Page:Memoirs of Vidocq, Volume 3.djvu/89

see me; if I did not go, it seemed as if they missed something, and in fact, nearly all of them had some commission to give me. From the moment they fell under the control of civil death, I was, in a measure, their testamentary executor. With a small portion resentments were not obliterated, but a thief's vengeance is not lasting. For eighteen years that I have carried on the war with thieves, little or great, I have often been menaced; many galley slaves, celebrated for their intrepidity, have made oaths to assassinate me as soon as they should be at liberty;—they have all perjured themselves, and will continue to do so. Am I asked why? It is, that, at first, the only affair for a robber is to rob: that alone occupies him. If he cannot do otherwise, he will kill me to get my purse, that is his "vocation;"—he will kill me to do away with a testimony which would destroy him, this is again a part of his business;—he will kill me to avoid punishment;—but when the punishment is inflicted, what purpose would it answer? Robbers do not lose time in assassination.

---

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Utility of a good stomach—The suspicious occurrence—The procession of bundles—The swallows of La Grève—The convenience of a hackney-coach—The swag of these gentlemen—The shipwright's man—There is no trusting every body—Madame Bras, or the scrupulous shopkeeper—Annette, or the good woman—People do not always eat—The first who was king—Vidocq caught, a new piece of which the last act is passed in a guard-house—I play the part of Vidocq—Representation at my benefit—Unanimous applause—Pomme Rouge—Le grand Casuel—The inspection of papers—I let a robber escape—The veteran who takes his broth—The author of the Pied-du-Mouton—The accusing stockings and cravat—I lose my five-franc piece—The fight with the vintner—I am apprehended—The commissary's round—My deliverance—The bandage falls—Vidocq the Catcher recognised in Vidocq the Caught—Do you wish for a piece of good advice?—Mind how the nail is driven!

One night, half of which had been spent in the obscure lurking places of the Halle, hoping to fall in