...
Never!... Rage boiled up in her; brain and will were afire.... She
submit to the humiliation of arrest, the long-drawn-out agonies of
cross-examinations, the tortures of imprisonment in Noumea?... Not
Bobinette!... Never, never, never!

Almost simultaneously with her backward jerk from the stranger eyes of
this Vagualame, Bobinette darted to a chiffonier, slipped her hand
into a drawer among ribbons and laces, seized a revolver, and snatched
it out....

Agile as a panther, Vagualame leaped at the girl, caught her wrist in
a grip like a vice. The pain of it was intense--Bobinette dropped her
weapon.

"No more of this nonsense!" commanded Vagualame in a hard voice.

"Keep cool, I tell you!... Go on to the landing. Look over. See what
is happening. You are not to be afraid."

Struck speechless, Bobinette stared at the old man, who commanded her
as a master, and might stand by her as an accomplice--but--those
terrifying eyes were not the eyes of her own Vagualame--no! How to
act?

She was left no choice. The old man was pushing her relentlessly
towards the door. He must be obeyed.

Listening, on the alert, Juve-Vagualame remained in the room, ready to
conceal himself behind the curtains. Who were these mounting the
stairs? Some of the household? Suppose Bobinette's agitation was so
marked that it aroused their suspicions, and his presence was
revealed?... Should the position become untenable, he would leave by
the window, close to which he was standing, make his way over the
roofs to a neighbouring house--but--confound it!... neither the gun
piece would be in his hands, nor would he have learned where Bobinette
had her rendezvous with Corporal Vinson next morning!...

Bobinette was swaying in the doorway, as though the landing were
red-hot ploughshares to be walked on! The ordeal was beyond her!

* * * * *

Four persons set foot on the landing. (A peremptory order from de
Naarboveck had caused Wilhelmine to descend.)

Inspector Michel and his colleague stared at the individuals in whose
company they found themselves--the young groom and his amazing mother!

With a caricatural gesture of disdain, and an off-handed air, this
corpulent personage demanded stridently:

"Who are these gentlemen?"

Inspector Michel looked the outrageous creature up and down.

"Who are you, Madame?... What are you doing here?"

The inspector's tone was severity itself.

Juve, behind his wind