m D has been booked.
Probably its occupant is English also. But I can give you Room B, on the
other side of the one reserved by the Embassy. It is a two-berth room,
Nos. 5 and 6."

"That will do quite as well," said Jennie.

The clerk looked up the order book, and then said,--

"It is not recorded here by whom Room D was reserved. As a usual thing,"
he continued, lowering his voice almost to a whisper and looking
furtively over his shoulder, "when no name is marked down, that means
the Russian police. So, you see, by taking the third room you will not
only be under the shadow of the British Embassy, but also under the
protection of Russia. Do you wish one berth only, or the whole room? It
is a two-berth compartment."

"I desire the whole room, if you please."

She paid the price and departed, wondering if the other room had really
been taken by the police, and whether the authorities were so anxious
for the safety of the special messenger that they considered it
necessary to protect him to the frontier. If, in addition to the natural
precautions of the messenger, there was added the watchfulness of one or
two suspicious Russian policemen, then would her difficult enterprise
become indeed impossible. On the other hand, the ill-paid policemen
might be amenable to the influence of money, and as she was well
supplied with the coin of the realm, their presence might be a help
rather than a hindrance. All in all, she had little liking for the
task she had undertaken, and the more she thought of it, the less it
commended itself to her. Nevertheless, having pledged her word to the
editor, if failure came it would be through no fault of hers.

CHAPTER XVIII. JENNIE ENDURES A TERRIBLE NIGHT JOURNEY.

Jennie went early to the station on the night of the 21st and entered
the sleeping car as soon as she was allowed to do so. The conductor
seemed unaccountably flustered at her anxiety to get to her room, and he
examined her ticket with great care; then, telling her to follow him,
brought her to Room B, in which were situated berths 5 and 6, upper and
lower. The berths were not made up, and the room showed one seat, made
to accommodate two persons. The conductor went out on the platform
again, and Jennie, finding herself alone in the carriage, walked up and
down the narrow passage-way at the side, to get a better idea of her
surroundings.

[Illustration: PLAN OF SLEEPING CAR.]

Room C, next to her own, was the one t