Ushered in, he finds Colonel Joe on the broad grin.
Accepting a cigar, his host cries, "We've struck it rich. A mare's nest. Now, Vimont, give my friend your report."
Joe Woods smokes steadily, as Jules Vimont reads from his note-book:
"Madame Natalie de Santos arrived in Paris with two young girls, one of whom is at the Sacre-Coeur under the name of Isabel Valois; the other is the child who is visited by Marie Berard, her maid. She is called Louise Moreau."
PŠre Fran‡ois listens to this recital. The detective gives a description of the beautiful stranger, and at length.
Joe interrogates. The priest gravely nods until the recital is finished. Vimont shuts his book with a snap and disappears, at a nod from the miner. The friends are alone.
PŠre Fran‡ois is silent. His face is pale. Joe is alarmed at his feeling. Forcing a draught of Bourbon on the padre, Joe cries, "What is the matter?"
"I see it now," murmurs the priest. "The children have been changed. For what object?"
He tells Woods of the proofs gained in days of Louise's illness.
"Your little friend is the heiress of Lagunitas?" Woods asks.