24 
LAND & WATER 
February 22, 191 7 
here. Observe that, in their eyes, it was a safe spot for the 
job, because they knew for ceratin tfiat yovi and I had not dis- 
covered the trap. Nevertheless, we may assume that it was a 
provisional base of ojjerations. adopted for part of the night 
tnly. and tliat Simeon reckoned on leaving Little Mother 
Coralie in the hands of his accomplice and setting out in search 
of a definite place of confinement, a permanent prison. But 
luckily — and I'm rather proud of this— Ya- Hon was on the 
sfKit. Ya-Bon was watching on his bench, in the dark. He 
must have seen them cross the embankment and no doubt 
recognised Simeon's walk in the distance. We'll take it that 
he gave chase at once, jumped on to the deck of the barge and 
aiTived here at the same time as the enemy, before they had 
time to lock themselves in. Four jjcople in this narrow space, 
in pitch darkness, must have meant a frightful uplieaval. 
I know my Ya-Bon. He's terrible at such times. I'nfor- 
tunately, it was not Sim(fon whom he caught by tlie neck with 
that merciless hand of his, but . . . the woman. Simeon 
took advantage of this. He had not let go of Little Mother 
Coralie. He picked her up in his arms, went up the com- 
panion way, flung htr on the deck and then came back to 
lock the door on the two as they struggled." 
" Do you think so ? Do you think it was Ya-Bbn and not 
Simfen who killed the woman ? 
" I'm sure of it. If there were no other proof, there is this 
particular fracture of the wind-pipe, which is Ya-Bon's 
special mark. What I do not under-^tand is why, when he 
had settled his adversary, Ya-Hon didn't break down the 
door with a push of his shoulder and go after Simeon. I 
presume that he was wounded, and that he liad not the 
strength to make the necessary effort. I presume also that 
the woman did not die at once and that she sjx)ke, saying 
things against Simeon, who had abandoned her instead of 
defending her. This much is certain, that Ya-Bon broke the 
window-panes. 
" To jump into the Seine, wounded as he was, with his 
one arm ? " said Patrice. 
" Not at all. There's a ledge running along the window. 
He could set his feet on it and get off that way." 
" Very well. But he was quite ten or twenty minutes 
' <'hind Simeon ? 
' Tiiat didn't matter, if the woman had time, before dying, 
i>. tell him where Simeon was taking refuge." 
' How can we get to know ? 
" I've been trying to find out all the time that we've been 
chatting . . . and I've just discovered the way." 
■• Here ? " 
" This minute ; and I expected no less from Ya-Bon. 
The woman told him of a place in the cabin- — look, that open 
drawer, probably — in which there was a visiting-card with 
an address on it. Ya-Bon took it and, in order to let me 
know, pinned the card to the curtain over there. I had seen 
it already ; but it was only this moment that I noticed the 
pin that fi.xed it, a gold pin with which I myself fastened the 
Morocco Cross to Ya-Bon's breast." 
" Wliat is the address ? " 
" Amcdc'e Vacherot, 18, Rue Guimard. The Rue Guimard 
1^ close to this, which makes me quite sure of the road they 
took." 
The two men at once went away, leaving the woman's 
dead body behind. As Don Luis said, the police must make 
what they could of it. 
As they crossed Berthou's Wharf, they glanced at the recess 
and Don Luis ri marked : 
" There's a ladder missing. We must remember that detail. 
Simeon has been in there. He's beginning to make blunders 
too." 
The car took them to the Rue Guimard, a small street in 
Passy. No. 18 was a large house let out in flats, of fairly 
ancient construction. It was two o'clock in the morning 
when they rang. 
A long time elajjsed before the door opened ; and, as they 
passed througli he carriage-entrance, the porter put his head 
out of his lodge : 
" Who's there ? " he asked. 
" We want to see M. Amtdte Vacherot on lu'gent business." 
" That's myself." 
" You ? " ' 
" Yes, I, the porter. But by what right. . . . ? " 
" Orders of the Prefect of Police," said Don Luis, displaying 
a badge. 
They entered the lodge. AmMee Vacherot was a little, 
resjx'ctable-looking old man, with white whiskers. He 
might have been a beadle. 
" Answer my questions plainly," Don Luis ordered, in a 
rough voice, " and don't try to prevaricate. We are looking 
for a man called Simeon Diodokis." 
