on top of him before he saw her, for she was wearing shoes
which made no sound. He had only time to turn so that she did not see
his face, before she too entered the door and passed in. The Grand
Duchess! And Serganoff! And the American adventurer!

What had these three in common, he wondered. And now he recalled the
warning of the old man. Perhaps the girl was in danger--the thought
brought him to the door, with his hand raised and touching the bell-push
before he realized his folly. There was nothing to do but wait.

Five minutes passed and ten minutes, and then Malcolm Hay became
conscious of the fact that something unusual was happening in the
street. It was more thickly populated. Half a dozen men had appeared at
either end of the street and were moving slowly towards him, as
though----

And then in a flash he realized just what was happening. It was a police
raid. In his student days he had seen such a raid upon a gambling house,
and he recognized all the signs. He first thought of the girl--she must
not be involved in this. He raced toward the door, but somebody had ran
quicker, and his hand was on the bell-push when he was swung violently
backwards, and an authoritative voice said:

"Take that man, sergeant."

A hand gripped his shoulder and somebody peered in his face.

"Why, he's English," he said in surprise.

"Yes, yes," gasped Malcolm. "I'm sorry to interfere, but there is a lady
in there, in whom I'm rather interested--you're raiding this club,
aren't you?"

"That's about the size of it," said a man in civilian clothes; and then,
suspiciously, "Who are you?"

Malcolm explained his status and calling.

"Take my advice and get away. Don't be mixed up in this business," said
the officer. "You can release him, sergeant. What's the time?"

A clock struck at that moment, and the officer in charge of the raid
pressed the bell.

"If you've a lady friend involved in this, perhaps you'd like to stand
by," he said. "She may want you to bail her out," he added
good-humouredly.

CHAPTER VI

PRINCE SERGANOFF PAYS THE PRICE

Mr. Cherry Bim, a citizen of the world, and an adventurer at large, was
an optimist to his finger-tips. He also held certain races in profound
contempt, not because he knew the countries, but because he had met
representatives of those nations in America, and judged by their
characteristics.

So that the man called Yakoff, whose task it was to inveigle Mr. Bim
again to t