riend
the spy--as I was now convinced he was--at my elbow. My unexpected halt
had pulled him up short.

"Pardon!" I said with the utmost politeness, stepping aside, so he had
to pass out, though I guessed he was angry enough at losing my
conversation, for I was telling Lieutenant Mirakoff of my arrest,--as a
great joke, at which we both laughed uproariously.

"They should have seen that you were a foreigner, and therefore quite
mad,--and harmless," he cried.

"Now, I ought to call you out for that!" I asserted.

"At your service!" he answered, still laughing, as we separated.

The spy was apparently deeply interested in the contents of a shop
window near at hand, and I went off briskly in the other direction; but
in a minute or two later, when I paused, ostensibly to compare my watch
with a clock which I had just passed, I saw, as I glanced back, that he
was on my track once more.

This was getting serious, and I adopted a simple expedient to give him
the slip for the present. I hailed a droshky and bade the fellow drive
to a certain street, not far from that where Mishka's cafe was situated.
We started off at the usual headlong speed, and presently, as we
whirled round a corner, I called on the driver to stop, handed him a
fare that must have represented a good week's earnings, and ordered him
to drive on again as fast as he could, and for as long as his horse
would hold out.

He grinned, "clucked" to his horse, and was off on the instant, while I
turned into a little shop close by, whence I had the satisfaction, less
than half a minute after, of seeing a second droshky dash past, in
pursuit of the first, with the spy lolling in it. If my Jehu kept
faith--there was no telling if he would do that or not, though I had to
take the risk--_monsieur le mouchard_ would enjoy a nice drive, at the
expense of his government!

In five minutes I was at the cafe, where I dropped my coin; it rolled to
a corner and the waiter picked it up, while I sipped my tea and grumbled
at the scarcity of lemon. I asked the prescribed question when he
restored the piece; and almost immediately Mishka himself joined me.
This was better than I had dared to hope, for I knew I could speak to
him freely; in fact I told him everything, including the ruse by which I
had eluded my vigilant attendant.

"You must not try that again," he said, in his sulky fashion. "It has
served once, yes; but it will not serve again. When he finds that you
hav