"'Nothing. You have told me all I wanted to know.'
"'But you will breakfast with me before I take the train?' I said.
"'No; that might get you into trouble—serious trouble, if I should be arrested. On the contrary, I must insist that you remain in this room until I leave the building.'
"'But you perhaps need money; these disguises are expensive,' glancing at his perfect appointment.
"'You are right. Perhaps twenty rubles—it will be enough. Give me your address in Berlin. If I am taken, you will lose your money. If I escape, it will be returned.'
"I shook his hand, and the door closed. A week later a man wrapped in a cloak called at my lodgings and handed me an envelope. There was no address and no message, only twenty rubles."
I looked out over the sea wrinkling below me like a great sheet of gray satin. The huge life-boat swung above our heads, standing out in strong relief against the sky. After a long pause,—the story had strangely thrilled me,—I asked:—
"Pardon me, have you ever seen or heard of the countess since?"
"Never."