“The best thing we can do is to make use of him, then,” said I; and I halted to let him come up. It was the companion of the man who had questioned me, and I resolved to try a different method with him.
I took out a gold piece and let him see it. “You have been told off to follow me, I suppose?”
He glanced at the money and thought I was going to bribe him. “I have only my duty to do,” he said.
“If you’ll be guide instead of follower and show me where my sister and I can get rooms, I’ll give you this.”
He was my man instantly. “There will be no difficulty about that. The accident on the line has filled up the place, but I can manage it for you. You are English?” he said, as we walked.
“I only wanted to see if my poor friend, Trevor, was in that smash. But you heard what passed?”
He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “You did not ask in the right way;” and he glanced at the money I had given him. “To-morrow it will be all right. There is a train to Cracow at eleven o’clock. I shall be there. No Englishman was hurt in the accident. You may feel quite at ease.”
“I am glad to hear that,” I said. I was; but not for the reasons he thought.
He earned his gold piece; for he soon found accommodation for us and for the horse; and bade us good-night, repeating his assurances that all would be well in the morning.