y bad language to Dubois, notwithstanding the
presence of the lady, but he paid little heed to me, and the pair at
once undertook the most curious proceedings I have ever witnessed.

"They had before them a table set out with all sorts of paint, paste,
and powders, such as one might expect to find in an actor's
dressing-room.

"Sitting himself astride a chair so that the light fell on his face,
Dubois submitted himself to the skilful hands of the woman, who
forthwith began to make him up in an exact resemblance to me. The right
side of his face was towards me, but when, in obedience to her
requirements, he turned somewhat, I noticed to my astonishment that the
scar which I have mentioned had completely disappeared, and then I saw
that his Turkish complexion had also vanished, leaving him a
particularly white-skinned Frenchman, with a high colour."

"Ah!" said Brett, leaning back in his chair and attentively surveying
the ceiling.

"You must remember," went on Talbot, "that my wits were somewhat
confused by the extraordinary circumstances of the hour. Having been so
suddenly awakened from a sound sleep, and subsequently annoyed by the
incident of the letter, it took me some moments to recognize these
discrepancies in his appearance. At first, so to speak, I knew him
immediately as Dubois, but the more I looked at him the less confident I
would have been were it not that his voice and manner supplied unerring
indications of his identity.

"The lady proceeded with her work in the most business-like fashion, and
to my intense amazement he quickly assumed a marked resemblance to
myself. Not such, perhaps, as would bear close scrutiny, but rather the
effect attained by a skilful artist in a rapid sketch, or caught by a
fleeting glance whilst passing a mirror.

"'What is the game now?' I cried, when the true nature of their purpose
dawned upon me.

"'Oh, just the same,' replied Dubois, grinning, 'I merely wish to puzzle
the thick-headed brains of you Englishmen a little more. That is all.'

"'Halloa!' I cried, 'you understand English?'

"'Yes,' he answered coolly. 'It is frequently necessary in my business.'

"'Well,' I said, 'there can be no doubt that you are an accomplished
villain. What you intend to achieve by masquerading in this fashion I
utterly fail to understand. You can never be such a fool as to think
that you will be able to gain admittance to Albert Gate by impersonating
me. Were you even to succeed y