Tiens, mon ami._ Do not talk of money. It is my great happiness to
offer you an opportunity to combine business with pleasure, and take a
most delightful trip without the expenditure of a sou."

"You surprise me--and where?"

"To a beautiful manorial residence at the village of Kioske, twenty
miles beyond Buda, on the banks of the Danube--one of the most romantic
spots of eastern Europe."

"And the object?"

"To take temporary charge of the only son of the wealthy Baron von
Dressdorf. Jules von Dressdorf," added the advocate in his bland,
pleasant way, "is a boy of fifteen, who, after spending a year in an
academy in England, has been placed in a _pension_ in Brussels; but,
_helas!_ an hereditary disease, which has developed itself more
strongly of late, has determined his father to recall him immediately.
Pericardiac, my dear sir--pericardiac; and it is most important that he
should without delay seek the quiet of his native valley."

"The terms?"

"Two hundred and fifty francs a week, and all expenses paid. When could
you start?"

"To-morrow--to-day--when you will."

"_Bien!_ There is a little difficulty I would mention; the journey is
not without small perils. Hungary, as you are aware, is now under the
ban of an Austrian tyranny."

I assured him of my sympathy.

"Hold," he cried. "It is exactly that you have no sympathy that I
select you. The Baron is already _suspect_, and the son, inheriting his
father's sentiments, has small discretion of speech. Keep Austria in
the background, I implore you."

"And are you sure that the Baron will approve of your choice of an
escort?"

"The mere fact, Monsieur Mortimer, that you were in the service--I beg
your pardon--in the family of the Earl of Tottenbridge would be
sufficient, but I am proud to say that the recommendation of Francois
Danneris would be a _carte blanche_ to any one to the confidence of
Baron Dressdorf. He is a noble man," he added with emotion, "and to him
I owe all I have in the world."

And then for half an hour the advocate poured into my ear the glories
of the house of Dressdorf and stories of Austrian oppression that made
me eager to serve his _protege_. Nay, I was so interested in his case
that I believe I would have seen the youth home, if I had had to bear
all the expenses of the journey myself.

"Have you a passport?"

"It is here," I said, handing it to him--"a Foreign Office passport
that protects me all over the continent."

"