u leave me your address I will communicate with
you after I have heard from my daughter. I have no doubt that she will
readily come to terms."

"I think you said that mademoiselle was in the South of France?"
observed Brett casually.

Instantly Beaucaire became suspicious again.

"No," he replied shortly; "I do not think I said so."

"Of course not," laughed Brett. "How foolish of me! It was I who
mentioned the South of France, was it not? You see that French is a
foreign language to me, and I do not express myself very easily."

Beaucaire grinned politely again: "Permit me to congratulate monsieur
upon both his pronunciation and facility. Not many Englishmen speak
French as he does."

The barrister was determined not to allow the conversation to end too
rapidly. He wished to note more carefully the details of this
interesting household. Pulling out his cigar-case, he offered it to Gros
Jean with the remark: "Your small French tables seem curious to my eyes
after long acquaintance with English billiards. Are any of these
gentlemen here skilled players in your fashion?"

"Oh, yes," said the innkeeper. "Andre there, for instance, can make big
breaks. I have seen him make forty consecutive coups. Will you not take
a seat for a little while and observe the play?"

"With pleasure." And Brett confirmed the favourable opinion formed of
him by ordering refreshments for Beaucaire and himself and inviting the
redoubtable Andre to join them.

He apparently took a keen interest in the game, and applauded the manner
in which the Frenchman scored a series of difficult cannons.

Meanwhile he noted that between the private passage from the bar and the
public one that led from the cafe was a room into which the light of day
could not possibly penetrate. He was certain that no door communicated
with it from the public passage, and he could not remember having
passed one that first afternoon when La Belle Chasseuse brought him and
Fairholme into the billiard-room to display her prowess as a markswoman.

It was certainly a curious apartment, and for some undefinable reason he
could not prevent his mind from dwelling upon its possible uses.

Probably the Cafe Noir had no cellars. The place might serve as a store
room. This natural hypothesis was upset by the appearance of the waiter,
who passed through the billiard-room and opened another door at the
further end, through which he soon emerged, carrying a fresh supply of
bottle