e remains in office he becomes more dangerous."

"I am already engineering disagreements in the Duma," the monk replied.
"If he does not fall by them, then he will go naturally, for he is not a
puppet hypnotised by the wishes of Tsarskoe-Selo, as are so many of our
Ministers. The Tsar, who so quickly takes offence nowadays, prefers
flunkeys to Ministers whose personality is too marked. Besides, we have
the Woman [the Empress] ever on our side. No, Sheglovitof's hour has
come."

The meeting lasted nearly three hours, until at last Azef and the two
German officials left, and Rasputin went to his room, where he consumed
half a bottle of brandy. Meanwhile I sat chatting with Mademoiselle Paula
until it was time to retire.

Next day, in consequence of a telephone message, I left with Rasputin for
Paris, where we put up at the Grand Hotel, being visited on the day
following our arrival by Azef, who, dressed differently, I would
certainly have passed in the street unrecognised. The two scoundrels
retired to Rasputin's room, where they remained for half an hour, and
then we all three went forth into the sunshine of the boulevard.

"It is about his time to pass," the notorious spy remarked to the monk,
who, by the way, wore an ordinary suit of tweeds and a soft felt hat.
"Let us sit here--at the Grand Cafe."

In consequence we took seats at one of the little tables on the
_terrasse_ and ordered "bocks."

Presently, as we watched the stream of passers-by, Azef raised the
newspaper he had been pretending to read, so concealing his face, and
whispered:

"Here he is! That is our friend Krivochein!"

I looked and saw a well-dressed, quiet-looking English gentleman passing
along with his wife, who had apparently been shopping. Little did he
dream that the eyes of the two most evil men in Europe were upon him.

"He leaves to-night on his return to London," remarked Azef, when five
minutes later we rose and returned to the hotel.

That same afternoon Rasputin, who declared that he had a bad headache,
sent me to an English chemist's in the Avenue de l'Opera for a bottle of
tabloids of aspirin. I was rather surprised, for he never took drugs.
When I gave him the little bottle he drew out the plug of cotton-wool and
extracted a tabloid, which he put upon his dressing-table, afterwards
replacing the wool.

About six o'clock a lady was announced, and when she was shown up to our
sitting-room I found to my surprise that it was Pa