CHAPTER I.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 137, 16 January 1886, Page 3

CHAPTER I.

THE BASKET. The Bois de Boulogne had not undergone, in 1547, the changes which in our time have made an English park of it It was thon a thinly scattered copse with few roads and paths, dusty in summer, muddy in wintor, and tha fashionable world knew no other drive than that around the fortification?. On a winter morning at that time, the Porte Maillot was a completely deserted place, where at most might be seen occa sionally an early duelist. Ivevertheless, on Ash Wednesday, in the year 1847, an unusual bustle animated the front of a rather fashion able restaurant at the corner of the Avenue de Meuilly and the Bois. Two open carriages, and three or four of those high-hung vehicle^ so much used by the young men of those days, were stationed at the door. Bright lights shone from the windows of the hotel, and young and joyous voices were heird from it. The white covering of snow extending over the road, and the great baro trees, formed a singular frame tot hi*? pavilion full of animation and light. Day was just breaking— a dark and rainy day-aud a damp vapour aro»e from thy soaked ground. The horses, which had not been unharnessed, shivered under their blanket-, wliilo the o-rooms. in whoso care they h--d been left stamped their feet upou the gtound, while cursing their misters. "Does your Viscount often h ive such, notions as'this ?M? M ?oid a tall footman with black whiskers, splendidly dre-sed i-i green livery, golden epiulets, and green cockade, to a groom of liliputian &:/". " My ma«ter, the Viscount, is nor in the ■ habit of communicating his ideas to me," answered the jockey, with an accent and indifference wholly Kngiish. ' " Really,' 5 replied a coachman, very shabbily dre?=ed in a short jacket, cut ap parently from an old overcoat of his master's, " it is no time to go to the country to sup : besides, everything is so enormously dear here." The tall footman shrugged his shoulders disdainfully, while the groom answered in a magisterial tone, " On the contrary, it is very fashionafre. I lived a year with Sir Arthur Polluck, and when we passed the season in London went very often to Hampton Court or Richmond. ' " Tis true, 'tis fashionable," repeating complaisantly this word, then very much in vogue. "My master, the Baron, -aid so again yesterday, before me." This dialogue ■wa9 interrupted by the hotelketper, half opening the door, showing his face and •white tie, and hurrying back again, after having called out, "Toby is wanted upstairs." The groom thus called confided tho fullblooded horses -which he had charge of to his companion, and ran up-stairs, where he wa3 saluted by an explosion of ennfueed cries and contradictory orders. The reveileis had arrived at that period of their orgies ■when their joy only showed itself in noise, and when tha hum of frivolity had taken the place of wit and repartee. •• Toby, you must saddle the horses." " Toby, I want the two bay horses of tho Baron harnessed to my nirrisge." '•Toby, bring us donkeys to ridt; on." All these demands, made at once, wero listened to by an English groom with perfect indifference ; motionless and erect, he did not seem in a hurry to obey them, until A clear and sonorous voice, that of his master, said rapidly the?e words : " Hired horses for every one in half an hour." Before leaving the room, the groom "bowed in so perfect a manner that the admiration of the party burst out into loud applause. 11 There is a well trained servant !" cried a personage, with massive neck and shoulders, of rather vulgar appearance, and who displayed at hi 3 button-hole various ribbons of many foreign orders. "Tip Sartilly ■only who can pick up grooms of this kind ITrom svhat English Count did you get him?" "He came from Normandy," Toby's master answered. "It is not possible I" said the decorated xnan "His mother was English," said Sartilly, impatiently ; " but let us speak no more of my groom, but rather think of arranging our morning programme." " Very well ! Bravo for the Viscount !" .three voices said together. "Then, gentlemen," continued Sartilly, "it ii? decided that we shall cross the Bois de Boulogne on horseback, in older to breakfaet at the Tete Noir at St. Cloud." "Yes, yetf," all the guests screamed in chorus, with the exception of a tall, sallow youth, who seemed absorbed in contemplation, but who