“Please sign your name here,” he said, and indicated a blank page.

Stewart wrote his name, and the officer compared it with the signature at the bottom of the passport. Then he nodded, folded it up, and handed it back across the table.

“It is quite regular,” he said. “For what time have you been in Germany?”

“About two weeks. I attended the surgical congress at Vienna.”

“You are a surgeon by profession?”

“Yes.”

“You are now on your way home?”

“Yes.”

“When will you leave Germany?”

“I am going from here to Aix-la-Chapelle in the [Pg 16]morning, and expect to leave there for Brussels to-morrow afternoon or Sunday morning at the latest.”

[Pg 16]

The officer noted these details in his book.

“At what hotel will you stay in Aachen?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Is there a good one near the station?”

“The Kölner Hof is near the station. It is not large, but it is very good. It is starred by Baedeker.”

“Then I will go there,” said Stewart.

“Very good,” and the officer wrote, “Kölner Hof, Aachen,” after Stewart’s name, closed his notebook and slipped it into his pocket. “You understand, sir, that it is our duty to keep watch over all strangers, as much for their own protection as for any other reason.”

“Yes,” assented Stewart, “I understand. I have heard that there is some danger of war.”

“Of that I know nothing,” said the other coldly, and rose quickly to his feet. “I bid you good-night, sir.”

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