t me. Say, I beseech
you, if Chermside was the man with whom my poor one had arranged the
rendezvous in that so desolate spot."

Nugent was moved with inward laughter at the impressive speech, at the
ogling glances accompanying it. He was quite aware of the personal
element the minx was endeavouring to import into their relations.
Outwardly his face wore the semblance of a severe mental struggle.

"I cannot resist your appeal, Mademoiselle Aubin," he said at last,
sighing a little as if in regret that his better judgment should be
vanquished by the feminine charms across the table. "I had hoped to keep
it to myself a little longer, while prosecuting inquiries which will
bring the crime home to this black-hearted villain without allowing an
outlet for escape. But I cannot deny you the solace of sharing the
secret with me, knowing that, our aims being identical, you will
preserve it till the time comes to strike. Yes, Leslie Chermside was the
man who had promised to complete a certain transaction with Levi Levison
at the spot where the latter was foully done to death."

It is easy to speak with your tongue in your cheek, and if the cheek is
large enough no one need catch a glimpse of the tongue. At any rate,
Louise Aubin did not. Confident in her potent fascinations, she
swallowed the purposely grandiose words like so much milk and honey, and
beamed ecstatically on the wily orator, more in delight at the
sentiments she believed the communication to denote than at the
communication itself. Levi Levison was beginning to take a very shadowy
back seat in the affections of Mademoiselle Louise Aubin.

"Then, monsieur," she said, gracefully quaffing her glass at him, "I
shall not be behindhand in civeelity. I shall--what you call it--place
myself in your hands for the right time to punish Chermside, and in the
meanwhile the secret is buried deep in my heart. Now for your repayment
for your kind help, though it is only a tiny piece of news. The villain
so despicable, upon whom we desire the avenge, is in love with my--with
Miss Maynard. I come from observing them this very afternoon, monsieur,
in the rose garden, where they were embracing and using words of
endearment."

And mademoiselle draped her eyes with their long, dark lashes, as though
her maiden modesty quailed before the reminiscence.

As for Nugent, he did not disguise the fact that the information had for
him the keenest interest. Rising from his chair, he lit a