ed by Mr. Armitage, who, at times, was
singularly happy in his speculations as to the mental processes of other
people. Sometimes, however, he made mistakes, as will appear.

The gentleman for whom John Armitage had been waiting arrived alone, and
was received as a distinguished guest by the landlord.

Monsieur Chauvenet inquired for his friends the Claibornes, and was
clearly annoyed to find that they had gone; and no sooner had this
intelligence been conveyed to him than he, too, studied time-tables and
consulted steamer advertisements. Mr. John Armitage in various discreet
ways was observant of Monsieur Chauvenet's activities, and bookings at
steamship offices interested him so greatly that he reserved passage on
two additional steamers and ordered the straps buckled about his trunks,
for it had occurred to him that he might find it necessary to leave
Geneva in a hurry.

It was not likely that Monsieur Chauvenet, being now under his eyes,
would escape him; and John Armitage, making a leisurely dinner, learned
from his waiter that Monsieur Chauvenet, being worn from his travels, was
dining alone in his rooms.

At about eight o'clock, as Armitage turned the pages of _Figaro_ in the
smoking-room, Chauvenet appeared at the door, scrutinized the group
within, and passed on. Armitage had carried his coat, hat and stick into
the smoking-room, to be ready for possible emergencies; and when
Chauvenet stepped out into the street he followed.

It was unusually cold for the season, and a fine drizzle filled the air.
Chauvenet struck off at once away from the lake, turned into the
Boulevard Helvetique, thence into the Boulevard Froissart with its colony
of _pensions_. He walked rapidly until he reached a house that was
distinguished from its immediate neighbors only by its unlighted upper
windows. He pulled the bell in the wall, and the door was at once opened
and instantly closed.

Armitage, following at twenty yards on the opposite side of the street,
paused abruptly at the sudden ending of his chase. It was not an hour for
loitering, for the Genevan _gendarmerie_ have rather good eyes, but
Armitage had by no means satisfied his curiosity as to the nature of
Chauvenet's errand. He walked on to make sure he was unobserved, crossed
the street, and again passed the dark, silent house which Chauvenet had
entered. He noted the place carefully; it gave no outward appearance of
being occupied. He assumed, from the general plan o