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diff --git a/29629.txt b/29629.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3e56e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/29629.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12201 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Destroyer, by Burton Egbert Stevenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Destroyer + A Tale of International Intrigue + +Author: Burton Egbert Stevenson + +Release Date: August 7, 2009 [EBook #29629] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DESTROYER *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander, Barbara Kosker and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + THE DESTROYER + + _A TALE OF INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE_ + + + + + [Illustration] + + + + + BY + + BURTON E. STEVENSON + + Author of "The Holladay Case," "The Marathon Mystery," + "The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet," etc. + + + + + NEW YORK + DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY + 1921 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1913 + + BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY + + + + +THE DESTROYER + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I THE TWENTY-FIFTH OF SEPTEMBER 1 + + II FRANCE IN MOURNING 14 + + III TWO GREAT MEN MEET 31 + + IV THE ALLIES AT WORK 47 + + V AT THE CAFE DES VOYAGEURS 60 + + VI THE MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS 77 + + VII THE HUT IN THE GROVE 88 + + VIII THE SECOND INSTALLATION 108 + + IX CHECKMATE 124 + + X THE LAND OF FREEDOM 137 + + XI SHIPMATES 147 + + XII UNDER RUSSIAN RULE 158 + + XIII IN THE WIRELESS HOUSE 170 + + XIV THE MESSAGE 182 + + XV A WORD OF WARNING 196 + + XVI A CHARGE TO KEEP 208 + + XVII THE FIRST CONFERENCE 221 + + XVIII THE SUBSTITUTE SENTRY 239 + + XIX THE SECOND CONFERENCE 256 + + XX THE PRINCE SEEKS DIVERSION 269 + + XXI ON THE EDUCATION OF PRINCES 283 + + XXII THE EVENTS OF MONDAY 296 + + XXIII THE LANDING 310 + + XXIV PACHMANN SCORES 321 + + XXV THE TRAP 334 + + XXVI THE TURN OF THE SCREW 346 + + XXVII THE VOICE AT THE DOOR 357 + + XXVIII CROCHARD, THE INVINCIBLE! 370 + + XXIX THE ESCAPE 382 + + XXX COUNCIL OF WAR 397 + + XXXI THE ALLIANCE ENDS 407 + + XXXII STRASBOURG 420 + + + + +THE DESTROYER + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE TWENTY-FIFTH OF SEPTEMBER + + +Monsieur Aristide Brisson, the fat little proprietor of the Hotel du +Nord--a modest house facing the Place Puget at Toulon--turned uneasily +in his sleep, as though fretted by a disturbing dream; then he awoke +with a start and rubbed his eyes. A glance at the dark windows showed +that the dawn was yet far distant, and he was about to turn over and go +thankfully to sleep again when a sudden remembrance leaped into his +brain. In an instant, he had bounded from the bed, struck a match, and, +after a look at his watch, lighted a candle. Then he returned to the +bed, and, without compunction, grasped the plump arm of Madame Brisson, +who was sleeping peacefully, and shook her roughly. + +"Wake, Gabrielle, wake!" he cried--in French, of course. + +Madame Brisson, who was also little and fat with a white skin that was +her pride, opened her eyes, stared an instant, and then sat up in bed. + +"Heavens, Brisson!" she cried, her hand to her throat. "What is it? What +has happened? Have you illness?" + +"No, no!" said her husband, who was struggling with his trousers. "But +rise, quickly!" + +Madame Brisson glanced at the dark windows. + +"I do not understand," she said. + +"Ah, Gabrielle," said her husband reproachfully, "I should never have +believed you could have forgotten! It is to-day, at sunrise, that our +guests depart!" + +"Heavens!" cried Madame Brisson again, and she, too, bounded from the +bed and began to don her clothes with trembling fingers. "That I should +have forgotten! Forgive me, Aristide! What hour is it?" + +"It is almost four and a half. At five, the coffee must be ready." + +"It shall be!" Madame promised, and hurried from the room, to complete +her toilet in the kitchen. + +"Fortunately," M. Brisson muttered to himself, "the fire is laid!" + +Then, having held his collar to the light and decided that it was clean +enough, he buttoned it about his neck, attached his shiny ready-made +tie, donned his little white coat, picked up the candle and left the +room. Passing along the corridor to the front of the house, he tapped at +a door. + +"Who is there?" called a rough voice. + +"Your coffee will be ready in twenty minutes, sir," said Brisson. + +"Very well; and thank you," answered the voice, and Brisson descended to +the dining-room, opened the shutters, lighted the lamp, and spread the +cloth. + +He was contemplating his handiwork, his head to one side, when heavy +steps sounded on the stair, and a moment later two men entered. They +were both of middle-age, somewhat stocky and heavily-built, their hair +close-cropped, their faces smooth-shaven and deeply tanned. They had, +indeed, that indurated look which only years of exposure to wind and +rain can give, except that their upper lips were some shades lighter +than the remainder of the face, betraying the fact that they had, until +recently, been protected by a moustache. They were dressed in somewhat +shabby tweed walking-suits, and wore heavy well-worn shoes. At this +moment, each carried in his hand a little knapsack. + +M. Brisson greeted them bent double, hoped that they had slept well, +foretold a fine day, and assured them that coffee would be ready in a +moment. + +"Our bags are in our room, properly labelled," said one of them, finding +his words with apparent difficulty and accenting them most queerly. +"They are to go to Nice, where we will claim them." + +"I will attend to it. And you, sirs?" asked Brisson. + +"It is our intention to walk." + +"By way of the Cornice?" + +"Yes." + +"You will find it a most beautiful road; even in your own America you +will find nothing more beautiful. And how fortunate that you will have +so fine a day! Where will you rest to-night?" + +"At Frejus, probably." + +"A beautiful town, well worth a visit. Permit me to recommend you, sirs, +that you stop at the Hotel du Midi. The proprietor is a relative of +mine--a nephew, in fact; he will treat you well." + +"Thank you," responded the stranger, and at that moment Madame Brisson +entered, flushed but triumphant, bearing a tray on which was a small +pitcher of very black coffee, a large pitcher of very hot milk, a plate +of rolls and "crescents," some pats of butter and a jar of honey. She +placed the tray upon the table, greeted the travellers with the +brightest of smiles, and then, as she flitted about attending to their +wants, M. Brisson retired to his bureau to put the finishing touches to +the bill. + +This was a weighty business. It was not often that the little Hotel du +Nord had the privilege of entertaining guests from America, and M. +Brisson was thriftily determined to make the most of it. The price of +the room, unfortunately, had been agreed upon in advance; but there were +the meals and, above all, the extras--baggage, lights, attendance, one +special breakfast at five o'clock--one must be paid for rising in the +middle of the night!--confitures, bath--had there been a bath? No +matter! Wine, cigars--M. Brisson licked his lips as he put them all in. +Then he made a mistake of five francs in the addition, and the thing was +done. He contemplated it for a moment with satisfaction, then folded it, +slipped it into his pocket, and returned to the breakfast-room. + +His guests were just rising from the table, and a glance told him that +they had done but scant justice to the meal--fully half the rolls +remained uneaten! They were in haste, then; so much the better! He +assisted them to adjust their knapsacks. + +"And now the bill," said one of them, taking out his purse. + +M. Brisson presented it with a bow. The other took it, glanced at the +total, and his face flushed. He opened his lips to speak, closed them +again, and his eyes ran up the column of figures. The flush deepened, +and again he opened his lips; but when he met Brisson's ferret-like +gaze, he again closed them. Without a word, he extracted from his purse +a note for a hundred francs and placed it in Brisson's hand. + +"You may keep the change," he said. + +"Oh, thanks, sir!" Brisson cried, and he bowed again to hide the +triumphant smile upon his lips. "Many thanks! A pleasant journey! And +when you come again to Toulon, remember the Hotel du Nord!" + +The other nodded glumly, and started for the door, followed by his +companion. Brisson and his wife accompanied them, again bade them adieu, +and stood for a moment watching them, as they went down the street in +the direction of the quays. + +"A hundred francs!" said Madame Brisson, and gazed with veneration at +her lord and master. "But what was your bill, then, Aristide?" + +"Ninety-six francs," said Brisson, sourly, "and, for a moment, I thought +the swine was going to protest it!" + +"If they had not been Americans," began Madame. + +"Americans!" burst in Brisson. "Bah! They are not Americans! Germans, +perhaps, or Austrians; but Americans, no! Those men, Gabrielle, have +something to conceal!" and Brisson, frowning darkly, went back into the +house. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile the two pedestrians made their way rapidly along the dark and +silent street without exchanging a word. There was in their faces a +strange excitement, and they stared straight ahead, as though they dared +not meet each other's eyes. At the end of a few moments, they came out +upon the quays. Here the darkness of the narrow street gave place to +the grey of the approaching dawn, and one of them took his watch from +his pocket and looked at it. + +"Nine minutes!" he said in guttural English, and in a voice strangely +thick, as with some deep and barely repressed emotion. + +The other nodded, and with common accord they turned to the right toward +the great basin, where three or four men-of-war lay at anchor. The light +increased from minute to minute, the horizon turned from grey to pearly +white, and over the hills to the east a golden halo marked the spot +where the sun would rise. They stopped to look at it, and then, stepping +back into the recess of a doorway, directed their gaze toward a great +battleship, anchored perhaps three hundred yards away. As the minutes +passed, they seemed scarcely to breathe, and their lips were twitching +with nervous excitement. + +Suddenly over the trees shot a long ray of yellow light, gilding the +house-tops, gilding the mast-heads of the vessels in the harbour; and +then, as though in answer to a signal, came a muffled roar from the +anchored battleship. There was an instant's silence, then the shrill +voices of sentries sounding the alarm, the whirring of a gong.... + +A second roar drowned all lesser sounds, and then the high, thin notes +of a bugle echoed across the water. The deck of the ship was alive with +men; from her open ports wisps of angry smoke swirled upward into the +morning air.... + +Above the babble of excited voices, rose a shout of command, the bugle +shrilled "Sauve qui peut! Sauve qui peut! Sauve qui peut!" and the crew +began leaping over the side; and then, straight in front of where stood +the breathless watchers, a mighty column of black smoke leaped high into +the air, mushroomed and drifted slowly away before the breeze. At the +same instant came a frightful, rending crash, which seemed to shake the +earth, and a foam-capped wave swept across the harbour and dashed +angrily against the quay. For one tense instant, all nature held her +breath, and then came the splash and clatter of debris falling into the +water and on the docks, the rattle of broken glass from the houses along +the quay; and finally, quivering through the air, rose the shrill, +inhuman cry of men in mortal anguish. + +The smoke, drifting lazily away, disclosed a mass of twisted wreckage +where, a moment before, _La Liberte_, the pride of the French navy, had +swung at anchor. + +"Ach Gott! Es ist doch wahr!" breathed one of the men, and stared rigid, +fascinated; but the other laid a trembling hand upon his arm. + +"We must hasten!" he whispered. "We must not stay here!" + +"True!" agreed the other, and with a last glance at the wreck, strode +away along the quay. + +Already the city was awake; already frightened faces were peering from +shattered windows, half-clothed men were bursting into the streets, and +voices shrill with fear were demanding to know what had occurred. But +our travellers heeded them not. At the first corner they separated, and +one of them made his way rapidly up into the town, while the other +hastened along a dark and narrow lane parallel with the quay, and +stopped at last before a tall, decrepit house, whose plaster, black with +age, was flaking from its walls. On the door-step sat a girl of eighteen +or twenty, a dark shawl about her head, from whose shadow her face +peered, strangely white. + +"Is it by this way one gains the Frejus road?" he asked in English. + +"Straight on to the end of the street, then to the left," answered the +girl in the same tongue, speaking it readily and without accent. + +"Thank you. This for your father," and thrusting his hand quickly into +his pocket, he drew out a fat envelope, sealed with many seals, placed +it in the girl's hand, and hurried on. + +An hour later, the two travellers, reunited, Toulon well behind them, +strode along a beautiful road skirting the Mediterranean, which +stretched, a sheet of greenish-blue, away to the south. But, strangely +enough, they did not even glance at this panorama. Instead, they walked +with heads down, as though still fearing to meet each other's eyes. + + * * * * * + +Back in the narrow Rue du Plasson, the girl, her face still very white, +re-entered the house, closed and bolted the crazy door, and slowly +mounted the dark staircase. From the street outside came excited cries, +hoarse shouting, the clatter of running feet; but she did not stop to +listen. Indeed, she did not seem to hear, but dragged herself up from +step to step as though a weight was on her feet. + +The house was of four stories, and she did not pause until she reached +the top one. A stream of yellow light poured through an open door, and +she entered and closed the door behind her. A lighted candle stood on a +table in the centre of the narrow room, but already the rays of the sun +were beating against the single window. Besides the table, the room +contained two chairs, a rusty stove, and a cupboard in which were a few +dishes. Against one wall stood a cot, and the back of the room was +curtained off, no doubt for the girl's sleeping-chamber. + +She stood for a moment staring listlessly before her, as though trying +to remember what she should do next; then she laid the envelope on the +table, blew out the candle, started a fire in the stove, and placed a +kettle upon it. Finally she drew a chair to the window, sat down, and +looked out across the harbour. + +Opposite the house was a long, low building, the wine-market, so that +her view of the harbour was unobstructed. It was alive with boats, +circling around or speeding towards a black and shapeless mass, above +which some shreds of smoke still lingered. Her lips were moving as she +stared at it, and her face was bloodless; and she pressed her hands to +her breast, as though in pain. + +At last the singing of the kettle roused her. She seemed to pull herself +together; then she rose, made the coffee and placed some rolls upon the +table. Finally she picked up a knife and with the handle smote sharply +against the wall. A moment later, the door opened and a man came in. + +At first glance, one thought him very old, for his hair was white as +snow, his body shrivelled and bent, his face lined and sallow. But at +the second glance, one perceived that these were not the marks of age +but of the ravages of the fiery spirit which dwelt within the body and +which peered from the burning eyes. At this moment, they gleamed with a +lustre almost demoniacal. + +"Breakfast is ready, father," said the girl. "And--and the man came +past, as you expected, and gave me that for you," she added, with a +little gesture toward the sealed envelope. + +The man advanced to the table, picked up the envelope, and walked on to +the window. For a moment he stood staring out across the harbour; then +there was the sound of ripping paper, a moment's silence, and he thrust +the envelope into his pocket and turned back to the table. + +"It is well!" he said, and sat down. "It is well, Kasia!" + +"I am glad of that, father," she answered, in a low voice, and poured +his coffee. + +He ate rapidly and as though very hungry; but the girl made only a +pretence of eating. At last the man looked at her. + +"We leave at once," he said. "We are to take the first boat for America. +Are you not glad?" + +"Very glad, father." + +"Why is it you so love America, Kasia?" he asked. + +"You also love it, father. It is the land of freedom--even for us poor +Poles, it is the land of freedom!" + +"The land of freedom!" he echoed. "And I love it, as you say. It is +because of that I hasten back; I have in store for her a great honour, +which will make her more than ever the land of freedom! For she is not +free yet, Kasia--not for poor Poles, nor for poor Jews, nor for the poor +of any nation. The poor cannot know freedom--not anywhere in the whole +world. They must labour, they must sweat, they may not rest if they +would live, for the greater part of what they earn is stolen from them. +But I will change all that! Oh, you know my dream--no more poverty, no +more suffering, no more cruelty and tyranny and injustice--but all men, +all the nations of the world, joined in brotherhood and love! This day +at dawn I struck the first blow for freedom! Do you know what it was, my +daughter? Did you hear the roar of the waters as they opened? See!" + +He caught her by the wrist and dragged her to the window. + +"See!" he cried again, and pointed a shaking finger toward the black +hulk in the harbour. + +But she did not look. Instead she shrank away from him and pressed her +hands before her eyes, and shook with a long shudder. + +And after a moment, the light faded from her father's face, and left it +old and worn; his eyes grew dull and moody; his lips trembled. + +"Every cause must have its martyrs," he said, as though answering her +thought, and his voice was shaking with emotion; "even the cause of +freedom; yea, that more than any other, for the battle against tyranny +is the most desperate of all!" + +And dropping her wrist, he went slowly from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRANCE IN MOURNING + + +To M. Theophile Delcasse, Minister of Marine, and first statesman of the +Republic, slumbering peacefully in his bed at Paris that morning, came +the sound of urgent knocking. He sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from +his eyes, for he knew that not without good cause would any one dare +disturb him at that hour. Then he stepped to the floor, thrust his feet +into a pair of slippers, his arms into the sleeves of a dressing-robe, +and opened the door. + +"A telegram, sir, marked 'Most Important,'" said his valet, and passed +it in to him. + +It was from Vice-Admiral Bellue, commander at Toulon, and a moment later +M. Delcasse had learned of the terrible disaster. + +He ordered his carriage and dressed rapidly with trembling hands. He was +shocked and distressed as he had rarely been before. Would these +disasters never cease? First the _Jena_ow the _Liberte_--both ships +the pride of their country, the last formidable word in marine +architecture! He gulped down the cup of coffee which his valet brought +him, seized hat and gloves, hastened to his carriage, and drove +straight to the Elysee Palace. + +The President was already up, and his broad face, usually so placid and +good-humoured, was convulsed with grief as he greeted his Minister. He +held in his hand a telegram, which he had just opened. + +"See," he said, after the first moment, "the sad news is already +abroad," and he held out the message. + +Delcasse took it and read it with astonished eyes. It was from the +German Emperor, and expressed his grief at the catastrophe, and his +sympathy with France, which he had directed his ambassador to call at +once in person to convey more fully. + +"The Kaiser is certainly well-served!" muttered Delcasse, reading the +message again, his lips twitching with emotion. "There is something +ironical in this promptness. He must have had the news before we did!" + +The President nodded gloomily. Then the other members of the cabinet +came whirling up, and were convened at once by their chief in secret +session. + +Not many hours later, as a result of that session, a special train +rolled out of the Gare de Lyon, and headed away for the south, with a +clear track and right-of-way over everything. Aboard it were the +President himself, the Minister of Marine, the Minister of War, and a +score of minor officials. There was also a thin little man with white +hair and yellowish-white beard--M. Louis Jean Baptiste Lepine, Prefect +of Police, and the most famous hunter of criminals in the world; and in +the last car were a dozen of the best men of his staff, under command of +his most trusted lieutenant, Inspector Pigot. + +At each station, as the train rolled on, great crowds gathered to meet +it--crowds strangely silent, inarticulate with grief, furious, +suspicious of they knew not what. Terrible rumours were abroad--rumours +of treachery, of treason striking at the very heart of France. No one +dared repeat these rumours, but nevertheless they ran up and down the +land. The _Jena_ and now the _Liberte_! True, the Board of Inquiry, +which had investigated the destruction of the _Jena_, had decided that +that catastrophe was due to the spontaneous combustion of the powder in +her magazines. France had accepted the verdict; but now a second +battleship was gone. It would be too much to ask any one to believe that +this was spontaneous combustion, also! Such things do not happen twice. + +And at every station telegrams were handed in giving fresh details of +the disaster--horrible details. The ship was a total loss; of that +splendid mechanism, built by years of toil, by the expenditure of many +millions, there remained only a twisted and useless mass of wreckage; +and in that wreckage lay three hundred of France's sailors. Small wonder +that the President sat, chin in hand, staring straight before him, and +that the others spoke in whispers, or not at all. + +At Dijon, which was reached about the middle of the afternoon, there was +a tremendous crowd, thronging the long platforms and pressing against +the barriers, which threatened at every moment to be swept away. The +President went out to say a few words to them, but at the first sentence +his voice failed him, and he could only stand and look down upon them, +convulsive sobs rising in his throat. Suddenly a little red-legged +Turco, weeping too, snatched off his fez and shouted "Vive la France!" +and the cheer was taken up and repeated and repeated, until it swelled +to a vast roar. As the train rolled out of the station, the crowd, +bareheaded, was singing the Marseillaise. + +M. Delcasse's eyes, behind his heavy glasses, were wet with tears. + +"It is the same people still!" he said, pressing the President's hand. +"They are as ready to spring to arms as they were a hundred years ago. +Now, as then, they need only to know that their country is in danger!" + +His voice had grown vibrant with emotion, for the passion of his life +was and always had been revenge upon Germany. He made no effort to +conceal it or to dissimulate. Alsace and Lorraine were always in his +thoughts. To placate Germany, indeed, France had once been compelled to +drive him from the Quai d'Orsay, where, for so many years, he had been +to his contemporaries a sort of Olympian in the conduct of her foreign +affairs. But even in retirement he remained the most powerful man in +France; and now he was back in the cabinet again, a giant among +Lilliputians, building up the navy, building up the army, strengthening +the forts along the frontier, increasing the efficiency of the +artillery, experimenting with air-ships, devoting his days and nights to +the study of strategy, the discussion of possibilities, always with the +same idea, the same hope! And now, this catastrophe! + +As he sat gnawing his nails, the President glanced at him, read his +thoughts, and shook his head. + +"No, my friend," he said, sadly, "the country is not in danger; or, if +it is, the danger is from within, not from without. This is an accident, +like all the others." + +"You believe so? But it seems to me that we have had more than our share +of accidents!" + +"So we have," the President agreed. "Let us hope that this will be the +last--that it will teach us to guard ourselves, in future, from our own +carelessness." + +"England, America, Germany," Delcasse went on, speaking half to himself, +"these nations, with navies greater than ours, never have such +accidents. Small explosions, sometimes, it is true, wrecking a gun or +damaging a turret--but never destroying a whole ship! Is it merely +because they are never careless?" + +"There was the _Maine_," the President reminded him. + +Delcasse's hand went to his moustache to hide the ironic smile upon his +lips. In that close-cropped head of his, along with many other such +secrets, was that of the cause of the catastrophe in Havana harbour. In +all the chancellories of Europe, it was agreed that the _Maine_ had been +destroyed by the spontaneous explosion of her own magazines. Four men +knew the truth, and Delcasse was one of them. There had been a fifth, +but an assassin's bullet killed him. + +In an instant Delcasse's face was composed, and his eyes, behind their +immense glasses, as inscrutable as ever. The President, so ingenuous and +child-like, must never suspect the truth! + +"True!" Delcasse agreed. "There was the _Maine_! I had forgotten that," +and he relapsed into thoughtful silence. + +Evening came, and still the train rolled southward, past Macon, past +Lyons, past Vienne, everywhere greeted by surging crowds. At the latter +place, Delcasse arose and, with an almost imperceptible nod to Lepine, +entered the last car. The Prefect followed him, and a few minutes +later, they were closeted together in a compartment, where, at a word +from his superior, Inspector Pigot had joined them. + +"And now," began Delcasse, when the door was closed and the train had +started again, "tell me what you think of this affair, Lepine." + +The little grey man spread his hands wide with a gesture of +helplessness. + +"At this moment I know no more than you, sir," he answered; "probably +not so much. By morning, I shall have a report ready for you." + +"We shall not arrive until after midnight," the Minister pointed out. + +"Nevertheless, my report will be ready, sir," said Lepine, quietly. +"Between midnight and dawn there are six hours." + +Delcasse looked at him. He knew that this little man never made an empty +promise. + +"Did you go through the papers at the time of the _Jena_ disaster?" he +asked. + +"I did, sir. I assisted the investigating board." + +"You are, then, familiar with the theories in that case?" + +"There were four theories," answered Lepine. "The first was that the +ship had been blown up by treachery; that is always the first thought! +But in the case of the _Jena_, it was quickly discovered that treachery +was impossible, unless it was that of the highest officers, for only +they had access to her magazines. That was unthinkable, for all of them +had served France for many years. More than half of them were killed. I +myself investigated the life of every one of these men, for it was +necessary to be absolutely certain--but not a breath could be raised +against them." + +"And the second theory?" + +"That there had been carelessness of some sort. That, too, was +disproved, for no one had entered the magazines for many hours previous +to the explosion. It is a rule of the service that, except when in use, +the keys of all magazines shall be in keeping of the commander, who is +responsible for them. At the inquiry, the commander of the _Jena_ +testified that the keys had not left his possession during the two days +preceding the accident. There had been no occasion to enter the +magazines during that time. The _Jena_, you will remember, was at anchor +in Toulon harbour, just as the _Liberte_ was." + +Delcasse glanced at his companion keenly. + +"Does that fact suggest nothing to you, Lepine?" he asked. + +"Nothing, sir," said Lepine firmly. "I have thought of it all day, and I +can see in it nothing except coincidence." + +"Coincidence! Coincidence! I detest the word--I do not believe in +coincidence!" muttered the Minister. + +"Nor I," agreed Lepine; "but even less do I believe in vague theories +and vague suspicions. We must have a firm foundation before we begin to +build." + +"Well, and the third theory?" said Delcasse, at last. + +"The third theory was most interesting. It was that the explosion had +been caused by waves from the wireless telegraph. It was asserted that +these waves had upset the unstable equilibrium, either chemical or +electrical, which sometimes exists in the components of modern powder, +and that the explosion had resulted." + +"And this theory also was disproved?" + +"The most exhaustive tests failed to confirm it." + +"Ah," said Delcasse; "but to fail to confirm a thing is not to disprove +it." + +"Our wireless experts agreed in pronouncing the theory absurd." + +"Wireless waves penetrate metal, do they not?" + +"Every metal except lead." + +Delcasse turned this over for some moments in his mind. + +"If that had been the cause," went on Lepine, at last, "there would have +been other explosions, many of them--and our navy would not have been +the only one to suffer. The whole atmosphere is charged with such waves, +of every length and every degree of intensity." + +"Perhaps you are right," agreed the Minister. "What was the fourth +theory?" + +"The fourth theory was that finally adopted by the board. It was that a +certain kind of powder, known as 'B' powder, degenerates under heat, and +becomes, in time, extremely combustible, so that it will sometimes +explode apparently without any exciting cause." + +"In what manner was the truth of this theory demonstrated?" demanded +Delcasse. + +"In a most convincing manner. A certain amount of this powder, which the +board was examining, did explode in this way, under their very hands. +Had the amount been larger, not a member of the board would have +escaped. But, sir, you know all this as well as I." + +"I wish to refresh my memory," Delcasse explained. "I wish to see if +your memory, which I admire so much, agrees with mine. Now tell me this: +what was done to prevent a recurrence of such an accident?" + +"The powder in all French magazines was overhauled, and that which there +was any reason to suspect was destroyed. To prevent future +deterioration, the magazines of all our battleships were equipped with +a special cooling apparatus. In this, we were soon followed by all other +nations." + +"And yet," said Delcasse, in a low voice, "the latest and best of our +battleships blew up this morning!" + +"I have brought my best men with me, as you suggested, sir," said +Lepine. "If there were any suspicious circumstances attending this +explosion, depend upon it, they will be laid before you when you awake!" + +"Do not wait for me to awake!" cried the Minister. "If any such +circumstance comes to light, wake me--wake me on the instant!" + +Lepine bowed. + +"I will do so, sir," he promised. + + * * * * * + +It was some time past midnight when the train reached Toulon; but +apparently no one of her hundred thousand inhabitants had thought of +sleep. The streets before the station were crowded from house-front to +house-front. The carriage containing the President and his Ministers had +the greatest difficulty in proceeding. Everywhere there were cries for +vengeance, shouts of treason, threats, wild imprecations. Men stood with +arms extended cursing the heavens. The Place de la Liberte was massed +with people, facing the fountain in honour of the Revolution, +bareheaded, singing the Ca Ira. It seemed as though the wheels of time +had rolled back a century, and that at any moment the Sea-green +Incorruptible himself might arise to thunder denunciation. But at last +the President and his staff reached their hotel. + +M. Lepine, after final instructions to Pigot, joined them there, and +listened to the reports made by the surviving officers of _La Liberte_. +They were in despair, these men, ready to kill themselves at a word; +their faces were blackened, their uniforms in tatters, their hands torn +and bleeding, for they had laboured all day at the work of rescue. They +spoke between sobs, but it was little they had to tell. + +Commander Jaures, it seemed, had been absent on leave, the second in +command was ashore, so that Senior Lieutenant Garnier was in charge of +the ship. Just before dawn, the watch had discovered a small fire in one +of the store-rooms, but it was so insignificant that no one thought of +danger; the fire was not near the magazines; in any event, the magazines +were all securely closed--the officer in charge had seen to that. +Suddenly, apparently without cause, there had been three explosions, +about a minute apart, first of the forward magazine, then of the after +magazine, then of the main magazine--it seemed almost as though they had +been fired at spaced intervals, like a heavy gun. There had been time to +get the crew on deck, but the final explosion had come before the boats +could be lowered. It had broken the ship in two; the forward part had +turned over and sunk with all on board; the after part was a mere mass +of twisted wreckage. The explosion had been so violent, that the +neighbouring ships also suffered--_La Republique_ so seriously that it +was only by hurrying her to a dry-dock she was kept from sinking. No one +had any theory, any explanation; there had been no warning, no +premonition. An instant, and it was over. But all agreed that the fire +could have had nothing to do with it. + +Pigot, meanwhile, had spread his men out along the docks, where they +listened to every one, asked questions of every one. Not a rumour +escaped them, but, alas, for no rumour could they find foundation. The +wreck in the harbour was illuminated by the searchlights of the other +battleships, and Pigot caused himself to be rowed out to it, introduced +himself to Admiral Marin-Dabel, Maritime Prefect of Toulon, who had +taken personal charge of the rescue work, and spent half an hour +inspecting the melancholy scene. Then he landed again, and listened for +a time to the reports of his lieutenants. There was among them not a +single ray of light--not the slightest evidence to show that the +disaster had been anything but an accident. The fire in the store-room +had, it was whispered, been much more serious than the officers would +admit. + +Pigot made his way slowly toward the hotel to report to his chief, but +as he crossed the Place d'Armes, a hand was laid upon his sleeve. He +turned, expecting to see one of his men. Instead, he found himself +looking into a face he did not know. + +"Pardon, sir," he said. "You are, perhaps, mistaken." + +"Oh, no, Pigot," said the stranger, with a little smile, "I am not +mistaken. It is you whom I wish to see." + +"I do not remember you, sir," said Pigot, looking at him more closely. +"Have we met before?" + +"Many times." + +"Many times!" echoed Pigot, incredulously. "Surely not!" and he looked +again to make certain that the stranger was not intoxicated. "Where have +we met?" + +"We met last," said the stranger, smiling again, "on _La Savoie_, in the +harbour of New York City. To be sure, I was not in this incarnation, but +I am sure you will recall the incident."[1] + +Pigot drew a deep breath, and his face flushed. + +"Ah," he said quietly, after a moment. "I remember. I wish you good +evening, M. Crochard." + +"One moment," Crochard commanded, his grasp tightening on Pigot's arm. +"Forgive my recalling that meeting to your memory. It was indelicate of +me. Nevertheless you would do well to listen to what I have to say." + +Pigot stopped and turned. + +"Well," he said, after gazing for a moment into Crochard's eyes, "speak +quickly. What is it you have to say?" + +"I wish to say to you, Pigot, that I have come to offer you my help." + +"Your help?" + +"In solving the mystery of this disaster." + +Pigot looked at him coldly. + +"We do not require your help," he said, at last. + +"Perhaps not; and yet you would be mistaken to refuse it. I was at Nice; +I have been on the ground since morning; I have discovered...." + +"Well, what have you discovered?" asked Pigot, as Crochard hesitated. + +"I have discovered," Crochard continued slowly, "what I can reveal only +to M. Delcasse himself. I demand that you cause me to be introduced to +him at once." + +Pigot shrugged his shoulders impatiently. + +"Impossible!" he said, and started on. + +"Wait!" said Crochard sternly. "Consider whether you are willing to take +the responsibility of this refusal!" + +"Responsibility!" Pigot burst out, his anger getting the upper hand at +last. "Responsibility! Yes, I take it! Who are you? A notorious +character--a thief...." + +Crochard's eyes were blazing, and his hand grasped Pigot's arm with a +vise-like grip. + +"And with it all," he sneered, "a better man than you, Pigot! Is it not +so? A better man than you! How often have I proved it!" + +Pigot's hand turned and closed like a flash upon the other's wrist. + +"You will come with me," he said. + +The anger faded from Crochard's face, and an ironic amusement took its +place. + +"Where would you conduct me?" he asked. + +"To the Prefecture!" + +"You are mistaken. You will conduct me to M. Delcasse. You cannot +conduct me to the Prefecture, Pigot; I will not allow it!" + +"Allow it!" sneered Pigot, and pressed forward. + +"Fool!" hissed Crochard in his ear. "Thick-headed fool! Have you learned +no wisdom yet? I would smite you, Pigot, but that I have need of you. +Listen! I and only I can save France! I demand that you take me to M. +Delcasse." + +Pigot felt himself waver; a vague uneasiness stirred within him as he +met his companion's flaming gaze. + +"On what pretext can I introduce you to M. Delcasse?" he asked at last. + +"You will leave me outside the door," said Crochard rapidly, almost in a +whisper. "You will go in to M. Delcasse alone; you will say to him, +'Sir, I have outside a man who asserts that _La Liberte_ was blown up by +the Germans, and that he can prove it!' Then let M. Delcasse decide +whether or not he will receive me!" + +Pigot was staring at the speaker with distended eyes. + +"By the Germans!" he repeated, hoarsely. "By the Germans!" + +Crochard answered with an impatient pressure of the arm. + +"You are wasting time," he said. + +"You are right," Pigot agreed. "Come with me," and he led the way across +the square. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: See "The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet."] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TWO GREAT MEN MEET + + +M. Delcasse and M. Lepine were still in conference when Pigot was +announced. He was admitted without delay, and made his report briefly +and clearly. It could have been summed up in a sentence: neither by him +nor by his agents had anything been discovered to indicate, even +remotely, that the catastrophe had been the result of intention; every +rumour to that effect had been sifted and disproved; _La Liberte_ had +been destroyed from within and not from without. + +"Another 'accident,' then," grunted Delcasse gloomily. "But I do not +believe it! Something--something here"--and he smote his +forehead--"tells me that it was not an accident!" + +Pigot, as a practical detective, had no faith in intuition; but whatever +his thoughts may have been, he managed to mask them behind an +impenetrable countenance. + +"Our investigations have but just begun," Lepine pointed out. "They will +be continued without pause. I will conduct them in person. No +circumstance, however trivial, will be overlooked." + +"I know you are a good man, Lepine," said the Minister wearily; "I know +there is none more clever. But something more than cleverness is needed +here--we need genius, inspiration." He stopped abruptly and rose from +his chair. "I am sure you will do your best. Remember, if there is any +discovery, I am to be told at once." + +Pigot, who had been standing with lips compressed, undergoing a violent +inward struggle, at last managed to open them. + +"I have a man outside," he said, as though repeating a lesson, "who +requests an audience with M. Delcasse. He asserts that _La Liberte_ was +blown up by the Germans, and that he can prove it." + +Delcasse whirled as on a pivot and stared at the speaker. + +"But, name of God!" he stammered, barely able to speak for excitement, +"why have you not introduced this man at once? Why have you wasted our +time...." + +He stopped and took a rapid turn up and down the room. When he spoke +again, his voice was quite composed. + +"Introduce the man at once," he commanded. + +"I think it would be well," said Pigot tonelessly, "that M. Delcasse +should first be informed as to the name and character of this man." + +Again Delcasse stared. + +"Explain yourself!" he cried. "Who is the man?" + +"His name is Crochard, sir," Pigot replied. + +Delcasse evidently did not recognise the name, but Lepine's face was +suddenly illumined. + +"Crochard," he explained, "is the most adroit, the most daring, the most +accomplished scoundrel with whom I have ever had to deal. Surely +Monsieur remembers the affair of the Michaelovitch diamonds?" + +"Ah, yes!" cried Delcasse, his face, too, lighting. "So that was +Crochard!" + +"Crochard the Invincible, he calls himself," growled Pigot. "He is a +great braggart." + +"And with some reason," added Lepine. "We have never yet been able to +convict him." + +"He restored the Mazarin diamond to the Louvre, did he not?" queried the +Minister. "And also the Mona Lisa?" + +"The Mazarin certainly," assented Lepine. "As for the Mona Lisa, I have +never been quite certain. There is a rumour that the original is now +owned by an American millionaire, and that the picture returned to the +Louvre is only a copy--a wonderful one, it is true. Where did you meet +him, Pigot?" + +Pigot related the story of the meeting, while Delcasse listened +thoughtfully. + +"Is he to be trusted?" he asked, when Pigot had finished. + +"In this affair I believe so," answered Lepine quietly. "He may be as +good a patriot as you or I. If he is really in earnest, he can be of +immense assistance. He has absolute command of the underworld, and a +thousand sources of information which are closed to the police. At +least, it can do no harm to hear what he has to say." + +Delcasse agreed with a nod, and sat down again. + +"Bring him in," he said, and a moment later Crochard entered. + +If M. Delcasse had expected to perceive anything of the criminal in the +man who bowed to him respectfully from the threshold, he was most +thoroughly disappointed. What he _did_ see was a well-built man in the +very prime of life, with clear and fearless eyes of greenish-grey +flecked with yellow, a face singularly open and engaging, and a manner +as easy and self-possessed as Delcasse's own. The only sign of +approaching age was the sprinkle of grey in the crisp, brown hair, but +this served rather to accentuate the youthfulness of the face, covered +now by a coat of tan which bespoke a summer spent in the open. In any +company, this man would have been notable. + +"M. Crochard, I believe," said Delcasse, and involuntarily the great +Minister arose and returned his visitor's bow. "Be seated, sir." + +"Thank you," said Crochard, and sat down. "I see that we are going to +appreciate each other," he added, and looked at Delcasse with a friendly +smile. + +That gentleman's eyes were twinkling behind his glasses, and his lips +twitched under his heavy moustache. + +"It always pleases me to meet a distinguished man," he said, "in +whatever field of endeavour. M. Lepine tells me that you are most +distinguished." + +"M. Lepine has every reason to know," agreed Crochard, and glanced +smilingly toward the Prefect. + +"Though, since I have eyes, I can see that for myself," added the +Minister. "Why did you wish to see me?" + +"I wished to see you, sir," answered Crochard, suddenly serious, +"because I have long recognised in you the only man whom France +possesses who sees clearly the struggle which is ahead of her, who +prepares ceaselessly for that struggle, and who is strong enough to +guide her through it triumphantly." + +"To what struggle do you refer?" inquired the Minister, but his shining +eyes belied his careless tone. + +"The struggle to regain possession of Alsace-Lorraine and to avenge +ourselves upon the nation which once humiliated us." + +A slow flush crept into Delcasse's cheeks, and his lips tightened. + +"You foresee such a struggle?" he asked. + +"As clearly as you do yourself, sir." + +"Well, yes!" cried Delcasse, and smote the arm of his chair a heavy +blow. "I _do_ foresee such a struggle--I have never denied it; and for +twenty years I have laboured to prepare for it. You can understand, +then, what a blow it is to me--how terrible, how disheartening--to have +all my calculations blasted by such accidents as that of to-day!" + +"Pardon me, sir," said Crochard, in a low tone, "but the destruction of +_La Liberte_ was not an accident!" + +"You assert that?" + +"I do. And furthermore I assert that it was the work of Germany!" + +Delcasse sprang from his chair, his face livid. + +"The proof!" he cried. "The proof!" + +"The proof, sir, is this: at five minutes before dawn, this morning, two +strangers, attired as pedestrians, with knapsacks on their backs, +stopped in the recess of the doorway of Number Ten, Quai de Cronstadt. +They stepped well within the shadow, as though not wishing to be seen, +and stood gazing out on the harbour. Directly before them, at a distance +of not more than three hundred yards, _La Liberte_ was moored. It was at +her they stared, with eyes expectant and uneasy. At dawn, _La Liberte_ +blew up, and one of these men cried out some words of German." + +"What were they?" + +"Unfortunately the person who overheard them does not know German. He +understood only the first two words, 'Ach Gott!'" + +"And the men?" cried Delcasse. "What became of them?" + +"They strode rapidly away along the quay, and were lost to sight." + +Delcasse dropped into his chair, his face dark with passion. + +"What do you infer from this circumstance?" he demanded. + +"There is only one possible inference," answered Crochard. "At five +minutes before dawn this morning, there were, in this city of Toulon, +two Germans who knew that _La Liberte_ was to be destroyed." + +A moment's silence followed. Those words, terrible as they were, +astounding as they were, carried conviction with them. + +"Tell me," said Delcasse, at last, "how you discovered all this." + +"I have been spending the month at Nice," Crochard explained. "I learned +of the disaster as soon as I was up this morning, and I came at once to +Toulon. Monsieur will understand that, in the many years during which I +have been at variance with society, I have made many friends and gained +a certain power in quarters of which Monsieur knows little. One of +these friends is the proprietor of the cafe which occupies the ground +floor of the house on the Quai de Cronstadt. I stopped to see him, +because his house is close to the scene of the disaster--so close, +indeed, that all of its windows were shattered. It was he who gave me +the first clue." + +"Go on," said Delcasse, who had been listening intently. "I need not say +how deeply all this interests me." + +"My friend had arranged to go to Marseilles this morning," Crochard +continued, "to make a purchase of wine. The train, he tells me, leaves +at six o'clock. It was about fifteen minutes before that hour when, as +he started to open his door, two men stepped into the little vestibule, +as though to screen themselves from observation. He peered through the +curtain, thinking they might be friends, and found that he did not know +them. Gazing from the darkness of the interior, he could see them very +well. They were staring at _La Liberte_, as I have said, their faces +rigid with emotion; and then came the explosion, which, without +question, they anticipated." + +"You have a description of them?" broke in Delcasse. + +"An excellent description. They were men of middle age, heavily built +and clean-shaven. Their faces were deeply tanned, as with long exposure, +and had that fulness about the lips which bespeaks the German. They +wore caps and walking-suits with knee trousers. Each had strapped upon +his back a small knapsack." + +Lepine, who had been taking rapid notes, looked up with gleaming eyes. + +"We shall find these men," he said. "It will not be difficult." + +"More difficult than you suppose, M. Lepine," said Crochard dryly. + +Lepine looked at him. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +Crochard turned to Delcasse with a little deprecating gesture. + +"Before I proceed," he said, "I must be certain of my position here. +With you, sir, no explanations are necessary; we understand each other +and we have no past to prejudice us. But M. le Prefect and I are old +enemies. We respect each other, but we always welcome an opportunity to +try conclusions. Until this affair is ended, I propose a truce." + +"I will go further than that," retorted Lepine, "and call it an +alliance. I shall welcome your help. I have already told M. Delcasse +that you are probably as good a patriot as he or I." + +"I shall try to prove that you are right," said Crochard, his eyes +shining. "There is one more condition. In this affair, it may be +necessary for me to call to my assistance certain persons for whom the +police are looking. Should they be recognised while so engaged, no +effort must be made to arrest them." + +"I agree," said Lepine, instantly. + +Crochard leaned back in his chair with a sigh of satisfaction. + +"I am ready to proceed," he said. "Let us, for the time, forget our +differences." + +"I have already forgotten them," said Lepine. + +Delcasse had listened to this interchange with smiling lips. + +"Magnificent!" he cried. "I shall remember this scene all my life. And +now to work!" + +"First," said Lepine, "permit me to inquire of Inspector Pigot how it +happened that neither he nor his men heard anything of these two +strangers?" + +Pigot flushed darkly and opened his lips to defend himself, but Crochard +silenced him with a little gesture. + +"I can explain that," he said. "Pigot is not a genius, it is true, but +neither is he quite a fool, and I should grieve to see him blamed for +something not his fault. I was careful to warn my friend to repeat his +story to no one. That, I think, was the wisest course. Those men must +not know that we suspect them." + +Delcasse nodded. + +"You are right," he agreed. "Are you possessed of any further +information?" + +"I had only a few hours," Crochard apologised; "but I did what I could. +I learned that two men resembling these, and undoubtedly the same, had +been staying since Friday at the Hotel du Nord. The proprietor of that +house informed me that they left before daybreak this morning to walk to +Frejus." + +"Ah, then," began Delcasse. + +"But they did not go to Frejus," Crochard added. "They stopped at +Salins, which they reached about ten o'clock, boarded a small +steam-yacht which was waiting there, and at once put out to sea. I fear +they are beyond our reach." + +Delcasse stamped his foot. + +"What, then, is to be done?" he demanded. + +"It seems to me most important that we identify these men," said +Crochard; "then we shall know where to look for them." + +"Yes," agreed Delcasse; "but how are they to be identified?" + +"There are, no doubt, in the files of your department, photographs of +the most prominent German officers, both of army and navy. I believe +these men to be officers--one, at least--the other may belong to the +secret service. I would suggest that these photographs be brought to +Toulon, and that it also be ascertained which officers are on leave of +absence, or not with their commands. Probably it will be necessary to +search only among the general officers. An affair so important would +not be entrusted to a subordinate." + +Delcasse made a quick note. + +"The photographs will be here to-morrow," he promised. + +"I would further suggest that the innkeeper be strictly interrogated," +Crochard went on. "I ventured to ask him only a careless question or +two; he does not know me, and I did not wish to arouse his suspicions." + +Lepine arose. + +"I will see him at once," he said. + +Crochard rose also. + +"And I will accompany you. That is all the information I have at +present, sir," he added to Delcasse. + +"It is a great deal," said the Minister quickly. "Just before you came, +I was remarking to Lepine that what we needed in this affair was a man +of genius. Well, I think that we have found him!" + +Crochard flushed with pleasure. + +"I thank you, sir," he said. + +"And I thank you for coming to me," said Delcasse. "You are doing France +a great service. I shall not forget it. Until morning, then." + +Crochard bowed and left the room with the two detectives. + +Delcasse sat for a moment deep in thought; then he summoned his +secretary, gave the necessary order about the photographs and dictated a +cipher telegram to the chief of his secret service at Berlin. That done, +he bade his secretary good night, dismissed him and went to bed. + +But not to sleep. Turning at full length upon his back, his arms above +his head, he stared steadily up into the darkness until his brain, freed +of all lesser problems, all vagrant thoughts, was concentrated upon the +great problem which now confronted it: + +How had the destruction of _La Liberte_ been accomplished? + +It was, of course, the work of Germany. Those two strangers, who spoke +German in a moment of great excitement, who had arrived five minutes +before the disaster, who had hastened away immediately afterwards, who +had lied about their destination, and for whom a steam-yacht had been +waiting--all this, as Crochard said, could have but one meaning. + +And then Delcasse fairly bounded in the bed. Fool that he had been not +to think of it! There was another proof! The telegram from the Emperor! + +He lay a moment trembling, then calmed himself by a mighty effort. How +was it the Emperor had learned so promptly of the disaster? There was +only one possible answer: an emissary had hastened to flash the news to +him--an emissary dressed, prepared, who needed to delay for no +investigation, since the roar of the explosion told him everything--one +of the men, perhaps, who had waited on the quay. And Delcasse, biting +his nails, his face wet with perspiration, pictured to himself the +Emperor also waiting, pacing restlessly back and forth, until the word +should come! He gnashed his teeth with rage, this good Frenchman, and +shook trembling fists up into the darkness. Ah, Germany should pay! +Germany should pay! + +But again he calmed himself, wiped his forehead, and composed himself +for thought. + +How had _La Liberte_ been destroyed? There was the question which must +be answered, and at once. + +By a mine, set to explode at a certain hour? Delcasse shook his head. It +was absurd to suppose that a mine could be planted in a harbour as +strictly guarded and policed as that of Toulon. By a torpedo, then, +which could be launched some distance away? But that was even more +absurd. The launching of a torpedo required a complex mechanism; as well +suppose that an enemy would be able to install a cannon on the docks +unobserved. By a submarine? But _La Liberte_ had lain at anchor in an +enclosed basin; besides there were the outer basins, patrol boats, +sentries, the constant coming and going of sailors and marines, of +launches, of boats of all kinds. How could an enemy creep unobserved +past all these? + +True, the accident had occurred at dawn, when every one but the sentries +was asleep. But even at that hour the harbour was strictly guarded. An +enemy, to enter unseen, would have to be impalpable, invisible.... + +Besides, how could a mine or a torpedo or a submarine have caused the +explosion of the magazines, one after the other, at regular +intervals--"spaced," one of the officers had said, "like the reports of +a heavy gun." First one had been fired, and then a second, and then a +third; Delcasse, closing his eyes, had a vision of a ghostly figure +stealing from one to another, torch in hand.... + +His mind roved back again over his talk with Lepine. Could it have been +done by wireless? Not the ordinary wireless, but some subtle variant of +ether waves, some new form of radio-activity, which in some way caused +combustion? There was an enemy which could flit unseen from magazine to +magazine, which no locks nor bars could guard against.... + +His heart faltered at the thought. The possessor of such a secret would +have the world at his mercy. No ship would be safe, no fort, no +artillery-caisson. Armies and navies alike would melt before him, +destroyed by the explosion of their own ammunition. Ah, if France +possessed that secret.... + +He shook his head impatiently and turned on his side. + +"I am dreaming foolish dreams," he told himself. "It is time to sleep." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ALLIES AT WORK + + +It was nearly four o'clock when Crochard, Lepine and Pigot took their +leave of M. Delcasse and made their way through the dark and silent +streets in the direction of the Hotel du Nord. The people who had leaped +from their beds at sunrise, wearied at last by the emotions of the day +and dampened by the fine rain which had begun to fall, had gone to bed +again. Only about the harbour were there any signs of life. There the +searchlights of the battleships still played about the wreck, where +squads of marines were searching for the bodies of their comrades. + +The three men, their coats buttoned about them, their hats pulled down, +hurried on in silence, each busy with his own thoughts. Crochard and +Lepine were planning the campaign; Pigot had not yet recovered from his +confusion at the sight of these two working hand in hand. + +Five minutes brought them to the door of the Hotel du Nord, and Lepine +applied to it a vigorous fist. There was no response, and he pounded +again. At last there came the sound of a window being raised, and a +night-capped head was thrust out from the upper story. + +"Who is there?" asked a voice. + +"Are you the proprietor?" demanded Lepine. