of you, Louis?" I asked.

"It is not possible, monsieur," he answered. "I must be here until
half-past twelve or one o'clock to attend to my supper guests."

I leaned back in my chair and laughed silently. It seemed to me a
strange thing to speak so calmly of the service of the restaurant,
while upstairs I was to lie quiet, my senses strained all the time,
and the chances of life and death dependent, perhaps, on the quickness
of my right arm, or some chance inspiration. I saw the usual throng
come strolling in--I myself had often been one of them--actresses who
had not time to make a toilette for the restaurant proper, actors,
managers, agents, performers from all the hundreds of pleasure houses
which London boasts, Americans who had not troubled to dress,
Frenchwomen who objected to the order prohibiting their appearance in
hats elsewhere,--a heterogeneous, light-hearted crowd, not afraid to
laugh, to make jokes, certain to outstay their time, supping frugally
or _au prince_, according to the caprice of the moment. And
upstairs I saw myself waiting in a darkened room for what? I felt a
thrill of something which I had felt just before the final assault
upon Ladysmith, when we had drunk our last whiskey and soda, thrown
away our cigarettes, and it had been possible to wonder, for a moment,
whether ever again our lips would hold another. Only this was a very
different matter. I might be ending my days, for all I knew, on behalf
of a gang of swindlers!

"Louis," I said, "it would make me much more comfortable if you could
be a little more candid. You might tell me in plain words what these
men want from Delora. How am I to know that he is not the thief, and
these others are seeking only their own?"

Louis was silent for a moment. He glanced carelessly around the room
to assure himself that there were no listeners.

"I can tell you no more, sir," he said, "for if I told you more, I
should tell you lies. I will only remind you that you owe us a debt
which I am asking you to pay, and that it is the uncle of mademoiselle
whose place you are taking."

"I am not in the least convinced," I said, "that I am aiding the uncle
of mademoiselle in allowing myself to be attacked in his place."

"As for that," Louis answered, "you shall be assured to-morrow, and,
if you will, there is another adventure still to be undertaken. You
shall go to see Mr. Delora, and be thanked with his own lips."

"There is some sense in that, Louis,