feed it," said
madame pettishly. "The howling of the wretched thing gets on my nerves.
Give it some food for pity's sake."

"Not I," said Cleek. "Do you remember what I said, madame? I am getting
it hungry enough to eat one--or perhaps all--of Clopin's wretched little
parakeets."

"You think they have to do with the hiding of the paper or the pearl,
cher ami? Eh?"

"I am sure of it. He would not carry the beastly little things about for
nothing."

"Ah, you are clever--you are very, very clever, monsieur," she made
answer, with a laugh. "But he must begin his bird-eating quickly, that
nuisance-dog, or it will be too late. See, it is already half-past nine;
I retire to my bed in another hour and a half, as always, and then your
last hope he is gone--z-zic! like that; for it will be the end of the
second day, monsieur, and your promise not yet kept. Pestilence,
monsieur," with a little outburst of temper, "do stop the little beast
his howl. It is unbearable! I would you to sing to me like last night,
but the noise of the dog is maddening."

"Oh, if it annoys you like that, madame," said Cleek, "I'll take him
round to the stable and tie him up there, so we may have the song
undisturbed. Your men will not want to search me of course, when I am
merely popping out and popping in again like that, I am sure?"

Nevertheless they did, for although they had heard and did not stir when
he left the room and ran up for the dog, when he came down with it under
his arm and made to leave the house, he was pounced upon, dragged into
an adjoining apartment by half a dozen burly fellows, stripped to the
buff, and searched, as the workers in a diamond mine are searched,
before they suffered him to leave the house. There was neither a sign of
a pearl nor a scrap of a letter to be found upon him--they made sure of
that before they let him go.

"An enterprising lot, those lackeys of yours, madame," he said, when he
returned from tying the dog up in the stable and rejoined her in the
salon. "It will be an added pleasure to get the better of them, I can
assure you."

"Oui! if you can!" she answered, with a mocking laugh. "Clopin, cher
ami, your poor little parakeets are safe for the night--unless monsieur
grows desperate and eats them for himself."

"Even that, if it were necessary to get the pearl, madame," said Cleek,
with the utmost sang-froid. "Faugh!" looking at his watch, "a good
twenty minutes wasted by the zealousness of thos