d that hour I know not. In the end, however, Monsieur
Rodin ceased his questions and we were put into the cells till the
next morning.

Imagine the sleepless night I spent! I hated myself for falling into
the trap which Rayne, the crafty organizer of the gang, had so
cleverly laid for me. Yet was I not in the hands of the police?

But the main question in my mind was the whereabouts of that little
pile of gems.

Next day we were taken publicly before another magistrate and defended
by a clever lawyer whom Duperre had engaged. It was found that not a
tittle of evidence could be brought against us, and, even though the
magistrate expressed his strong suspicions, we were at last released.

As we walked out into the sunlight of the boulevard, Duperre glanced
at his watch, and exclaimed:

"I wonder if we shall be in time to catch the train? I must telephone
to Heydenryck at once."

Five minutes later he was in a public telephone-box speaking to the
receiver of stolen goods.

Then, without returning to the Hotel Ombrone, we took a taxi direct to
the Gare de Lyon.

As Duperre took three first-class tickets to Fontainebleau, the
undersized, grave-faced old man whom I had seen at the moment of our
arrest followed him, and also took a ticket to the same destination.
We entered an empty compartment where, just before the train moved
off, the old man joined us.

He posed as a perfect stranger, but as soon as the train had left the
platform my companion introduced him to me.

"I called last night and saw what had happened. Surely you have all
three had a narrow escape!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," said Duperre. "It was fortunate that Hylda recognized the
_sous-inspecteur_ Bossant in the Bois. She put me on my guard. I knew
we should be arrested, so I took precautions to get rid of the gold
and conceal the stones."

"But where are they?" I asked eagerly, as the train ran through the
first station out of Paris. "They are still hidden in the hotel, I
suppose. We've all been searched!"

Madame laughed merrily, and removing her hat, unceremoniously tore out
the three great feathers, the large quills of which she held up to the
light before my eyes.

I then saw to my amazement that, though hardly distinguishable, all
three of the hollow quills were filled with gems, the smaller being
put in first.

At the detective's own suggestion she had put on her hat when
arrested, and she had worn it during the time she had been search