A CUNNING RASCAL "Yes, left severely alone," continued the man in the corner with a sarcastic chuckle.

"So severely alone, in fact, that one quarter of an hour after another passed by and still the magnificent police officer in the gorgeous uniform did not return.

Then, when it was too late, Schwarz cursed himself once again for the double-dyed idiot that he was.

He had been only too ready to believe that Prince Semionicz was a liar and a rogue, and under these unjust suspicions he had fallen an all too easy prey to one of the most cunning rascals he had ever come across.
"An inquiry from the hall porter at the North-Western elicited the fact that no such personage as Mr.Schwarz described had entered the hotel.
The young man asked to see Prince Semionicz, hoping against hope that all was not yet lost.

The Prince received him most courteously; he was dictating some letters to his secretary, while the valet was in the next room preparing his master's evening clothes.