ouse I had to visit was an
ugly big box of a building, with rooms advertised to let, as I could see
by the light of a street lamp across the way, which gleamed bleakly on
the lines of shut windows behind narrow iron balconies.

The large double doors, from which the paint had peeled in patches, were
closed, but I rang the bell for the concierge; and after a delay of
several minutes I heard a slight click which meant that the doors had
opened for me. I passed into a dim lobby, to be challenged by a sleepy
voice behind a half open window. The owner of the voice kept himself
invisible and was no doubt in the bunk which he called his bed. Only a
stern sense of duty as concierge woke him up enough to demand,
mechanically, who it was that the strange monsieur desired to visit at
this late hour?

I replied according to instructions. I wished to see Monsieur Gestre.

"Monsieur Gestre is away," murmured the voice behind the little window.

I thought quickly. Gestre was probably the "pal" whom "J.M." had been in
such a hurry to find. "Very well," said I, "I'll see his friend, the
Englishman who arrived this evening. I have an appointment with him."

"Ah, I understand. I remember. Is it not that Monsieur has been here
already? He now returns, as he mentioned that he might do?"

Again my thoughts made haste to arrange themselves. The "monsieur" who
had called had probably also arrived late, after the concierge had gone
to bed in his dim box, and become too drowsy to notice such details as
the difference between voices, especially if they were those of
foreigners. Perhaps if I explained that I was not the person who had
said he would come again, but another, the man behind the window would
consider me a complication, and refuse to let me pass at such an hour
without a fuss. And of all things, a fuss was what I least wanted--for
Maxine's sake, and because of the treaty. I decided to seize upon the
advantage that was offered me.

"Quite right," I said shortly. "I know the way." And so began to mount
the stairs. Flight after flight I went up, meeting no one; and on the
fifth floor I found that I had reached the top of the house. There were
no more stairs to go up.

On each of the floors below there had been a dim light--a jet of gas
turned low. But the fifth floor was in darkness. Someone had put out the
light, either in carelessness or for some special reason.

There were several doors on each side of the passage, but I could