Observing
that his volcanic interrogative eruption was non-productive he slowed
down and repeated the questions.

"Why are you travelling at this time?"

"To take up an appointment in Russia. There is the name--Prince ----"

"Ah!" and his eyebrows were elevated so much as to mingle almost with
his hair.

"But why have you so much photographic apparatus?"

"It is necessary for the work I am taking up."

"Ah!" once again the eyebrows vanished scalp-wards.

"Have you a camera upon you?"

"No!"

"Ah!" another dance of the eyebrows.

He rapped out a short command and before I was aware of the circumstance
two pairs of hands were running rapidly over my body and in and out of
my pockets with the dexterity of men who had served a long
apprenticeship under an Artful Dodger. It proved a blank search. I gave
a sigh of relief, because had the searchers run their hands over the
lower part of my person they would have come across two cameras, and my
treasured little companion, wrapped in his leather jacket, alert and
ready for silent service, but concealed in a most unexpected corner. I
could scarcely repress a smile when I recognised that I was immune from
further search. Evidently the Pooh-bah was somewhat disconcerted at the
negative results achieved, because, after firing one or two other
desultory questions at me, he handed back my passport and other papers,
and told me I could continue my journey.

Desiring to disarm suspicion completely I did not hurry away but
lingered around the little court and even indulged in a short idle
conversation with my interlocutor, who, however, somewhat resented my
familiarity. I lounged back to the train, hugely delighted with myself,
more particularly as, quite unbeknown to the fussy individual with the
beard, I had snapped a picture of his informal court with my little
camera.

The frontier formalities at last concluded, the train resumed its crawl,
ambling leisurely along for some two hours, stopping now and then to
draw into a siding. On such occasions troop train after troop train
crowded with soldiers thundered by us _en route_ to Berlin. The sight of
a troop train roused our passengers to frenzy. They cheered madly,
throwing their hats into the air. The huzzas were returned by the
soldiers hanging out of the windows with all the exuberant enthusiasm of
school boys returning home at the end of the term.

But we were not destined to make a through run to the capital. Sudde