ued, "these fellows do not know a word of
French. All along the way which they will have to traverse they will
meet friendly outposts, who will report to them on the condition of
the roads and warn them of any danger that might be ahead. Their
ignorance of our language may be a source of infinite peril to them.
They need an interpreter to accompany them over the mountains."

He paused for a moment or two, then added abruptly:

"Would you care to go? The matter is important," he went on quietly,
"and I am willing to pay you. It means a couple of nights' journey--a
halt in the mountains during the day--and there will be ten thousand
francs for you if the 'toys' reach St. Claude safely."

I suppose that something in my face betrayed the eagerness which I
felt. Here was indeed the finger of Providence pointing to the best
means of undoing this abominable criminal. Not that I intended to risk
my neck for any ten thousand francs he chose to offer me, but as the
trusted guide of his ingenuous "babies" I could convoy them--not to
St. Claude, as he blandly believed, but straight into the arms of
Leroux and the customs officials.

"Then that is understood," he said in his usual dictatorial manner,
taking my consent for granted. "Ten thousand francs. And you will
accompany these gentlemen and their 'babies' as far as St. Claude?"

"I am a poor man, Sir," I responded meekly.

"Of course you are," he broke in roughly.

Then from a number of papers which lay upon the table, he selected one
which he held out to me.

"Do you know St. Cergues?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "It is a short walk from Gex."

"This," he added, pointing to a paper which I had taken from him, "is
a plan of the village and of the Pass of Cergues close by. Study it
carefully. At some point some way up the pass, which I have marked
with a cross, I and my men with the 'babies' will be waiting for you
to-morrow evening at eight o'clock. You cannot possibly fail to find
the spot, for the plan is very accurate and very minute, and it is
less than five hundred metres from the last house at the entrance of
the pass. I shall escort the men until then, and hand them over into
your charge for the mountain journey. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly."

"Very well, then; you may go. The carriage is outside the door. You
know your way."

He dismissed me with a curt nod, and the next two minutes saw me
outside this house of mystery and installed inside the ramshackle