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then come down at once." + +"But what is wrong, sir?" stammered Brisson, to whose frightened eyes +those three dark figures huddled in his doorway appeared most sinister. +"What is it you require?" + +"No matter," said Lepine, sternly. "Come down at once and open the +door." + +The window was lowered and some minutes passed. Had the three men at the +door been able to see inside the house, they would have been amused at +what occurred there, could anything have amused them at that moment. As +it was, they merely stamped with impatience and crowded closer to the +door, for the rain was falling more heavily. + +Brisson retreated from the window, his fat countenance fallen into +creases of dismay, and plunged back into his bedroom, where his wife, +who had also been awakened by the knocking, was sitting up in bed. + +"What is it, Brisson?" she asked. + +"There are three men below," gasped Aristide, fumbling for his trousers. +"They command that I descend at once and admit them. There is something +which tells me it is the police--the police at this hour!" + +"The police?" and Madame Gabrielle cast a rapid mental glance over their +affairs. "Well, admit them; we have no reason to fear the police." + +"There is that little matter of the wine from your nephew which did not +pay the octroi," Brisson reminded her. + +"Bah!" retorted Madame, who was by far the stronger spirit; "it cannot +be that! No one could suspect that; besides, even if they did, they +would not come hammering here in the middle of the night. Descend at +once and admit them. Assume a bold front, Brisson! Do not let them +suspect that you have fear! Go at once! Hasten! I will come as soon as I +have found a petticoat." + +Thus encouraged, Brisson descended and opened the door, holding a +lighted candle above his head and presenting as bold a front as his +not-too-courageous spirit could muster. The three men crowded past him, +without waiting for an invitation or saying a word, and one of them took +the door from his hand and closed and bolted it. The horrible thought +flashed through Brisson's head that they were robbers, bandits, and he +had opened his mouth to cry for help, when one of them, the little, +lean, grey-bearded one, with the fierce eyes, spoke. + +"We belong to the police," he said. "We desire a few moments' +conversation with you." + +"Certainly, sir," stammered Brisson, thinking, as he met those eyes, +that perhaps he would have preferred the bandits. "Come this way, if you +please, sirs," and he led the way into his bureau. + +He placed the candle on the table and dropped into a chair. His visitors +remained standing, facing him. Brisson realised that for him to sit +while they stood was anything but courteous, and he struggled to arise, +but the strength seemed departed from his legs, and he sank helplessly +back again. + +"What is your name?" asked the little man, looking at him with those +gimlet eyes. + +"Aristide Brisson, sir." + +"You have been long in this house?" + +"For twenty years, sir. My record is of the best." + +"We will investigate it," said Lepine curtly. + +"Do so!" cried a voice behind them. "Nothing would please us better!" +They turned to find Madame Brisson on the threshold, her eyes flashing, +her bosom heaving, one plump hand holding together at the throat the +garment which threatened every moment to disclose her still plumper +shoulders. "We are honest people--our neighbours will speak a good word +for us--all of them!" + +"I do not doubt it, Madame," said Lepine, courteously, realising that +here he had to do with the head of the house. "Meanwhile we wish to make +certain inquiries of you, which you need not hesitate to answer. But I +wish first to warn you that of these inquiries you must not breathe so +much as a word to any one. Do you understand?" + +"We understand, sir; you may rely upon us," said Madame Brisson, and sat +down beside her husband. + +"Our inquiry," pursued Lepine, "concerns the two gentlemen who departed +so early yesterday morning." + +At the words, Brisson bounded in his chair, and the colour swept back +into his cheeks. He was himself again. + +"So!" he cried, and suddenly found that he could stand erect, and did +so. "So! It is about those swine! I knew that all was not right; I knew +that they were not as they pretended!" + +"What was it they pretended?" + +"That they were of America. But it did not deceive me--no, not for one +instant. They had not the air of Americans. Besides, do Americans go +tramping about the country with knapsacks on their backs? No; only +Germans do that! To Gabrielle, as they departed, I said, 'Americans, no; +Germans perhaps, or Austrians--but not Americans!'" + +"Yes, gentlemen, those were his very words!" said Madame Brisson, with +an emphatic nod. + +"And there is a final proof," went on Brisson, excitedly; "a proof +conclusive. When I present my bill, the one who takes it grows quite +red with anger. It was a most reasonable bill--ninety-six francs for +three days, with many extras--a most reasonable bill, for Americans. It +was then that I knew there was something wrong--that they were imposters +who feared the police. It was only that which prevented a scene. +'Gabrielle,' I said, as they went away down the street, 'those men have +something to conceal.'" + +"Yes, gentlemen," put in Gabrielle, "he said just that." + +"There is even worse to come, sirs," and Brisson dropped his voice as +one does in speaking of great horrors. "You will scarcely credit it, +but, after having had us at their heels for three days, upstairs, +downstairs; after compelling us to arise in the dark of night to prepare +their breakfasts--this person handed me a note for a hundred francs and +said with a lordly air, 'You may keep the change.' The change--four +francs! And yet from his manner you would have thought he was giving me +a fortune!" + +"Have you still that hundred-franc note?" Lepine inquired. + +"But certainly, sir," answered Madame Gabrielle, and, turning her back +to the company, she stooped quickly and arose with the bill in her hand. + +Lepine took it and examined it carefully by the light of the candle. It +was a new note, apparently fresh from the bank, and the Prefect's eyes +were shining with satisfaction when he raised his head. + +"I shall have to retain this," he said. "One moment," he added, as +Madame Brisson opened her lips to protest; "I shall, of course, give you +another for it," and he drew out his purse, placed the new note +carefully in a flapped compartment, selected another and handed it to +the anxious lady, who received it with a sigh of relief. "And now!" went +on Lepine, "please tell us all that you can remember about these +men--every small detail." + +Both Monsieur and Madame Brisson grew voluble at once, for rarely had it +been their fortune to address so attentive an audience. But there were +few grains of wheat among the chaff. The two strangers had arrived, it +appeared, on the evening of the twenty-second, Friday. They were +Americans, they said, on a walking tour. Their names? Brisson did not +remember; but they would be found on the police registration slip which +he had caused them to fill out at once and had sent to the Prefecture +that very evening. He had noticed on the slip that they had come from +Marseilles and were on their way to Nice. Their bags had already arrived +from Marseilles, and, at their direction, he had had them brought up +from the station. + +"Where are the bags now?" asked Lepine. + +"They directed that they be sent to Nice," explained Brisson. "I +despatched them yesterday morning, as I agreed." + +"You have the receipt?" + +"But certainly, sir," and Brisson, while his wife held the light, +rummaged in his desk and finally produced the paper in question. + +Lepine placed it in his purse beside the hundred-franc note. + +"Proceed," he said. "In what way did these strangers occupy themselves +during their stay?" + +They were absent from morning till night, it appeared, walking about the +streets, about the docks, visiting the ships in the harbour, climbing +the hills back of the town, and even going as far as Cape Cepet, where +the great fort is--penetrating, in a word, to every nook and corner +which it is possible for visitors to enter. In fact, in the two days of +their stay, they had seen more of Toulon than had Brisson in the twenty +years of his residence. + +The details of these expeditions Brisson had learned with the greatest +difficulty, for his guests had talked but little, had kept to +themselves, had discouraged his advances, resented his questions, and +often pretended that they did not understand--all of which was in itself +suspicious. When talking together, they used a language which Brisson +supposed to be English; but he was not familiar with English; knew only +a few words of it, indeed--"money," "damn,"--such words as every one +knows. Their French, also, was very bad,--much worse at some times than +at others.... + +Lepine finally stopped this flow of language, when it became apparent +that nothing but chaff remained. + +"Do any further questions suggest themselves?" he asked, looking first +at Crochard and then at Pigot. "No? You understand, my friends," he +added, turning back to the innkeeper and his wife, "that of all this you +will say nothing--not even to each other. An incautious word, and you +may find yourselves in a most difficult position. On the other hand, if +you are careful, if you are reticent, you will not be forgotten." + +"We understand, sir," said they both in a breath, and Brisson added, +with venom in his voice, "They were swine! I rejoice that they did not +get their telegram!" + +Lepine jumped as though a pin had been driven into him. + +"Their telegram? What do you mean?" he cried. + +"About an hour after they were gone," Brisson hastened to explain, "or +perhaps two hours--I do not know--a messenger appeared with a telegram +addressed to a grotesque name--Zhones, Smeet--I do not remember--in +care of the Hotel du Nord. I concluded it was for one of them, and told +the messenger it was too late, that the man had departed--to Frejus, to +Nice--I did not know whither. So he took the telegram back again." + +Lepine's eyes were gleaming as he glanced at Crochard. + +"I am glad that you have mentioned this detail, M. Brisson," he said. "I +thank you--and you also, Madame!" and with that, he and his companions +bade the worthy couple adieu. + +Once in the street, Crochard paused. + +"I will leave you now, M. Lepine," he said. "You have your work to +do--but you do not need me. Should I have anything further to +communicate, you will hear from me." + +"And if we wish to find you?" + +"For the present, I am staying with my friend on the Quai de Cronstadt." + +"Very good," said Lepine. "Good night," and in a moment he and Pigot +were lost in the darkness. + +The rain had ceased and a chill wind had arisen, but Crochard did not +seem to feel it, as he walked slowly toward the quays, his head bent in +thought. An ironical smile curved his lips, as he pictured Lepine off +upon the scent first to the Prefecture, then to the post-office. He +would follow it well, of course; he would run it to the end. He would +discover, no doubt, the identity of the two travellers; that would not +be difficult. Crochard himself had pointed out the way. + +But what then? Even if they were found to be men high in the German +service, that was of small importance. It _proved_ nothing. They were at +liberty to visit Toulon, if they wished to do so; and, after all, their +arrival at the quay five minutes before dawn might have been an +accident; they _might_ have lingered for a last look at _La Liberte_ +without any suspicion of what was about to occur. Such a coincidence, if +not probable, was, at least, conceivable; and such, of course, would be +their explanation, if an explanation was ever asked for. There was no +way to disprove it. + +As to the yacht on which they had embarked--well, that, too, may have +been an accident--a boat belonging to a friend whom they had come upon +unexpectedly and upon which they had been persuaded to take a cruise. +Suspicious circumstances--yes, many of them; but no proof, no absolute +proof. And nothing, absolutely nothing, to show that the explosion had +been caused by any outside agency. + +Arrived at the water-front, Crochard walked on until he was opposite the +wreck. There he sat down, with his legs overhanging the quay. Two or +three searchlights were still focussed on the ruin, but the rescue +parties had been withdrawn, and only a few sentries remained. He could +see how that formidable monster of a ship had been torn and twisted into +an inextricable and hideous mass of iron and steel. One turret remained +above the water, blown over on its side, its great guns pointing +straight at the zenith; but the rest was a mere tangle of metal. + +Such destruction could have been wrought only by the explosion of the +magazines; no mine or torpedo could have done it. And as he gazed at the +mass of wreckage visible above the water, he perceived a certain +resemblance to photographs he had seen of the wreck of the _Maine_. The +_Maine's_ forward magazine had exploded; but Crochard knew, as well as +M. Delcasse himself, what had caused that explosion. + +Perhaps history was repeating itself, as, proverbially, it is supposed +to have a way of doing. But Crochard shook his head. If the catastrophe +was not an accident, then it was the result of some agency far more +subtle than mine or torpedo. And, also, if it was not an accident, those +two men who had waited in the shadow of the doorway back of him for the +deed to be accomplished, must have had an accomplice. They could not +destroy the ship merely by staring at her! Somewhere, somewhere, +concealed but not far distant, that accomplice must have awaited the +first beam of the rising sun as the signal to hurl his thunderbolt, to +loose his mysterious power! + +What was that power? How had the thing been done? Those, Crochard felt, +were the questions to be answered. As to who had done it, or why it had +been done--that could wait. But if there existed in the world a force +which, directed from a distance, noiseless, invisible, impalpable, could +destroy a battleship asleep at her anchorage, then indeed did it behoove +France to discover and guard against it! + +At last, his head still bent, Crochard arose, crossed the quay, opened +the door of Number Ten, and entered. + +No doubt it would have interested both him and M. Delcasse to know how +nearly parallel the channels of their thoughts had run! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AT THE CAFE DES VOYAGEURS + + +M. Delcasse was scarcely out of bed, next morning, when Lepine's card +was brought in to him. He smiled as he read the line scrawled across it: +"My report awaits Monsieur." + +"Show M. Lepine into the breakfast-room," said the Minister, "and inform +him that I shall be down at once. Also inquire if he has breakfasted. If +not, see that he is served." + +He hastened on with his toilet, and, five minutes later, joined Lepine, +whom he found at his favourite amusement of standing at a window and +gazing into the street--an amusement which occupied every idle moment, +sometimes with the most astonishing results. Chance plays a larger part +in life than most people are willing to admit; Lepine believed in it; +went half-way to meet it--and, more than once, had seen drifting past +him along the pavement the face for which his best men had been +searching vainly. + +Lepine, it appeared, had already breakfasted, and, while the Minister +ate, told of the interrogation at the Hotel du Nord. He had sent one of +his men to Nice, with the receipts for the bags, and if, as seemed +probable, they were still uncalled for, they would be examined at once. + +"Though, even if they are still there," Lepine added, "we shall probably +discover nothing of moment. One does not place anything of value in a +bag and then abandon it. But I have another clue of the first +importance," and he produced the hundred-franc note. "Here is the note +given to Brisson by one of the strangers. You perceive that it is quite +new. I suggest that you send the number of this note to the Bank of +France, ascertain when and to whom it was issued, and if any other notes +of the series were issued at the same time." + +"I will do so," said M. Delcasse, and made a note of the number. "I +agree with you that this is most important." + +"One thing more," went on Lepine, replacing the note in his pocket-book +and extracting a slip of paper; "a small thing, but of significance. I +have here the police blanks which the two men filled out upon arriving +at the Hotel du Nord. Their names, you see, are given as George Arnold +and William Smith, their home as New York City, United States of +America. If you will notice the 'S' of the word 'Smith,' you will see +that it is made in the German manner." + +"That is true; but it may mean nothing. There are many Germans who are +citizens of the United States." + +"Yes; but the German name is Schmidt, not Smith. I conclude that this +man is a German, but was trying to conceal it." + +"You may be right," Delcasse assented, with a trace of impatience in his +manner; "no doubt you _are_ right. Is there anything more?" + +"There is one thing," said Lepine, colouring a little, "which I have +kept until the last, because it seems to upset M. Crochard's theory." + +"What is that?" + +Lepine drew two sheets of yellow tissue-paper from his pocket-book. + +"An hour after our men left the Hotel du Nord," he said, "a telegram +arrived, addressed to this William Smith. Here it is," and he spread out +one of the sheets on the desk before the Minister. + +Delcasse bent forward eagerly and read: + + "_William Smith, Hotel du Nord, Toulon, France._ + + "Our mother requests that you abandon trip, cancel all + arrangements, and return at once. + + "ALFRED." + +"Well?" and Delcasse looked up at his companion. + +"That would seem to show, sir," said Lepine, "that William Smith was +only an ordinary traveller, after all. You will see that it was filed +at Brussels at noon of Sunday, the twenty-fourth. It was delayed in +transmission, and for some reason was not received at Toulon until nine +o'clock in the evening. Messages here are not delivered on Sunday +evening after eight o'clock, and this was held until seven the next +morning. At that hour, William Smith was no longer at the hotel." + +"Well?" asked Delcasse a second time. + +"Well," Lepine continued, "at ten minutes past six on Monday morning, +this message was filed at the office here," and he spread out the second +sheet of tissue. + +Again Delcasse bent forward, and read: + + "_Alfred Smith, Restante, Brussels._ + + "We continue our trip as planned. All well. Next address + Nice. + + "WILLIAM." + +"You will see," Lepine went on, "that these messages are such as an +ordinary tourist would send and receive." + +But Delcasse was not listening. He was reading the messages a second +time and yet a third, and there was a wrinkle of perplexity between his +brows. At last he looked up, and the Prefect was astonished at the +expression of his face. + +"There is one thing I forgot to tell you last night, Lepine," he said. +"I did not myself see its significance until I had got to bed. The first +telegram received from any foreign power in reference to the disaster +was from the German Emperor." + +Lepine smiled. + +"The German Emperor was the first to get word of it," he said. "I +examined the other telegrams filed Monday morning. At ten minutes to +seven, the German consul here notified the Minister of State at Berlin +of the explosion. Admiral Bellue did not file his message to you until +forty minutes later. No doubt he wished to assure himself of the extent +of the disaster, in order not to alarm you needlessly. You should have +received it not later than eight o'clock." + +"It was, in fact, a few minutes before that hour. And when I reached the +Elysee Palace, I found the President with a message from the Kaiser in +his hand. It struck me as most peculiar." + +"It was ironic, certainly," agreed Lepine, "but, under the +circumstances, easily explained." + +"You think, then--" + +"I think that Crochard has assumed too much; I think that, before we +accuse these men, we need more proof." + +Delcasse pushed back his chair and paced for some moments nervously +about the room. At last he sat down again, and rolled and lighted a +cigarette. + +"You are right," he said; "we need more proof. It is for you to find it, +if it exists. And at this moment, I am interested not so much in the +movements of these men, as in the cause of the explosion. Even supposing +that they had a hand in it, how was it accomplished?" + +Lepine returned the telegrams to his pocket. + +"I agree with you," he said, "that that is the vital question. And I am +unable to answer it." + +"I shall institute a Board of Inquiry at once," went on the Minister; "I +have, in fact, already summoned the officers who will compose it. I will +arrange for it to visit the wreck and begin to take evidence to-day, as +it is important that the evidence be secured while the event is still +fresh. I would suggest that you place some of your men at the +disposition of the Board." + +"Very well, sir," Lepine agreed, and withdrew. + +Toulon was awake again, and the streets were thronged as on a fete day. +The first shock of the disaster had passed, and the inborn cheerfulness +of the people was asserting itself. The excuse for a holiday was not to +be overlooked, and every one who could take a day, or even an hour of +leisure, did so, and spent it partly on the quays staring at the wreck, +partly in the Place de la Liberte listening to the orators, partly in +the Place d'Armes watching the men at work draping with black the +Maritime Prefecture, where the Board of Inquiry was to sit, and the +church of Saint Louis, where requiem High Mass was to be celebrated. +Finally as much as remained of the holiday was spent at a cafe before a +glass of coffee or aperitif, with the satisfaction of a sacred duty +conscientiously performed. + +Lepine, as he made his way through the crowd, noticed that there was no +longer any talk of treachery or treason,--even the word "sabotage" was +no longer uttered. Every one agreed that the affair was another +accident, deplorable indeed, but unavoidable and without dishonour, and +so not to be taken too deeply to heart. France could build other +battleships! The mercury in the national temperament was asserting +itself. + +For an hour Lepine walked about with thoughtful face, listening to the +talk, watching the crowd, joining a group here and there, catching +chance words from passers-by. He had had only three hours' sleep, but he +showed no trace of fatigue. Certainly nothing was farther from his +thoughts at this moment than that he needed rest. + +He made his way at last to the Quai de Cronstadt and joined the crowd +which was staring at the wreck. A barge had been moored alongside, and a +heavy crane was lifting the detached debris into it and clearing the way +for the searching parties. On the quay opposite the wreck, at Number +Ten, was a cafe, the Cafe des Voyageurs as its sign announced, and to +this Lepine presently crossed, sat down at a table and ordered a bock. + +The cafe was crowded, for its situation could not have been more +fortunate; a steady stream of money had poured into the pockets of its +proprietor ever since the disaster. The shattered windows were in +themselves an advertisement, and no effort had as yet been made to +replace them. Lepine looked about the place with interest. It was not +large, but it had a certain air of prosperity bespeaking a good +patronage, even at ordinary times. At the Prefecture, Lepine had made +some discreet inquiries concerning its proprietor, who, he was told, had +the reputation of being an honest fellow and had never been in trouble +with the police. Nevertheless, as a friend of Crochard's, Lepine would +have welcomed a look at him; but the place at the moment was apparently +in charge of the head-waiter. It was the head-waiter himself who +responded when Lepine rapped for the "addition," and, as he paid it, +slipped a note into his hand. Lepine opened it, under cover of his hat, +and found that it contained a single line: + + "Monsieur C. will welcome a conference with Monsieur L." + +Without a word, Lepine arose and followed the man, who crossed the room, +opened a door at the farther end of it, stood aside for him to pass, and +then gently closed it. Lepine found himself in a little room with a +single window opening upon a court. It was furnished with a table and +three chairs, and at the table sat Crochard. He motioned Lepine to a +seat. + +"I was expecting you," he said, with a little smile; "and I am glad you +came. In the presence of that good Pigot, one cannot talk freely. +Indeed, it was with the greatest difficulty that I maintained a sober +countenance. He was so astonished, so overwhelmed, that you and I should +be working together--that we should be able to sit in the same room +without flying at each other's throats. If he only knew--" + +"Is it necessary to go into that?" asked Lepine. + +"Why not? You have no reason to be ashamed of it. If you have sought my +aid from time to time, it was because you realised that Crochard the +Invincible has sources of information which are closed to the police." + +"I said as much to M. Delcasse. It was not of myself I was thinking, but +of you. What if your friends knew?" + +"My friends? I have never betrayed my friends, as you know well. Surely, +Lepine, you have understood that, if I assisted you, it was only because +it suited me to do so!" + +"Yes, I have understood that," assented Lepine, flushing a little at +the other's tone. "You always had a bargain to propose. What is the +bargain, this time?" + +"There is no bargain," retorted Crochard, curtly. "I ask nothing." + +Lepine cast at him an astonished glance. + +"What!" cried Crochard, his face suddenly red, "you cannot believe the +truth, then? It seems incredible to you that I should love my country? +Well, I _do_ love her, and I am going to prove it by saving her!" + +"Is she in need of saving?" queried Lepine, ironically. + +Crochard's eyes gleamed; then, in a moment, his anger passed. + +"Delcasse believes so; Lepine does not: behold the difference between a +great man and a clever one," he said, and looked at Lepine with pity in +his eyes. + +"Well, yes," said the Prefect; "I admit it; I make no claim to +greatness. I perceive no danger--nor, for the matter of that, does M. +Delcasse." + +Crochard looked at him for a moment. + +"Let me see the registration slip from the Prefecture," he said, at +last. + +Without a word, Lepine got out his pocket-book, produced the slip, and +handed it to his companion. + +Crochard studied it closely. + +"You have, of course, remarked the German 'S,'" he said, at last "I +thought so. Now the telegram which arrived too late." + +Lepine passed it over obediently. + +Crochard read it and re-read it, a strange light in his eyes. + +"And now the other one," he said, finally. + +Lepine stared at him. + +"How do you know there is another one?" he demanded. + +"Of course there is another one!" retorted Crochard, impatiently. "Any +fool would know that!" + +Still staring, Lepine handed him the second sheet of tissue. + +Crochard took one glance at it; then he looked at his companion. + +"Do you mean to say, Lepine," he asked, "that, in the face of these +telegrams, you remain unconvinced--that you do not see the danger?" + +"I see no danger," repeated the Prefect, doggedly. + +"And yet I tell you, Lepine," said Crochard, leaning forward across the +table and speaking in deadliest earnest, "that the danger is desperate. +You are blind to it, a thing which astonishes me; M. Delcasse can do +nothing--his hands are tied by the red tape of his position. There +remains only Crochard! If I sit idle, if I fold my hands, within a +month Germany will declare war and will sweep over France like a +pestilence. Yesterday she struck the first blow; I tremble to think what +the second may be!" + +"But war!" protested Lepine. "Nonsense! For war there must be a cause." + +"A pretext will do--and a pretext can always be found. Already Germany +is preparing her pretext: she has demanded equal rights with France in +Morocco--a preposterous demand, and one which France can never grant. +What cares Germany about Morocco? Nothing! But the pretext must be +ready. And now, Lepine," he added, pushing back the papers, and speaking +in another tone, "I will tell you why I have come to you: I should +prefer to work alone; but, in the first place, it was necessary to +provide a means of access to M. Delcasse; in the second place, you got +these papers, where I might have failed; in the third place, there are +certain questions to which you can get an answer more easily than I." + +"What are the questions?" asked Lepine, moved, in spite of himself, by +Crochard's manner. + +"There are two to which I would ask you to get answers at once. The +first: does the government maintain, or has it authorised, any wireless +stations in the town or in the neighbourhood? The second: have the +wireless operators on any of the battleships noticed any unusual +interference during the past few days? How long will it take you to +secure answers to those questions--authoritative answers?" + +"An hour." + +Crochard glanced at his watch. + +"It is now ten o'clock. At eleven, you will arrange for a conference +with M. Delcasse. There must be no one present but we three." + +"M. Crochard," said Lepine, drily, "I do not like your imperatives. I am +not accustomed to them." + +"M. Lepine," Crochard retorted, "my way of speaking is my own, and I am +too old to change. In this affair, it is you who work with me, not I +with you. Shall we go on, or shall we stop here?" + +Lepine trembled with a severe inward struggle. Crochard impressed and +fascinated him; but his terms were humiliating. + +Crochard met his gaze, read what was behind it, and leaned forward again +across the table. + +"Lepine," he said, "have I ever failed to do a thing I promised?" + +"No." + +"I shall not fail this time." + +"What is it you promise?" + +"I promise," said Crochard, and raised his right hand solemnly, as +though registering an oath, "I promise to find the man who destroyed +_La Liberte_, and to save my country!" + +Lepine gazed at him for a moment, then pushed back his chair and rose to +his feet. The patriot in him had triumphed. + +"Where shall the conference with M. Delcasse take place?" he asked. + +Crochard smiled at the question and at the little man's impassive face. + +"Lepine," he said, "on my word, you touch greatness sometimes, and I +find myself admiring you! Let the conference take place at M. Delcasse's +apartment. Oh, yes; you will have a closed carriage waiting at the +private entrance." + +"At eleven o'clock," agreed Lepine. + +"At eleven o'clock," repeated Crochard, and waved his adieu. Then, as +the door closed behind that erect little figure, he sank back into his +seat with a chuckle and touched a bell. + +An inner door, concealed so cleverly in the wall that even Lepine's +sharp eyes had not perceived it, opened and a man looked in. + +"He has gone," Crochard said. "Bring some wine, Samson, and two +glasses." + +The door closed, but opened again in a moment to admit the man, with +bottle and glasses. He placed them on the table, went back to make sure +that the door was closed, and then sat down opposite Crochard. Why he +should be called Samson, unless in derision, was hard to understand, for +he was a mere skeleton of a man, with a face like parchment. But the +brow was high and the eyes bright and the mouth as tender as a woman's. + +Crochard glanced at the label on the cobwebbed bottle, and nodded as he +filled his glass. + +"You are good to your friends, Samson," he said. "Your health!" + +"Yours!" said Samson, and drained his glass. "Everything I have is +yours, my master; you know that!" + +"Even your life?" + +"You have only to ask it." + +Crochard looked at him with smiling eyes. + +"I believe you, my friend," he said. "Some day I may have to ask it--but +not yet. Did you see the man who just left me?" + +"It was M. Lepine," said Samson, quietly. + +"Did he see you?" + +"No; but if he had, it would make no difference. He would not know me +now." + +"Perhaps not," Crochard agreed, and glanced at the other's wasted face. +"And yet he has sharp eyes and a wonderful memory." + +"I will keep out of his way," said Samson. + +"At worst, it is only a question of another rescue; but avoid him, if +you can. You have a good station here, the business pays; you can lead +a quiet life--and, from time to time, be of use to me." + +"The last is the most important," said Samson, and filled his glass +again. + +"Have you learned anything more of the white-haired man?" + +"No; but I _will_ know more before evening." + +"I wish especially to find his lodging. If he is no longer there, I must +know when he departed and where he went." + +"All that you shall know; I will see to it." + +"No detail is too unimportant." + +"I shall remember." + +"And perhaps," added Crochard, "if things go well--for this is an affair +of great importance, where for once I am working on the side of the +law--I shall be able to secure for you that for which you have +longed--pardon from the State, rehabilitation, so that you can resume +your own name and live again openly with your family. That is worth +working for, is it not?" + +"Ah!" cried Samson, his voice quivering with emotion. "If you could do +that! But it is impossible!" + +"It is _not_ impossible!" said Crochard, and struck the table with his +open hand. "I promise it!" + +Samson stared at him, his lips working, and two large tears formed +slowly in the corners of his eyes, brimmed over and ran down his +cheeks. If Crochard said "I promise it!" the thing was as good as done. +Suddenly he sat upright and brushed the tears away. + +"What is it I must do?" he asked. "Tell me!" + +And Crochard, drawing his chair closer, began his rapid instructions. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS + + +M. Delcasse was a busy man, that morning, and he snorted with derision +when Lepine, having secured admission for a moment, told him of +Crochard's request for an audience at eleven o'clock. + +"Impossible!" he said. "The Board of Inquiry is to convene at that hour, +and I must be present to address them." + +"Perhaps it would be possible to adjourn the meeting until afternoon," +Lepine suggested. + +Delcasse stared at him in astonishment. + +"Possible, yes," he said; "most things are possible. But do you know +what it is you are proposing?" + +"I am proposing," said Lepine boldly, "that you permit nothing to +interfere with the conference which Crochard requests." + +"But Crochard--who is Crochard that I should disturb all my arrangements +for him?" + +"I will tell you who he is, sir," said Lepine, gently; "he is the man +whom, next to yourself, I consider the most remarkable in France." + +Delcasse softened. The compliment was, perhaps, not delicate, but it was +at least deserved. + +"You believe that?" he asked. + +"Yes, I do believe it. I must tell you more of Crochard, some day. +Beside him, I am a mere bungler--I realise it more deeply each time I +meet him. And I assure you that I am not one to underestimate myself." + +Delcasse looked at him with a little smile. + +"It seems to me that your note has changed," he said. "This morning--" + +"I have seen Crochard since then," explained Lepine, simply. + +"And you are in earnest about this conference?" + +"In deadly earnest, sir. So is Crochard." + +Delcasse pondered a moment. + +"You may bring him here at seven o'clock to-night," he said, finally. +"That is the first moment I have at leisure." + +"It will not do, M. Delcasse," said Lepine, firmly. "The other inquiry +must wait. It is not that inquiry which is important, it is this one." + +Again the Minister stared. + +"But it seems to me that you are telling me what I must do," he said. +"Explain yourself." + +"Your official inquiry," answered Lepine boldly, "for all the famous men +who take part in it, will discover nothing--it will be like that other +inquiry into the affair of the _Jena_." + +"And what will yours discover?" + +"It is not mine--it is Crochard's," Lepine corrected. "It is he who is +in command. And it seems to me that he has already made a beginning. I +am convinced that he has something more to tell us. He has charged me to +secure answers to two questions." + +"What are they?" + +"Whether there are any wireless stations in the town, or in the +neighbourhood, and whether there has recently been any peculiar +interference with the working of the instruments on our battleships." + +"Ah!" said Delcasse, whose expression had changed from irritation to one +of absorbed attention. "So he has thought of that, also!" and he fell +into a moment's revery. "Very well, Lepine," he added. "I believe that +you are right. I will arrange for the President to open the sitting, and +I will summon the man who can answer the questions." + +He rang for his secretary, and Lepine hastened away to secure the closed +carriage. He smiled to himself as he did so. How incredulous Pigot and +all the rest would be should they ever hear that their chief had obeyed +blindly the instructions of The Invincible, and that the first Minister +of France had altered his plans in accordance with them! + +The carriage engaged and one of his own men placed in charge of it, +Lepine took his station at the principal entrance, to watch the crowd +until Crochard should appear. The corridors were thronged with people, +hurrying in and out. Lepine knew many of them, for a whole staff had +been brought from Paris to carry on the business of the State, and more +than one august individual paused for a word with him. But to their +questions he could only respond by a shake of the head. + +At the stroke of eleven, Crochard mounted the steps to the door, and, at +a nod from the Prefect, followed him up the stairs into the anteroom of +Delcasse's suite. An attendant, who was evidently on the watch for them, +showed them at once into the Minister's private office. He was deep in +correspondence, but he instantly pushed it to one side and dismissed his +secretary. + +"Well, M. Crochard," he said, "Lepine tells me you have more news for +us. Be seated. What is the news?" + +"I requested that M. Lepine should make certain inquiries--" + +"Yes, about the wireless," and Delcasse looked at him closely. "Tell me, +why did you think of that?" + +"I do not know," answered Crochard, rubbing his forehead slowly; "but as +I sat last night gazing at the wreck, a thought came to me--a vague +thought--not to be put into words...." + +"Well," said Delcasse, as he paused, "I had the same thought last night, +before I slept. It seems to me a most striking coincidence. Are you +aware that, in the case of the _Jena_, wireless was mentioned as a +possible cause?" + +"Yes," answered Crochard; "I am aware of that." + +The eyes of the two men met in a long glance. Then Delcasse touched a +bell. + +"Introduce General Marbeau," he said to his secretary. + +The latter returned in a moment with a dark little man in full uniform. +Then he went out again and closed the door. The little man bowed deeply +to the Minister of Marine. + +"Be seated, General," said Delcasse. "M. Lepine, I think you already +know--as who does not! This other gentleman I will not name--I will only +say that he is a coadjutor whose services we value very highly. He has +certain questions to ask you, which I wish you to answer as though I +myself were asking them. Proceed, sir," and he nodded to Crochard. +"General Marbeau is the chief of our wireless service." + +"What wireless stations are there in the city of Toulon, General?" +Crochard began. + +"None, sir, except the one at the arsenal," Marbeau answered, looking at +his questioner with discreet curiosity. + +"And in the neighbourhood?" + +"None nearer than Marseilles." + +"There are no private installations?" + +"The government does not permit private installations." + +"Yet there might be some, clandestinely built?" + +"That is possible." + +"However, you can assure me of this: if any such do exist, they are +outside the law?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"Why are private stations prohibited?" + +"They are prohibited because they would interfere with the government +stations. You understand, sir, that wireless waves clash in the air, as +it were; when they cross or intermingle, the result is a confusing +chatter, until the sending and receiving instruments have been carefully +tuned with each other. Even that does not always overcome it. A few +private stations have been authorised strictly for scientific purposes, +but there is none nearer than that at the University of Lyons." + +"Do you ever suffer from interference here?" + +"Oh, yes; the English have a very powerful station at Gibraltar and +another at Malta; their battleships are all equipped with it, as are +those of Italy. So are most of the passenger steamers which enter the +Mediterranean. The air is often filled with messages." + +"Has there been any such interference during the past few days?" + +"Yes, a great deal of it; one instance in particular of which my +operators have complained." + +"Ah!" said Crochard. "Will you tell us exactly what it was?" + +"Last Saturday," explained Marbeau, "about three in the afternoon, there +came from somewhere a series of long dashes, lasting nearly half a +second, and spaced about two seconds apart. This continued for perhaps +half an hour." + +"You had no idea as to their origin?" + +"We thought that perhaps the English were tuning up a new and very +powerful instrument at Gibraltar." + +"You had no way of verifying this?" + +"We did not try to do so." + +"Was this interruption repeated?" + +"Yes; our automatic recorder shows that the signals began again a little +before five o'clock yesterday morning and continued for nearly two +hours." + +Crochard's eyes were shining. + +"At what hour was _La Liberte_ destroyed?" he asked. + +"The first explosion was at 5:50. There were two others, a few minutes +apart. The main magazine exploded at very close to six o'clock." + +"So that these signals began at least an hour before and continued +nearly an hour past that time?" + +"That is so, sir," assented Marbeau, in surprise; "but I can imagine no +connection--" + +"Do not imagine anything," broke in Delcasse quickly, his voice +quivering with excitement. "Perhaps there is no connection; but +nevertheless I think these signals should have been reported to me. Come +in," he added, as a tap sounded at the door. + +His secretary entered and handed him a telegram. Delcasse's eyes were +positively gleaming as he read it. + +"Better and better!" he cried. "Oh, this is a game after my own heart!" +and he tossed the telegram to Lepine. "Read it aloud!" he added, "that I +may be sure my eyes have not deceived me!" + +And Lepine picked up the message and read: + + "Note B162864R, one hundred francs, one of series of three + hundred such notes sent to Imperial Bank, Berlin, September + 8. + + "LINNE, Governor Bank of France." + +There was a moment's silence, Marbeau staring blankly, but the other +three gazing into each other's faces with shining eyes. + +"Perfect, perfect!" murmured Delcasse, and seized the telegram and read +it again. + +"The next step, sir," said Crochard quietly, "is to instruct every bank +in France to report immediately the receipt of any of the other two +hundred and ninety-nine!" + +Delcasse drew a deep breath, pulled a pad of blanks toward him, and +scribbled a few words. + +"See that this is sent at once," he said, and the secretary took the +message and hastened away. + +Then Delcasse did something which he had not done since that night, five +years before, when word came that England had signed the secret treaty: +he removed his great glasses, got out his handkerchief, and deliberately +wiped his eyes. + +"Your pardon, gentlemen," he said, with a twisted smile. "This is for me +a great moment. You know my dream! I believed it shattered; but now I +think that it may yet come true!" He snapped his glasses on again and +swung around to Crochard. "If it does," he added, "I shall have you to +thank! Proceed with your questions." + +"There are no more questions, sir," said Crochard; "but we have a little +excursion to make. It will consume perhaps an hour, and I think that you +will find it interesting. M. Lepine has a closed carriage at the private +entrance. I would suggest that General Marbeau accompany us. He will be +of great service. Can we start at once?" + +For answer, Delcasse leaped to his feet and seized his hat. There was +no longer in his mind any question as to the importance of this inquiry, +and the comparative unimportance of that other one, opening with much +pomp at the Prefecture. In fact, he had forgotten all about it! + +"The private entrance, you say?" he asked. "Then come this way," and he +led the way down the private staircase. The carriage stood at the curb. + +Crochard glanced at the driver. + +"He is your man, of course?" he said to Lepine. "Good." And, as the +others entered, he stopped to speak a few words to him. Then he, too, +leaped inside, and slammed the door. + +The driver spoke to his horses, and they were off, along the Rue +Nationale, across the Place St. Roche, through the Botanic Gardens, past +the Marine Observatory, under the Porte Nationale, and through the +faubourgs. At the end of twenty minutes, the town was left behind, and +Crochard stopped the carriage, got out, and mounted to the seat beside +the driver. + +Then, at a slower pace, the carriage climbed a narrow road leading +toward the hills back of the town. It was apparently little used, for it +was overgrown with grass, over which the carriage-wheels rolled +noiselessly. Inside the carriage, Delcasse spoke only once. + +"On this day of surprises, I am prepared for anything!" he declared, and +relapsed into silence. + +At last the carriage stopped, and, pulling back the curtains, those +within it saw they were in the midst of a grove of lofty beeches. + +Crochard jumped from the seat and opened the door. + +"We must get out here," he said; and when the others had alighted, he +started off before them among the trees. + +Delcasse kept close at the leader's heels, fairly panting with +eagerness. Lepine followed and Marbeau came last. The rustling of the +dead leaves beneath their feet was the only sound which broke the +stillness. At the end of five minutes, they came to what was apparently +a deserted shed. Its door was secured by a heavy hasp and padlock. +Crochard drew a key from his pocket, opened the padlock, released the +hasp, and threw back the door. + +"Enter, my friends!" he cried, and stood aside that they might pass. + +They crowded in and stood staring about them. For a moment, in the +semi-darkness, they could see nothing; then certain vague shapes +detached themselves--a table, a chair, strange jars, a queer-looking +clock.... + +Marbeau uttered a sudden startled exclamation. + +"Why, this is a wireless plant!" he cried. + +"Precisely, sir!" agreed Crochard. "The plant from which came those +peculiar signals!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE HUT IN THE GROVE + + +General Marbeau bent with the interest of an expert above the rude table +on which the apparatus was installed, and examined it for some moments +in silence. Then he straightened up and glanced at Delcasse. + +"Well?" asked the latter. + +"It is, indeed, a wireless installation, sir," said Marbeau, "or, at +least, part of one. Most of the instruments of transmission are here, +but there are no recording instruments. In other words, wireless +messages might be sent from here, but none could be received--unless +this is a recorder of some sort," and he pointed to a small instrument +of clock-like appearance which stood on the table. + +"No," said Crochard; "that is not a recorder--that is the sender." + +"The sender?" repeated Marbeau. + +"Yes. You have noticed there is no key?" + +"Yes, and I do not understand its absence." + +"This device takes the place of it--it was by means of this that the +spaced signals were sent. Listen." + +He bent above the clock, and the others heard a sound as of a strong +spring being wound. Then he stood erect: there were two sharp ticks; +then a long white snap of electricity; two ticks and another snap; two +ticks and another snap.... + +"Yes, that is the signal!" cried Marbeau, and bent again above the +mechanism. In a moment he understood. + +Before the clock-face was a single long hand, a second-hand, terminating +in a thin, spring-like strip of platinum. The circumference of the face +was divided into sixty spaces, and at every third space was a slender +copper pin, which the end of the second-hand touched in passing. Two +wires, one connected with the second-hand, the other presumably with the +copper pins, ran from the clock down to the heavy batteries on the +floor. Every three seconds the circuit was automatically closed, and a +long flash sent along the conducting wire out into the air. Marbeau +stood listening for a moment longer, then loosened one of the wires. The +signals stopped. + +"Now let us see the aerial," he said, and led the way outside. + +But there was no aerial in sight. Then Crochard's finger pointed out a +series of wires among the trees to the left of the hut. Walking directly +beneath them, Marbeau saw that there were three wires parallel with each +other, and that they were stretched between two trees about fifty feet +apart. From each of them dropped a lead-wire, and these were gathered +together into the single wire which led into the hut. An arm of wood had +been secured to each of the trees, and to these the wires were fastened +by means of porcelain insulators. + +"But such an aerial would not be effective!" Marbeau protested. "It +would be muffled and deadened by the leaves and branches all about it." + +"There are no branches in front of it," said Crochard. "If you will +look, you will see that they have been very carefully cleared away in +that single direction. As I understand wireless, the waves released from +those wires up yonder permeate the atmosphere in every direction." + +"That is true." + +"With equal intensity?" + +"No; they would be most intense in the direction in which the wires +extend." + +"Ah!" said Crochard. "And, as we may perceive from the way in which the +trees are trimmed, it was only in that direction that the builder of +this affair desired them to penetrate. Can you not guess what that +direction is? If you will climb this tree and look along the wires, you +will find that they point directly toward the wreck of _La Liberte_." + +For a moment, the three stared at Crochard without speaking, then +Marbeau threw off his coat and started up the tree. It was not an easy +climb, but he was an agile man, and at last he reached the arm to which +the wires were affixed. He remained for some moments looking out along +them; then he slowly descended. + +"It is true," he said, in a low voice, as he resumed his coat. "The +wires could hardly have been so placed by accident." + +"It was not by accident," said Crochard. + +"And yet," went on Marbeau, "I do not see what all this can have to do +with the disaster." + +"Nor I," agreed M. Delcasse. "And yet as M. Cro----as our friend here +says, all this was not done by accident." + +"I would suggest," said Crochard, "that we return to M. Delcasse's +apartment. We can talk there without fear of being overheard--a thing +that is not possible among all these trees." + +Marbeau took a last look at the wireless apparatus; then Crochard locked +the door of the hut, and gave the key to the Minister. + +"Where did you get this key, my friend?" asked Delcasse, looking at it +curiously. + +"About that there is no mystery," smiled Crochard. "I purchased it, +together with that lock yonder, this morning. I found it necessary to +break the original lock before I could enter the hut. It may be well to +station a guard here," he added, "until you are ready to dismantle the +place." + +Delcasse nodded, and slipped the key into his pocket; and together they +made their way to the waiting carriage. + +The trip back was a silent one. Delcasse and Lepine, their brains aching +with the effort, were trying to understand; Marbeau, convinced that the +explosion could not have been caused by wireless, was marshaling his +reasons; and Crochard--Crochard sat with placid countenance gazing +straight ahead of him--but that placid countenance masked supreme +intellectual effort. + +At last the carriage stopped. + +"You will wait here," said Delcasse to the driver, and, as soon as he +reached his office, summoned his secretary and directed that a guard of +four marines be sent by the carriage to the hut in the grove. Then he +sat down, rolled a cigarette, and passed tobacco and paper to his +companions. "And now," he said, looking at Crochard, "let us hear what +you have to tell us." + +"There is not much to tell, sir," answered Crochard. "I learned of the +existence of this hut yesterday evening. Some children, searching for +mushrooms for a friend of mine, who is a restaurateur, happened to see +the wires among the trees, and told him of their discovery. He thought +it so curious that he at once sent word to me." + +"And you, of course, sent word back that he was to tell no one else," +said Delcasse, with a smile. + +"Yes, I thought that best. I paid a visit to the hut as soon as it was +light this morning, entered it, examined it, and convinced myself that +it was really a wireless station. Then I made certain inquiries. The +grove, it appears, is owned by a gentleman of Marseilles, and was once +much larger than it is now. The hut was built for the use of +charcoal-burners, but has not been occupied for more than two years. I +would suggest that the police ascertain whether the owner was aware he +had a tenant." + +"We will do so," said Delcasse. "But who was this tenant?" + +"There is some doubt on that point," answered Crochard slowly. "That +little road is used but seldom, for a better one now leads around the +base of the hill; and few people ever have occasion to enter the grove. +It was, of course, for this very reason that the hut was chosen for this +installation. I have found no one who saw any man at work there. On the +other hand, a friend of mine, who has a cabaret on the main road just +outside the city gate, has seen pass a number of times within the past +week a man who, from his face and dress, was evidently not a Frenchman, +and whose actions appeared to my friend to be suspicious." + +Delcasse smiled. + +"You seem to have many friends," he remarked; "and unusually observant +ones." + +"Yes," agreed Crochard; "I am fortunate in my friends; and they find it +greatly to their interest to keep their eyes open." + +"Did you secure a description of this stranger?" + +"Yes; but there should have been much more than a mere description. Some +of my friends are more intelligent than others. Still, it may be of +service. This stranger was a small man, slightly built, with grey hair +and bright, dark eyes. His complexion was also rather dark, and my +friend hazarded the guess that he was a Spaniard. He was dressed in dark +clothes, cut after a fashion not French, and wore a soft, dark hat." + +"But that is a splendid description!" cried Delcasse. "What more did you +want?" + +"Ah, sir," replied Crochard, "if it had been some of my friends, they +would have managed to meet this man; they would have engaged him in +conversation, have discovered his business and place of abode; instead +of which, this friend in question merely sits at the door of his cabaret +and watches the man pass! He was not doing his duty--but he will not +make such a mistake again!" + +"His duty?" echoed Delcasse. "His duty to whom?" + +"His duty to me," replied Crochard. + +"But I do not understand," said the Minister, more and more amazed. "Why +should your friends have any such duty to you?" + +Crochard hesitated. Lepine's face was fairly saturnine. + +"I cannot explain that to you now, sir," said Crochard, finally. "I can +only say that it is part of a system which has existed for a very long +time, and of which I now happen to be the head." + +Delcasse pondered this for a moment, his eyes on Crochard's face. Then +he turned to Lepine. + +"You must learn more of this stranger, Lepine," he said. "You, also, are +at the head of a system--and a very expensive one." + +"Yes, and a good one, sir," said Lepine, quickly. "One which is worth +all it costs. But men will not work for money as they do for +self-interest; and then, my system is a mere infant beside that of our +friend here, which must be at least two hundred years old." + +"Oh, much more than that!" said Crochard, quickly, and smiled at +Delcasse's astounded face. "Please understand," he added, "that I do not +assert that this is the man we want. There is as yet no absolute proof, +though I hope soon to have it. But there is one significant fact: when +going from the city he frequently carried a heavy bundle, but never when +returning." + +"That is indeed significant," agreed Delcasse. "But it indicates another +thing which astonishes me. If he did all this alone, it was because he +had no one to assist him. But if he had no accomplice, who were the two +men who watched the destruction of _La Liberte_? And, above all, who is +this man who plans, alone and unaided, the destruction of our navy? What +is his purpose? Whence did he come? Whither has he gone? Is he a +madman--an anarchist?" Delcasse ran his fingers through his hair with a +despairing gesture. "He astounds me!" he added. "My brain falters at +thought of such a man!" + +But Marbeau, to whom much of this talk had been incomprehensible, began +at last to understand, and shook his head in violent protest. + +"Whoever the man may have been," he broke out, "or whatever his +business, it could have had nothing to do with the destruction of _La +Liberte_." + +Delcasse wheeled upon him. + +"Why do you say that?" he demanded. + +"Because, sir, it is absurd to suppose that the magazines of the ship +could be exploded by wireless. Wireless has no such power. And, in this +instance, it is quite easy to prove that they were _not_ so exploded." + +"Prove it, then," said the Minister, impatiently. + +"In the first place, the signals, which we now know came from that hut +up yonder, were first noted on Saturday. They continued for half an +hour, and yet no explosion occurred. In the second place, we caused them +to be repeated to-day, and again there was no explosion." + +"_La Liberte_ was no longer there to explode," Delcasse objected grimly. + +"True; but there were other ships near by--_La Patrie_, _La Republique_, +_La Verite_. These ships and others were also there at the time of the +explosion, yet they were not affected, although all of them had +precisely the same sort of powder in their magazines that _La Liberte_ +had in hers." + +"But you have already said that the waves could be intensified in a +certain direction," Delcasse pointed out. + +"So they can; but they cannot be confined to a channel nor directed at a +mark, as a bullet is. The hut in the grove is fully three miles away +from the harbour, and I assert that every ship in the harbour felt the +waves with the same intensity as _La Liberte_." + +"And what is your deduction from all this?" inquired Delcasse. + +"My deduction is that those signals did not and could not cause the +explosion." + +"Then what was their purpose? How do you explain them?" + +Marbeau made a gesture of helplessness. + +"I do not know what their purpose was; I cannot explain them," he said; +"but I am confident that they could not have destroyed _La Liberte_." + +"I agree with General Marbeau," said Crochard suddenly. + +They all stared at him, astonished that he should admit himself +defeated. + +"But I would add one word to his deduction," he added. "The word +'alone.'" + +"'Alone'?" echoed Delcasse. + +"I would make the statement thus: 'Those signals _alone_ did not and +could not cause the explosion.'" + +Delcasse looked at him with puzzled eyes, and again ran his fingers +impatiently through his hair. + +"I do not understand," he said. "You are getting beyond me. What is your +theory, then?" + +The line in Crochard's brow deepened. + +"It is a thing, sir," he answered slowly, "which I find difficult to +express in words. There is, at the back of my mind, an idea, vague, +misty, of which as yet I catch only the dim outlines. My process of +reasoning is this: it is certain, as General Marbeau says, that the +signals from the hut were, in themselves, harmless, or there would have +been other explosions than that on board _La Liberte_. Wireless waves +can be directed and concentrated only to a very limited extent. They can +be made a little stronger in one general direction than in others, that +is all. And, in this case, that general direction would have embraced +all the ships at anchor in the harbour. + +"There must, then, have been some other force which, at the appointed +time, struck from this stream of signals a spark, so to speak, into the +magazines of _La Liberte_, one after the other. That there was an +appointed time we cannot doubt--we know that it was the moment of +sunrise yesterday. That the magazines were fired one at a time, and at +spaced intervals we also know. That they could not explode of themselves +in that way seems certain. + +"You will remember that the signals began more than an hour before +sunrise, and continued for at least half an hour afterwards. We know +that the signals were sent automatically. Why? Partly, no doubt, because +it was necessary that they be absolutely regular; but also because the +man who did this thing--who is himself, perhaps, the inventor of the +method--chose to make no confidants, to have no accomplices, and he +could not himself be in the hut to send the signals. Again you ask why. +Not because of danger of discovery, since there was no such danger. I +believe it was because it was necessary that he be somewhere else, +directing from an angle, perhaps, that other force, so mysterious and so +deadly. I seem to see two forces, travelling in converging lines, as two +bullets might travel, their point of meeting the magazines of _La +Liberte_. At the instant of their meeting, there is a shock, a spark--as +though flint and steel met--and the magazine explodes--first the forward +magazine, then the after magazine, then the main magazine--one, two, +three! This is all mere guesswork, you understand, sir," Crochard added, +in another tone, "but so I see it. And, after all, it is susceptible of +proof." + +"What proof?" demanded Delcasse. + +"If my theory is the true one," Crochard explained, "there must have +been, somewhere, another installation to create the intercepting force, +which, of course, must also be transmitted by ether waves, as wireless +is, if it is to penetrate wood and steel. It must have been within an +hour's walk--probably half an hour's walk--of the hut in the grove. For +remember, the mechanism there was set going an hour before sunrise, and +the man had then to reach his other mechanism, and have it ready to +start at sunrise. It is for us to discover the place where this second +mechanism was installed--and where it probably still remains." + +"Yes, that would be proof," agreed Delcasse thoughtfully; "and for +myself, I will say that I believe your theory the right one. But you +have not yet explained the part played by the two watchers on the quay." + +"Their part was that of watchers merely," said Crochard. "They were sent +there to observe and to report to their master--as they did." + +"As they did?" + +"Surely it is evident," Crochard explained, "that, if our theory is +true, they would hasten to report. Imagine their master's anxiety until +he heard from them! As a matter of fact, their report was filed within +fifteen minutes after the explosion. M. Lepine has it in his pocket." + +Delcasse stared, uncomprehending; but Lepine, his face suddenly +illumined, snatched out his pocket-book and produced the sheets of +yellow tissue. + +"Ah, yes, certainly!" he cried. "I was blind not to see it! The report +was in a form agreed upon: 'We continue our trip as planned. All well.' +You will understand now, sir," he added, to Delcasse, "the reason for +the high opinion I entertain of this gentleman!" + +"But that message was sent to Brussels," objected the Minister. + +"It was sent 'restante.' A man was waiting at the post-office to receive +it and forward it instantly to Berlin." + +Delcasse's face was a study, as he turned this over in his mind. + +"What is your reading of the other message?" he asked, at last. + +"My reading," answered Crochard, slowly, "is that, at the last moment, +the Emperor, appalled at the possible consequences, decided to forbid +the atrocity, to which he had, perhaps, been persuaded against his +better judgment, or in a moment of passion." + +"And if the message had not been delayed, _La Liberte_ would have been +saved?" + +"Precisely that, sir." + +Delcasse's lips were twitching. + +"You may be right," he said, thickly; "you may be right; but it seems +incredible. After all, it is merely guesswork!" + +"You will pardon me, sir, but it is not guesswork," protested Crochard. +"M. Lepine will tell you that, in a case of this kind, it must be all or +nothing. Every detail, even to the slightest, the most insignificant, +must fit perfectly, or they are all worthless. If I am wrong in this +detail, I am wrong in all the others; if I am right in the others, I am +also right in this. They stand or fall together. And I believe they +will stand!" + +The great Minister was gazing fascinated at the speaker; for the first +time, he caught a real glimpse of his tremendous personality. + +"You mean, then," he said, finally, "that if any details we may discover +hereafter fail to fit this theory, the theory must be discarded?" + +"Discarded utterly and without hesitation," agreed Crochard. "More than +that--" + +A tap at the door interrupted him. + +"Come in," said Delcasse. + +His secretary entered, followed by a courier, carrying a portfolio. + +"From Paris, sir," said the secretary, and the courier, with a bow, laid +the portfolio on the Minister's desk. + +Delcasse took from his pocket a tiny key, unlocked the portfolio, drew +out a package and glanced at the superscription. + +"Ah," he said; "the photographs!" and ripped the package open. + +There were some two dozen of them, together with a long typewritten +report, which Delcasse glanced through rapidly. + +"These are the result of the first report from Berlin," he said, "of +officers who are absent from their commands and whose present +whereabouts is not definitely known. A supplementary report will +follow." + +"We can begin with these," said Lepine, and looked them over. + +Crochard had risen and was looking at the photographs over the +detective's shoulder. + +"We shall have to shave them first," he remarked. + +"Shave them?" + +"Divest them of those ornaments," and he indicated the upturned +moustaches, a la Kaiser, with which nearly all the pictured faces were +adorned. "A brush and a tablet of watercolour will do it." + +M. Delcasse arose. + +"I will leave that in your hands, gentlemen," he said. "I must meet the +Board of Inquiry almost at once. General Marbeau, I thank you for your +assistance. You will, of course, say nothing of all this to any one. As +for you, sir," he added to Crochard, "I shall thank you better another +day. Till this evening, M. Lepine," and he bowed the three men out. + +Half an hour later, Lepine and Crochard were closeted with Monsieur and +Madame Brisson in the former's bureau at the du Nord. The little +innkeeper and his wife were inarticulate with excitement, for they had +guessed Lepine's identity from his resemblance to the pictures which +every illustrated paper published at frequent intervals, and they +suspected, from his bearing, that Crochard was a person of even greater +importance. Their faces were glowing with pride, too, for their +proffered refreshment had not been declined. In after days, when the +sentence of silence had been lifted, they would tell the story to their +admiring friends: + +"Imagine it. Here we sat, I here, Gabrielle there; in that chair M. +Lepine, Prefect of the Paris Service du Surete, a little thin man with +eyes oh, so bright; and in the fourth chair, with eyes still brighter +and an air distinguished which there could be no mistaking--whom do you +think? None other than the Duc de B----"; or the Prince de R----, or the +Marquis de C----; that was a detail to be filled in later; but a Great +Highness, rest assured of that! And the way that both M. Lepine and the +unknown Highness relished their Chateau Yquem was a great compliment to +the house. + +After these amenities, Lepine produced the demoustached photographs. + +"Look well at these," he said; "have care--do not speak unless you are +very sure," and he passed the photographs one by one to Madame +Gabrielle, who handed them on to her husband. Some ten or twelve were +examined without comment, and then Madame uttered a sudden exclamation. + +"It is he!" she cried. "It is one of them!" + +"One of whom?" asked Lepine. + +"One of those men. Behold, Aristide!" + +Brisson took the card and looked at it. + +"Sacred heart! But you are right, Gabrielle!" + +"You are sure?" persisted Lepine. + +"Sure! But of a certainty! I would swear to him!" + +Lepine put the photograph in his pocket, and turned to the others. But +there was no second recognition. Brisson and his wife went through them +twice, until they had convinced themselves that their other guest was +not among them. Finally Lepine gathered the photographs together. + +"I must warn you again, Brisson, and you, Madame," he said, severely, +"that of this not a single word must be breathed--to no one. Let it pass +from your minds as though it had never been. It is an affair of high +diplomacy; and you might suffer much were it known that you are +concerned in it. In behalf of France, I thank you, and I shall have care +that your so great service is brought to the attention of the proper +persons. But remember--not a word!" + +Monsieur and Madame were faithful--only in the seclusion of their +bedroom, with the light extinguished, and in bated whispers, did they +ever discuss it. And, as at this point they pass from this story, let +it be added that, some months later, a parcel was delivered at their +door, which, when opened, was found to contain a handsome vase of +Sevres. Inside the vase was a card, "To Monsieur and Madame Aristide +Brisson, from Theophile Delcasse, as a slight recognition of their +services to France." + +It would be impossible to say which this worthy couple value most +highly, the vase or the card. Certain it is that, if you are ever a +guest at the du Nord, you will be shown both of them, the vase in a +velvet-lined case against the wall and the card, neatly framed, just +below it. And, in consideration of their increased importance, Monsieur +and Madame have considered themselves justified in increasing their +tariff ten per cent. + + * * * * * + +As soon as Lepine and Crochard were alone together, the former took the +photograph from his pocket, looked at the number on the back, and then +consulted a typewritten list of names. Then, with a hand not wholly +steady, he handed the list to his companion. + +"Number eighteen," he said. + +Opposite that number Crochard read, "Admiral H. Pachmann, Chief of the +Wireless Service;" and then he gazed at the photograph long and +earnestly, as though impressing it indelibly upon his mind. