Ought I to attempt to see him to-night?
Undoubtedly; and not only to satisfy a very natural curiosity, but also to calm his anxiety.

In fact, knowing his secret is known to the person who spoke to him through the panel of his case, suppose the idea occurred to him to get out at one of the stations, give up his journey, and abandon his attempt to rejoin Mademoiselle Zinca Klork, so as to escape the company's pursuit?
That is possible, after all, and my intervention may have done the poor fellow harm--to say nothing of my losing No.

11, one of the most valuable in my collection.
I am resolved to visit him before the coming dawn.

But, in order to be as careful as possible, I will wait until the train has passed Tchardjoui, where it ought to arrive at twenty-seven past two in the morning.

There we shall stop a quarter of an hour before proceeding towards the Amu-Daria.