On consulting their billet they found that they had been assigned to a house in the suburbs of the town. They had little difficulty in finding it, and were pleased to see that the house was a substantial one, where the food and beds on which Tom had laid stress were likely to be good. “I wonder if they talk English?” said Frank, as they rang the bell. “It doesn’t matter much whether they do or not,” replied Tom. “I’m pretty good at the sign language when it comes to getting something to eat. You’ll notice that I didn’t go hungry in Paris.” The door was opened by a maid, who ushered them into a pleasant and tastefully decorated living room, while she took the billet to her mistress. While they were waiting for the latter to appear, two young girls passed the living room door. One was a brunette and the other of a blonde type, but both were undeniably pretty. They evidently had not been apprised of the presence of strangers in the house, for when they caught sight of the boys in uniform they seemed slightly startled and hurried up the stairs. “Peaches!” murmured Tom when they were out of earshot. “They’re not hard to look at,” agreed Frank carelessly. “And we’re only going to stay here two days,” mourned Billy. “Hardly time enough to get acquainted. I hope they’re able to talk English.” “Frank’s got a chance in two languages,” said Tom enviously. “He always was a lucky dog.” Their chaffing was interrupted by the entrance of their hostess. Frank acted as spokesman of the party and spoke in French, as he thought he would be more likely to be understood. But he was surprised and somewhat disconcerted when the lady told him in perfect English that she did not understand French, and looked appealingly to Tom and Billy. Frank changed at once into his native tongue, with a laughing explanation, and the conversation soon grew easy and unconstrained. Their new hostess stated that her name was Edsall and that she was a widow. Her family consisted of two daughters, Helen and Alice, and her father, who was infirm and advanced in years. The family was American but had been residing abroad for years. She would be glad to make their stay as comfortable as possible. She called the servant and had them shown to their rooms which they found pleasant and well furnished. They spent an unusual amount of time on brushing up, and it would not have required a very shrewd guess to determine that this special care was not without reference to the two pretty girls whom they knew they were to meet at table. When they were summoned to supper, they found all the members of the family assembled in the dining room. They were introduced to the girls and to the old father. The latter had a worried look in his sunken eyes, and kept muttering to himself at times in a way that made the boys feel that he was not altogether right in his mind, and this made them think of the missing Bart.