XVI + 

Restitution + 

For all that success had rewarded his effrontery, LanyardтАЩs mind was far from easy during the subsequent hour that he spent before attempting to rejoin Lucy Shannon, dodging, ducking and doubling across Paris and back again, with design to confuse and confound any jackals of the Pack that might have picked up his trail as adventitiously as Ekstrom had. + 

His delight, indeed, in discomfiting his dupe was chilled by apprehension that it were madness, simply because the spy had proved unexpectedly docile, to consider the affaire Ekstrom closed. In the very fact of that docility inhered something strange and ominous, a premonition of evil which was hardly mitigated by finding the girl safe and sound under the wing of madame la concierge, in the little court of private stables, where he rented space for his car, off the rue des Acacias. + 

Monsieur le concierge, it appeared, was from home; and madame, thick-witted, warmhearted, simple body that she was, discovered a phase of beaming incuriosity most grateful to the adventurer, enabling him as it did to dispense with embarrassing explanations, and to whisk the girl away as soon as he liked. + 

This last was just as soon as personal examination had reassured him with respect to his automobileтБатАФsuperficially an ordinary motor-cab of the better grade, but with an exceptionally powerful engine hidden beneath its hood. A car of such character, passing readily as the town-car of any family in modest circumstances, or else as what Paris calls a voiture de remise (a hackney car without taximeter) was a tremendous convenience, enabling its owner to scurry at will about cab-ridden Paris free of comment. But it could not be left standing in public places at odd hours, or for long, without attracting the interest of the police, and so was useless in the present emergency. Lanyard, however, entertained a shrewd suspicion that his plans might all miscarry and the command of a fast-travelling car soon prove essential to his salvation; and he cheerfully devoted a good half-hour to putting the motor in prime trim for the road. + 

With this accomplishedтБатАФand the facts established through discreet interrogation of madame la concierge that no enquiries had been made for тАЬPierre Lamier,тАЭ and that she had noticed no strange or otherwise questionable characters loitering in the neighbourhood of lateтБатАФhe was ready for his first real step toward rehabilitation.тБатАКтБатАж + 

It was past one in the morning when, with the girl on his arm, he issued forth into the dark and drowsy rue des Acacias and, moving swiftly, crossed the avenue de la Grande Arm├йe. Thereafter, avoiding main-travelled highways, they struck southward through tangled side streets to aristocratic Passy, skirted the boulevards of the fortifications, and approached the private park of La Muette. + 

The h├┤tel particulier of that wealthy and amiable eccentric, Madame H├йl├иne Omber, was a souvenir of those days when Passy had been suburban. A survival of the Revolution, a vast, dour pile that had known few changes since the days of its construction, it occupied a large, unkempt park, irregularly triangular in shape, bounded by two streets and an avenue, and rendered private by high walls crowned with broken glass. Carriage gates opened on the avenue, guarded by a porterтАЩs lodge; while of three posterns that pierced the walls on the side streets, one only was in general use by the servants of the establishment; the other two were presumed to be permanently sealed. + 

Lanyard, however, knew better. + 

When they had turned off from the avenue, he slackened pace and moved at caution, examining the prospect narrowly. + 

On the one hand rose the wall of the park, topped by naked, soughing limbs of neglected trees; on the other, across the way, a block of tall old dwellings, withdrawn behind jealous garden walls, showed stupid, sleepy faces and lightless eyes. + 

Within the perspective of the street but three shapes stirred; Lanyard and the girl in the shadow of the wall, and a disconsolate, misprized cat that promptly decamped like a terror-stricken ghost. + 

Overhead the sky was breaking and showing ebon patches and infrequent stars through a wind-harried wrack of cloud. The night had grown sensibly colder, and noisy with the rushing sweep of a new-sprung wind. + 

Several yards from the postern-gate, Lanyard paused definitely, and spoke for the first time in many minutes; for the nature of their errand had oppressed the spirits of both and enjoined an unnatural silence, ever since their departure from the rue des Acacias. + 

тАЬThis is where we stop,тАЭ he said, with a jerk of his head toward the wall; тАЬbut itтАЩs not too lateтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬFor what?тАЭ the girl asked quickly. + 

