ime
for the Saturday steamer. An hour later he was in the train bound for
Desenzano, from which place he proposed to go by boat to Riva, and
thence up to Munich, where he could catch the Orient Express on its
returning trip to France.

XIV.

When the boat entered the harbor it was already night. Tristrem was
tired, but his fatigue was pleasant to him. His Odyssey was done. New
York, it is true, was many days away, but he was no longer to wander
feverishly from town to town. If he was weary, at least his mind was at
rest. Riva is on the Austrian frontier, and while the luggage was being
examined Tristrem hummed contentedly to himself. He would get some
dinner at the hotel, for he was hungry as he had not been in months. At
last he would have a good night's rest; there would be no insomnia now.
In the magic of a cablegram that succube had been exorcised forever. On
the morrow he would start afresh, and neither stop nor stay till the
goal was reached. It was no longer vague and intangible--it was full in
sight. And so, while the officers were busy with his traps, he hummed
the unforgotten air, _O Magali, ma bien aimee_.

The hotel to which he presently had himself conveyed stands in a large
garden that leans to the lake. It is a roomy structure, built
quadrangularwise. On one side is a little chalet. Above, to the right
and left, precipitous cliffs and trellised mountains loom like
battlements of Titan homes. The air is very sweet, and at that season of
the year almost overweighted with the scent of flowers. In spite of the
night, the sky was visibly blue, and high up in the heavens the moon
glittered with the glint of sulphur.

As the carriage drew up at the door there was a clang of bells; an
individual in a costume that was brilliant as the uniform of a
field-officer hastened to greet the guest; at the threshold was the
Oberkellner; a few steps behind him the manager stood bowing
persuasively; and as Tristrem entered, the waiters, hastily marshalled,
ranged themselves on either side of the hall.

"Vorrei," Tristrem began, and then remembering that he was no longer in
Italy, continued in German.

The answer came in the promptest English.

"Yes, my lord; will your lordship dine at _table d'hote_? Du, Konrad,
schnell, die Speise-karte."

Tristrem examined the bill of fare which was then brought him, and while
he studied the contents he heard himself called by name. He looked up,
and recognized Ledyard Yo