atter with which one has to deal.
Three days, then, did I give to the acquiring of that knowledge, the
result of which was the possession of the following facts.

1. That the landlady was right when she told me the girl was never left
alone, one of the men, if not the father then the son, always remaining
with her.

2. That while thus guarded, she was not so restricted but that she had
the liberty of walking in the hall, though never for any length of time.

3. That the cross on the door seemed to possess some secret meaning
connected with their presence in the house, it having been erased one
evening when the whole three went out on some matter or other, only to
be chalked on again when in an hour or so later, father and daughter
returned alone.

4. That it was the father and not the son who made such purchases as
were needed, while it was the son and not the father who carried on
whatever operations they had on hand; nightfall being the favorite
hour for the one and midnight for the other; though it not infrequently
happened that the latter sauntered out for a short time also in the
afternoon, probably for the drink he could not go long without.

5. That they were men of great strength but little alertness; the stray
glimpses I had had of them, revealing a breadth of back that was truly
formidable, if it had not been joined to a heaviness of motion that
proclaimed a certain stolidity of mind that was eminently in our favor.

How best to use these facts in the building up of a matured plan of
action, was, then, the problem. By noon of a certain day I believed
it to have been solved, and reluctant as I was to leave the spot of my
espionage even for the hour or two necessary to a visit to headquarters,
I found myself compelled to do so. Packing up in a small basket I had
for the purpose, the little articles I had been engaged during the last
few days in making, I gave way to a final fit of coughing so hollow and
sepulchral in its tone, that it awoke a curse from the next room deep as
the growl of a wild beast, and still continuing, finally brought Luttra
to the door with that look of compassion on her face that always called
up a flush to my cheek whether I wished it or no.

"Ah, Monsieur, I am afraid your cough is very bad to-day. O I see; you
have been getting ready to go out--"

"Come back here," broke in a heavy voice from the room she had left.
"What do you mean by running off to palaver with that old rascal