Quiet and still we stood in the bay of the staircase, and the steps over our heads creaked under the feet of the men who came down.  The duke’s hand was on my arm, restraining me, and he held it there till the feet had passed above us and the stealthy tread landed on the marble flagging of the hall.  We thrust our heads out and peered through the darkness.  I saw the figures of two men, one following the other toward the front door; this the first and taller unfastened and noiselessly opened; and he and his fellow, whom, by the added light which entered, I perceived to be carrying a box or case of moderate size, waited for a moment on the threshold.  Then they passed out, drawing the door close after them.

Still the duke held me back, and we rested where we were three or four minutes.  Then he whispered, “Come,” and we stole across the hall after them and found ourselves outside.  It must have been about half-past two o’clock in the morning; there was no moon and it was rather dark.  The duke turned sharp to the left and led me to the bypath, and there, a couple of hundred yards ahead of us, we saw a cube of light that came from a dark lantern.

The duke’s face was dimly visible, and an amused smile played on his lips as he said softly: 

“Lafleur and Pierre!  They think they’ve got the necklace!”

Was this the meaning of Pierre’s appearance in the role of my successor?  The idea suggested itself to me in a moment, and I strove to read my companion’s face for a confirmation.

“We’ll see where they go,” he whispered, and then laid his finger on his lips.  Amusement sounded in his voice; indeed it was impossible not to perceive the humor of the position, when I felt the Cardinal’s Necklace against my own ribs.

We were walking now under cover of the trees which lined the sides of the path, so that no backward glance could discover us to the thieves; and I was wondering how long we were thus to dog their steps, when suddenly they turned to the left about fifty yards short of the spot where old Jean’s cottage stood, and disappeared from our sight.  We emerged into the path, the duke taking the lead.  He was walking more briskly now, and I saw him examine his pistol.  When we came where the fellows had turned, we followed in their track.

The first distant hint of approaching morning caught the tops of the trees above us, turning them from black to a deep chill gray, as we paused to listen.  Our pursuit had brought us directly behind the cottage, which now stood about a hundred yards on the right; and then we came upon them—­or rather suddenly stopped and crouched down to avoid coming upon them—­where they were squatting on the ground with a black iron box between them, and the lantern’s light thrown on the keyhole of the box.  Lafleur held the lantern; Pierre’s hand was near the lock, and I presumed—­I could not see—­that he held some instrument with which he meant to open it.  A ring of trees framed the picture, and the men sat in a hollow, well hidden from the path even had it been high day.