ght the man by the shoulders with both hands and glared at
him.

"Merely because this is the woman I seek."

"An Excellency like--and you?"

"What I am does not matter. A hundred _kroner_ if you tell the
truth----"

"A hundred _kroner_----!"

His eyes searched Renwick eagerly, and then, "There is little I would
not tell for a hundred _kroner_, but----"

"I am not of the police, I tell you. This lady is an Austrian noblewoman
in danger."

"And the Austrian officer----"

"Is no Austrian, but an enemy of Austria----"

"A Serb----?"

"No."

"Who are you?"

"What does that matter?"

Selim shrugged. "Nothing perhaps--still----"

"And if I tell you, you will keep silent?"

"A hundred _kroner_ will make me dumb."

"I am an Englishman," said Renwick after a moment.

"Ah--a spy!"

"No. A prisoner who has escaped."

"That is better."

"Speak!"

And as the man still hesitated Renwick unpinned the notes in his pocket
and tossed one of them upon the table, in front of him. Selim took it
eagerly.

"I am quite ready to believe anything you say----"

But Renwick seized his wrist in a strong grip. "You have not spoken
yet."

"I will speak, then," said Zaidee. "Selim is a fool to hesitate. I
nursed the Excellency for two nights and a day. I cooked her eggs and
chicken and soup, but she would not eat. She was very much frightened."

"The man--he treated her badly?"

"Oh, no. Very politely, and paid us for our service, but the Excellency
was frightened. I was kind to her, and she was grateful, but she spoke
nothing of where she was going. Perhaps she did not know. But it was not
to take the waters."

"You, Selim," broke in Renwick, "you heard the men speaking? What did
they say?"

He shrugged.

"How can I remember? They planned their journey with a map, but I had no
interest----"

"What map----?"

"A map--how should I know----"

"Of Hungary----"

"Hungary!" And then scratching his head, "Yes, it must have been of
Hungary, for they spoke of Budapest----"

"And what else? The Danube--the Thiess?"

"I do not remember?"

"You must----!" Renwick's fingers closed again upon the hundred _kroner_
note which Selim had put back on the table.

"What good would it do if I lied to you?"

"Think, man, think! They made marks upon the map?"

"Marks? Oh, yes--marks."

"Up and down, the way they were sitting?"

"Yes. I think so. By the beard of the Prophet! You can't expect a fellow
to remember su