ld
serve both this lovely creature and the Emperor better by going out of
the house now, and lying hidden all the night through somewhere in its
vicinity until in daylight I could locate its exact situation. Then I
could communicate with Leroux at once and procure the apprehension of
this Berty--or Fournier--who apparently was a desperate criminal.
Already a bold plan was taking shape in my brain, and with my mind's
eye I had measured the distance which separated me from the front door
and safety when, in the distance, I heard heavy footsteps slowly
descending the stairs. I looked at my lovely companion, and saw her
eyes gradually dilating with increased horror. She gave a smothered
cry, pressed her handkerchief to her lips, then she murmured hoarsely,
"Too late!" and fled precipitately from the room, leaving me a prey to
mingled emotions such as I had never experienced before.

3.

A moment or two later M. Ernest Berty, or whatever his real name may
have been, entered the room. Whether he had encountered his exquisite
sister on the corridor or the stairs, I could not tell; his face, in
the dim light of the hanging lamp, looked impenetrable and sinister.

"This way, M. Barrot," he said curtly.

Just for one brief moment the thought occurred to me to throw myself
upon him with my whole weight--which was considerable--and make a wild
dash for the front door. But it was more than probable that I should
be intercepted and brought back, after which no doubt I would be an
object of suspicion to these rascals and my life would not be worth an
hour's purchase. With the young girl's warnings ringing in my ears, I
felt that my one chance of safety and of circumventing these criminals
lay in my seeming ingenuousness and complete guileless-ness.

I assumed a perfect professional manner and followed my companion up
the stairs. He ushered me into a room just above the one where I had
been waiting up to now. Three men dressed in rough clothes were
sitting at a table on which stood a couple of tankards and four empty
pewter mugs. My employer offered me a glass of ale, which I declined.
Then we got to work.

At the first words which M. Berty uttered I knew that all my surmises
had been correct. Whether he himself was M. Aristide Fournier, or
another partner of that firm, or some other rascal engaged in
nefarious doings, I could not know; certain it was that through the
medium of cipher words and phrases which he thought were