"I gave Ya-Bon orders not to kill him. Therefore, whatever happens, Siméon is alive. That's the great thing. So long as Siméon is alive, there is nothing to fear. He won't let your Coralie die." "Why not, seeing that he hates her? Why not? What is there in that man's heart? He devotes all his existence to a work of love on our behalf; and, from one minute to the next, that love turns to execration." He pressed Don Luis' arm and, in a hollow voice, asked: "Do you believe that he is my father?" "Siméon Diodokis is your father, captain," replied Don Luis. "Ah, don't, don't! It's too horrible! God, but we are in the valley of the shadow!" "On the contrary," said Don Luis, "the shadow is lifting slightly; and I confess that our talk with M. Vacherot has given me a little light." "Do you mean it?" But, in Patrice Belval's fevered brain, one idea jostled another. He suddenly stopped: "Siméon may have gone back to the porter's lodge! . . . And we sha'n't be there! . . . Perhaps he will bring Coralie back!" "No," Don Luis declared, "he would have done that before now, if it could be done. No, it's for us to go to him." "But where?" "Well, of course, where all the fighting has been . . . where the gold lies. All the enemy's operations are centered in that gold; and you may be sure that, even in retreat, he can't get away from it. Besides, we know that he is not far from Berthou's Wharf." Patrice allowed himself to be led along without a word. But suddenly Don Luis cried: "Did you hear?" "Yes, a shot." At that moment they were on the point of turning into the Rue Raynouard. The height of the houses prevented them from perceiving the exact spot from which the shot had been fired, but it came approximately from the Essarès house or the immediate precincts. Patrice was filled with alarm: "Can it be Ya-Bon?" "I'm afraid so," said Don Luis, "and, as Ya-Bon wouldn't fire, some one must have fired a shot at him. . . . Oh, by Jove, if my poor Ya-Bon were to be killed . . . !" "And suppose it was at her, at Coralie?" whispered Patrice. Don Luis began to laugh: "Oh, my dear captain, I'm almost sorry that I ever mixed myself up in this business! You were much cleverer before I came and a good deal clearer-sighted. Why the devil should Siméon attack your Coralie, considering that she's already in his power?" They hurried their steps. As they passed the Essarès house they saw that everything was quiet and they went on until they came to the lane, down which they turned. Patrice had the key, but the little door which opened on to the garden of the lodge was bolted inside. "Aha!" said Don Luis. "That shows that we're warm. Meet me on the quay, captain. I shall run down to Berthou's Wharf to have a look round." During the past few minutes a pale dawn had begun to mingle with the shades of night. The embankment was still deserted, however.