Part 21 (2/2)

Will her o to her at once?”

It was sos--down a flight of ill-lighted stone stairs which demanded cautious ascent and descent Theodore had orders to obstruct theher suspicions

I reckoned that she would be fully threewas a hoax, and running back to the dressing-room--three minutes in which to open the chest, extract the bracelet and, incidentally, anything else of value there ht of that eventuality, too; one enius comes in

Then, if possible, relock the safe, so that theapparently in order and would not, perhaps, raise the alarm until I was safely out of the theatre

It could be done--oh, yes, it could be done--with a minute to spare!

And to-morrow at ten o'clock M Jean Duval would appear, and I would not part with the bracelet until a thousand francs had passed froet Theodore out of the house, by the way, before the arrival of M Duval

A thousand francs! I had not seen a thousand francs all at once for years What a dinner I would have tomorrow! There was a certain little restaurant in the Rue des Pipots where they concocted a cassolette of goose liver and pork chops with haricot beans which! I only tell you that

How I got through the rest of that day I cannot tell you The evening found e of the Theatre Royal, nodding to one or two acquaintances, rave respect and talking offor an introduction to the great tragedienne, who, very exclusive as usual, had so far given me the cold shoulder

Ten minutes after the rise of the curtain on the fourth act I was in the dressing-rooht from a cheapjack's barrow for five and twenty francs--almost the last of the fifty which I had received fro the locket so thanks for it when there came a hurried knock at the door

The next ly face into the roo an excellent disguise--peaked cap set aslant over one eye, grimy face, the blouse of a scene-shi+fter

”Mlle Mars,” he gasped breathlessly; ”she has been taken ill--on the stage--very suddenly She is in the wings--asking for her maid They think she will faint”

The dahtened

”I'll cohtest flurry she picked up the key of the safe and slipped it into her pocket I fancied that she gave ails! Then she pointed unceremoniously to the door

”Milor!” was all she said, but of course I understood I had no idea that English milors could be thus treated by pert maidens But what cared I for social amenities just then? My hand had closed over the duplicate key of the safe, and I walked out of the room in the wake of the dae, the girl started to run A second or two later I heard the patter of her high-heeled shoes down the stone stairs I had not a -roo in front of the chest The key fitted the lock accurately; one turn, and the lid flew open

The chest was filled with aloose--showy necklaces, chains, pendants, all of the beneath them, and partially hidden by the meretricious ornaments, were one or two boxes covered with velvet such as jewellers use My keen eyes noted these at once I was indeed in luck! For the moment, however, my hand fastened on a leather case which reposed on the top in one corner, and which very obviously, from its shape, contained a bracelet My hands did not tre with excitement I opened the case There, indeed, was the bracelet--the large green stones, the ly beautiful If it were real--the thought flashed through my mind--it would be indeed priceless I closed the case and put it on the dressing-table beside me I had at least another minute to spare--sixty seconds wherein to dive for those velvet-covered boxes which-- My hand was on one of theht noise caused me suddenly to turn and to look behindI just saw a -table showedthe bracelet had gone, and at that precise moment I heard a co at the top of her voice: ”Thief! Stop thief!”

Then, Sir, I brought upon the perilous situation that presence of mind for which the name of Hector Ratichon will for ever rele flurried movement, I slipped one of the velvet-covered cases which I still had in my hand into the breast pocket of my coat, I closed down the lid of the iron chest and locked it with the duplicate key, and I went out of the rooe was dark The dae hands behind her She was explaining to them volubly, and to the accompaniment of sundry half-hysterical little cries, the infaht think, Sir, that here was I caught like a rat in a trap, and with that velvet-covered case in ainst me!

Not at all, Sir! Not at all! Not so is Hector Ratichon, the keenest secret agent France has ever known, the confidant of kings, brought to earth by an untoward e hands had reached the top of the stairs and turned into the corridor, which was on ht and found shelter in a narrow doorhere I was screened by the surrounding darkness and by a projection of the fraht for Made-roo varied ejaculations when they found the place and the chest to all appearances untouched, I slipped out ofthe corridor, and was soon half-way down the stairs

Here ood stead It enabled h the crowd behind the scenes--supers, scene-shi+fters, principals, none of whom seemed to be aware as yet of the hoax practised on Madee door exactly five minutes after Theodore had called the damsel away

But I was minus the bracelet, and in my mind there was the firm conviction that that traitor Theodore had playedhad occurred as quickly as a flash of lightning, but even so my keen, experienced eyes had retained the impression of a peaked cap and the corner of a blue blouse as they disappeared through the dressing-rooth were all required, you must admit, in order to deal with the present delicate situation I was speeding along the Rue de Richelieu on ht there, where I had a chair-bedstead on which I had oft before slept soundly after a day's hard work, and anyhoas too late to go to s at Passy at this hour

Moreover, Theodore slept in the antechamber of the office, and I was more firmly convinced than ever that it was he who had stolen the bracelet ”Blackleg! Thief! Traitor!” I mused ”But thou hast not done with Hector Ratichon yet”