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SECOND INSTALLATION + + +The Board of Inquiry began its sessions that afternoon, at the +Prefecture of Marine. It was composed of the most distinguished officers +of France, who had donned for the occasion their most brilliant +uniforms. There was much paraphernalia--secretaries, portfolios, +red-taped papers, reports--all that display so dear to the French +temperament; and every one wore an air of importance and solemnity +befitting time and place. + +M. Delcasse opened the session with a ringing speech, forming a notable +contrast to the platitudes uttered by the President in the morning. In +fact, it was so bold in its allusions to an approaching struggle with +"the implacable enemy of the Republic," that the members of the Board +glanced covertly at each other in astonishment. Their astonishment was +the greater because, as they well knew, M. Delcasse was not given to +indiscretions. At least, his indiscretions were always nicely-calculated +ones. He knew when to speak and when to hold his tongue--none better; +and the fact that he thought it necessary to speak now proved that the +affair was serious indeed. At the end of the speech, the Board +proceeded in a body to an inspection of the wreck. + +Lepine, meanwhile, armed with the description Crochard had given him, +set his men to work to discover the dwelling-place of the white-haired +stranger who had been seen passing back and forth along the road outside +the city gate. But, to his chagrin, evening came and his men had +discovered nothing. It is true that the investigation was rendered more +than usually difficult by the fact that the town was still in an uproar, +and no one wished to speak of anything but the disaster. For the moment, +the memories of the people went no farther back than dawn of the +previous day. In a day or two, when the first excitement had passed, +there would be a much better chance of success. + +So, at least, reasoned Inspector Pigot, whose watchword was always +Patience! But the reasoning did not satisfy Lepine. Patience was not +always a virtue. In this affair, it was impossible to wait a day or two. +With every hour, no doubt, the man they sought was putting fresh leagues +between himself and his pursuers. Crochard, so Lepine told himself +miserably, Crochard would not wait a day or two. Perhaps, already.... + +He put on his hat and sought the Cafe des Voyageurs. Choosing the seat +which he had occupied that morning, he ordered a liqueur and sat for an +hour contemplating the crowd. Again he perceived that the proprietor was +absent; but this time the head-waiter did not approach, or even meet his +glance. He thought, for a moment, of calling him and asking for +Crochard; but he finally decided that that would be too great an +indiscretion. Besides, as Crochard had pointed out, in this affair it +was Lepine who followed. It was for him to receive instructions, not to +give them. At last, with a feeling of depression and dependency quite +new to him, the great detective left the cafe, returned to his hotel and +went to bed. + +But early next morning, things began to move again. He had scarcely +finished his breakfast, when a summons came from M. Delcasse to attend +him at once, and when Lepine entered his office, he saw that something +of importance had occurred. Delcasse already had a visitor--a tall, thin +man, dressed severely in black, with the word "banker" written all over +him. Lepine was therefore not surprised when the visitor was introduced +to him as the manager of the Toulon branch of the Bank of France. + +"We have something of interest here," said Delcasse, and tossed over to +Lepine two notes for a hundred francs each. + +The latter's eyes were shining as he picked them up, glanced at their +numbers, and then compared them with a third note which he took from his +pocket-book. + +"They are of the same series," he said. "Where did you get them, sir?" +and he turned to the bank manager. + +"They were deposited with us by the cashier of the central railway +station." + +"When?" + +"On the afternoon of Monday, the twenty-fifth." + +"How did you discover them?" + +"We received instructions yesterday from Paris to report immediately the +receipt of any notes of this series. Our cashier, while checking up our +deposits yesterday evening, happened upon these notes, and identified +them as a part of the railway deposit of the day before. The matter was +reported to me, and I at once forwarded the report to Paris. This +morning I received a telegram instructing me to report in person to M. +Delcasse, and I hastened to do so." + +"You have done well, sir," said the Minister, "and I thank you. We will +ask you to exchange these notes for two others, and furthermore to say +nothing to any one of this discovery or of having seen me." + +The exchange was made, the banker departed, and Lepine, with the notes +in his pocket-book, hastened away to the Gare Centrale. Arrived there, +he asked for the chief, introduced himself, and stated his business. + +"I have here two notes," he said, "which were deposited by your cashier +last Monday afternoon. It is most important that I find out from whom +this money was received, and to what point tickets were purchased. The +purchase was made, no doubt, some time during Monday." + +"The money might have been received Sunday," the chef-du-gare pointed +out. "Since the bank is closed Sunday, we can make no deposit on that +day." + +"I have reason to believe it was not received until Monday," said +Lepine. "May I interrogate the cashiers, beginning with the one who was +on duty at daybreak Monday?" + +"There are two men on duty at all hours," explained the chief; "and each +trick is eight hours in length. The first begins at six o'clock in the +morning. At what hour was daybreak on Monday?" + +"At five o'clock and forty-nine minutes." + +"The clerks who were in the bureau at that hour are not here now, but I +can have them called." + +"Let us interrogate the ones who are here," suggested Lepine. "Perhaps +it will not be necessary to disturb the others." + +The chief pressed a button and summoned the ticket-sellers, one after +the other. The first had no recollection of having received the notes, +but with his companion Lepine was more successful. + +"Yes, yes, I remember them perfectly," he said, when they were shown to +him. "My attention was called to them because they were both quite new. +I looked at them closely to make certain that they were genuine, and +noticed that they were numbered consecutively. Another detail which +caused them to remain in my memory was the striking appearance of the +person who gave them to me." + +Lepine's heart was throbbing with triumph. + +"Describe this man," he said. + +"Ah, sir," said the clerk, "that is just it. It was not a man, but a +girl--a girl of eighteen or twenty. That is what drew my attention. It +is not usual to have a girl like that ask for two tickets, second-class, +to Paris." + +"A girl!" stammered Lepine. "You are sure?" + +"Perfectly sure, sir." + +"Well, describe her, then." + +The clerk half-closed his eyes in order the better to visualize his +memory. + +"She was, as I have said, of about nineteen, and she was not a +Frenchwoman." + +"How do you know that?" + +"Because, in the first place, she spoke French not very well; and, in +the second place, there was in her manner an assurance, a freedom from +embarrassment, which a French girl of her station would not possess." + +"Was she light or dark?" + +"She was dark, sir, with bright black eyes, with which she looked at one +very steadily. She was slightly built, of medium height, simply dressed, +so far as I could see through the little window, not fashionably, but +with good effect. However, what impressed me most was her calm +assurance--almost American; but she was too dark to be of America." + +Reading between the lines, Lepine suspected that the clerk had attempted +to start a flirtation with the self-possessed unknown, and had been +rebuffed. And yet, what he said was true--young girls in France were +not, ordinarily, entrusted with the buying of railway tickets, +especially for so considerable a journey. + +"You are sure the tickets were to Paris?" + +"Yes, sir; second-class. I remember distinctly giving her sixty-four +francs in change." + +"At what hour was this?" + +"About eight o'clock, sir." + +"Of Monday morning?" + +"Yes, sir; of Monday morning." + +"At what hour was the next train for Paris?" + +"At eight-fifteen, sir, the express departs." + +"The girl had no companion?" + +"I saw none, sir." + +"She certainly had a companion, or she would not have bought two +tickets." + +"Perhaps the inspector at the gate can tell us something," the chief +suggested, and the clerk was dismissed and the inspector summoned. But +he could give them no information. There had been many passengers for +the express, and, besides, every one, himself included, was so +distressed and overwrought by the catastrophe of the morning that there +had not been the usual attention to detail. The inquiry was extended to +the baggage-porters, but with no better success. They, too, had been +upset by the disaster and had thought of nothing else. Some of them had +frankly deserted their posts in order to hasten to the harbour-front. +None of those who remained had noticed a white-haired man and a +dark-haired girl. + +"Come!" said Lepine savagely to himself, as he left the station. "This +is not getting ahead--we must try the cabs. But first...." + +He turned toward the Prefecture and quickened his step, for suddenly he +scented a new danger. This white-haired man, then, was in the pay of +Germany. He had destroyed _La Liberte_ for a price--an immense price, no +doubt! And now he had gone to Paris. From there, where would he go? To +Brest, perhaps, to work similar mischief there. Lepine shivered a +little. The best men he had left at Paris must be sent to Brest with +instructions to arrest the fugitives at sight. Two people, so unusual in +appearance, would find it difficult to avoid the police in so small a +town. But in Paris--that was different. Yet even there something might +be done. And then there was always chance, divine chance, which might, +at any moment, deliver them into his hands. Ah, if only he were +strolling along the Boulevards, looking into this face and that! + +"Decidedly, I must be getting back!" Lepine murmured; and, having +arrived at the Prefecture, he sent a long telegram to his assistant at +Paris and another to the Prefect at Brest. Then he summoned Pigot. "You +will interrogate the cabmen at the Gare Centrale," he said, "as to which +of them drove a white-haired man and a dark-haired girl to the station +for the Paris express, Monday morning. And, understand well, Pigot, +there must be no failure this time!" Then, as the door closed behind +Pigot's retiring figure, he slapped himself smartly on the forehead. "I +am a fool!" he cried, and hurried from the building and called a cab. + +There are many dealers in electrical supplies at Toulon, and it was not +until he reached the fourth one that Lepine found a ray of light. No; +its proprietor had no recollection of any sales to strangers. A little +white-haired man? No. But stay--there _had_ been a white-haired man! +No, he had bought nothing. He had had a battery recharged--a heavy +battery of an unusual type. Yes, it had been delivered. One moment, and +the man slowly turned the pages of his ledger, while Lepine bit his lips +with impatience. Here it was--the address--80 Rue du Plasson, fourth +floor. + +In another moment, Lepine's cab was rattling over the cobbles in the +direction of the quays. + +"Faster! Faster!" he urged. + +And then they were in the Rue du Plasson. + +"Behold Number Eighty, sir," said the cabman, and pulled up sharply. + +There was already a cab at the curb, and as Lepine jumped out, the door +of the house opened and Pigot appeared on the threshold. He stared at +his chief in astonishment. + +"I was just coming to report to you, sir," he said. "The birds have +flown." + +"Indeed!" sneered Lepine. "So you have discovered that, have you? But +the installation is here, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Pigot, very red. "On the fourth floor." + +Lepine bounded up the stairs, and Pigot followed in silence. He felt +that he had been used unjustly; after all, he was not a wizard--what did +the Chief expect! + +At the top of the house, Lepine glanced first into the narrow room which +we have already seen; then he returned to the landing and opened the +other door. It led into a still narrower room, also extending to the +front of the house, and lighted by a single window. Lepine went to the +window and looked out. Over the roof of the low market across the way, +he could see the harbour, the warships, and the wreck of _La Liberte_. +Then he turned to an examination of the room. + +A heavy box stood before the window, and on the floor beside it were +three large batteries. Some pieces of copper wire were lying about, but +there was nothing else. In the top of the box, however, four holes had +been bored, as though for the reception of bolts, and one side of the +box was badly burned. The sill of the window was also scorched and +blistered. + +"You have the proprietor of this house?" Lepine inquired. + +"He is below," Pigot announced, and went to fetch him. + +But from the proprietor, a nervous little man with a dirty beard, Lepine +learned little. He lived at the rear of the ground floor, and ten days +or perhaps two weeks before, a man had knocked at the door and asked if +the upper floor was to rent. + +"What sort of man?" Lepine inquired. + +"A dark man, with white hair, sir; not a bad-looking man, but not a +Frenchman." + +"A German, perhaps." + +"No, most certainly not a German; an Italian or a Spaniard." + +"What was his business?" + +"He said he was an inventor and desired the top floor for his +experiments. I told him that in that case I should have to charge extra, +as experiments were always dangerous. He did not object, and paid a +month in advance. He seemed a very harmless person." + +"Was he alone?" + +"At that time, yes, sir. But when he returned with his baggage, his +daughter accompanied him." + +"How do you know it was his daughter?" + +"He told me so, sir. The resemblance was very evident. Besides, he +insisted that I supply material to curtain off a portion of the room for +her bed." + +Lepine recognised the cogency of this reasoning and nodded. + +"Continue," he said. + +"She was a dark, slim girl, of about twenty. They gave me no trouble. +She scarcely left the house except for the marketing. But her father was +away a great deal." + +"Did he bring much baggage?" + +"Two pieces of hand-baggage, sir, and that box yonder by the window. The +box was very heavy--almost as if filled with iron--and we had great +difficulty in getting it up the stairs, even with the assistance of the +truck-man." + +"Did you enter this room while he was here?" + +"No, sir; I entered neither of the rooms. My rule is never to interfere +in the affairs of my tenants--they do not like it. But on one occasion, +as I passed the door, I heard him at work on his invention." + +"Heard him, you say?" + +"Yes, sir; there was a deep humming noise as of a huge top, or perhaps +of a motor. It occurred to me that it was a flying-machine which he was +inventing. Then, on Sunday, came a telegram." + +"A telegram?" + +"Yes, sir; I brought it up myself. He read it and his face grew very +grave. He informed me that he would be compelled to depart next +day--that his sister was dying. But he assured me that he would return +as soon as possible to continue his experiments, and that I was to hold +the apartment for him--at least until the month for which he had paid +had expired." + +"And he did depart?" + +"Yes, sir; quite early in the morning. I called a cab and assisted to +carry down his baggage. The box, as you see, remains against his return, +also his apparatus," and he indicated the batteries. + +"Oh, certainly," agreed Lepine, with irony, "there can be no doubt of +his intention to return." And then his face grew dark and his eyes +flashed. "How does it happen," he demanded sternly, "that you did not +cause him to fill out a registration blank for the police?" + +The little man twisted his hands nervously. + +"In that I admit I was most culpable, sir," he said. "But when I looked +in my desk for a blank, I found that I had none. Every day I intended +going to the Prefecture to get a new supply, but every day something +occurred to prevent me. And then came the day of his departure." + +Lepine's face was very stern. + +"You have, indeed, been culpable," he said, "and I shall see that you +are punished. You have broken one of the laws of your country. You have +aided a malefactor!" + +The little man's face was livid. + +"Oh, do not say so, sir!" he protested. "There must be some mistake! +That kind gentleman, absorbed only in his invention--" + +"I _do_ say so," broke in Lepine, savagely. "Did he receive any +letters?" + +"One, sir, on the Saturday before the arrival of the telegram. No doubt +it, too, spoke of the illness of his sister." + +Lepine put his hand wearily to his head. + +"At least you noticed the address on the letter?" he asked. + +"Oh, yes, sir. It was 'Monsieur B. Seguin, 80 Rue du Plasson, Toulon.' +Seguin, that was the name of my lodger." + +"But you said he was not a Frenchman!" + +"Perhaps he was a Belgian, sir. I have heard that they are sometimes +dark." + +Lepine threw up his hands. + +"Head of a pig!" he cried, and then controlled himself. "M. Pigot," he +said, "you will take this idiot to his rooms and remain in charge of him +until you hear from me." + +And then, as Pigot and his prisoner started down the stairs, Lepine +turned to an investigation of the two rooms. Every nook, every crevice, +every inch of the floor, every drawer--all these he examined with a +minuteness of which only the French police are capable, but his search +disclosed nothing which shed any new light on the mystery. At last, he +descended the stairs and left the house. + +There was still one hope, the telegram. He hastened to the post-office, +inquired for the clerk of telegraphs, apologised for again disturbing +him, and asked to see the telegram received for B. Seguin, 80 Rue du +Plasson, the Sunday before. At the end of five minutes it was in his +hands, and he read it with dismay. It had been sent from Brussels, and +this is the English of its contents: + + "Our sister is very ill and asks for you. Come if you would + see her alive. + + "CHARLES SEGUIN." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CHECKMATE + + +"It is evident that this affair was not lightly arranged," said M. +Delcasse, and ran his fingers nervously through his hair. + +Lepine nodded gloomily. + +"You may well say so!" he agreed. + +The two sat together in Delcasse's room, and Lepine had just finished +his report. Evening was falling, and the room was growing dark, but +neither desired a light. + +"Everything has been thought of and provided for," said the Prefect, at +last, "even to the telegram which gave an excuse for this man's abrupt +departure. Perhaps the other telegrams were also intended to mislead +us--just as they did mislead me--to convince us that those other men +were only ordinary travellers. They must have foreseen that the police +would investigate the presence of every stranger in Toulon. It was +careless to send both telegrams from Brussels, but a coincidence so +small might easily be overlooked. On one point only was there an +oversight--they did not foresee that we might trace them by means of the +money. There is our hope. Sooner or later, the man with the white hair +will spend another of his hundred-franc notes. There is a certain +justice in it," he added, "that he should be betrayed by his +blood-money." + +"Yes, blood-money!" cried Delcasse. "That is the word for it! Oh, that I +had my hands on the monster--for he _is_ a monster, Lepine; he must be a +monster! There he sat, in cold blood, and loosed the power that killed +three hundred men! Have you considered, Lepine, that the finding of this +second installation furnishes, as Crochard foresaw, proof of his +theory?" + +"Yes," said Lepine, in a low voice; "this is the proof." + +Delcasse was on his feet, striding savagely up and down the room. + +"But it is absurd," he cried, "it is incredible that here, under our +very noses, such things should take place! What are our police for, +Lepine--our secret service?" + +"It is the fault of that miserable landlord," Lepine pointed out. + +"Of him an example shall be made. But that does not help us. This man +must not escape! Think what it may mean for France if he escapes!" + +"I have thought, sir!" and Lepine's voice was trembling. + +Delcasse turned on him fiercely. + +"Where is Crochard?" he demanded. "What is he doing all this time?" + +"I do not know, sir. I have not seen him since yesterday." + +"Rest assured that he has not been idle. Do you know where to find him?" + +"I have his address." + +"Go to him, then, and say I wish to see him. We must lay these +discoveries before him--though no doubt he has already made them for +himself. Tell him he must not desert us--that without him, we are lost!" + +Lepine was grateful for the darkness, for his cheeks were red with +humiliation. But, after all, M. Delcasse was right. He rose with a sigh. + +"I will seek him at once, sir," he said. + +"Understand well, Lepine," said the Minister, more gently, "it is not +you I blame. You have done all that is possible with the means at your +command. But we cannot afford to fail. In an affair of this kind, the +public is not reasonable. Should we fail, and should our failure become +known, as it almost surely would, the ministry might find itself swept +away before the storm. So we must find Crochard." + +"I agree with you, sir," said Lepine, and took his leave. + +The Cafe des Voyageurs was crowded when he reached it, and he had some +difficulty in finding a seat. The marines who had been searching the +wreck had, at last, been released from duty, and had, with one accord, +hastened ashore to refresh themselves at the expense of a populace eager +to listen to every detail. The cafe hummed with talk; weird and +revolting stories of the search were told with gusto; the completeness +of the destruction was described; the survivors dwelt upon their +sensations at the moment of the explosion; the heroism of the rescuers +was not forgotten; but, and Lepine noted this with a little sigh of +relief, nowhere was there an intimation that the disaster was other than +an accident. + +He sat there for half an hour, listening to all this, and then, as +Crochard made no sign, he summoned the head-waiter and requested a word +with the proprietor. With a nod, as of one who expected the request, the +man turned and again led the way to the door at the rear of the room. + +"In there, sir," he said, and closed it when Lepine had entered. + +A single candle burned on the table in the centre of the little room, +and beyond it sat a man. At the first glance, in the semi-darkness, +Lepine fancied it was Crochard; then he saw that this man was slighter, +that his face was bloodless, and that he was staring with hunted eyes. + +With a little start of surprise, he looked again; then he sat down. + +"So, Samson, it is you!" said Lepine, quietly. + +"Yes, sir," answered Samson. "I was expecting you. But I did not think +you would recognise me so readily." + +Lepine laughed shortly. + +"I have a good memory," he said. "Crochard told you, perhaps, that I +might come?" + +"Yes, sir; and he directed that I give you this." + +He handed Lepine a note. The latter broke the seal, held it to the light +and read it carefully: + + "_My dear M. Lepine:_ + + "I have found it necessary to leave Toulon, in the pursuit of + a certain business, whose nature you can guess. I hope soon + to have good news for M. Delcasse and yourself. Meanwhile, I + would remind you of our agreement as to my friends. Samson + is one of them. He has already been of some service in this + affair, and may be of more. We can discuss his future upon + my return. I will answer for him. + + "CROCHARD, L'Invincible!" + +Lepine refolded the note and slipped it into his pocket. + +"When did Crochard leave?" he asked. + +"He gave me the note at four o'clock yesterday afternoon, sir, and +stated that he was about to depart. I have not seen him since." + +"Did he mention his destination?" + +"No, sir." + +Lepine regarded his companion thoughtfully. + +"There is one thing that perhaps you _can_ tell me, Samson," he said. +"Previous to his departure, did he visit the house at 80 Rue du +Plasson?" + +"I think it very probable," answered Samson, after a moment's +hesitation. "I myself furnished M. Crochard with that address, when he +returned to the cafe yesterday for his lunch." + +"Ah!" said Lepine. "So it was you discovered it!" + +He fell a moment silent, studying the other's countenance. + +"You have indeed changed, Samson," he said, at last. "I suppose it was +Crochard who arranged your escape?" + +Samson made no reply. + +"You have a good business here?" + +"Very good, sir." + +"You know, of course, that it is my duty to denounce you as an escaped +criminal?" + +"Yes, I know that, sir." + +"Crochard tells me that he will answer for you--in other words, he +guarantees that you will not run away. Do you understand that?" + +"Do not fear," said Samson, huskily. "Monsieur will always find me here +when he requires me." + +Lepine looked at him for a moment, then got abruptly to his feet. + +"Very well," he said; "I shall do nothing for the present," and he left +the cafe. + +It was nearly eight o'clock, and, feeling the need of dinner, Lepine +made his way back to his hotel; but his hunger was destined to go +unsatisfied, for, as he stepped through the door, Pigot touched him on +the arm. + +"M. Delcasse wishes to see you at once," he said, and Lepine, with one +regretful glance in the direction of the dining-room, hurried up the +stairs to the Minister's apartment. He found him dictating to his +secretary, a great pile of letters before him. + +Without pausing in his dictation, Delcasse picked up a telegram which +lay at his elbow, and handed it to Lepine. It was dated from Paris, and +had been filed but an hour before. It read: + + "Seven notes one hundred francs B162810R to B162816R + deposited to-day by Thomas Cook & Son. + + "LINNE, Governor Bank of France." + +Lepine laid the telegram on his desk and glanced at his watch. + +"I must be in Paris in the morning," he said. + +Delcasse nodded. + +"Yes," he agreed. "And Crochard?" + +"Is no doubt already there," and he handed Delcasse the note which +Samson had given him. + +Delcasse read it, and looked up with an amused smile, in which there +lurked a trace of malice. + +"What a man!" he said. "Nevertheless, Lepine, I think you would better +go. You may be able to assist him! Give him my compliments, and keep me +informed," and he turned back to his secretary. + + * * * * * + +The Paris office of the Messrs. Cook is at the corner opposite the Opera +House, and here, about ten o'clock on the morning of Thursday, September +28, a little grey-bearded man descended from a fiacre, entered, and, +after a short delay, was admitted to the presence of the manager, who +made it clear at once that he was entirely at the service of his +distinguished visitor. + +Lepine sat down and produced from his pocket seven notes of the Bank of +France, for one hundred francs each. They were quite new and had not +even been folded. + +"These notes were deposited by you yesterday afternoon," he said. "I +should like to know from whom they were received." + +The manager took the notes and glanced at them. + +"That will not be difficult, sir," he said. "Our cashier can no doubt +tell us from which of our clerks he received them. Excuse me a moment." + +He hurried from the room with the notes in his hand, and Lepine, +strolling to the window, relapsed into his favourite amusement. At no +other corner in the city could it be practised so profitably, for here, +at the meeting of the Boulevards, all Paris, sooner or later, passed; +and not Paris only, but vagrants from every nation. So Lepine watched +the crowd intently, his bright eyes skipping from face to face--a mere +glance at one, a longer glance at another, a close stare at a third. +Perhaps, at the back of his mind, there was the hope that some +incredible good-fortune might send past this corner a shrunken, +white-haired man, leaning on the arm of his dark-haired daughter.... + +The opening of the door behind him broke into his thoughts, and he +turned to find that the manager had brought another man back with him. + +"This is the clerk who received the money," said the manager, and +returned the seven notes to the detective. + +Lepine motioned the clerk to be seated, and himself sat down facing him. + +"Tell me all that you remember of the transaction," he said. + +"It was Tuesday afternoon, sir," the clerk began, "about four o'clock, I +should say, that a man came to the counter and stated that he desired a +stateroom, with two berths, second-class, for the _Prinzsessin +Ottilie_, the sailing of yesterday." + +"What sort of a man?" asked Lepine. + +"A thin man, past middle-age. His hair was quite grey and he was of a +dark complexion, with very bright eyes." + +"What language did he use?" + +"He spoke in English, sir." + +"Fluently?" + +"Quite fluently, sir." + +"Very well; proceed." + +"I was in some doubt as to whether such a stateroom was available, as +this is the busy season; but on reference to our list, I found that +there was such a stateroom. A customer to whom we had sold it had just +called at the office, saying that he would not be able to sail, and +leaving his tickets with us to resell, if possible. When I told the man +of this, he seemed very pleased, took the tickets, and gave me the seven +hundred-franc notes. My attention was called to them because they were +quite new and unfolded. He took them from a long envelope which he +carried in an inner pocket, and which seemed to contain a large sum of +money." + +"Do you remember the number of the stateroom?" + +The clerk spread out before Lepine a cabin-plan of the ship. + +"It was this one, sir," he said, and placed his finger on 514; "an inner +room, you see, on the upper deck." + +"You asked the man's name, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes, sir. I caused him to fill out the usual blank. Here it is." + +Lepine took the blank and looked it over. It stated that stateroom No. +514, on the _Prinzsessin Ottilie_, for the sailing of September 27, two +berths, second-class, had been purchased of Thomas Cook & Son by Ignace +Vard, of New York City, the berths to be used by himself and his +daughter; and that he had paid for these berths the sum of six hundred +and forty francs, being payment in full, the receipt of which was +acknowledged. The blank also stated that Mr. Vard was a naturalised +citizen of the United States, and had lived in that country for ten +years. + +"The sailing was from Cherbourg?" Lepine inquired, when he had +assimilated all this. + +"Yes, sir." + +"At what hour?" + +"About four o'clock, sir--four o'clock yesterday afternoon." + +"How did it happen, sir," Lepine asked, turning to the manager, "that +the notes were not deposited until yesterday?" + +"Our deposit is made up at three o'clock each afternoon," the manager +explained. "The notes came in too late for Tuesday's deposit, and were +placed in our safe until the next day." + +Lepine made a brief entry in his notebook, handed back the blank and +rose. + +"I thank you very much, gentlemen," he said. "You have been most +obliging. The information you have given me will be of the very greatest +service." + +And with that he took his leave, returned light-heartedly to his office +and sent a wireless to the captain of the _Ottilie_. The fugitive could +not escape him now; it was merely a question of arresting him as he left +the boat at New York; soon, soon, Lepine would have the pleasure of +putting him on the grill, and, once there, the detective felt sure that +there would be some important revelations before he got off again. One +fact surprised him--that Vard should be an American citizen; but perhaps +that was not the truth. If it was the truth, it would make the arrest at +New York a little awkward; a formal complaint would have to be made, a +charge of some kind trumped up. But there was no hurry--a week remained +in which to mature the plans. + +So Lepine, after sending a brief report in cipher to M. Delcasse, turned +to the work which had accumulated during his absence in a happier and +more contented frame of mind than he had enjoyed for some days. + +"I shall relish my lunch to-day!" he reflected; but, alas! it was just +as he was preparing to sally forth for it that the blow fell. + +"A message for you, sir," his secretary said, and handed him a +light-blue envelope. + +"Ah!" said Lepine, "a wireless!" and he ripped it open eagerly. Then he +remained staring at it with astounded eyes. Here is the message: + + "PRINZSESSIN OTTILIE, September 28, 11:10 A. M. + _Radio via Cherbourg._ + + "_Lepine, Paris._ + + "No record of Ignace Vard and daughter on _Ottilie_. + Stateroom 514 unoccupied. + + "HAUSMANN, Captain." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE LAND OF FREEDOM + + +The old town of Cherbourg was experiencing its semi-weekly apotheosis. +For five days of the seven a duller place would be difficult to find, +but on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when the great trans-Atlantic liners +were due to pause in the outer harbour and take aboard the multitudes +homeward-bound to America, the town was transfigured. The +transfiguration, indeed, began on the previous evenings, for it was then +that the less-knowing and more timid of the tourists began to arrive. + +The knowing ones, having once tasted the Lethe of Cherbourg, remained in +Paris until the last minute, and stepped from the boat-train to the +waiting tender. But the less well-informed came on the day before--and +never, for the remainder of their lives, forgot the dulness of their +last day in Europe. Then there were the nervously-anxious, their peace +of mind already wrecked by the vagaries of the European baggage-system, +who dared not run the risk of arriving at the last moment. So they, too, +journeyed to Cherbourg the day before the sailing-date, in order to have +a clear twenty-four hours in which to search for the pieces which were +certain to be missing. That day at Cherbourg was always an expensive +one, for the hotel-keepers of the place, having to live for seven days +on the proceeds of two, arranged their rates accordingly. + +At the edge of the narrow strip of rock-strewn sand which constitutes +the beach at Cherbourg, stands the Grand Hotel--familiar name to every +traveller in Europe, where even the smallest hamlet has its "Grand." The +one at Cherbourg is a rambling, three-storied frame structure, with a +glass-enclosed dining-room overlooking the harbour, and here, at ten +o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, the twenty-seventh of September, in +the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eleven, Daniel Webster was +disconsolately eating that frugal meal which is the French for +breakfast. Not the great Daniel--all well-informed persons are, of +course, aware that he passed to his reward some sixty years ago--but a +well-built, fresh-faced, rather good-looking young fellow, still on the +right side of thirty, who had most inadvisedly chosen to appear in this +world of trouble on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the +great Daniel, and who had forthwith been handicapped with his name. + +John Webster, an honest farmer of the Connecticut valley, had always +been a worshipper at the shrine of the eloquent New Englander, to whom +he fancied himself related, and when, having taken to himself a wife, +that wife presented him with a son on the very day when the centenary of +his hero's birth was being celebrated, the coincidence appeared to him +too momentous to be disregarded, and the boy was christened Daniel. + +It was a thing no thoughtful father would have done, and as Dan grew +older, he resented his name bitterly. It was the subject of brutal jests +from his playmates, resulting in numberless pitched battles, and of +still more brutal hazing when he pursued his predestined way through the +portals of the university at New Haven. Here he was promptly +rechristened Ichabod, and his real name was gradually forgotten. + +In the depths of his heart, John Webster may perhaps have hoped that +this was to be a real reincarnation. If so, he was doomed to +disappointment, for the younger Daniel gave no promise of being either a +statesman or an orator. But he took to ink as a duck to water, was never +so happy as when his pen was spoiling good white paper, was elected +editor of the _News_, and, commencement over, took the first train for +New York, stormed the office of the _Record_, for which he had acted as +college correspondent, and demanded a job. + +He got it; and began anew the task of living down his name. Always, when +introduced or introducing himself, he saw in the eyes opposite his own +that maddening glimmer of amusement. Then he gritted his teeth and +waited for the joke. There were fourteen possible forms that it might +take. Tempted often to return to that rocky Connecticut hillside, he +nevertheless stuck it out, and, as time passed, found he didn't mind so +much. He even reached the point where he made bets with himself as to +which of the fourteen it would be. And he progressed in other ways: the +material symbol of the progress being that, instead of cub reporter at +twelve dollars a week, he was now one of the trusted members of the +staff at six times that salary. + +Also he was seven years older, and this had been his first long +vacation--six weeks in England, Belgium, Holland and France--glorious +weeks; but his eyes were aching for the lights of Broadway and his +fingers itching for the pencil. The most exacting and bewitching of all +professions was clamouring for him again. + +Having disposed of the rolls and coffee, he rose reluctantly, stepped +out upon the beach, and filled and lighted his pipe--with a grimace at +the first puff, for French tobacco is the worst in the world, outside of +Germany. Before him lay the mighty breakwater which guards the harbour, +with its lighthouse in the middle and its fort at either end, while to +his left were the great naval basins, hewn from the solid rock. To the +right, below the high sea-wall, the narrow beach stretched away, empty +and uninviting. + +Dan felt depressed. Cherbourg, evidently, was not an exciting place. He +had never seen an uglier beach, but, after a moment's hesitation, he +started off along it. Perhaps, farther on, it might improve. + +The tide was going out, and in the little basins in the sand minute +crabs and strange sea-midgets scuttled about panic-stricken at finding +themselves marooned; here and there a stranded jelly-fish glowed like an +iridescent soap-bubble, and, farther out, an ugly mud flat began to be +revealed by the retreating water. Some distance ahead, a ridge of +tumbled rocks ran from the sea-wall down into the water, and, as he drew +nearer, he saw that on one of the rocks a girl was sitting. + +He glanced at her as he passed, and would have liked to glance again, +for he had never met more arresting eyes, but he was going on with face +rigidly to the front, when her voice startled him. + +"_Pardon, monsieur_," she said. It was a contralto voice, of a quality +that made his pulses leap. + +He stopped short and turned toward her, incredulous that it could be he +to whom she had spoken. But there was no one else in sight; and then he +saw that her hands were gripped tightly in her lap and that her lips +were quivering. + +"Is something wrong?" he asked, and took a step toward her. "Is there +anything I can do?" + +"Oh!" she cried, her face lighting, and a wave of colour sweeping into +her cheeks. "Then you are an American!" + +"Yes; thank God!" + +"So say I!" she echoed. "For myself, I mean. I also am an American. We +will speak English, then." + +"I should much prefer it," he smiled. "My French is wholly academic--and +covered with moss, at that. It doesn't even enable me to get my eggs +turned!" + +She looked at him, the colour deepening in her cheeks. Dan, looking +back, decided that he had never seen such eyes; he could scarcely +believe that she was an American. She did not look in the least like +one. But she was speaking rapidly. + +"I am in trouble," she said, "as the result of my own carelessness. I +was crossing these rocks, without watching sufficiently where I was +going, and my foot slipped. See," and she swept aside her skirts. "I +cannot get it out." + +Dan was on his knees in an instant. + +"Is it hurt?" he asked. + +"I think not; or at most only a little strained. But it is wedged +between these big rocks, and I cannot move it." + +Dan touched the foot, and found that it was, indeed, wedged fast. Then +he examined the rocks, and finally, bending above the smaller one, +placed his arms firmly about it, braced his feet and lifted. It would +have been worth while to have seen the play of his back and shoulder +muscles as the strain tightened, but it was over in a moment. For the +rock rose slowly, slowly, and the foot was free. He let the rock drop +softly back, stood up and brushed the sand from his sleeves. The girl +bent and rubbed her ankle. + +"Is it all right?" he asked. + +"I think so," and she took an experimental step or two. "Yes; not even +sprained. That reminded me of Porthos," she added, looking up at him, +her eyes very bright. + +He laughed. + +"Porthos would have done it with one hand," he said, "while saluting you +with the other." + +She hesitated a little, looking along the beach; and he, guessing her +thought, raised his cap and started to walk on. But again her voice +stopped him. Perhaps she, too, was something of a mind-reader. + +"I owe you some thanks, you know," she said. "You mustn't go off till +I've paid them!" + +Dan swung around, his face glowing. + +"Not thanks!" he protested. "But if you would take pity on a lonely +exile and talk to him a little, you'd certainly be doing a noble +action!" + +"Is it as bad as all that?" and Dan noticed how the corners of her eyes +crinkled when she smiled. + +"You can't imagine how lonely I've been!" he said. "Especially the past +few days. I didn't feel it so much till I was starting home. America!" +and he took off his hat. + +"The land of freedom!" she added, softly. + +"Do you feel it that way, too?" he asked eagerly. "I've never been much +of a patriot--just took things as a matter of course, I guess; but six +weeks in Europe is enough to make a patriot of any American. Whenever I +see the old flag, I feel like going down on my knees and kissing it. +I've just begun to realise what it stands for!" + +She had turned back toward the hotel, walking slowly with Dan beside +her, and her face was beaming as she looked up at him. + +"You are right--oh, so right!" she cried. "And how much more would you +realise it if, like me, you had been born in another country and felt +for yourself the injustice, the oppression, of which you have seen only +a little! For such as I, America is indeed the Promised Land!" + +So she was foreign-born! Dan glanced at her with a shy curiosity. + +"You are a Russian?" he asked. "Pardon me if I seem intrusive." + +"You do not. No, I am not a Russian. Worse than that! I am a Pole!" + +The words were uttered with a tragic emphasis which left him speechless. +He could think of nothing to say that was not banal or superficial, and +he realised that here were deep waters! He glanced once or twice at her +face, which had grown suddenly dark and brooding; then, with a little +motion of her hands, she seemed to push her thoughts away. + +"You do not know much of Polish history, perhaps," she said, in a +lighter tone. "But if you are fond of tales of heroism, you should read +it, for it is one long heroism. It will help you to realise more fully +what your flag stands for. It is my flag, too; I have lived in America +nearly ten years; and never do I grow so angry as when I hear an +American speak slightingly of his country. Here is the hotel. Forgive me +for talking like this; but it has done me good to meet you!" + +"And me!" he said. "Must you go in?" + +"Yes; my father will be wondering where I am. Good-bye." + +She held out her hand and gave his a frank little pressure. Then she +turned and left him. + +He watched until the door swung shut behind her; then he walked on +slowly, past the great basins, over the drawbridge, along the crooked +streets of the old town, past the station, and finally he stopped in the +shadow of a crag of rock which sprang abruptly three hundred feet into +the air. Its summit was crowned by the frowning walls of the great fort +which commands the harbour, and along the face of the cliff, blue with +heather, a narrow footpath wound deviously upward. He ascended this for +a little way, and then stopped, his elbows on the wall which guarded it. +Before him stretched the bay, shielded by its jetty, and beyond rolled +the white-capped ocean. That way lay America. + +"The land of freedom!" he murmured, and his eyes were bright. "The land +of freedom!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +SHIPMATES + + +When Dan got back to the hotel for lunch, he found that there had been +many arrivals during the morning. The _Adriatic_ was to sail that +afternoon, as well as the _Ottilie_, and the long dining-room at the +hotel was a busy place. As the head-waiter led him to a seat, he caught +a glimpse, far off, of the girl of the morning. She was sitting at a +table with a white-haired man--her father, of course--with whom she was +talking earnestly. She did not look up, and, in another instant, Dan's +guide had pulled out a chair, and he found himself sitting with his back +toward the only person in the room who interested him. + +He told himself this deliberately, after a glance at his neighbours; and +then, in the next moment, he called himself a cad, for every human-being +is interesting, once you get below the skin. But degrees of interest +vary, and Dan felt that he had never met any one who promised so much as +this outspoken girl, with the shining eyes and sensitive mouth. Which +boat was she sailing by, he wondered? It was an even chance that, like +himself, she would be on the _Ottilie_. Yes--but second class? That +would be asking too much of Fortune! Let it be added here that Dan was +returning in the second-cabin not because--as he was to hear so many +times on that voyage!--there was no room in the first, but because by +doing so, he had saved the money for an extra week of travel. + +He found more arrivals in the office when he left the table, and a +formidable array of baggage, which was presently loaded on vans and +trundled away toward the waiting tender. He paid his bill, collected the +two suit-cases which constituted his total impedimenta, saw them safely +off for the pier, tipped the porter, and left the hotel. The whistle of +the tender was blowing shrilly, and, when he reached the pier, he saw +far out at sea the smudge of smoke against the sky, which told that one +of the steamers was approaching. He boarded the tender, assured a +medical inspector that he was an American citizen and so did not need to +have his eyes examined, dug his suit-cases out of the pile of luggage, +and found himself a seat near the bow of the boat. Presently the special +boat-train rolled in along the pier and disgorged the final quota of +passengers. + +Ten minutes later, with a shrill toot, the tender backed away and headed +out across the harbour. With a queer feeling, half of sorrow, half of +joy, Dan looked back at the receding shore, telling himself that the +next soil his feet touched would be that of America. + +A mile out, the great liner lay waiting, impressively huge as seen from +the deck of the little tender, and presently they were alongside and +filing through an open port. A steward grabbed his suit-cases, the +instant he was on board, asked the number of his room, led him to it +along interminable passages, and left him to make himself at home. + +There were two berths in it, and, as he had paid for only one of them, +he knew that, at this crowded season, he could scarcely hope to have the +whole room to himself. But there was as yet no sign of any other +occupant, so Dan, thrusting his bags under the lower berth, went on deck +again. The last of the baggage and mail was being lifted aboard by a +block and tackle, worked by a donkey engine, and, even as Dan looked, +the tender tooted its whistle, cast loose, and backed away, and suddenly +beneath his feet Dan felt the quiver which told that the screws had +started. Slowly the great ship swung around and headed away into the +west toward the setting sun--and toward "the land of freedom." How that +phrase was running in his head! + +He made a little tour of that portion of the boat set aside for +passengers of the second class, and realised that the frugal Germans +were much less generous in their provision for those humble ones than +was the English line on which he had come to Europe. There the second +class was well amidships, with a deck-room almost equal to that given +the aristocrats at the bow. Here the second class was at the very stern, +and the deck-room was limited indeed. Of course, Dan told himself, the +_Ottilie_ was a crack boat, designed to cater to the most exclusive +trade; but he looked forward at the long stretches set apart for the +first cabin with a little envy. + +The boat was crowded, but he saw nothing of the black-haired girl, and +finally, after finding that there was no hope of getting a deck-chair, +he sought the dining-room steward, got his table-ticket, and made his +way back to his stateroom. But on the threshold he paused. A man was +lying in the upper berth, the light at his head turned on and a paper in +his hand. He raised his head and looked down, at the sound of the door, +and Dan had the impression of a bronzed countenance lighted by a pair of +very brilliant eyes. + +"Ah," said a pleasant voice, "so this is my shipmate," and the stranger +swung his legs over the side of the berth and dropped lightly to the +floor. Again Dan had the impression of the bright eyes upon him. + +"It looks that way," he said. And then a sudden compunction seized him. +"I didn't mean to be a pig and take the lower berth. You are quite +welcome to it." + +"Oh, no, no," protested the other. "The choice is always to the first +comer. That is the rule of the sea." + +Dan noticed that, though he spoke English well, it was with the clipped +accent which betrayed the Frenchman. + +"Then I choose the upper one," he said, laughing. + +The other shrugged his shoulders. + +"I can but thank you," he said. "After all, you are younger than I. My +name is Andre Chevrial, very much at your service," and he held out his +hand. + +If he had announced himself to be a prince of the blood, Dan would not +have been surprised, for there was that in his bearing which bespoke the +finished gentleman, and a magnetism in his manner to which Dan was +already yielding. + +"Mine is Webster--Dan Webster," he said, and took the outstretched hand +warmly. + +M. Chevrial looked a little puzzled. + +"The name seems somehow familiar," he said; "but I cannot quite place +it." + +Dan laughed. + +"My father made the mistake of naming me after the great Daniel--a +hundred years after," he explained. + +"Oh, so that is it! Daniel--Daniel Webster. A statesman, was he not?" + +"One of our greatest." + +"Though it did not need that to tell me you are an American. You of +America have an atmosphere all your own. Shall we go on deck and have a +cigarette?" + +So presently Dan found himself seated beside M. Chevrial, talking very +comfortably. The Frenchman, to Dan's surprise, proclaimed himself to be +nothing more important than a wine-jobber who visited America every +autumn to dispose of his wares; but, whatever his business, he was +certainly a most entertaining companion. And then, suddenly, Dan quite +forgot him, for coming toward them down the deck was the dark-eyed girl, +arm in arm with a man whose burning eyes strangely belied his snowy +hair. Dan sat staring at them, scarcely able to credit such stupendous +good fortune, and, as they passed, the girl looked at him, smiled and +nodded. + +M. Chevrial, whom no detail of this little scene had escaped, lighted +another cigarette. + +"A very striking-looking young lady," he said. "The gentleman, I take +it, is her father?" + +"Yes, I think so," said Dan. "I met her for a moment on the beach at +Cherbourg this morning, and she mentioned that she was with her father." + +"Ah!" commented Chevrial. "And now tell me more about this journalism of +yours, of which we hear so much. Is it really free? Is it not true that +most of your papers are controlled by wealthy syndicates, who use them +for their own purposes?" + +This was a red flag to the bull, and Dan plunged into a defence of +American journalism, citing instances and proofs, telling of incidents +in his own experience showing that most editors really have consciences +by which they are guided, and a high conception of their duty to the +public. + +"There are exceptions, of course," Dan went on, carried away by his +subject; "there are scoundrels in the newspaper business, just as in all +businesses; but it is one of the beautiful laws of compensation that, +just as soon as a newspaper goes wrong, its influence begins to slip +away from it...." + +He stopped suddenly, for he had glanced at M. Chevrial and found him +inattentive. His head was turned a little aside and his eyes were fixed +with a peculiar and intent expression on two men who stood together by +the rail, a little distance away. One of them was the man with the white +hair. The other was evidently a tourist, from his costume, and though he +was clean-shaven, some instinct caused Dan to classify him as a German. +He glanced back at Chevrial at last, but the latter was gazing dreamily +out over the water and stifling a little yawn with his hand. + +"Your pardon, M. Webster," he said. "But I arose very early this +morning, in order to catch my train, and I am tired. I think that I +shall lie down for a few moments before dinner. Au revoir." + +Dan sat on by himself for a little while; then it suddenly occurred to +him that, if he looked about, he might find the dark-eyed girl alone +somewhere. He leaped to his feet and began the search. She was not on +the promenade deck, nor in the library, and he had about decided that +she had returned to her stateroom, when it occurred to him that she +might be on the boat-deck. So he climbed the narrow stair and emerged +upon that lofty eyrie. No, she could not be here--it was too windy; +then, as he glanced around, he saw, through the deepening twilight, a +dark figure sitting on a bench in the lee of one of the boats. + +Could it be she? He hesitated to approach near enough to be sure; but at +last he mustered up courage to stroll past. And then, in an instant, his +cap was off and his hand extended. + +"I can't tell you how glad I am that you are on the boat!" he began. +"May I sit down?" + +"Certainly," and she moved a little, looking up at him, smiling. "I am +glad, too." + +"Are you? It's nice of you to say so, anyway. A voyage is so dull if +there is no one to talk to. Of course, there is always some one to talk +to--but I don't mean that kind of talk. I mean plumbing the depths--you +know, that sort of thing." + +"You think I can plumb the depths?" + +"You certainly plumbed mine this morning. Not that I have any great +depths," he added, laughing; "but your line touched bottom, and gave me +a new feeling which I think was good for me. Now, since we're going to +know each other, I want to introduce myself. My name is Webster--named +after the great Daniel, but called Dan so that future historians can +distinguish between us--and I earn a precarious living by chasing news +for a New York paper." + +"And my name," she responded instantly, "is Kasia Vard; and I have +earned a precarious living in many ways--I have worked in a factory, I +have sold papers--I have even cleaned the streets." + +"Cleaned the streets?" he repeated incredulously. + +"Oh, that was not in America," she said. "It was at Warsaw. In Poland, +just as in many other countries of Europe, the streets are cleaned by +the women and children. The men, you see, are needed for the army." + +There was a bitter irony in her voice which drew him closer. + +"I have seen women and children working in the fields; in Holland I saw +them helping tow the boats and working in the brickyards. That was bad +enough. But I never have seen them cleaning the streets." + +"Did you go to Munich?" + +"No." + +"You would have seen them doing it there--as they do it all over +Germany. Had you gone to Chemnitz, you would have seen them carrying the +hod." + +She fell silent, and Dan leaned back, strangely moved. How young he was; +how little he knew! Here was this girl, certainly not more than twenty, +who had lived more, felt more, thought more than he had ever done; who +had ideals.... + +"Miss Vard," he said finally, in a low voice, "permit me to tell you +something. I am just an average fellow with an average brain, who has +gone about all his life with his eyes only half open--sometimes not even +that. I have walked up and down Broadway, and fancied I was seeing life! +I must seem awfully young to you--I feel a mere infant--intellectually, +I mean. But I want to grow up--it isn't good for a man of twenty-nine to +be a mental Peter Pan. Will you help me?" + +She smiled, the bright, sudden smile, which he had grown to like so +much, and impulsively she held out her hand. + +"Yes," she said, "I will help, as far as I can. The best thing I can do +for you is to introduce you to my father. He can help far more than I!" + +"Thank you!" and he took her hand and held it. "It was your father I saw +you with?" + +"Yes. You will like him. He is the most wonderful man in the world. Now +I must be going. He will be looking for me." + +He went with her to the lower deck, then returned to the bench, and +stared thoughtfully out over the dark sea. What a woman she was! And +then he smiled a little as he recalled her last words, "The most +wonderful man in the world!" He did not suspect that the time would come +when he would echo them! + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +UNDER RUSSIAN RULE + + +When Dan found his seat in the dining-saloon, that evening, he glanced +up and down the long table, in the hope that Miss Vard and her father +might be among his neighbours. But they were not, and it was not until +he was half through the meal that he descried them at one of the tables +on the other side of the room. At his own table there were the usual +assorted types of the middle-class tourist, his wife and family, most of +them frankly glad that they were homeward bound, with the greatest part +of their pilgrimage accomplished. + +The sea was smooth and the great boat forged ahead with scarcely any +motion, so that every seat was occupied and every one in good spirits. +There was a hum of talk and rattle of dishes; the white-coated stewards +scuttled back and forth, and the scene was as pleasant as the wholesale +human consumption of food can ever be. + +Dan went on with his dinner with one eye on the far table where Miss +Vard and her father were seated; but his attention was distracted for a +time by a discussion which an Anglomaniac across the table started as +to the relative merits of England and America, and to which he could not +resist contributing a few remarks. When he glanced across the saloon +again, he saw that Miss Vard and her father were no longer there. +However, he finished his dinner with the comfortable consciousness that +the second-class quarters were limited, and that she could not escape +from them except by jumping overboard; and when the meal was ended, he +made his way leisurely through the lounge and along the decks in search +of her. There were girls, girls everywhere, but not the one he sought; +and finally, with a little smile, he mounted the ladder which led to the +after boat-deck. + +Already other couples, scouting about the ship, had discovered the +advantages of its dim seclusion, and most of the benches in the lee of +the boats and about the little wireless-house were occupied; but, on +that one bench, in the shadow of the after life-boat, Dan descried a +solitary figure. He advanced without hesitation. + +"I was hoping I should find you," he said. + +She moved a little aside, as an invitation for him to share the bench. + +"I like it up here," she said, "with no light but the stars, and that +strange luminous glow along those wires up yonder." + +Looking up, Dan saw that the gridiron of wires stretched between the +masts was, indeed, faintly luminous against the sky. + +"That's the wireless," he said. "Listen--you can hear it," and from the +open window of the wireless-house came the vicious snap and crackle of +electricity. "The operator is sending a message." + +She looked up again at the glowing wires. + +"I think it the most wonderful thing in the world!" she said. "I can't +understand it--I can't believe it--and yet, there it is!" + +"Yes--and I suppose it has become an every-day affair to the operator in +there; it isn't wonderful to him any more. We forget how wonderful a lot +of things are, when we get used to them." + +"How wonderful everything is," she corrected; "the sunrise, the +ocean...." + +They sat for some time in silence, gazing out across the dark and +restless water, touched here and there with white, as a wave combed and +broke. Then Dan's gaze wandered to her face. Seen thus, in the dim +light, framed by her dark hair, it, too, seemed wonderful to him; there +was about it a mystic allusiveness, a subtle charm, far more compelling +than mere beauty ever is; her eyes had depths to them.... + +She felt his gaze upon her and turned her face to him and smiled. + +"You may smoke, if you wish," she said. "I can feel that at the back of +your mind." + +"I believe I _was_ thinking about it," Dan admitted, and got out his +pipe; but he had himself been scarcely conscious of the thought, and it +amazed him that she should have detected it. There was the flare of a +match, and he sat back again, exhaling a long puff. "Now," he said, "you +are going to begin my education. I am ready for the first lesson." + +"How shall I begin?" + +"I think an excellent way would be to tell me something about yourself," +he suggested. + +She considered him gravely. + +"Are you really in earnest?" she asked. + +"Indeed I am," he answered quickly, colouring a little under her +searching eyes. "Forgive me if I seemed not to be. And please begin in +any way you think best." + +"I will tell you something about Poland," she said, "and then you will +understand a little what I and all like me feel for America. You know, I +suppose, that there is no longer any such land as Poland?" + +"I know that Russia and one or two other powers divided it, about a +hundred years ago." + +"Yes; but you cannot know what that division meant! The Poles were a +brave and patriotic people; they loved their country as few peoples do; +and all at once, great armies were flung upon them; they were +overwhelmed, and their country was taken away. They lost more than +their country: they lost their language, their history, their national +life. But in spite of it all, they remained Poles. + +"I was born in Russian Poland, not far from Warsaw. From the very first, +I was taught that I was a Pole, not a Russian. But only at home, under +my own roof, could I be a Pole. The teaching of Polish was forbidden in +any school--every word spoken must be Russian. If children were +overheard talking in Polish, they were arrested by the police and their +parents summoned and fined. On every public building there was a painted +notice: 'It is forbidden to speak Polish.' All trials were conducted in +Russian, although none of the peasants understood Russian, and so had no +idea of what was being said. No official was permitted to answer a +question in Polish--I have known a tramcar conductor to be heavily fined +for doing so. + +"We were taught history in which the name of our fatherland was never +mentioned, but where Russia was treated as the wisest, best, and most +powerful of nations, with the Czar second only to God himself. We could +not leave our native village without permission from the police. No Pole +could fill any public office. No Pole was permitted to publish a book or +a newspaper or even a handbill, until a Russian censor had passed upon +it. If you ever visit Poland, you will notice, here and there, groups of +tall wooden crosses. They mark graves. But if one of those crosses +decays or falls down, it may not be replaced without permission from the +government. One night, the cross over the grave of my father's mother +was struck by lightning; and for two years it lay there, until +permission to replace it had come from Petersburg. It was among such +surroundings that my childhood was passed." + +Kasia did not seem to realise that, instead of telling about Poland, she +was telling about herself; and Dan was deeply moved. He had listened, in +his day, to many stories, but never to one like this. It was as though +the dead wrappings of history were stripped away, and its seething, +desperate, tragic heart laid bare. + +"Go on," he said thickly, and folded his arms tightly across his breast. + +"My father had hoped to be a student of science," she went on; "but he +was refused admission to the university because of some absurd +suspicion, and after that he could study only secretly. When he married, +he rented a little farm near Warsaw; and there he and mother toiled all +day long, and the children too, as soon as they were old enough. There +were four children--two boys and two girls. I was the youngest. Twice +every year, my mother, my sister and I walked in to Warsaw, and spent a +week there helping to clean the streets; this service was required of +all families in the villages about Warsaw, and could be escaped only by +paying a heavy tax. We had also to assist in keeping the roads in +repair, and for this, too, the women and children were employed, since +the men could not be spared from the work of the farm. At nightfall we +were always exhausted, and would swallow our soup and black bread +hastily, and then fling ourselves down, dressed as we were, on a heap of +straw in one corner. We were very poor, and yet not so poor as we +seemed; but to have added one little comfort to our home would have +meant a visit from the tax-inquisitor, and perhaps a search. The only +way to escape this was to live in miserable poverty. + +"In spite of all this, my father still kept up his studies. At night, +after carefully closing the shutters and stuffing the cracks with rags, +so that no ray of light could be seen outside, he would light a little +tallow dip and sit reading for hours. He read the same books over and +over, for books were very hard to get. The ones he wanted were almost +always forbidden. To be found possessing one meant banishment. So all of +his books he kept concealed even more carefully than he did his money. +Indeed, he valued them more! + +"Sundays he devoted to the education of his children, always with one of +us on guard outside the door. It was then that I learned to read +English. Father had taught himself with great thoroughness, because he +was determined some day to go to America. America--that was his dream! +But how to get there! It seemed certain that he could never save money +enough to pay for so many. That problem was soon to be settled." + +She paused and put her hand to her throat, shivering a little. + +"Are you cold?" Dan asked. + +"No; I am trembling at the thought of what remains to tell. A case of +cholera appeared in our village. It was reported to the magistrate. At +once all the Russian officials removed to Warsaw, and a cordon of +Russian troops was thrown about the village. No one was permitted to +enter or to leave. The cholera spread. The people were ignorant; they +did not know what to do, and there was no one to tell them; they could +only wait and pray. At the end of a month, the disease had spent itself, +but of those who had lived in the village, only one in ten remained. Of +our family, there were left only my father and myself." + +Dan's hand went out to hers. She did not draw away. + +"For a time," she went on, "father was stunned by the blow; I have +always believed that he was very near madness. But he shook off his +sorrow and decided that the time had come to seek America. We could not +depart openly; that was not permitted; so one night he dug up the little +hoard of money he had concealed, cut off my hair and dressed me in boys' +clothes, arrayed himself in the rags of a goat-herd, and about midnight +we set off. I was eleven years old at the time, and I remember every +incident distinctly. We could travel only at night, hiding at every +sound. By day, we concealed ourselves under culverts, in ditches, under +heaps of brush. Luckily, Polish people are eager to help each other, so +we did not starve, and we got forward a little every night. At the end +of six weeks, we crossed the frontier and were safe. + +"There is not much more to tell. We reached New York; and I was placed +in school--I wish you could realise all that meant to me! For a long +time, I could not go out into the street without being afraid. It seemed +impossible that there was no longer anything to fear. When at last I +understood, it was as though a great load were lifted. That was ten +years ago. For the past three years, I have been a teacher in the Hester +Street school." + +She sat silent for a moment, then with a long breath, drew her hand +away. + +"Do you wonder that I love America?" she asked. + +"No," said Dan; "and you have made me a better patriot." + +She turned to him, with a little smile. + +"And now I think of it," she added, "it was my story I told you, after +all!" + +"Your story helps me to understand Poland's. That is the way history +should be written." + +"I think so, too. There is not enough in most histories of the common +people. And my father says it is only they who really matter. He has +thought very deeply. It is his dream to make all other countries like +America--free, peaceful, industrious--only better than America has yet +become, in that poverty and inequality and injustice will be abolished." + +"A magnificent dream," Dan agreed, with a smile; "but impossible of +accomplishment, I'm afraid." + +"No, it is not impossible!" she cried quickly. "It will be accomplished, +and by him!" + +Dan looked at her curiously. Her eyes were blazing, and she spoke with a +conviction, with an enthusiasm, which puzzled him. + +"Tell me something about your father," he suggested. "You said he was +the most wonderful man in the world." + +"And I meant it. Could anything be more wonderful than to force all the +nations of the earth to break up their navies, to dismantle their forts, +to disband their armies? Could anything be more wonderful than to put an +end, once for all, to this waste of life and treasure, which is eating +at the heart of the world? Could anything be more wonderful than to turn +all these armies of useless men back into honest and useful labour? Then +no longer would you see women gathering the harvest, or struggling under +cruel burdens, or cleaning the streets, or spreading manure over the +fields! No, nor walking the pavements of the cities! Would you not say +that the man who brought all this about was a wonderful man?" + +"Wonderful!" echoed Dan. "Why, wonderful would be no name for it! But it +is something that no man can ever do." + +"It will be done, believe me," she said, solemnly, "and by my father." + +Dan could only stare at her. It seemed absurd to suppose that she could +be in earnest; but certainly her face was earnest to solemnity. It shone +with consecration. + +"But I don't understand," he stammered. "It's too big for me. How is it +to be accomplished? How can one man bring it about? I can see how the +Czar or Kaiser might set to work, but even they could not hope to +succeed. The Czar did try something of the sort, didn't he?" + +"Yes; but he was not in earnest, and the other nations laughed. At my +father they will not laugh, for he is in deadly earnest. As to how this +is to be done, I may not tell you, not yet--some day, perhaps. But one +thing I may tell you, and it is this--my father holds the nations of the +world in the hollow of his hand!" + +For a moment there was silence between them. The moon had risen as they +talked, and the dark sea was illumined by a broad path of silver. The +boat-deck was almost deserted; the snapping of the wireless had ceased. +Miss Vard looked about her with a little start. + +"It must be very late," she said. "I must be going." + +As Dan followed her across the deck, he noticed a dark figure on the +bench next to the one where he and Miss Vard had sat. And as they +passed, the stranger struck a match and lighted a cigarette. By the +glare of the flame, Dan saw that it was his roommate, Chevrial. