honors of the house. The dignity with which the child performed her
duties was enchanting. She understood perfectly how to entertain her
mother's guests, how to spice her conversation with piquant anecdotes,
how to mimic the manner of affected personages. She was, in a word, a
prodigy!

Countess Themire, knowing she might safely trust her little daughter to
perform the duties of hostess, followed De Fervlans to the conservatory.

"We have been outwitted," he began at once. "They vanished twelve hours
before we learned that they had flown."

The countess shrugged her shoulders and tossed her head.

"Why do you think it necessary to tell me this?" she inquired, with a
touch of asperity. "Have you not got enough police to arrest the
fugitives, who must pass through the entire country in their flight?"

"Yes, we have quite enough spies, and they are very skilful; but the
fugitives are a trifle more skilful. They have disguised themselves so
effectually that it is impossible to trace them. They seized a public
coach by force, changed the number on it, and sent it back from the
boundary by an accomplice, who left it in the Rue Muffetard. Even should
we succeed in tracing their flight, by the time we discovered them they
would have crossed the boundary of Switzerland, or would be sailing over
the ocean. No; we must begin all over again. There is but one expedient:
_you_ must travel in search of the fugitives, and bring them back."

"I go in search of them and bring them back?" repeated the countess, in
a startled tone.