as we cannot efface our footprints, he will
think thieves have been trying to get into the house."

They scaled the wall, and had not walked fifty steps when they heard the
noise of a gate being unlocked. The stood aside and waited; a man soon
passed on his way to the station.

"That is Raoul," said M. Verduret, "and Joseph will report to us that
he has gone to tell Clameran what has just taken place. If they are only
kind enough to speak French!"

He walked along quietly for some time, trying to connect the broken
chain of his deductions.

"How in the deuce," he abruptly asked, "did this Lagors, who is devoted
to gay society, come to choose a lonely country house to live in?"

"I suppose it was because M. Fauvel's villa is only fifteen minutes'
ride from here, on the Seine."

"That accounts for his staying here in the summer; but in winter?"

"Oh, in winter he has a room at the Hotel du Louvre, and all the year
round keeps an apartment in Paris."

This did not enlighten M. Verduret much; he hurried his pace.

"I hope our driver has not gone. We cannot take the train which is about
to start, because Raoul would see us at the station."

Although it was more than an hour since M. Verduret and Prosper left the
hack at the branch road, they found it waiting for them in front of the
tavern.

The driver could not resist the desire to change his five-franc piece;
he had ordered dinner, and, finding his wine very good, was calling for
more, when he looked up and saw his employers.

"Well, you are in a strange state!" he exclaimed.

Prosper replied that they had gone to see a friend, and, losing their
way, had fallen into a pit; as if there were pits in Vesinet forest.

"Ah, that is the way you got covered with mud, is it?" exclaimed the
driver, who, though apparently contented with this explanation, strongly
suspected that his two customers had been engaged in some nefarious
transaction.

This opinion seemed to be entertained by everyone present, for they
looked at Prosper's muddy clothes and then at each other in a knowing
way.

But M. Verduret stopped all comment by saying:

"Come on."

"All right, monsieur: get in while I settle my bill; I will be there in
a minute."

The drive back was silent and seemed interminably long. Prosper at
first tried to draw his strange companion into conversation, but, as he
received nothing but monosyllables in reply, held his peace for the rest
of the journey. He was