eur Robert Darzac."

"Ah,--Indeed!" exclaimed Monsieur de Marquet, disagreeably, casting a
side-glance at Monsieur Darzac, who remained perfectly silent.

"When I saw the mark of the parcel by the side of the footprints, I had
no doubt as to the robbery," replied Monsieur Rouletabille. "The thief
had not brought a parcel with him; he had made one here--a parcel with
the stolen objects, no doubt; and he put it in this corner intending
to take it away when the moment came for him to make his escape. He had
also placed his heavy boots beside the parcel,--for, see--there are no
marks of steps leading to the marks left by the boots, which were placed
side by side. That accounts for the fact that the murderer left no
trace of his steps when he fled from The Yellow Room, nor any in the
laboratory, nor in the vestibule. After entering The Yellow Room in his
boots, he took them off, finding them troublesome, or because he wished
to make as little noise as possible. The marks made by him in going
through the vestibule and the laboratory were subsequently washed out
by Daddy Jacques. Having, for some reason or other, taken off his boots,
the murderer carried them in his hand and placed them by the side of the
parcel he had made,--by that time the robbery had been accomplished. The
man then returned to The Yellow Room and slipped under the bed, where
the mark of his body is perfectly visible on the floor and even on the
mat, which has been slightly moved from its place and creased. Fragments
of straw also, recently torn, bear witness to the murderer's movements
under the bed."

"Yes, yes,--we know all about that," said Monsieur de Marquet.

"The robber had another motive for returning to hide under the bed,"
continued the astonishing boy-journalist. "You might think that he was
trying to hide himself quickly on seeing, through the vestibule window,
Monsieur and Mademoiselle Stangerson about to enter the pavilion. It
would have been much easier for him to have climbed up to the attic and
hidden there, waiting for an opportunity to get away, if his purpose had
been only flight.--No! No!--he had to be in The Yellow Room."

Here the Chief intervened.

"That's not at all bad, young man. I compliment you. If we do not know
yet how the murderer succeeded in getting away, we can at any rate see
how he came in and committed the robbery. But what did he steal?"

"Something very valuable," replied the young reporter.

At that moment w