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN THE WIRELESS HOUSE + + +Fritz Ludwig, the tall, blond young man who earned his eighty marks per +month as wireless man on the _Ottilie_, having eaten his dinner with the +passengers of the second-cabin and smoked a meditative pipe at the door +of the little coop on the after boat-deck which served him as office and +bedroom, knocked out the ashes and entered his citadel to prepare for +the night's business. But first he connected up his detector and snapped +the receivers against his ears, just to see what might be going on. The +operator on the _Adriatic_, a hundred miles behind them, was gossiping +with Poldhu, and far ahead two boats were exchanging information about +the weather. Then Ludwig glanced up quickly, for a step had sounded at +the door, and he saw a man just stepping over the threshold. + +"No admittance here!" he called sharply; but the man advanced another +step, smiling broadly. + +"My dear Fritz!" he said in German. "Do you not know me?" + +And Fritz, staring upwards, and seeing his visitor's face clearly, tore +off the receivers, sprang to his feet and saluted. + +"Admiral Pachmann!" he gasped. + +Pachmann laughed. Then he turned, closed the door, and drew the shade +before the window. + +"Yes, it is I; but don't shout it so loudly, Fritz. Let us sit down. I +saw you at dinner to-night--yes, I, too, am of the second class!--and I +trembled lest you might recognise me and shout my name out in just that +fashion. So, as soon as I could, I hastened up to warn you. I am +travelling incognito upon official business, and in public you are not +to know me." + +"I understand, Herr Admiral," said Fritz. "I shall be most careful." + +"It is most important," Pachmann warned him; "and I shall trust you not +to forget. How do you like your work here?" + +"Very well, sir. I find it very interesting." + +"I shall have you back in the service, nevertheless, one of these days," +Pachmann said. "Perhaps sooner than you think," he added. + +"I am always ready, sir," said Fritz. + +Pachmann drew out a cigar and lighted it. + +"Go ahead with your work," he said. "There is no music to me so pleasant +as the snapping of the spark." + +Fritz laughed. + +"I know that, sir," he said. "I have an extra receiver, if you care to +put it on." + +"Yes, give it to me," said the Admiral; and in a moment it, too, was +connected with the detector. + +Fritz replaced his own, started his converter and snapped out into the +air the signal which told the waiting world that the operator of the +_Ottilie_ was ready to receive anything it might have to communicate. +Almost at once Southampton answered, and there was a little preliminary +tuning, till the signals came clear and strong. Then Fritz drew a pad +toward him, picked up a freshly sharpened pencil, and told Southampton +to go ahead. + +"SN three fr DKA," began Southampton. "Time 9:50 G." + +Which meant that Southampton had for the _Prinzsessin Ottilie_ three +messages and that the time was 9:50 o'clock Greenwich. + +Fritz glanced at the clock above his desk. + +"Time OK. GA," he signalled, the "GA" being radio for "Go ahead." + +"MSG one," went on Southampton. "Eight w Gary. DKA. Directors have +command of situation. Morrissy. + +"MSG two. Nine w Gardenshire, DKA. Missed boat will follow by +_Carmania_. Hickle. + +"MSG three. Eleven w Hodges, DKA. Coffee will go thirteen Thursday shall +I sell. Perkins." + +Fritz had taken it all down with religious care. At the last word he +snapped open his key. + +"OK. Thanks GN," he ticked off, the "GN" being, of course, "good-night." + +He waited a moment, but there were no other calls for the _Ottilie_, and +he took off his receiver. Pachmann followed suit. + +"That was a great pleasure," said the latter. "The signals are very +clear to-night." + +"If you could come in later on, sir," Fritz suggested, "you could hear +the news service from Poldhu. There is a station for you!" + +"At what hour does the service start?" asked Pachmann. + +"Poldhu always calls at eleven-thirty, sir, and starts the news service +as soon as the commercial business is out of the way." + +"I shall try to be here," said Pachmann. "This long-distance service is +a great delight to me, especially when it works so clearly as it does +to-night. You will not forget about my incognito?" + +"I shall not forget, sir," Fritz assured him, and with a short nod, +Pachmann left the house. Fritz sat down again to copy out his messages +and to send three or four which the captain's steward at that moment +brought in. That done, he thrust his head out for a breath of air, +noticed with a grin the couples who had already discovered the +advantages of the boat-deck benches, and then went back to his key for +a little gossip with such other Marconi men as might be within reach. It +was nearly eleven-thirty, and all of them were sitting at their tables, +waiting for the far-flung signal which would tell that the operator at +Poldhu, that lonely station on the last sheer cliff of Cornwall, was +ready for his night's work. And a minute later, the door opened and +Pachmann came in. + +"I could not resist your invitation, Fritz," he said. "This gets into +one's blood," and he adjusted the extra receiver and sat down. + +Almost at once came the CQ, CQ, CQ, ZZ, ZZ, ZZ, which told that Poldhu +was calling for all stations and on every ship within a thousand miles +of that point of rock, the wireless man tuned up his instrument, and +waited. The commercial messages came first, and there were a lot of +them; four for the _Ottilie_, three for the _Adriatic_, five to be +relayed far ahead to the _Mauretania_, one for the incoming _Majestic_, +and one for the _Rotterdam_. Then the Poldhu man announced that he was +ready to receive, and as many more were sent out into the night to him, +for relay on to London, and from there to far-separated points on the +continent. At last there was a moment's pause, a moment's silence, and +then the SP, SP, SP, which told that the news service was about to +start. And every man within hearing picked up a fresh pencil and made +ready to write, as from dictation. + +"SP, SP, SP," snapped Poldhu. "Time 12:54 G. Three hundred wds. + +"War between Italy and Turkey seems inevitable stop Italy gives Turkey +twenty-four hours to agree to Italy's occupation of Tripoli stop Six +thousand troops at Palermo ready to embark stop Turkish munitions and +reinforcements already landed stop Board of Inquiry into _La Liberte_ +disaster goes into secret session stop Rumour of attempt to destroy _La +Patrie_ also stop Moroccan situation grows more serious stop Germany +demands equal rights with France abrogating Algeciras treaty stop +Directors steel trust declare company is legal corporation and will not +take voluntary steps to dissolve stop Officially announced at Chicago +that one hundred thousand men on Harriman lines will strike Saturday +stop September coffee sells at twelve-ninety-eight New York exchange +record price stop Boy Scouts called out to fight plague of wasps in +England stop...." + +And so on to the end of the message. And when the end was reached, the +man at Poldhu waited fifteen minutes and then started all over again and +sent the message a second time, so that every one would be sure to get +it all. Then he shut off and went to bed. + +Thursday dawned clear and warm, and the _Ottilie's_ passengers, +appearing on deck by twos and threes, rejoiced that the day was to be a +fine one. They found the world-news of the day before awaiting them on +the bulletin board at the head of the main companion-way, and had great +fun deciphering it, very few of them stopping to think how wonderful it +was that it should be there at all. And then some of them celebrated +their first morning at sea by a three-mile tramp before breakfast; +others, less strenuous, lounged at the rail, waiting impatiently for the +breakfast-gong; a few, finding themselves disturbed by the slow and even +motion of the ship, bundled themselves up in their steamer-chairs and +hoped that nature would soon readjust itself. Then the gong sounded, and +the deck was deserted, except by the bundled-up occupants of the chairs, +to whom the solicitous deck-steward brought, more or less vainly, +various light articles of food. + +An hour later, the decks were full again. From the upper deck came the +clack of shuffle-board; on the promenade deck the chairs were full of +novel-readers, and little groups here and there were making each other's +acquaintance. The life of shipboard had begun. + +On the boat-deck, various passengers, singly or in twos and threes, +paused to listen to the crackle of electricity which came from the +little wireless-house. The door was closed, but by standing on tiptoe +they could see over the screen at the window, and catch a glimpse of a +blond young man, with a receiver clamped over both ears, bending above +his key, from which came a series of vicious-looking sparks. The sound +was vaguely disquieting, suggesting lightning to the more timid, or some +strange and dangerous force of nature not to be trifled with, so most of +them preferred to descend again to the upper promenade, or to sit down +some distance away. Presently two men climbed the ladder from the deck +below, and looked about them. + +"Let us sit here," said the younger of them, in German, and motioned +toward a bench which had been built against the cabin. + +"Very well, Your...." He stopped himself abruptly. "It is difficult to +break oneself of a long habit," he said, with a little laugh; and, +waiting for the other to seat himself, sat down beside him. + +They lighted cigarettes and sat for a moment without speaking. + +There was a considerable difference in the ages of the two. One was past +middle-age, heavily-built, and with a face bronzed as only years of +exposure to wind and rain could bronze it. His upper lip was a shade or +two lighter than the rest of his face, and spoke of a moustache recently +removed. The other man had also an outdoor look, but he had not been +hardened by long service as his companion had. He was softer, more +effeminate. He seemed to be not over twenty-one or two, was tall, a +little too much inclined to plumpness, but with an open and ingenuous +countenance, lighted by a pair of honest blue eyes. + +"It is good," said the older man, at last, speaking in German and in a +tone carefully guarded, "to sit here and listen to the crackle of the +wireless--it seems to fit in, somehow, with this beautiful morning. I +have grown to love it; and I have never conquered my wonder--it is so +marvellous that one can throw into the atmosphere a message to be picked +up and understood hundreds of miles away. It seems even more wonderful +on the ocean than on the land. A message that travels as fast as light +travels. Think of it, my Prince!" + +"It is, indeed, wonderful," the younger man agreed. "But it seems to me, +my dear Admiral, that, if what you tell me is true, there is in the +world at this moment something more wonderful still--a force which even +you do not understand." + +"You are right," agreed the older man, gravely. "But we _must_ +understand it--we _must_ control it. It means world-empire!" + +Both their faces were set and serious, and they spoke almost in +whispers, with a glance from time to time to make sure no one was near, +or a lapse into silence when any one approached. + +"If we succeed," the younger man began; but the other grasped him by the +arm. + +"There must be no 'if,'" he protested. "Do not permit yourself to use +that word. There must be no failure! Think, for a moment, of the +tremendous issues which hang upon it! And, after all, the game is in our +hands." + +"I have not yet met the inventor," said the younger man; "but from what +you have told me, I fear he is an enthusiast who will make difficulties. +However, as you say, we must succeed at any price." + +"Yes; at any price!" and as he uttered the words, the Admiral glanced +searchingly at his companion's face. But the other was gazing out across +the water, and did not seem to notice the other's peculiar emphasis. + +Again they sat silent as three or four persons, passing, paused to peer +in at the window of the wireless-house. + +"Are you sure the French do not suspect?" asked the younger man, when +they had gone. + +"How could they?" + +"The inventor must have left some trace--that wireless station in the +grove." + +"A small affair, well hidden. Even if it is discovered, it cannot +possibly be connected with the disaster." + +"Perhaps not. But the other installation?" + +"The other installation was brought away by the inventor. He left +nothing behind except some batteries, which can betray no secret." + +"And he has the mechanism with him now?" + +"Yes--in his baggage. You see how complete our power is." + +"I see," nodded the other briefly. "You have arranged a conference with +him?" + +"I will do so. There is plenty of time." + +"Why do we go to America?" + +"It is a whim of his--that this great treaty should be signed there. We +had to humour him, or he might have grown suspicious. I think he is a +little mad." + +Again there was a moment's silence. Then the older man threw away his +cigarette and rose. + +"The wireless man is an old protege of mine," he said. "I spent a very +pleasant hour with him last night. If you do not object, I will go in +again to see him." + +The other nodded, and Pachmann opened the door of the wireless-house and +disappeared inside. His companion lighted another cigarette and smoked +it gloomily, as his thoughts reverted to his own affairs. It was +flattering, of course, that he should have been selected to accompany +Pachmann on this mission; but, nevertheless, he regretted Berlin--or, +rather, he regretted a certain blue-eyed, flaxen-haired girl, with a +figure like Juno's.... Confound it! It was only to separate him from her +that he had been sent with Pachmann! Why couldn't his father leave him +alone! He was old enough to manage his own affairs! And besides.... + +The door of the wireless-house opened and Pachmann appeared. Very +quietly he closed the door, very quietly he sat down beside his +companion. And then he mopped a shining forehead with a hand that +trembled visibly, and the younger man saw with astonishment that his +face was livid. + +"What is it? What has happened?" he asked. + +Pachmann tried twice before he found his voice. When he did speak, it +was in a hoarse whisper. + +"I was wrong," he said. "France _does_ suspect!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MESSAGE + + +A little group of laughing young women came scurrying up the ladder from +the promenade, and the Admiral and his companion sat stonily silent +until they had passed. Then the Admiral spoke again, still in a whisper, +but his voice was under control. + +"The most astounding thing has happened," he said. "I cannot understand +it. The operator in there has just received a message from Cherbourg, +asking if there is not on board, in stateroom 514, a man named Ignace +Vard, accompanied by his daughter. It is signed by Lepine, chief of the +French secret service." + +The younger man drew a quick, sibilant breath, and his face, too, turned +pale beneath the tan. + +"But how could he know?" he gasped. "How could he suspect?" + +"Lepine is the very devil!" growled the other. "Perhaps it was that +wireless installation, as you suggested." + +"But that could not betray the man's name--the boat--even his +stateroom!" + +"No; I cannot understand it," and Pachmann mopped his face again. Then +he thrust his handkerchief back into his pocket and sprang to his feet. +"However it occurred, we must stop it," he said. "Come." + +"Stop it--but how?" + +"There is only one way. Come!" + +The Admiral hurried down the ladder, his companion at his heels. From +the upper promenade he descended to the deck below, and then, without +hesitating, climbed another ladder and stepped over a low gate which +gave entrance to the first-class promenade. The gate, it is true, bore a +sign stating that second-class passengers must not pass it; but Pachmann +did not even glance at it. He seemed to know the ship, for he pressed +on, disregarding the curious glances cast at himself and his companion, +mounted again to the boat-deck, and did not pause until he had reached +its extreme forward end, just under the bridge. There he stopped at a +door just abaft the ladder leading to the bridge and knocked sharply. + +"Enter!" cried a voice, and the younger man, following the Admiral, +found himself in a large and handsome stateroom, whose windows looked +straight forward over the bow. At the desk a bearded man of middle-age +was glancing through some papers. He looked up at the intruders with +evident astonishment. "Really, gentlemen," he began, and then he +stopped, his gaze shifting from one face to the other and back again in +frank bewilderment. + +"Captain Hausmann," said the Admiral, stepping forward, "probably you do +not remember me, since we have met but once. But I think you know the +Prince." + +Captain Hausmann's eyes widened, and he sprang quickly to his feet, his +hand at the visor of his cap. + +"Your Highness," he began, but the Prince stopped him. + +"I am not a Highness at present, Captain," he said, laughing; "only a +humble passenger of the second class. I am very glad to see you again," +and, holding out his hand, he gave that of the astonished mariner a +hearty clasp. + +"A passenger of the second class!" stammered the Captain. "But I do not +understand!" + +"It is not necessary that you should," said the Admiral, curtly, and at +the words, the Captain reddened a little. + +"Ah, now I know you," he said, quietly. "Admiral Pachmann," and again he +saluted. + +"Yes," said the Admiral, acknowledging the salute. "We had not intended +to betray, even to you, our presence on board, but an unforeseen +circumstance has made it necessary. No one else, of course, must suspect +it. All that you need to know--indeed, all that we are permitted to tell +you--is that His Highness and myself are at this moment engaged upon an +affair of state of the first importance. Here are my credentials." + +He took from an inner pocket a long leather pocket-book, extracted from +it a heavy envelope sealed with a great black seal, and passed it to the +Captain. + +The latter took it, glanced at the seal and hesitated, for it bore the +Imperial crown. + +"Do you intend that I should open this?" he asked. + +"I wish you to do so," answered Pachmann. + +With fingers that trembled a little, the Captain loosened the seal, +lifted the flap, and drew out the sheet of paper which lay within. It +was an ivory-finished white, almost as stiff as a card, the entire upper +left quarter occupied by the Imperial crown and monogram, the other +three quarters covered by writing in a large and rather stiff hand, with +a scrawling signature at the bottom. The Captain glanced at this +signature, then, his face very grave, read the missive slowly and +carefully. Finally he returned the sheet to its envelope, and handed it +back to Pachmann, his eyes meeting the Admiral's with a kind of awed +wonder. + +"I am at your service," he said. "Will you...." + +There was a tap at the door. The Captain went to it and opened it, +standing so that his body filled the doorway. He exchanged a word with +some one, and then closed the door and turned back into the room, a +sheaf of papers in his hand. + +"Will you not sit down?" he asked. + +"We shall be but a moment," said Pachmann. "That was the wireless man, +was it not?" + +"Yes." + +"Among the messages you have in your hand is one from Lepine, Prefect of +the Paris Service du Surete. He asks whether you have aboard in +stateroom 514 a man named Ignace Vard, accompanied by his daughter." + +Captain Hausmann, with an admirable composure, glanced through the +messages. + +"Yes; here it is," he said. + +"I will dictate the answer," said the Admiral. + +Without a word, the Captain sat down again at his desk and wrote to +Pachmann's dictation: + + "_Lepine, Paris_. + + "No record of Ignace Vard and daughter on _Ottilie_. + Stateroom 514 unoccupied. + + "HAUSMANN, Captain." + +"It would be well to have the message sent at once," added Pachmann. +"You will also see that the name of Vard and his daughter do not appear +on your passenger list, and that they are moved from the stateroom they +now occupy to some other one. The records for the voyage must show that +that room was indeed unoccupied. You will also instruct the purser that +the tickets surrendered by Vard and his daughter are not to be turned +in, but, in case of inquiry, to be reported unused." + +The Captain had listened carefully. + +"On what pretext will I move these people?" he asked. + +"The pretext must be found." + +The Captain stroked his beard with a troubled air. + +"I fear there is no second-cabin room empty--we are very crowded. Would +it matter if I brought them forward?" + +Pachmann pondered a moment. + +"No," he said at last. "On the whole, that might be better. You will +enter them on your passenger list by some other name--or, better still, +omit them altogether." + +"But the immigration authorities!" protested the Captain. "You have +forgotten them!" + +"We will think of them at the proper time," said Pachmann, impatiently. +"This is not the moment to make objections. I think you understand?" + +Hausmann bowed. + +"We will say good-bye, then, for the present," added the Admiral, with a +touch of irony. "We shall, perhaps, be forced again to call upon you." + +A second time Hausmann bowed. + + * * * * * + +When Miss Vard entered her stateroom, that day, to brush her hair before +going to lunch, her nostrils were assaulted by a most unpleasant odour, +and, when a cursory inspection of the room failed to disclose its cause, +she summoned the steward and asked him to investigate. An hour later, a +white-capped official approached Mr. Vard, who was looking vainly +through the collection of books in the library for something he cared to +read, and informed him, with many apologies, that it would be necessary +for him to change his stateroom. Just what was wrong with No. 514 it was +impossible to say; but it could not be denied that there _was_ a bad +odour there, whose source had not been discovered, and the only +alternative seemed to be to shut it up until the end of the voyage and +then to overhaul it thoroughly. + +"Very well," said Vard. "I have no objection to changing. But I cannot +understand how a cubicle with floor, ceiling and walls of steel, could +so suddenly become insanitary." + +"It is a mystery to us also, sir, and one which we shall look into very +thoroughly. We regret it extremely." + +"Not at all," said Vard, somewhat astonished that so much should be made +of the matter. "Have the steward change our baggage to the new +quarters, and then come and show me where they are, and let us forget +all about it." + +"It is most kind of you to take it so good-naturedly," protested the +officer. "The embarrassing thing to us is that, as there is no vacant +stateroom in the second-cabin, we shall have to transfer you to the +first." + +Vard looked at him. + +"And you expect me to pay the difference?" he asked. + +"Oh, no; not at all," the other hastily assured him. "We had not thought +of such a thing! But we feared you might have some objection to +first-class, and that the change would inconvenience you still more." + +Vard smiled grimly. + +"As a matter of fact, I _have_ an objection to first-class," he said, +"but it is largely that of wasting money for which I have a better use. +The people one sees there also do not appeal to me. I fear most of them +are idle fools. But perhaps the library is better selected." + +"Oh, it is much larger than this!" the officer agreed. "I may take it, +then, that you consent?" + +"Certainly. We can't stay in a stateroom that smells as ours does." + +"Then," said the other, "if you will inform your daughter, I will +myself conduct you to your new quarters." + +So Miss Vard was summoned, their steward was loaded with the baggage, +and after a glance around No. 514 to assure herself that nothing had +been overlooked, Miss Vard found herself following her father and the +white-capped German along a narrow passage, past a steel door that was +unlocked for them, and up the companion-way to a very handsome suite +opening on the upper promenade. It consisted of two bedrooms and a +sitting-room, and Kasia, as she glanced about it, could not repress an +exclamation of surprise. + +"Are we to stay here?" she asked. + +"Yes, Madame," and the official smiled. "It is the only thing we have to +offer. I am glad that it pleases you. It will help you to forget the +inconvenience of changing," and, having waited until the steward had +deposited his burden, he motioned him out before him, bowed and +withdrew. + +Kasia made a quick tour of the room, admiring its elegant furnishings, +glanced into the bedrooms, and then came back to her father. + +"I don't understand it!" she said. "Why should they give us all this?" + +Her father regarded her in some surprise. + +"Why, my dear," he said, "you have heard the explanation. I do not for a +moment imagine that the steamship company would have been so generous +if there had been any way to avoid it!" + +"No, I suppose not!" Kasia agreed, and set herself to arrange their +belongings--it was almost like fitting up a flat! "This suit-case is +very heavy, father," she added, after a moment. "Will you put it in your +room?" + +"Of course," and Vard lifted it, started for the bedroom, and then +turned and placed it on the little table which stood between the +windows. "I will have a look at it, first," he said, loosened the +straps, took a key from a flapped compartment of his pocket-book and put +it in the lock. "One would scarcely believe, Kasia," he added, with a +smile, "that this little bag contains the destiny of the world!" + +"No," she said, and came and stood beside him, one arm about him, her +head against his shoulder. + +He turned the key and raised the lid. Then he put aside some articles of +clothing and lifted from beneath them an oblong box, open at the ends. +One saw, on looking closer, that the sides of the box were of glass, +partially covered on both sides with tin-foil; and peering in at the +open end, one perceived a vague maze of wires and pinions. + +Vard gazed at it for some moments without speaking. + +"There it is, Kasia," he said, at last, "the wonder-worker, which, +properly tuned and connected with its batteries, generates a force which +puts an end to armies and to fleets. With it in the world, there can be +no more war--and if there is no more war, there is the end of kings and +tyrants. It is a great thought, is it not, my daughter?" + +"A great thought!" she echoed, but her voice was shaking, and she +shivered a little and drew closer to him. "And yet, father, think what +an awful force it would be if it fell into unscrupulous hands! It is +that which makes me tremble sometimes!" + +"You do not fear me, Kasia?" he asked reproachfully. + +"No, father; of course not!" + +He replaced the mechanism, covered it carefully with clothing, closed +the lid, locked it, and returned the key to his pocket. Then he carried +the bag to his bedroom and slipped it under the bed. At last he came +back to his daughter. + +"I will not deny, Kasia," he said, "that I have been tempted, more than +once. Not by the prospect of wealth or power--those cannot tempt me; but +by the thought that, after subduing the world, I might 're-mould it +nearer to the heart's desire.' And yet how vain to fancy that I or any +man possesses the wisdom to do that! No; that cannot be. Each nation +must shape its own destiny, as friends and brothers. It is for me to +strike the swords from their hands!" + +But still Kasia trembled and a shadow lay across her face. + +"What is it you fear?" her father asked, looking at her. + +"It seems too great a destiny!" she answered, with quivering lips. +"There is so great a risk! Suppose some one should steal that +instrument...." + +"That would do no harm. I can make another--a hundred others! That is my +purpose. The whole world must know of it--must possess it. Every nation +must know that, the instant it marches to war, it risks annihilation. I +see no danger there." + +"But suppose," Kasia persisted, "that the man who stole it should kill +you--what then? Oh, I have thought of it, father, so much, so closely, +all through the night! We must run no risk like that." + +Vard took a rapid turn up and down the room. He was deeply perturbed. At +last he paused beside her. + +"You are right, Kasia," he said. "I do not believe there is any +danger--and yet we must run no risk like that! Well, it is easy to avoid +it! Wait!" + +He disappeared into his bedroom, and Kasia heard him pulling out the bag +and opening it. Then the lock snapped again, the bag was pushed back +under the bed, and her father rejoined her. He held in his hand a +little case of polished steel. Within it were three filament-like wires +wound peculiarly around a series of tiny pins. + +"Here it is," he said, "the very heart of the mechanism. Without this it +is useless. Without this, it is merely a transformer. It can do no one +any harm--can betray no secret." + +Kasia took the little box and looked at it. + +"Is this difficult to make, father?" she asked. + +"It took me eight years to make that one; but I can make another in two +days, or perhaps three." + +"You are sure of that?" + +"Oh, yes," and he smiled. "It is very intricate, yet very simple when +one has the clue. Every convolution of those filaments is photographed +on my brain. I can close my eyes and see them winding in and out." + +The girl hesitated, the little box still in her hand. + +"Then it would be safe to destroy this?" she asked, at last. + +"Safe? Yes! That is my meaning! Let us destroy it!" + +Still a moment she paused, then she closed her hand. + +"Yes," she agreed; "let us destroy it." + +Her father nodded his head indifferently. With him the moment of tension +had passed. + +"Drop it into the sea," he said. "That will end it. Now, I think, I +shall go and examine the books in the library." + +He went out and closed the door; but Kasia stood for a long time without +moving, staring at the little box of polished metal. After all, if he +_could_ not reproduce it; if there _should_ be some convolution he had +missed, some accidental conjunction he was not aware of! If to destroy +it now would be to destroy it forever! Better that, of course, than run +the other risk! But was there no other way? Perhaps, perhaps.... + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A WORD OF WARNING + + +Wherefore it happened that Dan Webster, searching promenade and saloon +and library, that afternoon, mounting to the boat-deck, descending to +the lower deck, peeping into every nook and corner where passengers of +the second-class were permitted to penetrate, looked in vain for Kasia +Vard. Nor was her father anywhere to be seen. At last, perceiving the +curious glances shot in his direction, and having stumbled for the third +time over the same outstretched pair of feet, he mounted gloomily to the +boat-deck and sat down to think it out. + +The weather continued fine and the sea smooth, so that it was absurd to +suppose that either of them was ill; and that they should keep to their +stateroom on such an afternoon for any other reason, or even for that +one, was more absurd still. Perhaps, if they were working.... + +The thought brought him sudden relief. That explained it! They had some +work they were doing together. Perhaps Kasia acted as her father's +secretary, and even now was writing to his dictation. She had said that +he was engaged in some gigantic project, the nature of which Dan +understood but dimly--a plan for the disarmament of the world, or +something like that. As he remembered them here in the cold light of +day, her words of the night before seemed more than a little fantastic; +but perhaps he had not understood, or perhaps she had spoken +figuratively. "The nations of the world in the hollow of his +hand"--that, of course, was figurative. And, equally of course, Vard's +plan would come to nothing. But it would be interesting to know more of +it. + +He must have a talk with Vard before the voyage ended. A story like that +would make good copy, and a little newspaper propaganda would help the +thing along. Meanwhile, there was nothing to do but wait until Miss Vard +should choose to reappear. He cast his mind back over the story she had +told him--ye gods! what a feature _that_ would make, told just as she +had told it, simply and earnestly and without embellishment. Perhaps he +could persuade her to write it for the _Record_. He could picture the +shining face of Craftsman, the Sunday editor, as he read it! + +Some one, crossing the deck unperceived by him, sat down beside him. He +turned quickly; but it was only Chevrial. + +"Ah, M. Webster," said the Frenchman, smiling, "you were among the day +dreams; and they were not of me. That is apparent from the look with +which you regard me!" + +Dan flushed a little, and then he laughed. There was no resisting +Chevrial's genial humour. + +"No," he admitted; "they were of some one quite different." + +"Nevertheless, until that 'some one' appears, I trust that I am +welcome?" + +"Indeed you are. I'm glad you came!" + +Dan spoke warmly, and his companion, with a little satisfied nod, +settled back into the seat. They had seen very little of each other +since the moment of meeting. Dan had gone to bed the previous night +before his roommate appeared, and had not even heard him come in. This +morning, when he arose, Chevrial was sleeping calmly, and Dan had +gathered his clothes together as noiselessly as he could and stolen away +to the bathroom. They had passed each other once or twice on the +promenade, and had nodded but had not spoken--and then Dan remembered +suddenly the flare of light from the near-by bench the night before, as +he and Kasia rose to go below. Chevrial smiled again as he met his +glance. + +"You are thinking of last night?" he said. "Yes? It is concerning that I +wish first to speak to you. When I sat down yonder I was not conscious +that this bench was occupied. You and the young lady were speaking in +very low tones, and the bench itself was in shadow. It was only when she +raised her voice that I realised I was hearing what was not intended for +me. I was just about to go, when she stopped abruptly, and a moment +later you went down together. It was then that you noticed me. I struck +the match in order that you might see that it was I, and so have no +uneasiness." + +Dan stared at his companion in astonishment. + +"Uneasiness?" he repeated. "But why should I have any uneasiness?" + +"Not on your own account, of course, but on the young lady's account." + +"But I don't see why, even for her, I should be uneasy," said Dan +perplexedly. + +"My dear sir," and Chevrial dropped his voice and spoke very earnestly, +"there are always spies on these big boats--this is a most productive +field for them--German spies, French spies, English spies, listening to +each word, watching each gesture. Suppose one of them had chanced to +hear what I did...." + +Dan stared a moment longer, then he burst into a laugh. + +"Oh, come, M. Chevrial," he protested. "You don't really believe that!" + +"Believe what?" + +"About the spies." + +Chevrial's face grew a little grim. + +"I am not one to offer advice where it is not desired," he said; "but I +assure you, M. Webster, that what I have told you is true, and +furthermore had any one of three or four persons who are on this boat +heard what I heard, that girl and her father would have been under +espionage for the remainder of their lives." + +It was easy to see that Chevrial spoke in deadly earnest, and, in spite +of himself, Dan was impressed and sobered. + +"I beg your pardon," he said; "perhaps you are right; but to an American +the very idea of such a system is laughable--it savours too much of +cheap melodrama. But why should the story Miss Vard told me interest any +one?" + +"My dear sir," answered Chevrial, drily, "when a girl goes about +boasting that her father is more powerful than the Czar or Kaiser! +Suppose she had stopped there, any hearer would have concluded that he +was an anarchist, and therefore to be watched. But she went further: she +asserted that he can blow up forts and destroy armies! That he can wreck +battleships! Why, M. Webster, it is only four days since _La Liberte_, +the greatest of French battleships, was destroyed in the harbour of +Toulon by an agency not yet determined!" + +Dan had turned a little pale. + +"But you don't imagine," he stammered; "surely you don't think...." + +Chevrial flipped away his cigarette-ash negligently. + +"That _La Liberte_ was destroyed by this man? Absurd! But, nevertheless, +it is a bad time to make such boasts." + +"I can see that," agreed Dan. "I will speak to Miss Vard." + +"I would do so, by all means. She seems a most interesting girl, and I +should regret to see her involved in an unpleasant situation. Or her +father," Chevrial added. "A most interesting enthusiast!" + +"You have talked with him?" + +"Oh, yes; last night for some time. He has great ideas--too great, I +fear, to be practicable." + +"Then you don't believe...." + +"That he can destroy armies and all that?" and Chevrial laughed lightly. +"My dear M. Webster, do you?" + +"No," said Dan, slowly, "I don't suppose I do. It's too much to +believe--without proof!" + +"Assuredly," agreed his companion; "no one would believe it without +proof--absolute proof." Then he leaned closer. "To me he made no such +absurd claim, but from the way he talked--from his grandiose ideas, his +strange philosophy, his fabulous hopes for humanity--I formed the +opinion that the man is mad--not wholly mad, you understand, but +touched, in one corner of the brain, by a wild hallucination. His +daughter, naturally, believes in him. She is a most attractive girl. +Polish women are always attractive, at least when they are young. There +is, in their faces, in their eyes, an appearance of tragedy, of mystery, +which piques the imagination. And they are all great patriots--it is +born in the blood--oh, far greater patriots than the men. I have +travelled in Poland," he added, seeing Dan's glance; "my business +sometimes calls me there." + +"And is there really such oppression as Miss Vard described?" + +"I do not know what she told you--it was only at the end she raised her +voice; but she could not exaggerate the sufferings of her people. They +are little better than slaves. All careers are closed to them, and over +them constantly is the shadow of Siberia." + +"You mean they are banished sometimes?" + +"They are banished often--for one year, two years, three years. And they +are compelled to walk to and from the place of banishment. It takes a +year sometimes. I knew a man who returned home one day to find a Cossack +attacking his daughter. There was a struggle, and the Cossack shot the +man in the leg. The wound festered and the leg was amputated; then the +man was sentenced to the mines at Yakutsk. It was I know not how many +thousand miles--it took him two years to walk there on his wooden +leg--walking, walking every day." + +Dan felt a strange weakness running through his veins. + +"But is there no way to put an end to such things?" he asked. + +Chevrial rolled himself another cigarette. + +"Poland has no friends," he answered. "She has been forgotten. The Poles +themselves have come to be regarded as fools, as charlatans, as +irresponsible children. France was supposed to be the friend of Poland; +Napoleon promised to reconstitute her, and the Poles fought by thousands +in his armies and won many victories for him. Then came the campaign of +Russia and ended all that. To-day, Poland is remembered in France only +by a proverb, '_Saoul comme un Polonais_,' 'Drunk as a Pole.' It is so +we think of them, when we think of them at all, which is not often. This +disdain, this forgetfulness, has been carefully fostered by Germany and +Russia. No one thinks it worth while to interfere. Besides, Poland's lot +is that of every conquered country. In Alsace-Lorraine it is just the +same." + +"Oh, surely not!" Dan protested. "Germany, at least, has no Siberia!" + +"No, she has no Siberia," Chevrial agreed, "but neither has she a sense +of humour, and that is worse! The very worst trait in a conqueror, M. +Webster, believe me, is an absence of the sense of humour! And Germany +has the strongest prisons in the world. Her system of espial is even +more minute and irritating than that of Russia. As in Poland, the people +of Alsace and Lorraine may not speak their native tongue nor study the +history of their fatherland. Nothing escapes suspicion. It is reported +that at a certain cafe the accounts are kept in French; the cafe is +thereupon visited, the books confiscated, and a fine imposed. A certain +gentleman goes to Nancy on the fourteenth of July, which happens to be +the date of the French national fete; he is reported as suspect and his +premises are visited and searched. The police, passing the house of a +notary one evening, hear some one singing the Marseillaise; they demand +admittance and arrest the notary, although it was a phonograph which had +been singing the song. This is adjudged a very serious case." + +"Do you mean to tell me," Dan demanded, "that such things actually +occur?" + +The ghost of a smile flitted across Chevrial's lips. + +"Not those precise cases, perhaps," he said; "but cases very like +them--cases not a whit less ridiculous. And can you wonder that Germany +finds Alsace and Lorraine restless? Do you wonder that our hearts ache +for our compatriots? Do you wonder that we dream of the day when we may +remove those mourning wreaths from the statue of Strasbourg in the Place +de la Concord?" + +He fell silent a moment, then shrugged his shoulders resignedly. + +"But I grow too serious," he continued. "Perhaps, some day, Poland will +be freed, Alsace-Lorraine returned to France; yes," and here he glanced +at Dan with a dry smile, "and the people of the Philippines given their +independence. Indeed, this M. Vard believes that day to be close at +hand. Let us hope so. Which reminds me that I have to-day seen neither +him nor his daughter." + +"Nor have I," Dan admitted. "I thought perhaps they had some work to do, +and so had not come on deck." + +"They may be there now," said Chevrial, and led the way to the forward +end of the boat-deck, where, leaning against the rail, they could look +down upon the promenade below. + +Every one was on deck, walking up and down, revelling in the fresh air, +with its tang of salt, and in the soft sunshine; but, though Dan and +Chevrial stood for some time looking down, neither Miss Vard nor her +father passed. Then Chevrial, whose attention had wandered, uttered a +little exclamation, and caught Dan by the arm. + +"See there!" he said. + +He was pointing forward to the first-class promenade, which was also +crowded, and Dan, following the direction of his gesture, saw, amid the +crowd, a white-haired man and dark-haired girl walking side by side, +deep in talk. He looked again, scarcely able to believe his eyes; but +there was no mistaking them--they were Miss Vard and her father. + +He drew a deep breath of wonder and perplexity. How came they among the +first-class passengers? But perhaps they had merely been to see the +purser, and were now on their way back. No; they had passed the gangway. +In another moment, they turned back along the other side of the +promenade and were lost to sight. + +Only then did Dan look up. He found Chevrial smiling sardonically. + +"But what does it mean?" he asked. + +Chevrial pursed his lips. + +"I do not know," he answered, with a little shrug, "unless some one +beside myself heard Miss Vard's story, last night, and has caused her to +be placed where she may be more easily kept under surveillance. Oh, +there was some story trumped up, depend upon it, so that she would not +suspect. No doubt she will also be given the opportunity to make certain +friends among her new shipmates, in whom she may also confide. It will +be delicately done; oh, so delicately!" + +It might have occurred to Dan that M. Chevrial seemed, for a +wine-merchant, surprisingly familiar with affairs of state and the +methods of the secret service; but, for the moment, his whole mind was +concentrated on Miss Vard's danger. + +"I must warn her," he breathed. + +"I believe it would be wise," said Chevrial, in the same tone. "She +should make friends with no one--confide in no one. Her position is very +serious." And then, as Dan started from the rail, he caught his arm. +"Not now," he said. "Wait until to-night. It would be too apparent if +you were to rush up there in open day. And before you do speak, make +sure that there is no one within twenty feet of you--and then speak in a +whisper!" + +"Thank you," said Dan; "you are right, of course." And he went slowly +back to the bench. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A CHARGE TO KEEP + + +When Dan Webster took his seat at the dinner table, that evening, he +found a printed copy of the passenger-list beside his plate, and his +neighbours were a-flutter with the excitement of seeing their names in +type. Dan, turning to the letter V, found that the names of Ignace Vard +and his daughter were not there. Doubtless the change from second-class +to first was responsible for the omission, and yet, at the back of his +mind was a vague feeling of uneasiness which he was wholly unable to +explain. Chevrial had impressed him, and yet one objection to that +gentleman's misgivings seemed to him unanswerable: if the Vards had been +changed from second-class to first with any ulterior object, the +authorities in charge of the ship must be in the plot, and that was +manifestly absurd. + +Yet his determination to seek Miss Vard at the first moment and advise +her to be cautious did not waver. He knew, from the printed +announcements of the company, that the first-cabin dinner was not a +table-d'hote served at a fixed hour, as in the second-cabin, but an a la +carte meal, served from six to nine, as at a fashionable restaurant; so +he loitered restlessly about for half an hour after he left the table; +then, deciding that he had waited long enough, he approached the ladder +which led to the first-class promenade. But a uniformed figure which +stood at the foot of the ladder stopped him. + +"Beg pardon, sir," it said, "are you first-class?" + +"No; I am second." + +"Did you wish to see the purser or some officer of the ship?" + +"No; I wished to _see_ one of the passengers." + +"In that case, I fear I cannot let you pass, sir. It is against the +rules." + +"Oh, is it?" said Dan, all his suspicions revived with double force, and +he bit his lip in perplexity. + +"I am sorry, sir; but I am here to enforce the rules." + +"Oh, I understand," said Dan. + +"You might get your stateroom steward to take a message," the man +suggested. + +"But I want to _see_ the person." + +"The person can come to you. There is no rule against first-class +visiting second. First-class has the run of the ship." + +"I see," said Dan. "Thank you," and he went away to think it over. + +Mechanically he threaded his way through the crowd on the promenade, +climbed up to the boat-deck, and sat down on the well-remembered bench. +Some of the others were occupied, but this one was empty; perhaps the +others were becoming as dear to other people as this one was to him! He +got out his pipe, lighted it, pulled his cap over his eyes, thrust his +hands deep into his pockets, and began to think. + +He could, of course, write Miss Vard a brief warning; but what assurance +had he that it would be delivered to her, at least without being opened? +If Chevrial was right, if she was really under espionage, any +communication addressed to her would certainly be inspected. Even to +write merely asking her to meet him would arouse suspicion. There was +only one way--he must watch for a chance to steal forward into +first-class when no one was looking. + +He considered the possible ways of doing this. In the morning, he knew, +the folding gate which divided the lower promenade into first and second +class was always swung back while the deck was being washed down. It +would be easy to pass then; but, he reflected, in the daytime he had +never noticed that a guard was stationed at the ladder leading to the +upper promenade. Perhaps it was only at night that the prohibition was +in force--at night, when the women of the first-cabin had their diamonds +on! There must, of course, be some police supervision of the ship; each +class must be kept to its own quarters, or, at least, prevented from +wandering into quarters higher up. But, just the same, he must get past! + +He rose, and, walking to the forward rail, looked across at the other +deck. A space of perhaps thirty feet separated it from the one on which +he stood. Then he looked down. The man on guard was pacing slowly back +and forth, his hands behind him; but suddenly he quickened his step, for +two men had approached the foot of the ladder. The guard stopped them +with the same formula he had used with Dan. + +"Beg pardon, gentlemen," he said, "are you first-class?" + +"No; we are second-class," answered one of the men. + +"Have you business with the purser or any officer of the ship?" + +There was a moment's hesitation. + +"Why do you ask?" queried one of the men. + +"It is forbidden to pass otherwise." + +Again there was a moment's hesitation, and Dan strained his ears to +catch the reply. + +"We have business with the Commander," said one of the men at last, in a +low tone. + +The guard was obviously surprised. + +"The Commander is very busy," he said, deprecatingly. "Perhaps to-morrow +will do." + +"To-morrow will not do," was the curt answer. + +"I must, at least, announce you," said the guard. "May I have your +card?" + +A card was produced and handed to him. Without looking at it, he blew a +sharp blast on a little whistle which hung about his neck. In a moment +another man in uniform appeared at the head of the ladder. The guard +mounted and handed him the card. + +"For the Captain," he said, and came down again. "I regret that I must +detain you, gentlemen," he added, "but I must obey the regulations." + +"Certainly," agreed one of the men, and they stepped a little apart and +stood talking together in low tones. But almost immediately the +messenger appeared again at the top of the ladder. + +"The Captain will receive you, gentlemen," he said, and swung open the +gate and waited for them to pass. Then he closed the gate and hurried +after them. Dan could see them going along the upper promenade; then +they passed from sight. + +The guard had stared after them as they climbed the ladder, and he stood +staring for some little time after they had gone. Plainly he was much +astonished. But at last, with a shake of the head, he turned away and +resumed his walk. + +Dan was about to turn away, too, when another incident attracted his +attention. A barefooted sailor in white duck, coming from the stern of +the ship, climbed to the rail, tested the rope holding the canvas +windshield, and then, as the guard turned away, grasped a stanchion of +the railing above his head and drew himself up quickly to the first +promenade. Dan, looking after him, saw him run rapidly up the ladder to +the forward boat-deck and disappear behind a life-boat. + +That was a way, certainly, to evade the guard. Dan measured the distance +from the rail to the upper deck, and wondered if he could pull himself +up as quickly as the sailor had. He would have to be quick, or the guard +would see him. And it was quite an athletic feat. Besides, he would be +handicapped by his shoes; he might easily slip off the rail and over the +side. No, that road was too dangerous, except as a last resort. Besides, +if he were caught, it would be very awkward. + +He returned to his bench and sat down again. After all, was there really +any reason why he should warn Miss Vard? The whole thing was, most +probably, nothing but a bit of rhodomontade on Chevrial's part. And who +was Chevrial, anyway? How did it happen that he was so familiar with +spies and secret services and systems of espionage? A most peculiar +wine-merchant. Perhaps he was not a wine-merchant; perhaps.... + +"A penny for your thoughts, Mr. Webster," said a low voice, and some one +sat down beside him. + +He turned with a violent start. + +"Kasia!" he cried, and then stopped, stammering. "I beg your pardon, +Miss Vard," he said, also lowering his voice. "You startled me so!" + +As she met his glance, he saw how bright her eyes were. She had thrown a +wrap about her and drawn the hood over her head. Against it, her face +looked very white. + +"I think you may call me Kasia," she said softly. "You see, I need a +friend, and I should hate to have a friend call me anything else. No," +she added, as he started to say something, "I shall continue to call you +Mr. Webster--that is not quite the same thing. And I am sorry I startled +you." + +"It was because I was thinking of you. I have been thinking of you all +day. I tried to go to you, just now. I had something to tell you. But +the guard at the ladder stopped me." + +He looked around to make sure that there was no one near. + +"He didn't stop _me_," she said. + +"No; first-class passengers have the run of the ship. How does it +happen that you are first-class, Kasia?" + +It was the first time that he had used the word with intention, and his +voice trembled a little over it. + +She told him rapidly of the odour which had suddenly developed in her +former stateroom, and how the ship's people had finally been compelled +to transfer her and her father to the first-cabin. + +"Oh, to quite sumptuous quarters," she went on; "you should see them. +Two bedrooms and a sitting-room and bath--an imperial suite. There are +no places left at the tables, so our meals are served in our +sitting-room, as though we were royalties. I'm afraid our tips will have +to be something enormous! I can't but feel that the steamship company is +getting very much the worst of it. Both father and I offered to continue +eating second-class, but the Captain wouldn't hear of it. He seems to +think, poor man, that the odour has disgraced his boat. He was quite +humble about it!" + +Dan breathed a deep sigh of relief. + +"I'm glad it's so simple," he said. "I had begun to imagine all sorts of +things. Last night, when we were talking here, it happened that my +roommate, a fellow named Chevrial, was sitting on that bench yonder, and +overheard a little of our talk. He was quite solemn with me this +afternoon about it." + +"In what way?" asked Kasia, quickly. + +"He said there are always spies on board these big boats, and that you +oughtn't to go around talking about blowing up battleships--not at this +time, anyway, since it is only three or four days since a French ship +was blown up." + +He could hear the startled breath she drew, and the hand she laid on his +sleeve was trembling. + +"Did he say that?" she gasped. "But he doesn't suspect--" + +"That your father blew up _La Liberte_?" laughed Dan. "Of course not. He +said that was absurd. But, just the same, he thought it unwise to talk +about it." + +"He is right," Kasia agreed. "What else did he say?" + +"He seemed to think your being moved to first-class was part of a plot +of some kind, and thought you ought to be warned not to make any +acquaintances or confide in any one. But of course that was just his +imagination. If the Captain himself moved you why that settles it. He +wouldn't be concerned in any plot. The whole thing, anyway, sounds like +a bit of ten-twenty-thirty. I told Chevrial so." + +"Who is this Chevrial?" asked Miss Vard. + +"I don't know. He told me he was a dealer in wine. He seems to have +travelled a lot, and he is certainly a well-educated fellow, and one of +the best talkers I ever met. A Frenchman all through, from the way he +got worked up over Alsace-Lorraine. He said it was as bad as Poland. But +I suspect he was letting his Gallic imagination run away with him when +he got on the subject of spies." + +"I am not so sure of that," she said, and fell silent for a moment. "I +have seen more of spies than have you, Mr. Webster--I know how Europe is +honeycombed with them. At any rate, it can do no harm to follow his +advice. Please make sure that there is no one near us. I have something +most important to say to you." + +Dan glanced at her in surprise; then he got up, looked behind the boat +in whose shadow the bench stood, and made a careful survey of their +surroundings. Then he sat down again. + +"There is no one near," he assured her. + +"Mr. Webster," she began, leaning so close that a tendril of her hair +brushed his cheek, and speaking in a voice that was almost a whisper, "I +told you that I had need of a friend. It is a desperate need. I may rely +upon you, may I not?" + +For answer, he sought her hand, found it and held it fast. It was very +cold. + +"I was sure of it," she said, and her fingers closed upon his. "I knew, +in my first glance at you, that you were to be counted on." + +Dan's heart was glowing and he could not trust himself to speak. + +"My need is this," she went on rapidly, as though, having nerved herself +to speak, she must hurry through with it before her resolution failed. +"My father has perfected an invention--oh, a great invention--which he +fears some one may try to steal from him. He has many enemies who would +stop at nothing to gain possession of it. Even on this boat, perhaps, +there are some of them--he does not know; there is no way that he can +tell; but he is very anxious. For eight years he laboured at this +invention, and at last it is finished. But if some one should steal his +model, all this would be for nothing--for worse than nothing. It is not +a money loss he fears--this invention will not bring him money--but his +whole life would be wrecked--all his plans, all his hopes. To-day he +agreed with me that this model should be destroyed; he put it in my hand +and he expected me to drop it into the sea. But I was afraid to do that; +perhaps he could not make another. It is so complicated, so delicate, +perhaps he would go wrong. So I thought and thought--I thought if I had +a friend whom I could trust absolutely, whom no one would suspect of +possessing it, I might entrust it to him...." + +Dan's pressure on her hand grew stronger. + +"Give it to me," he said. + +Kasia gazed into his eyes for a moment, as though reading his very soul; +then her other hand came forward under her cloak and touched his. He +felt that it held a package; and he took it quickly and slipped it into +the pocket of his coat. + +"Now it is safe," he said. "You are not to worry about it any more." + +She breathed a deep sigh of relief. + +"But you must make me two promises," she said. + +"What are they?" + +"You must permit no one, under any circumstances, to open that package." + +"I promise." + +"Rather than do that, rather than permit any one to see it, you must +destroy it--throw it overboard, stamp upon it--destroy it in some way." + +"I promise." + +"No matter who may be trying to get it--the Captain of this ship, an +officer of the police--it must make no difference." + +"I promise." + +She leaned back against the seat, suddenly relaxed as from a great +strain, and closed her eyes. But she did not draw her hand away. Then +she opened her eyes and looked at him, and her lips were quivering. An +immense longing to take her in his arms, to stoop and kiss those lips, +to hold her close to him, rushed through the man's veins. But he held +himself back. To do that would be base; to do that would be asking +payment! He could not do that. But sometime, sometime.... + +She saw the change in his face, sat for an instant very still, then drew +her hand away, got out her handkerchief and passed it across her eyes. + +"Now we can talk," she said, in another tone. "You may choose the +subject." + +Dan pulled himself together. + +"Oh, any subject will do," he laughed. "Ships or shoes or +sealing-wax--just so you do the talking." + +And he got out his pipe and filled it with trembling fingers. He was +absurdly happy. