"I should like to look at yours." "You understand, monsieur," he explained, "that this is a good quarter, and our rooms are not at all the ordinar' rooms--oh, no, they are quite superior to that. They are in great demand--we have only one vacant at this moment--in fact, I am not certain that it is yet at liberty. I will call my wife." She was summoned from behind the counter, where she presided at the money-drawer, and presented to me as Madame Jourdain. I filled a glass for her. "Monsieur, here, is seeking a lodging," he began. "Is the one on the second floor, back, at our disposal yet, Celie?" His wife pondered the question a moment, looking at me with sharp little eyes. "I do not know," she said at last. "We shall have to ask Monsieur Bethune. He said he might again have need of it. He has paid for it until the fifteenth." My heart leaped at the name. I saw that I must take the bull by the horns--assume a bold front; for if they waited to consult my pursuer, I should never gain the information I was seeking. "It was through Monsieur Bethune that I secured your address," I said boldly. "He was taken ill this morning; his heart, you know," and I tapped my chest. They nodded, looking at me, nevertheless, with eyes narrow with suspicion. "Yes, monsieur, we know," said Jourdain. "The authorities at the hospital at once notified us." "It is not the first attack," I asserted, with a temerity born of necessity. "He has had others, but none so serious as this." They nodded sympathetically. Plainly they had been considerably impressed by their lodger. "So," I continued brazenly, "he knows at last that his condition is very bad, and he wishes to remain at the hospital for some days until he has quite recovered. In the meantime, I am to have the second floor back, which was occupied by the ladies." I spoke the last word with seeming nonchalance, without the quiver of a lash, though I was inwardly a-quake; for I was risking everything upon it. Then, in an instant I breathed more freely. I saw that I had hit the mark, and that their suspicions were gradually growing less. "They, of course, are not coming back," I added; "at least, not for a long time; so he has no further use for the room. This is the fourteenth--I can take possession to-morrow." They exchanged a glance, and Madame Jourdain arose. "Very well, monsieur," she said. "Will you have the kindness to come and look at the room?" I followed her up the stair, giddy at my good fortune. She opened a door and lighted a gas-jet against the wall. "I am sure you will like the apartment, monsieur," she said. "You see, it is a very large one and most comfortable." It was, indeed, of good size and well furnished. The bed was in a kind of alcove, and beyond it was a bath--unlooked-for luxury! One thing, however, struck me as peculiar. The windows were closed by heavy shutters, which were barred upon the inside, and the bars were secured in place by padlocks.