own, or did you find it or annex it from next door? Ah, your own; and
what have you to do with her?"

"I may tell you some day, Jules. For the present you must know that I
am after her; I have to watch her, stick to her like her shadow until
it is time to act."

"An adventuress, eh?"

"She is in possession of what does not belong to her; something she
abstracted from--from--Never mind where, and it must be recovered from
her here, or after she leaves the car."

"Afterwards, please. We can't have any scandal on board here."

"Five hundred francs wouldn't tempt you to let me have a free hand for
just half an hour? I could do it, say somewhere short of Basle, and on
reaching there make off. No one should be any the wiser, and they, the
women, wouldn't dare to make a fuss."

"It's I who do not dare--not for twice five hundred francs. My place
is worth more than that; and if it is a dog's life, it is better than
lying on the straw. Besides, there's her friend the Colonel, he'll be
on the alert, you may depend."

"So must I be, and I must find some way to circumvent him. I'll be
even with him. He sha'n't beat me, the overbearing, hectoring brute.
It's between him and me, and I think I'm a match for him."

I spoke this confidently to my friend, who engaged for his part to do