CHAPTER XXVI.
NEARLY It was past one o'clock in the morning when I returned to the hotel, yet the porter who admitted me pointed toward the figure of a man who stood waiting in the dimly lit hall.
"There is a person here who has been waiting to see you for some hours, sir," he said.

"His name is Fritz." "To see me ?" I repeated.
The man came a step forward and saluted.

I recognized him at once.

It was the _commissionnaire_ at the Cafe Universel.
"It is quite right," I told the porter.

"You had better come up to my rooms," I added, turning to Fritz.
I led the way to the lift and on to my sitting-room.