table. His personality was not of the most attractive,
and there was something in his squat nose suggestive of stertorous
possibilities which, under ordinary circumstances, would have held me
aloof from him. But--shall I confess it?--he had for me a certain
sentimental attraction, because he was associated in my mind with that
first meeting with my forty-eight hours' friend. I looked into his
compartment; an overcoat and valise lay in the opposite corner from his,
showing that seat to be engaged, but two corners were still left me to
choose from. I installed myself in one of them, face to face with the
valise and overcoat, and awaited the signal to start. The cry of "En
voiture, messieurs!" soon came, and a lithe figure sprang into the
carriage. It was my Fascinating Friend! For a single moment I thought
that a flash of annoyance crossed his features on finding me there, but
the impression vanished at once, for his greeting was as full of
cordiality as of surprise. We soon exchanged explanations. He, like
myself, had been called away by telegram, not to Genoa, but to Rome; he,
like myself, had left a note expressing his heartfelt regret at our
sudden separation. As we sped along, skirting bays that shone burnished
in the evening light, and rumbling every now and then through a
tunnel-pierced promontory, we resumed the almost affectionate converse
interrupted only an hour before, and I found him a more delightful
companion than ever. His exquisitely playful fantasy seemed to be acting
at high pressure, as in the case of a man who is talking to pass the
time under the stimulus of a delightful anticipation. I suspected that
he was hurrying to some peculiarly agreeable rendezvous in Rome, and I
hinted my suspicion, which he laughed off in such a way as to confirm
it. The German, in the mean time, sat stolid and unmoved, making some
pencilled calculations in a little pocket-book. He clearly did not
understand English.

As we approached Ventimiglia my friend rose, took down his valise from
the rack, and, turning his back to me, made some changes in its
arrangement, which I, of course, did not see. He then locked it
carefully and kept it beside him. At Ventimiglia we had all to turn out
to undergo the inspection of the Italian _dogana_. My friend's valise
was his sole luggage, and I noticed, rather to my surprise, that he gave
the custom-house official a very large bribe--two or three gold
pieces--to make his inspection of it