ble railway that connects Ouchy on the lake with
Lausanne above.

It was not a hundred yards distant; it could be easily and quickly
reached, and without much observation, if a person waited till the
immediate neighbourhood had been cleared by the general exodus after
the arrival of the chief express of the day. There were any number of
trains by this _funiculaire_--at every half-hour indeed--and any one
taking this route could reach either Lausanne or Ouchy after a very
few minutes' journey up or down. To extend my investigation on that
side was of obvious and pressing importance. I was only too conscious
of my great loss of time, now at the outset, which might efface all
tracks and cut me off hopelessly from any clue.

I was soon across and inside the Sainte Luce station, but still
undecided which direction I should choose, when the little car arrived
going upward, and I ran over to that platform and jumped in. I must
begin one way or the other, and I proceeded at once to question the
conductor, when he nicked my ticket, only to draw perfectly blank.

"Have I seen two ladies and a child this morning? But, _grand Dieu_, I
have seen two thousand. It is _idiote_ to ask such questions,
monsieur, of a busy man."

"I can pay for what I want," I whispered gently, as I slipped a
five-franc piece into his hand, ever mindful of the true saying,
_Point d'argent, point de Suisse_; and the bribe entirely changed his
tone.

"A lady, handsome, tall, distinguished, _comme il faut_, with a
companion, a servant, a nurse carrying a child?" He repeated my
description, adding, "_Parfaitement_, I saw her. She was not one to
forget quickly."

"And she was going to Lausanne?"

"_Ma foi_, yes, I believe so; or was it to Ouchy?" He seemed
overwhelmed with sudden doubt. "Lausanne or Ouchy? Up or down? Twenty
thousand thunders, but I cannot remember, not--" he dropped his
voice--"not for five francs."

I doubled the dose, and hoped I had now sufficiently stimulated his
memory or unloosed his tongue. But the rascal was still hesitating
when we reached the top, and I could get nothing more than that it was
certainly Lausanne, "if," he added cunningly, "it was not Ouchy." But
he had seen her, that was sure--seen her that very day upon the line,
not more than an hour or two before. He had especially admired her;
_dame_! he had an eye for the _beau sexe_; and yet more he noticed
that she talked English, of which he knew some words, to her