go now?"

"No. Let us go at once. I only had the feeling that you might hear from
her any moment."

Together they walked up into the little town of Lacville. To each any
expedition in which the other took part had become delightful. They were
together now more than they had ever been before. No, Count Paul could
not be sorry that Sylvia's friend had left Lacville. He had no wish for
her return.

At last they came to a rather mean-looking white house; out of one of the
windows hung a tricolour flag.

"Here we are!" he said briefly.

"It doesn't look a very imposing place," said Sylvia smiling.

But all the same, as the Count rang the bell Sylvia suddenly felt as
if she would like to run away! After all, what should she say to the
Commissioner of Police? Would he think her interference in Anna's affairs
strange and uncalled for? But she kept her thoughts to herself.

They were shown into a room where a tired-looking man bent over a large,
ink-stained table littered over with papers.

"Monsieur? Madame?" he glanced up inquiringly, and gave them a searching
look. But he did not rise from the table, as Sylvia expected him to
do. "What can I do for you?" he said. "I am at your service," and again
he stared with insistent curiosity at the couple before him, at the
well-dressed young Englishwoman and at her French companion.

The Count explained at some length why they had come.

And then at last the Commissioner of Police got up.

"Madame has now been at Lacville three weeks?"--and he quickly made a
note of the fact on a little tablet he held in his hand. "And her friend,
a Polish lady named Wolsky, has left Lacville rather suddenly? Madame
has, however, received a letter from her friend explaining that she had
to leave unexpectedly?"

"No," said Sylvia, quickly, "the letter was not sent to me; it was left
by my friend in her bed-room at the Pension Malfait. You see, the strange
thing, Monsieur, is that Madame Wolsky left all her luggage. She took
absolutely nothing with her, excepting, of course, her money. And as yet
nothing has come from her, although she promised to telegraph where her
luggage was to be sent on to her! I come to you because I am afraid that
she had met with some accident in the Paris streets, and I thought you
would be able to telephone for us to the Paris Police."

She looked very piteously at the French official, and his face softened,
a kindly look came over it.

"Well, Madame," he said