from the Louvre, the antiques of value, including the Venus
of Milo, have been packed in cases and loaded on trains under heavy
guard.

"Twelve of these trains have already left Paris for the war-port of
Lorient. The others are to follow, one every twenty-four hours at
midnight.

"Whether these treasures are to be locked up in Lorient, or whether
they are to be buried in the sand-dunes along the coast, I don't know.
But I know this: a swift cruiser--the _Fer-de-Lance_--is lying off
Paradise, between the light-house and the Ile de Groix, with steam up
night and day, ready to receive the treasures of the government at the
first alarm and run for the French possessions in Cochin-China.

"And now, perhaps, you may guess why Buckhurst is so anxious to hang
around Paradise."

Of course I was startled. Speed's muttered information gave me the
keys to many doors. And behind each door were millions and millions
and millions of francs' worth of plunder.

Our eyes met in mute interrogation; Speed smiled.

"Of course," said I, with dry lips, "Buckhurst is devil enough to
attempt anything."

"Especially if backed by Mornac," said Speed.

Suddenly the professional aspect of the case burst on me like a shower
of glorious sunshine.

"Oh, for the chance!" I said, brokenly. "Speed! Think of it! Think
how completely we have the thing in hand!"

"Yes," he said, with a shrug, "only we have just been kicked out of
the service in disgrace, and we are now going to be fully occupied in
running away from the police."

That was true enough; I had scarcely had time to realize our position
as escaped suspects of the department. And with the recognition of my
plight came a rush of hopeless rage, of bitter regret, and
soul-sickening disappointment.

So this was the end of my career--a fugitive, disgraced, probably
already hunted. This was my reward for faithful service--penniless,
almost friendless, liable to arrest and imprisonment with no hope of
justice from Emperor or court-martial--a banned, ruined, proscribed
outcast, in blind flight.

"I've thought of the possibility of this," observed Speed, quietly.
"We've got to make a living somehow. In fact, I'm to let--and so are
you."

I looked at him, too miserable to speak.

"I had an inkling of it," he said. A shrewd twinkle came into his
clear, Yankee eyes; he chewed his wrecked cigar and folded his lank
arms.

"So," he continued, tranquilly, blinking at the sparkling river,