with me to his Chief,--a smart young chap, a colonel in the army, and
a very intelligent man.

"I explained that I had been robbed in a French railway carriage of a
diamond necklace belonging to the Queen of England, which her Majesty
was sending as a present to the Czarina of Russia. I pointed out to
him that if he succeeded in capturing the thief he would be made for
life, and would receive the gratitude of three great powers.

"He wasn't the sort that thinks second thoughts are best. He saw
Russian and French decorations sprouting all over his chest, and he
hit a bell, and pressed buttons, and yelled out orders like the
captain of a penny steamer in a fog. He sent her description to all
the city gates, and ordered all cabmen and railway porters to search
all trains leaving Marseilles. He ordered all passengers on outgoing
vessels to be examined, and telegraphed the proprietors of every hotel
and pension to send him a complete list of their guests within the
hour. While I was standing there he must have given at least a hundred
orders, and sent out enough commissaires, sergeants de ville,
gendarmes, bicycle police, and plain-clothes Johnnies to have captured
the entire German army. When they had gone he assured me that the
woman was as good as arrested already. Indeed, officially, she was
arrested; for she had no more chance of escape from Marseilles than
from the Chateau D'If.

"He told me to return to my hotel and possess my soul in peace. Within
an hour he assured me he would acquaint me with her arrest.

"I thanked him, and complimented him on his energy, and left him. But
I didn't share in his confidence. I felt that she was a very clever