The men were thorough. Not a shred of clothing escaped their eyes. And after they had finished the detective himself made an examination.
Dom Pedro was evidently much interested. Without any explanation further than Valcour’s accusation, all present understood that the Mexican was charged with the murder of the man found in the shrubbery and therefore he must either have the ring upon his person or had deposited it in some secret place.
He lay unconscious after the search had ended, and Valcour, after a moment’s reflection, ordered the men to carry him back to the room where he had passed the night, to guard him well, and to send for a physician.
The Emperor relighted his cigar, which had gone out, and in the interval I heard the sound of a troupe of horse galloping up the drive. There was no mistaking the clank of sabers, and Dom Pedro leaned forward with an expectant look upon his face, in which the others joined.
Then the door burst open and a man entered and knelt before the Emperor. I could scarcely restrain a cry of surprise as I saw him.
It was Francisco Paola.
CHAPTER XV
A DANGEROUS MOMENT
Not since I parted with him in the road on the morning of Dom Miguel’s murder had I seen Paola or heard from him directly.
At that time, after giving me two men who had proved faithful both to me and the Cause, he had ridden on to the house of death—“to breakfast with his sister.” From that moment his actions had been a mystery not only to me but to all his fellow-conspirators.
But now it seemed easy to understand that the Minister of Police had been attending to the Emperor’s business, and that he had also been playing a double game from the beginning, and promoting the revolution that he might the more easily crush it.