They  place  the  prisoner  in  one  of  the  lugubrious


MONSIEUR    LECOQ  293

vehicles  that  one  sees  stationed  every  day  on  the  Quai
de  l'Horloge,  or  the  court  of  the  Sainte-Chapelle.  lock-
ing him  up  carefully  in  one  of  the  compartments.
This  vehicle  conveys  him  to  the  palace,  and  while  he
is  awaiting  his  examination,  he  is  immured  in  one  of
the  cells  of  that  gloomy  prison,  familiarly  known  as
"  la  Souriciere  " — the  mouse-trap.
On  entering  and  leaving  the  carriage  the  prisoner
is  surrounded  by  guards.
En  route  he  is  also  under  the  watchful  eye  of  several
guards,  some  of  them  stationed  in  the  passage-way
that  divides  the  compartments,  others  on  the  seat  with
the  driver.
Mounted  guards  always  accompany  the  vehicle.
So  the  boldest  malefactors  realize  the  impossibility
of  escape  from  this  moving  prison-house.
The  statistics  show  only  thirty  attempts  at  escape  in
a  period  of  ten  years.
Of  these  thirty  attempts,  twenty-five  were  ridiculous
failures.  Four  were  discovered  before  their  authors
had  conceived  any  serious  hope  of  success.  One  man
alone  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  from  the  vehicle,
and  he  had  not  gone  fifty  steps  before  he  was  captured.
He  accepted,  boldly,  perhaps,  but  not  blindly,  the
struggle  that  must  ensue.
:<  But,"  thought  Lecoq,  "  if  he  decides  to  incur  these
risks  he  must  be  reasonably  sure  that  he  will  succeed
in  overcoming  them."

Such  a  belief  on  the  part  of  May  was  a  grave  subject
of  fear  for  the  young  detective ;  but  it  also  gave  rise  to
a  delightful  emotion.  He  had  an  ambition  beyond  his
station ;  and  every  ambitious  man  is  by  nature  a  gam-
bler.
294  MONSIEUR    LECOQ

He  felt  that  his  foeman  was  worthy  of  his  steel ;  that
they  had  equal  chances  for  success.
