
Church, watching carefully to ascertain the popular feeling.
The people were in an excited mood, but, like a swarm of
frightened bees, seemed not to know at what point to
concentrate; and it was very evident that if leaders of the
people were not provided all this agitation would pass off
in idle buzzing.
On arriving at the Rue des Prouvaires, the curate pointed
toward the square before the church.
"Stop!" he said, "there he is at his post."
Gondy looked at the spot indicated and perceived a beggar
seated in a chair and leaning against one of the moldings; a
little basin was near him and he held a holy water brush in
his hand.
"Is it by permission that he remains there?" asked Gondy.
"No, my lord; these places are bought. I believe this man
paid his predecessor a hundred pistoles for his."
"The rascal is rich, then?"
"Some of those men sometimes die worth twenty thousand and
twenty-five and thirty thousand francs and sometimes more."
"Hum!" said Gondy, laughing; "I was not aware my alms were
so well invested."
In the meantime they were advancing toward the square, and
the moment the coadjutor and the curate put their feet on
the first church step the mendicant arose and proffered his
brush.
He was a man between sixty-six and sixty-eight years of age,
little, rather stout, with gray hair and light eyes. His
countenance denoted the struggle between two opposite
principles -- a wicked nature, subdued by determination,
perhaps by repentance.
He started on seeing the cavalier with the curate. The
latter and the coadjutor touched the brush with the tips of
their fingers and made the sign of the cross; the coadjutor
threw a piece of money into the hat, which was on the
ground.
"Maillard," began the curate, "this gentleman and I have
come to talk with you a little."
"With me!" said the mendicant; "it is a great honor for a
poor distributor of holy water."
There was an ironical tone in his voice which he could not
quite disguise and which astonished the coadjutor.
"Yes," continued the curate, apparently accustomed to this
tone, "yes, we wish to know your opinion of the events of
to-day and what you have heard said by people going in and
out of the church."
The mendicant shook his head.
"These are melancholy doings, your reverence, which always
fall again upon the poor. As to what is said, everybody is
discontented, everybody complains, but `everybody' means
`nobody.'"
"Explain yourself, my good friend," said the coadjutor.
"I mean that all these cries, all these complaints, these
curses, produce nothing but storms and flashes and that is
all; but the lightning will not strike until there is a hand
to guide it."
"My friend," said Gondy, "you seem to be a clever and a
thoughtful man; are you disposed to take a part in a little
civil war, should we have one, and put at the command of the
leader, should we find one, your personal influence and the
influence you have acquired over your comrades?"
"Yes, sir, provided this war were approved of by the church
and would advance the end I wish to attain -- I mean, the
remission of my sins."
"The war will not only be approved of, but directed by the
church. As for the remission of your sins, we have the
archbishop of Paris, who has the very greatest power at the
court of Rome, and even the coadjutor, who possesses some
plenary indulgences; we will recommend you to him."
"Consider, Maillard," said the curate, "that I have
recommended you to this gentleman, who is a powerful lord,
and that I have made myself responsible for you."
"I know, monsieur le cure," said the beggar, "that you have
always been very kind to me, and therefore I, in my turn,
will be serviceable to you."
"And do you think your power as great with the fraternity as
monsieur le cure told me it was just now?"
"I think they have some esteem for me," said the mendicant
with pride, "and that not only will they obey me, but
wherever I go they will follow me."
"And could you count on fifty resolute men, good,
unemployed, but active souls, brawlers, capable of bringing
down the walls of the Palais Royal by crying, `Down with
Mazarin,' as fell those at Jericho?"
"I think," said the beggar, "I can undertake things more
difficult and more important than that."
"Ah, ah," said Gondy, "you will undertake, then, some night,
to throw up some ten barricades?"
"I will undertake to throw up fifty, and when the day comes,
to defend them."
"I'faith!" exclaimed Gondy, "you speak with a certainty that
gives me pleasure; and since monsieur le cure can answer for
you ---- "
"I answer for him," said the curate.
