Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-15

1 found a porter whose face 1 had seen
when 1 got out of the train. He had. in
fact, appeared under the window of my
compartment, offering himself as luggage
carrier. and had been close behind me when
my late travelling companion walked by my
side. Questioned. he appeared not to re-
member. but his wits being sharpened by
the gift of franc, he reflected and re-
called not only my features but the fea-
lures Of the little man. whom he described
with sufficient accuracy. What had be-
come of lie petit monsieur he was not GER
tain. but fancied he had driven away in a
cab accompanied by two other gentlemen.
He recollected this circumstance. because
the face Of the cabman was one that he
knew. and 1t was now again In the station,
for the voiture had returned. Would he
point out the cocher to me? He would, and
did. receiving second franc for his pains.
The cab driver proved to be a dull and
Paris, but the clink of silver and the sight
of 1t mellowed him. 1 began by saying
that I was in search Of three friends of
mine whom I was to have met when the
boat train came in, but whom I had I'M
fortunately missed. l asked him to de-
scribe the men he had driven away from
the station at that time, and though he did
1t clumsily. betraying an irritating lack of
such Information as could draw from him
sounded encouraging. He remembered per-
fectly well the place at which he had de-
posted his three passengers. and I decided
When l say risk l mean the risk that
the man 1 was starting out to chase might
turn out not to be the man 1 wished to
follow Besides. as they had bean driven to
Neuilly, the distance was great that If
l went there in a cab and found at last
that 1 had made a mistake. l should have
wasted great deal OF valuable time on
the wrong tack. If the driver had remem-
bered the name of the street and the num-
Der of the house at which he had paused
l would have hired motor and flashed out
to the place in a few minutes. but despite
a suggested bride, he could say more
than that when he had come to certain
place one of his passengers had called
Turn down the next street to the left"
He had done so and in front OF house
almost midway along that street he had
been hidden to stop. He had not bothered
to look at the name OF the street. but.
though he was not very familiar with that
neighborhocd. various landmarks would
guide him to the right place when he came
to pass them again.
Having heard all he had to say I reluc-
family made up my mind that l could do
no better than take the man as my con-
ductor. and accordingly. with a horse al
ready tired, l drove to Neuilly. There the
landmarks were not deceiving. as l was
half afraid they would be, and in a quiet
street OF the suburb we stopped at last be-
fore fair-sized house with lights In many
windows Evidently 1t was pension.
OF the man-servant who answered my
ring I inquired II three English gentlemen
had lately arrived. He replied that they
had and were dining. Would monsieur give
himself the pain of waiting few minutes
until dinner should be over?
My answer was to slip a five-franc piece
into the servants hand and suggest that
should be shown at once into the dining
room. without waiting. My idea was to
catch my birds while they fed and take
them by surprise, lest they fly away. If
pounced upon them in the midst of a meal,
at least they could not escape before being
recognized by me, and as to what should
come after recognition, the moment of
meeting must decide.
The five-franc piece worked like charm.
l was promptly ushered into the dining
room and standing just inside che door. 1
swept the long table with a quick, eager
glance. About eighteen or twenty people
were dining but. though several were I'M
mistakaby English, l saw no one who re-
sembled my travelling companions.
Every one turned and stared. There was
no face of which l had not good view
In a low voice ! asked the servant which
were the new arrivals of whom he had
spoken. He pointed them out, and added
that though they had come only that day
from England. they were old patrons, we'll
known in the house.
AS 1 fingered. deeply disappointed the
elderly proprietor of the pension, who
superintendent the comfort of his guests,
trotted fussily up to inquire the strangers
business In his dining room. l explained
that had hoped to find friends and was
for my cabman to have peep through the
crack of the door. When he had identified
his three passengers all hope was over 1
had followed the wrong men.
There was nothing to do but go back to
the Care du Nord and question more por-
tiers and cabmen. Nobody could give me
any information worth having. it seemed:
yet the little man must have left the station
in vehicle of some sort, he had a great
deal of small luggage. Since l could learn
nothing of him or his movements, however
and dared not. because of Maxine and the
British foreign secretary. apply to the
police for help. l determined to lose no
more time before consulting a private de-
tective, man whose actions l could con-
troll. and to whom 1 need tell only as much
of the truth as l chose, without fear OF
having the rest dragged out of me.
At my own hotel 1 inquired Of the man
ager where could find a good private de-
tective. got an address and motored to It,
the speed bracing my nerves. Fortunately
tas thought then). Monsieur Anatole Gil
rard was at home and able to receive me-
l was shown into the plain but very neat
little sitting room Of a fiat on the fifth
floor of a big new apartment house, and