over their mistake in arresting him. His eyes had
pained him greatly the first day but were now slowly recovering. Feeling
a desire to sleep, Juve stretched himself on his bed and gave way to
reflection.

What had happened?

It was not difficult to guess. The officers of the Palace, finding him
in the King's bedroom, a smoking revolver beside him and a Lancer crying
"Thief! thief!" had naturally arrested him, thinking him guilty.
Fantomas, after blinding him with pepper, had changed back into his
uniform and escaped with the diamond. But what was Lady Beltham doing
there known to the Hesse-Weimar people as the Grand Duchess Alexandra?
What new and diabolical projects were on foot to bring the monster and
his mistress together in this honest, bourgeois court of Hesse-Weimar?

As for the diamond, of what possible use could it be to the thief? It
would be harder to get rid of than the obelisk or the Vendome column!

While these thoughts were passing slowly through Juve's mind, he felt an
intense desire to sleep come over him, his limbs suddenly became numb
and heavy; and then a sudden terror seized him.

"I have been poisoned!" he cried, making a superhuman effort to rise;
but the narcotic was slowly but surely overpowering him. Finally, he
lost all idea of his surroundings and sank back on his bed unconscious.

* * * * *

Had the day come?

A pale light touched with yellow and silver rays, crept softly through
the half-opened door and reached the face of a sleeping man; causing him
to stir and to open his eyes, blinking and yawning. It was Juve.

The first thing his gaze lighted upon was a round moon in a blue sky
sown with stars. The detective who had gone to sleep in a dungeon,
smiled instinctively at the heavens and the fresh, pure air which filled
the room. By degrees his mind went back to the events of the past night,
the heavy sleep that had come over him, and he wondered how much time
had elapsed since he had lost consciousness. He had, besides, the
impression that beneath his ample and warm bed clothes he was quite
naked. His movements, too, seemed constricted as though he were lying in
a narrow frame bed placed on the ground.

But where was he?

Thanks to the moonlight, he could perceive that he was in a room on the
ground floor. Outside, shapes flitted by, and these Juve soon found to
be bats hurrying to their nearby lairs. An owl hooted in the distance.
The detective