it is true," said the colonel. "And now, my French auto
friend, I've come to take you into custody on a charge of--"

"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" cried the man. "I swear I didn't
do it. I was going to throw the glass away but he grabbed it from me,
and--"

"I arrest you on a charge of bigamy," went on the calm voice of Colonel
Ashley. And then, as he saw Mazi stagger as though about to fall, he
added:

"All right, Jack. I'll take care of her. You put the bracelets on him.
And see that they're good and tight. We don't want him slipping out
and getting married again. He doesn't have much regard for bonds of any
sort, matrimonial or legal."

And then he lifted poor, little Mazi up and carried her into the
cottage, while Morocco Kate got slowly to her feet and sat down on the
bench in the darkest shadows, sobbing.

CHAPTER XXIV. STILL WATERS

"The records show that Henri Margot, alias Jean Carnot alias Jean
Forette was married to Isabel Pelubit in Paris on March 17, four years
ago, and that she died under suspicious circumstances three months
later, leaving her husband all of a snug little fortune she possessed.

"All lies, monsieur--all lies! I do not believe anything you tell me!"

"Well, that's very foolish of you, Mazi, for you can easily prove for
yourself everything I tell you, and it will be better for you, in the
end, if you do believe."

"I do not. But go on with--more lies!" She shrugged her shoulders
contemptuously.

Colonel Ashley leafed over a sheaf of papers he had spread out on the
table in front of him. He and Mazi sat in a room in police headquarters
in Lakeside. It was the day following the procession to the cottage on
the moor.

"The records show," went on the detective, "that Henri Margot was
arrested in Paris, charged with having poisoned his wife so that he
might spend on another woman the money she possessed. But he was not
convicted, chiefly because the chemists could not agree on the kind of
poison that had caused death."

"All lies--I do not believe," said Mazi, stolidly.

"Um!" mused the colonel. "Well, Mazi, you're more stubborn than I
thought. But it doesn't make any difference to me, you know. I'm paid
for all this. Now let's see--what's next? Oh, yes. Then the records
show that Henri, or Jean, whichever you choose to call him, came to this
country. He fell in love with a pretty girl--she wasn't as pretty as
you, Mazi, I'll say that--but he fell in love with her an