I had the inexpressible pleasure of seeing Travers grinding his teeth with envy as I went on, and feeling Lilian's soft, slender hand glide silently into mine as I told my tale in the twilight. All at once, just as I reached the climax, we heard the poodle barking furiously at the hedge which separated my garden from the road. 'There's a foreign-looking man staring over the hedge,' said Lilian; 'Bingo always _did_ hate foreigners.' There certainly was a swarthy man there, and, though I had no reason for it then, somehow my heart died within me at the sight of him. 'Don't be alarmed, sir,' cried the Colonel, 'the dog won't bite you--unless there's a hole in the hedge anywhere.' The stranger took off his small straw hat with a sweep. 'Ah, I am not afraid,' he said, and his accent proclaimed him a Frenchman, 'he is not enrage at me. May I ask, is it pairmeet to speak wiz Misterre Vezzered?' I felt I must deal with this person alone, for I feared the worst; and, asking them to excuse me, I went to the hedge and faced the Frenchman with the frightful calm of despair. He was a short, stout little man, with blue cheeks, sparkling black eyes, and a vivacious walnut-coloured countenance; he wore a short black alpaca coat, and a large white cravat with an immense oval malachite brooch in the centre of it, which I mention because I found myself staring mechanically at it during the interview. 'My name is Weatherhead,' I began, with the bearing of a detected pickpocket. 'Can I be of any service to you?' 'Of a great service,' he said emphatically; 'you can restore to me ze poodle vich I see zere!' Nemesis had called at last in the shape of a rival claimant. I staggered for an instant; then I said, 'Oh, I think you are under a mistake--that dog is not mine.' 'I know it,' he said; 'zere 'as been leetle mistake, so if ze dog is not to you, you give him back to me, _hein_?' 'I tell you,' I said, 'that poodle belongs to the gentleman over there.' And I pointed to the Colonel, seeing that it was best now to bring him into the affair without delay. 'You are wrong,' he said doggedly; 'ze poodle is my poodle! And I was direct to you--it is your name on ze carte!' And he presented me with that fatal card which I had been foolish enough to give to Blagg as a proof of my identity. I saw it all now; the old villain had betrayed me, and to earn a double reward had put the real owner on my track. I decided to call the Colonel at once, and attempt to brazen it out with the help of his sincere belief in the dog. 'Eh, what's that; what's it all about?' said the Colonel, bustling up, followed at intervals by the others. The Frenchman raised his hat again. 'I do not vant to make a trouble,' he began, 'but zere is leetle mistake. My word of honour, sare, I see my own poodle in your garden. Ven I appeal to zis gentilman to restore 'im he reffer me to you.'