Rodolph's suspicions were thus half confirmed, and he waited with anxiety for the reply of the Schoolmaster, who said:
"You must take care of that, notwithstanding the 'ticker,' Finette; it is a talisman, and brings good luck."
"A talisman!" said Rodolph, in a careless tone; "do you believe in talismans? And where the devil did you pick it up? Give me the address of the shop."
"They do not make them now; the shop is shut up. As you see it, that bit of jewelry has a very great antiquity,—three generations. I value it highly, for it is a family loom," added he, with a hideous grin; "and that's why I gave it to Finette, that she might have good fortune in the enterprises in which she so skilfully seconds me. Only see her at work! only see her! If we go into 'business' together, why—But let us now to our affair in hand. You say that in the Allée des Veuves—"
"At No. 17 there is a house inhabited by a rich man, whose name is—"
"I will not be guilty of the indiscretion of asking his name. You say there are sixty thousand francs in gold in a cabinet?"
"Sixty thousand francs in gold!" exclaimed the Chouette.
Rodolph nodded his head in the affirmative.
"And you know this house, and the people in it?" said the Schoolmaster.
"Quite well."