on to do so," said M. Lecoq. "I
have been fasting ever since morning."

M. Plantat now took a bold step.

"Shall you return to Paris to-night, Monsieur Lecoq?" asked he,
abruptly.

"No; I came prepared to remain over-night; I've brought my
night-gown, which I left, before coming up here, at the little
roadside inn below. I shall sup and sleep there."

"You will be poorly off at the Faithful Grenadier," said the old
justice of the peace. "You will do better to come and dine with me."

"You are really too good, Monsieur--"

"Besides, we have a good deal to say, and so you must remain the
night with me; we will get your night-clothes as we pass along."

M. Lecoq bowed, flattered and grateful for the invitation.

"And I shall carry you off, too, Doctor," continued M. Plantat,
"whether you will or not. Now, don't say no. If you insist on
going to Corbeil to-night, we will carry you over after supper."

The operation of fixing the seals was speedily concluded; narrow
strips of parchment, held by large waxen seals, were affixed to all
the doors, as well as to the bureau in which the articles gathered
for the purposes of the investigation had been deposited.

IX

Despite the haste they made, it was nearly ten o'clock when M.
Plantat and his guests quitted the chateau of Valfeuillu. Instead
of taking the high road, they cut across a pathway which ran along
beside Mme. de Lanascol's park, and led diagonally to the wire
bridge; this was the shortest way to the inn where M. Lecoq had left
his slight baggage. As they went along, M. Plantat grew anxious
about his good friend, M. Courtois.

"What misfortune can have happened to him?" said he to Dr. Gendron.

"Thanks to the stupidity of that rascal of a servant, we learned
nothing at all. This letter from Mademoiselle Laurence has caused
the trouble, somehow."

They had now reached the Faithful Grenadier.

A big red-faced fellow was smoking a long pipe at the door, his
back against the house. He was talking with a railway employee.
It was the landlord.

"Well, Monsieur Plantat," he cried, "what a horrible affair this is!
Come in, come in; there are several folks in the hall who saw the
assassins. What a villain old Bertaud is! And that Guespin; ah, I
would willingly trudge to Corbeil to see them put up the scaffold!"

"A little charity, Master Lenfant; you forget that both these men
were among your best customers."

Master Len