r train. By this time they had lost two hours,
and then another two were lost in the general confusion which the
accident had caused from one end of the line to the other, in such wise
that they reached the Paris terminus four hours behind time, that is, at
one o'clock in the morning.

'Bad luck, indeed,' interrupted Claude, who was still sceptical,
though half disarmed, in his surprise at the neat way in which the girl
arranged the details of her story.

'And, of course, there was no one at the station to meet you?' he added.

Christine had, indeed, missed Madame Vanzade's maid, who, no doubt, had
grown tired of waiting. She told Claude of her utter helplessness at the
Lyons terminus--that large, strange, dark station, deserted at that late
hour of night. She had not dared to take a cab at first, but had kept
on walking up and down, carrying her small bag, and still hoping that
somebody would come for her. When at last she made up her mind there
only remained one driver, very dirty and smelling of drink, who prowled
round her, offering his cab in a knowing, impudent way.

'Yes, I know, a dawdler,' said Claude, getting as interested as if he
were listening to a fairy tale. 'So you got into his cab?'

Looking up at the ceiling, Christine continued, without shifting her
position: 'He made me; he called me his little dear, and frightened me.
When he found out that I was going to Passy, he became very angry, and
whipped his horse so hard that I was obliged to hold on by the doors.
After that I felt more easy, because the cab trundled along all
right through the lighted streets, and I saw people about. At last I
recognised the Seine, for though I was never in Paris before, I had
often looked at a map. Naturally I thought he would keep along the quay,
so I became very frightened again on noticing that we crossed a bridge.
Just then it began to rain, and the cab, which had got into a very
dark turning, suddenly stopped. The driver got down from his seat, and
declared it was raining too hard for him to remain on the box--'

Claude burst out laughing. He no longer doubted. She could not have
invented that driver. And as she suddenly stopped, somewhat confused, he
said, 'All right, the cabman was having a joke.'

'I jumped out at once by the other door,' resumed Christine. 'Then he
began to swear at me, saying that we had arrived at Passy, and that he
would tear my hat from my head if I did not pay him. It was raining in
t