o carry you."

"I won't dine with you," I cried.

"I never asked you to dine with me, but you shall dine when I do. I
will pay for your dinner, but I wouldn't sit at table with you for
worlds," he shouted with scornful laughter. "You're going to dine
under my eye, that's all, even though the sight of you is enough to
make one sick. So come along, sharp's the word, see? Walk first; let
him pass you, Mrs. Blair."

I felt I had no choice. He was capable of again assaulting me. There
was something in his manner that cowed me, and I was obliged in spite
of myself to give way.

There were only three of us in the dining-car, and we were not a very
merry company. Our tables were laid almost adjoining, and there was no
conversation between us, except when the Colonel asked me with
contemptuous civility what wine I preferred. He did not talk to the
lady, or the merest commonplaces, for I was within earshot. But I made
an excellent dinner, I must confess. I had eaten nothing since Amiens.
Then I got back to my berth, where the bed was made. I threw myself on
to it, rejoiced at the prospect of getting a few hours' sleep while
Jules remained on the watch.

He was to call me a little before reaching Basle, and, like an ass
that I was, I fully relied on his doing so, believing him to be my
friend. Such friendship as his did not bear any great strain, as I
learnt presently to my great chagrin.

I slept heavily, but in fitful snatches, as a man does when constantly
disturbed by the whirr and whizzing of the train, the rattle and
jangle of wheels passing over ill-jointed points. After one of the
longest periods of unconsciousness I awoke, aroused by the complete
absence of noise. The train was at a standstill in some station and
making a very protracted halt.

Something moved me to lift the blind and look out, and I saw, not
without uneasiness, that we were at Basle. I thought I recognized the
station, but I soon made out for certain the name "Basilea" (Basle),
and saw the clock with the fingers at five-thirty. People were already
on the move, work-people, the thrifty, industrious Swiss, forestalling
time, travellers in twos and threes arriving and departing by the
early train through this great junction on the frontier of
Switzerland.

Stay! What? Who are those crossing the platform hurriedly. Great
powers! Right under my eyes, a little party of four, two females, two
men accompanying them, escorting them, carrying rugs and p