. I confess now I should be glad to
see our carriage. I feel I'm getting smoke-dried like bacon--or ham,
is it?"

It was evident that the elder of the two ladies was rather frightened
and losing her head.

"I'll not do this again without a man of our own," she said with
nervous irritability.

Paul stepped forward, raising his hat. "Is your carriage anywhere
about? Can I get it for you?"

"Oh, thank you so much. It's a private one from the Hotel de Flandres,
and I told the man to stop here."

"Unfortunately the police regulations interfere with your orders," Paul
said, with a slight smile. "He must take his place in the ranks. I
will soon find it for you if you will stay here."

"Name, Webster," said the older lady.

So Paul, with a nod to Sally to stay where she was, hurried off,
returning in a moment with the carriage.

"Thanks so much," said the girl whom Sally admired, as Paul handed her
in and closed the door behind her.

"I was quite glad of the time to consider her more closely!" cried
Sally, as they drove off. "I've never seen what I call an absolutely
perfect face before. I wonder if I shall see her again?"

"For my part I don't wish it," Paul answered carelessly. "Beautiful
she is; but she bears the knowledge of it about with her like an
overpowering perfume, and is the very impersonation of the insolence of
riches!"

"Why, Paul, you are not often either narrow-minded or unjust."

"How dare she comment upon these Belgians, who nearly all possess a
smattering of English, under their very noses!" continued Paul,
angrily. "'Quite nice and respectable,' indeed! As she and her mother
were in a fix I was bound, as a man, to offer my services; but I did it
unwillingly."

Paul's indignation was short-lived, and he and Sally walked along the
streets leisurely, on their way back to their hotel, talking on
indifferent subjects. They paused in the hall of the hotel, running
their eyes over the letters displayed outside the post-office, to see
if the evening post had brought any for them. There were none for
Sally; but two or three for Paul, that had been forwarded from his
chambers in London.

"I'll go into the salon and read them, and then we'll go upstairs to
bed. I feel infected by the early hours of these foreigners," he said,
yawning a little.

Sally turned over the leaves of a paper whilst her brother opened his
letters. The last of them he read and re-read several times; then ros