The confederates looked at each other uneasily, and Ledantec said--
"It can hardly be so. But it will be well to ascertain and take precautions. Come! there is a way out of this house known only to me."
And, so saying, he went towards the door, followed by Mrs. Wilders. Suddenly he paused, surprised by a loud knocking outside.
They heard the old woman's voice angrily asking who was there; they heard the reply, spoken loudly and authoritatively.
"The police! Open, in the name of the law. Open! or we shall break the door down."
Next minute the apartment was invaded by a _posse_ of police, all of whom were drawn to where Hyde was by his loud cries of "Here! Here!"
"Let no one move," said the chief of the police, briefly. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you?" This was to Ledantec.
"My name is Mr. Hobson, a British subject, and member of the press. I shall require you to explain this intrusion."
"His real name is Ledantec!" cried Hyde, interposing. "Ex-gambler, and now spy in the pay of the Russians. This woman is his accomplice."
"And who may you be?" said the police-officer, turning to Hyde.
"I know this gentleman," put in the _attaché_ whom Hyde had seen at the Embassy. "He is a British officer--Mr. Hyde."
"I know better!" cried Ledantec, with a scornful laugh. "I denounce him as Rupert Gascoigne, the perpetrator of the murder in Tinplate Street, fifteen years ago. The case cannot yet be forgotten at the Prefecture."
"Is it possible?" said the chief of the police, looking curiously at Hyde. "Surely I should recognise you. I was one of those from whom you escaped by jumping into the Seine."
"I do not deny that I am the man," replied Hyde, calmly. "But I am innocent, and only ask a fair trial."
"We must arrest you, anyway. Keep what you have to say for the judge. Come! bring them along; it's altogether a fine morning's work."
And within an hour Hyde found himself in his old quarters--a separate cell of the depôt of the Prefecture. The other prisoners were lodged there also, but apart from him and each other.
The capture made by the police in the Faubourg St. Martin was kept secret. Under the Second Empire nothing was published except with the permission of the authorities, and they had their reasons for not talking too openly of Hyde's arrest. He was a British subject, a military officer moreover, and these were claims to the consideration of French justice that would not have been so readily recognised fifteen years before.