IN THE COUNTESS LAURE'S BED-CHAMBER That astonishment was so great when the man recognized the woman that he threw up his hands and stepped backward.

As he did so his sodden cloak, which he had gathered closely around him, opened and fell.

The next instant his hand tore his hat from his head and he stood revealed in the full light of the candle.
"Marteau!" exclaimed the woman in a surprise and dismay equal to that of the man she confronted.
Her arm that held the pistol dropped weakly to her side.

With the other hand she drew the peignoir about her, a vivid crimson wave rushed over her whole body.

To surprise a man, a thief, in her room at night, was one thing; to confront the man she loved in such a guise was another.