e diamonds in her pocket?" Mary
asked.

"You forget that I have been hiding here," Field explained. "Like
yourself, I heard every word that passed just now. Every moment I expect
to have two of my most trusted men here. Directly those two emerge from
the house and get into the road, they will be arrested. In my business I
often find that when you are looking for one bird you frequently find
another. Mr. Reggie and Miss Cora are old friends of mine and the Paris
police. They are very clever at disguises; they work together, she as a
countess, and he as a general officer. Both of them were on the stage
and both would have made very good names, but the honest _role_ was too
dull for them. You may rest assured that those two will be out of the
way before daylight."

Mary listened with mixed feelings. She felt that in a measure she was
mainly responsible for what was going to happen. It looked as though it
would be an eventful evening.

"Well, we can't stand here all night," Mark said impatiently. He was
vaguely frightened for Beatrice, in the house with those rascals. "I can
help you. You and I together would be a match for the lot of them. What
do you say to try?"

But Field had no feeling that way at all. The cool, shrewd officer did
not rush things in that fashion. He had his birds secured and he could
afford to wait.

"I cannot possibly permit you to interfere with my plans, sir," he said
coldly. "You must recollect that I am responsible to the authorities,
and that I have my reputation to think of. In my pocket I have a warrant
for the arrest of certain people, and that being the case----"

"For my brother! for Carl Sartoris?" Mary gasped. "Oh, is that really
so?"

"It would be no kindness to conceal the fact," Field said in a gentle
tone. "No, I cannot permit you to enter the house. The thing is
absolutely inevitable, and you could not possibly prevent it. A cripple
like your brother could not escape me, and any hasty action of yours
might mean the escape of the other two. I am exceedingly sorry, Miss
Grey."

Mary started as she heard her own name from the lips of the inspector.
The expression told her that he knew everything. The blow had fallen at
last, as Mary always knew that it would fall, but it was none the less
bitter for that. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she said nothing
further. Mark looked at her with distress in his eyes; he and Field
exchanged glances.

"This must be very painful to you