tters fastened on the inside."

"So the Bank offices are perfectly protected?" said Fandor.

"We believe so. Now, come upstairs to the floor above!... Here is a
large corridor, and that door, on the right, opens into a library. The
two rooms which come next, are my own room and a dressing-room. The
other rooms are unoccupied."

"Does your room face the street or the garden?" asked Fandor.

"The garden."

"And the windows?"

"The windows?"

"Yes. Would it be difficult, or impossible to climb up to them?"

"It would be difficult, but not impossible. No one ever enters the
garden. If absolutely necessary, a ladder could be placed against them,
a square of glass could be cut out, and the fastening could be undone
... but come and see the room, you can then judge for yourself."

Fandor inspected the room most carefully. The banker was right. It would
be comparatively easy to get into the room by the window; but the other
entrances to the room could be easily watched; they resolved themselves
into one door, which opened on to the corridor.

Monsieur Nanteuil's room was lightly furnished: he evidently favoured
the modern method: it was a bare apartment, but it was hygienic.

"Ah," said Fandor, "the bed has its back to the door, and faces the
window. Very right. You have electric light, I see, near the fireplace,
and above your bed. Then it is possible to switch on a bright light at
any time.... Valuable, that!"

Having finished a minute inspection of the room, and, to the amusement
of the bankers, having looked under the bed to make sure that no one
had hidden himself beneath it, Fandor declared:

"I am decidedly pleased with this room, and if you see no objection, I
wish to stay here and await the visitors of to-night."

"You think of sleeping here alone?"

"Alone! Decidedly, I do! It is pretty certain that these men know every
inch of your flat; and if they are the sort I take them to be, they will
make certain that everything here is as usual before attempting to
attack the Bank. I do not wish them to be frightened off by finding a
companion at my side, and I particularly wish them to mistake me for
you...."

"But that is frightfully dangerous, surely?" objected Nanteuil.

"Reassure yourself, monsieur, I do not run any great risk. They won't
know I am watching them; but I shall have this advantage over them--I am
on the lookout for the rascally assassins and robbers, and I do not fear
them in the slight