of it, strengthened by the publicly-expressed opinion of the illustrious
Berryer himself. In a word, we had nothing to fear.

The next page of the letter informed us that the police had surprised
the card playing community with whom we had spent the evening at
Boulogne, and that the much-bejeweled old landlady had been sent to
prison for the offense of keeping a gambling-house. It was suspected
in the town that the General was more or less directly connected with
certain disreputable circumstances discovered by the authorities. In any
case, he had retired from active service.

He and his wife and family had left Boulogne, and had gone away in debt.
No investigation had thus far succeeded in discovering the place of
their retreat.

Reading this letter aloud to Romayne, I was interrupted by him at the
last sentence.

"The inquiries must have been carelessly made," he said. "I will see to
it myself."

"What interest can you have in the inquiries?" I exclaimed.

"The strongest possible interest," he answered. "It has been my one hope
to make some little atonement to the poor people whom I have so cruelly
wronged. If the wife and children are in distressed circumstances
(which seems to be only too likely) I may place them beyond the reach of
anxiety--anonymously, of course. Give me the surgeon's address. I shall
write instructions for tracing them at my expense--merely announcing
that an Unknown Friend desires to be of service to the General's