"Well, I suppose if I must, I must," she said, and the
only result of the diversion was that she paid a few dollars more
than had been expected and went off in a high state of mind.
Herndon had disappeared for a moment, after a whisper from Kennedy,
to instruct two of his men to shadow Mademoiselle Gabrielle and,
later, Pierre. He soon rejoined us and we casually returned to
the vicinity of our tall friend, Number 140, for whom I felt even
less respect than ever after his apparently ungallant action toward
the lady he had been talking with. He seemed to notice my attitude
and he remarked defensively for my benefit, "Only a patriotic act."
His inspector by this time had finished a most minute examination.
There was nothing that could be discovered, not a false book with
a secret spring that might disclose instead of reading matter a
heap of almost priceless jewels, not a suspicious bulging of any
garment or of the lining of a trunk or grip. Some of the goods
might have been on his person, but not much, and certainly there
was no excuse for ordering a personal examination, for he could not
have hidden a tenth part of what we knew he had, even under the
proverbial porous plaster. He was impeccable. Accordingly there
was nothing for the inspector to do but to declare a polite
armistice.
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