The man who had taken the letter from the somewhat frightened maid was called in and questioned, but his evidence was of no value. His recollections of the appearance of the young woman were very hazy. She was young, slim, and rather good-looking, but he had taken so little notice of her that he admitted that he would not be sure of recognising her if he met her again. There were other callers at the time and his attention had been distracted. The man was dismissed, and the General and his lieutenant closely scrutinised the letter for the second time. All that they could do was to agree upon two points. The handwriting was evidently a feigned one, and also that of a person of education. "There is one peculiar thing about it; our informant wishes to save the person threatened," remarked the Chief; "but she evidently wishes to involve as little as possible the perpetrators. Otherwise she would have told us where the carriage was going to start from for Pavlovsk, so as to save us the trouble of going all that way. Still, when we stop the carriage, we shall be able to get something out of the scoundrels who are in charge of it." "Unless they are too staunch or too well paid to give away their employer," observed the subordinate, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Many of these criminals, and none but criminals would engage in such a job, are very loyal." "In the good old days we would soon have made them find their tongues," said the General with a grim smile. That night Beilski dined alone with Golitzine and his wife. After dinner was over, the two men adjourned to the Count's study and sat late into the night, discussing various important matters. When they were about to separate, the General drew from his pocket the anonymous letter, and handed it to his host. "Read that, Count, although I don't suppose you will be able to make more out of it than I. It was left to-day by a mysterious young woman who bolted as soon as she had given it into the hands of the porter. He took very little notice of her and doubts if he would recognise her again." The Count read the letter slowly, and meditated for a few seconds. "Strange, very strange," he said at length. "A person of some importance in the artistic world!" "Does that give you any clue?" inquired Beilski. "Of course you know a good many things that I don't, and you also mix in more worlds than I do. Is there anybody you can think of, or are acquainted with, whose removal might be useful to some person or persons?" It was some time before a sudden flash of inspiration came to Golitzine. When it did, he spoke slowly. "At present, mind, it is only a conjecture. But I can think of a man who would answer to the description--Corsini, the Director of the Imperial Opera." The General elevated his eyebrows. "From all I have heard of him--I have never met him--a most quiet, unassuming fellow. How could he give offence to anybody?"