a tall, thin, elderly commissaire who was present,
"it is for you to prove your innocence. The information laid before us is
derived from those who have daily watched your movements and reported
them. If you can prove to us that it is false, then your innocence may be
established."

"But I _am_ innocent!" he protested, "therefore I have no fear what
charges may be laid against me. They cannot be substantiated. The whole
string of allegations is utterly ridiculous!"

"Eh bien! Then let us commence with the first," exclaimed Bezard, again
referring to the file of secret reports before him. "On Wednesday, the
fourteenth day of January, you went to Commercy, where, at the Cafe de la
Cloche, you met a certain Belgian who passed under the name of Laloux."

"I recollect!" cried Le Pontois quickly. "I sold him a horse. He was a
dealer."

"A dealer in forged notes," remarked one of the officials, with a faint
smile.

"Was he a forger, then?" asked Le Pontois in entire surprise.

"Yes. He has entered France several times in the guise of a horsedealer,"
Pierrepont interrupted.

"But I only bought a horse of him," declared the prisoner vehemently.

"And you paid for it in English notes, apologising that you had no other
money. He took them, for he passed them in Belgium into an English bank
in Brussels. They were forged!"

"Again, on the sixteenth of May, you met the man Laloux at the same
place," said Bezard.

"He had a mare to sell--I tried to buy it for my wife to drive, but he
wanted too much."

"You remained the night at the Hotel de Paris, and saw him again at nine
o'clock next morning."

"True. I hoped to strike a bargain with him in the morning, but we could
not come to terms."

"Regarding the forged English notes you were prepared to sell, eh?"
snapped Bezard, with a look of disbelief.

"I had nothing to sell!" protested Le Pontois, drawing himself up. "Those
who have spied upon me have told untruths."

"But the individual, Laloux, was watched. One of our agents followed him
to Brussels, where he went next day to the English bank in the Montagne
de la Cour."

"Not with forged notes from me. My dealings with him were in every way
honest business transactions."

"You mean that you received money from him, eh?"

"I do not deny that. I sold him a horse on the first occasion. He paid me
seven hundred francs for it, and I afterwards purchased one from him."

"So you do not deny that you received money fr