e just the same confidence, Monsieur le Prefet."

They were silent, irritated by the wait, and struggling with the absurd
anxiety that oppressed them. They counted the seconds singly, by the
beating of their hearts. It was interminable.

Three o'clock sounded from somewhere.

"You see," grinned M. Desmalions, in an altered voice, "you see! There's
nothing, thank goodness!"

And he growled:

"It's idiotic, perfectly idiotic! How could any one imagine such
nonsense!"

Another clock struck, farther away. Then the hour also rang from the roof
of a neighbouring building.

Before the third stroke had sounded they heard a kind of cracking, and,
the next moment, came the terrible blast, complete, but so brief that
they had only, so to speak, a vision of an immense sheaf of flames and
smoke shooting forth enormous stones and pieces of wall, something like
the grand finale of a fireworks display. And it was all over. The volcano
had erupted.

"Look sharp!" shouted the Prefect of Police, darting forward. "Telephone
for the engines, quick, in case of fire!"

He caught Mazeroux by the arm:

"Run to my motor; you'll see her a hundred yards down the boulevard. Tell
the man to drive you to Don Luis, and, if you find him, release him and
bring him here."

"Under arrest, Monsieur le Prefet?"

"Under arrest? You're mad!"

"But, if the deputy chief--"

"The deputy chief will keep his mouth shut. I'll see to that. Be off!"

Mazeroux fulfilled his mission, not with greater speed than if he had
been sent to arrest Don Luis, for Mazeroux was a conscientious man, but
with extraordinary pleasure. The fight which he had been obliged to wage
against the man whom he still called "the chief" had often distressed him
to the point of tears. This time he was coming to help him, perhaps to
save his life.

That afternoon the deputy chief had ceased his search of the house, by M.
Desmalions's orders, as Don Luis's escape seemed certain, and left only
three men on duty. Mazeroux found them in a room on the ground floor,
where they were sitting up in turns. In reply to his questions, they
declared that they had not heard a sound.

He went upstairs alone, so as to have no witnesses to his interview with
the governor, passed through the drawing-room and entered the study.

Here he was overcome with anxiety, for, after turning on the light, the
first glance revealed nothing to his eyes.

"Chief!" he cried, repeatedly. "Where are you, C