aroused himself to exclaim : •'It' seems to me, gentlemen, that after a night spent at a ball, it ia fatiguing enough to come to the Porte Maillot to sup, and that it would be usele-s " " That's very well, Versoix," interrupted one of the company seated at the other end of the table. " Say rather, you are afraid j of diminishing your aunt's inheritance." "But, my dear sir, I do not possess the millions of M. de Mensignac," replied the sallow old man. „-,., " Apropos of De Menstgnac, bow did it happen he did not come to sup with us ?'" interrupted the decorated personage. " lie left me about two o'clock, to give his arm to a domino who wore a violet coloured bow on her shoulder," Toby's master answered, "and told me he would join us here; but I doubt very much his coming." "This Sartilly doubts everything," said one of the guests. " Why will not M. de Mensignac come ?" *' Because I recognised the domino who .walked with him in the foyer." *'• And this domino— who was she?" j *"i?he beautiful foreigner who drives -every day in the Champa Elyeees in a carriage drawn by four horeea unequalled in Paris." . There wae a general murmur of incredulity. . " I aaw two flurig of her hair from under her hood," replied Sartilly. "It is only the women in Titian's picture* who have hair of that shade." "But they say she is unapproachable, said the provincial ; " and, more than that, is escorted by an atrociouely jealous hue"Perfectly true," my idtfar Versoix; " her husband is » eort of mulatto, with wicked eyes, and sbarp teeth pointed ljke those of a wolf : but I suppose De MenBigna<i has found the secret of taming him. " ItiB not BurpriBing,"Baid«notbpr ; "he is * being as mysterionß as your friend De Men-

*>ignac ; and it is quif o natural that he should olea&o this Cai ibbean mulatto. Who knows if they do not conspire together ?" "Say at once that De Menf-ignac forges countorftit money," laughingly answered Kcimond de Sartilly. " Indeed, io speaking of a man who often difappears for a month, without any one knowing where hegoes, you willacknowledge ••>U s-uppo^ition* may be permitted," young Versoix's neighbour replied, rather bitterly. "It is true that his sister Jeanne do Mensignac remains alone at their house during the^e absences.' Cartilly blushed, and, with an angry glance, was going to answer harshly an attuck which appeared to wound him to the quick, when Toby's return made a fortunate diversion. The groom announced that the horses were iea.lv, and the gay party rose hurriedly from the tablo. ftach one felt the need of leaving the heavy atmosphere of the restaurant and broathing the fresh air. Day had apoea\ cd now ; tho remains of tho supper and the faces pale from fatigue looked sad in the morning light. It was a moment when sleep poweriully demands her rights, and it required all the energy of the robust men of that epoch to mount on horseback at this hour and at this season Toby had done wonders — he had found horses that could gallop, and almost clean saddles Sartilly, who had taken command of the expedition, ordered the servants to take tho horses from the carriages, and wait at the Porto Maillot the return of the riding party. A half an- hour after the party was gayly moving iv the direction of Saint Cloud. The Hoid de Boulogne was solitary, and the wido roads were covered with snow a? far a? the eyo could reach The had I begun to shine faintly through the wood, which it brightened uith a voddis-h light, for the weather had cloured now, and it was such a bright "inter morning that tho party, revived by the treshncs>? oi the air, h.td recovered, all their good humour. They talked, thov Hughed, they tang, and galloped thtir hor.-e^ much to tho displeasure of the animals. In this way they le.iohed in le^ than an hour the road tint load-, to tho bridge at Saint Cloud, when Saitilly proposed to quicken their gut still more, thdt they might nriivo sooner for breakfast. The long road which extended itself before the cavaliers w«i* almost deserted, a- only one man could be •-con, abv>ut :liii ty pace? before them This early traveller walked biiskly along tho lower side of the road, lie was dressed in a lontx, darkcolouied cloth coat, wore a broad-brimmed hat, carried a large covered basket on his arm, and looked like a Parisian shopkeeper who was going to diveit himself in tho suburbs': and as the bi^ket seemed to contain provisions, it might bo supposed that the unknown psdeslrian was going to some country picnic. A wild idea parsed through Sartilly V brain. Ho laughed and whispered to the Baron, who was trotting besiae him, and the latter transmitted the order to the rest of the patty, who soon followed him, young Ver.