going in my carriage. I will find you a place."

This arrangement might have necessitated the false Marseillais going
into the cars and getting out at the next station; so he excused himself
on the plea that the walk would please him better.

"To tell you the truth, I am bound to take exercise or die of
apoplexy--so my family doctor tells me. By the way, I have taken leave
already of Madame Clemenceau. A Russian, you tell me? I never should
have imagined it! Ah, one can see that you have converted her into a
true French lady--lucky man! I can understand that you believe in lofty
ideas beside a beautiful and talented woman like her! Lucky, lucky
man!"

And he turned aside, calling out as he departed:

"I know my way! give my respects to your friends who are hunting for the
Lost Tribes! ha, ha!"

This laugh, loud but not jolly as it was intended to appear, routed
Clemenceau's solemn thoughts. It seemed, like Pan's, from a statue,
which gleamed in a vista, still to reverberate when the inventor went
back to the house. At the upper windows gleamed lights which moved to
and fro, and shadows flitted across the openings; it was the usual
bustle when guests are packing up, and the idea of the too quiet and
lonely house, of the morrow saddens the observer.

A woman's form darted across the lawn and made the master start. It came
along easily, and he saw that it was one familiar with the grounds.

"Hedwig!"

It was the servant who had run out to the stables to see that the horses
were put to the carriage.

"Stop a minute! we are in privacy here, and I want to have a word with
you."

The girl paused, intimidated and almost frightened; she lost color as
she stood, agitatedly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other,
and averting her eyes from the speaker. A thief caught in a felonious
act would not have presented a more damning spectacle.

"Not only are we breaking up the household, Hedwig, but the house is
going to other hands. The mistress and I will live in a hotel at Paris
for some time, on account of my changed business relations.
Consequently, we must dispense with your services. Madame will, on grand
occasions, have a professional hair dresser in, and so--in a word, I
must ask you to please yourself about returning to your own country, or
seeking another situation in this one. You can refer to Madame for a
character; for, I believe, you have always served her faithfully. But
you need not look to her for