said just now it was only a day's trip, I
think; how was it you came to stay four days
at Saverne?"

"I had only intended to remain one day at
Saverne, but was taken ill during my stay at
the hotel."

"was that why Monsieur le Baron changed
his name?" continued the officer.

"Changed my name? Monsieur must be in
error."

"Not at all. You took the name of Thionville,
for some reason best known to yourself.
But as you seem to have forgotten this
circumstance, will you have the goodness to tell us
where you went on leaving Saverne?"

"I returned to Strasburg."

"Pardon me, Monsieur le Baron, and allow
me to refresh your memory. You went, or
pretended to go, to a private house in the
neighbourhood. But was not Paris the goal of your
journey, and did you not arrive here about
April 15?"

"Monsieur!" exclaimed the baron, " I have
submitted to these impertinent questions quite
long enough. By what right you presume to
interrogate me in the manner you have done, I
do not 'know. Rest assured I shall represent
the matter to the Minister of Police. I wish
you a very good morning!" And the baron
turned himself round to leave the room.

"Not so fast, monsieur. I have not yet
done with you," continued the officer, without
noticing the interruption. "I repeat you
arrived in Paris about the 15th, and you were
in your wife's bedroom on the night of the 15th
and 16th."

At these words the baron leaped to his feet,
his face distorted with the pangs of fear and
passion.

"Calm vourself, Monsieur le Baron, I have
not finished with you yet. Will you then
explain, if you were not in the bedroom of your
wife on the night in question—which you will
remember was the very night on which she was
murdered—how it was your hat was found in
the passage?" And with these words he handed
a hat to the baron.

All eyes were bent upon him. The baron
turned deadly pale, and remained speechless for
a considerable time. At last he stammered
forth incoherently:

"It is not my hat. I never saw this one
before. ... I had one like it ... but not
this."

"Not this?" exclaimed the relentless Ques-
tioner. "Monsieur le Baron, you have been
followed step by step from the day you quitted
Paris, to the day you returned. If this hat be
not yours, then have the goodness to tell me
how your bill incurred at the Maison Rouge,
Strasburg, found its way underneath the lining?
Please to look for yourself."

"Hotel bill!" gasped the baron, as he struck
his forehead with his clenched hand.

"Yes! wretched man. By that little piece
of paper, Providence has disclosed your crime,
and has prevented an innocent girl from dying
a felon's death. Confess that you entered your
wife's room and committed the diabolical deed
for which you would have allowed another to
suffer."

But such a confession was never made.

That night Baron de C. was safely shut up in
prison till his trial should take place. All Paris
rang with the news that the real murderer of
the baroness had been discovered, and that he
was no other than her own husband. But that
night the prisoner escaped. On entering the
cell on the following morning, he was found
lying stretched out on his couch, cold and stiff.
It was supposed that, living a lawless life, he
had been in the habit of carrying poison about
him.

Years have elapsed since the above events
took place. Monsieur Bernard soon became
one of the most celebrated ornaments of the
French bar, and his wife, née Ernestine Lamont,
noted not only for the brilliancy of her balls
and dinners, but for the affability of her manner
and the courteousness of her disposition. Of
the story of the murder nobody knows more
than is here told.

Just published, bound in cloth, price 5s. 6d.,
THE THIRTEENTH VOLUME.

NEW WORK BY MR. DICKENS,
In Monthly Parts, uniform with the Original Editions of
"Pickwick," "Copperfield," &c.
Now publishing, PART XVI., price 1s., of
OUR MUTUAL FRIEND,
BY CHARLES DICKENS.
IN TWENTY MONTHLY PARTS.
With Illustrations by MARCUS STONE.
London: CHAPMAN and HALL, 193, Piccadilly.

A new Serial Novel, by CHARLES COLLINS, entitled
AT THE BAR,
Will be commenced In No. 335, for September 23rd, in
addition to HALF A MILLION OF MONEY, by AMELIA
B. EDWARDS, which will be continued from week to week
until completed.