-oix taking the J lead. The pedestrian had turned a moment on hearing the noise of the horses' feet, and the liders saw that he looked old, and had a white beard ; but he quietly continued his walk without noticing again the little troop who were behind him. Sudd nly, Sartilly started hi= horse into ; a furious gallop, and brushing by tho stranger with a rapid motion, seized hi* basket, and carried it oif with great speed toward Saint Cloud. The old ma-i remained motionless from surprise, and the party, who expected to amuse themselves by a ridiculous chase, weie disappointed. The stupor of the stranger )a=ted but a few seconds. He neither ran nor cried out, but with a vigorous bound cleared the ditch thut bordered tho road, and with a quick step plunged into the copse, where he immediately disappeared " There s a m m ••> ho car^s very 1 t ie foi hi? breakfast," said the Barop, bui sting out laughing. '' The poor fellow ha" taken us for a band oi robbers, that's very certain."' " Sartilly is waiting for us yonder, paid young Veraoix. The Viscount, after galloping for a few momenta, had stopped in the middle of the road, holding up, with a gesture of triumph the trophy so oddly gained. In an instant he was surrounded by the joyous troop, and there was a general cry of curiosity. '•Be patient," said Sartilly, h.ugbing, "I am going to open this mysterious package, and we will ace what this stranger was carrying to ni* wife for breakfast," and lifting off the cover of ihe basket, he took out succe-sively, wilh a comic solemnity, a number of very fine napkins. "I really think his gitt was a very poor one," said he, continuing hi* inspection ; " there's plenty of table-linen here, but so far no provisions." All eyes wera five I upon the Viscount, who was unfolding a la-t wrapping of black stuff, when an exclamation of horror burst from every mouth At the bottom uf the basket had just appeared a human head. Yielding to a movement of very natural disgust, Sartilly let the funereal basket fall, the head rolling with its wrappings to the ground, the black envelope covering half of the frightful remains. No one had moved — mute from surpriseand horror, the riders remained petrified in their saddles. The joyous circle surrounding; this hideous object offered a strange picture, and the morning fog that enveloped the scene gave it almost a fantastic aspect. The wood was silent, the roctd deserted, and they all looked at each other without speaking. Sartilly was the first to shake off tho torpor which, after a terrible and unforeseen event benumb 3 the -will and paralyses the movements. An idea had just struck his bewildered biain. "The murderer !— for it is he -it is the man who was carrying the basket," cried he, raising himself in his saddle ; "he must be pursued — he must be arrested." " He rushed into the wood at the left," =<aid the Baron, showing the copse which bordered tho road. '* Let me see," said Sartilly, quietly. '' He v\ent in you say just there." '•Yes, at nearly fifty paces from this," cried two of the men at the same time. "Ah well ! then we have him. I know my Bois de Boulogne. The place where the brigand has hidden himself is not moie than thrae hundred yards in width. I have hunted there, with my friend the deputy, this winter. It is a triangle, and as there are three roads to watch, we will divide the work between us. You, Baron, gallop along the road to the left : Versoix must remain here to keep guard over the broad avenue leading to tit. Cloud, in the not very probable case that the man should return. I will take the opposite road and, if necessary, go into the wood and force the monster out of it. You," speaking to Harry, "must go to St. Cloud and bring the police officers. The general rendezvous will be at this point. Before twenty jninutes, the hunt will be finished." The Baron, very much flattered by the mission ttiat Sartilly had confided to him, made no objection to }t, but immediately started his horse in the direction indicaced. 4. moment after, young Versoix wna left alons »t jfche angle of the wood, Sartilly aud the Barpn haying already disappeared in the two angles .opposite )bhe copse.

