together."

He swore.

"The reward is ten thousand francs." I made the shot at a venture,
knowing my man well.

"I swear that it is not," he asserted hotly.

"Swear again," I retorted, "for I'll not deal with you for less than
five thousand."

He did swear again and protested loudly. But I was firm.

"Have another glass of wine," I said.

After which he gave in.

The affair was bound to be risky. Smugglers of English goods were
determined and desperate men who were playing for high stakes and
risking their necks on the board. In all matters of smuggling a
knowledge of foreign languages was an invaluable asset. I spoke
Italian well and knew some English. I knew my worth. We both drank a
glass of cognac and sealed our bond then and there.

After which Leroux drew his chair closer to my desk.

"Listen, then," he said. "You know the firm of Fournier Freres, in
the Rue Colbert?"

"By name, of course. Cutlers and surgical instrument makers by
appointment to His Majesty. What about them?"

"M. le Duc has had his eyes on them for some time."

"Fournier Freres!" I ejaculated. "Impossible! A more reputable firm
does not exist in France."

"I know, I know," he rejoined impatiently. "And yet it is a curious
fact that M. Aristide Fournier, the junior partner, has lately bought
for himself a house at St. Claude."

"At St. Claude?" I ejaculated.

"Yes," he responded dryly. "Very near to Gex, what?"

I shrugged my shoulders, for indeed the circumstances did appear
somewhat strange.

Do you know Gex, my dear Sir? Ah, it is a curious and romantic spot.
It has possibilities, both natural and political, which appear to have
been expressly devised for the benefit of the smuggling fraternity.
Nestling in the midst of the Jura mountains, it is outside the customs
zone of the Empire. So you see the possibilities, do you not? Gex soon
became the picturesque warehouse of every conceivable kind of
contraband goods. On one side of it there was the Swiss frontier, and
the Swiss Government was always willing to close one eye in the matter
of customs provided its palm was sufficiently greased by the
light-fingered gentry. No difficulty, therefore, as you see, in
getting contraband goods--even English ones--as far as Gex.

Here they could be kept hidden until a fitting opportunity occurred
for smuggling them into France, opportunities for which the Jura, with
their narrow defiles and difficult mountain paths, afforded
magnif