k as he
stopped on the other side of the boulevard some distance to the rear.

It was the Count of Surigny who left the cab, which then started
forward.

"Is there gambling going on in that club?" asked Darrin, as his man
started the car forward again.

"Naturally," replied the chauffeur, shrugging his shoulders.

"It is easy to understand, then," Dave muttered to himself. "Poor
Surigny is no longer his own master in anything, for he is a slave to
the gambling craze that ruins so many lives. Gortchky furnishes the
young man with money for gambling--lends it to him, of course, and
thus keeps the Count desperately in his debt. And so the young Count
has to do, when required, the bidding of the scoundrel who gloats over
the helplessness of his dupe. Poor Surigny!"

Into less handsome avenues and streets the taxicabs now turned. Then a
distinctly shabby looking part of Paris was unfolded to the gaze of
the young naval officer.

"The Rue d'Ansin," announced the chauffeur, at last.

"A bad street?" Dave inquired.

"Yes."

"The haunt of criminals?"

"Criminals are seen here," the chauffeur explained, "but their real
lurking places are in some of the alleys, farther along, that lead off
from the Rue d'Ansin. Late at night, monsieur, it is better to ride
through this street than to be afoot on the sidewalk!"

"Is it the part of Paris where one would come to meet or to confer
with desperate criminals?" Dave asked.

"Many of the Apaches live hereabouts," replied the chauffeur, with
another shrug.

Dave had read of these dangerous thugs, the so-called "Apaches,"
native toughs of Paris, who commit many bold robberies on the streets
by night, and even, sometimes, by day, and who seldom hesitate to
kill a victim or a policeman if murder will render their own escape
sure.

To an observer the Apache appears to be equally without fear and
without conscience. The Apache is many degrees more dangerous than his
more cowardly cousin, the "gun-man" of New York.

"I hope you will not have to take to the streets here, Monsieur," said
the chauffeur.

"If I have to do that, I am not afraid to take a chance," Darrin
answered, imitating the Frenchman's shrug with his own broad
shoulders.

Ahead, Gortchky's taxicab was slowing down, and the pursuing vehicle
did the same. Dave peered about to see if some one were waiting to be
taken up by Gortchky, but, instead, Gortchky descended.

"Drive close to the curb on the other side