essed it to be some evidence of his presence
there. He had left something very important in that room. What was it?
And had he recovered it? I begged Madame Bernier who was accustomed to
clean the room to look, and she found a pair of eye-glasses--this pair,
Monsieur President!"

And Rouletabille drew the eye-glasses, of which we know, from his
pocket.

"When I saw these eye-glasses," he continued, "I was utterly nonplussed.
I had never seen Larsan wear eye-glasses. What did they mean? Suddenly I
exclaimed to myself: 'I wonder if he is long-sighted?' I had never seen
Larsan write. He might, then, be long-sighted. They would certainly
know at the Surete, and also know if the glasses were his. Such evidence
would be damning. That explained Larsan's return. I know now that
Larsan, or Ballmeyer, is long-sighted and that these glasses belonged to
him.

"I now made one mistake. I was not satisfied with the evidence I had
obtained. I wished to see the man's face. Had I refrained from this, the
second terrible attack would not have occurred."

"But," asked the President, "why should Larsan go to Mademoiselle
Stangerson's room, at all? Why should he twice attempt to murder her?"

"Because he loves her, Monsieur President."

"That is certainly a reason, but-"

"It is the only reason. He was madly in love, and because of that,
and--other things, he was capable of committing any crime."

"Did Mademoiselle Stangerson know this?"

"Yes, Monsieur; but she was ignorant of the fact that the man who was
pursuing her was Frederic Larsan, otherwise, of course, he would not
have been allowed to be at the chateau. I noticed, when he was in her
room after the incident in the gallery, that he kept himself in the
shadow, and that he kept his head bent down. He was looking for the lost
eye-glasses. Mademoiselle Stangerson knew Larsan under another name."

"Monsieur Darzac," asked the President, "did Mademoiselle Stangerson
in any way confide in you on this matter? How is it that she has never
spoken about it to anyone? If you are innocent, she would have wished to
spare you the pain of being accused."

"Mademoiselle Stangerson told me nothing," replied Monsieur Darzac.

"Does what this young man says appear probable to you?" the President
asked.

"Mademoiselle Stangerson has told me nothing," he replied stolidly.

"How do you explain that, on the night of the murder of the keeper," the
President asked, turning to Rouletabille, "