and francs all at once for
years. What a dinner I would have tomorrow! There was a certain little
restaurant in the Rue des Pipots where they concocted a cassolette of
goose liver and pork chops with haricot beans which . . . ! I only
tell you that.

How I got through the rest of that day I cannot tell you. The evening
found me--quite an habitue now--behind the stage of the Theatre
Royal, nodding to one or two acquaintances, most of the people looking
on me with grave respect and talking of me as the eccentric milor. I
was supposed to be pining for an introduction to the great
tragedienne, who, very exclusive as usual, had so far given me the
cold shoulder.

Ten minutes after the rise of the curtain on the fourth act I was in
the dressing-room, presenting the maid with a gold locket which I had
bought from a cheapjack's barrow for five and twenty francs--almost
the last of the fifty which I had received from M. Duval on account.
The damsel was eyeing the locket somewhat disdainfully and giving me
grudging thanks for it when there came a hurried knock at the door.
The next moment Theodore poked his ugly face into the room. He, too,
had taken the precaution of assuming an excellent disguise--peaked cap
set aslant over one eye, grimy face, the blouse of a scene-shifter.

"Mlle. Mars," he gasped breathlessly; "she has been taken ill--on the
stage--very suddenly. She is in the wings--asking for her maid. They
think she will faint."

The damsel rose, visibly frightened.

"I'll come at once," she said, and without the slightest flurry she
picked up the key of the safe and slipped it into her pocket. I
fancied that she gave me a look as she did this. Oh, she was a pearl
among Abigails! Then she pointed unceremoniously to the door.

"Milor!" was all she said, but of course I understood. I had no idea
that English milors could be thus treated by pert maidens. But what
cared I for social amenities just then? My hand had closed over the
duplicate key of the safe, and I walked out of the room in the wake of
the damsel. Theodore had disappeared.

Once in the passage, the girl started to run. A second or two later
I heard the patter of her high-heeled shoes down the stone stairs. I
had not a moment to lose.

To slip back into the dressing-room was but an instant's work. The
next I was kneeling in front of the chest. The key fitted the lock
accurately; one turn, and the lid flew open.

The chest was filled with a miscellane