Lampourde's himself again.
But there's the Samaritan striking twelve, and a friend of mine must be
waiting for me down by the bronze Henri IV, so goodnight."
He quitted his companion and walked quickly to the rendezvous, where he
found Merindol, diligently studying his own shadow in the moonlight; and
the two ruffians, after looking carefully about them to make sure that
there was no one within ear-shot, held a long consultation, in very low
tones. What they said we do not know; but, when Lampourde quitted the
agent of the Duke of Vallombreuse, he joyously jingled the handful
of gold pieces in his pocket, with an imprudent audacity that showed
conclusively how much he was respected by the thieves and cut throats
who haunted the Pont-Neuf.
CHAPTER XII. THE CROWNED RADISH
Jacquemin Lampourde, after parting company with Merindol, seemed in
great uncertainty as to which way he should go, and had not yet decided
when he reached the end of the Pont-Neuf. He was like the donkey between
two bundles of hay; or, if that comparison be not pleasing, like a
piece of iron between two magnets of equal power. On the one side was
lansquenet, with the fascinating excitement of rapidly winning and
losing the broad gold pieces that he loved; and on the other the tavern,
with its tempting array of bottles; for he was a drunkard as well as a
gambler, this same notorious Jacquemin Lampourde.
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