“Can you open the street-door from the inside yourself?”

“Yes,—if there is nobody in the porter’s lodge.”

“Go and see if there is any one there, and be careful that nobody observes you.”

Then I waited, keeping a watch on the door and window.

In six or seven seconds Jeanne reappeared behind the bars, and said,

“The servant is in the porter’s lodge.”

“Very well,” I said, “have you a pen and ink?”

“No.”

“A pencil?”

“Yes.”