must be a motive for all that."

"The motive? Why, it was robbery pure and simple."

"Robbery? Have you been robbed of something, then?"

"No, nothing."

"In that case--?"

"In that case, if they have stolen nothing and if nothing is
missing, they at least took something away."

"What?"

"I don't know. But my daughter and my niece will tell you, with
absolute certainty, that they saw two men in succession cross the
park and that those two men were carrying fairly heavy loads."

"The young ladies--"

"The young ladies may have been dreaming, you think? I should be
tempted to believe it, for I have been exhausting myself in
inquiries and suppositions ever since this morning. However, it is
easy enough to question them."

The two cousins were sent for to the big drawing room. Suzanne,
still quite pale and trembling, could hardly speak. Raymonde, who
was more energetic, more of a man, better looking, too, with the
golden glint in her brown eyes, described the events of the night