ad any money left.

Slowly and painfully Barlasch unwound himself and disentangled his legs.
He tried first one and then the other, as if uncertain whether he could
walk. Then he staggered numbly across the yard to the door of the inn.

A few minutes later Desiree woke up. She was in a room warmed by a great
white stove and dimly lighted by candles. Some one was pulling off
her gloves and feeling her hands to make sure that they were not
frost-bitten. She looked sleepily at a white coffee-pot standing on the
table near the candles; then her eyes, still uncomprehending, rested on
the face of the man who was loosening her hood, which was hard with
rime and ice. He had his back to the candles, and was half-hidden by the
collar of his fur coat, which met the cap pressed down over his ears.

He turned towards the table to lay aside her gloves, and the light fell
on his face. Desiree was wideawake in an instant, and Louis d'Arragon,
hearing her move, turned anxiously to look at her again. Neither spoke
for a minute. Barlasch was holding his numbed hand against the stove,
and was grinding his teeth and muttering at the pain of the restored
circulation.

Desiree shook the icicles from her hood, and they rattled like hail on
the bare floor. Her hair, all tumbled round her face, caught the light
of the candles. Her eyes were bright and the colour was in her cheeks.
D'Arragon glanced at her with a sudden look of relief, and then turned
to Barlasch. He took the numbed hand and felt it; then he held a candle
close to it. Two of the fingers were quite white, and Barlasch made a
grimace when he saw them. D'Arragon began rubbing at once, taking no
notice of his companion's moans and complaints.

Without desisting, he looked over his shoulder towards Desiree, but not
actually at her face.

"I heard last night," he said, "that the two carriages are standing in
an inn-yard three leagues beyond this on the Warsaw road. I have traced
them step by step from Kowno. My informant tells me that the escort has
deserted, and that the officer in charge, Colonel Darragon, was going
on alone, with the two drivers, when he was taken ill. He is nearly well
again, and hopes to continue his journey to-morrow or the next day."

Desiree nodded her head to signify that she had heard and understood.
Barlasch gave a cry of pain, and withdrew his hand with a jerk.

"Enough, enough!" he said. "You hurt me. The life is returning now; a
drop of brandy per