t whose
boot-soles had left a sort of sooty impression. How had this man got
away? How had he vanished? Don't forget, monsieur, that there is no
chimney in The Yellow Room. He could not have escaped by the door, which
is narrow, and on the threshold of which the concierge stood with the
lamp, while her husband and I searched for him in every corner of the
little room, where it is impossible for anyone to hide himself. The
door, which had been forced open against the wall, could not conceal
anything behind it, as we assured ourselves. By the window, still in
every way secured, no flight had been possible. What then?--I began to
believe in the Devil.

"'But we discovered my revolver on the floor!--Yes, my revolver! Oh!
that brought me back to the reality! The Devil would not have needed to
steal my revolver to kill Mademoiselle. The man who had been there had
first gone up to my attic and taken my revolver from the drawer where
I kept it. We then ascertained, by counting the cartridges, that the
assassin had fired two shots. Ah! it was fortunate for me that Monsieur
Stangerson was in the laboratory when the affair took place and had seen
with his own eyes that I was there with him; for otherwise, with this
business of my revolver, I don't know where we should have been,--I
should now be under lock and bar. Justice wants no more to send a man to
the scaffold!'"

The editor of the "Matin" added to this interview the following lines:

"We have, without interrupting him, allowed Daddy Jacques to recount
to us roughly all he knows about the crime of The Yellow Room. We have
reproduced it in his own words, only sparing the reader the continual
lamentations with which he garnished his narrative. It is quite
understood, Daddy Jacques, quite understood, that you are very fond of
your masters; and you want them to know it, and never cease repeating
it--especially since the discovery of your revolver. It is your right,
and we see no harm in it. We should have liked to put some further
questions to Daddy Jacques--Jacques--Louis Moustier--but the inquiry
of the examining magistrate, which is being carried on at the chateau,
makes it impossible for us to gain admission at the Glandier; and, as
to the oak wood, it is guarded by a wide circle of policemen, who are
jealously watching all traces that can lead to the pavilion, and that
may perhaps lead to the discovery of the assassin. "We have also wished
to question the concierges, but