Young Versoix, left to his reflections, looked with terror upon the dismal objoct which had been entrusted, in spito of. him self, to hU caro, and believed that no was running tho greatest danger in his ppf>t of Bentmol. Versoix was the son of a watchmaker in Geneva, who had left him a rather hiraQ fortune, with polid principles of economy. Having been only lately launched into Parisian life, he had not been able to lay aside entirely those instincts of order natural to his countrymon. At this moment he regretted bitterly being with this party, and felt an overwhelming desire to quit the place. There was really some foundation for his fears. The horrible old man that thoy werepursuingmighthavea desire of recovering tho frightful burdon which they had taken from him. Perhaps he wag there, hidden in the thickness of tho wood, ready to rush out like a wild boast chased by the hunters The unfortunate Ver-oix listened tremblingly to the various noisos which issued from tho thick cop*e ; not having dared to descend from his horse, he was still mounted upon him in the middle of the road. Every moment he hoard more and more distinctly Sartilly 'a cries calling the Baron from the other side of the thicket, and it was evidont that the courageous Viscount was pushing into the wood, forcing his way through the brushwood where the fugitive probably was hidden. The Baron, on his side, must penetrata the thicket, and if tho man pursued was still in the place, thore remained for him no other issue than the angle occupied by Versoix. Tho timid Geneveso oxamineJ with an anxious eye the road leading to Saint Cloud, for it was from there help wad to come, and he longed to see it appear. A loud crackling of branche 5 ! and tho noise of hurrying footsteps made him turn his head, and almost immediately a man appeared upon tho border of tho wood. Theio was no possibility of mistaking him, for il was really tho fugitive. lie was stinding; on the ridge of the copse ■which overlooked tho road, and was looking around him. Hid f.ico was in full view -- a pale and angular faco with white vhiskers, lightened by black eyes whoss ferocious expression tt-riilied the timid Versoix. Thup, standing on the ridge with bended legs and body raided to bound forward, tho strange old man had absolutely the appearance of a hunted wolf jut I ready to turn and give light to his pursuers. At iirft he had not obsei\ed tho Genove«e, because the latter had gone back ix tew stepa on ceexng him coming ; but it was only the affair of a second. With a glance of rhe oye, the fugitive saw tho sentinel on lior.-eback and tho ba^kot .still lying in the place where it had fallen ; but he could not sco the head, for it had rolled to the end of the lo.id, and a lar^e tuft of grass hid it from his view. The cries from the wood drew nearer and nearer, Bar Lilly's voice being distinctly heaid urging his companion on. "Go on, Baron ! This way -to the left. I saw him; wo w ill catch him. Versoix, guard the ansjW Tho fugitive waited no longer, but took his leap with prodigious vigor, crossing the road in three bounds. The first leap brought him near the basket, uhich he picked up, we may say, in his flight ; the second carried him into tho middle of the road; and with the third he reached the other s'de of the way, rushing into fun inex trioable thicket of thorns and briars. This feat of strongth was executed before even Vorsoix had thought ot pushing his hor.«e toward him, and even without giving him time to utter aery. Almost a^ soon as he had disappeared, Sartiily and the B.iron came through the same placo the old man had just leaped from. " Whero i*. he?" cried, at the same time, the two puruiers. Versoix could only point with a despairing gesture to the thick brushwood into the midtt of which the assassin had just plunged. The Viscount, quite oxhausted with his effort*, sworo a loud oath against the i\\ kwaulnt-s and cjw mlico of Versoix. Hi* hands were torn and sciatched by the briars, and his disordered dre3S showed that he had not spired himself. Both had courageous- ly jumped iroai their horses, and, tying them to a tree, had forced their way on foot into the wood. Their plan would have certainly succeeded, as they had seen tho fugitive, but now they no longer felt any inclination to continue tho pursuit. Sartilly was. however, thinking again of pushing into the brushwood, when Versoix announced that he s-a« the policeoHicers coming by the way of Saint Cloud : and, indeed, quite a large number of them could be seen >>t the end of the wide road. " Enough of h