draft for you, and Count
Beziatnikoff will sign it. The count,' he went on to say, 'is the keeper
of the Privy Purse. The draft itself is on the London Rothschilds, but
they will cash it at Belmont's.' I did not quite like that arrangement:
it did not seem entirely business-like. 'Your Excellency,' I said, 'it
is the custom here to have checks for large amounts certified before
they are offered in payment.' But I had to explain what certification
meant before he understood me. 'That is nothing,' he said, 'that is
nothing. If his Highness is pleased, we will go to Belmont's together,
or, if you prefer, we will sit here over a Sam Ward and let one of the
hotel-clerks go to the bank in our stead.' There seemed to me nothing
objectionable in that suggestion; for, after all, I could not exact of
any one, however grand-ducal he might be, to go about with a hundred and
ten thousand dollars in his waistcoat."

"Or in his trousers either."

"Or in his trousers either, as you very properly put it. Now, _Mr._
Jones--Mr. Leigh, look at me; Colonel Barker--colonel--I am coming to
the point. Where's that waiter? Gentlemen, see here; watch that man
there--watch Jones. Don't take your eyes off _Mr._ Jones, but listen,
all of you, to what I say. Mr. Leigh, you are looking at me: look at
your friend, colonel, I insist. _Mr._ Jones, _you_, if you care to, can
look at me. Now, gentlemen, now--"

"Have you got a camera concealed about your person?"

"No, I have not, but I have something that came from one. You wait a
minute, and I'll show it to you. I'll show it to you all. Where did I
leave off?"

"In his waistcoat-pocket."

"Thank you: so I did. Well, gentlemen, we sat there talking as
pleasantly as you please. The Russian joked a bit, and said that he
wanted a certified check from me,--the check for his commission, you
remember,--and presently he got up and said he would see what was
delaying his Highness. So I sat awhile, twirling my thumbs. Five minutes
passed, ten minutes passed. I looked at my watch: it was almost
half-past two. That draft, I told myself, won't be cashed to-day. I went
to the window and looked out. I went to the door: there was no one in
the hall but a chambermaid. I went back to my seat, and then, moved by
my own uneasiness, I opened the drawer of the table. The box was gone! I
took the drawer out. It was one that extended the entire width of the
table: the further end of it had been cut off. I looked down an