the Golden Maid.

He found it at last; and then for a moment he stood puzzled. The note
said, next door to the Golden Maid, but it did not say on which side. He
scrutinised the nearer house, but he saw nothing to determine him; and he
was proceeding to the farther, when he caught sight of two men, who,
ambushed behind a horse-block on the opposite side of the roadway, seemed
to be watching his movements. Their presence flurried him; but much to
his relief his next glance at the houses showed him that the door of the
farther one was unlatched. It stood slightly ajar, permitting a beam of
light to escape into the street.

He stepped quickly to it--the sooner he was within the house the
better--pushed the door open and entered. As soon as he was inside he
tried to close the entrance behind him, but he found he could not; the
door would not shut. After a brief trial he abandoned the attempt and
passed quickly on, through a bare lighted passage which led to the foot
of a staircase, equally bare. He stood at this point an instant and
listened, in the hope that Madame's maid would come to him. At first he
heard nothing save his own breathing; then a gruff voice from above
startled him.

"This way, Monsieur," it said. "You are early, but not too soon!"

So Madame trusted her footman! M. de Tignonville shrugged his shoulders;
but after all, it was no affair of his, and he went up. Halfway to the
top, however, he stood, an oath on his lips. Two men had entered by the
open door below--even as he had entered! And as quietly!

The imprudence of it! The imprudence of leaving the door so that it
could not be closed! He turned, and descended to meet them, his teeth
set, his hand on his sword, one conjecture after another whirling in his
brain. Was he beset? Was it a trap? Was it a rival? Was it chance?
Two steps he descended; and then the voice he had heard before cried
again, but more imperatively--

"No, Monsieur, this way! Did you not hear me? This way, and be quick,
if you please. By-and-by there will be a crowd, and then the more we
have dealt with the better!"

He knew now that he had made a mistake, that he had entered the wrong
house; and naturally his impulse was to continue his descent and secure
his retreat. But the pause had brought the two men who had entered face
to face with him, and they showed no signs of giving way. On the
contrary.

"The room is above, Monsieur," the foremost said, in