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE FIRST CONFERENCE + + +In the Captain's cabin, meanwhile, another conference was going forward, +and one of a very different character from that on the after boat-deck. +The curtains had been carefully drawn, and three men sat facing each +other. They were Ignace Vard, Pachmann, and the young man whom he +addressed habitually as "Prince." Vard was on the divan in the corner of +the room, the others lounged in two luxuriously upholstered chairs which +had been wheeled in front of the divan. Their attitudes suggested +careless unconcern, but their eyes were glowing with repressed +excitement. Cigars and liqueurs were on a table between them, and the +air was blue with smoke. + +The Captain had been chatting with a group of passengers when Pachmann's +card was handed to him, but, after a glance at it, he excused himself at +once. + +"Show the gentlemen to my cabin," he said to the messenger, and himself +hastened to it. There, a moment later, Pachmann and the Prince appeared. + +"It is necessary that we have a conference to-night," said Pachmann, +"with this Ignace Vard. It must be in a room where we cannot by any +possibility be overheard." + +"It is, I suppose, an affair of state?" asked the Captain. + +"Yes; of the first importance." + +"My cabin, then, is at your disposal." + +"Thank you, sir," said Pachmann. "There could be no better place. I was +hoping that you would offer it." + +"You will understand, sir," Hausmann went on, stroking his beard +nervously, "that an explanation of all this will have to be made to my +company." + +"I will see that a satisfactory explanation is made, sir," Pachmann +assented. + +The Captain nodded his relief. + +"That is what I desire. I will have Vard brought to you," he said, +saluted and withdrew. + +He sent a messenger for the inventor, waited until he had entered, and +then summoned a sailor and posted him as a sentry outside the door, with +instructions to permit no one else to enter or even knock. Then he had +another man stretch a rope across the deck some twenty feet abaft the +door; and finally mounted thoughtfully to the bridge, considerably to +the surprise of his subordinates, and spent the whole evening there, +pacing slowly back and forth with an appearance of restlessness the +other officers could not understand, for the weather was very fine and +the barometer high and steady. + +In the cabin below the conference proceeded. + +"It is as well, Mr. Vard," Pachmann was saying, "that we should +understand each other. The Prince and myself are here as the direct +personal representatives of the Emperor, who has given us his fullest +confidence and the most complete authority. Any agreement we may make +with you, he will recognise as binding. It was a condition of yours, I +believe, that you would meet only with persons so empowered." + +"I should have preferred to treat with the Emperor himself," said Vard. + +"You could scarcely expect him to make this trip to America," Pachmann +pointed out, with a smile. "If you had been content to go to Berlin...." + +"That was impossible," Vard broke in. "It was stipulated that the treaty +should be signed in America, and the Emperor agreed." + +"And we are here to carry out that agreement," Pachmann added. "But +before we proceed to a consideration of it, I will outline the progress +of affairs to the present moment, in order that the Prince may be +thoroughly familiar with the matter. If I am mistaken in any detail, +please correct me." + +Vard nodded, and lay back in his seat, watching the smoke from his +cigar, as it wreathed itself toward the ceiling. + +"About the middle of July," Pachmann began, "Mr. Vard called on Count +Eulenberg, the Chief Marshall of the Imperial Court, and asked for a +private audience with the Emperor. The request was so preposterous that +the Count was astounded when Mr. Vard persisted in it. After that he was +shadowed night and day, his lodgings were searched, his mail opened, and +the police authorities were about to expel him from the country as a +dangerous person, when something still more astonishing happened. With +incredible good fortune, Mr. Vard had in some way managed to secure an +audience with Admiral von Tirpitz, Secretary for the Navy; two days +later, a secret audience was arranged, at which the Emperor was present. +At the request of Admiral von Tirpitz, I was also present, in my +capacity as Chief of the Wireless Service. + +"At this conference Mr. Vard stated that he had discovered a principle, +or invented an apparatus, by which he could explode the magazines of a +fort or battleship at any distance up to five miles, and that he +believed the perfection of the invention would greatly increase its +range. This new principle, which worked in conjunction with the ordinary +wireless, was something against which there was no way to guard, since +it penetrated both wood and metal. Every ship, every army, every fort +was at the mercy of the man controlling it. If a single nation +controlled it, that nation would become mistress of the world; if it was +common to all nations, war, as we know it, would be impossible. + +"Mr. Vard went on to say that it was not his purpose to make this +discovery the property of a single nation. His purpose was to render war +so impossible that all nations would consent to universal disarmament, +and enter into an agreement for universal peace. He had come to Germany +first, he said, because she was the greatest of the armed nations, and +if she agreed to his proposal, the example would be very great. His +proposal was that he would prove that he was able to do everything he +claimed, in any way that Germany might prescribe; in the event of his +success, Germany was to sign an agreement to disarm, was to secure the +signature of Russia and such other nations as she could influence, and +this alliance was then to force the agreement of all other nations; the +navies and coast defences of such nations as would not agree to be blown +to pieces and their consent compelled." + +Pachmann paused for a moment and wiped his glistening forehead. + +"Am I stating your proposal correctly, Mr. Vard?" he asked. + +The inventor nodded, without lowering his eyes from the ceiling. + +"I need not say with what astonishment we listened to this extraordinary +proposal," Pachmann continued. "It seemed impossible that any merely +human brain should have been able to work out the details of a plan so +stupendous. But it impressed the Emperor; it impressed all of us. We +held other conferences, and it was finally agreed that, before we went +further, Mr. Vard should give us the proof he had suggested. The test to +which he finally consented was to be a conclusive one. He was to blow up +a French battleship in Toulon harbour. As his funds were limited, we +agreed to bear the expense of the experiment and to reimburse him for +the apparatus which he would have to leave behind. If he succeeded, we +would be ready to treat definitely with him; two commissioners, with +full powers from the Emperor, would accompany him to America, where such +treaty as might finally be agreed upon would be signed. Am I right so +far, Mr. Vard?" + +The inventor had lowered his eyes and was looking at the speaker keenly. + +"Yes," he said, "except that you should add that it was distinctly +understood that the treaty was to be one for universal disarmament, and +that Germany was to do everything in her power to secure the consent of +all other nations." + +"You are right," agreed Pachmann, readily. "That was to be the general +purpose of the treaty. It was only its details we were to discuss--the +exact manner in which this end could best be accomplished." + +The Prince had been listening intently, and at the words, his eyes and +Pachmann's met. Vard was again gazing at the ceiling. + +"On the twentieth of this month," Pachmann continued, "Admiral von +Tirpitz received from Mr. Vard, in a code agreed upon, a telegram +stating that the test would occur at daylight on Monday the +twenty-fifth." He paused for a moment, then went on more slowly. "At +that hour, a companion and myself were on the harbour-front of Toulon; +and at that hour _La Liberte_ was indeed destroyed." + +He stopped, his eyes on the inventor's face. Vard met his glance without +flinching. + +"Understand," he said, in a low tone, "that I am no monster, that I +recognise the sacredness of human life. The test proposed was yours, not +mine; I protested against it, and I consented at last because I saw that +you would with nothing else be satisfied. But for the destruction of +that ship, you will have to atone; to those men who were killed a great +monument shall be built; they shall be recognised by all the world as +heroes and martyrs; their families shall weep for them, indeed, but with +tears of joy and pride. To banish war from the world those men laid +down their lives, even as I would lay down mine--even as any brave man +would--gladly, eagerly!" + +His eyes were shining, and the Prince, looking at him, felt himself +shaken by a strange emotion. But across Pachmann's lips flitted an +ironical smile, as of one who disdained heroics. + +"For the decision as to _La Liberte_," he said, "I assume full +responsibility. It was I who suggested it; it was I who showed that no +other proof could be conclusive; it was I who arranged for it. I have no +regrets. You have your part of the bargain accomplished, Mr. Vard," he +added. "His Highness and myself are here to accomplish ours. We are +ready to discuss the details of the treaty." + +"I think that first, perhaps, I should look at your credentials," Vard +suggested. + +"That is just," and Pachmann, getting out his pocket-book, took from it +the envelope sealed with the black seal, and handed it to Vard. + +Vard took it, glanced at the seal, and hesitated, just as the captain of +the _Ottilie_ had done. + +"I am to open it?" he asked. + +Pachmann nodded. + +"It contains my credentials," he said. + +A careful inspection of the seal would have disclosed the fact that the +envelope had already been opened once--perhaps more than once--but Vard +made no such inspection. Instead, he broke the seal with nervous +fingers, and drew out the stiff sheet blazing with the Royal insignia. +This is the English of what he read: + + "Herewith do I grant to the bearer of this paper, Admiral H. + Pachmann, power extraordinary as my representative, to enter + into agreements, to make treaties, and to sign the same; and + I do further declare that I shall consider myself bound by + such agreements and signatures as though I myself had made + them; and, finally, I command all members of my family, all + officers of my army and navy, all members of my diplomatic + corps, and all good Germans generally, to yield to him the + same obedience they would yield to me; all this for the good + of my Empire. + + "Signed, + + "WILLIAM, R. I. + WILHELMSHOeHE, September 21, 1911." + +Vard re-read this extraordinary paper, then replaced it in its envelope +and silently returned it to its owner. Again that ironical smile flashed +across Pachmann's lips, as he restored it to his pocket-book. + +"You find it ample, do you not?" he asked. + +Vard nodded, and glanced curiously at the Prince, wondering if that +young man was aware of the exact wording of this remarkable document, +especially of the clause, "all members of my family." + +"And now," proceeded Pachmann, adjusting himself to an easier posture, +"we shall be glad to hear the further details of your proposal." + +Vard paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. + +"There is one thing I would understand first," he said. "From that +paper, I infer that the Emperor alone is concerned in this--that his +cabinet is not aware of it." + +"No member of the cabinet except one--whom I will not name," assented +Pachmann. "I will not conceal from you that the Emperor is desirous of +reaping for himself the full glory of this achievement. He realises that +the man who brings about world-peace will be the most famous man in +history. He has his ambitions, as you doubtless know." + +"Yes, I have heard so," said Vard, with an ironic smile. "Well, let him +have the glory--I do not object; besides, he will deserve it. And now +for my proposal. It is this: the nations of the world, with Germany and +Russia as the first signatories, shall enter into a treaty providing for +the immediate disbanding of their armies, dismantling of their forts, +and disintegrating of their fleets. Only such troops shall be retained +as are needed to provide garrisons for such outposts as may be necessary +to protect the Christian world from the incursion of barbarous or +nomadic tribes, and only such warships as are needed to assist in this +work. The exact number each nation shall maintain will be decided by a +general court of adjudication, and all such troops and warships shall be +in common; and all expenditures for what are usually known as military +purposes shall be in common, apportioned by the same court of +adjudication among the nations which are party to the agreement. Under +no circumstances may any nation maintain any force privately or for its +own use." + +"I am interested to know," put in Pachmann, smoothly, "in what manner +you propose to secure the consent of the various nations to this scheme. +The smaller ones will doubtless be glad to fall into line; but you +surely do not expect England and France, for example, to agree merely +because we ask it!" + +"To those who do not consent," Vard answered calmly, "we will give a +demonstration of the necessity for doing so." + +"Some such demonstration as that of Monday?" + +"Yes--greater ones, if need be." + +Pachmann considered this thoughtfully. + +"It might do," he said, at last. "A few such demonstrations would no +doubt be convincing. Yet there might be one or two which would be +obdurate." + +"I think, in the end, we can convince them." + +"You will go to any lengths to do so?" + +"To any necessary lengths." + +Pachmann nodded. + +"I was desirous of getting a clear expression from you upon that point," +he said. "Pray continue." + +"I do not believe there will be many such nations," Vard went on. "You +have spoken of France and England. I believe France will consent, for +she is a nation of idealists. I should have chosen her to lead the +movement, but for the fact that her army and navy are inferior to yours, +and so she might seem to be acting from fear or from self-interest. +Should you refuse--should we be unable to agree--it will be to France I +shall go next. As for England, she also fears you--she will be glad to +escape from the burden of her armaments and from the shadow of your +great power. In fact all nations in whose governments the people have a +voice will be eager for disarmament. And the people everywhere must be +allowed to speak. If those in power seek to crush them, to restrain +them, we must assist them to throw off the yoke of tyranny and decide +for themselves." + +"Ah," said Pachmann, very quietly. "Socialism--I see!" + +"The rule of the people," said Vard, calmly. "The freedom of the +people--call it what you will. That is what I labour for. The people of +each nation must be free to choose by whom and in what manner they will +be governed. That evolution will, of course, take many years; but it +must not be cramped or retarded. At the very outset, it will make two +considerable changes in the map of Europe. Poland will be reconstituted +and Alsace-Lorraine restored to France." + +Pachmann started violently, and a wave of angry red swept over his face. + +"Impossible!" he cried. "Impossible! To that we can never consent!" + +Vard smiled at his emotion. + +"Why not?" he asked, ironically. + +"Because," shouted Pachmann, "Elsass and Lorraine are German--they were +stolen from Germany by France two centuries ago." + +"They were not German--they were independent states; and they are not +German now. They are French. However, I am quite willing to leave the +final decision to the people of those provinces. You cannot object to +that!" + +Pachmann shifted his cigar from one corner of his mouth to the other. +His face was livid. + +"Beware that you do not attempt too much, my dear sir," he said, and +there was in his voice a covert threat not to be disguised. "I warn you. +But, in this connection, some other questions occur to me. What of +Ireland?" + +"The Irish shall decide." + +"South Africa?" + +"Most of it belongs to the Boers." + +"That, at least, is a grain of comfort. But India, Egypt?" + +"I cannot answer that. India and Egypt must be made the subjects of +careful study and the government given them which will be best for their +peoples, and which will not drain them of their wealth, as England does. +There will be many such problems, and the best minds of the world must +study them. My answers to your questions are but suggestions. All such +problems must be settled by an international court, which shall proceed +upon the theory that all peoples capable of self-government shall have +absolute freedom, and all other peoples shall be made capable of +governing themselves as rapidly as possible. Each people shall be free +to decide for itself as to its form of government, but shall be required +to pledge itself to the principle of universal peace. That pledge will +be necessary only at first--after fifty years of peace, no nation will +ever think of war! I know that, for a generation or two, there will be +difficulties. We have grown suspicious of each other; we have become +hardened by hatred and injustice. But time will change all that. Let us +lay down our arms, disband our armies, restore what we have stolen, and, +instead of hatred, we shall find love in our hearts. Instead of +oppression, we shall have justice, tempered with mercy. Each man will +have his work to do, and none who works will go hungry; and we will end +by becoming citizens, not of Germany, France, or of any other country, +but of the world! I tell you, sir, that our great-grandchildren, looking +back at us from a world at peace and united in brotherhood, will wonder +at us--we shall seem to them blind savages, murderers, lunatics!" + +It was evident enough that the Prince was moved. He was young, he had +always been something of a dreamer. Rigid training at his father's hands +had gone far to dispel the dreams, but they were not quite rooted out. +Now, at the words of this supreme idealist, this inspired dreamer, they +revived again. He sat regarding the speaker with misty eyes, his mouth a +little open, his hands gripped in front of him. Pachmann, glancing at +him, passed his hands before his lips to wipe away a sneer. + +"All most interesting," commented the Admiral, in his ironical voice. "I +think that we understand your proposal fully. There is only one point +upon which you have not made yourself quite clear. Should we be unable +to agree, what will be your next step?" + +"I thought I had already told you," answered Vard, impatiently. "Should +we disagree, I shall offer France the same opportunity which I now offer +Germany." + +"You will find France sceptical." + +"Then I shall offer her the same proof I offered you. That will be just, +will it not?" and Vard looked straight into Pachmann's eyes. + +Pachmann sprang from his chair, his mouth working, his eyes suffused. + +"You will destroy one of our ships?" he demanded, his voice hoarse. + +"A ship or a fort--it shall be for France to choose." + +Pachmann's fingers were twitching visibly to be at the other's throat. +But by a mighty effort he controlled himself, flung himself again into +his chair and poured himself out a glass of brandy from the bottle at +his elbow. + +"Will you drink?" he asked, over his shoulder. + +"No, thank you," answered Vard. + +The Prince sat without moving, still staring at the inventor. Meeting +his eyes, Vard smiled slightly. + +Pachmann set down his glass, and turned back to them. + +"I must ask you to pardon me," he said. "I lost my self-control--a thing +I do not often do--but your suggestions seemed to me insupportable. +However, I can perceive that there is another side to them. I think we +understand your proposal now, most thoroughly. There are certain details +which the Prince and I must discuss together, before we can submit an +answer. In a matter of such moment, we must proceed with the greatest +care. This is Thursday. I think we can be ready by Saturday evening." + +"Very well," agreed Vard, rising. "The same hour, in this room?" + +"If that pleases you." + +"It does." + +He bowed coldly to Pachmann; then, with a sudden gesture, held out his +hand to the Prince. But Pachmann interposed before the Prince could take +it. + +"That I cannot permit," he said grimly, and he opened the door. + +A barefooted sailor, clad in white duck, standing on the deck outside, +saluted. Pachmann stood for a moment staring after Vard's retreating +figure; then he turned back into the room. The Prince was helping +himself to a drink, and Pachmann joined him. + +"Yes," he said, "this is what we need, after all that raving." + +"Would you call it that?" asked the Prince. + +"Raving? Yes, it was precisely that! The man is mad, my Prince; +absolutely mad. No one but a madman would speak as he does--of citizens +of the world, the brotherhood of man, and all that folly!" + +The Prince drained his glass. + +"I fear you are right," he said, as he set it down. "Yes, I fear you are +right, and that it is only folly!" + +"There is one thing you must not forget," added Pachmann, his hand on +the door; "since he is mad, it is as a madman he must be treated!" and +he led the way out upon the deck. + + * * * * * + +Somewhere in the dim hours of the night, Dan Webster was awakened by a +glare of light in his eyes. He opened them to find that the electric +lamp beside the wash-stand was burning. Peering over the edge of his +berth, he beheld a curious sight. Chevrial was sitting on his berth, +half undressed, examining tenderly one of his toes, and swearing softly +to himself. He glanced up, met Dan's astonished eyes, and laughed. + +"Man is a ridiculous animal," he said. "The feet with which he has been +provided are absurd--no doubt because they were really intended to be +hands. They are too sensitive, too undefended. Blundering around here in +the darkness, I have injured one of my toes, and it hurts devilishly. +Pardon me for awaking you, my friend. Good night!" + +He turned off the light, and Dan lay back upon his pillow, with strange +thoughts whirling in his head. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SUBSTITUTE SENTRY + + +Admiral Pachmann turned into his berth, that night, extremely +well-satisfied with himself, for he was convinced that the cards were in +his hands and the game as good as won. And what a game! For his King, +world-empire; for himself--but the Admiral did not permit himself to +name the reward. He knew well that he would not be forgotten when the +moment came for the distribution of honours. Was not the whole plan his? +Had he not worked it out to its minutest detail? Had he not carried it +through? And how adroitly, how triumphantly! Even the Emperor would have +to acknowledge that! + +Let us do the Admiral justice: he loved his country, he was ready at any +moment to lay down his life for her, he would have laboured just as +earnestly without hope of other reward than the sight of her +aggrandisement: but, just the same, when the honours came, he was not +one to refuse them! World-empire would mean governorships, +suzerainties.... + +He was lying in his berth next morning, half dozing, smiling to himself +as all this passed before his mind in august and glittering procession, +when there came a tap at the door. He got up, opened it, and a sealed +note was handed in. A glance at the other berth showed that the Prince +had already risen. Pachmann tore open the note and read its contents +with some astonishment. It was from the Captain, and asked for an +immediate conference on a matter of great importance. + +Pachmann dressed hastily, and, as he did so, considered whether he +should hunt up the Prince and summon him, also, to this conference. He +decided against it. He foresaw that in this affair there would be many +things which it would be unwise for the Prince to know--he had sat +staring like an idiot, last night, while the mad Pole raved about love +and mercy and universal brotherhood; he was too young, too easily +impressed, too soft of heart. He had agreed that victory must be won at +any price, but Pachmann very well knew that he had no idea of how +terrible that price was almost certain to be. No; the Prince must be +kept as much as possible on the borders of this affair! So, having +finished dressing, the Admiral went forward alone to the Captain's +cabin. + +He found the Captain sitting at his desk, and his face was so grave that +it gave Pachmann a little start. + +He rose and greeted the Admiral, and then glanced over the latter's +shoulder, as though expecting to see some one else. + +"You did not bring the Prince?" he asked. + +"Do you think it necessary?" retorted Pachmann, tartly. + +Hausmann hesitated. + +"I am not, of course, aware of your relative positions in this affair," +he said, finally. + +"The paper I showed you yesterday should have told you that," said +Pachmann quickly. "The affair has been in my hands from the first. The +Prince was sent along because his father wished to separate him from a +Berlin bar-maid." + +"Ah, so," said the Captain, without smiling. "I understand. Be seated." +He did not like Pachmann, and also, perhaps, he found the jesting +reference to the royal love affairs in bad taste. "A very strange thing +has occurred," he continued. "I stationed one of my men outside the +door, last night, in order that you might not be interrupted." + +"Yes," agreed the Admiral, "and he did his duty very well. We were not +interrupted." + +"He was found this morning, unconscious, in one of the boats on the +upper deck." + +Pachmann looked at the speaker in some surprise. + +"Well," he asked, "what of it? Some sailor's row." + +"I thought so too, at first. But he became conscious, just now, and +declares that he was struck down from behind." + +Pachmann shrugged his shoulders. + +"He is probably lying. In any event, it is of no concern to me. He was +on duty at the door when the conference closed." + +The Captain stared at him as though not understanding. + +"What is it you say?" he asked. + +"I say," repeated Pachmann, impatiently, "that he was on duty when we +left your cabin. What happened to him after that is of no importance." + +"At what hour did you leave?" asked the Captain, still staring. + +"About midnight. Why do you look at me like that?" + +"The man swears," said Hausmann, slowly, "that he was struck down soon +after you entered the cabin." + +Pachmann jumped in his chair. + +"He says that!" he gasped. "But that is impossible--he is lying!" + +"Perhaps you would wish to interrogate him?" Hausmann suggested. + +Pachmann nodded mutely, and the Captain touched a bell. + +"Send Schroeder here," he said to the man who answered. + +The man saluted and closed the door again, and the Captain and his +visitor sat looking at each other in silence. Both were disturbed; but +Pachmann was by far the more dismayed of the two. To his companion, it +was merely a fracture of the discipline of his ship; but to Pachmann it +was the end of the world! Try as he might to maintain his +self-composure, he could not stop the nervous trembling of his hands; +and from time to time he moistened his lips and swallowed with great +effort. He felt himself stricken to the heart; he scarcely dared permit +himself to think what it meant for him, for his King, for Germany, if +this man spoke the truth. + +And then the door opened and the man himself entered--a typical German +sailor, with bronzed countenance, and short curly brown beard, and +honest blue eyes--not too intelligent, but faithful, strong and +dependable. Yes, and honest--one could see that. He was barefooted and +clad in a suit of duck, which had been white originally but was now much +soiled. About his head was a bandage. He saluted and stood at attention, +while Pachmann looked him over. + +"Tell us what occurred last night," the Captain ordered. "Think +carefully and omit nothing." + +"There is not much to tell, sir," the man replied. "You yourself gave me +my orders. I was to stand out there, before the door, and prevent any +one knocking. To all who asked for you, I was to say that you were on +the bridge." + +The Captain nodded. + +"That is right," he said. "Continue." + +"You then went up to the bridge, and I took the station you had assigned +me. I did not know who was in the cabin, but I could hear voices." + +"Ah! cried Pachmann, with a frown. "You could hear voices! Could you +also hear words?" + +"I do not know, sir; I did not listen. I know better than to listen when +officers are talking." + +"Continue," said the Captain again. + +"I stood there for perhaps ten minutes. There were a few passengers +strolling about farther down the deck, but you had caused a rope to be +stretched across to prevent any one coming as far as your cabin." + +Again the Captain nodded. + +"Yes, I took that precaution, also," he said. + +"Then," concluded Schroeder, "something struck me a great blow on the +head, and I knew no more until I awoke to find the doctor working over +me." + +Pachmann looked at him searchingly for several minutes, but the man met +his gaze without flinching. + +"Are you sure that is all?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"You do not remember standing at the door, when it was opened, and +saluting the gentlemen who came out?" + +"No, sir; I remember nothing of that." + +"You say you were at the door only ten minutes?" + +"It may have been a little longer than that, sir; a very little." + +"Have you had a quarrel with any member of the crew?" + +"No, sir; I am on good terms with all of them." + +"Think carefully; is there not one who might have wished to revenge +himself?" + +But Schroeder shook his head decidedly. + +"It was no member of the crew, sir; not one of them is my enemy." + +"Then who was it?" Pachmann demanded. + +"That I cannot say, sir." + +"You heard nothing before the blow was struck?" + +"Nothing, sir; I have told you all I remember." + +"And you persist that you have no idea who struck the blow?" + +"I have not the slightest idea, sir." + +Pachmann looked at Schroeder again, and then turned away. + +"That is all," said the Captain; "and remember, you are to speak of this +to no one." + +"Yes, sir," said Schroeder, and withdrew. + +Pachmann took a turn about the cabin, frowning heavily. + +"What do you make of it?" he asked, at last. + +"It seems plain enough," Hausmann answered. "Some one knocked Schroeder +down and took his place at the door." + +"Yes, yes," said Pachmann, impatiently. "But who was it, and what was +his purpose?" + +"His purpose, also, seems clear to me," said the Captain, quietly. "He +wished to hear what was going on in my cabin." + +"He was a member of your crew," said Pachmann. "I saw him--he was +barefooted--he wore a uniform." + +"Did you see his face? Would you know him again?" + +Pachmann hesitated. + +"I fear not. He was standing in the shadow, and I was preoccupied and +barely glanced at him. I cannot even say that it was not Schroeder." + +"I do not believe it was any member of my crew," said the Captain. + +"Then who was it?" + +"That, of course, I cannot say. But why should one of my crew do such a +thing?" + +"There may be a traitor among them." + +"We know the history of every man. They are all good Germans. We are +very careful. But even if there was a traitor, how would he know of this +conference?" + +Pachmann threw up his hands with a gesture of despair, and dropped into +a chair. + +"How would any one know?" he demanded. "I mentioned it to no one but the +Prince and yourself. Vard himself did not know of it till I summoned +him." + +Hausmann looked at the speaker steadily. + +"I trust that you are not insinuating that it is I who am the traitor?" +he asked. + +"No, no," protested Pachmann hastily. "I tell you this in order that you +may realise how incredible this is to me. After all, it may have been a +member of the crew who knew nothing of the conference--who was there by +accident at the moment we came out." + +"I do not see," the Captain began, but a knock at the door stopped him. +"Come in!" he called, and the wardrobe-steward entered. "Well, what is +it?" + +"I have to report, sir," answered the steward, "that a suit of white +duck has been stolen." + +Hausmann could not refrain from casting a glance of triumph at the +Admiral. + +"When did you discover it?" he asked. + +"Only a few minutes ago, sir. I reported to the head-steward, and he +told me to come at once to you." + +"That was right. Do you know when it was stolen?" + +"Sometime during the night, sir. It had been washed and returned to me +yesterday evening not quite dry. I hung it before a ventilator and when +I went for it this morning, it was no longer there." + +"Very well," said the Captain. "I will investigate the matter," and the +steward left the cabin. Hausmann looked at his companion. "You see, it +was not one of the crew," he said. + +Pachmann was out of his chair and striding savagely up and down, his +self-control completely broken down. He had fancied himself quite safe, +and here he was tottering on the edge of an abyss. + +"It is evidently the work of a spy," added Hausmann, who, perhaps, was +not wholly displeased that the Admiral should have met with a reverse. +"There can be no doubt of it! We know that Lepine suspects something. +This is probably one of his men--and a most daring and resourceful one." + +"If that is true," said Pachmann, hoarsely, "he must not leave this ship +alive! We must find him. And we must watch the wireless. Every message +must be most carefully inspected." + +"I will see that that is done," Hausmann agreed. "But to find the +man--how do you propose to accomplish that?" + +"When do your officers start their examination of the passengers for the +immigration record?" + +"They can start at once, if you wish." + +"I do wish; and I wish also to be present." + +"Very well," agreed the Captain. "We will start immediately after +breakfast." + +"You could be of very great help, Captain," Pachmann added, "if you +would go over the passenger-list and check off the passengers with whom +you are personally acquainted. No doubt you know a great many of them?" + +"Yes; but the purser knows even more. Shall I ask him also to check the +list?" + +"If you will. It would save much time." + +"You will understand," said Hausmann, slowly, "that I feel I should know +more of this affair before I consent to take an active part in it; but I +can, at least, save the passengers whom I know, and who are friends of +mine, the annoyance of needless questioning. There is one thing more I +might do; there are also on board a few men who have crossed with me +before, but who, I am convinced, are not the gentlemen of wealth and +leisure they pretend to be. They may be only sharpers--or they may be +something else. In front of the name of each of them I will place a +cross." + +"Thank you," said Pachmann. + +"On one condition," added the Captain. "You said, but just now, that if +you discovered this person, you would not permit him to leave this boat +alive. That was an exaggeration, perhaps." + +"Not in the least!" answered Pachmann, hoarsely. "I myself will kill +him!" + +"My condition, then, is," said the Captain, "that you renounce that +project. I am willing that he should be detained and returned to +Germany. Further than that I will not go." + +Pachmann's fingers tapped the pocket of his coat. + +"No," added Hausmann, "not even for that paper!" + +Pachmann gazed at him a moment with distorted face. Then he nodded. + +"Very well," he said; "I consent. But it is you who take the +responsibility. I warn you that, if the man escapes, your career on the +sea will be at an end--you will find all Germany closed against you." + +"I will take the responsibility," said Hausmann, quietly. "You agree, +then?" + +"Yes, I agree," said Pachmann, and hurried away to get his breakfast. + +And all that day, he sat beside the assistant purser, while the +first-cabin passengers were called up, one by one, to make it clear that +they were entitled to land in America. The questions are always +searching, for the immigration laws are very strict and there are many +spaces to be filled in on the great blanks which the immigration bureau +furnishes; but that day they were more searching than ever--so far, at +least, as the male passengers were concerned. In the women, Pachmann did +not interest himself, for he took it for granted that no woman could +have struck Schroeder senseless with a single blow; but on every man he +directed the severest scrutiny. + +Even if the name had been checked by the Captain or purser on the list +he held in his hand, he never failed to satisfy himself by a few +questions; and the unfortunate possessors of the names before which a +cross appeared had reason to remember that interrogation all their +lives. With some three or four of them, the interrogation was continued +in private and even extended to a search of their belongings and a +scrutiny of every document in their possession; but, while some of them +were forced to confess at last that they were adventurers, gamblers, +with only such means of livelihood as their wits procured them, there +was nothing to show that any of them was the agent of any government. + +All day Saturday the examination was continued, and by dinner-time the +first-class list was completed, much to the relief of the passengers, +who came away from the interrogation with ruffled tempers and a feeling +of humiliation. All sorts of rumours were afloat among them. There was +an absconder on board, a murderer, a political refugee, an eloping +couple--the customs authorities had got wind of the fact that there was +a celebrated smuggler on board, and every passenger was to be searched +when he reached the pier--the rumours ran the gamut of all crimes and +all scandals, and made every one extremely uncomfortable, but none of +them touched the truth. + +And Pachmann had to confess himself, thus far, defeated. There remained +the second-class, and he determined to scrutinise it even more closely +than he had the first. The thought that he might fail, after all, +dismayed him. To fail meant disgrace--personal, irremediable disgrace; +it meant the betrayal of his Emperor; worse than that, in his failure +France would triumph! He trembled with anguish--not wholly for himself, +for he was a brave man and a patriot--but for his Fatherland. + +So Saturday evening came, and with it the hour of the second conference. + + * * * * * + +For the other personages of this story, those two days had been rather +eventless ones. The weather continued fine and the great ship ploughed +steadily westward. The passengers got to know each other; little cliques +were formed, centring about mutual acquaintances; there were +card-parties, dances, the inevitable concert, dinners in the cafe, the +usual pools, the usual night-long games of poker, the usual excitements +of passing ships and schools of dolphins--in a word, the usual +procession of trivial incidents which make up life on a great liner. + +But in this life, Ignace Vard and his daughter had no part. Their meals +were served in their sitting-room, so that they missed that great +acquaintance-maker, the dinner table. Kasia, remembering the warning she +had received, kept aloof from every one; and Vard's ironical manner was +enough to keep every one aloof from him. However he did not notice it, +for he had discovered, among the books in the library, three novels by +Mr. John Galsworthy, and they absorbed him. He had been looking through +the books rather hopelessly, when the title, "The Island Pharisees," had +caught his eye. He opened the book, read a page, took it to his room and +finished it at a sitting. Its irony expressed him precisely, and over +the letter of apology and adieu from the wandering Frenchman to the lady +of the manor he fairly wept with joy. After that came "Fraternity" and +"The Man of Property," so that for him the two days passed quickly. One +thing about these books he could not understand--that they should have +been written by an Englishman! + +Kasia did not return to the rendezvous on the after boat-deck. Something +held her back--an emotion of shyness new to her. But on Saturday +afternoon, Dan ran the blockade of the after companion-way, penetrated +brazenly to the first-class promenade, joined her where she stood +leaning against the rail, and led her away resolutely to a seat on the +upper deck. + +"Is this the way to treat an old friend?" he demanded. "Are you aware +that I sat for hours, last night...." + +She laid a warning finger on his sleeve. + +"We must not run any risk," she said, in a low tone. "No one must +suspect that we know each other." + +His face brightened. She had accepted the term "old friend," without +appearing surprised by it. + +"Was that the reason?" + +She nodded. + +"You _wanted_ to come?" + +Another nod. + +Dan breathed a long sigh of happiness. + +"That makes it all right," he said. "I forgive you. And after you're +ashore I may come to see you?" + +"Certainly you may!" + +"What is your address?" + +"Two hundred and ten West Sixty-fourth Street." + +He made a note of it. + +"May I come the first evening?" + +She laughed a delicious laugh--a laugh of pure joy. There was nothing of +the coquette about Kasia. She was all woman. + +"If you wish," she said. + +"Thank you--I _do_ wish. Besides, I shall have something to return to +you." + +"Hush!" she cautioned, with a frightened glance around. "Do not speak of +it. And I must be going. We must not sit here so long together." + +He sighed. + +"I suppose you are right," he agreed. "But every evening I shall sit on +a certain bench and think of you. And, remember, the first evening on +land is mine." + +"I shall remember." + +"Good-bye till then," he said, and rose. + +"Good-bye, my friend." + +Her eyes were shining. He dared not trust himself to look at them a +second time, but turned himself about, by main force, as it were, and +marched himself off, straight along the deck, down the ladder, and up +again to "a certain bench." + +And there, presently, M. Chevrial joined him, but for once Dan found +that witty Frenchman something of a bore. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE SECOND CONFERENCE + + +Again a rope was stretched across the forward promenade, and, for the +information of the curious, a sign attached to it bearing the single +word "Paint." Again a guard was stationed in front of the Captain's +cabin, but this time it consisted of two petty officers. Again the +Captain surprised his subordinates by mounting to the bridge, although +the night was clear and fine. They noticed that he was lost in thought, +and that he went often to the head of the ladder leading to the deck and +glanced down it. The second officer was on duty, and he took occasion to +look down, too, on one of his turns along the bridge, but all he could +see was a stretch of empty deck and two petty officers leaning against +the rail chatting together. The second officer wondered more and more at +his commander's uneasiness, and surreptitiously inspected the barometer, +tapping it with his finger; but he knew better than to ask any +questions. + +Meanwhile, in the Captain's cabin, Vard, Pachmann and the Prince again +faced each other. Perhaps it would be more exact to say that Vard and +Pachmann faced each other, while the Prince looked on from the +side-lines. In the heart of that young gentleman, for the past three +days, there had been a strange distress, hitherto unknown among +Hohenzollerns--the distress of realising that, if truth were told, he +was a poor thing who added not to the wealth of the world, but to its +poverty; who was unable to support himself, but to support whom men and +women and children toiled and starved. + +He had never seen it just like that before; reared in the family +tradition, it had seemed a law of nature that he should have subjects to +work for him and suffer for him and die for him, if need be; he had been +taught that it was God himself who had given place and power to his +house; and that, if other less-favoured people lived in misery and died +in want, why that was doubtless God's will, too. And as for war--why, +without war there could be no glory, no conquest, no chivalry. It was +war which held a nation together, which made Kings more powerful and +thrones more stable! But now came a man with shining eyes who talked of +the sinful folly of war, of the wanton waste of armies; who dreamed of +universal brotherhood, and a world governed by love! Wild words, foolish +dreams, perhaps--and yet most dangerous to the idea of the divine right +of Kings! So, that evening, the Prince sat and listened, and tried to +understand. + +It was Pachmann who did most of the talking, and a great deal of it was +for the Prince's benefit. + +"We have been considering your proposal, Mr. Vard," he began, "and have +discussed it thoroughly." + +As a matter of fact, he had not exchanged a word with the Prince on the +subject; he had distrusted him ever since Vard had offered him his hand, +for that action showed that this anarchist, this socialist, this enemy +of Kings, had detected in this young descendant of Kings sympathy and a +certain understanding. Pachmann thought of it with disgust and horror. + +"We have discussed it thoroughly," Pachmann repeated, and the Prince, +who detected the contempt in the words, flushed hotly, but did not +speak; "and there are certain objections to your plan which we wish to +submit to you. The first of these is that war does not depend upon +explosives. Before gunpowder, men fought with swords and lances and +arrows; before the discovery of iron and steel, with clubs and stones. +Man has always been fighting, even when he had no weapons but his +fists." + +"That is true," assented Vard. "Pray continue." + +"My argument is," went on Pachmann, dropping the plural once for all, +"that, though you may render all explosives useless, and blow up forts +and battleships and arsenals, you will not stop war. You will merely +compel it to shift to another basis--to the old basis, probably, of +brute strength, of hand-to-hand combat. And if you do that, the old days +will return of barbarian invasions. The Turk will sweep down again on +southern Europe; the Tartars will invade us from the east. You will not +assist civilisation; you will set it back a thousand years. It will have +to fight again for its very existence, as it did in the Middle Ages." + +But Vard shook his head. + +"I have thought of that," he said. "In the first place, it will be +permitted to continue the use of explosives against the barbarians--for +defence, you understand, not for aggression--until such time as we can +persuade them, too, to lay down their arms. As to your other objection, +it falls to the ground the moment you agree with me that all the nations +of the world must ultimately become democracies. At first, it is true, +men fought of their own volition, but it was to secure food, to guard +their homes, or to replenish their supply of women. But since those very +early days, all wars have been wars not of the people, but of their +rulers. They were wars of revenge or of ambition, in which the people +joined because they had no choice. They were driven into the ranks, were +sometimes sold by one power to fight for another. Left to their own +choice, they would have remained quietly at home, tilling their fields, +rearing their families. The only great exception I know of is the early +wars of Napoleon. To those wars, the French people did undoubtedly rush; +but they were still drunk from the Revolution, and their ardour soon +passed. Your own people, the people of Germany, are a peaceable, +home-loving people. You have always had to keep them under your thumb by +forced service, by conscription, by the most rigorous laws; you have +always had to drive them to war." + +"Another exception occurs to me," said Pachmann, disregarding the last +sentence, "and one to which I would call your attention, since it +occurred in a country where the people are supposed to govern. It was +the people of the United States who drove their rulers into the war with +Spain." + +"That is true," Vard agreed; "and it was a mistake. The people will +sometimes err when their sympathy is appealed to and their passion +aroused. But the results of that war were, on the whole, good. A people +was freed." + +"And another enslaved," said Pachmann, with a sneer. + +"It was already enslaved," Vard corrected; "but I admit that it was +continued in slavery. That was done by the rulers, not by the people. +Had the people been permitted to decide, the Philippines would have been +free, no less than Cuba. Their independence must, of course, be +guaranteed when the United States signs our treaty." + +"But you admit, as I understand you," said Pachmann, returning to the +main point, "that to abolish explosives will not abolish war." + +"I admit that, yes. To abolish explosives is only the first step. The +final step will be the abolition of hereditary rule." + +"The abolition of Kings?" + +"The abolition of Kings, of Emperors, of Czars, of Princes, of Dukes, of +all tyrants, great and small, who, by reason of birth, now claim the +right to tax or oppress or command even the meanest of their +fellow-creatures. There must be rulers, yes; but it is for the people +themselves to choose them, and then willingly to submit to them." + +"But you are at this moment treating with a King," Pachmann pointed out. +"Can you expect him to agree to such a programme?" + +"The world has outgrown Kings," retorted Vard. "In any event, another +fifty years will see them all abolished. I but hasten the end a +little--the millennium. And he will be happier when he is merely a man +like other men." + +"Happiness is not the greatest thing in the world," Pachmann objected. + +"And I say it is!" cried Vard, with sudden violence. "Not our own +happiness--no; but the happiness of our fellow-creatures. That is the +greatest thing in the world; the thing for which every wise and good man +labours!" + +There was a moment's silence. The Prince shifted uneasily in his chair +and clasped and unclasped his hands. There had never been such talk as +this in the royal nursery! + +Pachmann's face was cynical, as he lighted a fresh cigar. + +"Dreams!" he sneered. "Beautiful dreams! Do you know what it is you are +undertaking? You are undertaking to change human nature." + +"That is an old cry," retorted Vard scornfully. "And what if I were? +Human nature is changing every day! But I am not undertaking to change +it--I wish merely to free human nature from the fetters with which +tyrants bind it, so that it may grow straight and strong, as God +intended." + +"I am not acquainted with God's intentions," said Pachmann coldly. "He +does not confide in me. But my philosophy, my observation, and my +experience teach me that the wise man makes the best of things as they +are, accepts the facts of life, and does what he can. He sees that the +world is too big for him to overturn, he realises that there are many +things he cannot understand, his intelligence sometimes revolts at what +seems to be oppression and injustice. But he puts away from him the +fallacy that all men are equal--they are not equal, their very +inequality proves it. Some must rule and some be ruled; for some life +must be pleasanter and more full of meaning than it is for others; some +men must be strong and some weak, just as some women are beautiful and +some ugly. It is not their fault; it is their misfortune, and they +suffer for it. Which brings me to the principal objection I have to your +proposal. It is this: I believe that we shall find it a mere waste of +time to invite the nations of the world to sign a treaty for complete +disarmament; they distrust each other, and that distrust has proved too +often to be well-founded. The long centuries have made them jealous, +sullen, watchful. There is only one motive which can make them +sign--fear--fear of what may happen if they do not!" + +"I have already said," remarked Vard, "that I am ready to apply +compulsion, should it be necessary." + +"But you are finite," Pachmann objected, gently. "You are but an +individual, whose life may end at any moment; while, as you yourself +have said, this plan of yours will take long years, generations perhaps, +to consummate. To perfect it will test the best intellects of the world. +Once begun, it must be carried through. Do you think it wise to imperil +its success by making it depend so largely on yourself? Besides, what +would be easier than for an unwilling nation to suppress you? A +pistol-shot, a blow with a knife, and the brotherhood of man tumbles to +pieces." + +"What is it you propose?" asked Vard, who had listened to all this with +growing impatience. + +"I propose that, instead of so great a task being assumed by an +individual, it be assumed by an entire nation, which shall pledge its +honour to carry it to success." + +"And this nation," said Vard, sarcastically, "should, of course, in your +opinion, be Germany." + +"I admit," replied Pachmann, with dignity, "that I consider Germany +best-fitted to carry out the plan. I think you will agree with me that, +if a single nation is to undertake it, it must be one of the five great +nations. In world-politics, the others are negligible. Well, let us see. +France, a nation of peacocks, excitable, impressionable, easily angered, +making much of trifles, jealous of their dignity, a dying nation which +grows smaller and weaker every year. England, also a degenerate nation, +soaked in gin, where a hundred thousand men are unemployed, and where no +better remedy for pauperism can be found than universal pensions, which +only make more paupers. Russia, an ignorant nation, whose ruling class +is composed of men without morals and without ideals--thieves and +drunkards and vain braggarts. There remains America, and at first +glance it might seem that here is the nation to be entrusted with the +great work. But, after all, it is a nation of money-grubbers, ruled by a +money-trust, where wealth is worshipped as no other nation worships +rank; a nation without culture, without experience in world-politics, +without self-control, loudly vain, inept, wasteful, childish--a nation, +in other words, at the awkward age between youth and manhood. + +"Let us now turn to Germany. I speak only what is within the knowledge +of all intelligent men when I say that in manufacture, in agriculture, +in the administration of government, in science, in literature, in +music, in general culture, Germany is first among nations. Some may +quarrel with her military policy, but none can question her progress or +her achievements. All other nations come to Germany to learn. This is +not exaggeration; it is calm statement of fact. I firmly believe that +to-day, intellectually, morally, materially, Germany is the first nation +in the world. And it is altogether fitting that she should be chosen as +the leader of the world and arbiter of the affairs of all nations." + +Vard had risen from his seat during this discourse, which was delivered +with emphasis and conviction, and paced nervously up and down the cabin, +his face drawn, a deep line between his brows. And Pachmann watched him +curiously. So did the Prince watch him, wondering what he would reply. +He did not leave them long in doubt. + +"In answer to you, Admiral Pachmann," he said, speaking slowly and +carefully, as though weighing every word, "I can only say this: I do not +dispute Germany's great achievements; no man can do that. It is probably +true that in science, in learning, in general culture, and in +efficiency, she is, as you say, first among nations. Her people are a +great people--but it is not them you represent. You represent an +hereditary monarch, the only one in western Europe who still speaks of +the divine right of Kings--a man who would be an absolute autocrat, if +he dared. Supporting him is a powerful circle of hereditary nobles, +whose interest it is to increase in every possible way the prestige and +power of the throne. At their command, ready to do their bidding, is a +magnificent army and a great navy. Did your Emperor possess my secret, +he could at once declare war against Europe; he could conquer Europe, +and every German Prince would be a King. My whole purpose would be +warped and debased. Instead of universal brotherhood, we should have a +single ruling house, imposing its will on millions of conquered peoples. +Instead of love, we should have world-wide hate. And I say to you +plainly, sir, that, rather than that such a thing should come to pass, I +will destroy my invention and leave the world as it is." + +Pachmann had listened intently, nodding his head from time to time, or +puckering his brows in dissent. + +"Have you yourself no ambition?" he asked. "Is there nothing in the way +of honour or position which you desire for yourself or for your +daughter?" + +An ugly sneer curled the inventor's lips. + +"Bribery--I expected that!" he said. "No, there is nothing--nothing but +the consciousness that it was I who ended war!" + +"And your refusal of my first proposal is absolute?" + +"Absolute. I consider it insulting." + +"You will not modify the terms of your proposal?" + +"Not in any essential detail." + +"And if Germany refuses, you go to France?" + +"That is my intention." + +"Very well," and the Admiral rose, too. "The situation is, then, quite +clear to us; there is no longer any shadow of uncertainty. It is for us +to assent or to refuse. Our answer will be ready for you in a very short +time." + +Vard bowed, his face very pale, and stepped to the door. He paused with +his hand on the knob. + +"Remember one thing," he said; "it will be better for Germany to lead +than to follow; your Emperor will find the head of the procession much +more to his taste than the tail of it. And it will be for him either +the one or the other! Good night!" and he opened the door and was gone. + +Pachmann stood with clenched fists and flushed face staring at the spot +where Vard had stood. + +"Fool! fool!" he muttered. "That he should think he could defy and +threaten--and still escape! A great fool, is he not, my Prince?" + +The Prince awoke, as from a dream. + +"Great, at least!" he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE PRINCE SEEKS DIVERSION + + +In spite of his protestations and the confident manner he assumed when +with the Prince, Pachmann was, as a matter of fact, exceedingly +disturbed. It was true that for an individual as humble as Ignace Vard +to hope to stand against the might of the German Empire was absurd in +the extreme; but perhaps Vard was not alone. Perhaps back of him there +was some person or some power at which even Germany would pause. + +Two incidents had been distinctly disquieting: the wireless from Lepine +and the assault on Schroeder. The thing which filled Pachmann with +dismay was not so much these incidents themselves as the degree of +knowledge they indicated. Why did Lepine think Vard was on the boat? How +had he connected the inventor with the disaster at Toulon? How had the +person who assaulted Schroeder known of the conference in the Captain's +cabin? How much had he heard of that conference? What use would he make +of what he had heard? In a word, did France suspect what had happened to +_La Liberte_, and, if so, how much did she know? + +A hundred times Pachmann asked himself these questions, and a hundred +times tried to find some answer to them other than the obvious answer. +He tried to persuade himself that Lepine had not connected Vard with the +Toulon disaster, but was searching for him for some other reason; he +tried to make himself believe that the assault on Schroeder was merely +the result of a seaman's quarrel; he told himself over and over again +that France could _not_ suspect, that it was impossible she should +suspect. But he could not convince himself. Always he came back to the +obvious fact that, if Vard was wanted at all, it could only be for the +affair at Toulon, and that the man who had taken Schroeder's place at +the door of the Captain's cabin could only have done so because he +wanted to hear what was passing on the other side of it. + +Always, with sinking heart, Pachmann came back to this point; and at +such moments he wondered whether, after all, the Emperor would not do +well to lay aside his personal ambition, to consent to Vard's proposal +and assume the leadership of this great world-movement, in all good +faith. Surely that would be glory enough! Better, as Vard had said, to +lead than to follow; better to stand proudly forth at the head of the +movement than to be whipped into place in the rear. What humiliation! + +And suppose Vard should manage to escape; suppose he should really get +into