"Where do you want to go, sir?" asked the negro, as he closed the door
of the victoria.

"We must go to Nassau," replied the detective, mangling his
pronunciation even more than his grammar.

"Yes, I know; but where in Nassau do you wish to go? Shall I drive you
to a hotel? The Royal Victoria is the best in the place."

"You shall take us to zat hotel."

For the sake of appearances, rather than for any other reason, each of
the visitors to Nassau had brought with him a small hand-bag, containing
such articles as might be useful to them. Having these evidences that
they were travellers, it would be prudent to go to a hotel, though the
want of more luggage had made the landlord in Hamilton suspicious of
their ability to pay their bills.

Christy found enough to do during the ride to observe the strange sights
presented to his gaze, even in the outskirts of the town. The people
were full of interest to him, and he wondered that his father had never
made a winter trip in the West Indies in former years, instead of
confining his visits to the more northern islands of the ocean.

The carriage arrived at the Royal Victoria Hotel, located on a ridge
which has been dignified as a hill, a short distance in the rear of the
business portion of the town. M. Rubempre produced his purse, which was
well stuffed with sovereigns, more for the enlightenment of the clerk
who came out when the vehicle stopped, than for the information of the
driver, to whom he paid four florins, which was just double his fare.

"Do you speak French?" asked the guest in that language.

"No, sir; not a word of it," though he understood the question.

"We must have two chambers for one, two, t'ree day."

"All right; we have two that were vacated this morning," replied the
clerk, as he led the way to the office, where the Frenchman registered
his name, and his residence as in Paris.

Christy wrote the name of Christophe Poireau, also from Paris. Then they
chatted together in French for a moment, in order to impress the clerk
and others who were standing near with the fact that they spoke the
polite language. They were shown to two small chambers, well up in the
air, for the hotel seemed to be as full as the clerk had suggested that
it was. The blockade business made the town and the hotel very lively.

The newly arrived guests did not waste any time in their rooms, but
entered at once upon the work of their mission. On the piazza they
halted to si