nting this morning," said Sartilly, seating himself upon the edge of tho road. "It we have failed in capturing the murderer, the police must take charge of it, for the wretch cannot be very far off now." "'And I," ?aid the Baion, "am just as well pleased not to finish the work But ■w hat an adventure l Can you understand it at all ?" "The secret is there," murmured Sartilly, pointing to the black stuff that hid the head. "But, — the basket?" he cried, suddenly. " He carried it off," replied poor Versoix, blushing, and quite ashamed of having fulfilled his miasion po badly. "It was really a piece of unheard of audacity," said the Baron, almost tempted to admire the old man who was bold enough to iofcurn to «eek this compromising proof of his criminality. " Yes, it i? very strange," repeated Sartilly, slowly. But now the measured steps of the policemen were heard distinctly, and Versoix ran to meet thorn, as if wishing to repair his former negligence by hastening to explain the facts of the case to the duel: of the police, marching at the head of his band. " I know all about it already. Let mo see the head,'' the magistrate answered with much indifference. And as the Gonevese insisted upon the necessity of immediately searching the brushwood in which the old man had bought refuge, the cfiicor added quietly : "It is useless. I know the place ; there is a marsh all round the thicket, and if the as«as:sin has entered there, he cannot come out without our permission." The two pursuers stood up on the ai rival of the police-otlicer, pointing out silently the sinister object to tho magistrate, when, on a sign from the latter, one of tho mon approached, stouped down slowly, lifting the black veil. Sartilly's heart beat as if ifc would burst On first opening the basket, he had had a glimpse of a pale and bloody head, whoso features he had not tried to distinguish. A vague presentiment had just struck him' and it eeemed to him his future life would be mixed with this etrango history. The agent unrolled the envelope with that mechanical calmness which the habitual exercise of the police functions gives, and while arranging it, had concealed his operations from the lookers on, acdwhen he had finished, drew back quickly, as if wishing to produce a sensation. A woman's head was placed on the snow, livid but still beautiful, with that appalling beauty which follows death. The open and fixed eyes seemed to be still looking ; the features were not contracted, but the mouth was open, as if uttering a last cry, and the loosened hair formed a dark frame to this colourless face. A ray of sunshine bursting out suddenly, lightened the $hick hair

wifch a strange tint; -a tint of reddish gr.ld colour— and Sartilly could not suppress this ciy ot surprise: " (Jolden hair ! Bho is tho domino of last night— she is the foreigner of the Champs Elysees?" This exclamation seemed to strike the chief of tho police powerfully, bin faco suddenly a°suming that expivsoion peculiar to discover criminals Bo might not as \et have formed any suspicion, bub his eyo:i were already questioning. Tho peouliar t-hude of haircouldnotbo forgotten by the Viscount;, and in spito of hi 3 emotion, ho understood ] it was necessary to explain him&elf I "I am sure I am not mistaken," ho said in a voice which ho tried to lender calm " The victim of this odious crimo is known to all Paris. Her name is Madame de Noreff, and she lived with hor husband at tho corner of the Boulevard dcs Invahdes atid the Kue do Varonnes. These gentlemen will testify to it." " Who aro these gentleman ?" the officer asked, after a short silence, drawing Irom his pocket a note-book and preparing to take notes. ''Baron Polard, proprietor, Charles Versoix of Geneva," answered almost at tho same time the Viscount's two companions. Tho names were inscribed in the formidable memorandum book, and Sartilly, without waiting to bo questioned, gave his name, Edmond, M 3 title and residence. "I will ask you by-and-by, gentlemen, for an exact recital of what you have just witnessed, TJie most important thing at this moment is to lay our band.*' on the miserable murdorer," the police officer said hurriedly. "He is there,' said Ver3oix, pointing 'o the brushwood. "Then he will not be there long," was the leply. " Brigadier, post two of your men on thY road, and make a tour with "he others." Tho thicket in which the tugifcive had sough* vefuge boidered the road for about sixty feet Beyond it extended a nirir-hy meadow, where it seemed impo^hiblo to yen fure without sinking deeply in tho mud. Tho a^assin h id evidently into an inuxtiicible difficulty, and his captuio v»us -imply a question of time. Tho chief commanded tho man a- 11 we s with the pezemptory tone of a man not son y to give a lesson to tho ignorant, evidently wishing to s-how Sartilly and his friends ho \ they make suro work of it in a ease liko this. 