ased his hold and dropped.

There came a crash so loud it might have raised the dead.

CHAPTER XXV.

CHESTER AND JEAN.

Chester was confident that Hal could take care of his end of the affair,
and he therefore allowed Jean to lead him along without protest. Jean
became talkative as they walked along the dark streets.

"It should be easy," he said with enthusiasm. "All we have to do is to
get close to the President in the crowd. Can you shoot?"

"A little," replied Chester briefly.

"I'm not a bad shot, either," said Jean. "So, if you should miss with
your first shot, I'll turn loose myself. That will insure success."

"I have been thinking," said Chester, "how it would feel to be shot,
and of what is likely to happen to us after we fire. What will the
crowd do to us?"

"Oh, we'll get away, all right," said Jean.

"We'll never get away," said Chester solemnly. "We shall be torn to
pieces before we can move a foot."

"I hadn't stopped to think of that," said Jean slowly.

"No, I suppose not," replied Chester. "Nevertheless, that is what is
bound to happen. And they won't kill us on the spot, either. They'll put
us to death slowly, by torture."

The lad looked sharply at his companion. Plainly this was an aspect of
the case which had not occurred to Jean. He shuddered.

"Do you realize what we are about to do?" Chester went on. "We are
going to shoot down, in cold blood, the President of France; the
President of our own country. The crowd will go wild. We shall be torn
limb from limb."

"Stop it! Stop it!" cried Jean. "Would you have me lose my nerve?"

"And besides," continued Chester, "what has the President done to us that
we should seek his life?"

"But," said Jean, "we shall have gold."

"And what good will gold do us after we are dead?"

"True," said Jean. "It won't do us much good, will it?"

"It won't do us any good," said Chester.

"But," said Jean, "Duval must have thought of all that. He--"

"Duval knows as well as you or I what will happen to us should we
assassinate the President," said Chester. "He will have that much more
gold for himself."

"Still, we may manage to escape," said Jean hopefully.

"And if we do," said Chester sternly, "what then? Do you suppose Duval
will keep faith with us? There will be such a hue and cry as Paris
never heard before. Duval will turn us over to the authorities to save
his own skin."

"If I thought that," said Jean, "I--"

"Besides,"