тАЬI promised you no danger; but now IтАЩve thought it over, I canтАЩt promise that: thereтАЩs always danger. And IтАЩm afraid for you. ItтАЩs not yet too late for you to turn back and wait for me in a safer place.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou asked me to accompany you for a special purpose,тАЭ she argued; тАЬyou begged me to come with you, in fact.тБатАКтБатАж Now that I have agreed and come this far, I donтАЩt mean to turn back without good reason.тАЭ + 

His gesture indicated uneasy acquiescence. тАЬI should never have asked this of you. I think I must have been a little mad. If anything should come of this to injure youтБатАКтБатАжтАК!тАЭ + 

тАЬIf you mean to do what you promisedтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬDo you doubt my sincerity?тАЭ + 

тАЬIt was your own suggestion that you leave me no excuse for doubtтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Without further remonstrance, if with a mind beset with misgivings, he led on to the gateтБатАФa blank door of wood, painted a dark green, deeply recessed in the wall. + 

In proof of his assertion that he had long since made every preparation to attack the premises, Lanyard had a key ready and in the lock almost before they reached it. And the door swung back easily and noiselessly as though on well-greased hinges. As silently it shut them in. + 

They stood upon a weed-grown gravel path, hedged about with thick masses of shrubbery; but the park was as black as a pocket; and the heavy effluvia of wet mould, decaying weeds and rotting leaves that choked the air, seemed only to render the murk still more opaque. + 

But Lanyard evidently knew his way blindfold: though motives of prudence made him refrain from using his flash-lamp, he betrayed not the least incertitude in his actions. Never once at loss for the right turning, he piloted the girl swiftly through a bewildering black labyrinth of paths, lawns and thickets.тБатАКтБатАж + 

In due course he pulled up, and she discovered that they had come out upon a clear space of lawn, close beside the featureless, looming bulk of a dark and silent building. + 

An admonitory grasp tightened upon her fingers, and she caught his singularly penetrating yet guarded whisper: + 

тАЬThis is the back of the houseтБатАФthe service-entrance. From this door a broad path runs straight to the main service gateway; you canтАЩt mistake it; and the gate itself has a spring lock, easy enough to open from the inside. Remember this in event of trouble. We might become separated in the darkness and confusion.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Gently returning the pressure, тАЬI understand,тАЭ she said in a whisper. + 

Immediately he drew her on to the house, pausing but momentarily before a wide doorway; one half of which promptly swung open, and as soon as they had passed through, closed with no perceptible jar or click. And then LanyardтАЩs flash-lamp was lancing the gloom on every hand, swiftly raking the bounds of a large, panelled servantsтАЩ hall, until it picked out the foot of a flight of steps at the farther end. To this they moved stealthily over a tiled flooring. + 

The ascent of the staircase was accomplished, however, only with infinite care, Lanyard testing each rise before trusting it with his weight or the girlтАЩs. Twice he bade her skip one step lest the complaints of the ancient woodwork betray them. In spite of all this, no less than three hideous squeals were evoked before they gained the top; each indicating a pause and wait of several breathless seconds. + 

But it would seem that such servants as had been left in the house, in the absence of its chatelaine, either slept soundly or were accustomed to the midnight concert of those age-old timbers; and without mischance, at length, they entered the main reception-hall, revealed by the dancing spotlight as a room of noble proportions furnished with sombre magnificence. + 

Here the girl was left alone for a few minutes, while Lanyard darted above-stairs for a review of the state bedchambers and servantsтАЩ quarters. + 

With a sensation of being crushed and suffocated by the encompassing dark mystery, she nerved herself against a protracted vigil. The obscurity on every hand seemed alive with stealthy footfalls, whisperings, murmurings, the passage of shrouded shapes of silence and of menace. Her eyes ached, her throat and temples throbbed, her skin crept, her scalp tingled. She seemed to hear a thousand different noises of alarm. The only sounds she did not hear were thoseтБатАФif anyтБатАФthat accompanied LanyardтАЩs departure and return. Had he not been thoughtful enough, when a few feet distant, to give warning with the light, she might well have greeted with a cry of fright the consciousness of a presence near her: so silently he moved about. As it was, she was startled, apprehensive of some misadventure, to find him back so soon; for he hadnтАЩt been gone three minutes. + 

