rson, and I hear she came from our own class. The
Princess, of course, looks upon her as the dirt under her feet, but in
her position there is no blame, perhaps, for her doing that." Thus
poor Katerina, divided between loyalty to her young mistress and
admiration for the beautiful woman who had overcome such formidable
obstacles.

The artful valet put his arm round her waist and imprinted a fond kiss
on her pretty cheek.

"Katerina, my little sweetheart, I think you will admit you owe me
some amends for your foolish indiscretion. Give me that card, and we
will cry quits. But not a word to the Princess. But I forgot. You
cannot tell her; you ought to have returned it to Madame Quero."

Katerina was glad to be reconciled to her lover on such cheap terms.
Five minutes later, the card of La Belle Quero was in Peter's hands.

And then Peter thought long and cunningly. He had made up his mind to
betray his master--it was a matter of necessity--but he was very
particular that his master should not know by whom he was betrayed.
There was Fritz, the German, one of the four men implicated in the
abduction of Corsini. Fritz was always a shifty person, ready to sell
himself to the highest bidder. Peter felt assured that Zouroff's
suspicions were already centred on Fritz. He was one of the two men
who had escaped, no doubt with the connivance of the police; anyway,
that would be Zouroff's view.

The possession of Madame Quero's card had suggested new lines of
thought. Of course, Peter did not know to what extent the beautiful
singer was in the Prince's confidence. Here, naturally, he was groping
wildly in the dark. But the more he diverted Zouroff's attention from
himself on to other people, the better.

In divulging what he proposed to do to the Prince, it was more than
probable that he would implicate the young Princess Nada. And Peter
had a very soft spot in his heart for her. Still, it was simply a
question of saving himself. If Zouroff saw red and laid all about him,
as it were, Nada must protect herself. Even a ruffian like Zouroff
would exercise some compunction when his sister was in question. With
regard to La Belle Quero, who had, at times, treated him a little
disdainfully, with the slight arrogance of a person who had emerged
from his own class into a superior one, Peter felt no qualms. The
Prince and she could adjust their own differences at the proper time
and hour.

Later on, he approached Zouroff with his fa