touch with France! Pachmann, closing his eyes, could see a great +fortress leaping into the air; could hear the thunder of the explosion +which destroyed a dreadnought! It was a dangerous game he was playing, +and yet, to accede to Vard's proposal meant the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, +meant the eventual abasement of the Hohenzollerns, the rise of +socialism. No, he could not consent; he had not the power to consent; he +had his instructions, precise and clear, from the Emperor himself. At +any cost, that power must be his, and his alone! + +At any cost! Pachmann drew a deep breath. He knew now what the cost must +be. Well, when the moment came, he should not hesitate! + +Sunday morning found Pachmann beside the assistant purser in the library +of the second-cabin, beginning the inquiry there. It was even more +drastic than it had been in the first, and the victims emerged from it +heated, angry, and with the fixed determination never again to travel by +a German boat. Neither the Captain nor the purser could vouch for any of +the undistinguished people here, and so each one of them was most +thoroughly examined. Even those with passports did not escape. Pachmann +examined all such documents minutely, compared the written description +point by point with the appearance of the passenger, and asked many +questions to satisfy himself that the person presenting it was really +the one to whom it belonged. Yet, in spite of all this, passenger after +passenger came through the ordeal successfully. + +As the list was called alphabetically, it was soon the turn of M. +Chevrial. He approached the table with confidence, produced his +passport, and sat down to await such questions as might be asked him. +Pachmann glanced at the Frenchman and his eyes narrowed with anger, for +this impudent person appeared to be amused at the proceedings! Then he +picked up the passport and studied it carefully. It had been issued by +the French government two months previously, as a renewal of a former +passport, to Andre Chevrial, wine-merchant, of 18 Rue des Chantiers, +Paris; whose appearance and physical characteristics were described in +detail. Pachmann compared the items of the description point by point +with the man who sat smiling so shamelessly before him, answering the +purser's questions in an ironical voice. The very fact that the man was +so typically French and so plainly amused created in Pachmann's mind a +flair of suspicion which dilated his nostrils and narrowed his eyes. But +the passport was in perfect order, and Chevrial's answers came without +hesitation. + +"You are a wine-merchant?" + +"Yes." + +"How long have you been in that business?" + +"More years than I care to remember." + +"That is not an answer." + +"Let us say twenty years, then." + +"Always at Paris?" + +"The time before that did not count." + +"Then you have not been always at Paris?" + +"Heavens, no! First at Bordeaux; but for ten years at Paris." + +"You are well-known there?" + +"Ask my neighbours in the Rue des Chantiers; or cross the street to the +wine-market and ask any one there if he knows Andre Chevrial! Well +known? But yes!" + +"Is this your first visit to America?" + +"Oh, no; nor my second. But it is my first trip on a boat of Germany, +and will be my last. On the French boats, my compatriots know me. They +do not annoy me with all these questions." + +It was Pachmann who asked the next one. + +"How does it happen that you travel this time by a German boat?" + +Chevrial shrugged his shoulders. + +"Because there was no French one. It is necessary that I be in New York +on Wednesday. There was no other boat that would arrive in time. Had +there been, I would have taken it." + +"So you do not like German boats?" + +"I like nothing German," said Chevrial, calmly. "Least of all, this +inquisition, which, it seems to me, demands some explanation." + +"It is for the immigration bureau," the purser hastened to explain. "The +American laws are very strict." + +"The laws do not concern me. I am not an immigrant. I am merely one who +goes on business and who returns. My papers are in order, are they not?" + +The purser was forced to confess that they were. + +"Then," said Chevrial, returning them to his pocket, "if there are any +further questions to be answered, I will wait until I get to the pier at +New York to answer them. I shall at least have the pleasure of talking +to an American!" and he got up and left the library. + +Pachmann was furious; but he had no excuse for holding the fellow, nor +for examining his baggage. In search of such excuse, he despatched a +wireless to the agent of his government at Brussels, directing him to +secure at once all the information available about Andre Chevrial, 18 +Rue des Chantiers, Paris; and that evening a very polite gentleman +called at the house in question. It was a tall, hideous house, with a +cabaret on the first floor. To its proprietor the visitor addressed +himself. But yes, the proprietor knew M. Chevrial, a merchant of wine, +who had honoured his house for many years by occupying an apartment on +the third floor. His present whereabouts? Ah, the proprietor could not +say; M. Chevrial made many journeys in the interests of his business; he +was absent at the present time. It was the season of his annual trip to +America; perhaps he was now on his way thither. He had left no address; +but if monsieur wished to write a letter, it would be sent forward as +soon as an address was received. + +The visitor declined to write a letter, but left his card--or, at least, +a card--to be given to M. Chevrial upon his return. Then he took his +leave. And the proprietor stuck the card in the frame of the clouded +mirror back of the bar, chuckling to himself. + +A report of all which Pachmann duly received by radio next day. + + * * * * * + +The Prince, meanwhile, was finding the voyage wearisome. He was not a +difficult person to amuse, and he was very expert in the art of killing +time; he had done little else since he emerged from the nursery; but +here on shipboard he possessed none of the implements with which he +usually carried on that slaughter. He could sit in the smoking-room with +a tall stein before him, he could stroll about the deck and stare at the +sea, which he did not care for; but there was no one to talk to. His +subjects of conversation were limited, and all of them were associated +more or less with his princely character; here, where, for the first +time in his life, he found himself divested of that princely character, +he was completely at a loss. The trouble was that he had no sense of +humour. So he found it impossible to gossip with plebeian unknowns, or +engage in card-games with irreverent middle-class artisans and drummers. +He could not even carry on a flirtation with any of the pretty girls! He +had attempted it with one of them; but, after a very few minutes, she +had left him with her chin in the air, and an exclamation which sounded +singularly like "Beast!" What is gallantry in a Prince, is impertinence +or worse in a less-privileged person! + +Remember, our Prince was merely a good-natured, thick-headed, young man, +who had always been compelled to take himself seriously, whose life had +been ordered for him from day to day to its minutest detail; who had +never been called upon to use his wits in earnest. There had always been +some one to do his thinking for him; there had always been the routine +of drill and study to fill a certain portion of every day; and there had +always been the fearful delight of escaping from his father's eye and +roaming the streets of Berlin in quest of adventure. But here on +shipboard, the day was twenty-four empty hours long, and even Pachmann +had deserted him, to spend his time asking the passengers interminable +questions, whose purpose the Prince could not in the least understand. + +So, on this Sunday morning, having attended the services in the +dining-saloon for want of something else to do, and kept awake with +great difficulty, having smoked innumerable cigarettes, having snubbed +an American whose manner was distinctly fresh, having tramped up and +down the decks, and looked into the library to find Pachmann still +asking questions, questions, the Prince made a sudden daring resolution, +walked quickly forward, ascended to the first-class promenade, and +looked about for Ignace Vard. With the inventor, at least, he need wear +no disguise, and he simply must talk to somebody. Besides, the +inventor's talk gave him a good feeling at the heart--the feeling that +he might really some day do something worth while! Pachmann would +disapprove, of course; but who was Pachmann? A younger son of the +inferior nobility! He must remind Pachmann of that, some day, for he +seemed to have forgotten it since the Emperor had taken him up! + +He found the object of his search leaning against the rail, far forward, +staring ahead at the path the ship was taking. Vard greeted him with +evident pleasure. + +"You have come to arrange for the final conference?" he asked. + +The Prince shook his head. + +"I know no more of that than you," he said. + +"But I was assured that your decision would be made at once. My plans +depend upon your answer. This is Sunday. On Tuesday we reach New York." + +"I know nothing," repeated the Prince. "I have not spoken with the +Admiral to-day--indeed, I have scarcely spoken to him for three days. On +Friday and Saturday and again to-day, he has spent every moment in an +examination of the passengers." + +"Why does he do that?" asked Vard quickly. + +"I do not know." + +Vard glanced at the Prince, and his face softened a little. + +"So you have been left to amuse yourself," he said, "and, not succeeding +very well, have come to me? Is that it?" + +"Yes," said the Prince; "I must talk to some one, and I find that I +cannot talk with people who do not know who I am. The men offend me, the +women I offend." + +This time there was genuine friendliness in Vard's face. + +"Poor fellow!" he laughed. "Well, I have never acted as court jester, +but I am willing to try. Come with me." + +He led the way back along the deck and opened a door. + +"This is my room," he said. "Come in. You should feel more at home here +than I do, for it is an imperial suite." + +The Prince assented gravely, entered, and the inventor, his eyes +dancing, closed the door. + +"Sit down," he said. "You may smoke," and he proceeded to roll himself a +cigarette. "This is your first visit to America? Yes? The first thing +you will notice is that not many Americans smoke cigarettes. Until quite +recently, the cigarette was believed to be in some mysterious way +debauching; no one but degenerates were supposed to use them. Even yet +that is the prevailing opinion outside a few of the large cities." + +"Most curious," commented the Prince, and blew a smoke-ring toward the +ceiling. + +"Outside of New York, which is fairly cosmopolitan, there is the same +prejudice against wine or beer, or any fermented or distilled spirit. No +public man, no teacher in a public school or university, no physician, +no professional man--no man, in a word, who depends upon public opinion, +public approval, for a livelihood--would dare sit at a table on the +sidewalk and drink a glass of beer or a liqueur. He might do it once, +and escape with the reputation of an eccentric; but to do it twice would +be to brand himself as not trustworthy." + +"Astonishing!" said the Prince. "Do you speak seriously?" + +"Very seriously. Some of the states have even enacted laws that no +alcoholic beverage of any kind may be sold within their borders." + +"But," stammered the Prince, staring, "do you call that liberty? No +country of Europe would dare enact such a law!" + +"No; it is not liberty; it is government by the majority. The wonderful +thing, the astonishing thing, the inspiring thing about it is that in +this, and in all other questions, the minority accepts its defeat +without grumbling and makes the best of it. That is the great lesson +which the United States has for the remainder of the world. And, to +preserve itself, it need keep no class in subjection, need draft no man +for service in its armies--for it is a government founded on the consent +of the governed." + +He was silent a moment, considering, perhaps, how to use most wisely +this opportunity. + +"Let us apply that principle to the other countries of the world," he +went on, at last. "Let us suppose that the people of each country were +asked to choose freely for themselves their form of government. How many +of the present governments would stand that test? Do you think the +government of Germany would?" + +"No," said the Prince; "I suppose not. Our people are all socialists, so +my father says. But they are not fit to govern." + +"Whose fault is that? Have you tried to make them fit? Besides, their +fitness or unfitness has nothing to do with it. It is their country; let +them grow fit by experience. But I believe they _are_ fit. How many of +your great men have come from humble life?" + +"Oh, a great many, I dare say!" answered the Prince, impatiently. "But a +body needs a head. It must be governed by a head, not by a stomach!" + +"Ah," said Vard, "but, as a matter of fact, every body is governed by +its stomach. Not till the stomach is satisfied does the head get a +chance. And, to govern wisely, the head must be a part of the body, not +something distinct from it. How is it to govern wisely, if it is not +always in close touch with the body, aware of its every need? It is only +when the head is distinct from the body that it lets the body starve and +wastes its substance on vain and unnecessary things." + +"I suppose," said the Prince with a smile, "that you refer to our army +and navy." + +"To the army and navy of every nation. Could the people choose, how many +battleships would Germany build next year?" + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders helplessly. + +"How can I answer such questions? I do not know. But I do know that I +have been born in a certain position, and that I must maintain it." + +"Why?" Vard demanded. + +"For the sake of my honour, and the honour of my house," answered the +Prince, simply. + +"Honour!" cried Vard. "What do Princes know of honour? Is it honourable +to live on the sweat and suffering of others, and to make them no +return? Is it honourable to be supported by the toil of women and +children, whose men you have taken for your army? Is it honourable...." + +He stopped suddenly, for the door had opened and a girl came in. She +stared first at one man and then at the other, evidently astonished by +the few words she had heard. Then she turned to withdraw. But Vard +stopped her. + +"Don't go, my dear," he said. "Allow me to present you to a Prince of +the House of Hohenzollern! Prince, this is my daughter, Kasia." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ON THE EDUCATION OF PRINCES + + +The Prince sprang to his feet and bowed low over the hand which Kasia, +after an instant's startled hesitation, had extended. Her father watched +the scene with an amused face. + +"You arrived most opportunely, my dear," he said. "The Prince, being +bored, as is the way with Princes, came to me, asking to be amused. I +started out to amuse him by describing certain strange customs of +America, which he is about to visit for the first time; but I was soon +on my hobby again, and instead of amusing him...." + +"You were abusing him!" said Kasia, laughing. "At least, it sounded so +to me!" + +"Oh, not at all!" the Prince hastened to assure her. "I found what he +was saying most interesting." + +But Vard, with that quick change of mood characteristic of his +temperament, had already decided that it was not worth while attempting +to rear any seed from this barren soil. The Prince's intentions were +good enough, but they would come to nothing--his father would see to +that! + +"Nevertheless," said Vard, "I am not an amusing companion. I am too much +of a preacher, and no one likes to be shouted at. I would suggest, +Kasia, that you take His Highness for a tour of the deck." + +The Prince's face brightened wonderfully. + +"That would indeed be kind!" he said. + +Kasia looked at him with a little smile. Perhaps the opportunity of +talking familiarly with royalty piqued her, good democrat as she was; +and then he was not a bad-looking fellow. One could see that he was not +brilliant, but he at least looked clean and honest. + +"If you really wish it," she agreed. + +For answer, the Prince sprang to the door. + +"One moment," Vard interposed. "You will remember, Kasia, that the +Prince is incognito, and that, under no circumstances, must you betray +to any spectator or listener who he is." + +"I will remember, father," said Kasia, and followed the Prince out upon +the deck. + +Wherefore it presently came to pass that Dan Webster, staring gloomily +down from the after boat-deck upon the flitting beauties of the +first-class promenade, beheld the lady of his dreams strolling beside a +well-set-up young fellow, whose face seemed vaguely familiar, and in +whose conversation she was evidently deeply interested--so interested +that she finally climbed with him to a seat on the upper deck; and when +they sat down, Dan saw that the young fellow sat very close indeed. He +stared incredulously for a moment longer, and then turned angrily away, +to bump violently into M. Chevrial, who was also staring. + +"What the...." Dan began, and then stopped himself. What right had this +Frenchman to stare? But then, for that matter, what right had he? + +Chevrial was the first to recover himself. He glanced at Dan's disturbed +countenance, and smiled as he read his thought. + +"I was surprised to see a passenger of the second-class so calmly +enjoying the privileges of the forward deck," he explained. "If any one +was to enjoy those privileges, I should have expected it to be you." + +"So he _is_ second-class! I thought he looked somehow familiar. I +remember, now." + +"He is undoubtedly the same young German we have seen so frequently +pacing this deck," said Chevrial. "I fancy he is lonely and desires +amusement. But, at the same time, I fear that you lack enterprise, M. +Webster. That is not like an American." + +Dan flushed, and started to stalk away, but Chevrial laid a hand upon +his arm. + +"No, do not be angry with me," he said. "I beg your pardon. It will +please you to know that that young man yonder is one of the very few +persons on this boat with whom Miss Vard may talk unconstrainedly. No +doubt that is why she appears so glad to see him." + +With which cryptic utterance, M. Chevrial went below, and left Dan to +bitter meditation. + + * * * * * + +Kasia, meanwhile, was enjoying herself immensely. + +"Now," she said, leaning back in the seat, after a glance around to +assure herself that there was no one within hearing, "please tell me +what it is like to be a Prince. Don't you get frightfully lonesome, +sometimes?" + +"That was my complaint to-day, when I sought your father." + +"Yes--but always, always to stand apart from other men and women, so +that they never dare be quite open with you; quite frank with you; +always a little in awe of you." + +"Not many people I know are in awe of me," said the Prince. "Most of +them consider me something of a fool--they do not say so, but I can read +it in their faces. My father thinks me a total fool, and does not +hesitate to say so." + +"He must be a terrible man!" + +"He is," agreed the Prince, with conviction. + +Kasia looked at him to see if he was in earnest; then turned away her +head for an instant, until she could control her lips. + +"How does it happen that you speak English so well?" she asked. + +"My father required it. It is the result of many weary hours, I assure +you. However," added the Prince, "I ought not to complain, since it has +secured for me the present hour." + +It was the first time Kasia had ever been made the mark for a royal +compliment, and she flushed a little in spite of herself. + +"It is nice of you to say so!" she murmured. "So you have had your bad +times, too?" + +"Bad times, Miss Vard! Why, the life that I have led has been a dog's +life. There were so many things that I must know--that we all must +know--so many things we must not do. I have often gazed from the windows +of the palace and envied the boys in the gutter!" + +"Not really!" + +"Oh, not really, of course. I would not change. What I envied them was +their liberty, their freedom to come and go as it pleased them." + +"But since you are of age?" + +"Even yet, each moment must be accounted for. I am now a lieutenant in +the navy, and am supposed to employ each hour profitably. My father is a +very great man; there are few things that he does not know; and he +expects his sons to know as much. Even of pictures, which bore me; even +of music, which distresses me. Everything is arranged. At such a time, +I am to be with my ship; again, I am to attend the opera; again, I am to +be present at the opening of a museum; again, I must listen to a long +address which I do not understand. I may not even choose my own wife. +All that is arranged." + +"But no doubt," Kasia suggested, amused at his forlorn aspect, "your +father will choose more wisely than you would." + +"I do not know," said the Prince disconsolately. "I fear that he will +consider birth and position of more importance than youth and beauty. +Besides, there are some things a man likes to do for himself. My poor +sister, now...." + +He stopped, for, under the stimulus of Miss Vard's sympathy, he found +himself about to betray a family secret. + +"Yes, I can understand that," said Kasia, with more tenderness than she +had yet shown. "You don't mind my talking frankly to you?" + +"I love to be talked frankly to," protested the Prince. + +This was very far from the truth, only the Prince didn't know it. What +he really loved was flattery disguised as frankness. In this, he +resembled most other human beings. + +"Well, then," said Kasia, "if you don't like it, if you find it +intolerable, why don't you cut and run?" + +"Cut and run?" + +"Yes; go away by yourself, be a free man, and marry the woman you love. +For of course there is such a woman?" + +"Oh, yes," and the Prince thought of the blue-eyed daughter of the +shopkeeper in the Friedrichstrasse, just off Unter den Linden; however, +he had never thought of marriage in connection with her. "But suppose I +should do that," he added, "how should I live?" + +"How do other men live? By work!" + +"But that would be a disgrace!" + +"Disgrace! It isn't half so disgraceful as to live by the work of other +men." + +"Your father said something of the same sort to me. But I fear that +neither of you understands. A Prince cannot do such things." + +Kasia threw up her hands. + +"So we come back to the beginning of the circle!" she cried. + +"Besides, my father would not permit it," added the Prince. + +"Aren't you of age?" + +"Yes--but he is the head of the family. He would have me brought +home--from the end of the world, if necessary--and then I should be +confined. Even my elder brother is sometimes confined--separated from +his wife, from his children, permitted to see no one." + +"Poor Prince!" said Kasia. "So you are a slave, like the rest of +us--rather worse than the rest of us, indeed! Is there _nothing_ you can +do?" + +"Very few things," said the Prince, beginning really to pity himself. +"You see, there is always my family to consider--nothing must be done to +injure its position or to make it less popular. Even my father very +often may not say what he thinks or do what he wishes." + +"So he is a slave, too!" + +"Yes, in a way. And it grows worse and worse. Often, in private, he +laments the old days when a King was really a King, who was venerated +and whose word was law. He grows very angry that at each election there +are more socialists. He says that the only hope for the country is in a +great war: it is for that he prepares." + +"How would a great war help?" + +"Oh, in face of the common danger, our people would forget their +differences, for they all love their Fatherland; they would fight +shoulder to shoulder. And then, when it was over, they would all be mad +with joy over the victory, and there would be new provinces to add to +Germany, and an immense tax levied on our enemy to pay the expenses of +the war, so that our own people would not have to bear that burden. It +would all be just as it was after the war with France, when every German +was filled with patriotism, and when Germany for the first time became +one country. Our house would again be well-beloved, its authority +unquestioned." + +"But suppose you are defeated?" + +"We shall not be defeated," said the Prince, calmly. "There is no nation +in the world which Germany could not defeat--except, perhaps, the United +States. But we shall not go to war with the United States. England will +be our foe, and you will see her tumble to pieces like a house of cards. +She is but an empty shell." + +Kasia sat for a moment considering all this. If this was really what was +in the Kaiser's mind--and she could scarcely doubt it--it was foolish to +suppose that he would consent to disarmament. + +"What you have told me is not very promising for universal peace," she +said, at last. + +"There can be no universal peace until we have humiliated England," +replied the Prince. "That is the belief of all good Germans. The +conflict must come soon, and we strain every nerve to prepare for it. I +betray no secret when I tell you this. All Europe knows it. England +struggles also to prepare, but we are always far ahead. When we are +quite ready, we shall strike. Then, after we have won, after we have +established Germany as the first nation of Europe, we shall be ready for +peace. But we must have one more great victory. The welfare of our house +demands it." + +As he spoke, his eyes rested on the top of the companion-way leading +from the lower deck, and he started violently, for a face had appeared +there--a face which looked at him sternly, almost threateningly. It was +the face of Pachmann. Without a word, it disappeared. The Prince turned +nervously to his companion. + +"Pardon me, Miss Vard," he said, "but I must go. And do not think too +seriously of my chatter. I am not admitted to councils of state; I know +only what every one knows. We Germans, we have our dreams; but perhaps +they are only that." + +He arose, opened his lips to say something more, then changed his mind, +bowed, and hurried away. Kasia stared after him. She had not seen that +silent summons. But he did not look back. + + * * * * * + +An hour later, Pachmann, with a countenance distinctly troubled, sought +out Ignace Vard, who was reading in his room. + +"The Prince has been talking to your daughter," he said. + +Vard looked at him in surprise. + +"I sent them out together," he explained. "I thought perhaps Kasia would +amuse him--and be amused." + +"Has she told you nothing?" + +Again Vard glanced at him. + +"No. Has she reason for complaint?" + +"I did not mean that. I dare say he behaved decently enough. But he +spouted a lot of childish nonsense about German hopes and German +ambitions, and I feared your daughter might take him seriously. He is +nothing but an ignorant young fool." + +Vard laid aside his book and looked Pachmann full in the face. + +"The truth comes sometimes from the mouths of fools," he said. "When am +I to have my answer?" + +"To be quite candid," answered Pachmann, readily, "I am afraid to give +it to you on board this boat. I chose this boat because I believed we +should be safe here. But there are spies on board; one of our +conferences has been overheard--perhaps both of them," and he told of +the assault upon Schroeder. "Then again, we must not be seen too much +together. I might be recognised; and you are already suspected of having +caused the destruction of _La Liberte_." + +"How can that be?" Vard demanded, in a tone which showed that he was +genuinely startled. + +For answer, Pachmann took from his pocket-book a paper, unfolded it and +handed it to Vard. It was the wireless from Lepine. + +"That was received last Thursday," he said. "I suppose you know who +Lepine is. By great good fortune, I intercepted it, and sent an answer +denying that you were on board. It was for that reason you were removed +to the first-class and your name kept off the passenger list. But how +can he have suspected you?" + +Vard shook his head slowly. He was a little pale, and the hand which +held the message trembled. + +"I cannot guess," he said. + +"You have told no one?" + +"Told!" flashed Vard. "Do you not see that, unless my great plan +succeeds, that action will have been an infamous one? To kill three +hundred men in order to assure peace to the world--that may be +justified--that may even be heroic; but to kill them wantonly, to kill +them and then to fail--that would drive me mad!" He looked at Pachmann, +his eyes suddenly inflamed. "And let me tell you this," he added, in a +voice of concentrated passion, "if I find that you have deceived me, if +I find that you have betrayed me, Germany shall suffer a reprisal that +will make you shudder! I swear it!" + +Pachmann's eyes were also suffused. In that moment, he literally saw +red. + +"You threaten!" he cried hoarsely. "You dare to threaten!" + +"I warn!" said Vard. "And you will do well to heed the warning! You are +playing with fire--take care that it does not consume you!" + +Pachmann conquered his emotion by a supreme effort. + +"It is foolish to talk in that way," he said. "It is foolish to speak of +deception and betrayal. There is no question of either. But we must move +cautiously. We must evade these spies. Even you can see that!" + +"Here is my last word," said Vard, more calmly. "We shall reach New York +on Tuesday. I will await your answer for twenty-four hours after we have +landed. If I have not then received it, I shall consider myself free to +act as I think best." + +A gleam of triumph flashed in Pachmann's eyes. + +"I accept your condition," he said, and with a little ironical bow, rose +and left the cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE EVENTS OF MONDAY + + +Kasia did not see the Prince again. That ingenuous young man had spent a +most uncomfortable half hour with the doughty Admiral, whose language +had been both lucid and emphatic, and who had opened the discussion, and +spiked the Prince's guns at the very start, as it were, by producing the +paper sealed with the Imperial seal. + +"I would call your attention especially to this clause," said Pachmann, +and placed his finger upon the words, "all members of my family." "It +was not placed there by accident, I assure you. You understand its +meaning?" + +The Prince nodded sullenly, as he handed the paper back. + +"Your father," Pachmann continued, replacing it in his pocket, "foresaw +that some difficulty such as this might arise. As you know, his +confidence in you is not great." + +The Prince flushed and opened his lips angrily; but closed them again +without speaking. + +Pachmann smiled unpleasantly. + +"I can guess what you wish to say," he said. "You would remind me that +you are a Hohenzollern, a Prince of the blood, a scion of the house to +which I, a petty member of the inferior nobility, owe allegiance. That I +do not permit myself to forget. But in this affair, by virtue of this +paper, I stand in place of your royal father. He would not hesitate to +rebuke you, and neither shall I. What was it you were saying to Miss +Vard?" + +And the Prince, after a moment's inward struggle, repeated the +conversation, while Pachmann listened frowningly. + +"You have been most indiscreet," he said severely, when the Prince had +finished. "How much harm you have done I cannot say--but I must hasten +to undo it. I do not understand you. You know how important this affair +is--you are a good German!--and yet you go about talking in this +fashion! It is enough to drive one mad! If your father learned of it, I +fear he would think it necessary to punish you with great severity. I +shall not report it--but on one condition: you must give me your word to +discuss affairs of state with no one, to make no chance acquaintances, +and to see this girl or her father only in my presence." + +And so deeply grounded was the habit of obedience, so profound his +respect even for his father's signature, that the Prince promised. +Besides, he had no wish to spend a year or more in some second-rate +fortress; and he resolved to watch himself most warily, until this +annoying business was at an end and he was back again in Berlin. + +So Kasia saw him no more. She had a little struggle with herself before +she finally decided that it was her duty to outline the Prince's +confessions to her father, and she was deeply relieved when he waved +them aside as of no importance. + +"Every one knows," he said, "that Germany dreams of nothing but +humiliating England; that is no secret--it has been the talk of Europe +for ten years past. But it is one of those dreams which never come +true--or go by contraries!" + + * * * * * + +By noon of Monday, Pachmann had completed his scrutiny of the +passengers, and sought an interview with the Captain. + +"I have discovered nothing," he said; "absolutely nothing. At one time, +I thought that I had the man, but I caused his story to be investigated, +and found that it was true. There remains only one thing to be done. At +what hour shall we land?" + +"That will depend upon the delay at quarantine. Two of our steerage +passengers are ill. We may not be able to dock before evening." + +Pachmann considered this for a moment. + +"In the first place," he went on, at last, following out his thought, +"you must secure for me two landing-tickets--one for Vard and one for +his daughter. The immigration officers must not see them. There must be +no evidence that they ever reached New York." + +Hausmann's face clouded. + +"That is a very serious offence," he pointed out. + +"We must take the risk." + +"What will you do about their baggage?" + +"I will have it claimed by some one from the consulate." + +The Captain hesitated yet a moment. + +"I will secure the tickets," he agreed, finally. "A considerable outlay +will be necessary." + +"You will be reimbursed. Furthermore," Pachmann added, "I will myself +explain to the Emperor how greatly you have assisted us." + +Hausmann bowed coldly. + +"Is there anything else?" he asked. + +"You have watched the wireless?" + +"Yes." + +"It must be watched even more closely. No message in cipher, nor any +that is at all questionable, must be sent or delivered. If there are +complaints afterwards, the failure can be explained as an oversight." + +Again Hausmann bowed. + +"And finally," said Pachmann, "I have here a message, which I would ask +you to have sent at once." + +It was in cipher and a long one, and it took half an hour to transmit, +for the wireless man at the Cape Cod station was required to repeat it +for verification. Then it was hurried on by telegraph to New York, and +finally delivered at the German consulate, where the chief of the German +secret service, to whom it was addressed, read it with great care. + + * * * * * + +Miss Vard, meanwhile, was finding the hours long. The Prince had +furnished a slight divertissement the day before; but to-day there was +no such relief in sight, and she found herself singularly restless. This +was, in part, a reflection of her father's mood, for she had never known +him so nervous and irritable. The lines in his face had deepened, his +eyes were brighter than ever, and he waved her impatiently away whenever +she ventured to address him. Plainly, a crisis was at hand, and, as she +saw how her father was affected, she awaited it with foreboding. + +She tried to read and gave it up, for she could not fix her attention on +the page; she sat for a long time looking at the sea, and then turned +her eyes away, for its restlessness increased her own; she went for a +walk about the deck, but it seemed to her in every pair of eyes turned +upon her there was suspicion and aversion. How glad she was that the +voyage was almost ended! It had started happily enough, and then, quite +suddenly, it had become wearisome and hateful. + +It was inevitable that, at this point, her thoughts should fly to Dan. +What a nice boy he was! She would see him to-morrow night--she had +promised him that! And before that? Would it be too undignified for her +to steal up again to that bench on the after boat-deck--would it--would +it precipitate matters? She did not want to do that and yet.... + +"Good afternoon," said a voice, and some one fell into step beside her, +and she looked up and saw that it was Dan. For an instant, she fancied +it was only the visualisation of her own thoughts; then she winked the +mists away. + +"This is nice of you," she said. "I was just wishing for--some one. I +was dreadfully bored." + +"You were a thousand miles away. I passed you twice and you didn't even +see me. If it hadn't been for my newspaper training, I'd have made off +to my den." + +"I'm very glad you didn't. I really wanted to talk to you." + +"Suppose we go up to the boat-deck," said Dan, "where you...." + +He stopped. + +"Where I what?" + +Dan led the way up the ladder without replying; but a gleam of +understanding penetrated Miss Vard's mind when she saw him go straight +to the bench where she and the Prince had sat. + +"It was this way," Dan explained, sitting down beside her. "I happened +to be staring down at the forward promenade, yesterday afternoon, when I +saw you walking with a tall young fellow, who seemed exceedingly +interested in you. Naturally, I was a little curious, as he happened to +be a second-class passenger like myself...." + +"Second-class!" broke in Kasia, and stopped herself. + +"Did you think him a millionaire?" queried Dan, a little bitterly. + +"No," answered Kasia, quietly; "I thought him just what he is--an +ingenuous young German, not very brilliant, perhaps, but clean and +honest. I passed a very pleasant half hour with him." + +Dan's face was a little pale, but he looked at her manfully and squared +his shoulders. + +"I deserved that!" he said. "Thank you, Miss Vard. But it _was_ very +lonely, last night!" + +Kasia's look softened. + +"Yes," she agreed; "it was." + +"You felt it, too?" asked Dan, his face lighting up again. + +"Certainly I felt it. I haven't dared make any friends among the +first-class passengers, and a person can't read _all_ the time! One +likes to talk occasionally, no matter with whom." + +"Why not slip over to second-class to-night," Dan suggested, "and sit on +the bench. The moon is very beautiful." + +But Kasia shook her head, smiling. + +"I shall have to admire it alone," she said. "We must not be seen so +much together--it is not wise for us to sit here. Suppose some one, +seeing us together, should take it into his mind to search your baggage, +and should find that little package...." + +"He wouldn't find it," Dan broke in. "During the day, I carry it in my +pocket. At night, I sleep with it under my pillow." + +Kasia gave him a quick glance. + +"That is splendid!" she said, quickly. "And you don't even wish to know +what it is?" + +"Not unless you wish to tell me. There is one danger, though. If the +customs inspector should happen to run across it, he will want to know +what it is." + +"Tell him it is an electrical device." + +"And if he opens it?" + +"That will do no harm. All he will find is a small metal box, filled +with tiny wires coiled about each other." + +Dan breathed more freely. + +"That simplifies things," he said. "From what you said when you gave it +to me, I was afraid I might have to knock him down, snatch the package, +and make a break for it." + +"No," and Kasia smiled. "It would appear of value only to some one who +knew what it was. The customs inspector doesn't count." + +"And to-morrow evening, say at eight o'clock, I shall bring it up to +you." + +"Very well. I shall expect you. And now you must go." + +Dan rose obediently. + +"It will be a long twenty-four hours," he said. "But I feel more +cheerful than I did. By the way," he added, turning back, "there's one +thing I forgot to tell you. If that other young fellow shows up again, +you needn't be afraid to talk to him. Chevrial says he's about the only +one on the ship you are safe to talk freely with!" + +"Chevrial!" she repeated, staring; "Chevrial said that!" + +"Yes," and Dan laughed. "He seems to be the wise guy, all right!" and +without suspecting her emotion, he turned and left her. But for a long +time Kasia sat there, unmoving, trying to understand. + + * * * * * + +Dan's evening was not so lonely as he had expected, for, as he sat on +the bench on the boat-deck, staring out across the water and thinking +of the morrow, Chevrial joined him. + +"I do not intrude?" the Frenchman asked. + +"Not at all. Sit down, won't you?" + +Chevrial sat down, and for some moments there was silence. + +"Our voyage nears an end, M. Webster," Chevrial said at last. "To-morrow +you will be home again. Perhaps I may see you in New York." + +"Where will you stay?" + +"I have some friends in the wine-trade with whom I usually stay. The +little money I pay them is welcome to them, and I am more comfortable +than at an hotel. I do not know their exact address--they have moved +since I was last here; but they are to meet me at the pier." + +"Whenever you have a leisure evening," said Dan, "call up the _Record_ +office and ask for me, and we will have dinner together." + +"Thank you. I shall remember. And I should like you to meet my friends. +I do not know if you are a connoisseur of wine, but if you are, they +possess a few bottles of a vintage that will delight you." + +"I'm far from being a connoisseur," Dan laughed; "but I accept the +invitation with thanks." + +Chevrial's face was bright. + +"And when next you come to Paris," he added, "I hope you will let me +know. There is my card. A letter to that address will always reach +me--we have no telephone, alas! There are some things I should delight +to show you--things which the average visitor does not see." + +"You are very kind," said Dan, taking the card; "and I shall not forget; +though I don't expect to get abroad again very soon. You see, I have to +collect a reserve fund, first; and the cost of living is high!" + +"Whenever it is; and the more soon, the better I shall be pleased." + +"How long will you be in New York?" + +"A week--ten days, perhaps. Then I go to Boston, and to Montreal and +Quebec, and thence home again. I am glad I shall not have to use a +German boat. I do not like German boats--nor anything German, for the +matter of that! Which reminds me of a most peculiar circumstance. You +may have wondered at my remark with reference to that young man who was +strolling with Miss Vard?" + +"That she could talk to him without fear? Yes, I have wondered just what +you meant by it." + +"I may be mistaken--but I should like your judgment. In the library, +among the other books, is one which describes the life of the Kaiser and +his family--it is put there, I suppose, for all good Germans to read. It +is illustrated by many photographs. In looking at the photographs, one +of them impressed me as curiously familiar; if I should happen to be +correct, it would make a most startling article for your newspaper. But +I wish you to judge for yourself. You will find the book lying on the +table in the library, and the photograph in question is on page +sixty-eight. If you will look at it, and then return here, I should +consider it a favour." + +Considerably astonished, Dan descended to the library, found the book, +and turned to page sixty-eight. Yes, there was a photograph of the Emperor, +with the Empress and Princess Victoria; another of the Crown Prince, with +his wife and children; another of the Princes--Eitel-Frederick, August, +Oscar, Adalbert.... + +And Dan, looking at it, felt his eyeballs bulge, for he found himself +gazing at the face of Kasia Vard's companion. + +He told himself he was mistaken; closed his eyes for an instant and then +looked again. There was certainly a marvellous resemblance. If it should +really be the same--Dan's head whirled at thought of the story it would +make! + +He closed the book, at last, climbed slowly back to the boat-deck and +sat down again beside M. Chevrial. + +"Well?" asked the latter. "What do you think of it?" + +"If they are not the same man, they are remarkably alike," said Dan. + +"I believe they are the same." + +"But it seems too grotesque. Why should a Hohenzollern travel +second-class, dressed in a shabby walking-suit, and without attendants?" + +"There is a middle-aged German with him, who is, no doubt, his tutor, or +guardian, or jailer--whichever you may please to call it." + +"His jailer?" + +Chevrial smiled. + +"The Emperor is a father of the old school, and punishes his sons +occasionally by imprisonment or banishment under guard. I fancy that is +the case here. Before I left Paris, I heard rumours of indiscretions on +the Prince's part with a young lady in Berlin, which had made his father +very angry. This journey, perhaps, is a penance. At least, it is worth +investigating." + +"It certainly is," agreed Dan warmly, and fell silent, pondering how +best to prove or disprove this extraordinary story. It was decidedly of +the sort the _Record_ liked; if he could only verify it, his return to +the office would be in the nature of a triumph! But to prove it! Well, +there were ways! + +A low exclamation from his companion brought him out of his thoughts. + +"Behold!" said Chevrial; and, far away to the right, Dan caught the +gleam of a light. + +"A ship?" he asked. + +"No, no; it is the lighthouse on what you call the Island of Fire. It is +America welcoming you, my friend." + +And Dan, with a queer lump in his throat, took off his cap. + +"America!" he repeated, and Kasia Vard's words leaped into his mind. +"The land of freedom!" + +"Yes," agreed his companion, softly; "you do well to be proud of her! +She is at least more free than any other!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE LANDING + + +When Dan Webster awoke, next morning, his first thought was that +something was wrong, and it was a moment before he realised what it was. +The screw had stopped. Instead of quivering with the steady, pulse-like +vibration to which, during the past week, he had grown accustomed, the +ship lay dead and motionless. He got on deck as quickly as he could, and +found that they were anchored in the shelter of Sandy Hook, with a boat +from quarantine alongside. Already the deck was thronged with excited +passengers; many of the women, in their eagerness to go ashore, had put +on their hats and veils and even their gloves. But word got about that +there was some sickness in the steerage, and that it would probably be +some hours before they could proceed. + +Dan took a long look at the familiar land; then he hurried below to +breakfast. He had planned his campaign before he went to sleep the +previous night, and he was eager to begin it. Breakfast, therefore, did +not take him long, and he was soon searching the decks for the man who, +possibly, was a son of the Kaiser, but, much more probably, merely a +young German who made the most of a chance resemblance. + +Dan possessed the aplomb which only years of work on a great paper can +give a man; he had wormed interviews from many reluctant and exalted +personages; he had asked questions which the other man was certain to +resent, often quite justly; he had drilled himself to believe that, when +he was on the trail, all mankind was fair game, and that any device +which would drag the truth from them was justified--the truth, the +truth, that was the end and the justification of newspaper methods! +Nevertheless, his heart beat a little faster when, at last, he perceived +the object of his search leaning against the rail at the rear of the +upper promenade and gazing out to sea. + +"I've got buck-fever," he told himself. "It's because I'm out of +training." And then he wondered if the Prince was thinking of Germany, +and of the lady-love from whom he had been torn. + +Nobody else, apparently, had any thought for Germany or for the open +sea. Every one had crowded to the side-rails to stare at the land or at +the smudge of smoke which marked Long Island, and the stern of the ship +was deserted. Telling himself that he would never have a better chance, +and that he must finish with the affair before the ship-reporters came +aboard, Dan braced himself, approached the solitary and somewhat +pathetic figure, removed his cap and bowed respectfully. The Prince, +abruptly wakened from his day-dreams, looked up with a start, and met +Dan's smiling eyes with an astonished stare. + +"I see Your Highness does not remember me," said Dan, good-humouredly. +"That is not remarkable, but I was conceited enough to think it just +possible that you might." + +"No," said the Prince, finding his tongue, "I fear I do not...." He +stopped abruptly. "For whom do you take me?" he demanded. + +"Surely I am not mistaken!" and Dan looked at him more closely. "No--it +is really Your Highness! I cannot be deceived!" + +The Prince met his gaze and shook his head, and tried to laugh. But he +was not a good liar--his father had long since recognised his unfitness +for any diplomatic mission. + +"I see it is useless for me to dissemble," he said, in a low tone. "But +I am here strictly incognito, and I beg that you will not betray me. +Where have we met?" + +Dan's heart leaped with exultation. And then a little feeling of shame +seized him. It was too bad to have to betray the fellow--but duty +demanded it! Perhaps, however, it could be done in a way that would not +be offensive. He opened his lips to explain, when a stocky figure +suddenly thrust itself between them, and Dan found himself gazing into a +pair of irate eyes. + +"What is this?" demanded the newcomer, though his voice, too, was +carefully lowered. "Who are you, sir?" + +Dan felt his good resolutions ooze away at the other's brutal manner. + +"I am a reporter," he said. + +"What is your business?" + +"Gathering news." + +"Your business here, I mean?" + +"I was just interviewing the Prince," explained Dan, blandly. "The +_Record_ would be very glad to have his opinion of the Moroccan +situation, of the Italian war, of the triple entente, or of anything +else he cares to talk about. Perhaps he could find a theme in the +destruction of _La Liberte_." + +He spoke at random, and was surprised to see how fixedly the other man +regarded him, with eyes in which apprehension seemed to have taken the +place of anger. + +"One moment," said Pachmann, for it was he, and he turned and spoke a +few rapid words of German to the Prince, who reddened and nodded +sullenly. Dan judged from the sound of the Admiral's subsequent remarks +that he was swearing; but he preserved a pleasant countenance, the more +easily since, happening to glance up, he saw Chevrial leaning over the +rail of the boat-deck just above them and regarding the scene with an +amused smile. At last, having relieved his feelings, the Admiral fell +silent and pulled absently at the place where his moustache had been. + +"When does your paper appear?" Pachmann asked, at last. + +"To-morrow morning." + +"You would not wish to use the interview before that time?" + +"No." + +Pachmann breathed a sigh of relief, and his face cleared. + +"Then we are prepared to make a bargain with you," he said. "It is most +important that the Prince's incognito be strictly preserved until +to-night. If you will give me your word of honour to say nothing of this +to any one until eight o'clock this evening, I, in return, give you my +word of honour that the Prince, at that hour, will grant you an +interview which I am sure you will find of interest. Do you agree?" + +Dan reflected rapidly that he had nothing to lose by such an agreement; +that eight o'clock would release him from his promise in ample time to +write his story; and the interview _might_ really be important. + +"Yes," he said; "I agree; but on one condition." + +"What is that?" demanded Pachmann, impatiently. + +"That the interview be exclusive." + +"Exclusive?" echoed Pachmann. "I do not understand." + +"I mean by that that no one else is to get the interview but me," Dan +explained. + +A sardonic smile flitted across Pachmann's lips. + +"I agree to the condition," he said. "And you on your part agree to say +no word to any one; you are not to mention the appointment which I will +make with you." + +"I understand," said Dan. "But, interview or no interview, I am to be +released from the promise at eight o'clock." + +"Yes. Very well, then. I accept your word of honour, and I give you +mine. At seven o'clock to-night, you will call at the German consulate +and ask for Admiral Pachmann. I shall be in waiting to conduct you to +the Prince." + +"I thank you," said Dan, and walked away, treading on air. Then another +consideration occurred to him. All this was going to interfere with his +evening with Kasia. He must see her and explain that he would be late. +But an official stopped him at the gangway and explained that, under +quarantine regulations, each class must keep to its own quarters until +the boat had docked. + + * * * * * + +The delay was less than had been feared, for the illness in the steerage +turned out to be well-defined typhoid; so, at the end of two hours, the +big ship began to move slowly up the harbour, with the passengers +hanging over the rails, for the first glimpse of the great city. There +was the green shore of Long Island; and then the hills of Staten Island; +and then, there to the left, loomed the Statue of Liberty, her torch +held high. Dan took off his cap, his eyes moist; and then, as he glanced +at the faces of his neighbours, he saw that they were all gazing raptly +at the majestic figure, just as he had been. Most of them, no doubt, had +seen it many times before; some of them, perhaps, had committed the +sacrilege of climbing up into the head and scribbling their names there; +they had glanced at her carelessly enough outward-bound for Europe; but +now she had for all of them new meaning,--she typified the spirit of +their Fatherland, she welcomed them home. + +And finally the wonderful skyline of New York towered far ahead, the +web-like structure of the Brooklyn bridge spanning the river to the +right; little clouds of steam crowning with white the summits of the +towering buildings, and a million windows flashing back the sunlight. +There is nothing else in the whole world like it, and the thousand +passengers on the upper decks coming home, and the thousand men and +women crowded on the lower deck, seeking fortune in a strange land--all +alike gazed and marvelled and were glad. + +Then, with a battalion of tugs pushing and pulling and straining and +panting, the ship swung in toward her dock, and soon she was near enough +for those on board to see the faces of the waiting crowd, and there were +cries of greeting and wavings of handkerchiefs, and the shedding of +happy tears--for it is good to get home! And at last the great hawsers +were flung out and made fast, and the voyage was ended. + +At this moment, as at all others, the first-cabin passengers had the +precedence, and filed slowly down one gangplank, their landing-tickets +in their hands, while at another the stewards proceeded to yank off the +hand-baggage. Dan, leaning over the rail, watched the long line of +passengers surging slowly forward, and finally he saw Kasia and her +father. He would see them on the pier, of course, for it would take them +some time to get their baggage through, and he could explain to Kasia +about the other engagement. He followed them with his eyes--and then, +with a gasp of astonishment, he perceived just behind them, also moving +slowly down the gangplank, the Prince and the man who had called himself +Admiral Pachmann. + +But those men could have nothing to do with Kasia! It was just an +accident that they happened to be behind her. And then he grasped the +rail and strained forward, scarcely able to believe his eyes. For +Pachmann had spoken to Vard, who nodded and walked hurriedly on with +him, while Kasia, with a mocking smile, tucked her hand within the +Prince's arm and fell into step beside him. Along the pier they hastened +to the entrance gates, passed through, and were lost in the crowd +outside. + +Dan stood staring after them for yet a moment; then, with the careful +step of a man who knows himself to be intoxicated, he climbed painfully +to the boat-deck, dropped upon a bench there, and took his head in his +hands. + +There, half an hour later, a steward found him. + +"Beg pardon, sir," he said. "Are you ill?" + +Dan looked up dazedly. + +"No," he said. "Why?" + +"The passengers are all off, sir. If you have any luggage, you'd better +be having it examined, sir." + +"Thank you," said Dan, and got to his feet, descended to the lower deck, +surrendered his landing ticket, and went unsteadily down the gangplank. + +The pier was littered with baggage and crowded with distracted men and +women watching the inspectors diving remorselessly among their tenderest +possessions. Each was absorbed in his own affairs, and none of them +noticed Dan's slow progress toward the little office of the +chief-inspector. After a short wait, an inspector was told off to look +through his baggage, and, with Dan's declaration in his hand, led the +way to the letter "W," where his two suit-cases were soon found. Dan +unlocked them, and stood aside while the inspector knelt and examined +their contents. He was through in ten minutes. + +"Nothing here," he said, and rose. Then his eyes ran Dan up and down. "I +see you have a small parcel in your coat-pocket. May I see it?" + +Without a word, Dan handed him the parcel. The inspector turned it over +and examined the seals. + +"What's in it?" he asked. + +"A little electrical device," Dan answered. + +"Well, I'll have to open it--it might be diamonds, for all I know." + +"Go ahead," said Dan, and the inspector broke the seals, unwrapped the +paper, and disclosed a small pasteboard box. He lifted the lid, glanced +inside, and then looked at Dan. + +"What is this? A joke?" he demanded. + +"I don't understand," Dan stammered. + +"You said it was an electrical device." + +"That's what it is." + +"Either you're crazy or I am," said the man; "and I don't think it's +me," and he thrust the box under Dan's nose. + +And Dan's eyes nearly leaped from his head, for the box contained a cake +of soap, cut neatly to fit it, into which had been pressed a number of +nickel coins. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +PACHMANN SCORES + + +Dan Webster never had any definite recollection of how he got to his +rooms. Somebody must have carried his bags to a cab and put them and him +inside it, and he must have given the cabby the number of the +apartment-house where his rooms were, for after a certain time he found +himself in a cab which had stopped in front of it, with Marshall, the +doorman, staring in at him. + +"I think he's drunk, that's what I think," said the cabby, who had got +down, suspecting that his services would be needed. "He ought to be put +to bed and left to sleep it off." + +"I don't understand it," said Marshall. "I never saw him like this +before. Paris must surely be an awful place!" + +The cabby chuckled, and together they got Dan out and into the elevator; +but when the doorman had paid and dismissed the cabby, and tried to +follow his advice, he met with unexpected resistance. + +"Go away, Marshall, and leave me alone," said Dan. "I heard what that +fellow said; but I'm not drunk--though no doubt I look it. Just go away +and shut the door. I'll thank you another time. There's a good fellow!" + +And in the end, Marshall went doubtfully away. + +Dan went to work at himself immediately with mechanical thoroughness. He +filled his tub with cold water, undressed and plunged into it, dipping +his head under half a dozen times. Then he rubbed down with the roughest +towel he could find, gave himself a vigorous massage from head to feet, +took a sharp turn with a pair of dumb-bells, got into fresh clothes, and +began to feel more like himself. + +"There," he said; "that's better. Now let's see if this thing is real, +or only a nightmare." + +He went to his coat, got out the pasteboard box, placed it on a table, +sat down before it, and carefully removed the lid. + +No, it was not a nightmare. There was the cake of soap--pink, scented +soap--weighted with the nickel coins. Poising the box in his hand, he +understood why the coins had been added. Without them, the box would +have been too light. He pulled one of the coins out and looked at it. It +was a German piece of twenty pfennigs, such as any one on the ship might +have used. He put it carefully back, and lay down on his bed to reason +the thing out. + +How had the substitution been made? How _could_ it have been made? Every +day the box had been in his pocket; every night it had been beneath his +pillow. There was only one explanation--the change must have been made +while he was asleep. Some one had entered the stateroom, slipped out the +other box with a cautious hand and substituted this one. Whoever it was +must have been familiar with the weight of the other box and with the +way it was wrapped and sealed. But how was that possible? No one could +have seen Miss Vard give it to him; no one could have known that he had +it. + +And then Dan sat suddenly erect. Chevrial might have known. Chevrial +might have seen him slip it into his pocket as he dressed. Yes, Chevrial +might have done it. Who was Chevrial? How should a wine-merchant know so +much about spies and diplomacy and German princes? There had always been +about him an air of power, of reserve force. Yes, and an air of +mystery--the air of one who knows a great many things he does not choose +to tell. + +Chevrial was undoubtedly a spy himself. + +And, as he found this answer, Dan wondered that it had not occurred to +him long before. For it furnished the clue upon which Chevrial's words +and hints and looks and warnings were strung together as on a thread! + +There could be no doubt about it: Chevrial was a spy, engaged in some +desperate plot--no ordinary plot, for a Prince and Admiral of the German +Empire were also engaged in it, and heaven alone knew how many others! + +There was one thing to be done at once. He must go to Kasia Vard and +confess that he had been outwitted. And he trembled as he thought what +the loss of that little box would mean to her! Why had he been so dense, +why had he not suspected.... + +Telling himself that self-accusations would do no good, he finished +dressing hurriedly, let himself out, and ran downstairs without waiting +to call the elevator. At the front door he met Marshall, whose face +brightened at sight of him. + +"So you're all right again, sir?" he said. "I'm glad of that!" + +"Yes," and Dan slipped a bill into his hand. "I had a little shock that +sort of upset me. Many thanks for looking after me, Marshall. I'll not +forget it." + +"That's all right, sir. Thank you, sir. Hope you had a good time?" + +"Splendid. Come up and see me to-morrow. I brought a little memento for +you from that awful place called Paris!" and leaving Marshall staring, +he ran down the steps to the street, sought the nearest subway station, +and twenty minutes later mounted the steps of the house on West +Sixty-fourth Street, whose address Kasia had given him--a quiet house in +a quiet neighbourhood. His finger was trembling as he touched the bell. +How should he ever face her! + +A negro boy answered the ring. + +"I wish to see Miss Vard at once," said Dan, and produced a card. + +"Miss Vard is not here, sir." + +"Not here? Has she gone out?" + +"No, sir; she's been to Europe and ain't got back yet." + +Dan steadied himself against the wall, for he felt a little dizzy again. + +"I know. But she must be back! Her boat docked three or four hours ago." + +"We was expectin' her to-day, sir--her and her father; but they ain't +got here yet." + +Dan looked at the boy for a moment; then he gave him a silver dollar. + +"Are you sure?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir; I'm sure," and Dan could see that he was telling the truth. + +"Have you a 'phone?" + +"Oh, yes, sir." + +"What's its number?" + +The boy told him and Dan jotted it down. + +"Will you give the card to Miss Vard as soon as she arrives?