The man in front turned to pass on, and Mr. Barnes darted forward to seize him, when, to his astonishment, he was himself held as in a vise by the man behind him. He struggled to free himself, but, taken by surprise, he discovered that he was powerless. What angered him more was that the thief was fast disappearing in the gloom. Determined not to be outwitted, he shouted: "Turn up the lights. A robbery has been committed." Instantly all was confusion. People crowded forward, and Mr. Barnes felt himself hurled violently toward the advancing throng. Toppling against some one, both fell to the ground, and several others tumbled over them. Pandemonium reigned supreme, yet it was some time before any one thought of turning up the lights. Mr. Van Rawlston, understanding the situation better than any other, was the first to recover his presence of mind, and himself turned on the electricity. The sudden rush of light at first only made things worse, for it blinded everybody. Thus to the detective's chagrin several valuable minutes were lost before he could extricate himself from the pile of people who had tumbled over him, and find a chance to say aloud: "Miss Remsen has been robbed. Let no one leave the house. Masks off." Mr. Van Rawlston rushed to the door to see that no one departed, and people crowded around Miss Remsen to condole with her upon her loss. Mr. Barnes searched for Ali Baba, and was amazed when he found him to discover that it was not Mr. Thauret. "Who are you?" he asked roughly. "My name is Adrian Fisher," was the reply. This astonished the detective, but it pleased him too, for it seemed to confirm the suspicion that this man was an accomplice. He decided quickly to say no more to him at that time, and hastened towards Miss Remsen to observe her behavior. If she knew anything in advance she certainly was acting admirably, for she had grown excited, and was talking vehemently to those about her, declaring against the disgraceful management, so she termed it, which had enabled a thief to enter the rooms. Whilst Mr. Barnes was thinking what to do, he saw Mr. Van Rawlston approaching him, accompanied by Mr. Thauret, who was now in evening dress. "Mr. Barnes, how was this thing done? Why did you not prevent it?" "I tried to do so, but could not. You must understand, Mr. Van Rawlston, that I am not omniscient. I suspected that this robbery would occur, but I could not know how it would be accomplished. Nevertheless I saw the act." "Then why did you not seize the thief?" "I attempted to do so, and was thrown down from behind by his accomplice." "Can you identify the person by his dress?" "That is, unfortunately, impossible. All that I know is that he was one of the Forty Thieves, and evidently played his part well."