Page:Memoirs of Vidocq, Volume 2.djvu/194

 shall make the fourth. Come, no refusal!—we reckon on your company and assistance, and if you refuse, you are a regular set-down sneak."

I was as eager in accepting the invitation as St Germain could possibly be in giving it; both Boudin and himself seemed much pleased with my zeal. Who my remaining coadjutor was I knew not, but my surmises on the subject were soon settled by the arrival of a man, a perfect stranger to myself, named Debenne. He was the driver of a cabriolet, the father of a large family, and a man, who, more from weak than bad principles, had allowed himself to be seduced by the temptations of his guilty companions. Whilst a mixed conversation was going on between them, my thoughts were busily at work upon the best method of causing them to be taken in the very act they were then discussing. What was my consternation to hear St Germain, at the moment we all rose to pay our score, address us in these words:—

"My friends, when a man runs his neck into the compass of a halter, it behoves him to keep a sharp look out. We have this day decided upon playing a dangerous, but, as I take it, a sure game; and in order that the chance may be in our favour, I have determined upon the following measure, which I think you will all approve. About midnight, all four of us will obtain access into the house in question. Boudin and myself will undertake to manage the inside work, whilst you two remain in the garden, ready to second us in case of surprise. This undertaking, if successful, will furnish us with the means of living at our ease for some time; but it concerns our mutual safety, that we should not quit each other till the hour for putting our plan into execution."

This finale, which I feigned not to hear, was repeated a second time, and filled me with a thousand fears that I might not be able to withdraw myself from the affair, as I had intended. What was to be done? St Germain was a man of uncommon daring, eager for