e has inherited his father's power--!"

"It is not so bad as all that. I have heard that the elder Popinot was
a true prince, in his way, I mean as to his power with the Apaches. His
son is hardly that; he has a following, but new powers were established
with his father's death, and they remain stronger than he."

"All of which brings us to the second part of my question, Liane: Why
Dupont?"

Liane shrugged and studied her bedizened fingers. The heavy black brows
circumflexed Monk's eyes, and he drew down the corners of his wide
mouth. Phinuit fixed an amused gaze on a distant corner of the room and
chewed his cigar.

"Why did Dupont--or Popinot," Lanyard persisted--"murder de Lorgnes?
Why did he try to murder Mademoiselle Delorme? Why did he seek to
prevent our reaching Cherbourg?"

"Give you three guesses," Phinuit offered amiably. "But I warn you if
you use more than one you'll forfeit my respect forever. And just to
show what a good sport I am, I'll ask you a few leading questions. Why
did Popinot pull off that little affair at Montpellier-le-Vieux? Why
did he try to put you out of his way a few days later?"

"Because he wanted to steal the jewels of Madame de Montalais,
naturally."

"I knew you'd guess it."

"You admit, then, you have the jewels?"

"Why not?" Phinuit enquired coolly. "We took trouble enough to get
them, don't you think? You're taking trouble enough to get them away
from us, aren't you? You don't want us to think you so stupid as to be
wasting your time, do you?"

His imperturbable effrontery was so amusing that Lanyard laughed
outright. Then, turning to Liane, he offered her a grateful inclination
of the head.

"Mademoiselle, you have kept your promise. Many thanks."

"Hello!" cried Phinuit. "What promise?"

"Monsieur Lanyard desired a favour of me," Liane explained, her good
humour restored; "in return for saving me from assassination by Popinot
this morning, he begged me to help him find the jewels of Madame de
Montalais. It appears that he--or Andre Duchemin--is accused of having
stolen those jewels; so it becomes a point of honour with him to find
and restore them to Madame de Montalais."

"He told you that?" Monk queried, studiously eliminating from his tone
the jeer implied by the words alone.

"But surely. And what could I do? He spoke so earnestly, I was touched.
Regard, moreover, how deeply I am indebted to him. So I promised I
would do my best. Et voila! I have brought