s arm!"

Prosper was surprised at the look of merciless rage on his friend's
face, as he calmly washed and dressed his arm.

"Now, Prosper, we will talk as much as you please. Our enemies are on
the alert, and we must crush them instantly, or not at all. I have made
a mistake. I have been on the wrong track; it is an accident liable
to happen to any man, no matter how intelligent he may be. I took the
effect for the cause. The day I was convinced that culpable relations
existed between Raoul and Mme. Fauvel, I thought I held the end of
the thread that must lead us to the truth. I should have been more
mistrustful; this solution was too simple, too natural."

"Do you suppose Mme. Fauvel to be innocent?"

"Certainly not. But her guilt is not such as I first supposed. I
imagined that, infatuated with a seductive young adventurer, Mme. Fauvel
had first bestowed upon him the name of one of her relatives, and then
introduced him as her nephew. This was an adroit stratagem to gain him
admission to her husband's house.

"She began by giving him all the money she could could dispose of; later
she let him take her jewels to the pawnbrokers; when she had nothing
more to give, she allowed him to steal the money from her husband's
safe. That is what I first thought."

"And in this way everything was explained?"

"No, this did not explain everything, as I well knew at the time, and
should, consequently, have studied my characters more thoroughly. How
is Clameran's position to be accounted for, if my first idea was the
correct one?"

"Clameran is Lagors's accomplice of course."

"Ah, there is the mistake! I for a long time believed Lagors to be the
principal person, when, in fact, he is not. Yesterday, in a dispute
between them, the forge-master said to his dear friend, 'And, above all
things, my friend, I would advise you not to resist me, for if you do I
will crush you to atoms.' That explains all. The elegant Lagors is not
the lover of Mme. Fauvel, but the tool of Clameran. Besides, did our
first suppositions account for the resigned obedience of Madeleine? It
is Clameran, and not Lagors, whom Madeleine obeys."

Prosper began to remonstrate.

M. Verduret shrugged his shoulders. To convince Prosper he had only to
utter one word: to tell him that three hours ago Clameran had announced
his intended marriage with Madeleine; but he did not.

"Clameran," he continued, "Clameran alone has Mme. Fauvel in his power.
Now, the