cAndrew there who made the discovery," he replied. "I only
came in at the end, like the Greek Chorus, to explain things. The fact
of the matter is, Browne, when our friend here and the little
red-haired gentleman were shut up together in the tunnel, the former
elicited the information (how he managed it I am not prepared to say)
that the name of the ex-convict is not Polowski or Petrovitch, but
Kleinkopf; that he is not a Nihilist, as we have been led to believe,
but a diamond-thief of the first water."

He paused to hear what Browne would say, and, if the truth must be
confessed, he was mortified to find that the other betrayed no sort of
surprise.

"I know all that," answered his friend. "Have you discovered nothing
else?"

"A heap more," continued Jimmy; "but perhaps you know that, too. Are
you aware that the convict is the famous Red Rat, who once defied the
united police of Europe? Well, he is! He is also--and, mark you, this
is the greatest point of all--he is no less a person than _Madame
Bernstein's husband_!"

"Madame Bernstein's husband?" cried Browne, in stupefied surprise.
"What on earth do you mean by that? I warn you not to joke with me.
I'm not in the humour for it."

"I'm not joking," Jimmy returned, with all gravity. "I'm telling you
this in deadly earnest. The Red Rat is Madame Bernstein's husband. He
was sentenced to transportation for life in St. Petersburg, was sent to
Siberia, and later on was drafted to Saghalien."

"Is this true, MacAndrew?" inquired Browne. "You should know."

"It is quite true," said MacAndrew. "For my part, I always thought he
was the man you were trying to rescue. If you will look at it you will
find that he tallies exactly with Madame's description of the man we
wanted."

"Oh heavens! how we have been deceived!" groaned Browne. Then, as
another thought struck him, he added, "But if this is so, then Miss
Petrovitch's father is still in captivity."

"No," said MacAndrew; "he has escaped."

"What do you mean? When did he escape?"

"He is dead. He died early last year."

A silence that lasted upwards of five minutes fell upon the trio.

"The more I think of it the farther I am from understanding it," Browne
said at last. "Why should I have been singled out for the task of
rescuing this man, in whom I don't take the least bit of interest?"

"Because you are rich," muttered Jimmy. "Why, my dear fellow, it's all
as plain as daylight, now that we'