m his own
lips before he recovers from his surprise and fright.'

Something of my confidence must have impressed the official, for the
order of arrest was made. Now, during the absence of the constable
sent to bring in Felini, I explained to the inspector fully the
details of my plan. Practically he did not listen to me, for his head
was bent over a writing-pad on which I thought he was taking down my
remarks, but when I had finished he went on writing as before, so I
saw I had flattered myself unnecessarily. More than two hours passed
before the constable returned, bringing with him the trembling
Italian. I swung round in front of him, and cried, in a menacing
voice:--

'Felini! Regard me! You know Valmont too well to trifle with him! What
have you to say of the murder in Greenwich Park?'

I give you my word that the Italian collapsed, and would have fallen
to the floor in a heap had not the constables upheld him with hands
under each arm. His face became of a pasty whiteness, and he began to
stammer his confession, when this incredible thing happened, which
could not be believed in France. Inspector Standish held up his
finger.

'One moment,' he cautioned solemnly, 'remember that whatever you say
will be used against you!'

The quick, beady black eyes of the Italian shot from Standish to me,
and from me to Standish. In an instant his alert mind grasped the
situation. Metaphorically I had been waved aside. I was not there in
any official capacity, and he saw in a moment with what an opaque
intellect he had to deal. The Italian closed his mouth like a steel
trap, and refused to utter a word. Shortly after he was liberated, as
there was no evidence against him. When at last complete proof was in
the tardy hands of the British authorities, the agile Felini was safe
in the Apennine mountains, and today is serving a life sentence in
Italy for the assassination of a senator whose name I have forgotten.

Is it any wonder that I threw up my hands in despair at finding myself
amongst such a people. But this was in the early days, and now that I
have greater experience of the English, many of my first opinions have
been modified.

I mention all this to explain why, in a private capacity, I often did
what no English official would dare to do. A people who will send a
policeman, without even a pistol to protect him, to arrest a desperate
criminal in the most dangerous quarter of London, cannot be
comprehended by any nati