"'We have but little time for uninterrupted conversation,' said our reporter, still speaking in French, 'and must make the best of it. At the station we shall not be private, as we are now. An explanation is due from me first. I am, as you have heard, a properly qualified solicitor, and can therefore defend you legally, although at present I see little to defend. But the fact that I am your authorized legal adviser should strengthen your confidence in me, for whatever information of a secret nature I receive from you I am bound professionally to respect. You see, therefore, that your interests are safe in my hands.' "'I am truly grateful to you,' said the woman. "'Intended for the Law,' continued our reporter, 'I do not follow it as a profession. I am a journalist, engaged upon the _Evening Moon_. You start. The fact of my being so engaged should still further increase your confidence in me. Now, perhaps, you can understand why I am so much interested in the advertisement cut from our paper which you carry about with you. May I accept it that you have read what has been published in the _Evening Moon_ concerning the death and strange disappearance of M. Felix?' "'I have read all that has appeared in the paper,' said the woman, who was paying the closest attention to what he was saying, "'Thank you for the frank admission. To my hands has been entrusted the task of clearing up this strange affair, and of bringing it forward to the full light of day. That is only a portion of my mission. I have taken it upon myself to so sift the matter to the bottom, that, if any innocent person has been wronged, his innocence shall be made clear, and also to punish the guilty. Where there is mystery there is generally crime, and where there is crime the presumption is that innocent beings have been brought to sorrow. Whether right Or wrong, I have the firmest conviction that there is some story of wrong-doing underlying this mystery, and if I am right--which time and good fortune can alone establish--this wrong-doing must have inflicted suffering upon innocent persons. In opening my mind to you upon these issues I may be, in your estimation, speaking at random of details of which you are ignorant, and indeed of details which exist only in my imagination, and have no foundation in fact; but I take the chance of that, believing that no harm can be done by a perfectly open confession of the motives which are urging me on in the elucidation of a mystery which has caused, and still is causing, a great deal of excitement. You will now understand why the discovery surprised me that you should have taken the trouble to so carefully preserve the advertisement which slipped from your pocket. It would scarcely have been done by one whom it did not in some way concern, and it remains to you to enlighten me upon this point. Let me assure you that the advertisement was inserted in good faith, and that its terms will be scrupulously observed. Legal assistance is offered,