The porter took fright at once : 
" To do him harm ? " he exclaimed. " If it's to do him 
harm, it's no use asking me any questions. I would rather 
die by slow torture than injure that kind M. Simeon." 
Don Luis assumed a gentler ton(> : ». 
" Do him harm ? On the contrary, we are looking for him 
to do him a service, to save him from a great danger. " 
" A great danger ? " cried M. Vacherot. " Oh, I'm not at 
all surprised ! I never saw him in such a state of excitement." 
" Then he's been here ? " 
" Yes, since midnight." 
" Is he here now ? " 
" No, he went away again." 
Patrice made a despairing gesture and asked : 
" Perhaps he left some one behind ? " 
" No, but he intended to bring someone." 
" A lady ? " 
M. Vacherot hesitated. 
" We know," Don Luis resumed, " that Simeon Diodokis 
was trying to find a place of safety in which to shelter a lady 
for whom he entertained the deepest respect." 
" Can you tell me the lady's name ? " asked the porter, still 
on his guard. 
" Certainly, Mme Essares, the widow of the banker In 
whom Simeon used to act as secretary. Mme. Essares is a 
victim of persecution ; he is defending her against her enemies . 
and, as we ourselves want to help the two of them and to take 
this criminal business in hand, we must insist that 
you . . ." 
" Oh, well !" said M. Vacherot, now fully reassured. " 1 
have known Simeon Diodokis for ever so many years. He was 
very good to me at the time when I was working for an under- 
taker ; he lent me money ; he got me my present job ; and he 
used often to come and sit in mv lodge and talk about heaps 
of things ..." 
" Such as his relations with Essares Bey ? " asked Don Luis, 
carelessly. " Or his plans concerning Patrice Belval ? " 
" Heaps of things," said the porter, after a further hesita- 
tion. " He is one of the best of men, does a lot of good and 
used to employ me in distributing his local charity. And 
just now again he was risking fiis life for Mme. Essares." 
" One more word. Had you seen him since Essares Bey's 
death ? " 
" No, it was the first time. He arrived a little before 
one o'clock. He was out of breath and spoke in a low voice, 
listening to the sounds of the street outside : ' I've been 
followed,' said he, ' I've been foOowed. I could swear it.' 
' By whom ? ' said I. ' You don't know him,' said he. ' He 
has only one hand, but he wrings your neck for you.' And 
then he stopped. And then he began again, ill a whisper, so 
that I could hardly hear : ' Listen to me, you're coming 
vnth me. We're going to fetch a lady, Mme. Essares. They 
want to kill her. I've hidden her all right, but she's fainted : 
we shall have to carry her . . . Or no, I'll go alone. 
I'll manage. But I want to know, is my room still free ? ' I 
must tell you, he has a little lodging here, since the day when 
he too had to hide himself. He used to come to it some- 
times and he kept it on in case he might want it, for it's a 
detached Ibdging, away from the other tenants." 
" Wliat did he do after that ? " asked Patrice, anxiously. 
" After that, he went away." 
" But why isn't he back yet ? " 
" I admit that it's alarming. Perhaps the man who was 
following him has attacked him. Or perhaps something has 
happened to the lady." 
" What do you mean, something happened to the lady ? " 
" I'm afraid something may have. When he first showed 
me the way we should have to go to fetch her, he said, ' Quick, 
we must hurry. To save her life, I had to put her in a hole. ' 
That's all very well for two or three hours. But, if she's 
left longer, she will suffocate. The want of air . . ." 
Patrice had leapt upon the old man. He was beside him- 
self, maddened at the thought that Coralie, ill and worn-out 
as she was, might be at the point of death in some unknown 
place, a prey to terror and suffering. 
" You shall speak," he cried, " and this very minute ! You 
shall take us where she is ! Oh, don't imagine that you can 
fool us any longer ! Where is she ? You know ! He told you ! " 
He was shaking M. Vacherot by the shoulders and hurling 
his rage into the old man's face with unspeakable violence. 
Don Luis, on the other hand, stood chuckling : 
"Splendid, captain," he said, "splendid! My best com- 
pliments ! You're making real progress since I joined forces 
with you. M. Vacherot will go through fire and water for 
us now." 
" Well, you see if I don't make the fellow speak," shouted 
Patrice. 
" You refuse to speak, do you ? You refuse to speak ? " 
In his exasperation, Patrice drew his revolver and aim'ed 
it at the man. 
{To be continued.) 
