in his expressions of gratitude.
Brett soon cut him short.

"Here," he said, "are a couple of louis for your immediate necessities.
I am living at the Grand Hotel, and I want you to call there each
morning at ten o'clock. You will inquire at the office if Mr. Brett has
left any message for you. Then, if I need your services, I will be able
to reach you early."

Petit protested that he would serve monsieur most willingly, and soon
afterwards the barrister took leave of the commissary, promising to keep
him fully posted as to further developments, and secure for him, and him
only, the ultimate credit of capturing such a noted thief as Dubois.
Fate settled matters differently.

The French official was already much impressed by Brett's method of
handling this difficult inquiry, and he consented readily enough not
only to assist him in every possible way, but to restrain the police
from further active interference in the case until matters had developed
from their present stage.

During the afternoon Brett received a visit from his actor acquaintance,
who brought him a telegram from Marseilles. It read--

"Mlle. Beauclaire has obtained an engagement here at the Palais de
Glace. She makes her first appearance on Monday evening."

Brett smiled as he realized how accurately he had interpreted the
actions of La Belle Chasseuse and her companion.

"This is certain," he said to himself. "They left Paris on Thursday
night and they probably will not reach Marseilles until Monday. I have
plenty of time to hear Talbot's story from his own lips before I take
my departure for the South."

An hour later he was seated in his room smoking and reading a magazine
when the waiter appeared.

"A lady and three gentlemen wish to see monsieur," he explained.

He rose promptly, and accompanied the man to the foot of the staircase.
There, near the elevator, he saw Edith Talbot, Lord Fairholme, and Sir
Hubert Fitzjames, whilst with them was a tall, handsome young man, in
whom the fair outlines of the girl's face were repeated in sterner and
bolder characteristics.

Edith was the first to catch sight of him. She sprang forward and cried
with an impulsiveness that showed how deeply her quiet nature had been
stirred.

"Oh, Mr. Brett, I cannot tell you how grateful I am to you! Here is my
brother!"

The two men shook hands and looked at each other with a natural
curiosity, for seldom had an acquaintance been made after more exciting
pr