h perfect mastery of self, implacable, cruel, malignant, a
Torquemada of a man!"

"Your enthusiasm is running away with you," someone laughed.

"I don't care! It is so seldom one comes across figures in a city that
really are figures, entities. That man is not an assassin: he is The
Assassin--the Type!"

Two ladies, sitting close to this enthusiast, had been listening keenly
to this diatribe.

"Do you know who that is?" one whispered to the other. "That is
Valgrand, the actor," and they turned their lorgnettes on the actor who
was waxing more animated every moment.

A bell rang, and, heralded by the usher proclaiming silence, the judges
returned to the bench and the jury to their box. The President cast an
eagle eye over the court, compelling silence, and then resumed the
proceedings.

"Next witness: call M. Juve!"

XXIX. VERDICT AND SENTENCE

Once more a wave of sensation ran through the court. There was not a
single person present who had not heard of Juve and his wonderful
exploits, or who did not regard him as a kind of hero. All leaned
forward to watch him as he followed the usher to the witness-box, wholly
unaffected in manner and not seeking to make any capital out of his
popularity. Indeed, he seemed rather to be uneasy, almost nervous, as
one of the oldest pressmen present remarked audibly.

He took the oath, and the President of the Court addressed him in
friendly tones.

"You are quite familiar with procedure, M. Juve. Which would you prefer:
that I should interrogate you, or that I should leave you to tell your
story in your own way? You know how important it is; for it is you who
are, so to speak, the originator of the trial to-day, inasmuch as it was
your great detective skill that brought about the arrest of the
criminal, after it had also discovered his crime."

"Since you are so kind, sir," Juve answered, "I will make my statement
first, and then be ready to answer any questions that may be put to me
by yourself, or by counsel for the defence."

Juve turned to the dock and fixed his piercing eyes on the impassive
face of Gurn, who met it unflinchingly. Juve shrugged his shoulders
slightly, and, turning half round to the jury, began his statement. He
did not propose, he said, to recite the story of his enquiries, which
had resulted in the arrest of Gurn, for this had been set forth fully in
the indictment, and the jury had also seen his depositions at the
original examination: he