"Here is a bag containing five hundred pistoles in gold;
make all your arrangements, and tell me where I shall be
able to find you this evening at ten o'clock."
"It must be on some elevated place, whence a given signal
may be seen in every part of Paris."
"Shall I give you a line for the vicar of St. Jacques de la
Boucherie? he will let you into the rooms in his tower,"
said the curate.
"Capital," answered the mendicant.
"Then," said the coadjutor, "this evening, at ten o'clock,
and if I am pleased with you another bag of five hundred
pistoles will be at your disposal."
The eyes of the mendicant dashed with cupidity, but he
quickly suppressed his emotion.
"This evening, sir," he replied, "all will be ready."
46
The Tower of St. Jacques de la Boucherie.
At a quarter to six o'clock, Monsieur de Gondy, having
finished his business, returned to the archiepiscopal
palace.
At six o'clock the curate of St. Merri was announced.
The coadjutor glanced rapidly behind and saw that he was
followed by another man. The curate then entered, followed
by Planchet.
"Your holiness," said the curate, "here is the person of
whom I had the honor to speak to you."
Planchet saluted in the manner of one accustomed to fine
houses.
"And you are disposed to serve the cause of the people?"
asked Gondy.
"Most undoubtedly," said Planchet. "I am a Frondist from my
heart. You see in me, such as I am, a person sentenced to be
hung."
"And on what account?"
"I rescued from the hands of Mazarin's police a noble lord
whom they were conducting back to the Bastile, where he had
been for five years."
"Will you name him?"
"Oh, you know him well, my lord -- it is Count de
Rochefort."
"Ah! really, yes," said the coadjutor, "I have heard this
affair mentioned. You raised the whole district, so they
told me!"
"Very nearly," replied Planchet, with a self-satisfied air.
"And your business is ---- "
"That of a confectioner, in the Rue des Lombards."
"Explain to me how it happens that, following so peaceful a
business, you had such warlike inclinations."
"Why does my lord, belonging to the church, now receive me
in the dress of an officer, with a sword at his side and
spurs to his boots?"
"Not badly answered, i'faith," said Gondy, laughing; "but I
have, you must know, always had, in spite of my bands,
warlike inclinations."
"Well, my lord, before I became a confectioner I myself was
three years sergeant in the Piedmontese regiment, and before
I became sergeant I was for eighteen months the servant of
Monsieur d'Artagnan."
"The lieutenant of musketeers?" asked Gondy.
"Himself, my lord."
"But he is said to be a furious Mazarinist."
"Phew!" whistled Planchet.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, my lord; Monsieur d'Artagnan belongs to the
service; Monsieur d'Artagnan makes it his business to defend
the cardinal, who pays him, as much as we make it ours, we
citizens, to attack him, whom he robs."
"You are an intelligent fellow, my friend; can we count upon
you?"
"You may count upon me, my lord, provided you want to make a
complete upheaval of the city."
"'Tis that exactly. How many men, think you, you could
collect together to-night?"
"Two hundred muskets and five hundred halberds."
"Let there be only one man in every district who can do as
much and by to-morrow we shall have quite a powerful army.
Are you disposed to obey Count de Rochefort?"
"I would follow him to hell, and that is saying not a
little, as I believe him entirely capable of the descent."
"Bravo!"
"By what sign to-morrow shall we be able to distinguish
friends from foes?"
"Every Frondist must put a knot of straw in his hat."
"Good! Give the watchword."
"Do you want money?"
"Money never comes amiss at any time, my lord; if one has it
not, one must do without it; with it, matters go on much
better and more rapidly."
Gondy went to a box and drew forth a bag.
"Here are five hundred pistoles," he said; "and if the
action goes off well you may reckon upon a similar sum
to-morrow."
"I will give a faithful account of the sum to your
lordship," said Planchet, putting the bag under his arm.
"That is right; I recommend the cardinal to your attention."
"Make your mind easy, he is in good hands."
Planchet went out, the curate remaining for a moment
"Are you satisfied, my lord?" he asked.
"Yes; he appears to be a resolute fellow."
"Well, he will do more than he has promised."