'the force surrounded the thicket, while thiee of them penotrated it, each with a loaded gun in his hand, and began a search more protracted than that of the Vi»count and Baion. Ten minutes, afteruard, with long faces and empty hands, one alone returned with a prize It was iho basket, which he had found on the biink of a half-filled well in the centre of tho wood. Ak for the fugitive, he had oscaped without leaving any other trace of his flight. The officer, very much disconcerted by his failure, made them begin tho search again, directing them himself, without obtaining a bettor rebiilt. Tho my>teriou9 old m*n had vanished like a phantom, and his appearance might have pa?scd for a drcun^had not the severed head been there to recall tho sad reality to tho witness of the scene. They could not help admitting that the perpetrator of an abominable ciime had just, for this day at least, escaped their pursuit ; but tho officer affirmed that it would not bo so difficult to discover tho truth, as tho victim could be identified. " Ihe man must havo escaped before our aniv.il," added he, addressing himself to ono ot his company ; and after pronouncing this sen U nee, intended to console the pcli love of hit men, tho mag is ti ate pioceedcd vapidly to tl.e examination of the basket. Mo took out first the fine n? plans that had covered the head, and found them without marks, and then ho brought out an article that, no one had seen when the basket was first opened. It was a red morocco pocket bo jk, tnat siomad tj havo been rilled hastily, lor it was empty and Lorn in many places. " Oh, oh !" said the officer, in a satisfied tone, " here is something that will aid us. There is a coat of arm* stamped upon the cover. It is mei edible how unskilful thc r o murdereis are," added he a« it speaking to him&elf. While the man was examining thig accusing pioco, S.iitillys eye followed him anxiously. A vague "instinct impelled the Viscount! to think that the arms engraved upon tho pocket-book wero known to him, at tho s>nuio time an unaccountable feeling nailed him to the spot. He was reluctant to touch the articlo that had been in the bloody hands of the murderer, and, nevertheless in spite of himself, he felt dmwn to it by a feverish curiosity. He had already a question upon his lip-<, but his natural goud sense re strained him from asking it. Happii Vj it had occurred to him that it, wai always imprudent to meddle too much with police aiEiirs, and as this strange adventure would very probably expose him to a p- re at manj disagreeable intcrrogatoiiegj it was be ter not to provoke them. He remained silent, therefore, and while the officer crave orders to carry away tho funereil object, his ideas took another turn, and hig imagination rapidly callimr up all the epioodea of this strango history, with a aincular cle^rnosd he perceived the sinking points of it, Tho old man, after rushing into the wood, had not tiied to escape, although ho certainly had had ample time to do co ; rhcrefoie, a powerful interebfc must have ret lined him, and still more, he had bravod the danger of an almost certain .irroat in older to recover the basket. Was it not ovident., then, that the necessity of obtaining possession of important paporw could havo alone induced him to expose himself thus Sartilly folt certain that tho pocket-bonk was near hie hands when he had removed tho napkin?, his surprise and disgust having alone preventer! him from seeing it, and when the head rolled on the ground, the important paper? must have letuained at the bottom of the basket Tho incredible audacity of tho nnudorer might be explained in this way The pocket-book had held his secret. But what secret ? Could this hoirible old man of the Bois de Boulogno be, indeed, the husband of Ihe beautiful foreigner with tho golden hair- this Madame Ncreff that Sartilly thought ho had tncfc at the Opera a few hours before ? Theßaronand Viscount had merely a glimpse of the mysterious mnr derer. lie had escaped too quickly for them to be able"to recognise him. Versoix alone had had the opportunity of seeing him at the 1 ime of his last appearauce ; but he, only lately arrived from Geneva, and knowing very little of Parisian life, had probably never seen the ferocious husband of whom they were speaking at the Porte Maillot. "I am a fool to worry my brains in this way,' said Sartilly, at last, after five minutes of painfulthought. "It is the business of the police to clear up these affairs. I must have been mistaken at the ball, and my friend De Mensignac has nothing to do with this hideous tragedy. Tp saUafy myself, I will call at his house this morning." ' "I muet go back to Saint Cloud," he paid in a less official manner, " I havo no time to lose, as it will be necessary for me to go to Paris to give an account of this affair. It is useless to remind you, gentlemen, that

