ieur C. will welcome a conference with Monsieur L."

Without a word, Lepine arose and followed the man, who crossed the room,
opened a door at the farther end of it, stood aside for him to pass, and
then gently closed it. Lepine found himself in a little room with a
single window opening upon a court. It was furnished with a table and
three chairs, and at the table sat Crochard. He motioned Lepine to a
seat.

"I was expecting you," he said, with a little smile; "and I am glad you
came. In the presence of that good Pigot, one cannot talk freely.
Indeed, it was with the greatest difficulty that I maintained a sober
countenance. He was so astonished, so overwhelmed, that you and I should
be working together--that we should be able to sit in the same room
without flying at each other's throats. If he only knew--"

"Is it necessary to go into that?" asked Lepine.

"Why not? You have no reason to be ashamed of it. If you have sought my
aid from time to time, it was because you realised that Crochard the
Invincible has sources of information which are closed to the police."

"I said as much to M. Delcasse. It was not of myself I was thinking, but
of you. What if your friends knew?"

"My friends? I have never betrayed my friends, as you know well. Surely,
Lepine, you have understood that, if I assisted you, it was only because
it suited me to do so!"

"Yes, I have understood that," assented Lepine, flushing a little at
the other's tone. "You always had a bargain to propose. What is the
bargain, this time?"

"There is no bargain," retorted Crochard, curtly. "I ask nothing."

Lepine cast at him an astonished glance.

"What!" cried Crochard, his face suddenly red, "you cannot believe the
truth, then? It seems incredible to you that I should love my country?
Well, I _do_ love her, and I am going to prove it by saving her!"

"Is she in need of saving?" queried Lepine, ironically.

Crochard's eyes gleamed; then, in a moment, his anger passed.

"Delcasse believes so; Lepine does not: behold the difference between a
great man and a clever one," he said, and looked at Lepine with pity in
his eyes.

"Well, yes," said the Prefect; "I admit it; I make no claim to
greatness. I perceive no danger--nor, for the matter of that, does M.
Delcasse."

Crochard looked at him for a moment.

"Let me see the registration slip from the Prefecture," he said, at
last.

Without a word, Lepine got out his pocket-book, produced the slip