тАЬItтАЩs quite all right,тАЭ he announced in hushed accentsтБатАФno longer whispering. тАЬThere are just five people in the house aside from ourselvesтБатАФall servants, asleep in the rear wing. WeтАЩve got a clear fieldтБатАФif no excuse for taking foolish chances! However, weтАЩll be finished and off again in less than ten minutes. This way.тАЭ + 

That way led to a huge and gloomy library at one extreme of a chain of great salons, a veritable treasure-gallery of exquisite furnishings and authentic old masters. As they moved slowly through these chambers Lanyard kept his flash-lamp busy; involuntarily, now and again, he checked the girl before some splendid canvas or extraordinary antique. + 

тАЬIтАЩve always meant to happen in some day with a moving-van and loot this place properly!тАЭ he confessed with a little affected sigh. тАЬConsidered from the viewpoint of an expert practitioner in myтБатАФahтБатАФlate profession, itтАЩs a sin and a shame to let all this go neglected, when itтАЩs so poorly guarded. The old ladyтБатАФMadame Omber, you knowтБатАФhas all the money there is, approximately, and when she dies all these beautiful things go to the Louvre; for sheтАЩs without kith or kin.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut how did she manage to accumulate them all?тАЭ the girl wondered. + 

тАЬItтАЩs the work of generations of passionate collectors,тАЭ he explained. тАЬThe late Monsieur Omber was the last of his dynasty; he and his forebears brought together the paintings and the furniture; madame added the Orientals gathered together by her first husband, and her own collection of antique jewellery and precious stonesтБатАФher particular fad.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

As he spoke the light of the flash-lamp was blotted out. An instant later the girl heard a little clashing noise, of curtain rings sliding along a pole; and this was thrice repeated. Then, following another brief pause, a switch clicked; and streaming from the hood of a portable desk-lamp, a pool of light flooded the heart of a vast place of shadows, an apartment whose doors and windows alike were cloaked with heavy draperies that hung from floor to ceiling in long and shining folds. Immense black bookcases lined the walls, their shelves crowded with volumes in rich bindings; from their tops pallid marble masks peered down inquisitively, leering and scowling at the intruders. A huge mantelpiece of carved marble, supporting a great, dark mirror, occupied the best of one wall, beneath it a wide, deep fireplace yawned, partly shielded by a screen of wrought brass and crystal. In the middle of the room stood a library table of mahogany; huge leather chairs and couches encumbered the remainder of its space. And the corner to the right of the fireplace was shut off by a high Japanese screen of cinnabar and gold. + 

To this Lanyard moved confidently, carrying the lamp. Placing it on the floor, he grasped one wing of the screen with both hands, and at cost of considerable effort swung it aside, uncovering the face of a huge, old-style safe built into the wall. + 

For several secondsтБатАФbut not for manyтБатАФLanyard studied this problem intently, standing quite motionless, his head lowered and thrust forward, hands resting on his hips. Then turning, he nodded an invitation to draw nearer. + 

тАЬMy last job,тАЭ he said with a smile oddly lighted by the lamp at his feetтБатАФтАЬand my easiest, I fancy. Sorry, too, for IтАЩd rather have liked to show off a bit. But this old-fashioned tin bank gives no excuse for spectacular methods!тАЭ + 

тАЬBut,тАЭ the girl objected, тАЬYouтАЩve brought no tools!тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, but I have!тАЭ And fumbling in a pocket, Lanyard produced a pencil. тАЬBehold!тАЭ he laughed, brandishing it. + 

She knitted thoughtful brows: тАЬI donтАЩt understand.тАЭ + 

тАЬAll I needтБатАФexcept this.тАЭ + 

Crossing to the desk, he found a sheet of notepaper and, folding it, returned. + 

тАЬNow,тАЭ he said, тАЬgive me five minutes.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Kneeling, he gave the combination-knob a smart preliminary twirl, then rested a shoulder against the sheet of painted iron, his cheek to its smooth, cold cheek, his ear close beside the dial; and with the practised fingers of a master locksmith began to manipulate the knob. + 

Gently, tirelessly, to and fro he twisted, turned, raced, and checked the combination, caressing it, humouring it, wheedling it, inexorably questioning it in the dumb language his fingers spoke so deftly. And in his ear the click and whir and thump of shifting wards and tumblers murmured articulate response in the terms of their cryptic code. + 

