n the tunnel through
which we came. Will you wait for me here while I go back and search?"

She nodded, and I went back into that interminable tunnel again.

CHAPTER XXI

THE BAIT THAT LURED

I went along the tunnel in the direction of _le Vieil Ange_. It was
broad day now, and the distance between the cataract and the open
ground where the gold had been mined was sufficiently short for the
whole length of the passage to be faintly visible.

It was a reach of deep twilight, brightening into sunlight at either
end.

I picked my way carefully, peering into the numerous small caves and
fissures in the wall on either hand. And I was about half-way through
when I saw a shadow running in front of me and making no sound.

It was Duchaine. There could be no mistaking that tall, gaunt figure,
just visible against the distant day.

He was running in his bare feet and, therefore, in complete silence,
and he leaped across the rocky floor as though he wore moccasins.

I raced along the tunnel after him. But he seemed to be endowed with
the speed of a deer, for he kept his distance easily, and I would never
have caught him had he not stopped for an instant at the approach of
the ledge.

There, just as he was poising himself to leap, I seized him by the arm.

"M. Duchaine! M. Duchaine! Stop!" I implored him. "Don't you know
that I am your friend and only wish you well? I am your friend--your
daughter Jacqueline's friend. I want to save you!"

He did not attempt violence, but gazed at me with hesitation and
pathetic doubt.

"They want to catch me," he muttered. "They want to hang me. He has
got a gallows ready for me to swing on, because I killed a soldier in
the Fenian raids. But it wasn't I," he added with sudden cunning. "It
was my brother, who looks like me. He died long ago. Let me go,
_monsieur_. I am a poor, harmless old man. I shall not hurt anybody."

I took his hand in mine.

"M. Duchaine," I answered. "I wish you everything that is best in the
world. I am your friend; I want to save you, not to capture you. Come
back with me, _monsieur_, and I will take you away----"

The wild look came into his eyes again.

"No, no!" he screamed, trying to wrest himself from my grasp and
measuring the distance across the ledge with his eye. "I will not go
away. This is my home. I want to live here in peace. I want my
wheel! Monsieur, give me my wheel. I have perfected a system.
Listen!"