wo '-hall very soon have need of y our testimony in this cise." " We are at; ynuv orders, and ulso quite dispo=rd fco do justtco to your Hoal," said flic portly Barou, alwa\n rlehjihiod to be iti tho foreground. "While waiting, will you permit mo to a«k what think oi this incrodibla discovery V" "It is vory difficult as yet to give an opinion, ' 1 ©plied the magihtiate, complaisantly, flattered by tho piai'es of the Buion. "We have, perhaps, put our hand on what may prove a tarfamed crime, although I have sometime been an equally strange affair turn out a mere trille." " But the head -the bafikofc ?" " Who knows if ifc may not bo simply a surgeon ca-rying homo a subject to amatomiso, and who was frightened by your attack and pursuit?" "That is true/ said the Baron and Versoix at <ho same time, lather inclined to accept any explanation whatever. " This gentleman may bo mirtaken, 1 ' said the officer, pointing to Sartilly, who did not seem to have any faith in hia sugges tion ; " all blonde hair is alike." Tho Viscount was going to answer, for an inexplicable feeling piompted him to meddle in this affair, and it was with difficulty he could restrain the violent deeirehe felt to see again the head that tha men had just wrapped up in its black coveting, when the sound of hordes' feet trotting quickly along the wide avenue directed his atten tion, and his surprise was very great on seeing Toby mounted on the bay horse he drove in his cabriolet. Jt must be something very serious that could have induced Toby to saddle and mount so valuable a horse, exclusively intended for a carriage. Sartilly, quite uneasy at the sight, advanced to the middle of the road, and made a gesture to the groom, who stopped tho rapid motion of his horse with a celerity worthy of the admiration of Baron Poland. Eiect and motion Ip^s, he stood within \ wo paces of his master, with one hand rai«>od to his cap, the other holdincr his bridlo. " What is the matter ?" said in Enc'li^h, from instinct prefen ing not to have too many listeners to the nowa by Toby. " A. letter that a footman of tbo Matquis do Men«ignac brought to the Port Maillot, de.^iritig me not to lose a momont in handing if. to you, &ir " " Jear.nu's handwriting,"' murmured Kartjllv, taking the letter quickly : ' ifc is singular !'" He broke tho seal, and road with emotion thoso words, written in a lino and trembling hand : "T must see you to-day. Gome." There was no signature, but the Viscount knew the hand that had wiittcn these laconic words, for he turned pule, and gave his orders to Toby in a broken voice : "(Jet down, and lengthen Ralph's stirrups. lam going to mount him. Go to Saint Cloud with these gentlemen, and hire a hor-e to biing back the carnage to Paris." The groom obeyed silently, and Sartilly jumped in the saddle without lernarking rhe singular express-ion of Tobj's eyes, that followed persistingly the movements of the police-officers. Toby'/ astonishment at seoing this array in tho middlo of the Roide Boulogne was not sur puling, therefore no one noticed it. Tho Viscount drew near Iho party to shake hands with his friend?, and to excuso his sudden departure to the officer, caused, ho said, by urgent business. The magistra o accepted his excuses very graciously, only begging him to give him a little fmther information before leaving, as he wished to know if the Vis count recognised tho coat of arms stamped on the pocket-book, which he held out to him for inspection. " Azure, a chevron or, surmounted by a Marquis's coronei," the Baron rapidly said, vory de&irous of showing his heraldic knowledge. Sartilly had put hid hand forward to examine tin wkot-^ook, bat ho started back quickly and said to the officer, '* Ido not know this coat of ,nni\" He had becomo livid Iy pale, .md galloped off furiously, muttering these wu:d.- : "The De Meiifignac'b cjafc of aima Joannes letter -thcie js some trouble, and I will be there Loo late." {To bo Continued )