ed,
during the examination by the magistrate, and during her trial!

Duperre was certainly nothing if not ingenious and his _sang-froid_
had saved us all from terms of imprisonment.

Madame replaced the valuable feathers in her hat, and when we arrived
at Fontainebleau we drove at once to the Hotel de France, opposite the
palace, where we took an excellent _dejeuner_ in a private room.

And before we left, Duperre had disposed of Lady Norah's jewels at a
very respectable figure, which the sly old receiver paid over in
thousand-franc notes.

I marveled at my companion's ingenuity, whereupon he laughed airily,
replying:

"When 'The Golden Face' arranges a _coup_ it never fails to come
off--I assure you. The police have to be up very early to get the
better of him. His one injunction to all of us is that we shall be
ready at all times to show clean hands--as we have to-day! But let's
get away, Hargreave--back to London, I think, don't you?"

The whole adventure mystified and bewildered me. It was a mystery
which, however, before long, was to be increased a hundredfold. Alas!
that I should sit here and put down my guilt upon paper!

CHAPTER III

THE MAN WITH THE HUMP

One morning I called at Rayne's luxurious chambers in Half Moon
Street, when he expressed himself most delighted at the result of our
visit to Paris.

"I want you to-morrow morning to drive Lola and Madame up to
Overstow," he said. "Better start early. Call for them at the hotel at
nine o'clock. The roads are good, so you'll have a pleasant journey.
I'll get home by train at the end of the week."

At this I was very pleased, for Lola with her great dark eyes always
sat beside me. She could drive quite well, and was full of good humor
and a charming little gossip. Hence I looked forward to a very
pleasant run. The more I saw of the master-crook's daughter the more
attracted I became by her. Indeed, though she seemed to regard me with
some suspicion--why, I don't know--we had already become excellent
friends.

The month of September passed.

We had all spent a delightful time at Overstow. Rayne had given two
big shoots at which several well-known Yorkshire landowners had been
present, while I had taken a gun, and Lola, Madame and several other
ladies had walked with us. Lola and I were frequently together, and I
often accompanied her on long walks through the autumn-tinted woods.

Madame's husband had only spent a week with us, for he