many times before they reached the broad Boulevard Anspach, that
never had he taken such "a stroll," and never had he known how
little difference there was between a steam and a human propeller.
He almost forgot, as they sat at a small, table in front of a cafe,
to institute his diplomatic search for the real object of the
American's presence in Brussels.

It was twelve o'clock when they returned to the hotel, after a
rather picturesque evening in the gay cafes.

Here is what the keen little Italian deduced: Quentin was to remain
in Brussels until he took a notion to go somewhere else; Quentin had
seen the prince driving on the Paris boulevards; the Bois de la
Cambre offers every attraction to a man who enjoys driving; the
American slept with a revolver near his pillow, and his manservant
had killed six or seven men in the United States because of his
marvellous skill with the pistol; Quentin was a most unsophisticated
young man, with honesty and innocence in his frank eyes, although
they sometimes grew rather searching; he could only be overcome by
cunning; he was in love with Miss Garrison.

Quentin's conclusions: Laselli was a liar and an ass; Prince Ugo
would be in Brussels within ten days; he was careless with the
hearts of women and cruel with their love; French detectives are the
best in the world, the most infallible; Miss Garrison loved the very
ground the prince trod upon. He also discovered that the duke could
drink wine as a fish drinks water, and that he seldom made overtures
to pay for it until his companion had the money in hand, ready to do
so.