he prisoner turned to
Cesarine, and muttered something rapidly under his breath, in
German. "Of which tongue," he said, turning to us blandly, "in spite
of my kind present of a dictionary and grammar, you still doubtless
remain in your pristine ignorance!"

Cesarine flung herself upon him with wild devotion. "Oh, Paul,
darling," she cried, in English, "I will not, I will not! I
will never save myself at _your_ expense. If they send you to
prison--Paul, Paul, I will go with you!"

I remembered as she spoke what Mr. Algernon Coleyard had said to us
at the Senator's. "Even the worst of rogues have always some good
in them. I notice they often succeed to the end in retaining the
affection and fidelity of women."

But the man, his hands still free, unwound her clasping arms with
gentle fingers. "My child," he answered, in a soft tone, "I am sorry
to say the law of England will not permit you to go with me. If it
did" (his voice was as the voice of the poet we had met), "'stone
walls would not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.'" And bending
forward, he kissed her forehead tenderly.

We led him out to the door. The policeman, in obedience to Charles's
orders, held him tight with his hand, but steadily refused, as the
prisoner was not violent, to handcuff him. We hailed a passing
hansom. "To Bow Street!" Charles cried, unceremoniously pushing in
policeman and prisoner. The driver nodded. We called a four-wheeler
ourselves, in which my brother-in-law, Dr. Beddersley and myself
took our seats. "Follow the hansom!" Charles cried out. "Don't let
him out of your sight. After him, close, to Bow Street!"

I looked back, and saw Cesarine, half fainting, on the front door
steps, while Dolly, bathed in tears, stood supporting the
lady's-maid, and trying to comfort her. It was clear she had not
anticipated this end to the adventure.

"Goodness gracious!" Charles screamed out, in a fresh fever of
alarm, as we turned the first corner; "where's that hansom gone to?
How do I know the fellow was a policeman at all? We should have
taken the man in here. We ought never to have let him get out of
our sight. For all we can tell to the contrary, the constable
himself--may only be one of Colonel Clay's confederates!"

And we drove in trepidation all the way to Bow Street.

XII

THE EPISODE OF THE OLD BAILEY

When we reached Bow Street, we were relieved to find that our
prisoner, after all, had _not_ evaded us. It was a false