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir, I'll do that." + +Dan wrote a hasty line on the card, asking Kasia to call him at once, +and added his telephone number. Then he turned wearily away, and went +back to his rooms. There was nothing to do but wait. And he found +waiting most trying of all. The minutes dragged miserably, each of them +weighted with self-accusation, but the afternoon shadows began to +lengthen and still his telephone had not rung. Finally he called for +Kasia's number and asked for her. A voice which he recognised as that of +the negro boy answered that she had not yet returned. + +"It's those Germans!" Dan muttered to himself. "It's those damned +Germans! They've got her into it, somehow!" + +And then suddenly he remembered his appointment, and snatched out his +watch. It was nearly six o'clock. + +"I'll drag it out of them!" he said. "I'll drag it out of them! And if +Chevrial's there...." + +He stopped. Chevrial and the Germans could not be in collusion--such an +alliance was unthinkable. But how else to explain it.... + +Dan gave it up; but a good dinner at a near-by restaurant restored him +something of his self-confidence. After all, this was America. Europe +might be honeycombed with intrigue and over-run with spies, but they +would find their occupation gone on this side of the water! And he +himself would explode a bomb in the morning's _Record_ that would shake +them up a little! So it was a fairly confident and self-controlled young +man who mounted the steps of the German consulate at five minutes to +seven. A flunkey in livery opened the door to his ring. + +"I have an appointment with Admiral Pachmann," said Dan, with a sudden +cold fear at his heart that he would be laughed at; but instead he was +shown at once into a little ante-chamber. + +"Sit here a moment, sir," said the footman, and hastened away, closing +the door behind him. But it opened almost at once, and Pachmann himself +entered. Dan drew a deep breath of relief; it was all right then! + +Pachmann fairly radiated good-humour. All his roughness of the morning +had disappeared, and he greeted Dan beamingly. + +"I am most glad to see you," he said, in such a tone that Dan almost +believed him. "You are prompt--but that, I am given to understand, is an +American virtue. However, I am prompt, also. The car is waiting." + +"The car?" Dan echoed. + +"You will understand," Pachmann explained, "that, since the Prince is +incognito, it is impossible for him to remain at the consulate--that +would at once betray him. I was uncertain, this morning, as to our +arrangements, or I should have directed you to the proper address. +However, it is but a step," and he opened the door. + +Dan followed him along a handsome hall to the carriage entrance, where, +at the foot of the steps, stood a limousine. As soon as they appeared, +the driver, who had been standing at the hood, bent and cranked his +motor and then sprang to the door and opened it. + +"Enter, my dear sir," said Pachmann, and followed him into the car. The +door slammed, the driver sprang to his seat, and they were off. In the +semi-darkness, Dan fancied he heard a repressed chuckle, and a vague +uneasiness stole upon him. But he shook it off. What had he to fear? + +"You will remember," said Pachmann finally, "that this interview is not +a thing which we desire, but to which we consent because we must. You +placed us, this morning, in a very awkward position. You newspaper men +of America have a method all your own. The manner in which you entrapped +the Prince compels my admiration. How did you know that it was he?" + +"There was a book on the ship with a history and portraits of the royal +family," Dan explained. "I happened to be looking it over and recognised +the likeness at once." + +"So?" said Pachmann, and there was a note of surprise in his voice, +which told Dan definitely that, whatever Chevrial's plot might be, this +German was not in it. "You have sharp eyes. But the likeness may have +been merely a chance one. It must have seemed most strange to you that a +Prince of the Empire should travel alone as a passenger of the second +class." + +"It did. That was why I approached him as I did." + +"It was most clever. We admit it. Ah, here we are." + +The car had stopped, and Pachmann opened the door. As Dan alighted, he +glanced up and down the street, but did not recognise it. It was a +street of close-built apartment-houses and private dwellings like any +one of hundreds in New York. Pachmann crossed the pavement, mounted the +steps and touched the bell. The door was opened instantly by a tall +servant in livery. + +If Dan had expected it to reveal a regal magnificence, he was +disappointed. The hall into which he stepped was simply, even meagrely +furnished. Without pausing, Pachmann mounted the stair, and led the way +into the front room on the upper floor. It was a large room, lighted +only by the glow of a wood fire. A man was sitting in front of it, and +sprang up at their entrance. Pachmann, at the door, switched on the +electrics. + +"My dear Prince," he said, "I have brought the young gentleman for the +interview which we promised him." + +And Dan, as he saw the other's face, breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, it +was the Prince. For a moment in the car, he had feared that he was being +tricked. Pachmann had undoubtedly chuckled! + +The Prince bowed coldly. His face was very gloomy--in striking contrast +to Pachmann's, which was beaming more than ever with good-humour. + +"I feel that an apology is due Your Highness," said Dan, "for the way in +which I sought to entrap you this morning. Please believe that I was +about to promise to do what I could to respect your incognito when this +gentleman intervened. In my article for to-morrow, I shall try to say +nothing that can offend you." + +"I thank you," said the Prince gravely. + +"All this is wasting time," broke in Pachmann, impatiently. "Proceed +with your questions, my young sir." + +"What is the purpose of Your Highness's visit to America?" asked Dan. + +The Prince hesitated and glanced at Pachmann. + +"Perhaps it would be best for the explanation to come from me," said the +latter smoothly, but with a sardonic smile upon his face. "The Prince +travels in search of health. He is of a most studious disposition--sits +up with his books far into the night--becomes so absorbed in them that +he forgets to go to bed, even to eat. So the Emperor, in fear that he +would injure his health--you can see by looking at him he is most +delicate--decreed a trip around the world, made incognito in the +simplest fashion, during which he was not so much as to look inside a +book. This accounts for the fact that never once on the voyage over did +you see him with a book in his hand. That is the whole mystery, my young +sir." + +Dan, glancing at the Prince, saw that he was red with anger; but he +could not repress a smile at the absurdity of Pachmann's explanation. +The Prince was evidently as strong as an ox, and had anything but the +appearance of a student. + +"You may have heard some idle tales," went on Pachmann, rubbing his +hands with pleasure, "of a love affair--of a bar-maid, perhaps. Berlin +is always full of such gossip, and you American journalists hear it all. +But believe me, it is merely gossip; the truth is as I have told you." + +The Prince had wheeled upon Pachmann, his eyes blazing. + +"It is too much!" he cried, in German. "You insult me, and you shall +answer for it. I warn you!" and he strode to the door. + +"Farewell, my Prince!" said Pachmann, and waited, with a sneer on his +lips, until the Prince's heavy footsteps died away down the hall. Then +he turned back to Dan. "Behold that Princes have rages just as other +men," he said. + +"I don't blame him!" said Dan. "I wonder he didn't knock you down." + +"So?" and Pachmann's eyes took an ugly gleam. "I fear the interview is +at an end." + +"I have another question to ask," said Dan quietly. "Where are Mr. Vard +and his daughter?" + +Pachmann's eyes narrowed to mere slits and his face became positively +venomous. + +"I was expecting that question," he sneered. "What do you know of Vard +and his daughter?" + +"They are friends of mine. I saw them leave the pier with you. They have +not yet reached their apartment. Where are they?" + +"I cannot tell you." + +"You mean you will not?" + +"Put it that way, if it pleases you." + +A storm of rage was hammering in Dan's brain. + +"I would advise you to tell me," he said, tensely. + +"You threaten?" + +"Yes," and Dan took a step toward the Admiral. "I would advise you to +tell me." + +Pachmann did not stir. He glanced with ironic eyes from Dan's white face +to his working fingers. Then he threw back his head and laughed. + +"But this is better fortune than I deserve!" he mocked. "I did not +know, I did not suspect ... even when the girl told me!" Then his mood +changed, his lips curled, his eyes flashed fire. "What a fool!" he +sneered. "What a fool! You thrust yourself upon us--you walk into our +trap--you are wholly in our power--and yet you think to frighten me with +your grand air and your twitching hands! Bah! To me you are merely a +speck of dust, to be blown aside--so! Now, more than ever! As an +ignorant young fool, who knew no better, I might perhaps in time have +let you go. But now...." + +The anger had ebbed from Dan's brain, although his attitude had not +relaxed. Staring into Pachmann's leering face, he realised that he must +think and act quickly. The first thing was to escape; with a deep breath +he braced himself and sprang for the door--to plunge straight into the +outstretched arms of a man on guard there. + +There was a moment's struggle; then Dan felt his feet kicked from under +him, and fell with a crash that shook the house. In an instant two men +were sitting on him, holding him down. + +Then Pachmann came and looked down at him, his lips twitching with +triumph. + +"Young fool!" he sneered. "Young fool!" And then, in German, to the two +men, "Take him away! In yonder!" and he pointed toward a door at the +rear of the hall. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE TRAP + + +To Kasia Vard the day had been one of manifold excitements. Like Dan, +she had awakened to find the boat motionless, and had run to the window +to gaze entranced at the green slopes of Sandy Hook. Home! Home! She +fairly sang the words as she dressed and rushed on deck. From that +instant, every moment was charged with emotion, culminating as she +leaned against the rail and gazed with misty eyes at Bartholdi's +masterpiece. She remembered how, ten years before, her father, with +tears streaming down his cheeks, had lifted her in his arms for her +first sight of the majestic Goddess, and had explained to her, in a +voice broken by emotion, why this statue stood here, at the entrance of +this great harbour, holding her torch high in the air. + +The ship swept on, and Kasia, with a sigh of joy, turned her eyes +forward for the first sight of New York. + +It was at that moment her father joined her. One glance at his face, and +she had placed her hand within his arm, walked back with him to their +suite, entered and closed the door. + +"Now tell me," she said. "What has happened?" + +"I have just seen Pachmann," answered her father hoarsely. "He has +arranged for the final conference as soon as we land. It will be at the +consulate. There is yet one danger," and he dropped his voice. "Pachmann +has discovered that there are spies on board--French spies. They suspect +something--how much we do not know. But it is necessary for us to evade +them. We will leave the pier as soon as we land with Pachmann and the +Prince. Pachmann will have a car waiting--he has made all arrangements. +Here is your landing-ticket." + +Kasia took it and slipped it inside her glove. + +"Very well," she said. "But the baggage?" + +"We cannot wait for that--it would be too dangerous. I will return for +it as soon as the conference is over." His eyes were burning with +excitement, his lips twitching with nervousness. "I am glad that the +hour is at hand," he added. "I feel that I could not endure a longer +delay--these hours of suspense are dangerous for me." + +Kasia laid a calming hand upon his arm. + +"I know, father," she said. "You must not permit yourself to dwell upon +it so. Let us go on deck again and watch the landing." + +"No; we are to wait here," said her father. "These last moments we must +not be seen," and he sat gnawing feverishly at his fingers. + +The long minutes drifted by. They could hear the rush of feet and +chatter of voices on the deck outside, then excited cries of recognition +and greeting, as the boat swung into the dock, and finally the clatter +of the gangplank as it was run into place. Almost at once there came a +tap at the door. Vard sprang to open it and found Pachmann and the +Prince outside. + +"You are ready?" asked the former. + +"Yes," and Kasia and her father stepped out upon the deck. + +"You have your landing-checks? Good. Then we will start." + +They joined the long line moving down the gangplank. + +"This way," said Pachmann, the instant they reached the pier, and led +Vard hurriedly toward the entrance. + +Kasia, left with the Prince, glanced into his moody and downcast face. + +"So we are permitted to have another chat," she said, smiling at his +woebegone appearance, and tucked her hand under his arm. "You look as +though you needed some advice. What is wrong?" + +He glanced at her, then looked away, and answered with a shake of the +head. + +Just beyond the entrance stood a handsome limousine, its motor +throbbing. Pachmann hurried them all into it, stepped round for a word +with the driver, then himself jumped in and slammed the door. The car +started with a jerk, backed out of the pier-shed, and headed away +northward through the streets of Hoboken. This way and that it turned +and doubled, while Pachmann gazed anxiously through the little window in +the back. No one spoke, but they all watched Pachmann's face. At last +they were in the open country, with a smooth road ahead. The driver +opened his throttle, pushed up his spark, and in a moment they were +whirling along at forty miles an hour. Pachmann looked back for yet a +moment; then he turned with a sigh of relief and sank back into his +seat. + +"We have evaded them," he said. "But we will take no chances." + +On and on went the car, climbing to the top of the Palisades and +threading the Jersey woods; mile after mile along woodland roads, past +country estates, through little villages, on and on. At last, on a long +stretch of lonely road, they stopped, and the chauffeur climbed down, +detached the licence numbers at front and rear, and strapped on another +set. Then onward again, back toward the river, and finally, at the Fort +Lee ferry, down to the water's edge. The boat was about to start when +the car ran on board; in another minute it was moving out into the +stream. No one else had come on board, nor was there any sign of +pursuers on the bank. + +Leaving the ferry, on the other side, the car at once plunged into a +tangle of by-streets, and Pachmann half drew the curtains. Then, turning +southward along Riverside Drive, it joined the endless procession of +cars there, in which it became at once only an indistinguishable unit. +Finally it turned eastward along a quiet street, swung sharply around +one corner and then around another, and stopped. + +"Here we are," said Pachmann, threw open the door, and jumped out. + +The Prince followed, and, without looking back, walked straight across +the sidewalk and up the steps of the house opposite. Pachmann, with a +smile on his lips, waited to assist Miss Vard to alight. + +"But this is not the consulate!" she protested, looking first at the +house and then up and down the street. She had never seen the consulate, +but she knew it would not be in such a house nor in such a street. +Besides, there was no flag above the door. + +"No, it is not the consulate," said Pachmann smoothly, and turned to +Vard. "I found, at the last moment, that there was a reception at the +consulate to-day which would make our conference there impossible. I +managed to procure this house, where one of our secretaries lives, and +where we will be secure against interruption. But if you prefer the +consulate, we can, of course, wait until to-morrow--" + +"No, no," Vard broke in. "Let us get it finished at once--there has been +too much delay." + +"I agree with you," said Pachmann. "I, also, am anxious to get the +affair settled," and he led the way into the house. "If you will wait +here, Miss Vard," he added, and pulled aside the hangings before a door +opening from the hall. "We will not be long." + +Kasia stepped through the doorway, and the curtain dropped behind her. +She heard the footsteps of her companions mounting the stair to the +upper story; then all was still. She glanced about the room; it was a +rather small one, furnished as a sitting-room, with furniture both cheap +and scant. There were two windows, side by side, which opened upon a +little court or area-way closed in by high walls, topped by an ugly and +formidable iron chevaux-de-frise, which would be equally effective in +preventing any one getting in or getting out. + +She soon exhausted the interest of this limited prospect, and, turning +back to the room, spent a long half-hour wandering about it, looking at +this and that, endeavouring to keep her thoughts occupied. She was +vaguely uneasy, a feeling of oppression weighed upon her, and from +moment to moment she caught herself listening for some sound, but the +house was absolutely still. Finally she drew a chair to one of the +windows, and sitting down, stared out again into the little court. It +was dark and damp and well-like and apparently never swept, for its +pavement was littered with rubbish. Again she caught herself listening, +her head half-turned. But she heard no sound. It must be past the middle +of the afternoon; she should be getting home to set their rooms in +order, for to-night Dan was coming.... + +And again she was listening, rigid, breathless in her chair. There was +no sound; but suddenly, with nerves a-quiver, she sprang to her feet, +crossed the room and swept back the hangings at the door. She was +surprised to find that the door itself had been closed. She turned the +knob, but the door did not open; she shook it, but it held fast. And +then she realised that it was locked. + +It was a moment before she understood. Then, very quietly, she crossed +the room to another door and tried it. She had expected it to be locked +also, but to her surprise it opened. Beyond it was a bedroom, also with +a window opening on the walled court, and beyond the bedroom was a +windowless bathroom. There were no other doors. + +She returned to the outer room and again tried the door, testing it +cautiously but firmly with her whole strength. Yes; there could be no +doubt of it--she was locked in. She went to one of the windows, raised +the sash and looked out. It was at least a twelve-foot drop to the +flagged pavement of the court. That might be managed with the help of +the bed-clothes, but there remained the high wall and the threatening +iron spikes. Below her, she could see that a small door opened from the +court into the basement of the house, but it had no other exit. + +She found the fresh air welcome, and sat down, at last, before the open +window. She was much calmer than she had been; now that she was face to +face with danger, the feeling of oppression vanished and her courage +rose. She was a Pole, she had been trained in a hard school, she was not +afraid. No, she repeated passionately to herself, she was not afraid; +and how she hated that smooth-tongued German, with the cold eyes and +smiling lips! Treacherous! Treacherous! + + * * * * * + +"If you will come this way," said Pachmann, and Vard tramped after him +up the stair to a room on the second floor. + +The Prince was already there, standing at the window, hands in pockets, +staring moodily out. + +"Be seated, Mr. Vard," said Pachmann. "My dear Prince, will you not sit +down?" + +The Prince flung himself into a chair. + +"And now, Mr. Vard," went on Pachmann, sitting down very deliberately +face to face with the inventor, "our answer is ready for you." + +"Very well; let me have it," snapped Vard, twitching with impatience. + +"We refuse to accept your conditions." + +For an instant there was silence, then Vard leaped to his feet, his face +livid. + +"So you have been playing with me!" he cried. "Well, I suspected it! And +you shall pay! Oh, you shall pay!" and he turned blindly to the door. + +"One moment!" called Pachmann, and his voice had in it a ring of command +which Vard had never heard before. "Sit down. I have still something to +say." + +"I do not care to hear it." + +"That is nothing to me. You _shall_ hear it!" + +With a glance of contempt, Vard strode to the door and turned the knob; +but it did not open. He wrenched at it madly, but it held fast. In two +strides he confronted Pachmann. + +"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. + +"The meaning," replied the Admiral sternly, "is that you are a prisoner +here until I choose to release you. Now will you sit down?" + +Vard stood for a moment, his face deadly white, his hands clasping and +unclasping convulsively, staring down into Pachmann's leering eyes; +then he went slowly back to his chair. + +"That is right," said the German. "It will be best to take this calmly. +In the first place, I want you to realise that you are wholly in my +power. Nothing that occurs in this house will ever be known to the +outside world. If you should fail to reappear, there will be no one to +trace you. You will remember that we have your daughter also. And I say +to you in all seriousness, and as emphatically as I can, that neither +your life nor your daughter's life will cause me to turn aside or even +to hesitate. I would kill you with my own hands, and then your +daughter--yes, and a thousand like you, if need be--rather than that +this chance should be lost to Germany. I say to you, then, that either +you will consent to my proposal, or both you and your daughter will +suffer the utmost consequence." + +Vard's eyes had never left the speaker's face, nor had any colour come +back into his own. But at the last words he laughed contemptuously. + +"It is useless," he sneered. "I am not one to be frightened." + +"I am not trying to frighten you--I warn you." + +"Your warning is useless. I reply to you in all seriousness that neither +my life, nor my daughter's life--no, nor the lives of a thousand like +us!--would persuade me to put this power in your hands. But you dare +not kill me. In this brain, and there alone, is the great secret." + +"You forget," Pachmann reminded him, "that in your baggage is a complete +machine. We do not really need you." + +At the words, Vard burst into a shout of mad laughter. Pachmann watched +him, and his face fell into haggard lines. + +"So that is it!" jeered the inventor, when he had got his breath. "So +that is the great plot! Well, Pachmann, to that I answer, 'Checkmate!' +Go, get the baggage! You are welcome to all you find there!" + +"You mean the machine is not there?" demanded Pachmann, thickly. + +"Just that!" + +"Where is it then?" + +Gazing into his adversary's bloodshot eyes, Vard had another burst of +strangling laughter. + +"I have already told you," he said. "In this brain--there alone--there +alone!" His face was red now, strangely red, and his words were queerly +jumbled. + +Pachmann sat looking at him for a moment, then he rose. + +"We shall soon see if you are speaking the truth," he said. "Whether you +are or not makes no difference. If there is no machine in your baggage, +you shall construct for us another." + +"Oh, shall I!" screamed Vard, also springing to his feet. "Shall I! How +good of you, that permission!" + +"You shall construct another!" repeated Pachmann, between clenched +teeth. "Oh, you will be glad to consent, once I turn the screw! Come, +Prince." + +He tapped at the door, and there came from outside the scrape of a +sliding bolt. Then, standing aside for the Prince to pass, he looked +once at Vard, and turned to cross the threshold. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE TURN OF THE SCREW + + +It was a moment later that Kasia Vard, still sitting at the window +staring out into the court, searching desperately through her brain for +some plan of escape, was brought quivering to her feet by a shrill +scream, followed by the sound of a terrible struggle on the floor above. +There was a heavy tramping to and fro, the thud of falling furniture, a +dull crash that shook the house--and then silence. It was over in a +moment, but she stood rigid for a moment longer, her hands against her +heart, then she flew to the door and wrenched at the knob. + +The door did not yield. Panting with excitement, she snatched up a chair +and drove it with all her strength against the lower panel. The chair +flew to pieces in her hands, but the door held firm. And then, as she +looked about for another weapon, she heard the sound of a sliding bolt, +the door swung open, and Pachmann entered. He looked at her and at the +broken chair, and smiled slightly. + +"I come to reassure you, Miss Vard," he said, "since I suppose you must +have heard the noise of our little combat. No one was injured; but your +father, after a burst of rage at finding himself in our hands, during +which we found it most difficult to control him, has had what appears to +be an epileptic seizure. Is he subject to epilepsy?" + +"I have known him to have two attacks," said Kasia, in a low voice, with +a shuddering remembrance of the desperate crisis at which each had come. + +"There is nothing to be done, I think, except to loosen his clothing and +bathe his head and wrists?" + +"No--that is all." Mechanically her hands were smoothing her disordered +hair. + +"And there is, of course, no danger. Nevertheless, you may wish to go to +him." + +"I do wish it." + +"Then come with me," and he led the way up the stair. "Your father is in +there," he said, pointing to an inner room. "I will bring some water." + +Kasia, with white face, passed into the inner room. Her father had been +placed on a bed, and lay on his back, his eyes rolled up, breathing +heavily. His hands were tightly clenched, but already the spasm was +passing and the muscles relaxing. Almost at once, Pachmann appeared at +the door, handed her a basin of water and then withdrew. + +Under her ministrations, the breathing of the unconscious man grew +softer and softer, the hands unclosed, the eyelids drooped, and finally +his head fell over on one side and he slept. Kasia, watching him for a +few moments, assured herself that all was well, then turned out the +light, returned to the outer room and closed the door. + +Pachmann was sitting at the window, staring idly out at the deepening +shadows. He arose at once at the sound of her entrance. + +"Miss Vard," he said, "there is something I wish to say to you. Will you +not sit down?" and he placed a chair for her. "What I have to say is +most serious, and whatever your feeling of ill-usage may be, I hope you +will try to look at the matter also a little from my side. The situation +is this: Your father, as you doubtless know, is the inventor of a +mechanism which will make the nation possessing it mistress of the +world. That nation must be Germany. Apart from my ambition for my +country and my love of her, I believe that she is the nation best fitted +to possess it. At any cost, it must be hers--no cost can be too great; a +hundred lives, a thousand lives, millions of treasure--all these would +be sacrificed gladly, without hesitation. You understand?" + +"Yes," said Kasia. "I think I understand." + +"It is your father's dream, as I suppose you also know," Pachmann +continued, "to bring about a world-wide peace by causing all nations to +strike hands together in a sort of universal brotherhood. He demands +that, to enter this brotherhood, Germany relinquish her share of Poland +and restore Elsass and Lorraine to France. He requires, too, the +virtual abdication of our ruling house. To such conditions Germany +cannot consent. Rather than that, we should prefer a hundred times the +present status. For Germany has nothing to fear from the future. + +"Now, Miss Vard, let me say at once that I regard your father's dream as +a dream and nothing more. It cannot be realised. There is only one way +in which world-peace can be secured--let your father consent to place +this power in our hands, and there will be no more war--or, at most, +only one very short and decisive war. If your father is in earnest, if +he is not mad, he will consent to this proposal. I need hardly add that, +if he does consent, he has only to name his own reward--Germany will pay +it gladly. Wealth, position, the suzerainty of a nation--all this +Germany is prepared to grant." + +"You have placed this before him?" Kasia asked. + +"Yes; it was placed before him at much greater length at our second +conference." + +"And he refused?" + +"He refused; but we cannot take that refusal." + +"Why do you tell me all this?" + +"I tell you this, Miss Vard," answered Pachmann earnestly, "because I +wish you to understand that in what may seem to you treachery and +persecution, I am but fighting for my country. For her, I hesitate at +nothing. Then, too, I wish you to know what our position is. If you +will think of it, I believe you will find it an honourable position, and +one which will bring peace to the world, and quickly. I hope that, after +full consideration, you will decide to speak to your father. Perhaps to +you he might listen." + +"No, he would not listen," said Kasia, calmly; "and I shall not speak; +or, if I do, it will be to urge him to continue to defy you. Do you +imagine that any threat, any torture, could compel him to place the +world at the mercy of your Kaiser? You do not know him, Mr. Pachmann." + +"That is your final answer?" Pachmann asked. + +"Yes." + +He rose. + +"Then I shall have to request you to return to the room below." + +"One moment, Mr. Pachmann," said Kasia. "I wonder if you realise how +dangerous is this game you are playing? You are not in Germany; you +cannot kidnap two people here in New York, even by the Emperor's order, +without some inquiry being made." + +"Who will make it? No one knows that you were on the _Ottilie_; your +room was empty, your names were not among the list of passengers; to all +inquiries the reply will be made that you did not cross with the boat. +No one knows that you are in New York." + +"You are mistaken," retorted Kasia, her cheeks flushed. "One man knows. +I am to meet him this evening." + +"Ah! but when he finds you not at home, when he inquires of our company, +he will conclude that you missed the boat." + +"He will know better, because he crossed with us." + +Pachmann stared at her, his brows contracted; then a slow smile broke +across his lips. + +"I remember now," he said. "I did, on one occasion, observe you talking +to a young man. No doubt it is to him you refer." + +"Yes--and he has a power at his disposal which even you may fear." + +Pachmann chuckled. + +"The power of the press, is it not?" he asked. "Be at rest, Miss Vard. +He will not use it against us. He will walk into our net at seven +o'clock this evening! You may be sure that now he will not be permitted +to escape!" + +In spite of herself, Kasia turned pale. Herself and her father she was +prepared to sacrifice--they had played for a great stake and had been +outwitted. But Dan! That he, too, should be drawn into the whirlpool and +sucked down and destroyed! She turned faint at the thought. Then she +pulled herself up sharply, for Pachmann's gimlet eyes were upon her, +glittering with comprehension, reading her face, while on his own there +was an expression of infernal triumph. She shivered as she looked at +him. + +"Have you anything else to say, Miss Vard?" he asked, with a leer. + +"No," said Kasia, and turned to the door, anxious to hide her face, to +escape from him, to be alone with her thoughts. + +"Then please come with me." + +She stepped first to the inner door and glanced at her father. He was +sleeping peacefully. Then she followed Pachmann down the stair. At the +door of her room he paused. + +"By the way, Miss Vard," he said, still leering, "it is useless for you +to fatigue yourself by endeavouring to break this door. It is +strengthened on the outside by a sheet of steel--behold." He swung the +door for her to see, then held it open for her. "I will have your dinner +sent in to you," he added, and Kasia heard the bolts shot into place +again. + +Half an hour later, a bearded giant in livery brought in a tray +containing a very appetizing meal, set it on the table, and retired. +Kasia realised suddenly that she was very hungry, for she had had +nothing to eat since breakfast. There was certainly nothing to be gained +by starving herself--that, she told herself with a shiver, might come +later!--so she washed hands and face at the basin in the bathroom, +straightened her hair, and at last sat down to the meal with a calmness +which surprised even herself. She ate deliberately and well, and when, +at last, she pushed her cup away, it was with a sense of renewed +strength and courage. + +Once more she examined the room minutely, but there was no exit save by +the steel-lined door. The windows remained, but they opened into that +well-like court, with walls surmounted by bristling iron. Yet she was +strong and agile; perhaps ... perhaps.... + +She snapped out the light, went to the open window and peered out. It +was very dark in the shadow of those walls, but she remembered precisely +how it looked; she remembered the door opening into the basement, just +beneath the window. If it should, by any chance, be unlocked. But that +was foolish to expect. Perhaps it would be possible to twist a rope from +the bed-clothes and throw it up over the chevaux-de-frise; but even then +there would be a long hand-over-hand climb to accomplish; and the barbed +and pointed spikes had looked very formidable. In any event, she had the +whole night before her; she must not act hastily; she must wait and +watch; perhaps some other means would present itself; perhaps Dan.... + +And then the pain of recollection stabbed through her. Dan could do +nothing; Dan was to be himself entrapped; and yet, how could that be? +Perhaps Pachmann was lying--and yet he had not seemed to be lying. He +had spoken confidently, triumphantly, gloatingly. + +She sat erect, listening, then stole to the door and placed one ear +against it. There were steps in the hall outside, steps which passed, +which mounted the stair.... + +Perhaps that was Dan; yes, it must be after seven o'clock.... + +She forced herself to sit again at the window, but her hands were +trembling. She stared out into the shadows of the little court and tried +to think. But thinking was so difficult; there was a dull ache at the +back of her eyes, and her throat felt dry and swollen. One thought ran +through her mind, over and over: Dan must not be sacrificed, Dan must +not suffer; even if Germany must triumph.... + +Then, suddenly, from overhead, came the sound of a sharp scuffle and a +heavy fall. She fancied she could hear voices raised in anger. The slam +of a door echoed through the house. A moment later came a series of +savage blows, of rending crashes, as though the house itself was being +torn to pieces;--and then silence. + +Kasia stood as though turned to stone, listening, listening. Was it Dan? +Was it her father? What was happening in that room upstairs? What did +that sudden silence mean? Her imagination pictured frightful things.... + +And then, from overhead, she heard the pacing of swift feet, up and +down, up and down; back and forth a hundred times, as though driven by +some raging spirit, scourging, scourging. And then again silence. + +Horrible as the sounds had been, the silence frightened her still more; +it was filled with menace, it was charged with terror. Movement, +sound--those meant life, at least; silence might mean anything--might +mean death! + +She could endure it no longer. She ran wildly into the other room and +flung herself face-downward on the bed, covering her ears, burying her +eyes in the pillow.... + +But the terror passed; and at last she rolled over and stared up into +the darkness and tried again to think. She must, must, must escape! Once +free, once in the street, she could summon aid, could raise the town, +could storm the house! But to escape! She pressed her hands to her +aching temples. + +And then a sound from the outer room brought her upright; she listened +with bated breath, pressing her hands against her breast to still the +beating of her heart. There it was again, stealthy, scraping.... + +Slowly, cautiously, she stole to the door of the bedroom; the noise +again; and the sound of heavy breathing. And then her heart leaped +suffocatingly; for there against the grey light of the window was +silhouetted the figure of a man. In frantic terror, she sprang for the +switch, found it after an instant's frenzied groping, and turned on the +lights. The sudden flare blinded her; then her straining eyes saw who +stood there. + +"Dan!" she cried. "Dan!" + +He was standing on the window-sill, steadying himself by a knotted sheet +secured somewhere overhead; and at the sound of her voice, he reeled and +nearly fell. Then, with a face like ivory, he stooped and peered in +under the raised sash, rubbed his eyes, looked a second time, and with a +low cry, sprang into the room. + +"Kasia!" + +She was in his arms, close, oh! close to his heart. + +"Oh, Dan, Dan!" she sobbed. "I'm so glad--so glad!" + +And she kissed him with trembling lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE VOICE AT THE DOOR + + +It was nearly nine o'clock when Pachmann sat down to dinner that +evening, but he did so in an exceedingly pleasant frame of mind. He felt +that he had done a good day's work. In the first place, he had eluded +the spies; in the second place, he had enticed all the flies into the +web, where they were now securely entangled. There was just one way in +which they could regain their freedom; and that they would, in the end, +accept that way, the Admiral did not doubt. + +Protests were natural, at first; inevitable, indeed, until their +indignation at the trick played upon them had subsided somewhat; it was +also inevitable that there should be some heroics, some talk of honour, +self-sacrifice, and such tom-foolery. But these vapourings would soon +come to an end; a few hours of sober reflection would work wonders in +dissipating them. And if there was need, why, it would always be +possible to apply the screw--the screw of hunger, the screw of solitary +confinement, the screw of sleeplessness, of fear, of anxiety--and to +turn it gently, gently. Oh, victory was certain now! + +So Pachmann rubbed his hands together, mentally, at least, and enjoyed +his dinner immensely. It was a good dinner, but it did not seem to +appeal to Pachmann's table-companion. That was the Prince, summoned from +his room where he had sulkily immured himself, and obeying from force of +habit; but, strangely enough, his appetite, which was of a magnitude and +reliability characteristic of the Hohenzollerns, had evidently failed +him now. He trifled gloomily with the food, and drank more wine than was +good for him without any perceptible resultant lightening of spirit. + +Plainly something was seriously wrong, but if the Prince expected the +Admiral to make any anxious inquiries about his health, or to express +regret for the scene of an hour before, he was disappointed. Beyond +cocking an amused eye at him, now and again, the Admiral took no notice +of him. So it was the Prince who had to open the conversation, which he +did as soon as the servants had withdrawn. + +"Admiral Pachmann," he began, with heavy dignity, "I did not like the +way in which this evening you spoke of me. It appeared to me almost +insulting." + +"Insulting, Your Highness!" protested the Admiral. "You astonish me. I +imagined myself speaking most respectfully." + +"It was insulting," repeated the Prince doggedly. + +"Surely you misunderstood me!" said the Admiral, with deep concern. "Let +me see--what was it I said? I do not remember the exact words, but it +was to the effect, was it not, that your health was threatened by +over-study and that the Emperor had instructed you to take a vacation?" + +"There was more than that." + +"I emphatically denied that there was any truth in that absurd rumour +about the bar-maid." + +"She was not a bar-maid." + +The Admiral laughed. + +"Was she not? Then I was misinformed. But that is a detail." + +"In addition to which," pursued the Prince, rather red in the face with +the knowledge that he was getting the worst of it, "I do not consider +that you are behaving honourably in this matter." + +"In what way?" + +"You brought Miss Vard and her father here, promising to give them an +answer." + +"And I gave them an answer, did I not?" + +"Yes--and then proceeded to imprison them." + +"I have no recollection of having promised not to do so." + +"But they trusted you." + +"The more fools they!" + +"They must be released," said the Prince, firmly. "I command it!" + +Pachmann selected a cigar from the tray on the table with great care. +Then he lighted it, took a slow puff or two, and looked at the Prince. + +"Ah, you command it!" he said, thoughtfully. + +"Yes," repeated the Prince, "I command it!" + +"How I wish," sighed the Admiral, "that my heart was as young as yours, +my Prince! I would give much to bring that about! But, alas, it has long +since grown indifferent to red lips and bright eyes; this old heart of +mine has been hardened by forty years of service; it is capable, now, of +only one passion--but that is a fierce one." + +"And what is that?" the Prince inquired. + +"The passion for my country and for my King!" said the Admiral, and +saluted. "My house is not a great one, as you have had occasion to +remind me; but it is loyal! Its motto is, 'I love and I obey.' We are +proud of that motto, and we have never been false to it. As for myself, +I love my country as I have loved no woman; for her I would give my +life, my honour, and rejoice to do it! For my King, as you have seen, I +hesitate at nothing! Prince, sooner or later you must learn your +lesson--and the longer you defer it the more bitter it will be." + +"To what lesson do you refer?" asked the Prince, impressed in spite of +himself, as he gazed at the glowing face opposite him. + +"The lesson that never, never must red lips or bright eyes make you +false to your country or to your house, even in thought. You command +that I release these people at the moment when I touch success. And why? +Because you have been impressed with a girl's face." + +"It is a lie!" shouted the Prince, and started to his feet. + +The Admiral did not stir, only looked at him; but there was in his eyes +a frigid anger which turned the Prince cold. + +"I beg your pardon, Admiral," he stammered. "It may be, in part at +least, the truth. But it is not the whole truth. Putting the girl aside, +I still think you should release them. One should not behave +dishonourably, even to one's enemies." + +"They are not my enemies, they are my country's," retorted the Admiral, +quickly; "and I would point out to you that one can never behave +dishonourably in serving one's country. In that service, there are no +questions of right and wrong; there is only one question--our country's +glory. Any good soldier could tell you that! But perhaps you consider it +murder to kill a man in battle, or theft to take the enemy's supplies?" + +"No," said the Prince, flushing at the mordant irony; "but that is +different--that is war. In time of peace--" + +"There is no time of peace," broke in the Admiral, impatiently. "Only +fools believe so. Every thinking man knows that it is war, war, every +day of every week. We manoeuvre for advantage, we build secret +defences, we perfect plans of attack, we prepare night and day for the +onset--just as we are preparing at this moment. For what purpose do you +imagine that Germany maintains this house, with its grated windows and +steel-lined doors and heavy bolts, as of a prison? For just such +purposes as this! For the detention of her enemies. And it has been used +many times--many, many times! And now," he added, in a voice as hard as +steel, "as a reparation for your insult, I will ask you to return at +once to the consulate, to go to your apartment there, and to remain in +it until I see you in the morning. If you are wise, you will employ the +night in pondering carefully what I have said to you." + +White with humiliation, the Prince bowed, and stalked from the room. A +moment later, the slam of the front door denoted that he had left the +house. Pachmann sat for a moment longer, his lips curled in a sardonic +smile. Then he touched a bell. A burly fellow in livery answered it. + +"Arm yourself," said Pachmann, "and bring your comrade." + +The man was back again in a moment, bringing another giant with him. +Each had, strapped about his waist, an ammunition-belt from which +depended in its holster a heavy revolver. They saluted and stood at +attention, while the Admiral looked them over. + +"You will stand guard in the lower hall to-night," he said, at last; +"turn and turn about, one sleeping on the floor at the stair-foot and +with the hall fully lighted. Under no pretext, will you permit any one +to enter the house or leave it. In case of any disturbance, of any +suspicious circumstance, however slight, you will summon me at once. You +have revolvers--do not hesitate to use them in case of need--even +against a woman. You understand? Good! Has there some baggage come?" + +"Two pieces, sir." + +"Clear the table and bring them up to me." He leaned back and finished +his cigar, while the men clumsily cleared the table and placed two +battered suit-cases upon it. + +"The servants who prepared the dinner have departed?" the Admiral asked. + +"They departed some time ago, sir." + +"You are sure that all doors and windows are secured?" + +"We have just made the round, sir." + +"And the young lady?" + +"We have heard nothing from her, sir." + +"The young man?" + +"I glanced in at him, sir, some time ago. He was lying on his bed, with +his eyes closed, but I do not think he slept." + +"Did he have dinner?" + +"We had no orders to that effect, sir." + +"Good; let him go hungry. You will serve him no food until I order it. +That is all." + +They saluted and withdrew. + +Pachmann turned to a leisurely examination of the suit-cases. They were +unlocked, and he soon found the queer box with sides of glass lined with +tin-foil. He snatched it up eagerly, but after a glance at it, his face +fell. + +"So he was telling the truth!" he muttered. "Well, so much the worse for +him!" + +Nevertheless he examined the box attentively, with minute concentration, +noting the arrangement of the interior plates, the scheme of +wiring--each detail. Then, with it in his hand, he left the room, saw +that his men were on guard, mounted to the upper story, unbolted a door +there and entered. Closing the door carefully behind him, he switched on +the lights, placed the box on the table, and entered the room beyond. +Here, too, he turned on the lights, and stood for a moment contemplating +the occupant of the bed, who returned his gaze steadily, with glittering +eyes. + +"You are awake, then, my dear Vard?" said the Admiral, at last. + +"As you see." + +"You are feeling better, I trust?" + +"I am quite well." + +"You have had dinner?" + +"I cared for none." + +"I wish to talk with you for a few minutes." + +"It would be a waste of time." + +Pachmann paused to look again at the glittering eyes, and the thought +flashed through his mind, as it had done more than once before, that he +had to do with a madman. An inspired genius, perhaps, but mad, +nevertheless. Pachmann knew that there was about madness a certain +childishness, and he determined to humour it. + +"For you, perhaps, it would be waste of time," he said, approaching the +bed and sitting down; "but not for me. My life-work has been the study +of electrical energy as applied to war, and I fancied myself fairly well +informed, when, suddenly, you come and prove to me that I know nothing. +That morning, ten days since, when I stood on the quay at Toulon and saw +a great battleship reduced to a twisted wreck, I realised my ignorance, +and my heart glowed with admiration for you, my master." + +"Yes, I am your master," and Vard raised himself upon one elbow. "Even +here, your prisoner, I am still your master." + +"I admit it. And I have a proposal to make to you." + +"I have no confidence in your proposals." + +"Yet listen to this one. Place this power at the Emperor's service, and +he will name you ruler of any nation you choose--of this one, if it +pleases you--and leave you to govern it as seems best to you, without +interference of any kind. Think, my friend, what a destiny--free to +embody your own ideas in the government of what is in some ways the +greatest nation on earth; free to make a paradise here, if you can. And +if you succeed, your dream comes true, for all the other nations of the +world will follow." + +Vard gazed at the speaker with wistful eyes. + +"It _could_ come true," he said. "It _could_ come true; it could not +fail. But you are too blind, too selfish, too narrow. You are only a +German." + +"And you?" + +"I am a Pole--that is to say a citizen of no country and of every +country." + +"But you love that country, even though it does not exist?" + +"Aye--more than you love yours." + +Pachmann was silent a moment, thinking deeply. + +"Listen, my friend," he said, at last. "I desire to meet you; I will +come along the road toward you as far as I am able." + +"Yes?" + +"I agree to reconstitute Poland. You shall have a country again, and +shall be its ruler, if you choose." + +The eyes of the inventor glowed for an instant, and then the glow faded +and he shook his head. + +"You have betrayed me once," he said; "you would betray me again. I will +never place this power in the hands of your Emperor. He has already +shown how he would use it." + +"You refer to _La Liberte_?" + +"Yes." + +"I alone am responsible for _La Liberte_. It was I who chose that +test--not the Emperor." + +"You!" said Vard hoarsely, and a slow flush mounted to his cheeks. +"You!" + +"Yes, I!" and Pachmann cast at the other a mocking and triumphant look. +"It was I who compelled your consent; it was I who arranged the details; +it was I who assumed the whole burden. For I was determined that even +the first test should be of benefit to Germany--and it was! However you +may wish it, you cannot restore _La Liberte_!" + +Vard was staring at the speaker with hollow eyes, his face convulsed. + +"Did not the Kaiser know?" he questioned. + +"No one knew but Von Tirpitz, and he was panic-stricken. He is old and +timid--but I convinced him--I won him over--he could not resist me. Even +then, his heart failed him at the last, and he tried to stop me. +Luckily, his telegram was delayed--or I should have been compelled to +disobey my superior officer. Oh, I admit that it was rash of me," +Pachmann added, his face glowing; "I admit that I was risking +everything--life, honour, everything; but success excuses rashness--and +I succeeded!" + +"Yes," agreed the inventor, slowly, "you succeeded!" + +"After that," went on Pachmann, "it was too late to turn back, even had +any one wished to do so. Now it is for me to finish this affair." + +"How do you propose to finish it?" + +Pachmann shrugged his shoulders. + +"You are in my hands," he said, "you and your daughter. Heretofore I +have been lenient with you, I have been good-natured; I hoped that we +might reach some agreement, and I have tried to meet you half-way. But +my good nature is at an end; I withdraw all my offers. I demand that you +place your secret at Germany's disposal." + +"And if I refuse?" + +"I shall turn the screw!" answered Pachmann, and there was cold menace +in his eyes and in his voice. + +Vard had raised himself to a sitting posture. Now he swung his feet off +the bed. + +"I too have a demand to make," he said, his voice a mere whisper. "My +patience also is at an end. I demand my freedom and that of my +daughter." + +"What do you offer in exchange?" + +"I offer nothing in exchange!" said Vard, and rose slowly to his feet. +"I intend to offer my services to France!" + +Pachmann looked at him--at his bent and wasted figure, his shaking +hands, his trembling knees--a mocking light in his eyes. + +"My dear friend," he sneered, "you are mad--quite mad! I have suspected +it from the first!" + +"You are _not_ mad, M. Vard," said a pleasant voice at the threshold. +"And you have your freedom. France accepts your services!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +CROCHARD, THE INVINCIBLE! + + +Pachmann jerked round with an oath. At the first glance, he thought it +was the Prince who stood there, though it had not been the Prince's +voice. A second glance undeceived him. There was, it is true, a certain +puzzling resemblance to the Prince, but this man was more strongly +built, more graceful--and the Prince could never smile like that! And +then, with a little bow, the newcomer removed the broad-brimmed hat +which shadowed his face, and, with a sudden feeling of sickness, +Pachmann recognised him. + +But the Admiral was a brave man, with a nerve not easily shaken; +besides, the odds were all in his favour! Yet he realised the need for +all his resource, all his self control. At the end of a moment, he rose +slowly, almost carelessly. + +"Who are you, sir?" he demanded. + +"Do you not know me?" laughed the stranger. "Surely, yes! I saw your +eyes penetrate this slight disguise. I crossed with you on the +_Ottilie_, Admiral, as Andre Chevrial. I believe you even did me the +honour to convince yourself that that was really my name. I am, +however, better known in Paris as Crochard, L'Invincible!" + +"Ah," said Pachmann, with a tightening of the brows, "a spy, then?" + +"No, Admiral; a patriot like yourself." + +"And your business here?" + +"I have already stated it: to accept for France the services of this +incomparable man." + +Something flashed in Pachmann's hand, but even as he jerked up his arm, +there was a soft impact, and a revolver clattered to the floor. Crochard +sprang for it, seized it, and slipped it into his pocket. + +"I was expecting that," he said, still smiling. "Now we can talk more at +our ease," and he came into the bedroom, closed the door, placed a chair +against it, and sat down. "Pray be seated, M. Vard," he added +courteously to the inventor. "And you, Admiral." + +Pachmann, white with pain, was nursing a numbed and nerveless hand. He +sat down slowly, his eyes on the face of his antagonist. + +"You should admire this weapon, Admiral," Crochard went on, extending +for his inspection what looked like an ordinary revolver. "It is a most +useful toy, of my own invention--or, perhaps, I would better say adapted +by me from an invention of that ingenious Sieur Hyacinthe, who was +pistol-maker to the Great Louis. Should you ever visit Paris, I should +be charmed to show you the original at the Carnavalet. This embodies +some improvements of my own. It can, as you have seen, discharge, almost +noiselessly, a disabling ball; it can also, not quite so noiselessly, +discharge a bullet which will penetrate your body, and which no bone +will stop or turn aside. Should you open your mouth to shout, I can, +still with this little implement, fling into your face a liquid which +will strike you senseless before your shout can come, or a poison a +single breath of which means death. And I assure you, my dear Admiral, +that I shall hesitate no more than you to use any of these Agencies +which may be necessary." + +Pachmann listened, glowering; but, he told himself, he was not yet +defeated; and he sat rubbing his hand and measuring his adversary. + +"What do you imagine to be the exact nature of the services of which you +speak?" he asked, at last. + +"Their nature? Why, their nature will be of the same sort as those +already offered to your Emperor." + +"Yes?" + +"The position of leader in the movement for world-wide disarmament," +said Crochard, and smiled as Pachmann's lips whitened. "Ah, my dear +Admiral, your Emperor is too selfish, too ambitious--he has, as an +English poet puts it, that ambition which overleaps itself. He should +have accepted the arrangement which M. Vard proposed. That would have +been glory enough. But no; he must dream of being a greater than +Napoleon, of world-empire; and in consequence he will lose that which he +already has. But I foresaw it; I foresaw it from the moment M. Vard +stipulated that Alsace-Lorraine must be returned to France. I knew that +your Emperor was not great enough--that he has too small a soul--to +consent to that restitution!" + +Pachmann raised his head slowly. + +"So it was you who listened at the door, that night?" he said. + +"Yes, it was I. And it was I who discovered that you and a companion +whom I will not name waited for sunrise, one Monday morning, on the quay +at Toulon. For that, France must have revenge." + +Crochard's eyes were gleaming now, and there was no smile upon his lips. +Instead there was in his face a deadly earnestness, a fierce hatred, +before which Pachmann shrank a little. + +"She shall have it!" cried a voice from the bed, where Vard had been +bending forward, drinking in every word. "She shall have it!" + +"You hear?" said Crochard, and then he smiled again. "Ah, my dear +Admiral, it was a mistake to insist upon that test! It could have been +made, just as well, upon some old hulk of your own--and then France +would have had nothing for which to exact vengeance! I pity you; for it +is you and you alone, who have brought this retribution to your +country. From first to last, you have behaved like a fool in this +affair. It was you who betrayed her!" + +"I?" stammered Pachmann. "I? In what way? By what means?" + +"By means of the hundred-franc note with which you paid your reckoning +at Toulon. That was careless, Admiral; it was not like you. You should +have carried gold, not paper--that would have told no secrets. But bank +notes are numbered. And then, when you gave our friend here a packet of +similar notes--I do not see how you could expect to escape, after that!" + +Pachmann struck his forehead heavily with his open hand. + +"So it was that!" he groaned. "So it was that! Yes, I was a fool!" + +There was pity in the gaze which Crochard bent upon him. He could guess +what this good German suffered at that moment. + +"That was not your fault," he said, "so much as that of the person who +supplied you with those notes, after getting them directly from the Bank +of France. But, at this end of the journey, how clumsy you were! All +that haste, all that circling--and for nothing!" + +"You followed us, then?" + +"Why no!" laughed Crochard. "I had no need to follow you. I had only to +be at your consulate at seven o'clock." + +Pachmann could only stare. + +"The appointment was made on the open deck," said Crochard; "I was +expecting it, and my ears are sharp! Well I was there at that hour, as +well as M. Webster--and you led me straight here! That was careless! +That was clumsy! After that, you deserved to fail!" + +"How did you enter here?" asked Pachmann, hoarsely. "My men--are they--" + +"They are on guard below, no doubt. But their eyes are not so keen as +yours nor their ears so sharp--and then my imitation of the Prince's +voice and manner was very good. I admit I kept my face somewhat in the +shadow. They passed me without question." + +Pachmann, with sudden intentness, scanned the other's garments. + +"Yes, they, at least, are genuine," laughed Crochard. "The Prince was +most indignant at having to remove them. My heart bled for him--but +there was no other way. Beyond a little tightness across the shoulders, +and a little looseness about the waist, they do very well." + +"The Prince is a prisoner?" Pachmann asked. + +"A hostage--to be released when I give the word. You should warn him to +choose his cabs more carefully--never, in a strange city, to take the +first that offers!" + +"Then," said Pachmann, his face livid, "you have confederates--you are +not alone!" + +"I have friends," Crochard assented, "who were happy to oblige me by +taking charge of the Prince. More than that I did not ask of them." + +"You mean," asked Pachmann, almost in a whisper, "that you are alone +here?" + +"Quite alone, my dear Admiral," Crochard assured him, and smiled +pleasantly. + +Pachmann regarded the speaker for another moment; then he drew a deep +breath, and a little colour crept back into his cheeks. + +"M. Crochard," he said, "or whatever may be your name, I admire your +dexterity and your daring. I wish Germany possessed a few such men as +you. Nothing, I suppose would tempt you--no wealth, no position?" + +"I am a Frenchman, monsieur," answered Crochard, quietly. + +Pachmann sighed. + +"I see I must abandon that project. I am sorry. For, let me warn you, +all your dexterity, all your daring, cannot get you alive out of this +house. If the Prince is a hostage for your safety, then he must be +sacrificed. So far as my own life is concerned, it is nothing. I have +two men below who, at a shout from me, or at the report of the shot +which kills me, will shoot you down as you attempt to descend the stair. +That is my order. There is from this house but one way out--the door by +which you entered. You may kill me--I shall welcome that!