hat Mr. Razumov lived near by.

"If I go myself," Miss Haldin argued, "I can go straight to him from the
hotel. And in any case I should have to go out, because I must explain
to Mr. Razumov personally--prepare him in a way. You have no idea of
mother's state of mind."

Her colour came and went. She even thought that both for her mother's
sake and for her own it was better that they should not be together for
a little time. Anna, whom her mother liked, would be at hand.

"She could take her sewing into the room," Miss Haldin continued,
leading the way to the door. Then, addressing in German the maid who
opened it before us, "You may tell my mother that this gentleman called
and is gone with me to find Mr. Razumov. She must not be uneasy if I am
away for some length of time."

We passed out quickly into the street, and she took deep breaths of the
cool night air. "I did not even ask you," she murmured.

"I should think not," I said, with a laugh. The manner of my reception
by the great feminist could not be considered now. That he would be
annoyed to see me, and probably treat me to some solemn insolence, I had
no doubt, but I supposed that he would not absolutely dare to throw me
out. And that was all I cared for. "Won't you take my arm?" I asked.

She did so in silence, and neither of us said anything worth recording
till I let her go first into the great hall of the hotel. It was
brilliantly lighted, and with a good many people lounging about.

"I could very well go up there without you," I suggested.

"I don't like to be left waiting in this place," she said in a low
voice.

"I will come too."

I led her straight to the lift then. At the top floor the attendant
directed us to the right: "End of the corridor."

The walls were white, the carpet red, electric lights blazed in
profusion, and the emptiness, the silence, the closed doors all alike
and numbered, made me think of the perfect order of some severely
luxurious model penitentiary on the solitary confinement principle. Up
there under the roof of that enormous pile for housing travellers
no sound of any kind reached us, the thick crimson felt muffled our
footsteps completely. We hastened on, not looking at each other till we
found ourselves before the very last door of that long passage. Then our
eyes met, and we stood thus for a moment lending ear to a faint murmur
of voices inside.

"I suppose this is it," I whispered unnecessarily. I saw Miss Hald