to it and said eagerly to the driver--

"Keep that cab in sight! I will pay you double fare!"

The man tightened his reins and raised his whip in prompt obedience to
the order, when suddenly two men jumped into the vehicle from opposite
sides, seized Brett and forced him down on to the seat, whilst one of
them said in stern tones to the astonished cabby--

"Take us at once to the Central Prefecture of Police."

The man recognized that these newcomers were not to be trifled with.
Without a word or a question, he rattled his horse across the stone
pavement, and Brett, choking with rage at this interference at a supreme
moment, realized that for some extraordinary reason he was a prisoner,
and in the hands of a couple of detectives.

By this time the cab containing the lady had vanished, but the barrister
made one despairing effort.

"For heaven's sake," he said to his captors, "take me where you will,
but first follow that cab and ascertain its destination."

"What cab?" demanded one of his guards sarcastically.

"The cab which I wished our driver to overtake at the moment when you
pounced on me."

"This is a mere trick," broke in the other. "Don't bother about his cab.
We have got him safe enough, and let the _commissaire_ deal with him
now."

"Listen to me," cried Brett. "You are making a frightful mistake. Your
action at this moment may cause irretrievable delay and loss. If you
will only do as I tell you----"

"Shut up," growled the first man, "or it will be worse for you. Your
best plan, my good fellow, is to keep a quiet tongue in your head."

It was not often that Brett lost his temper, but most certainly he lost
it on this occasion. He was endowed with no small share of physical
strength, and for an instant the wild notion came into his head that he
might perhaps succeed in throwing the two detectives into the roadway
and then overpower the driver, taking charge of the vehicle himself and
trusting to luck to again catch sight of the vanished lady and her
companion, who, he doubted not, had awaited her arrival at the quiet
corner where she joined him.

Unconsciously he must have given some premonition of this desperate
scheme, for the two policemen tightened their grasp, forced his hands
higher up his back, and bent his head forward until he was in danger of
having either his neck or his shoulder dislocated.

"Will you keep quiet?" murmured the chief detective. "You cannot escape,
and you are only