On one side of the street a row of lofty gabled
houses, built under Francis the First, sheltered persons of good
condition; on the other, divided from these by the width of the road and
a reeking kennel, a row of peat-houses, the hovels of cobblers and
sausage-makers, leaned against shapeless timber houses which tottered
upwards in a medley of sagging roofs and bulging gutters. Tignonville
was strange to the place, and nine nights out of ten he would have been
at a disadvantage. But, thanks to the tapers that to-night shone in many
windows, he made out enough to see that he need search only the one side;
and with a beating heart he passed along the row of newer houses, looking
eagerly for the sign of the Golden Maid.
He found it at last; and then for a moment he stood puzzled. The note
said, next door to the Golden Maid, but it did not say on which side. He
scrutinised the nearer house, but he saw nothing to determine him; and he
was proceeding to the farther, when he caught sight of two men, who,
ambushed behind a horse-block on the opposite side of the roadway, seemed
to be watching his movements. Their presence flurried him; but much to
his relief his next glance at the houses showed him that the door of the
farther one was unlatched. It stood slightly ajar, permitting a beam of
light to escape into the street.
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