ine the wall and the woodwork; he tried to insinuate his
sword into some crack; there was no sign of an opening. Still, a door
might have been there, for the flowers carved on the woodwork would hide
a skilfully constructed sliding panel. The essential thing was to find
the spring that made this panel work; but that was impossible in spite
of all the efforts we made for two long hours. In vain did we try to
shake the panel; it gave forth the same sound as the others. They were
all sonorous, showing that the wainscot was not in immediate contact
with the masonry. Still, there might be a gap of only a few inches
between them. At last Marcasse, perspiring profusely, stopped, and said
to me:

"This is very stupid; if we searched all night we should not find a
spring if there is none; and however hard we hammered, we could not
break in the door if there happened to be big iron bars behind it, as I
have sometimes seen in other old country-houses."

"The axe might help us to find a passage," I said, "if there is one; but
why, simply because your dog scratches the wall, persist in believing
that John Mauprat, or the man who resembles him, could not have come in
and gone out by the door?"

"Come in, if you like," replied Marcasse, "but gone out--no, on my
honour! For, as the servant came down I was on the staircase brushing my
boots. As soon as I heard something fall here, I rushed up quickly three
stairs at a time, and found that it was you--like a corpse, stretched
out on the floor, very ill; no one inside nor outside, on my honour!

"In that case, then, I must have dreamt of my fiend of an uncle, and the
servant must have dreamt of the black cloak; for it is pretty certain
that there is no secret door here; and even if there were one, and all
the Mauprats, living and dead, knew the secret of it, what were that to
us? Do we belong to the police that we should hunt out these wretched
creatures? And if by chance we found them hidden somewhere, should we
not help them to escape, rather than hand them over to justice? We are
armed; we need not be afraid that they will assassinate us to-night; and
if they amuse themselves by frightening us, my word, woe betide them!
I have no eye for either relatives or friends when I am startled in my
sleep. So come, let us attack the omelette that these good people my
tenants are preparing for us; for if we continue knocking and scratching
the walls they will think we are mad."

Marcasse yie