sides, we should have seen her as well as we would have seen a man—"
"Evidently," I said. "Before we had seen this Yellow Room, I had also asked myself whether the cat of Mother Angenoux—"
"You also!" cried Rouletabille.
"Didn't you?" I asked.
"Not for a moment. After reading the article in the 'Matin,' I knew that a cat had nothing to do with the matter. But I swear now that a frightful tragedy has been enacted here. You say nothing about the Basque cap, or the handkerchief, found here, Daddy Jacques?"
"Of course, the magistrate has taken them," the old man answered, hesitatingly.
"I haven't seen either the handkerchief or the cap, yet I can tell you how they are made," the reporter said to him gravely.
"Oh, you are very clever," said Daddy Jacques, coughing and embarrassed.
"The handkerchief is a large one, blue with red stripes and the cap is an old Basque cap, like the one you are wearing now."
"You are a wizard!" said Daddy Jacques, trying to laugh and not quite succeeding. "How do you know that the handkerchief is blue with red stripes?"
"Because, if it had not been blue with red stripes, it would not have been found at all."
Without giving any further attention to Daddy Jacques, my friend took a piece of paper from his pocket, and taking out a pair of scissors, bent over the footprints. Placing the paper over one of
73
