refuse his protection to a lady, a
guest under his own roof and in a strange land, where the help of
friends was denied her. I then appealed to Kate to go with me, as it
would only end the trouble sooner, and that I would never allow her to
go to such a place alone, but with tears streaming from her eyes she
resisted my entreaties, and I followed one of the men to the court: the
other remained behind to watch Kate.

I had no more idea of a police-court than I had of the reason why I was
being taken there. It was mystery and curiosity that sustained me. I
undoubtedly looked like an amused interrogation-mark, for the moment I
was introduced into the presence of the grand interrogator of that
inquisition, upon whose desk lay my passport and "that serviette," he
smiled and remarked in French, "It is very evident, mademoiselle, that
you have nothing to do with this affair."

"With what affair, monsieur? I haven't the faintest idea what I was
brought here for," I responded.

"Why, just this: about a fortnight ago two Englishwomen stopped at the
Grand Hotel in this city, and left without paying their bills, carrying
off with them all the household linen they could lay their hands on."

And so we had been arrested as house-linen thieves! It was too
humiliating. I was then interviewed as to my companion's refusal to give
her name, etc., which argued very much against her. I explained as well
as I could the extreme annoyance and brutal treatment to which she had
been subjected, her horror of having anything to do with a police-court,
and how the disgrace of being suspected of a crime was aggravated by
intense nervous excitement brought on by the insolence of the police.
After considerable pleading on my part in her behalf--for I felt that I
was the sole cause of the trouble--it was agreed upon that she should be
relieved from coming to the court upon condition that she would sign a
paper giving her name, nationality, etc., and I was dismissed without
the slightest apology for the trouble to which I had been subjected. At
that point the affair ceased to be funny, and, turning back after I had
reached the door of exit, I made a short and as effective a speech as
the polite language of the French would allow, in which I conveyed a
frank idea of my opinion of Austrian courtesy. I succeeded well enough
to convince my examiner of something--probably that he had caught a
Tartar--and I left him tugging furiously at his moustache. My