And so it proved, for when at last the meal was over, the Frenchman rose and politely bowed his new acquaintance to the door. There he summoned one of the servants, again bowed to Roberts with a “Bonne nuit, monsieur!” and, after shaking hands, Roberts turned to follow the servant up the stairway.
The two made their way into the bedroom which the American had visited before, and where he found that his baggage had been all unpacked and neatly stowed away in a bureau in the room. The servant bowed his departure at the door, which was closed behind him, and then the astounded stranger sat down on the bed and, as the ludicrousness of the situation and the whole proceedings flashed over him, he flung himself back and gave vent to a silent fit of laughter.
“This will certainly be a story to tell if I ever get home again!” he thought.
But he was too sleepy by this time to trouble himself any further, and he rose and prepared to make the most of the opportunity afforded him for slumber. “I guess I will just take off my coat,” he thought, “for I don’t know when the mistake may be discovered.”
As he performed that operation his hand happened to strike upon his back-pocket, where he had safely stowed away a small revolver. “If there should turn out to be anything wrong!” he thought, with a laugh.
All during that evening the man had been racking his brains trying to think of some possible explanation of his strange reception. During the drive he had been somewhat alarmed, but his welcome had served to remove any suspicion of possible danger. But just then, as he gazed about the room, he suddenly observed something which gave a most unexpected turn to his thoughts.
The room to which he had been ushered was a large bedroom, perfectly furnished in every way, and having two broad windows; it was the latter which suddenly caught Roberts’s eye, and as they did so he experienced a start of emotion that was very different from his former state.
He had noticed the startling fact that both of the two windows were protected by heavy iron bars!
For a minute or two Roberts stood gazing at them, scarcely able to realize the full significance of the discovery. He darted a swift glance about the room to make sure that he was alone, and then he sprang quickly forward to test them. He found that they were firmly set in the heavy masonry of the window-sill, and that they were scarcely wide enough apart to permit his arms to pass through.
Then the very decidedly sobered American sank back in a chair and again gazed about him.