in the conversation, except when specially ad dressed. 'The son was a man of ordinary appear ance, of the common height, of a sallowy look. No one would have noticed him in a crowd. Vidocq was a short man, — vivacious, vain, and talkative. He seemed to consider the interest he excited as the recognition of a claim which everybody must allow. He liked to be the nar rator of his own great deeds, of which he was ostentatiously proud; and on the stage where he played his part, whether tragic or comic, he would always be the prime actor. "Many of the tales which Vidocq related may be found in the memoirs which he afterwards pub lished; but no printed narrative could convey an idea of the hilarity, the enthusiasm, I might say the eloquence, with which he spoke of some of his successful feats. ' Do you remember the great burglary at the Batignolles? That was a scheme of robbery and murder on a grand scale. It was soon after I gained the public service, — long be fore it was known that 1 had anything to do with the authorities. But I was a party consulted as to all the preparations for breaking into the house, for securing the property, and for disposing of any person who should resist. It was determined, coiite que coute, that the work should be done. The spoil was considerable; and I was named the leader of the expedition. We were all well armed; the arrangements were directed by me, and they were perfect. But I had settled with the police that a certain number of them should be planted in a neighboring house, and that they were to rush forward and capture us all when I fired a pistol from a window that was pointed out. L'effraction fut faite, and I was as busy as the rest in gathering up the spoils. I made my way to the room from whence it had been agreed the pistol should be fired. The police rushed to the doors at the signal; and the whole band was cap tured, I among the number. Not one of them had the slightest idea that I had been a party to their betrayal; but murder had been committed before the arrest took place, and two of the rob bers were ordered for execution. I saw them on their way to the Place de GreVe, as the cart was conveying them to be executed. They recog nized me in the crowd. I fancy I saw on their faces the knowledge that I had " fait leur affaire." My depositions were not necessary to their con viction. Tell me, Monsieur Sanson, do you rec
ollect the circumstance? How did they die? Sanson. — 'They died cursing their betrayers.' "Vidocq gave us an account of the manner in which, while in gaol, he carried on the courtship with his wife. She was a felon, like himself, and inhabited a separate and remote prison. Much correspondence passed between them by the col lusion and co-operation of keepers and convicts, who fancied they owed a sort of fealty to so dis tinguished a member of the profession. Each had been well acquainted with the other while carrying on their schemes of fraud; and eacli came to the conclusion that it would be wiser and better to be the helpers and the instruments, rather than the foes and the victims, of the law. When both were released and the nuptials celebrated, it was their amusement to recount to each other their hair-breadth escapes and strange adventures, and to moralize on the sweetness of adversity. Vidocq talked of the heroic character of his fian cee, and of the risks she had run and the dangers she had encountered dans Finterit de nos amours. But he pronounced her a most faithful and a most useful wife; and when Vidocq established him self in Paris as a discoverer and restorer of lost and stolen property, — a profession he exercised on his own account, after his connection with the public had terminated, — his wife became to him a valuable auxiliary. They were both well acquainted with the mysterious hierarchy of crime. "There was then no criminal under sentence of death. ' Only,' said Sanson, -as you, gentlemen, are interested in such proceedings, you shall, if you like, have an opportunity of seeing all the details. I will have an homme de paille got ready; and if you do me the honor of visiting me at my domi cile, where the me'canique is kept, I will have my assistants ready, and everything shall be done that would be done at the Place de Greve, so that you may have the means of seeing how efficiently the work is executed.' Such an invitation was not to be rejected, — to witness a bloodless execution performed by so distinguished a functionary. San son lived in one of the suburbs of Paris. We went to it along the Canal de l'Ourcq. We reached a very pretty cottage, standing alone in a garden kept in good order, full of flowers. The house and windows were painted in gay colors, principally of a bright green; and we were intro duced into a well furnished, nicely adorned apart
