.1--had not heard the shot.

Muller left the scene of the crime and walked towards the four houses.
Before he reached them he had to pass the garden which belonged to the
house with the mansard roof. Right and left of this garden were vacant
lots, as well as on the opposite side of the street. Then came to the
right and left the four new houses which stood at the beginning of the
quiet lane. Muller passed them, turned up a cross street and then
down again, into the street running parallel, to the lane, a quiet
aristocratic street on which fronted the house with the mansard roof.

A carriage stood in front of this house, two great trunks piled up on
the box beside the driver. A young girl and an old man in livery were
placing bags and bundles of rugs inside the carriage. Muller walked
slowly toward the carriage. Just as he reached the open gate of the
garden he was obliged to halt, to his own great satisfaction. For at
this moment a group of people came out from the house, the owners of it
evidently, prepared for a journey and surrounded by their servants.

Beside the old man and the young girl, there were two other women, one
evidently the housekeeper, the other possibly the cook. The latter
was weeping openly and devoutly kissing the hand of her mistress. The
housekeeper discovered that a rug was missing and sent the maid back for
it, while the old servant helped the lady into the carriage. The door
of the carriage was wide open and Muller had a good glimpse of the pale,
sweet-faced and delicate-looking young women who leaned back in her
corner, shivering and evidently ill. The servants bustled about, making
her comfortable, while her husband superintended the work with anxious
tenderness. He was a tall, fine-looking man with deep-set grey eyes and
a rich, sympathetic voice. He gave his orders to his servants with calm
authority, but he also was evidently suffering from the disease of
our century--nervousness, for Muller saw that the man's hands clenched
feverishly and that his lips were trembling under his drooping
moustache.

The maid hastened down with the rug and spread it over her mistress's
knees, as the gentleman exclaimed nervously: "Do hurry with that! Do you
want us to miss the train?"

The butler closed the door of the carriage, the coachman gathered up the
reins and raised his whip. The housekeeper bowed low and murmured a few
words in farewell and the other servants followed her example with tears
in