"I wish to see the commissaire."
"Surely. Will the Herr follow me?"
Where were the frowns gone? The commissaire received me in a most gracious manner. Would I be seated?
"Sir," I stammered, for it went sorely against the grain, "my carelessness has brought me into considerable trouble, and I feel that with your aid alone I can rectify matters. At the same time I am aware that I should pay some penalty for my lack of discretion. If therefore you would give these five sovereigns to some charitable institution in Vienna, and use some effort to find my passport, you will lay me under a great obligation."
The great official said he would do so, and the English sovereigns chinked in his capacious vest-pocket.
"And now, if the Herr will go to his hotel, all Vienna shall be searched. The passport cannot be lost, and in a few hours it shall be in his hands."
Free! It was the only time I was ever under lock and key, but I shall never forget the exhilarating delight of that moment.
I had hardly gone twenty rods when I remembered that the boat left at five o'clock, and I thought that I would return and tell the commissaire to hurry up.
As I opened the door of the bureau I saw him deliberately take from a pigeon-hole my passport, and handing it to the agent, say, "Here, take this stupid Englishman his passport!"
"Sir," I said, stepping forward, "I will relieve you of the trouble."