Duvall took out a gold twenty-franc piece. "I intend to have the letter, my man. If you will give it to me peaceably, here are the twenty francs; if not, I shall be obliged to take it from you by force."
The boy regarded the detective for a moment, as though contemplating flight. Duvall seized him by the collar. "Give me the note," he cried, "or I'll call a gendarme and have you placed under arrest!"
The boy allowed the letter to drop to the pavement, seized the twenty-franc piece, and took to his heels.
Duvall picked it up. As he had expected, it was addressed to Alphonse Valentin, —— Boulevard St. Michel. He had waited, on the chance that Mary Lanahan would lose no time in warning her probable confederate.
The letter gave him the man's address. That was so much accomplished, at least. Then he tore it open, and read the contents. They proved more mystifying than anything that he had yet encountered in this mysterious affair.
"Destroy the cigarettes!" These three words comprised the entire contents of the note.
CHAPTER VI
ALPHONSE VALENTIN came up to Grace and took her roughly by the arm. "Come with me," he said, and started up the street.