The Mission of Poubalov — page 46: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

42 THE AGENT OF THE CZAR, to render him unconscious and helpless, the police would have discovered it and reported it by this time, would they not?’’ ‘They would if your police are nearly as efficient as those of European cities,’’ said Poubalov, ‘‘and I have no doubt they are so to the extent of such emergencies as this case presents. ’”’ ‘‘Then, don’t you see, the whole mystery is oomfiane to two general solutions; either Mr. Strobel was seized by enemies and carried away; or he had some powerful rea- son for absenting himself, and disappeared voluntarily.”’ The Russian was surprised and deeply impressed by the young lady’s clearness of vision, and Louise, listening with rapt attention, was simply amazed to hear her cousin reason so calmly when every word she uttered must have cost her pain. ‘‘And which of these hypotheses,’’ asked Poubalov, guardedly, ‘‘do you consider the more probable?’’ ‘‘T have no means of judging between them,’’ replied Clara, ‘‘for I have no fact except the disappearance to justify either one. It seems as if there must be some other theory, if I could only think what it is.”’ ‘There is no other,’’ said Ponhaloy, ‘if you eliminate accident, as I think you properly do.’ ‘Then I must consider what grounds there might be for supporting both hypotheses, As I discard as utterly worthless all the suggestions in the newspapers, I must suppose that Mr. Strobe] had enemies, and that these ene. mies were powerful enough either to abduct him in broad day on a crowded thoroughfare, or cause him such sudden fear that he felt obliged to go into hiding.’’ Again was Poubalov surprised, for he could not himself have reasoned more clearly, or have stated his conclusions more concisely; but he simply nodded gravely, expressing neither convictions or emotions. Clara wished that he would speak. She had expressed her thoughts as they came to her there in Mrs. White’s sitting room. It was thinking aloud rather than a statemen® af iprimicnnty