--but you +yourself will infallibly be killed a moment later." + +"That may be," said Crochard lightly, "but I am not so sure of it. At +any rate, if M. Vard is ready, I am prepared to make the trial." + +"I am ready!" cried the inventor, and sprang to his feet. + +Crochard rose and moved the chair from before the door. Pachmann, with a +steady eye, measured the distance between himself and the Frenchman. + +But Vard, his eyes blazing, stepped in front of the Admiral. + +"So this is your reward!" he sneered. "You, who would have betrayed me, +who would have made me infamous, shall yourself be infamous! Now it is +France's turn--for her I will produce a new instrument--" + +"That is not necessary, M. Vard," broke in Crochard. "There need not be +even that small delay. I have the old one here," and he tapped the +pocket of his coat. + +"The old one!" echoed Vard. "But Kasia destroyed it!" + +"It was not destroyed. I will explain. Are you quite ready? Then pass +out before me and await me in the outer room." + +Still staring, Vard opened the door. Then he sprang to the table with a +glad cry, and caught up the box which stood there. + +"It is complete again!" he cried. "It is--" + +With a hoarse shout, Pachmann leaped at Crochard's throat. But, in +midair, a spatter of liquid broke against his face, and his body hurtled +onward to the floor. + +And then, from the floor below, came an answering shout, a shot, the +clatter of heavy feet.... + +With shining eyes, Crochard dropped on one knee beside his adversary, +and bent for a moment above the body. Then he sprang to his feet and +switched off the light. + +"Stand here!" he said, snatched the inventor to one side, and stood +facing the outer door. + +But it did not open. No further sound reached them. + +"Cowards!" muttered Crochard. "They wait in ambush! Well, let us see," +and, stealing to the door, he opened it softly, softly, bracing his knee +against it. + +Still there was no sound. + +Cautiously he peered out. The hall was empty. + +Noiselessly he crawled to the stair-head and looked down. He could see +no one. But where were Pachmann's men--hiding somewhere in the hall +below, waiting for him to appear.... + +He drew back with a little exclamation, for from somewhere below came +the groan of a man in pain. + +For a moment Crochard sat with bewildered face, trying to understand. +Then he sprang to his feet and went rapidly from door to door in the +upper hall. All of them were armed with heavy outside bolts, but only +one was fastened. He drew the bolts and opened the door a crack. + +"Is any one here?" he asked. + +There was no response, and, feeling for the switch, he turned on the +lights and looked in. The room was empty. But in an instant his eye had +seen three details--the shattered furniture, the disordered bed, the +open window. + +At the window, the corner of a sheet was tied securely to a hinge of the +heavy shutter, which had been pried open. Crochard touched it +thoughtfully and nodded. Then he peered down into the well-like court on +which the window opened. But he could see no movement there. + +He retraced his steps to the hall, and again peered cautiously from the +stair-head, and again heard that dismal groaning. + +"Come," he murmured; "there is not much to fear from that fellow!" and +he resolutely descended, eyes alert, pistol in hand. Halfway down, he +stopped in amazement, for the front door swung wide open. But at last he +finished the descent and looked about him. + +Against the wall back of the stairs sat a burly figure, one hand pressed +to his shoulder. A red stream oozed between his fingers, and his dull +eyes showed that he was only half-conscious. He was groaning +spasmodically with each breath. Across from him was an open door, and +looking cautiously through it, Crochard perceived on the floor of the +room beyond a second burly figure, motionless on its back. + +"Upon my word!" he commented. "That young fellow does his work well! A +charming exploit! But we must not be found here!" And without waiting to +see more, he sprang back up the stair. Vard was standing where he had +left him, his beloved box clasped tightly against his breast, his eyes +staring straight before him, vacant and expressionless. + +"Come," said Crochard, and took his hand. "The way is clear. But we must +hasten." + +Vard went with him down the stair; but at the foot he paused. + +"And Kasia?" he asked. + +"She is safe. Come. We will go to her." + +Obediently as a child, the white-haired man followed his companion out +into the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE ESCAPE + + +That evening remains in Dan Webster's memory as the most crowded and +most glorious of his life. Its supreme moment was when Kasia Vard gave +herself into his arms and raised her lips to his in confession and +surrender, and it left them both dazzled and breathless; but at last +they were able to speak coherently. + +"So you are a prisoner, too?" Dan asked. + +"Yes." + +"I suspected it. How splendid that I have found you!" + +"It was silly of me to be frightened--I might have known it was you!" + +"How could you have known?" + +"Admiral Pachmann told me he had set a trap for you." + +Dan glanced about the room quickly. + +"They must not know I am here," he said, lowering his voice. + +Kasia sprang to the switch and snapped out the lights. Then she took him +by the hand and led him to a couch in one corner of the room. + +"If we sit here," she said, "and speak very low, no one can hear us." + +They sat down, but some moments passed before the conversation was +resumed. + +"Now we must be sensible," she said, drawing away from him. "They may go +into your room at any moment, or come in here." + +"That's true," Dan agreed. And then he remembered. "Kasia," he said, +hoarsely, "some one stole the box, after all!" + +He heard her quick gasp of dismay. + +"Not Pachmann!" she cried. + +"No, not Pachmann; I don't know who it could have been, unless it was +that fellow Chevrial," and he rapidly told her the whole story. "I know +I was an awful chump to let Chevrial put it over me like that," he +concluded. "Once we're out of here, I'm going to scour New York for +him." + +"Don't take it so to heart!" she protested, pressing his hand. "It +wasn't any fault of yours; and besides it doesn't matter so much, since +it wasn't Pachmann. Perhaps we can get it back--if we can't, why father +will make another! Come," she added, rising, "the first thing is to +escape. Can we get over the wall?" + +"It looked pretty formidable; but I don't see what else we can do. We +can't fight our way out--I haven't anything to fight with." + +"No; that is too dangerous," agreed Kasia, quickly. "There's a regular +giant of a man on guard out there." + +"Two of them," said Dan. "I was an infant in their hands. Did you hear +me smashing things? There isn't much of the furniture left in that room +upstairs--and it did me good!" + +"I did some smashing myself," laughed Kasia; "there are the pieces of a +chair over there by the wall." + +Dan laughed in sympathy, with a heart surprisingly light. After all, it +was impossible to be either worried or frightened with her there beside +him! + +"I'll go down and reconnoitre the wall," he said. "How far is the +pavement below your window?" + +"Ten or twelve feet." + +"I'll need more rope." + +"My bed-clothes!" she cried. "We can make a rope from them." + +She ran into the bedroom, drew the blind at the window, and then turned +on the light. + +"No one can see us in here," she said, and began to strip the covers +from the bed. "Come in and shut the door, and they can't hear us +either." + +Dan paused an instant at the threshold; then, ashamed of his hesitation, +he entered and closed the door. + +"We can make a perfectly lovely rope of these," went on Kasia, her face +shining. "I happen to know how--we teach plaiting in our kindergarten on +the East side. First we must tear them into strips." + +At this Dan helped her, and then the plaiting began. In twenty minutes +as many feet of rough but serviceable rope was done. + +"Suppose I take a look around the court," Dan suggested, "while you +finish the plaiting. We'll need a lot of rope, if we have to go over the +wall, but perhaps there's some other way out." + +She went with him to the window, watched him as he tied the rope to the +shutter-hinge, tested it to make sure that it was safe, and kissed him +before he swung himself off. Then she leaned far over the sill and +looked down into his upturned face, all her love in her eyes. A moment +he hung there, gazing raptly up at her, then slipped down into the +darkness; and Kasia, with brimming heart, returned to her task. + +A very few minutes sufficed for Dan to convince himself that the only +way of escape from the court lay over the wall. He found the door +opening into the basement of the house, but it was a strong one and +securely bolted, as a pressure of the shoulder proved; and there was no +other entrance. The wall itself was not encouraging, for it was at least +twelve feet high, and at the top was that formidable iron defence. It +might be possible to throw their rope over one of the barbed points, +pull himself up, and draw Kasia up after him. Men had accomplished far +more difficult things than that to gain freedom! + +He groped for the rope, found it, and mounted hand-over-hand to the +window-sill, threw his arm over it, drew himself up--and hung there, +paralysed, staring at what lay within. + +Through the open door of the bedroom poured a stream of light, and +beyond, on the bed, sat Kasia, her head bent, her fingers busy with the +strips of cloth; and in the darkness of the outer room, peering in at +her, was dimly outlined a huge and threatening figure. Dan could see the +profile of the bearded face, half-turned away from him; could guess at +the leer upon it, the evil light in its eyes. Then slowly, slowly, it +drew closer to the bedroom door.... + +With teeth set and heart flaming, Dan drew himself quickly upon the +sill, stepped lightly into the room, and crouched in the shadow of the +table. Had the giant heard? He peeped out cautiously. No, he was still +intent upon the working girl. But a weapon--he must have a weapon--and +Dan's agonised glance, sweeping the room, fell upon the debris of the +broken chair. Quickly he crept to it, and his fingers closed about one +of the heavy legs. + +Then, as he turned to seek the shelter of the table, Kasia glanced up +and saw that bearded face. Terror froze the smile upon her lips; terror +drained the strength from her limbs; terror strangled the cry in her +throat.... + +"Dan--Dan--Dan!" + +And Dan, flaming with such rage as he had never known before, sprang +upright, sprang forward, and rising on tiptoe to get the whole weight of +his body into it, brought his club whirring down upon that shaggy head. + +Like a log the man fell, with a crash that echoed through the house, and +instantly from the hallway came a hoarse shout, the rush of heavy +feet.... + +In that instant, Dan was possessed by a curious clairvoyance; he could +see Kasia, he could see his victim, he could see the room behind him, he +could see the hall with the other guard running along it; he knew +somehow that there was a pistol in the belt of the man who lay at his +feet, and, without conscious will of his own, his hand found it and +jerked it out. + +That other figure had reached the threshold, and Dan was conscious of +his red face and staring eyes and open mouth. He was conscious of a +hairy hand closing on a pistol-butt, and, again without willing it, he +jerked his own hand up and fired.... + +And the next moment, with one arm about Kasia, he threw back the bolts +of the front door, flung it open, and fled down the steps into the +street. + +That was all Dan ever remembered of those fierce instants. They +appeared to him afterwards as a series of tableaux, each standing +distinctly by itself, unconnected with the past or with the future, and +he felt himself to be, not an actor in them, but a puppet moved by +wires. It was as though his brain had leaped from one mountain-top to +another, across intervening valleys buried in fog. + +But the instant his feet touched the pavement, the instant the fight was +won, his will asserted itself and his brain began again to work +connectedly. And the first thing he remembered doing was holding up his +hand and staring at it, astonished that it did not hold a pistol. He had +no recollection of having dropped it. + +"We must get help!" Kasia panted. "My father is there!" + +"The Prince and Pachmann are there, too," said Dan; "perhaps others." He +looked up and down the street. "I wonder where we are? There's the +elevated. Come along!" + +Together they sped to the nearest corner. It proved to be Ninth Avenue, +and there, in the shadow of the elevated, they found a policeman on +duty. + +It is true that Dan was not as coherent as he might have been and that +the story he told sounded like a pipe-dream; but the policeman was +undeniably slow of comprehension. At first he smiled good-naturedly. + +"Aw, youse run along home now," he said. "I'm onto youse!" + +"But, look here," Dan protested, "this is serious. I'm not drunk--I'm +just excited and scared. Now listen. There's a man held prisoner back +yonder by a lot of Germans, and I shot one of them and knocked another +down--and we've got to get him free...." + +"Tut, tut!" said the officer, and then he looked at Dan closely, and +then he looked at Kasia, and then he took off his helmet and scratched +his head. "See here, now," he said, finally, "I'll call headquarters, if +you say so--but if you are stringin' me...." + +"I'm not stringing you!" Dan cried. "And for heaven's sake be quick! +Every minute we waste...." + +The passers-by had begun to stop and stare curiously, and the thought +flashed through Dan's mind that he might collect a posse.... + +But the patrolman had made up his mind. + +"Come along with me," he said, and led the way into the rear room of the +corner drugstore and telephoned to his station for instructions. He +enlarged somewhat upon the perils of the expedition, as Dan had +recounted them, and when he came out of the booth, it was with a +distinctly relieved air. + +"The sergeant says for us to wait here," he said, "and he'll rush some +detectives up right away." + +"But we can't stay here!" Dan cried. "We've got to get back!" + +"When the sergeant tells me to do a thing, I do it," said the officer +composedly. "So I'm goin' to stay right here." + +Dan glared at him for a moment, and started to speak his mind, but +thought better of it. + +"Any objection to my waiting in front of the house?" he asked. + +The officer pondered a moment. + +"No, I guess not. Right down this street, you said?" + +"Yes; I didn't notice the number, but it's about half-way of the block. +I'll be waiting." + +"All right. Skip along." + +"I'm going too," said Kasia. + +Dan started to object--the danger was not over yet--but she was already +at the door. + +"Take the other side of the street," he called. + +She nodded, crossed the street, and sped along in the shadow. In a +moment they were opposite the house. Nothing apparently had changed +there. The front door stood open as they had left it, with the light +from the hall streaming out over the steps. The hall, so far as they +could see, was empty. There was no one on the stairs. + +Dan gazed at all this; then he shivered a little; he did not understand +the emptiness and silence; and he was suffering with the reaction from +those crowded moments. + +"I don't like it," he said. "Where's Pachmann?" + +"Perhaps he's not there." + +Dan stood staring a moment longer, then swung round at her. + +"I'm going to see," he said. "It was foolish to run away like that. I'm +ashamed of myself. Wait for me here." + +He crossed the street and mounted the steps. As he stepped into the +hall, a groan arrested him. In a moment, he perceived the man whom he +had shot lying, half conscious, against the wall. In the room beyond, +the other man was sitting up, rubbing his head and staring stupidly +about him. Dan took one look at him, then closed the door and bolted it. + +"And _that's_ all right!" he said, and turned to find Kasia at his +elbow. He glared at her sternly. "I thought I told you to wait outside!" + +"With you in danger! What do you take me for?" + +Dan took one look into the shining eyes, then put his arm about her, +dragged her to him, and kissed her fiercely. + +"Refreshment for the heroic warrior on the field of battle," he +explained, before she could protest. "I don't think there's much danger; +but just the same you'll stay well in the rear, like a good girl! If +Pachmann's upstairs, we'll surely hear from him. He's certain to be +annoyed!" + +"Can't we do something for this poor fellow?" she asked, her eyes large +with pity for the groaning man. + +"The police will call an ambulance," said Dan. "There's nothing we can +do." On the floor beside the wounded man lay his revolver, and Dan +stooped and picked it up. "Now, remember, Gunga Din!" he added, "your +place is fifty paces right flank rear!" + +He started up the stair, cautiously at first, but more boldly as no +sound came from the upper floor. At the stair-head he hesitated. The +upper hall was empty, but just opposite him an open door disclosed a +dark room beyond. Still there was no sound, and, after a moment, he +stepped to the door and peered inside. + +"That was where they put my father," said Kasia. "He was lying on the +bed in there." + +Before he could stop her, she brushed past him and sped across the room. +Then with a frightened cry, she started back. Dan was by her side in an +instant. + +"Look!" she gasped, and pointed at the floor. + +Dan saw a dim shape stretched across the inner threshold; then he +perceived that it was the body of a man. Pushing Kasia before him, he +returned to the outer door, fumbled for the switch and turned it. Yes, +it was the body of a man, lying on its face, its arms thrown above its +head. A strange odour greeted him as he bent above it--an odour which +made him curiously dizzy--but he managed to turn the body over. + +"Why, it's Pachmann!" he cried, and stared down at him with starting +eyes. + +It was not a pleasant sight. The Admiral's face was distorted with rage, +his lips curled savagely away from his teeth, his eyes were only +half-closed, his hands were clenched--and with it all, he was breathing +slowly and regularly, as though asleep. + +"He isn't dead, anyway," said Dan, and rubbed his eyes, for strange +clouds floated before them. "And he doesn't seem to be hurt," he added, +looking again. "I wonder what happened to him--he isn't a pretty sight, +is he? And where's your father?" + +"He's not here," said Kasia, and following her gesture, Dan saw that the +bed was empty. + +Together they hastened back to the hall and looked into the other rooms. +They were all empty. + +"Well, it beats me!" said Dan, at last, and stared down into the girl's +frightened face. "Your father isn't here, that's sure. It looks like he +either gave Pachmann his quietus with a solar plexus, or else Pachmann +just fell over on his face and went to sleep. Anyway, your father seems +to have escaped. But where's the Prince? Did they elope together?" + +"Why didn't father stop and look for me?" demanded Kasia. + +And then a light broke over Dan's face. + +"He did--and found you gone. Don't you see," he went on, excitedly, "it +must have been while we were fussing with that thick-headed cop. And +probably, when he didn't find you, he hurried on home...." + +But Kasia had already started for the stairs. + +Dan paused for a last look at the recumbent figure. Suppose the man +should die--suppose something had happened to the Prince--there would be +the German Empire to be reckoned with, and the reckoning would be a +serious one--serious for himself, for Kasia, above all for Vard! Very +thoughtfully he turned away, followed Kasia down the stair, passed along +the hall and through the open door. On the top step he paused and looked +up and down the street. The police were not yet in sight. + +With a little smile, Dan turned and pulled the door shut. Then he ran +down the steps after his companion. + +"Let's go the other way," he said, as she turned toward Ninth Avenue. +"We may as well keep out of this. We can get the Subway just below +here." + +And in another moment, they had turned the corner. + + * * * * * + +Wherefore it happened that, when the patrolman, in company with three +detectives, who had been torn away from a game of pinocle and who were +consequently in no very pleasant humour, reached the centre of the +block, some minutes later, there was no one in sight. + +"He said he'd wait for us," said the patrolman, helplessly. + +The detectives looked about them, but there was no evidence of anything +unusual about any of the houses. + +"Which side of the street was it on?" one of them asked. + +"He didn't say," answered the patrolman. + +"Well, what _did_ he say?" + +"Blamed if I know, exactly. He was so worked up--with his eyes stickin' +out, and his jaw shakin', and the girl hangin' on to his arm--but it was +something about kidnappin', and shootin' a man, and there bein' another +prisoner to rescue...." + +He stopped, for there was frank incredulity in the three pairs of eyes +fastened upon him. + +"He was stringin' you," said one of the detectives, at last. + +"Or else he had a jag," said another. + +"Dope, more likely," suggested the third. "Look here, Hennessey, don't +you ever git us up here again with no such cock-and-bull story! Come on, +boys!" + +They left Hennessey rubbing his head helplessly and staring at the +houses, one after another. He wasn't at all convinced that the strange +youth had been "stringing" him--his excitement had too evidently been +genuine; but if he was on the square, why had he run away? + +"Oh, hell!" said Hennessey, finally, and returned to his post at the +corner. + + * * * * * + +And it was about that time that the 'phone at the German consulate rang, +and a pleasant voice advised that a physician be sent at once to the +house just off Ninth Avenue, as his services were badly needed there. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +COUNCIL OF WAR + + +When Paris opened her eyes on the morning of Thursday, the twelfth of +October, it was to rejoice at one of those soft and beautiful days of +autumn which make of every house a dungeon to be escaped at the first +possible moment. Even as early as nine o'clock, a perceptible tide had +set in toward the Bois de Boulogne, or, rather, innumerable little +tides, which converged at the Place de la Concorde and rolled on along +the Champs-Elysees in one mighty torrent. + +Against this torrent, a sturdy and energetic figure fought its way +across the square; a figure carefully arrayed in black morning-coat and +grey trousers, and looking alertly about with a pair of very bright eyes +magnified by heavy glasses. The haughtiest of the carriage-crowd felt +honoured by his bow, for it was none other than that great diplomat, +Theophile Delcasse, Minister of Marine. + +M. Delcasse was not in the habit of being abroad so early; it was a full +hour before his usual time; but he had an appointment to keep which he +regarded as most important, so he strode rapidly across the square, +entered the handsome building to the north of it, and mounted to the +first floor, where, on the corner overlooking the square on one side and +the Rue Royale on the other, he had his office. + +Early as it was, he found awaiting him the man whom he wished to see--a +thin wisp of a man, with straggling white beard and a shock of white +hair and a face no wider than one's hand, but lighted by the keenest +eyes in the world--in a word, Louis Jean Baptiste Lepine, Prefect of +Police, to whom full justice has not been done in this story--nor in any +other. M. Lepine had not found the hour early; to him, all hours were +the same, for he was a man who slept only when he found the time, which +was often not at all. + +"Good morning, my dear Prefect," said Delcasse, drawing off his gloves. +"I trust I have not kept you waiting?" + +"I but just arrived," Lepine assured him; "and I know of no better place +to pass one's idle moments than at this window of yours." + +Beyond it stretched the great square, with its obelisk and circle of +statues, its pavilions and balustrades; beautiful now, and peaceful, but +peopled with ghastly memories--for it was here the Revolution set up its +guillotine, and it was here that some four thousand men and women, high +and low, looked their last upon this earth, mounted the scaffold and +passed under the knife. Surely, if any spot on earth be haunted, it is +this! + +Something of this, perhaps, was in the minds of these two men, as they +stood for a moment looking down into the square, for their faces were +very thoughtful; then Delcasse's eyes travelled from one to another of +the heroic figures representing the great towns of France--Lyons, +Marseilles, Brest, Rouen, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lille--and came to rest upon +the last one, Strasbourg, hung with black and piled with mourning +garlands, in memory of the lost Alsace. Every morning, before he turned +to the day's work, M. Delcasse, standing at this window, gazed at that +statue, while he registered anew the vow that those garlands should one +day be replaced by wreaths of victory! That vow was his orison. + +His lips moved silently as he made it now, then he turned to his desk. + +"Be seated, my dear Lepine," he said. "I have much to discuss with you, +as you may guess. First about _La Liberte_. My Board of Inquiry will be +ready to report by Saturday. It has decided that the explosion was +caused by the spontaneous combustion of the 'B' powder, as was the case +with the _Jena_." + +"That theory will do as well as any other," said Lepine, curtly. "But +you and I know that it is not the true one." + +Delcasse looked at him quickly. + +"Have you any news?" he asked. + +"None," answered Lepine, with a frown. "The man we sought has vanished +as completely as though the earth had swallowed him. I have found no +trace of him since he left the office of the Messrs. Cook, with two +passages for America in his pocket. I cannot understand it." + +"Have the tickets been returned?" + +"They have not been returned, and the Messrs. Cook, making inquiry at my +suggestion, have a report from the steamship company that they have not +been used." + +Delcasse turned this over in his mind. + +"Perhaps the man and his daughter have met with some accident." + +"We should have heard of it," Lepine objected. "I have scrutinised every +report--viewed every body which at all resembled him." + +"Then," said Delcasse, "he has been suppressed, as one who knew too +much." + +"My own opinion is," said the Prefect, "that he has sought refuge in +Germany, until he can prepare for another demonstration against France." + +The Minister moved uneasily in his chair. + +"I have thought of that," he said, "and I am doing everything I can to +render such an attempt impossible--but it is a hard task--one can never +be sure. There is another thing I wished to ask you. Where is +Crochard?" + +"I do not know, sir. I have not seen him since that morning at Toulon +when we parted outside the Hotel du Nord." + +"Then he, too, has disappeared?" + +"Yes, sir, completely." + +"Has it never occurred to you, Lepine, to connect these two +disappearances?" + +"Yes, I did connect them. You will remember in the note he left for me +he stated that he hoped soon to have some good news for us. But when +more than two weeks elapse and we hear nothing, I am forced to conclude +that he, too, has been baffled." + +"Yes, it was for me a hope, also--almost my only one," said Delcasse. "I +did not believe that he could fail. And if he has failed, do you know +what it means for France, Lepine? It means destruction. Oh, I have spent +sleepless nights, I have racked my brain! Germany's attitude is that of +a nation which desires war and which is ready to provoke it. You know, +of course, how strained the situation is?" + +"About Morocco?" + +"Yes. It has come to this: France and Germany are like two duellists, +face to face, sword in hand. Either they must fight, or one must +retreat--and with dishonour!" + +"France cannot retreat," murmured Lepine. + +"I have said the same thing a hundred times; and yet, at the bottom of +my heart, I know we cannot fight--not while this cloud of uncertainty +hangs over us. To fight, with this power in the hands of Germany, would +mean more than defeat--it would mean annihilation. There would be other +statues to be draped with black!" + +Delcasse's face was livid; he removed his glasses and polished them with +a shaking hand, and, for the first time, Lepine saw his bloodshot eyes. +Delcasse noticed his glance, and laughed grimly. + +"Only to you, Lepine, do I dare to show them," he said. "Before others, +I must crush this fear in my heart, bite it back from my lips; I must +appear unconcerned, confident of the issue. Only to you may I speak +freely. That is one reason I called you here. I felt that I _must_ speak +with some one. Lepine, I foresee for France a great humiliation." + +Lepine looked at his companion with real concern. + +"You exaggerate," he said. "You have been brooding over it too long." + +Delcasse shook his head. + +"I do not exaggerate. This thing is so terrible that it cannot be +exaggerated. Even at this moment, Germany is preparing the blow. For the +past week, she has been extraordinarily active. Her fleets have coaled +hurriedly and put out to sea--for manoeuvres, it is said; but this is +not the season for manoeuvres. Her shipyards have been cleared of all +civilians, and a cordon of troops posted about each one. The garrison of +every fortress along the frontier has been at least doubled, and the +most rigid patrol established. The police regulations are being enforced +with the greatest severity. Every city of the frontier swarms with +spies; even here in Paris we are not safe from them--my desk was rifled +two nights ago. I live in dread that any day, any hour, may bring the +news of some fresh disaster!" + +"And do our men learn nothing?" + +"Nothing! Nothing! All they can tell me is that something is preparing, +some blow, some surprise. Whatever the secret, it is well kept; so well +that it can be known only to the Emperor and one or two of his +ministers. We have tried every means, we have exhausted every resource, +all in vain. We know, in part, what is being done; of the purpose back +of it we know nothing. But we can guess--the purpose is war; it can be +nothing else!" + +Lepine sat silent and contemplated the rugged face opposite him--the +face which told by its lined forehead, its worried eyes, its savage +mouth, of the struggles, rebuffs, and disappointments of thirty years. +Always, out of disaster, this man had risen unconquered. Upon his +shoulders now was placed the whole of this terrific burden. He alone, of +the whole cabinet, was fit to bear it; beside him, the others were mere +pigmies: Premier Caillaux, an amiable financier; Foreign Minister de +Selves, a charming amateur of the fine arts; War Minister Messimy, an +obscure army officer with a love for uniforms; Minister of Commerce +Couyba, a minor poet, tainted with decadence--above all these, Delcasse +loomed as a Gulliver among Lilliputians. But greatness has its +penalties. While the Minister of Foreign Affairs spent his days in +collecting plaques, and the Minister of War his in strutting about the +boulevards, and the Minister of Commerce his in composing verses, +Delcasse laboured to save his country--laboured as a colossus labours, +sweating, panting, throwing every fibre of his being into the +struggle--which was all the more trying, all the more terrific, because +he felt that it must go against him! + +"What would you suggest, Lepine?" Delcasse asked, at last. "Is there any +source of information which you can try?" + +Lepine shook his head doubtfully. + +"It is not a question of expense," Delcasse went on, rapidly. "A million +francs would not be too much to pay for definite information. We have +spent that already! We have had a Prince babbling in his cups; we have +had I know not how many admirals and generals and diplomats confiding +in their suddenly complaisant mistresses; we have searched their hearts, +shaken them inside out--but they know nothing. Such and such orders have +been issued; they obey the orders, but they do not know their purpose. +They all talk war, shout war--Germany seems mad for war--and the +government encourages them. Their inspired journals assert over and over +that Germany cannot recede--that its position is final--that hereafter +it must be paramount in Morocco. And to-day--or to-morrow at the +latest--France must send her ultimatum." + +"What will it be?" + +"God knows!" and Delcasse tugged at his ragged moustache. "If it were +not for one thing, Lepine, I should not hesitate, I should not fear war. +France is ready, and England is at least sympathetic. But there is _La +Liberte_. What if Germany can treat our other battleships as she treated +that one? Yes, and England's, too! And if our battleships, why not our +forts, our arsenals ... Lepine," and Delcasse's lips were twitching, "I +say to you frankly that, for the first time in my life, I have fear!" He +fell a moment silent, playing nervously with a paper-knife he had +snatched up from his desk. "What would you suggest?" he asked again. + +And again Lepine shook his head. + +"What _can_ I suggest!" he protested. "Where you have failed, what is +there I can do?" + +The knife snapped in Delcasse's fingers, and he hurled the fragments to +the floor. + +"There is one thing you can do," he said. "Find Crochard and bring him +to me." + +Lepine arose instantly. + +"I will do my best," he said, reaching for his hat. "If he is in France, +rest assured...." + +There was a tap at the door, and it opened softly. + +"I am not to be disturbed!" snapped the Minister, and then he stopped, +staring. + +For there appeared on the threshold the immaculate figure, the charming +and yet impressive countenance, for a sight of which the great Minister +had been longing; and then his heart leaped suffocatingly, for with the +first figure was a second--a man with white hair and flaming eyes and +thin, eager face.... + +As Delcasse sprang to his feet, Crochard stepped forward. + +"M. Delcasse," he said, "it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you +a gentleman whom I know you will be most glad to meet----Ignace Vard." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE ALLIANCE ENDS + + +Delcasse's nostrils were distended and his eyes were glowing like those +of a war-horse scenting battle as he invited his visitors to be seated. +Only his iron self-control, tested on I know not how many hard-fought +fields of diplomacy, enabled him to speak coherently; never had it been +strained as at that moment. + +He sat down at his desk, and glanced from one face to the other. + +"I am indeed glad to meet M. Vard," he said, with a calmness that was no +less than a triumph; "and to see you again, M. Crochard. I had but this +moment charged M. Lepine to bring you to me." + +"Is it so serious as that?" asked Crochard, with a little smile. + +"The situation could not well be more serious." + +"You refer, I suppose, to the Moroccan situation." + +"Yes. France must fight, or yield to Germany." + +Again Crochard smiled. + +"No, no," he protested; "it is Germany which will yield!" + +Delcasse bounded in his chair, as his eye caught the glance which +Crochard bent upon him. + +"I knew it," he said, his face white as marble. "I guessed it--and yet I +scarcely dared believe it. But the moment you entered, bringing M. +Vard...." + +"M. Vard is a very great inventor," said Crochard. "He offered his +services to Germany, and she betrayed him; he now offers his services to +France." + +Delcasse glanced at the little man who sat there so still, so fragile, +with eyes which gleamed so fiercely and lips that trembled with emotion; +and he shivered a little at the thought that here was the man who had +struck a terrible blow at France. + +"I can see what you are thinking," Vard burst out. "You will pardon me, +if I speak English? I am more familiar with it than with French. I see +what you are thinking. You are thinking, 'Here is the miscreant, the +scoundrel, who destroyed our battleship!' Well, it is true. I am a +scoundrel--or I should be one if I permitted that deed to go unrevenged. +I was betrayed, sir, as this gentleman has said. I offered to Germany +the leadership among nations. But the Emperor is consumed with personal +ambition--his one desire to exalt his house, to establish it more +firmly. Instead of leading, he wished to conquer. I refused to be his +tool. Thereupon I was deceived by a trick, I was imprisoned--I and my +daughter also. We were threatened with I know not what--with starvation, +with torture--but this gentleman rescued us, and I came here with him in +order to place before France the same proposal I made to Germany." + +Delcasse had listened closely; but he was plainly confused and +astonished. + +"Before going further," he suggested, "I should very much like to hear +M. Crochard's story. There is much about this extraordinary affair which +I do not understand--and I desire to understand everything. Will you not +begin at the beginning, my friend?" + +"It was very simple," said Crochard, and told briefly of the pursuit, of +the encounters on the _Ottilie_, and of the final struggle in New York. +"After our escape," he concluded, "we hastened to M. Vard's residence, +where, as I anticipated, his daughter and that admirable M. Webster whom +she loves, soon joined us. It was a most happy reunion, and in the end, +M. Webster forgave me for the theft of the little box. Of our plans we +said nothing, except that M. Vard was journeying back with me to Paris, +and we were aboard the _Lusitania_ when she sailed next morning. We +arrived at Liverpool last night, and here we are!" + +Lepine's face was shining with a great enthusiasm. + +"Permit me to congratulate you, sir," he said. "It was finely done. I +realise that the more deeply because I myself was completely baffled; +and yet it should have occurred to me that the Captain of the _Ottilie_ +might wish to deceive me. My theory was, however, that the tickets had +been purchased to throw me off the scent. M. Vard had, of course, as I +supposed, sought refuge in Germany. Even yet I do not understand why he +should have gone to America." + +The remark was, in a way, addressed to the inventor, but he had fallen +into revery and paid no heed to it. + +"He is often like that," said Crochard, in rapid French. "I suspect that +something is wrong here," and he touched his forehead. "The trip to +America was, as I understand it, a matter of sentiment with him. He +insisted that this great treaty, which was to bring about world-wide +peace and the brotherhood of man, should be signed on American soil." + +"He is really in earnest about that treaty?" asked Delcasse. "He is not +a mercenary?" + +"Mercenary? Far from it, sir. Why, M. Delcasse, he was asked to choose +his own reward, and he refused. He is utterly in earnest--he asks +nothing for himself. And I believe his idea practicable. I hope that +you will consider it carefully, sir. The Emperor refused because of his +conditions. One was the reconstitution of Poland--he is himself a Pole. +The other was the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France. Pachmann did +at last agree to give up Poland--and to make him King of it, if he +chose!--but the other condition was too much for him. Besides, he +thought the game was in his hands--he saw his Emperor ruler of the +world! Permit me to outline for you the plan of this remarkable man." + +And clearly but briefly, Crochard laid before the astonished Minister +the plan for world-wide disarmament, for universal peace, for the +freeing of subject peoples, for the restoration of conquered territory, +and for the gradual establishment of representative government, to the +exclusion of all hereditary rulers, great and small. + +"And I see no reason," Crochard concluded, "why France should hesitate +to give herself wholeheartedly to this plan. With all of these things +she is in sympathy; 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' has been her +watchword for a hundred years. Once we regain Alsace-Lorraine, we can be +well-content to lay down our arms. I believe that we can secure the +support of the United States and perhaps of England. To the United +States, a project so idealistic would be certain to appeal; and as for +England, she is terrified at heart, she fears the future, she staggers +under the burden of her great armaments----which yet are not great +enough. Yes, we could win England!" + +Delcasse had listened with gleaming eyes, all the dreamer within him +afire at the splendid vision which Crochard's words evoked. + +"You are right!" he cried, and sprang to his feet and approached the +inventor, his hands outstretched. "M. Vard," he said, "on behalf of +France, I accept your proposal!" + +Vard was on his feet also, and his whole frame was shaking. + +"You are sincere?" he stammered, peering into Delcasse's eyes. "You are +in earnest? You are not deceiving me?" + +"No!" said Delcasse, solemnly. "I am not deceiving you. I swear it, on +my honour. France will be proud to take her place at the head of this +great movement." And then he stopped, and a shadow flitted across his +face. "There is but one condition," he added. "You must prove to us that +this power really exists." + +"I agree to that!" cried Vard, eagerly. "I agree to that--yes, yes, I +even wish it. Any proof, any test--it shall be yours to choose. And +remember--the Germans were not merciful!" + +"I shall remember!" said Delcasse hoarsely, his face quivering; and he +caught himself away and stood for a moment at the window, struggling for +self-control. Through the square below all Paris poured, on its way to +drive in the Bois, careless, happy, all unconscious of the crisis in its +country's history which the moment marked. And then, by habit, +Delcasse's eyes wandered to that great statue by Pradier, with the pile +of mourning wreaths before it.... + +"I have chosen!" he said, in a choked voice. "The test shall be made at +Strasbourg!" + +The inventor bowed. + +"If I may retire," he said, "I will begin my preparations at once. I +shall need to work for a day, or perhaps two days, in some well-equipped +wireless laboratory. All other arrangements I shall leave to you. It +will be necessary to secure two stations in sight of the arsenal, and +within five miles of it, where we can work without fear of being +disturbed." + +"I will attend to all that," agreed Delcasse, and touched a bell. "If +General Marbeau is in his office," he added to his secretary, "please +say that I wish to see him at once." + + * * * * * + +The door had closed behind the French Chief of Wireless and the +white-haired enthusiast, and for a moment the three men who were left +behind gazed at each other in silence. + +"Do you believe in this power?" asked Delcasse, at last. + +"There was _La Liberte_," Crochard reminded him. + +"True," and the Minister fell silent again. + +"To attack the fort at Strasbourg will not be easy," said Crochard, at +last. "The Germans are no doubt already on their guard." + +Delcasse smote his forehead with his open palm. + +"That is it!" he cried. "Lepine, that is the explanation! It is not for +war they prepare; it is in terror they withdraw their fleets into +mid-ocean and throw cordons of soldiers about their forts! At this +moment, in spite of their bold front, the Emperor and his ministers are +trembling! For of course they know that Pachmann failed--and that we +succeeded!" + +"Undoubtedly," Crochard agreed. "Pachmann would notify the Emperor of +his failure as soon as he regained consciousness!" + +"Not a pleasant task," chuckled Delcasse. "He has my pity. What happened +to the Prince?" + +"The Prince was released next morning." + +"You have friends, then, in New York?" asked Lepine, curiously. + +"I have friends everywhere," answered Crochard quietly. + +"When I think of the Kaiser trembling!" cried Delcasse. "Ah, what +anguish must be his! I have tasted it, and I know!" + +Crochard took from his coat a long pocket-book. + +"This belonged to Admiral Pachmann," he said. "I paused long enough to +secure it, because it contained a document which I was most anxious to +possess. It will interest you, sir," and he drew out a black-sealed +envelope and passed it to Delcasse. + +The latter opened it, took out the stiff sheet of paper he found within, +read it, re-read it, and then stared at Crochard stupefied. + +"That is what one might call an imperial power of attorney," said +Crochard, with a little laugh. "It is sufficiently comprehensive, is it +not?" + +"It is unbelievable!" cried Delcasse, and handed the paper to Lepine. +"And this was really given by the Emperor to Pachmann?" + +"I see no reason to doubt it. Though," Crochard added, with a smile, "I +am of the opinion that Pachmann put it to uses and went to lengths which +the Emperor did not contemplate--perhaps would have forbidden." + +Delcasse's eyes were glowing with an infernal joy. + +"That does not matter," he said. "That was because his hand was forced. +It is the Emperor who is responsible--it is a risk he took. If he chose +his instrument badly, it is he who must suffer for it. You permit me to +retain this paper?" + +"Certainly. Use it as you think best for France!" + +Delcasse was out of his chair, striding up and down the room. + +"So the wheel has turned!" he cried. "You may not remember it, M. +Crochard--to you it may have seemed a small thing--but six years ago, +the Emperor caused me to be driven from the foreign office because I did +and said certain things which displeased him. Such was his power even +here in Paris! You will scarcely credit it, but so it was. And now it is +my turn! With this in my hand, all things are possible! He must have +been mad to put his hand to such a paper--but, after all, it does not +astonish me. He is always doing mad things; he has no balance, no +self-control. Ten years ago, with an imprudent telegram, he almost +plunged his country into war with England--and at a moment, too, when it +was wholly unprepared! Two years ago, a wild speech of his brought +Germany to the brink of revolution. Last year, he nearly upset his +empire by an indiscreet interview which was suppressed just in time. He +is always in hot water, but heretofore his good fortune has been +amazing. He has always succeeded in extricating himself. This time, it +seems, he has tempted the gods once too often----the game is in our +hands. Our ultimatum I will prepare to-day, and I will invite to my +office the German ambassador, and I will hand him that ultimatum, and I +will say certain things to him which have long been biting at my throat +for utterance, and then I will give him a glimpse of this document, and +finally I will send him away. Ah, there will be consternation at Berlin +to-night!" Suddenly Delcasse stopped in front of Crochard's chair. "My +friend," he said, in another tone, "you have saved France. You must name +your own reward. I grant it, before you ask it." + +"Well, yes," said Crochard, smiling, "I shall not refuse. At Toulon, on +the quay opposite the spot where lies the wreck of _La Liberte_, a +friend of mine conducts a cafe. It was he who noticed the two +Germans--it was he who gave me my first clue. So he deserves a reward on +his own account. He is an honest man, who has suffered unjustly. Four +years ago he was condemned to prison for killing the betrayer of his +daughter. He is called Samson. M. Lepine will no doubt recall the +circumstances." + +"I recall them very well," said Lepine. "Samson escaped the day after he +was sentenced. I could find no trace of him, until I saw him at Toulon." + +"But you did not arrest him!" said Crochard quickly. + +"I promised to take no action until you and I had talked together." + +"Thank you, M. Lepine," said Crochard warmly. "I have always respected +you as a man of your word. It was I who assisted Samson to escape, since +his punishment seemed to me undeserved; it was I who secured false +papers for him and established him at Toulon. He has done well, but he +dare not have his family with him. He loves his family, and without them +he finds life sad. M. Delcasse, you have told me to name a reward--I ask +that Samson may be pardoned." + +"It is granted," said Delcasse, in a low voice; "but is there nothing +else? Is there nothing I can do for you, my friend?" + +Crochard had arisen and he and the great Minister stood face to face. + +"Yes, there is something, sir," he said, "which you can do for me, and +which will make me very proud. You are a great man, and I admire you. +There are not many men to whom I raise my hat; but I salute you, sir, +and I hope you will accept my hand!" + +Delcasse's hand shot out and seized Crochard's and held it close. + +"It is I who am honoured!" he said thickly. + +But at the end of a moment, Crochard drew his hand away. + +"Do not idealise me, sir," he said. "I am outside the law; you and I go +different ways. If for once, M. Lepine and I have worked together, it +was because France demanded it. We admire each other; we have found +that we possess certain qualities in common. But now I have done my +part; the rest is in your hands. So I say adieu; our alliance is over; +we are enemies again--" + +"Not enemies," broke in Delcasse, quickly. "Antagonists perhaps; but not +enemies. I wish--" + +"No, do not wish," said Crochard. "My life satisfies me. I have a +certain work to do, and I am happy in doing it. But I accept your +word--henceforth we are antagonists, not enemies. Adieu, sir." + +The door closed, and Delcasse, dropping heavily into his chair, gazed +mutely into Lepine's inscrutable eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +STRASBOURG + + +A Mile or two back from the Rhine, on the banks of the Ill, stands the +fair city of Strasbourg. Once she was proud as well as fair; but her +pride has been trailed in the dust. For four centuries a free city, +defending herself virgin-like against all comers, for two centuries more +the happy capital of the loveliest of French provinces, she has borne +for forty years the chain of the conqueror and bowed her head beneath +the lash. But she is French still--French to the very core of her; and +though her hands are bound, her soul is free! + +The oldest part of the town has changed but little with the centuries. +There are the narrow crooked streets, the tall half-timbered houses with +their many-dormered roofs, and there is the grey Minster, which has +looked down on the city through all her fortunes. To the north lie the +newer quarters of the town, spick and span, and to the south are great +arsenals and barracks, guarded by a mighty fortification. + +For Strasbourg is now one of the great strongholds of the German Empire. +Haunted by the fear that France may one day come pouring up from the +south to regain her lost city, the engineers of the Kaiser have +laboured with their every talent for her defence. Far-flung, a circle of +fourteen forts girdles her round, and within them rampart follows +rampart, culminating in the mighty citadel. + +What hope can an army, however great, have of capturing such a place? In +the mind of every German engineer there is but one adjective, and always +one, associated with it--impregnable. + +And yet, in this mid-month of October, there was in the air a feeling of +uneasiness, impalpable, not to be defined or even spoken of--but +present, ever-present. From far-distant posts of the Empire, troops had +been hurried southward, until the usual garrison of fifteen thousand men +had been more than doubled. Every rampart was manned, every wall had its +sentry, and through the streets patrols moved constantly, their gaze +directed at the house-tops. Their orders were to see that no one +stretched a wire to any building; to arrest any one found doing so, and +send him at once to Berlin, under guard. + +The restaurants, the hotels, the cafes--every place where crowds +assembled--swarmed with strangers, speaking French, it is true, but with +an accent which, to acute ears, betrayed their origin and made one +wonder at their pro-Gallic sentiments. The French and German residents +of the town drew imperceptibly apart, grew a little more formal, ceased +the exchange of friendly visits. No one knew what was about to happen, +but every one felt that a crisis of some sort was at hand. + +The commandant changed, in those days, from a bluff, self-confident and +brave soldier to a shrunken craven, trembling at shadows. If he had +known where the danger lay, or what it was, he would have met it +valiantly enough; but he knew scarcely more than did his humblest +soldier. He knew that the peril was very great; he knew that at any +moment his magazines might blow up beneath his feet; he knew that what +he had to guard against was the stringing of wires, the establishment of +a wireless plant. Every stranger must be watched, his registration +investigated, his baggage at all times kept under surveillance. A +stranger carrying a bundle in the streets must always be followed. Every +resident receiving a roomer, a boarder, or even a guest from another +city must make immediate return to the police. + +How many times had the commandant read these instructions! And always, +at the last, he read twice over the paragraph at the bottom of the +sheet, underlined in red: + + "At all hours of the day or night, two operators will be on + duty at every wireless station, their receivers at their + ears, their instruments adjusted. Should they perceive any + signal which they are unable to explain, especially a series + of measured dashes, they will report the same immediately + to the commandant, who will turn out his entire command and + cause a thorough search to be made at once of all + house-tops, hills and eminences of every sort within a + radius of five miles. All wires whose use is not fully + apparent will be torn down and all persons having access to + such wires will be arrested and held for interrogation. + SHOULD THE SERIES OF SIGNALS BEGIN A SECOND TIME, ALL + MAGAZINES WILL AT ONCE BE FLOODED." + +This last sentence, printed in capitals to give it emphasis, the +commandant at Strasbourg could not understand. To flood the magazines +meant the loss of a million marks; besides, why should it be necessary? +What possible danger could threaten those great ammunition store-houses, +buried deep beneath walls of granite, protected from every conceivable +mishap, and whose keys hung always above his desk? He was completely +baffled; worse than that, he felt himself shaken and unnerved in face of +this mysterious peril. + + * * * * * + +A copy of this order was sent to every fortress in Germany, and it is +therefore not remarkable that, three days after it was issued, it should +be in the hands of M. Delcasse. He read it with a lively pleasure. He +was beginning to enjoy life again. He knew that the tone of his +ultimatum had astonished the German ambassador; but he also knew that, +while the German press still talked of the national honour and of +Germany's duty to Morocco, the inner circle about the Emperor was +distinctly ill at ease. The Emperor himself had been invisible for some +days, and was reported to be suffering with a severe cold. + +After reading the order, Delcasse summoned Marbeau. + +"How do your plans shape themselves?" he asked. + +"Admirably, sir," answered the wireless chief. "We shall be ready to +start to-morrow." + +"When is the test to take place?" + +"If everything goes well, one week from yesterday, at noon." + +"You must use great care. The Germans are on their guard. Here is +something that will interest you." + +Marbeau took the order and read it carefully. + +"If the magazines are flooded," Delcasse pointed out, "we can do +nothing." + +"It will be something to have occasioned the destruction of so much +ammunition," Marbeau rejoined; "but we are not taking that chance. All +our instruments will be tuned and tested before we start. The Germans +will hear those signals but once." + +A little tremour passed across Delcasse's face. + +"You believe in this invention?" he asked. "You have investigated it?" + +Marbeau shrugged his shoulders. + +"I know nothing more of it than you do, sir. M. Vard tells me nothing, +shows me nothing, persists in working alone. He is most jealous of it. +But yes--I believe; when I remember the twenty-fifth of September, I +cannot but believe!" + +Delcasse was pacing to and fro, his hands behind him. + +"Sometimes I doubt, Marbeau," he said. "Sometimes I doubt. The +destruction of _La Liberte_ may have been one of those strange +coincidences which sometimes happen. And sometimes I hesitate; sometimes +I draw back before the idea of this demonstration. For Morocco we no +longer need it; I have in my possession a paper which will win that +battle for us. But then, when I falter, the thought of France's future +nerves me. So I stand aside and let the test proceed. But I warn you +again, Marbeau, to be most careful. Do not neglect to provide a way of +escape. Failure this time is of little consequence--we can always try +again; but under no circumstances must this machine fall into the hands +of Germany; and for you and for Vard it must be death before capture. He +must not be taken alive." + +"I understand, sir," said Marbeau, quietly. + +"If you think Strasbourg too difficult, it is not too late to draw +back. It was, perhaps, unwise for me to select it." + +"The more difficult it is, the more will it dismay the enemy," Marbeau +pointed out. "Let us try Strasbourg, at least. If we fail there, we can +try again somewhere else." + +"Well, I agree. Remember, you are not to spare expense." + +"We have had to purchase two houses in order to be quite secure." + +"Purchase a dozen, if you need them. The date, you say--" + +"Is one week from yesterday." + +"And the hour?" + +"The hour of noon." + +Delcasse turned to the day on his desk calendar, and wrote a large "12" +upon it. + +"Adieu, then, Marbeau," he said, and held out his hand. "My prayers go +with you!" + + * * * * * + +Fronting on the Zurichstrasse, some half mile from the arsenal at +Strasbourg, stands a great tobacco manufactory, covering two blocks and +employing a thousand people. These men and women and children live for +the most part in the crooked little streets of the neighbourhood, for +the hours of work are long, and to walk back and forth from a distance +not to be thought of. When a family has managed to scrape together a +little capital, more often than not the head of it opens a tiny shop, +while the younger members keep on working at the factory until the +business has established itself. Then the family takes a step upward in +social grade. + +In a little room back of such a shop in the Hennenstrasse, on the +morning of a day late in October, three men sat down to breakfast. It +was a silent meal, for each of the three was preoccupied. They were +roughly dressed in the blouses and coarse trousers of labourers, and +their faces were covered with a week's stubble of beard. One was +white-haired, old, and seemingly very feeble; but the other two were in +the prime of life. At last the meal was finished, and the two younger +men pushed back their chairs and looked at each other; then they looked +at their companion, who, with vacant eyes, was staring at the opposite +wall so intently that the other two involuntarily glanced around at it. + +"It is time for you to go, Lieutenant," said one of the men, in a low +voice. "Tell me again what you have to do, so that I may be sure there +is no mistake." + +"What I have to do is this, General," said the other: "from here, I go +to the house we know of, taking a circuitous route, loitering on the +way, and making certain that I am not followed. If I find myself +followed, I will pass this shop, dropping my handkerchief in front of +it and then turning back to pick it up. If I am not followed, I enter +the other house, mount to the roof and make sure that everything is in +order. At ten minutes to twelve, I hoist into place the two arms to +which our wires are secured, stretching them tight by means of the winch +which we have provided, and then I at once start the clockwork. I then +descend, make my way to the tram-station, and take a third-class ticket +to Colmar, where I will await you at Valentin's cabaret. If you do not +arrive by sundown, I am to go on to Paris to make my report." + +"That is right. You have your passport?" + +"Yes." + +"Let me see your watch." + +They compared watches and found that they both showed twenty minutes +past ten. + +"Adieu, then," said the elder man; "and let there be no failure." + +"Trust me, General!" and the Lieutenant saluted and went out through the +shop. + +"And now, M. Vard," said Marbeau, in a low tone, "the hour has come." + +The old man nodded, and together they left the room. Marbeau stopped to +secure the door, then followed Vard up to the first landing, where there +was another heavy door, which the Frenchman also bolted; so with the +next landing and the next. He smiled grimly as he thought of M. +Delcasse's warning to leave open a road of escape! He had, indeed, +provided such a road, but he carried it in his pocket. + +At last they stood in a tiny room under the ridge of the roof. It was +lighted by a single dormer, and, looking out through this, one could see +over the house-tops, half a mile away, the grim wall of the arsenal. +Before the dormer stood a table, to which was bolted a metal framework, +supporting the box, with its sides of glass half-covered with tin-foil. +It was mounted on a pivot, and from it two heavy wires ran to a key such +as telegraphers use, and then down to a series of powerful batteries +standing on the floor. + +"You are sure it is all right?" asked Marbeau, almost in a whisper. + +For answer, Vard closed a switch, opened the key and then depressed it +slowly. There was a crackle of electricity, and a low humming like that +of a giant top. + +"No, no!" gasped Marbeau, and snatched the switch open. + +The inventor smiled. + +"There is no danger," he said, "until the other current is turned on." + +Marbeau's face was livid and beaded with perspiration. He wiped it with +a shaking hand. + +"Nevertheless you startled me," he said. "The sound the machine makes +has a frightful menace in it!" Then he looked at his watch. "It is now +eleven." + +Vard nodded, and bent again above his apparatus, touching it here and +there with the touch of a lover--tightening a wire, examining a contact, +testing the vibrator.... + +His usual pale face was flaming with excitement, and his eyes shone with +a strange fire. + +Marbeau glanced at him uneasily, then stared out at the grey wall of the +arsenal. Upon its summit a sentry walked to and fro with the precision +of a machine. High above him flapped the imperial flag of Germany, +displaying its eagles and complacent motto. Marbeau, like every +Frenchman, considered that flag an insult, for the lower arm of its +cross bore the date "1870," and he stared out at it now, dreaming of the +future, dreaming of the day when France should tear it down.... + +Vard touched him on the arm. + +"I should like to see the plan of the fort again," he said. + +Marbeau opened his shirt, and from a little oilskin bag produced a +square of tracing-paper. He unfolded it and handed it to the inventor. + +"This is the side toward us," he said. "There are the magazines, the +main one being here in the centre." + +With a nod of understanding, Vard carried the drawing to the window and +compared it carefully with the stretch of wall, swinging his pivoted +machine from side to side to be sure that its range was ample. Then he +refolded the map and returned it to Marbeau. + +"It must be almost the hour," he said. + +With a start, Marbeau pulled out his watch. It showed fifteen minutes to +twelve. Then, watch in hand, he stood gazing out at the bastion. Four +minutes passed, five, six, seven.... + +Suddenly from the fort came the deep boom of an alarm gun. A minute +later, a file of men appeared upon the summit of the bastion; a gate, +away to the right, swung open and an armed battalion marched out at the +double-quick. + +"The signal!" gasped Marbeau. "It is the signal! Their wireless men have +picked it up!" + +Again the alarm gun boomed sullenly, and they could hear the faint, +shrill calling of a bugle. Then came the distant thunder of the +answering guns from the forts about the town; from the streets rose +excited voices, the clatter of running feet.... + +One minute--two--three-- + +"Now!" said Marbeau, snapped shut his watch and thrust it into his +pocket. + +Vard, his face twitching, closed the switch and touched the key. Again +came the sharp crackle of flame, the deep hum of the vibrator. Marbeau, +the marrow frozen in his bones but with the sweat pouring from his face, +stared out--and then, close beside him, came a white burst of flame--the +horrible odour of burning flesh-- + +He jerked around to see Vard fallen forward above the table, while about +his hands played those livid tongues of fire.... + + * * * * * + +Half an hour before midnight of that day, a man, roughly dressed, with a +stubble of beard masking his face, appeared at the Ministry of Marine, +was passed at once by the guard at the entrance and made his way quickly +to the office of M. Delcasse. He tapped at the door, which was instantly +opened by the Minister himself. + +"Ah, Marbeau," he said, quietly. "Come in. We have failed, then?" + +"Yes, we have failed," groaned Marbeau, and sank into a chair. + +Delcasse touched him gently on the shoulder. + +"Do not take it so much to heart," he said. "There was something wrong, +perhaps. We can try again--" + +"No, we cannot try again," and Marbeau's face was piteous. + +"Vard is not captured!" + +"No; he is dead." + +"But his instrument--his invention?" + +"Is destroyed, fused, burnt to a mere mass of metal," and Marbeau told +the story of that last moment. + +"But what happened? What occurred?" asked the Minister dazedly. + +"I do not know--I was staring at the fort. He may have had a seizure and +fallen across his instrument, or he may have broken the circuit in some +way--displaced a wire, perhaps--and received the full shock himself. It +was over in an instant. He was dead when I dragged him away." + +For some time Delcasse walked thoughtfully up and down. + +"You could not, by any possibility, reconstruct it?" he asked at last. + +"I fear not, sir; he told me nothing. I do not even know the principle +involved." + +Again Delcasse paced back and forth; then he sat down before his desk, +with a gesture of acquiescence. + +"So that dream is ended," he said. "It was too great, no doubt, to be +accomplished. God willed otherwise. But at least we are richer than we +were. From time to time we will terrify these Germans with a little +blast of wireless. That will be amusing, and it may cost them some +ammunition. And in the struggle over Morocco France wins! That is +assured! Good night, General. You need rest." + +All the world knows now, of course, that France did win. On November +fourth, the question of her supremacy in Morocco was settled once for +all by the treaty signed at Berlin. When Europe learned the terms of +that treaty, it was shaken with amazement. For Germany had receded, +after swearing that she would never recede; had guaranteed to France a +free hand in Morocco, with the right to establish a protectorate if she +thought proper;--and in exchange for all this received a small strip of +the French Congo! Yes, there was one other thing she received of which +the treaty made no mention. When Herr von Kiderlen-Waechter had affixed +his signature, Ambassador Cambon, who acted for France, gave him +silently an envelope sealed with a black seal. He glanced at the +signature of the paper it contained, and placed it carefully in his +pocket. An hour afterwards, he handed it to his Emperor. + +And two days later, Admiral Heinrich Pachmann, returning from an +audience with the Emperor, went quietly to his quarters. At the usual +hour, his aide, coming for orders, rapped at his door. There was no +answer, and, opening the door, the aide glanced inside. Pachmann lay +sprawled across the floor, a bullet in his heart. His stiff hand gripped +a duelling-pistol--a handsome weapon, which bore, chased along its +barrel, the motto of his house, "I love and I obey!" + + + + + +---------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 113 vizualise changed to visualize | + | Page 326 "of" added to "this side of the water?" | + | Page 364 Hohenzvollerns changed to Hohenzollerns | + +---------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Destroyer, by Burton Egbert Stevenson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DESTROYER *** + +***** This file should be named 29629.txt or 29629.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/6/2/29629/ + +Produced by D Alexander, Barbara Kosker and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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