s a year since we last had the pleasure," the clerk continued.

She nodded.

"My uncle was over then," she remarked. "For me this is the first
time. I have never been in England before."

The lift stopped.

"What floor are we on?" the girl asked.

"The fifth," the clerk answered. "We have quite comfortable rooms for
you, and the aspect that your uncle desired."

We passed along the corridor and he opened the door, which led into a
small hall and on into a sitting-room. The clerk opened up all the
rooms.

"You will see, as I told you before, Miss Delora," he said, "that
there is no one here. Your uncle's rooms open out from the right. The
bathroom is to the left there, and beyond are your apartments."

She peered into each of the rooms. They were indeed empty.

"The apartments are very nice," she said, "but I do not understand
what has become of my uncle."

"He will be up in a few minutes, without a doubt," the clerk
remarked. "Is there anything more that I can do for you, madam? Shall
I send the chambermaid or the waiter to you?"

"Not yet," she answered. "I must wait for my uncle. Will you leave
word below that he is to please come up directly he arrives?"

"Certainly, madam!" the clerk answered, turning towards the door.

I should have followed him from the room, but she stopped me.

"Please don't go," she said. "I am very foolish, I know, but I am
afraid!"

"I will stay, of course," I answered, sitting down by her side upon
the couch, "but let me assure you that there is nothing whatever to
fear. Your uncle may have had a slight cab accident, or he may have
met with a friend and stopped to talk for a few minutes. In either
case he will be here directly. London, you know, is not the city of
mysteries that Paris is. There is very little, indeed, that can happen
to a man between Charing Cross Station and the Milan Hotel."

She leaned forward a little and buried her face in her hands.

"Please don't!" I begged. "Indeed, I mean what I say! There is no
cause to be anxious. Your uncle spoke of stopping at a chemist's. They
may be making up his prescription. A hundred trivial things may have
happened to keep him."

"You do not know!" she murmured.

CHAPTER XI

THROUGH THE TELEPHONE

There was no doubt about it that Delora had disappeared. I followed
the reception clerk downstairs myself within the space of a few
minutes, and made the most careful inquiries in every part of the
hotel. It di