e says, just like that, sir--' 'Ere she is,'
as if they was a-waiting for somebody. In 'arf a minute up drives the
Baroness Bonnar in a carriage, with a lady a-sitting beside her. The
two gentlemen takes off their 'ats, and they all shakes hands together,
and then Mr. Brunow and Mr. Sacovitch gets into the carriage, and they
all drives off together." He stopped there with such an air of triumph
and perspicacity that I was angry with him. Certainly the news that
Brunow was about again was interesting, and might perhaps be useful. But
that, being at large, he should be in the companionship of the baroness
and the Austrian police spy was not at all by itself surprising, and
Hinge had the air of one who had discovered a wonder.

"Is that all?" I asked him.

"No, sir," said Hinge, "that's only the beginning. They drives off
through the park, turning the carriage round directly the gentlemen gets
into it. They drove as slow as slow could be, just at a lazy kind of
walk, sir; and when they was a little bit of a distance off I ventures
to follow 'era. Their four heads was that close together you might
have covered them with one hat, but of course I never dare venture near
enough to find out what they was a-talking about. They drove about for
two or three hours, and I kep' 'em in sight all the while-At one time
the Baroness Bonnar and the other lady, they gets down to feed the deer
from a paper-bag of biscuits, and the gentlemen strolled about smoking
cigars. Then they all four gets together again just as eager and as busy
as ever. I could see 'em a-talking and a-arguing like mad, and I was
just wild myself to know what it was all about, sir, but of course I
couldn't get a-nigh of 'em. Finally," said Hinge, "after two or three
hours, they drives back to the Star and Garter, and goes in there. I
found out, sir," he went on, with a growing air of importance which,
considering the triviality of the intelligence he had so far brought me,
was hard to bear with--"I found out, sir, as they'd ordered lunch; but I
didn't likes to leave 'em without knowing what they was up to, and so
I 'ung about, sir. That comes easy, sir," said Hinge, "to a man as 'as
been used to barrack life. I 'ung about, and in the course of an hour or
more they comes out very jolly, and drives into the park again, and all
the morning's business over again. Well, sir, having gone on so long, I
didn't like to be put off; and I determined, as a man might say, to see