Her fears returned. There is no weapon so effective as calmness in dealing with hysterical natures. If you shriek, they shriek the louder; if you stand firm, they quail. "What to do?" she asked, showing in her face the conflicting emotions by which she was torn. "To obtain a warrant for your arrest," I answered boldly. "My spies will take care that you do not escape." I was half out of the room when she cried, "Stop! I will do it--I will do it!" "I do not know, madame," I said, appearing to hesitate. "We can manage without your aid. You shall stand in the dock by the side of your friend Maxwell." And now she was thoroughly terrified; she wept, she implored, she fell upon her knees. It was a great victory, but though I knew I could not do without her I did not yield easily. When I had worked her up to a proper pitch I said: "Rise, madame, and write the address in Finchley where I shall find your friends." "They are not my friends," she cried, tottering to the table on which lay writing materials. "They would ruin, they would destroy me! And you, monsieur--you will save me? You have promised, on the honor of a gentleman. You will save me--you will save me!" "I will keep my promise, madame. Write--it is your only chance. You allowed your hatred of John Fordham to carry you too far. Be thankful that I came here as your friend." "If I had never met these Fordhams," she said, her hands trembling as she took up a pen, "it would have been better for me." "It would have been better for you if you had been faithful to your master, and not entered into a conspiracy against him. We English have a proverb--honesty is the best policy. Take it to heart, and for the future be content with making money out of us." I looked at the address she had written, 23 Lethbridge Road, N. W. "Do they all live together, madame?" "I think so, monsieur," she replied, and even now she made a motion, as though she would have liked to pluck the paper from me. There was no fear of my forgetting the address, and I held it out to her. "Do you wish for it back?" "No, no!" she said with a shudder. "Very good. Just another word of sensible advice, madame. Keep in your shop, and preserve silence until I bring this affair to a satisfactory conclusion. If you stir you will be followed; if you write a letter of warning it will fall into the hands of the police. You understand?" "Yes, I understand.'' "It only remains to me to thank you for this very pleasant interview." So I left her, saying to myself as I rejoined Wheeler. "Checkmate to Madame Lourbet." "Well?" said Wheeler. "Success, my boy, success!" I replied. "The game is in our hands, but not a moment must be lost. I am going in for desperate measures. Will you back me up?" "In anything." "Do you carry a pistol?" I asked, grasping his hand. "Colt's double action revolver, six chambers," he answered, tapping the back of his waistband. "Took it to Liverpool with me."