"Yes! Well, what of it?"
"Do you recollect being questioned, after an unusual run of luck at écarte, and how you afterwards were chased by the police?"
"I remember the circumstance," replied Raymond, with the greatest calmness, "and the more so, because, as a termination to that scene and many preceding ones, finding myself tracked and nearly discovered, I fled to Germany, abandoning my dangerous career for a more tranquil and honest life.
"I there took another name, and with my thick beard, which almost hid my features, few would have recognised me; of this you can judge for yourself."
This candid avowal gave me hopes of obtaining from Raymond, an account of his former life, which could not but be interesting. I hoped to find there some facts, which would be of use for the work I was writing on sharpers. I did not hesitate to ask him to oblige me, and, in the hope of inducing him to admit me into his confidence, I offered to lend him three hundred francs (£12), which he was to return, when he had made his fortune. It was giving them to him, under another form.
Raymond agreed to both my propositions, but begged to be allowed until the morrow, to enable him to collect his ideas a little.
[CHAPTER VII]
EDIFYING HISTORY OF A GREEK.
Debauchery—Scheme to get money—The usurer Robineau—The bill of exchange—A false friend—Treason—Stay at Clichy—Initiation of a sharper—Release from prison.