" he said. "Fancy
your taking notice of such old wives' fables! Why, my dear fellow,
you've got many years of constant activity before you yet. You must
return to Paris in the morning, and watch in patience."

"I have watched, but discovered nothing."

"Perhaps I'll come and assist you; most probably I shall."

"No, don't! As soon as you leave San Remo Sir Henry will know, and he
might suspect."

"Suspect what?"

"That you are in search of the truth, and of fortune in consequence."

"He believes in me. Only the other day I had a letter from him written
in Goslin's hand, repeating the confidence he reposes in me."

"Exactly. You must remain down here for the present."

Flockart recollected the puzzling decision of Lady Heyburn, and remained
silent.

"Our chief peril is still the one which has faced us all along," went on
the man in the grey hat--"the peril that the girl may tell about that
awkward affair at Chantilly."

"She dare not," Flockart assured him quickly.

Krail shook his head dubiously. "She's leading a lonely life. Her heart
is broken, and she believes herself, as every other young girl does, to
be without a future. Therefore, she's brooding over it. One never knows
in such cases when a girl may fling all prudence to the winds," he said.
"If she did, then nothing could save us."

"That's just what her ladyship said the other day," answered Flockart,
tossing away his cigarette. "But you don't know that I hold her
irrevocably. She dare not say a single word. If she dare, why did she
not tell the truth about the safe?"

"Probably because it was all too sudden. She now finds life in that
dismal little village intolerable. She's a girl of spirit, you know, and
has always been used to luxury and freedom. To live with an old woman in
a country cottage away from all her friends must be maddening. No, my
dear James, in this you've acted most injudiciously. You were devoid of
your usual foresight. Depend upon it, a very serious danger threatens.
She will speak."

"I tell you she dare not. Rest your mind assured."

"She will."

"_She shall not!_"

"How, pray, can you close her mouth?" asked the foreigner.

Flockart's eyes met his. In them was a curious expression, almost a
glitter.

Krail understood. He shrugged his shoulders, but uttered no word. His
gesture was, however, that of one unconvinced. Adventurer as he was,
ingenious and unscrupulous, he lived from hand to mouth. Sometimes he
made a