aid
me."

"And this is your trick?"

"This is my trick."

"We will not waste words, August."

"No, we will not waste words."

"This is my trick."

As the detective spoke he cast aside his disguise and stood revealed.

The baron stared aghast and in a husky voice exclaimed:

"What! you are the detective?"

"I am the detective. Call for your aids and I will summon mine; the
latter are at hand."

"What does this mean?"

"It means that I have 'closed in' on you. I can send you to State's
prison on two or three charges, and your mother with you to look after
you there. Meyer, you thought you were playing your game well, but you
made a mistake from the beginning. I had you 'shadowed' on every move
you have made; there is but one way of escape for you."

"One way of escape?"

"Yes."

The baron saw that he had been beaten in the most complete manner. He
saw that indeed there was no hope for him but in the mercy of the
detective. The young man was no fool.

"How can I escape?"

"Surrender to me unharmed and uninjured Miss Amalie Speir. Do this and I
will surrender the note, and you can keep the two thousand dollars. I
permit the latter to save scandal."

"I accept your terms."

"So far so good, and now tell me why you sought to force this girl to
marry you. Tell me the whole truth and I will pay you an additional
thousand dollars."

"There is no need for me to conceal the facts."

"You are right."

"The girl is an heiress and does not know it."

"Tell me the facts."

"Her grandmother was a Mrs. Harold Stevens. Mrs. Stevens quarreled with
her husband and they separated. The husband returned to America, Mrs.
Stevens remained in Europe. Mrs. Richards made her acquaintance, and
during their intimacy Mrs. Stevens revealed the fact that she had a
daughter living in America, and that she had deposited fifty thousand
dollars to her daughter's credit to be surrendered upon identification.
She gave Mrs. Richards a picture of her child and employed her to find
the heiress, and placed matters in such shape that the money could be
paid over upon proof. Mrs. Richards failed in finding the heiress until
Miss Amalie Speir came to live with her, and then she recognized in that
girl the heiress, and determined that I should marry her, and we would
secure the deposit, which now amounts to nearly a hundred thousand
dollars."

"But Amalie is not the heiress."

"No, her mother is the heiress, but had she become m