"No."
"From the station-master at Basingstoke?"
"Guess again."
"From your Vice-Consul?"
"Yes."
"Has he heard anything of our lost ones?"
"It has nothing to do with that."
"Then what is the matter? What does it all mean?"
"It means," replied the Consul, "that I've got to leave here by the first train."
"Explain yourself," she demanded.