r. The
watchman at the door was leaning forward. Sirdeller simply moved his
hand to the doctor, who held up his finger while he felt the pulse. The
beat of his watch seemed to sound through the unnatural silence. In a
minute he spoke.

"The lady may proceed," he announced.

"My husband," the Duchesse continued, "was an officer in charge of the
Mines and Ordnance Department. He went out that night in a small boat,
after a visit to the strong house. No soul has ever seen or heard of him
since, or his boat. It is only I who know."

Her voice died away. Sirdeller stretched out his hand and very
deliberately drank a table-spoonful or two of his milk.

"I believe the lady's story," he declared. "The Marsine affair is
finished. Let no one be admitted to have speech with me again upon this
subject."

He had half turned towards his secretary. The young man bowed. The
doctor pointed towards the door. The Duchesse, Peter, and Sogrange filed
slowly out. In the bright sunlight the Duchesse burst into a peal of
hysterical laughter. Even Peter felt, for a moment, unnerved. Suddenly
he, too, laughed.

"I think," he said, "that you and I had better get out of the way,
Sogrange, when the Count von Hern meets us at New York!"

CHAPTER VIII

AN ALIEN SOCIETY

Sogrange and Peter, Baron de Grost, standing upon the threshold of their
hotel, gazed out upon New York and liked the look of it. They had landed
from the steamer a few hours before, had already enjoyed the luxury of a
bath, a visit to an American barber's, and a genuine cocktail.

"I see no reason," Sogrange declared, "why we should not take a week's
holiday."

Peter, glancing up into the blue sky and down into the faces of the
well-dressed and beautiful women who were streaming up Fifth Avenue, was
wholly of the same mind.

"If we return by this afternoon's steamer," he remarked, "we shall have
Bernadine for a fellow-passenger. Bernadine is annoyed with us just now.
I must confess that I should feel more at my ease with a few thousand
miles of the Atlantic between us."

"Let it be so," Sogrange assented. "We will explore this marvellous
city. Never," he added, taking his companion's arm, "did I expect to see
such women save in my own, the mistress of all cities. So _chic_, my
dear Baron, and such a carriage! We will lunch at one of the fashionable
restaurants and drive in the Park afterwards. First of all, however, we
must take a stroll along this wonderful