What if my little lady and her mother were by this time in this terrible city and liable to the same fate?
I spent that afternoon wandering along the river on both banks, seeking for the Quai Necker, but nothing of that name could I find.

The names were mostly new, and in honour of some person or place illustrious in the Revolution.

At last, in despair, I was giving up the quest, when on an old book-stall I lit upon a plan of Paris dated ten years ago.
The _bouquineur_, a sour fellow whose trade had evidently suffered in recent months, would by no means allow me to look at it till I had paid the five sous he demanded, which I was glad enough to do.

And after a very little study I found the Quai Necker marked down near the cathedral; and having carefully noted its bearings, I carried my map to a stall higher up, where I sold it for eight sous, thus making one of the most profitable bargains I ever struck.
Before dark, and while all Paris was ringing with the news that the twenty-two unfortunate Girondists were to be executed next morning, I found myself standing in a shabby passage beside the river, under the shadow of the great cathedral of Notre Dame..