"I've had deeper cuts that didn't bleed a drop," said he. "If you
must have the truth, Dorothy, I'll confess the fellow gave me a
rather nasty slash, and I don't blame him, He had to do it, and he's
just as lucky as I am, perhaps, that it was no worse. I wish to
compliment your Brussels police, too, on being veritable
bloodhounds. I observed as I came in that they have at last scented
the blood on the pavement in front of the house and have washed away
the stain fairly well."

"Wasn't the story in the morning paper ridiculous? You were very
brave. I almost cried when I saw how the horrid detectives
criticised you."

"I'm glad to hear you say that, because I was afraid you'd think
like the rest--that I was a blundering idiot."

"You did not fear anything of the kind. Do you really think he was
one of those awful diamond robbers who are terrorizing the town? I
could not sleep another wink if I thought so. Why, last spring a
rich merchant and his wife were drugged in one of the cafes, taken
by carriage to Watermael, where they were stripped of their
valuables and left by the roadside."

"Did you see an account of the affair in your morning paper?"

"Yes--there were columns about it."

"Then I think eight-tenths of the crime was committed at a city
editor's desk. It's my opinion these diamond thieves are a set of