six o'clock in the evening precisely
I read the dirty , almost illegible scrawl through more carefully this time . It was a clumsy notification addressed to Mme. la Comtesse de Nolé de St. Pris to the effect that her tou-tou was for the moment safe , and would be restored to the arms of his fond mistress provided the sum of five thousand francs was deposited in the hands of the bearer of the missive . Minute directions were then given as to where and how the money was to be deposited . Mme. la Comtesse de Nolé was , on the third day from this at six o'clock in the evening precisely , to go in person and alone to the angle of the Rue Guénégaud and the Rue Mazarine , at the rear of the Institut . There two men would meet her , one of whom would have Carissimo in his arms ; to the other she must hand over the money , whereupon the pet would at once be handed back to her . But if she failed to keep this appointment , or if in the meanwhile she made the slightest attempt to trace the writer of the missive or to lay a trap for his capture by the police , Carissimo would at once meet with a summary death . These were the usual tactics of experienced dog thieves , only that in this case the demand was certainly exorbitant .