e was as composed as ever, and had a
self-satisfied air, as though, having slept on it, she was more pleased
than ever with the course she had adopted.

Phyllis knew nothing yet, except what she had gleaned from me last
night, I was sure of that; but I was not so sure about Alb, who wore a
clouded brow. Whether he was worrying over his own affairs, or whether
friend Robert had commandered his hero's sympathy, I could not guess,
and dared not ask. Nor had I much time to speculate upon Alb's business,
for I saw by Freule Menela's eye that my own was pressing, and all my
energies were bent in steering clear of her during the good-by excursion
through Utrecht.

Luckily, the party distributed itself in two carriages, and though I
could not resist the fair Menela's "Come with me, Mr. Starr,"
fortunately the L.C.P. jumped in with Tibe, whose mood was so
obstreperous that clearly he did not find canal life relaxing. Then
arose a discussion between Nell and Phyllis as to which should sit in
the other carriage, and Nell came to us, wishing, perhaps, to avoid Alb,
whose society seems of late to cast a blight of silence upon her.

"Now," said I to myself, "if the late fiancee can't wind her tentacles
round a new victim in this vehicle, neither can Robert escape her toils
by proposing to Phyllis in that one, surrounded by his family circle. If
he doesn't seize his chance soon, he'll miss it forever; because once
his Freule discovers that she isn't to be claimed by another, she'll
find it convenient to change her mind about life in Rotterdam. I may be
saint--or villain--enough to keep her dangling till sunset; but then, at
latest, I shall have to cut her down; and woe to any Viking who happens
to lie about loose and unattached, when she falls to earth with a dull
thud."

Far be it from the clever lady of The Hague to admit that there was a
place on earth of which she did not know everything; and though I have
reason to believe that she never saw Utrecht till yesterday, she was so
busy telling us about it that we were behind the others in arriving on
board "Mascotte," our appointed rendezvous.

I noticed instantly that Phyllis was not on deck, helping Alb to
entertain the twins, as her kind soul would have prompted her to do. Of
course, she might be below, in one of the cabins; but where was Robert?
It was a coincidence that he, too, should be missing. Yet no one
attempted to offer an explanation. Lilli and Lisbeth merely looked