“This was the current of my thoughts as I left the street of Michel le Compte, and turned up that of the Temple. As I slowly walked along, buried in a labyrinth of conjecture, the idea suddenly occurred to me that perhaps, after all, Ravalette and the people of the house in the Rue Michel le Compte, might merely have been performing parts in a very cleverly designed, and capitally acted drama; though how to account for the kaleidoscopic changes of the coins, I could not at first imagine. ‘Ah!’ said I, at length, ‘I have it! Hurrah! Bravo! Eureka, ten times over! The secret’s out, and I’m the man that found it!’ A sudden thought occurred to me, by the aid of which, even the coin mystery, was cleared up most satisfactorily; and that which ten minutes before was a profound and horrible mystery, was now, apparently, as clear as the noontide sun. Here is the train of reasoning which led me to this hopeful result: Ravalette was a wealthy and eccentric gentleman, who, observing my natural enthusiasm for the antique, and aptitude to the occult, had determined to either amuse himself and friends at my expense, possibly for the purpose of curing some of them of what, perhaps, he regarded as the same weakness; or, taking pity on what he looked upon as a sad and dangerous infatuation, had resorted to this rather costly experiment, in the hope that at its termination a perfect cure might be effected. The people in the house were, together with the woman and children at the Barrière, his confederates in the scheme. He was a learned man; saw that I could not be easily taken in; and therefore brought the wonders of chemical and ventriloquial sciences to his assistance—the latter in the affair of the floating voice, the former in the matter of the coins or disks. These coins had been coated with a substance that would, on exposure to the atmosphere, exhale away; and with this exhalation the first set of characters would of course disappear. Beneath this external coating was another, which, on contact with the air, would assume a peculiar color; beneath this, in turn, was another, and still another; the last of all, being that on which was written the last series of letters composing a sentence. The appearance of these words was the cue to the patron to utter his cry, dash the coins from his hands, and pretend to swoon. In the commotion resultant therefrom, attention would be drawn from the cause of the apparent disaster, and afford ample opportunity for their removal. The sentence, ‘It is a very strange affair,’ would be the very one naturally suggested under the circumstances, and had happily been selected as the most fitting one to afford exercise to the ventriloquist employed; and this apparent echoing of an unspoken thought would add additional piquancy to the scene, and materially assist in piling up the horripilant.
“There! was not that a fine specimen of analysis? It was almost perfect, and would have answered most admirably had it not been for one little thing, and that was, simply, that it was not true—a trifling objection, perhaps, yet one absolutely fatal. Why, will be seen hereafter.
“I was just about half satisfied with my ingenious speculation, and no more, after the first burst of joy at my supposed discovery had subsided, and cool reason once more took the helm. Be it true or false, I determined to go back to Belleville and pursue my investigations a little further. A passing omnibus soon brought me to the Barrière, and to my great joy I saw the identical party that had made the curious remark about my being in search of my own ghost. The nurse and children were intently watching the evolutions of a set of nomadic marionettes, and listening to the stereo-type drolleries of the man in the box who worked the little puppets. Luckily the whole party, with at least three hundred others, were so taken up with the antics of Polichinel and his shrew of a wife, that the young ones nor the nurse saw me. I therefore stepped into a coffee-shop close at hand, called for a tasse, and then sent one of the waiters to fetch the woman with the three children dressed in yellow velveteen. The man obeyed, and speedily returned, followed by the party sent for.
“Upon seeing who it was that had summoned her, the young woman felt alarmed, fearing that the remarks she had made, when I entered the cab an hour or so previously, had offended me, and that my present business was to cause her to be punished for her insolence. For of all places on this civilized earth, Paris is the one where a stranger is best protected from injury or impertinence—at least, it then was. I soon set the woman’s mind at ease on that point; and having purchased some gâteaux for the children, and the same, with a vessel of coffee, for the nurse, I requested her to be seated, and tell me what caused her to use such curious terms, with regard to myself, a little while before.
“ ‘Lord bless you, sir,’ she said, ‘I did but repeat what an old man said who stood on the side of the carriage opposite to that by which you entered. I had just crossed over from his side when you saw and heard me. As you came running down the street, everybody saw you, and that you were in a hurry, and several persons made observations as to the cause of your great haste. Said one, “The man’s mad!” said another, “His woman has just run off with a lover, taking his twins along for company’s sake, and he’s after them with a sharp stick!” Said the old man at my side, “He’s in search of what he won’t find very soon.” “What’s that, sir?” I ventured to ask. “He’s in search of—ahem!—in search of—his own ghost, my dear!” said the old man, as he darted up the street. The notion was so funny, that I remembered it all the while I was crossing the street—a very long time for us Bonnes to recollect anything, mon cher ami; and when Auburt there asked me what ailed you, why, I looked wise, and repeated the grey-beard’s observation, and—another cup of coffee, if you please—that was all.’
“I breathed freer. ‘But tell me, my dear, what sort of man this old fellow was?’ ‘Certainly—another gâteau, garçon; monsieur will pay for it—certainly!’ and the young woman went on to describe—Ravalette! as well as I could have done myself, had that mysterious individual stood before me then and there. It was enough. I was satisfied, and determined to push my inquiries further. I thanked the girl, paid the bill of thirty-five sous, left the place, and hurried as fast as I possibly could to the flower-gardens, that, it will be remembered, Ravalette and myself had visited together. I went to the first one, and asked the gardener if he had seen the old man who had been my companion on a recent visit, an hour or two before?
“ ‘Old man? Well, you are a funny man, to call a boy of seventeen years an old man! I recollect you well enough, for you bought a fine bouquet, one of the damask roses composing which you now carry in your button-hole. I remember you well enough, and the beardless stripling, your companion; but I have not seen him since you both left together.’
“ ‘Bah, my friend!’ said I, ‘it won’t do. I know perfectly well that my comrade here was not a youngster, but a man of full seventy years of age, if a single day!’
“ ‘Sacré bleu! You’d better tell me I lie at once, and be done with it! You may say it was an old man, but I’ll be cursed if it wasn’t a young one, not yet out of his teens; and what’s more to the purpose, I’ll back my opinion, and bet you an even bottle of Jean Lafitte, forty-two years old, that the person who accompanied you here this day was a small, thin, sallow-faced youth of not over fifteen years! Will you take the wager?’
“ ‘Yes, and forty more just like it; but who shall be our umpire, and decide the bet?’