_Fernand Weber, Paris and Alsace._

With another exclamation, but this time of relief, he put the candle
back upon the desk. Two beads of perspiration that had formed upon his
brow rolled from it, and fell upon the register. And Weber had come,
too! He was not surprised at it. Since he was Lannes' messenger, and he
was free to come and go as he pleased, it was altogether likely that he
would appear in Chastel to see the reunion of brother and sister, and
his work well done. Moreover, he was a man who knew. John had often
noticed that Weber's characteristic was knowledge and now he would help
them.

He lifted the candle high above his head and looked around the lobby,
but there was no sign of the Alsatian. He must have gone outside again.
Saying nothing to Julie or the Picards, John resolved to seek him. He
needed his heavy overcoat and he was able to secure it unobserved,
because Julie had gone up to her room, and Antoine and Suzanne had
disappeared in the back regions of the hotel.

He had a faint hope that when he returned to the lobby he might find
Weber there, but it was still lone and silent, and drawing the collar
well about his ears and throat he thrust himself out into the snow.
Turning his back to the driving flakes he walked eastward, searching
everywhere through the advancing twilight. Weber, of course, knew of
their presence in the hotel as he had seen their names on the register,
and the lighted candle on the bureau. It must have been a sudden alarm
that called him away so quickly, else he would have gone in at once, and
have spoken to his friends.