not flinch, although he must have seen that my hand was as steady as a
rock. I could not withhold a certain admiration for the man, but this
did not weaken me.

"What, you again, _monsieur_?" he asked mockingly. "You have come
back? You are always coming back, aren't you?"

The truth of the diagnosis struck home to me. Yes, I was always coming
back. But this time I had come back to stay.

"Can I do anything further for you, M. Hewlett?" he asked. "Was not
your bed comfortable? Do you want something, or is it only habit that
has brought you back here where nobody wants you?"

"I have come back to kill you, Leroux," I answered, and pulled the
trigger six times.

And each time I heard nothing but the click of the hammer.

Then, with his bull's bellow, Simon was upon me, dashing his fists into
my face, and bearing me down. My puny struggles were as ineffective as
though I had been fighting ten men. He had me on the floor and was
kneeling on my chest, and in a trice the other ruffians had come
dashing along the hall.

Jacqueline was beating with her little fists upon Leroux's broad back,
but he did not even feel the blows. I heard old Charles Duchaine's
piping cries of fear, and then somebody held me by the throat, and I
was swimming in black water.

"Bring a rope, Raoul!" I heard Simon call.

Half conscious, I knew that I was being tied. I felt the rope tighten
upon my wrists and limbs; presently I opened my aching eyes to find
myself trussed like a chicken to two legs of the table. I think it was
Jean Petitjean who said something about shooting me, and was knocked
down for it. Leroux was yelling like a demoniac. I saw Jacqueline's
terrified face and the trembling old man; and presently Leroux was
standing over me again, perfectly calm.

He had taken the pistol from my coat pocket and placed it on the table,
and now he took it in his hand and held it under my eyes. The magazine
was empty.

"Ah, Paul Hewlett, you are a very poor conspirator, indeed," he said,
"to try to shoot a man without anything in your pistol. Do you
remember how affectionately I put my arm round you when you were
sitting in that chair writing your ridiculous check? It was then that
I took the liberty of extracting the two cartridges. But I did think
you would have had sense to examine your pistol and reload before you
returned."

Jacqueline was clinging to him. "Monsieur," she panted, "you will
spare his life? You w