Messieurs were pleased to be seated, and in an incredibly short space of time a smoking omelette arrived, garnished with chip potatoes and onions, together with coffee and delicious rolls and butter. To this the hungry men did full justice, and Carter’s estimate of the French, which had been low, went up several points. They took their time over the meal, but eventually it was finished, and the problem of how to fill in their time once more became insistent. “We might go round and see some of these coast places,” French suggested. “St. Malo or some of those. Or I dare say we could work across somehow to Dieppe and catch the afternoon boat to Newhaven. What do you say?” Carter voted for going to the station and looking into the possibilities, and they walked slowly up the town, fascinated by the foreign life of the busy port. Havre is a fine city with good streets, shops, and public buildings, but it is not an interesting town, and by the time they reached the station, a mile and a half away, they felt they had seen enough of it. An examination of the time-tables showed that they were too late for Dieppe—the English boat would have left before they could possibly get there—and St. Malo, they discovered, was not in that part of the country at all, but miles away to the south-west. Trouville was only eight or ten miles away across the bay, but Trouville in winter did not seem an attractive prospect. “Tell you what,” French said at last. “We’ve got an introduction to these French johnnies. We’ll go and look ’em up, and perhaps see something of their police station.” Sergeant Carter, delighted with his superior’s condescension, hurriedly agreed, and a few minutes later the two men found themselves ascending the steps of a large building which bore over the door the legend “Gendarmerie.” Here French tendered his introduction, with the result that he was shown into the presence of and politely welcomed by the officer in charge. “I regret the Chief is out of town at present,” the latter said in excellent English. “He will be sorry not to have seen you. I hope that presently you will give me the pleasure of your company at lunch, and in the meantime let me know if there is anything I can do for you.” French explained the circumstances. He would not stay for lunch, as he had but a short time since finished an excellent breakfast, but he would be most grateful if the other would tell him how best he could spend the time until his return boat to Southampton. “That’s not until midnight,” answered the Frenchman. “You don’t know this country?” “Not at all. It was just that if there was anything to see within reach, we might as well see it.”