The house of Elie Mattingley the smuggler stood in the Rue d'Egypte, not far east of the Vier Prison.

It had belonged to a jurat of repute, who parted with it to Mattingley not long before he died.

There was no doubt as to the validity of the transfer, for the deed was duly registered au greffe, and it said: "In consideration of one livre turnois," etc.

Possibly it was a libel against the departed jurat that he and Mattingley had had dealings unrecognised by customs law, crystallising at last into this legacy to the famous pirate-smuggler.
Unlike any other in the street, this house had a high stone wall in front, enclosing a small square paved with flat stones.

In one corner was an ivy-covered well, with an antique iron gate, and the bucket, hanging on a hook inside the fern-grown hood, was an old wine-keg--appropriate emblem for a smuggler's house.