an underground chamber of the Foreign Office.... On the way to
Friedrichstrasse depot I met that girl of the Métropole again!"




IV

WHEN ROYALTY GETS DOUBLE-CROSSED


6. The next entry was:

"On the Orient Express, or what was the O.E. before the '_Grosse
General Stab_' took over the whole job of mixing up these
schedules.... Well, well, well, the veiled lady of the Métropole and
Buckingham is in trouble in the next compartment ... at least so
she says!... She just came into my compartment and said she had been
insulted by the man who is sharing it with her.... Confound him!...
BUT ... Now I've heard of such 'plants' before.... While I'd like
to go in there and kick the brute through the partitions I believe
discretion is the better part of valor.... Let her call the guard if
the case needs attention.... The guard is a reservist and I believe
she _knows_ it.... Furthermore, I must be at Donaustrasse 24,
Budapest, tomorrow, and meet Colonel Shuvalov at the Hotel de Paris,
Belgrade, the day after.... I wonder if that petit Paris looks the
same as when I met my old friend Count Arthur Zu Weringrode and
Kazimir Galitzyn coquetting with Cecilia Coursan, Mlle. Balniaux and
the Petite Valon at the card tables after our sparkling dinners a few
years ago.... And where is that fire-eating Prince now?... He was