n easy
conquest, I should fancy; and when you have ensnared him the maid's fate
is decided. We want the man, the maid, and the steel casket; any one of
the three, however, will be of great value to us. You will keep us
advised as to your progress, and we, of course, will assist you all we
can. You know that we have secret agents all over Europe. And now, you
will do well to prepare for an immediate departure; there is not a
moment to be lost."

"But good, heavens! how can I take Amelie on such a journey?"

"You are not to take her with you--of what are you thinking? That man
has already seen the child, and would recognize her at once."

"You surely cannot mean that I am to desert my daughter?"

"Don't you think Amelie will be in safe hands if you leave her in _my_
care?" asked De Fervlans, with a glance that would have made any one who
had not heard his words believe he was making a declaration of love.
"Besides, it will not be the first time you leave her to the care of
another."

"That is true," sighed the countess; "I ought to be accustomed to
parting with her. Have not I trusted her to the care of a police spy?
and all for my own advantage! Oh, what a wretched profession I have
chosen for myself and my child!"

"A profession that yields a handsome income, madame," supplemented the
marquis, a trifle sharply. "You ought not to complain. Surely the
regime is not to blame that you married a roue, who squandered your
fortune, and then was killed in a duel about a rope-dancer, leaving you
a clever little daughter and a half-million of debts! What else could
you have done to have earned a living for yourself and child?"

"I might have sent the child to a foundling asylum, and sought
employment for myself in the gobelin factory. It would have been better
had I done so!"

"I doubt it, countess. The path of virtue is only for those women
who--have large feet! You are too fairy-like, and would have found the
way too rough. It is much better, believe me, to serve the state. What
would you? Is there not a comforting word due to the conscience of the
soldier who has killed a fellow-being in the interest of his country?
Don't you suppose his heart aches when he looks upon the death-struggles
of the man he has killed without having a personal grudge against him?
We are all soldiers of the state. When we assault an enemy, we do not
inquire if we hurt him; we kill him! and the safety of our fatherland
hallows the deed."