The little man with the closely-cropped beard and hair looked at her
keenly through his gold eye-glasses. He sat before a desk littered all
over with papers and official looking documents. The walls of the room
were lined with shelves, on which were glass jars, retorts, countless
bottles and many appliances of surgical science. A skeleton was
propped against the mantelpiece. The atmosphere seemed heavy with the
odour of drugs.
"You are Mademoiselle Pellissier?" he asked, without rising to his
feet.
Anna admitted the fact.
"We sent for you several hours ago," he remarked.
"I came directly I was disengaged," Anna answered. "In any case, there
is probably some mistake. I have very few friends in Paris."
He referred to a sheet of paper by his side.
"Your name and address were upon an envelope found in the pocket of an
Englishman who was brought here late last night suffering from serious
injuries," he said in a dry official tone. "As it is doubtful whether
the man will live, we should be glad if you would identify him."
"It is most unlikely that I shall be able to do so," Anna answered.
"To the best of my belief, I have not a single English acquaintance in
the city."
"My dear young lady," the official said irritably, "this man would not
have your name and address in his pocket without an object. You cannot
tell whether you know him or not until you have seen him. Be so good
as to come this way."
With a little shrug of the shoulders Anna followed him. They ascended
by a lift to one of the upper floors, passed through a long ward, and
finally came to a bed in the extreme corner, round which a screen had
been arranged. A nurse came hurrying up.
"He is quiet only this minute," she said to the official. "All the
time he is shouting and muttering. If this is the young lady, she can
perhaps calm him."
Anna stepped to the foot of the bed. An electric light flashed out
from the wall. The face of the man who lay there was clearly visible.
Anna merely glanced at the coarse, flushed features, and at once shook
her head.
"I have never seen him in my life," she said to the official. "I have
not the least idea who he is."
Just then the man's eyes opened. He saw the girl, and sprang up in
bed.
"Annabel at last," he shouted. "Where have you been? All these hours I
have been calling for you. Annabel, I was lying. Who says that I am
not Meysey Hill? I was trying to scare you. See, it is on my cards--M.
Hill, Meysey Hill. Don't touch the handle, Annabel! Curse the thing,
you've jammed it now. Do you want to kill us both? Stop the thing.
Stop it!"