It seems to me,
however, that I recollect falling asleep in the cafe, and that a long
while afterward a waiter came and woke me and told me to go. Then I
must have wandered about along the quays until I came to my senses,
and decided to go to your lodgings and wait on the stairs until you
returned."
To Father Absinthe's great surprise, Lecoq seemed rather thoughtful
than angry. "What do you think about this chance acquaintance of yours,
papa?" asked the young detective.
"I think he was following me while I was following the others, and that
he entered the cafe with the view of making me drunk."
"What was he like?"
"Oh, he was a tall, stoutish man, with a broad, red face, and a flat
nose; and he was very unpretending and affable in manner.
"It was he!" exclaimed Lecoq.
"He! Who?"
"Why, the accomplice--the man whose footprints we discovered--the
pretended drunkard--a devil incarnate, who will get the best of us yet,
if we don't keep our eyes open. Don't you forget him, papa; and if you
ever meet him again--"
But Father Absinthe's confession was not ended. Like most devotees, he
had reserved the worst sin for the last.
"But that's not all," he resumed; "and as it's best to make a clean
breast of it, I will tell you that it seems to me this traitor talked
about the affair at the Poivriere, and that I told him all we had
discovered, and all we intended to do."
Lecoq made such a threatening gesture that the old tippler drew back in
consternation.
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