"We have had such a hunt for you as man never dreamed of.

I called at your apartments late last night, hoping to see you, on important business, but you had not returned from a dinner to which you had been invited.

I called again this morning and was informed by the _concierge_ that they had, up to that moment, seen nothing of you.

When the good Lepallard informed me that you had left the restaurant in a cab with Monsieur Hayle, and that the latter had returned to his apartments this morning in a great hurry, only to leave them a short time after with his luggage, for the railway station, I began to grow uneasy.

You have no idea what a day I have had looking for you, but it has been well spent, since we have the pleasure of seeing you again." "I shall be grateful to you all my life for the service you have rendered me," I replied.