ew
slightly the formidable official whose presence here surely indicated
some serious development in what had now become a matter of urgent
interest to many quite outside the Pargeter circle.

The two or three moments' delay--doubtless the zealous Poulain was
engaged in helping the important visitor off with his coat--were passed
by Vanderlyn in a state of indescribable nervous tension and suspense.
He was glad when they came to an end.

And yet the Frenchman who came into Vanderlyn's sitting-room, making a
ceremonious bow, would have suggested no formidable or even striking
personality to the eyes of the average Englishman or American. His stout
figure, clad in an ill-cut suit of evening clothes, recalled rather a
Gavarni caricature than a dapper modern official, the more so that his
round, fleshy face was framed in the carefully trimmed mutton-chop
whiskers which remain a distinguishing mark of the more old-fashioned
members of the Parisian Bar. The red button, signifying that its wearer
is an officer of the Legion of Honour, was exceptionally small and
unobtrusive. Vanderlyn was well aware that his visitor was no up-start,
owing promotion to adroit flattery of the Republican powers; the Prefect
of Police came of good bourgeois stock, and was son to a legal luminary
who had played a considerable part in '48. His manner was suave, his
voice almost caressing in its urbanity----

"I have the honour, have I not, of speaking to Mr. Laurence Vanderlyn?"

Vanderlyn bowed; he turned and led the way to the fireplace. "Yes,
Monsieur le Prefet, Laurence Vanderlyn at your service. I think we have
already met, at the Elysee----" he drew forward a second armchair.

Monsieur le Prefet sat down; and for the first time the American
diplomatist noticed that his visitor held a small, black, battered
portfolio in his right hand. As the Frenchman laid it across his knee,
he gave a scarcely perceptible glance round the room; then, at last, his
gaze concentrated itself on the table where stood the lamp, and the
spread-open newspaper.

"You probably divine, Monsieur," said the Prefect, after a short pause,
"what has brought me here to-night. I have come to see you--perhaps I
should say to consult you--in connection with the disappearance of Mrs.
Pargeter."

"Yes?" said Vanderlyn interrogatively, "I am, of course, quite at your
disposal. I have been with Mr. Pargeter all to-day, but so far the
mystery remains as great as ever." He sto