Greeks, both as dupers and duped—AndrÉas TÊte d'Or—Secret inquiry—The human ostrich—The society of philosophers—Chaffard the bravo—Exploit of TÊte d'Or—A Greek thrown out of window—Mystification.

When Raymond entered the prison of "Sainte PÉlagie" he was an isolated being in Paris. On his exit it was different; AndrÉas had friends who also became the friends of Raymond, and in many of the houses in which he was received, he met with a most cordial welcome.

They soon treated him as a brother, using the friendly "thou" in addressing him, and even gave him the soubriquet of "The Marquis," from his fashionable appearance. AndrÉas was named TÊte d'Or, or "Golden Head," in consequence of his fertile and inventive imagination.

Raymond was not long in discovering, that the society he now frequented, was composed of Chevaliers d'Industrie, and that the houses where he had been so well received, were nothing more than gambling-houses, where those who were imprudent enough to enter, were soon fleeced of their money.

As Raymond was very expert at tricks of cards, they gave him, every now and then, certain tricks to execute; and in every instance he performed his rÔle with as much adroitness as tact.

In these houses, the trial of skill was marvellous, and it was not uncommon, to see as many dupers as duped at each table.

The tables and play were kept up by a sort of partnership; that is to say, every Greek paid his share towards the general fund.

At the end of the evening, after all the dupes had departed, the Greeks placed what they had gained on a table, and shared it equally.

Although wolves do not prey upon each other, thieves not unfrequently do: that is certain.

It often happened, that, after a game was over, at which the dupes had lost a hundred louis (£80), when they came to divide, there were only sixty forthcoming.

Every one of the players agreed that there ought to be more, but no one acknowledged to having taken the missing money.

They looked at each other, and even made a personal search (for in such company delicacy is needless), but found nothing.

At length they hit on an idea; they agreed to request TÊte d'Or to make a secret investigation, in order to discover which was the culprit.

AndrÉas, flattered at being selected to fill so delicate a post, put all his zeal and intelligence in requisition, and soon detected the two delinquents, as well as the tricks they had employed to cheat the society.

It appeared, that one of these men gave orders to his servant, to come towards the end of every evening, to ask his master for a key, or for some other trifling errand. Whilst giving him the key, he also handed over to him a rouleau of the louis he had gained. If the winnings were considerable, the servant, at a sign from his master, returned with the key, and in giving it back received a second rouleau.

Another, more modest, contented himself with sticking a few louis under the table with small bits of wax, collecting them after the division of the spoils was over.

A third, a sort of human ostrich, swallowed the money, and afterwards took an emetic to recover it.

These double-faced thieves, once known, were expelled, as not being worthy to belong to an association, which boasted of being proof against all temptation.

It occasionally occurred, that false money was mixed up with the genuine coin. But the author of this fraud could never be discovered; so no notice was taken of the circumstance, as the false money was so good an imitation, that none of the party had any scruples about circulating it amongst their trades-people.

AndrÉas, at length, felt wearied of wasting his talents for the benefit of people, whom he considered much his inferiors in intellect. He required a larger field for the display of his powers; and consequently proposed to Raymond, to quit "The Lynx Society" (for so was the association named), to form, conjointly with a man called Chaffard, who was nick-named PrÉvÔt (or the Fencing Master), a society for the cultivation of Parisian and provincial dupes.

It was called the Society of Philosophers, and the different members were employed as follows:—

Chaffard used to travel about from time to time, to discover victims; he likewise had to put himself in communication with the sharpers of the provinces, and to negotiate with them for those undertakings, in which the experience of masters in the art was necessary.

If Chaffard was not as clever in handling cards, as his comrades, he was in no way their inferior in cunning and rascality.

He possessed one talent in particular, which, when occasion required, was of much avail to them.

He was a first-rate bully, always ready to quarrel with a dupe, even whilst he was robbing him, so that many, to avoid being killed by this miscreant, would quietly allow themselves to be swindled out of their money. In such cases his usual language was, "Very well, sir; there is only one thing to be done—we must fight. I am at your service, &c., &c."

If, by chance, any person happened to argue a point, or expostulate with either of them, Chaffard immediately interposed, espoused his friend's quarrel, and offered to fight in his stead; for AndrÉas and Raymond were not courageous, and this was the reason, that they had deemed it prudent to ally themselves with a bravo.

Chaffard was, in truth, the defender and support of the association.

The character of Raymond, "The Marquis," was, on the contrary, quiet and inoffensive. His manners savoured of the best society. Intelligent and adroit, he willingly undertook to work at balls, parties, and other mixed assemblies. By degrees, he managed to get introduced into the salons of the rich middling classes, where he exercised his vocation with as much prudence as talent.

AndrÉas, or "Golden Head," also enjoyed a certain distinction in his line, which lay in secret gambling houses. There it was that he usually displayed his talents.

There, he not only found easy dupes, but often, thanks to the depth of his plots, and his extreme cleverness, he managed to take in sharpers themselves.

In addition to his other qualities, AndrÉas possessed wonderful presence of mind, of which he was extremely proud; and in proof of this he had told Raymond the following circumstance:—

At the period when he first began his dangerous career, and was not yet very expert, he was playing at one of the secret clubs frequented by all the great gamblers of Paris.

Whilst playing, he was caught in the fact of cheating, and certain cards which he was trying to introduce into the game of lansquenet, were seized. They were on the point of delivering him over into the hands of justice, when one of the players judiciously observed, that, as the assembly in which the circumstance occurred was not quite legal, his denunciation might bring about awkward results; besides the trouble and delay of producing the necessary proofs.

"Would it not be more simple," continued this sage counsellor, "to punish the rascal ourselves, by throwing him out of the window; and, should he reach terra firma in safety, after his aËrial excursion, he will never think of appealing against his sentence."

All present, agreed that this would be the wisest plan, and unanimously decided, that they should proceed at once to the infliction of the punishment.

As soon as AndrÉas heard this sentence pronounced, he threw himself on his knees to sue for pardon, and, with clasped hands, implored the pity of his judges, pointing out to them that the first floor, on which they were, was very high from the ground, owing to there being an entresol between it and the ground-floor.

All his appeals, however, were in vain.

One of the players, who had lost more than any of his companions, insisted, not only that no clemency should be shown him, but that the rogue should be compelled to return the money which he had stolen.

This restitution seemed easy enough, as the green silk purse, into which AndrÉas had put his own money and that of his victims, was on the table beside him.

"I will return it, if you insist on it," cried AndrÉas, in a heart-broken voice, placing the purse on the table, "but, oh! do not kill me."

Their only reply was to open both the shutters and the window.

Four of the strongest of the group were selected, to launch the culprit into space.

They approached to seize him, when AndrÉas suddenly formed the resolution of leaping out himself, made a bound forward through the open window, and, in true gymnastic style, came down on his feet in the street below.

Stunned by his fall, he staggered at first, then hobbling away, he ended by starting off at full speed, to the astonishment of the spectators in the balcony above, who laughed loudly at this serio-comic performance.

When their hilarity was over, they bethought themselves of sharing the contents of the purse which contained all the losses they had experienced during the evening.

One amongst the party was named to arrange the affair, but, as the whole of the money was mixed up in it, together with that of the robber himself, it was agreed that it would be better to give it to the poor.

Wishing to know the amount the purse contained, they emptied it on the table, when what was their astonishment at finding nothing in it but counters.

AndrÉas, in case of accidents, always carried a second purse, filled with false money; and, even in the critical position in which he had been placed, he had sufficient presence of mind to substitute the false purse for the real one.

In relating this adventure of former days, AndrÉas always concluded with these words: "I took good care never to be caught again."