It is a most unfortunate movement, for two pair of eyes are peering down from directly above her, and two pair of avaricious hands itch to clutch the shining treasures. Obeying Papa's instructions, Josef Siebel and the girl Nance, had mounted the rickety stairway which they reached through a closet-like ante-room opening from the large one occupied by Papa and Leslie. And having stationed themselves near the top of the stairs they awaited there the coming of the lady who, surprised by their presence, was to proffer them hush-money with a liberal hand; but-- "The best-laid plans of men and mice gang aft agleg." And Papa Francoise has not anticipated the spirited outbreak with which Leslie has astonished him. Startled by this, and fearful that; by a false move, he should entirely lose his power over her, he has made feeble efforts to stay the flow of her speech and neglected to give the signal for which the concealed sneak thieves have waited, until it was too late. Crouched on the floor near the stairway, the two thieves have heard the entrance of Leslie, heard the hum of conversation, low and indistinct at first, until the voice of Leslie, rising high and clear, startled Siebel into a listening attitude. Touching Nance on the arm, he begins slowly to drag himself along the floor to where a faint ray of light tells him there is a place of observation. The floor is exceedingly dilapidated, and the ceiling below warped and sieve-like; and, having reached the chink in the floor, Siebel finds himself able to look directly down upon Leslie as she stands near the table. In another moment Nance is beside him, and then the two faces are glued to the floor, their eyes taking in the scene below, their ears listening greedily. At first they listen with simple curiosity; then with astonished interest; then with intense satisfaction at Papa's evident discomfiture, for they hate him as the slave ever hates his tyrant. When the veil falls from Leslie's head, Siebel's quick eye is the first to catch the shine of the diamonds in her ears. He stifles an exclamation, looks again, and then grasps the arm of his confederate: "Nance," he whispers eagerly, "Nance, look--in her ears." The girl peers down, and fairly gasps. "Shiners!" she whispers; "ah, they make my eyes water!" "They make my fingers itch," he returns; "d'ye twig, gal?" "Eh?" Drawing her away from the aperture, he says, in a hoarse whisper: "Gal, I've got a plan that'll lay over old Beelzebub's down there, if we kin only git the chance ter play it. See here, Nance, are ye willin' to make a bold stroke fer them shiners?" "How?" "By surprisin' 'em. If I'll floor the old man, can't you tackle the gal?" Nance takes a moment for consideration; they exchange a few more whispered words and then begin to creep stealthily toward the stairway. CHAPTER XVI. A DETECTIVE TRAPPED.