nd stared outward as the candle-light discovered me in the narrow
street.

"Ah, M'sieu, one sees, is American; he has perhaps lost his way?" piped
the thin-bearded man, pretty sharply. He, too, was old.

"But no," I replied; "I am here precisely on behalf of my friend,
Lieutenant Kane."

At this name the old woman began, only to check, a half-startled squawk,
lifting her candle as she did so and peering more intently at me. "At
this hour, m'sieu?" she demanded huskily. "What could bring you at such
an hour?"

"Do I address the Widow Guyot?" I was quick to respond.

"_Oui, m'sieu._"

"Then, permit me to explain." As briefly as possible I told her who I
was; that I had but very recently learned of the presence of Jimmy's
wife in Paris, with a relative--learned that she was awaiting the birth
of her first child at the house of this excellent woman. "It was my
intention to call soon, madame, in any case, and make myself
known--feeling there might prove to be many little services a friend
would be only too happy to render. But, after this terrible raid, I
found it impossible to retire with an easy mind--at least, until I had
assured myself that all was well with you here."

On this there came a pause, and the thin-bearded man cleared his throat
diligently several times.

"The truth is, m'sieu," he finally hazarded, "that your apprehension was
only too just. You arrive at a house of mourning, m'sieu. You arrive, as
I did, alas--too late! This poor Madame Kane you would inquire for is
dead. The child, on the contrary, still lives."

"Enter, m'sieu," said the Widow Guyot. "We can discuss these things
more commodiously within. Doubtless, otherwise, we shall receive
attentions from the police; they are nervous to-night. Naturally." She
seemed, I thought--in the utter blank depression which had seized me
with the doctor's words--offensively calm. Whether, had a doctor been
more quickly obtainable, or a more skillful practitioner at last
obtained, little Jeanne-Marie's life might have been spared, I am unable
to say. I feel certain, however, that the Widow Guyot--under difficult,
not to say terrifying circumstances--had kept a cool head, done her
best. I exonerate her from all blame. But I add this: Never in my life
have I met elsewhere a woman who seemed to me to possess such
cold-blooded possibilities for evil. Yet, so far as I know to this hour,
her life has always been and now continues industrious and thrifty;
harm