ething--an injustice if I assert, even without
handling those crisp bits of paper you have in your pocket-book, that no
bank would exchange them for gold.'

"Remembering his uncle's suspicions and his own, Mr. Schwarz cursed
himself for his blindness and folly in accepting notes so easily without
for a moment imagining that they might be false. Now, with every one of
those suspicions fully on the alert, he felt the bits of paper with
nervous, anxious fingers, while the imperturbable Russian calmly struck
a match.

"'See here,' he said, pointing to one of the notes, 'the shape of that
"w" in the signature of the chief cashier. I am not an English police
officer, but I could pick out that spurious "w" among a thousand genuine
ones. You see, I have seen a good many.'

"Now, of course, poor young Schwarz had not seen very many Bank of
England notes. He could not have told whether one 'w' in Mr. Bowen's
signature is better than another, but, though he did not speak English
nearly as fluently as his pompous interlocutor, he understood every word
of the appalling statement the latter had just made.

"'Then that Prince,' he said, 'at the hotel--'

"'Is no more Prince than you and I, my dear sir,' concluded the
gentleman of His Imperial Majesty's police calmly.

"'And the jewels? Mr. Winslow's jewels?'

"'With the jewels there may be a chance--oh! a mere chance. These forged
bank-notes, which you accepted so trustingly, may prove the means of
recovering your property.'

"'How?'

"'The penalty of forging and circulating spurious bank-notes is very
heavy. You know that. The fear of seven years' penal servitude will act
as a wonderful sedative upon the--er--Prince's joyful mood. He will give
up the jewels to me all right enough, never you fear. He knows,' added
the Russian officer grimly, 'that there are plenty of old scores to
settle up, without the additional one of forged bank-notes. Our
interests, you see, are identical. May I rely on your co-operation?'

"'Oh, I will do as you wish,' said the delighted young German. 'Mr.
Winslow and Mr. Vassall, they trusted me, and I have been such a fool. I
hope it is not too late.'

"'I think not,' said M. Burgreneff, his hand already on the door of the
cab. 'Though I have been talking to you I have kept an eye on the hotel,
and our friend the Prince has not yet gone out. We are accustomed, you
know, to have eyes everywhere, we of the Russian secret police. I don't
think that