a young man, who acts as servant,
and the other, a tall, copper-faced man with sleek black hair--probably a
Peruvian native. They call him Ali, and he pretends he is a Hindu."

"A Hindu!" gasped the detective. "Why, I saw one talking to a rather
stout Englishwoman at the Gare du Nord yesterday evening, just before
the Orient Express left for the East!" He gave a quick description of
both the man and the woman, and I at once said:

"Yes, that was certainly Ali, and the woman was Mrs. Petre!"

"They probably left by the Orient Express!" he cried, starting up, and
crossing to his chief's table snatched up the orange-coloured official
time table.

"Ah! yes," he exclaimed, after searching a few moments. "The Orient
Express will reach Wels, in Austria, at 2.17, no time for a telegram to
get through. No. The next stop is Vienna--the Westbahnhof--at 6. I will
wire to the Commissary of Police to board the train, and if they are in
it, to detain them."

"Excellent," remarked his chief, and, ringing a bell, a clerk appeared
and took down the official telegram, giving the description of the woman
and her accomplice.

"I suppose the fugitive Englishman is not with them?" suggested the _Chef
du Surete_.

"I did not see him at the station--or, at least, I did not recognise
anyone answering to the description," replied the inspector; "but we may
as well add his description in the telegram and ask for an immediate
reply."

Thereupon the official description of Digby, as supplied to the Belgian
police by Scotland Yard, was translated into French and placed in the
message.

After the clerk had left with it, Fremy, standing near the window,
exclaimed:

"Dieu! Had I but known who they were last night! But we may still get
them. I will see the employee at the Poste Restante. This Monsieur
Bryant, if he receives letters, may have given an address for them to be
forwarded."

After a slight pause, during which time the two functionaries conversed
in Flemish, I turned to Van Huffel, and said:

"I have related all I know, m'sieur; therefore, I beg of you to tell me
something concerning the young person Marie Bracq. Was she a lady?"

"A lady!" he echoed with a laugh. "Most certainly--the daughter of one of
the princely houses of Europe."

"What?" I gasped. "Tell me all about her!"

But the dry-as-dust little man shook his grey head and replied:

"I fear, m'sieur, in my position, I am not permitted to reveal secrets
entrusted