"'Or a Spaniard?'
"'Perhaps, sir,' said Mrs. Middlemore, growing more undecided.
"'Or a Russian?'
"'How can I say, sir?' said Mrs. Middlemore, now quite at sea as to M. Felix's nationality.
"'He spoke the English language well?'
"'As well as me, sir.'
"'So that, after all, he might have been an Englishman?'
"'He might,' said Mrs. Middlemore, declining to commit herself, 'and he mightn't.'
"Our reporter did not press the point, as to which Mrs. Middlemore had evidently disclosed all she knew.
"'If we could find the missing desk, Mrs. Middlemore, it might throw a light upon the mystery.'