s resolved to follow. I gave Hinge my purse, and instructed
him to pay the bill, to pack up my belongings, and to be ready to catch
the first train into town. He was full of wonderment and conjecture,
but, like the old soldier he was, he obeyed without inquiry. When I
arrived at my own rooms I sat down and wrote a statement of the whole
truth, as brief and concise as I could make it, and copied it four
or five times over; and armed with these documents, I drove to the
addresses of such men as I knew where to find among our _societaires_.
Under ordinary circumstances, since the count's departure and the
betrayal of poor old Ruffiano, I should have gone to Roncivalli; but
now that he was turned traitor I had to rely upon my own limited
information, which served me very awkwardly. I had calculated beforehand
on the chance that I might not find any one of the men I sought at home,
and my worst forebodings were fulfilled. I left in each case my written
statement, and before I returned to my own rooms I had delivered them
all. The unfortunate part of the business was, as I knew full well, that
hardly a man among them could read English, and in almost every case the
recipient of my letter would have to seek a translator before he could
find me. I knew, on the other hand, that if once the statement I had
made reached the intelligence of any one Italian patriot, the news would
spread like wildfire, and that, if I needed them, a hundred men would be
at my disposal to check the treason meditated by Roncivalli and Brunow.
In each epistle I besought the receiver to follow me without delay to
Southampton, and I undertook to wire to each the address at which I
might be found, and begged him, in case he should follow immediately, to
make arrangements to have that address rewired.

All this being done, I sat down and wrote out a fuller statement of the
case for Violet's reading, if ever I should again be so happy as to find
the chance of placing it in her hands. This occupied me until an hour
after midnight. I went to bed, leaving with Hinge the responsibility of
awaking me in time for the first train next morning to Southampton.
When we reached the railway station I caught a glimpse of Roncivalli and
Brunow and the baroness; but this was no more than I had expected, and
it cost me but little trouble to evade them. We reached Southampton
without adventure, and I kept my place in the railway carriage until
Hinge reported to me that they h