Diary of a Drug Fiend

The Bubble Bursts 137 The consul’s clerk had taken in the situation clearly enough ; but I could see that the detectives had become highly suspicious. They were itching to arrest me on the spot. The clerk argued with them garrulously for an interminable time. The manager seemed the most uncomfortable man in Capri. He protested silently roheaven—there being nobody on earth to listen to The situation was set going again by the reappearance of Lou on the arm of a chambermaid, followed by the doctor, who wore the air of a man who has once more met the King of Terrors in open combat, and knocked the stuffing out of him. Lou was exceedingly shaky, paling and flushing by turns. I hated her. It was she who had got me into all this mess. “ Well,” said the clerk, “ we must simply go back to the consulate and explain what has happened. _ Don’t be distressed, Lady Pendragon,” he said. ‘‘ There _ can be no doubt at all that this man will be caught in a very few hours, and you'll have all your things back.’ a Of course I had sense enough to know that he didn’t believe a word of what he was saying. The proverb, “ Set a thief to catch a thief,” doesn’t apply to Italy. If a thief were worth stealing, that would be another story. , There was no boat back to Naples that night. There was nothing to do but to wait till the morning. The manager was extremely sympathetic. He got us some clothes, if not exactly what we were accustomed to, at least better than the horrible things we were wearing. He ordered a special dinner with lots of champagne, and served it in the best suite but one in the house. His instinctive Italian tact told him not to put us in the rooms we had had before. He looked in from time to time with a cheery word to see how we were, and to assure us that telegraphic