the _valet de chambre_. You must dress quickly. It is important,
this."

"I will dress in ten minutes," I replied, "but I must shave before I
go out. That will take me another ten. In the meantime, perhaps you
will kindly tell me what it all means?"

"What it all means!" Louis repeated, with upraised hands. "Is it not
clear? Have you forgotten what happened only a few hours ago? It rests
with one or two people as to whether you shall be given up to the
police for what you did last night,--does monsieur understand
that?--the police!"

"To tell you the truth, Louis," I answered, "I never dreamed of
escaping from them. It did not seem possible."

"In which case?" Louis asked slowly.

I pointed to the revolver upon my mantelpiece.

"We all," I remarked, "make the mistake of overestimating the actual
importance of life."

Louis shivered a little. I noticed both then and afterwards that he
was never comfortable in the presence of firearms.

"A last resource, of course," I said, "but one should always be
prepared!"

"In this city," Louis said, "it is not as in London. In London there