easons, and now I was glad, for I knew
who it must be, though not why she should be there, and so early too.
I could not bear that she should be alone with these rough fellows,
and in two minutes I had tumbled down the ladder.

"I had not been mistaken, Monsieur. It was Innocentina. She said her
master had sent her down to fetch the _anes_, as he was obliged by
certain circumstances to start on in advance of my master. I did not
ask her any questions, but I helped her get ready the donkeys, and I
would have walked up with her to the hotel, had she permitted it. If I
did so, she said, the cattle men would talk; so I stayed behind."

"Well, I suppose we shall overtake them," I replied, hiding surprise,
as I did not care to let Joseph see that I had been left in the dark
concerning this strange change of programme. My mind groped for an
explanation of the mystery, and then suddenly seized upon one. The
Boy, who had evidently met his two compatriots in other days and
another land, disliked and wished to shun them. He had feared that
they might be our companions down to Chambery, and had taken drastic
measures to avoid their society. Rather than get me up early, for his
convenience, after a day of some hardship and fatigue, the plucky
little chap had gone off without us. Possibly I should find that he
had left a note for me, with some waiter or _femme de chambre_. If
not, our route down to Chambery and the hotel at which we were to stay
there, had already been decided upon. He would have said to himself
that there could be no mistake, and that he might trust me to find him
at our destination.

The Americans were not at breakfast, but later, as Joseph, Finois, and
I were starting, I saw them standing at a distance in the corridor.
The porter, who had brought down the miserable hold-alls, and was
waiting for his tip, murmured that "_ces messieurs_" were not going to
make the walking expedition to Chambery; the landlord had advised them
that the weather was too bad, and they had decided to return by the
noon train to Aix-les-Bains.

I felt that I owed the young men a grudge for the Boy's defection; and
as there had been no note or message from him, I was not in a
forgiving mood. Without a second glance towards the pair, I walked
away with Joseph--alone with him for the first time in many a day.

CHAPTER XXVI

The Vanishing of the Prince

"Now to my word:
It is, _Adieu, adieu! remember me_."