uld still go away must
be acting under compulsion--must be obeying a will stronger than
his own. That was how I reasoned, and I told him so. He replied
'Perhaps.'--I asked him if Mademoiselle Stangerson was compelling him.
He protested that she was not. His determination to go to Paris had been
taken without any conference with Mademoiselle Stangerson.

"To cut the story short, he repeated that his belief in the possibility
of a fresh attack was founded entirely on the extraordinary coincidence.
'If anything happens to Mademoiselle Stangerson,' he said, 'it would be
terrible for both of us. For her, because her life would be in danger;
for me because I could neither defend her from the attack nor tell of
where I had been. I am perfectly aware of the suspicions cast on me.
The examining magistrate and Monsieur Larsan are both on the point of
believing in my guilt. Larsan tracked me the last time I went to Paris,
and I had all the trouble in the world to get rid of him.'

"'Why do you not tell me the name of the murderer now, if you know it?'
I cried.

"Monsieur Darzac appeared extremely troubled by my question, and replied
to me in a hesitating tone:

"'I?--I know the name of the murderer? Why, how could I know his name?'

"I at once replied: 'From Mademoiselle Stangerson.'

"He grew so pale that I thought he was about to faint, and I saw that I
had hit the nail right on the head. Mademoiselle and he knew the name of
the murderer! When he recovered himself, he said to me: 'I am going to
leave you. Since you have been here I have appreciated your exceptional
intelligence and your unequalled ingenuity. But I ask this service of
you. Perhaps I am wrong to fear an attack during the coming night; but,
as I must act with foresight, I count on you to frustrate any attempt
that may be made. Take every step needful to protect Mademoiselle
Stangerson. Keep a most careful watch of her room. Don't go to sleep,
nor allow yourself one moment of repose. The man we dread is remarkably
cunning--with a cunning that has never been equalled. If you keep watch
his very cunning may save her; because it's impossible that he should
not know that you are watching; and knowing it, he may not venture.'

"'Have you spoken of all this to Monsieur Stangerson?'

"'No. I do not wish him to ask me, as you just now did, for the name of
the murderer. I tell you all this, Monsieur Rouletabille, because I have
great, very great, confidence in you. I