Now and again, releasing the knob and sitting back on his heels, he would bend intent scrutiny to the dial; note the position of the combination, and with the pencil jot memoranda on the paper. This happened perhaps a dozen times, at intervals of irregular duration. + 

He worked diligently, in a phase of concentration that apparently excluded from his consciousness the near proximity of the girl, who stoodтБатАФor rather stooped, half-kneelingтБатАФless than a pace from his shoulder, watching the process with interest hardly less keen than his own. + 

Yet when one faint, odd sound broke the slumberous silence of the salons, instantly he swung around and stood erect in a single movement, gaze to the curtains. + 

But it had only been a premonitory rumble in the throat of a tall old clock about to strike in the room beyond. And as its sonorous chimes heralded two deep-toned strokes, Lanyard laughed quietly, intimately, to the girlтАЩs startled eyes, and sank back before the safe. + 

And now his task was nearly finished. Within another minute he sat back with face aglow, uttered a hushed exclamation of satisfaction, studied his memoranda for a space, then swiftly and with assured movements threw the knob and dial into the several positions of the combination, grasped the lever-handle, turned it smartly, and swung the door wide open. + 

тАЬSimple, eh?тАЭ he chuckled, with a glance aside to the girlтАЩs eager face, bewitchingly flushed and shadowed by the lampтАЩs up-thrown glowтБатАФтАЬwhen one knows the trick, of course! And nowтБатАКтБатАж if one were not an honest man!тАЭ + 

A wave of his hand indicated the pigeonholes with which the body of the safe was fitted: wide spaces and deep, stored tight with an extraordinary array of leather jewel-cases, packets of stout paper bound with tape and sealed, and boxes of wood and pasteboard of every shape and size. + 

тАЬThey were only her finest pieces, her personal jewels, that Madame Omber took with her to England,тАЭ he explained; тАЬsheтАЩs mad about themтБатАКтБатАж never separated from them.тБатАКтБатАж Perhaps the finest collection in the world, for size and purity of water.тБатАКтБатАж She had the heart to leave theseтБатАФall this!тАЭ + 

Lifting a hand he chose at random, dislodged two leather cases, placed them on the floor, and with a blade of his penknife forced their fastenings. + 

From the first the light smote radiance in blinding, coruscant welter. Here was nothing but diamond jewellery, mostly in antique settings. + 

He took up a piece and offered it to the girl. She drew back her hand involuntarily. + 

тАЬNo!тАЭ she protested in a whisper of fright. + 

тАЬBut just look!тАЭ he urged. тАЬThereтАЩs no dangerтБатАКтБатАж and youтАЩll never see the like of this again!тАЭ + 

Stubbornly she withheld her hand. тАЬNo, no!тАЭ she pleaded. тАЬIтБатАФIтАЩd rather not touch it. Put it back. LetтАЩs hurry. IтБатАФIтАЩm frightened.тАЭ + 

He shrugged and replaced the jewel; then yielded again to impulse of curiosity and lifted the lid of the second case. + 

It contained nothing but pieces set with coloured stones of the first orderтБатАФemeralds, amethysts, sapphires, rubies, topaz, garnets, lapis-lazuli, jacinthes, jades, fashioned by master-craftsmen into rings, bracelets, chains, brooches, lockets, necklaces, of exquisite design: the whole thrown heedlessly together, without order or care. + 

For a moment the adventurer stared down soberly at this priceless hoard, his eyes narrowing, his breathing perceptibly quickened. Then with a slow gesture, he reclosed the case, took from his pocket that other which he had brought from London, opened it, and held it aside beneath the light, for the girlтАЩs inspection. + 

He looked not once either at its contents or at her, fearing lest his countenance betray the truth, that he had not yet succeeded completely in exorcising that mutinous and rebellious spirit, the Lone Wolf, from the tenement over which it had so long held sway; and content with the sound of her quick, startled sigh of amaze that what she now beheld could so marvellously outshine what had been disclosed by the other boxes, he withdrew it, shut it, found it a place in the safe, and without pause closed the door, shot the bolts, and twirled the dial until the tumblers fairly sang. + 

