"Look at the last link. There is no question but that it has been filed. Otherwise, so powerful a chain as this would never have yielded. Besides, you can see the mark of the file here." Jeanne turned pale and her pretty features were distorted with terror: "But who can bear me such a grudge?" she gasped. "It is terrible.... I have never done any one harm.... And yet you are certainly right.... Worse still...." She finished her sentence in a lower voice: "Worse still, I am wondering whether the same danger does not threaten my father." "Has he been attacked also?" "No, for he never stirs from his room. But his is such a mysterious illness!... He has no strength ... he cannot walk at all.... In addition to that, he is subject to fits of suffocation, as though his heart stopped beating.... Oh, what an awful thing!" Lupin realized all the authority which he was able to assert at such a moment, and he said: "Have no fear, mademoiselle. If you obey me blindly, I shall be sure to succeed." "Yes ... yes ... I am quite willing ... but all this is so terrible...." "Trust me, I beg of you. And please listen to me, I shall want a few particulars." He rapped out a number of questions, which Jeanne Darcieux answered hurriedly: "That animal was never let loose, was he?" "Never." "Who used to feed him?" "The lodge-keeper. He brought him his food every evening." "Consequently, he could go near him without being bitten?" "Yes; and he only, for the dog was very savage." "You don't suspect the man?" "Oh, no!... Baptiste?... Never!" "And you can't think of anybody?" "No. Our servants are quite devoted to us. They are very fond of me." "You have no friends staying in the house?" "No." "No brother?" "No." "Then your father is your only protector?" "Yes; and I have told you the condition he is in." "Have you told him of the different attempts?" "Yes; and it was wrong of me to do so. Our doctor, old Dr. Gueroult, forbade me to cause him the least excitement." "Your mother?..." "I don't remember her. She died sixteen years ago ... just sixteen years ago." "How old were you then?" "I was not quite five years old." "And were you living here?" "We were living in Paris. My father only bought this place the year after." Lupin was silent for a few moments. Then he concluded: "Very well, mademoiselle, I am obliged to you. Those particulars are all I need for the present. Besides, it would not be wise for us to remain together longer." "But," she said, "the lodge-keeper will find the dog soon.... Who will have killed him?" "You, mademoiselle, to defend yourself against an attack." "I never carry firearms." "I am afraid you do," said Lupin, smiling, "because you killed the dog and there is no one but you who could have killed him. For that matter, let them think what they please. The great thing is that I shall not be suspected when I come to the house." "To the house? Do you intend to?"