“‘Do you know the wounded man’s name?’ I demanded.
“‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘It is Vadier; he is a desperate jacobin. He told me I should have five hundred francs if I could get the girl Dedan to tell everything that passed in the château, and all she heard; and though the girl was not willing, I at last induced her to do so.’
“I was struck at once by the name of Vadier. This, then, is the very Vadier, the galley slave, who stole the casket under the charge of the English midshipman.
“‘What did Monsieur Gramont go to Paris for?’ I questioned.
“‘To procure an order from Monsieur Fouché to arrest you all, and send you to Paris.’
“‘Then Monsieur Gramont was aware that this Vadier intended to plunder me as I travelled the road?’
“‘Certainly he was. It was planned between them; they wanted some papers you had.’
“‘Come,’ said I, ‘this intelligence is worth the two hundred francs; but, Antoine Dubois, you are a great rascal.’
“‘There are many more in the world,’ said the fellow, quite coolly; ‘that Vadier is one, and my late master another. They treated me scurvily, and so let them take the consequence.’
“‘If he catches you after this disclosure, he will make you pay for it.’