ished her education in Dresden and in Paris, and now lives
mostly with her aunt in Vienna," was Hamilton's response. "Quite
recently she's become engaged to young Count de Solwegen, the son of one
of the wealthiest men in Austria."

"I thought you'd probably become the happy lover."

"Lover!" cried his friend. "How could a poor devil like myself ever
aspire to the hand of the daughter of the Baron de Hetzendorf? The name
doesn't convey much to you, I suppose?"

"No, I don't take much interest in unknown foreigners, I confess,"
replied Walter, with a smile.

"Ah, you're not a cosmopolitan nor a financier, or you would know the
thousand-and-one strings which are pulled by Conrad de Hetzendorf, or
the curious stories afloat concerning him."

"Curious stories!" echoed Murie. "Tell me some. I'm always interested in
anything mysterious."

Hamilton was silent for a few moments.

"Well, old chap, to tell you the truth, even though I've got such a
comfortable and lucrative post, I'm, even after these years,
considerably mystified."

"How?"

"By the real nature of the Baron's business."

"Oh, he's a mysterious person, is he?"

"Very. Though I'm his confidential secretary, and deal with his affairs
in his absence, yet in some matters he is remarkably close, as though he
fears me."

"You live always in Budapest, I suppose?"

"No. In summer we are at the country house, a big place overlooking the
Danube outside Semlin, and commanding a wide view of the great Hungarian
plain."

"The Baron transacts his business there, eh?"

"From there or from Budapest. His business is solely with an office in
the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, and a registered telegraphic
address also in Paris."

"Well, there's nothing very mysterious in that, surely. Some business
matters must, of necessity, be conducted with secrecy."

"I know all that, my dear fellow, but--" and he hesitated, as though
fearing to take his friend into his confidence.

"But what?"

"Well--but there, no! You'd laugh at me if I told you the real reason of
my uneasiness."

"I certainly won't, my dear Hamilton," Murie assured him. "We are
friends to-day, dear old chap, just as we were at college. Surely it is
not the place of a man to poke fun at his friend?"

The argument was apparently convincing. The Baron's secretary smoked on
in thoughtful silence, his eyes fixed upon the wall in front of him.

"Well," he said at last, "if you promise to view the m