rted to the 'Black Lily.' One breath
of this satisfied us that it was the best of the lot. To be quite
sure, we smelt the 'Blue Rose,' and were instantly convinced of its
superiority to its fellows. A return to the 'Grey Jasmine' persuaded
us that there was only one scent in the shop. It was, indeed,
impossible to award the palm. Each perfume had some irresistible
virtue which the others lacked.

When, at last, Adele implored me to help her to a decision, I spoke to
the point.

"There's only one thing to do. We can't wait now, so have a big bottle
of each. Then you and Jill and Daphne can fight it out at home."

Adele asked the price of the scents.

"They are all the same price, _Madame_. The large bottle, one hundred
_pesetas_--the others, seventy, fifty, and thirty, according to size."

"Very well. I'll take a large bottle of each."

"Thank you, _Madame_."

A prolonged and vicious croak from the end of the street argued that
Berry's patience was wearing thin, but to have asked the girl to make
haste would have been supererogatory.

In a trice three phials had been taken down from their shelves, and
three stout silk-lined cases, of the pattern of safety-match boxes, had
been produced. The phial went into its tray, the tray into its sheath,
the case complete into a sheet of rough grey paper, and the whole was
girt with cord in next to no time.

As the last knot was being tied Adele touched me upon the arm.

"I almost forgot," she said. Then she turned to the girl. "I have
been told to ask for your 'Red Violets.'"

The scissors the girl was using fell to the floor. As she recovered
them--

"Certainly, _Madame_," she whispered, laying a trembling hand upon the
curtain behind.

She disappeared, to reappear almost immediately with a package
precisely similar to those she had just made up. She placed it with
the others.

"Oh," said Adele, "but you haven't----"

A perfect hurricane of croaks, mingled with cries of anger, interrupted
her.

"Never mind," I cried, gathering up the parcels. "How much is it now?
Four hundred, I suppose."

As I was counting the notes, a yell of anguish in Berry's unmistakable
accents fell upon my ears.

I threw the money upon the table and bolted out of the shop with Adele
at my heels....

As we came to the corner, I ran full tilt into--Eulalie. For an
instant our eyes met, but she looked away pointedly, slipped to one
side, and passed on....

Then--