“He is everywhere!” she murmured.  “What does he want?”

I turned round sharply and caught him in the act of inspecting my labels.  I was beginning now to lose my temper.

“May I ask,” I said, standing in his way, “to what we owe—­this young lady and I—­your interest in us and our concerns?”

He stared at me blankly.

“I do not understand you, sir,” he said.

I was foolish enough to lose my temper.  A policeman was standing within a few feet of us, and I appealed to him.

“This person annoys us,” I said, pointing him out, “by following us everywhere we go.  The young lady is carrying a jewel-case, and I have papers of some importance myself.  Will you kindly ask him to move on, or ascertain whether he is a bona fide traveller?”

The young man smiled faintly.  The policeman answered me civilly, but I knew at once that I had made a mistake.

“This gentleman is well known to us, sir,” he said.  “I do not think you will find him causing you any trouble.”

“I hope, at any rate,” I said, turning away, “that we have seen the last of him.”

Apparently we had,—­for the moment, at any rate.  I claimed my own belongings, and had them sent down to the omnibus.  Then I handed my companion in and was on the point of joining her, when I saw walking along the platform, within a few feet of us, the policeman to whom I had appealed.  I turned back to him.

“I wonder,” I said, drawing him a little on one side, “if you would care to earn a sovereign without committing a breach of duty?”

He looked at me stolidly.  Apparently he thought that silence was wisest.

“You said that that young man who followed us about here was well known to you,” I said.  “Who is he?”

“It is not my place to tell you, sir,” the man answered, and passed on.

I stepped into the ’bus and we drove off.  As we turned out of the station I caught a last glimpse of our shadower.  He was standing close to the main exit with his hands behind him, looking up to the sky as though anxious to discover whether it were still raining.  He looked into our ’bus as it clattered by, and my companion, who caught sight of him, leaned back in her seat.

“I am sure,” she declared firmly, “that that is a detective.”

I was equally certain of it, but I only laughed.

“If he is,” I said, “it is certainly not you who needs to be anxious.  There can be no question as to whom he is watching.  You must remember that although those mysterious people up at the Place d’Anjou may be powerful in their way, they would have to be very clever indeed to protect me absolutely.  It is pretty well known over here that I had threatened to kill Tapilow wherever I met him.”

She looked at me for a moment, doubtfully, and then she shook her head.

“It is not you whom they are watching,” she said.

“Who, then?” I asked.