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Transcriber's Notes:

1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.

2. Passages in Gothic Bold are surrounded by +plus+ signs.

3. Other transcription notes appear at the end of this e-text.




[Illustration: _Portrait of Eugene Sue_
Etching by Bicknell, from a portrait]




+The Mysteries of Paris.+

  _ILLUSTRATED WITH ETCHINGS
  BY MERCIER, BICKNELL, POITEAU,
  AND ADRIAN MARCEL._

                 _BY EUGENE SUE_


      _IN SIX VOLUMES
          VOLUME I._


        _PRINTED FOR
   FRANCIS A. NICCOLLS & CO.
           BOSTON_


      _EDITION DE LUXE._

_Limited to One Thousand Copies._

          No. _____




CONTENTS.


      CHAP.                                                PAGE
          I. THE TAPIS-FRANC                                 11
         II. THE OGRESS                                      19
        III. HISTORY OF LA GOUALEUSE                         31
         IV. THE CHOURINEUR'S HISTORY                        47
          V. THE ARREST                                      59
         VI. THOMAS SEYTON AND THE COUNTESS SARAH            67
        VII. "YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE"                       74
       VIII. THE WALK                                        80
         IX. THE SURPRISE                                    90
          X. CASTLES IN THE AIR                              99
         XI. MURPHY AND RODOLPH                             119
        XII. THE RENDEZVOUS                                 137
       XIII. PREPARATIONS                                   150
        XIV. THE BLEEDING HEART                             157
         XV. THE VAULT                                      166
        XVI. THE SICK-NURSE                                 172
       XVII. THE PUNISHMENT                                 189
      XVIII. THE ISLE ADAM                                  206
        XIX. RECOMPENSE                                     212
         XX. THE DEPARTURE                                  221
        XXI. RESEARCHES                                     225
       XXII. HISTORY OF DAVID AND CECILY                    246
      XXIII. A HOUSE IN THE RUE DU TEMPLE                   258
       XXIV. THE FOUR STORIES                               292
        XXV. TOM AND SARAH                                  302
       XXVI. THE BALL                                       323




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

                                                           PAGE
      PORTRAIT OF EUGENE SUE                      _Frontispiece_
      THE CHOURINEUR, RODOLPH, AND LA GOUALEUSE              22
      "SHE PROFFERED TO RODOLPH THE BOUQUET"                 89
      "'AH, HERE IS THE DARLING ONE!'"                      158
      "RODOLPH ADDRESSED THE SCHOOLMASTER."                 190
      "THIS INDIVIDUAL WAS SEATED BY THE STOVE"             260
      "'THIS, I SUPPOSE, IS THE WORK OF M. CABRION'"        296




THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS.




CHAPTER I.

THE TAPIS-FRANC.[1]


It was on a cold and rainy night, towards the end of October, 1838, that
a tall and powerful man, with an old broad-brimmed straw hat upon his
head, and clad in a blue cotton carter's frock, which hung loosely over
trousers of the same material, crossed the Pont au Change, and darted
with a hasty step into the Cite, that labyrinth of obscure, narrow, and
winding streets which extends from the Palais de Justice to Notre Dame.

  [1] _Tapis-franc_: literally, a "free carpet;" a low haunt
  equivalent to what in English slang is termed "a boozing ken."

Although limited in space, and carefully watched, this quarter serves as
the lurking-place, or rendezvous, of a vast number of the very dregs of
society in Paris, who flock to the _tapis-franc_. This word, in the
slang of theft and murder, signifies a drinking-shop of the lowest
class. A returned convict, who, in this foul phraseology, is called an
"ogre," or a woman in the same degraded state, who is termed an
"ogress," generally keep such "cribs," frequented by the refuse of the
Parisian population; freed felons, thieves, and assassins are there
familiar guests. If a