One final twist of the lever-handle convincing him that the combination was effectively dislocated, he rose, picked up the lamp, replaced it on the desk with scrupulous care to leave no sign that it had been moved, and looked round to the girl. + 

She was where he had left her, a small, tense, vibrant figure among the shadows, her eyes dark pools of wonder in a face of blazing pallor. + 

With a high head and his shoulders well back he made a gesture signifying more eloquently than any words: тАЬAll that is ended!тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd nowтБатАКтБатАжтАК?тАЭ she asked breathlessly. + 

тАЬNow for our getaway,тАЭ he replied with assumed lightness. тАЬBefore dawn we must be out of Paris.тБатАКтБатАж Two minutes, while I straighten this place up and leave it as I found it.тАЭ + 

He moved back to the safe, restored the wing of the screen to the spot from which he had moved it, and after an instantтАЩs close examination of the rug, began to explore his pockets. + 

тАЬWhat are you looking for?тАЭ the girl enquired. + 

тАЬMy memoranda of the combinationтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬI have it.тАЭ She indicated its place in a pocket of her coat. тАЬYou left it on the floor, and I was afraid you might forgetтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬNo fear!тАЭ he laughed. тАЬNoтАЭтБатАФas she offered him the folded paperтБатАФтАЬkeep it and destroy it, once weтАЩre out of this. Now those porti├иresтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Extinguishing the desk-light, he turned attention to the draperies at doors and windows.тБатАКтБатАж + 

Within five minutes, they were once more in the silent streets of Passy. + 

They had to walk as far as the Trocad├йro before Lanyard found a fiacre, which he later dismissed at the corner in the Faubourg St.┬аGermain. + 

Another brief walk brought them to a gate in the garden wall of a residence at the junction of two quiet streets. + 

тАЬThis, I think, ends our Parisian wanderings,тАЭ Lanyard announced. тАЬIf youтАЩll be good enough to keep an eye out for busybodiesтБатАФand yourself as inconspicuous as possible in this doorwayтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

And he walked back to the curb, measuring the wall with his eye. + 

тАЬWhat are you going to do?тАЭ + 

He responded by doing it so swiftly that she gasped with surprise: pausing momentarily within a yard of the wall, he gathered himself together, shot lithely into the air, caught the top curbing with both hands, andтБатАКтБатАж + 

She heard the soft thud of his feet on the earth of the enclosure; the latch grated behind her; the door opened. + 

тАЬFor the last time,тАЭ Lanyard laughed quietly, тАЬpermit me to invite you to break the law by committing an act of trespass!тАЭ + 

Securing the door, he led her to a garden bench secluded amid conventional shrubbery. + 

тАЬIf youтАЩll wait here,тАЭ he suggestedтБатАФтАЬwell, it will be best. IтАЩll be back as soon as possible, though I may be detained some time. Still, inasmuch as IтАЩm about to break into this h├┤tel, my motives, which are most commendable, may be misinterpreted, and IтАЩd rather youтАЩd stop here, with the street at hand. If you hear a noise like trouble, youтАЩve only to unlatch the gate.тБатАКтБатАж But letтАЩs hope my purely benevolent intentions toward the French Republic wonтАЩt be misconstrued!тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩll wait,тАЭ she assured him bravely; тАЬbut wonтАЩt you tell meтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

With a gesture, he indicated the mansion back of the garden. + 

тАЬIтАЩm going to break in there to pay an early morning call and impart some interesting information to a person of considerable consequenceтБатАФnobody less, in fact, than Monsieur Ducroy.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd who is that?тАЭ + 

тАЬThe present Minister of War.тБатАКтБатАж We havenтАЩt as yet the pleasure of each otherтАЩs acquaintance; still, I think he wonтАЩt be sorry to see me.тБатАКтБатАж In brief, I mean to make him a present of the Huysman plans and bargain for our safe-conduct from France.тАЭ + 

Impulsively she offered her hand and, when he, surprised, somewhat diffidently took it, тАЬBe careful!тАЭ she whispered brokenly, her pale sweet face upturned to his. тАЬOh, do be careful! I am afraid for you.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

And for a little the temptation to take her in his arms was stronger than any he had ever known.тБатАКтБатАж + 

But remembering his stipulated year of probation, he released her hand with an incoherent mumble, turned, and disappeared in the direction of the house. + 