"William Smith, Hotel du Nord, Toulon, France."Our mother requests that you abandon trip, cancel all arrangements, and return at once."Alfred."
"William Smith, Hotel du Nord, Toulon, France.
"Our mother requests that you abandon trip, cancel all arrangements, and return at once.
"Alfred."
"Well?" and Delcassé looked up at his companion.
"That would seem to show, sir," said Lépine, "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 Delcassé a second time.
"Well," Lépine 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 Delcassé bent forward, and read:
"Alfred Smith, Restante, Brussels."We continue our trip as planned. All well. Next address Nice."William."
"Alfred Smith, Restante, Brussels.
"We continue our trip as planned. All well. Next address Nice.
"William."
"You will see," Lépine went on, "that these messages are such as an ordinary tourist would send and receive."
But Delcassé 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,Lépine," 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."
Lépine 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 Elysée 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 Lépine, "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."
Delcassé 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?"
Lépine 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," Lépine agreed, and withdrew.
Toulon was awake again, and the streets were thronged as on a fête 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 Liberté listening to the orators, partly in the Place d'Armes watching the men at work draping with black the MaritimePrefecture, 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 café before a glass of coffee or apéritif, with the satisfaction of a sacred duty conscientiously performed.
Lépine, 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 Lépine 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 débris into it and clearing the way for the searching parties. On the quay opposite the wreck, at Number Ten, was a café, theCafé des Voyageurs as its sign announced, and to this Lépine presently crossed, sat down at a table and ordered a bock.
The café 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. Lépine 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, Lépine 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, Lépine 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 Lépine rapped for the "addition," and, as he paid it, slipped a note into his hand. Lépine opened it, under cover of his hat, and found that it contained a single line:
"Monsieur C. will welcome a conference with Monsieur L."
"Monsieur C. will welcome a conference with Monsieur L."
Without a word, Lépine arose and followed the man, who crossed the room, opened a door at the farther end of it, stood aside for him to pass, andthen gently closed it. Lépine 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 Lépine 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 Lépine.
"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. Delcassé. 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, Lépine, you have understood that, if I assisted you, it was only because it suited me to do so!"
"Yes, I have understood that," assented Lépine,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."
Lépine 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, Idolove her, and I am going to prove it by saving her!"
"Is she in need of saving?" queried Lépine, ironically.
Crochard's eyes gleamed; then, in a moment, his anger passed.
"Delcassé believes so; Lépine does not: behold the difference between a great man and a clever one," he said, and looked at Lépine 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. Delcassé."
Crochard looked at him for a moment.
"Let me see the registration slip from the Prefecture," he said, at last.
Without a word, Lépine 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."
Lépine 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.
Lépine 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, Lépine handed him the second sheet of tissue.
Crochard took one glance at it; then he looked at his companion.
"Do you mean to say, Lépine," 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, Lépine," 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. Delcassé 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 amonth 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 Lépine. "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, Lépine," 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. Delcassé; 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 Lépine, 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 battleshipsnoticed 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. Delcassé. There must be no one present but we three."
"M. Crochard," said Lépine, drily, "I do not like your imperatives. I am not accustomed to them."
"M. Lépine," 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?"
Lépine 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.
"Lépine," 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, "Ipromise to find the man who destroyedLa Liberté, and to save my country!"
Lépine 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. Delcassé take place?" he asked.
Crochard smiled at the question and at the little man's impassive face.
"Lépine," he said, "on my word, you touch greatness sometimes, and I find myself admiring you! Let the conference take place at M. Delcassé's apartment. Oh, yes; you will have a closed carriage waiting at the private entrance."
"At eleven o'clock," agreed Lépine.
"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 Lépine'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 oppositeCrochard. 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. Lépine," 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 stationhere, 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 Iwillknow 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 isnotimpossible!" 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.
M. Delcassé was a busy man, that morning, and he snorted with derision when Lépine, 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," Lépine suggested.
Delcassé 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 Lépine 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 Lépine, gently; "he is the man whom, next to yourself, I consider the most remarkable in France."
Delcassé 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."
Delcassé 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 Lépine, simply.
"And you are in earnest about this conference?"
"In deadly earnest, sir. So is Crochard."
Delcassé 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. Delcassé," said Lépine, 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 Lépine boldly, "for all the famous men who take part in it, willdiscover nothing—it will be like that other inquiry into the affair of theJena."
"And what will yours discover?"
"It is not mine—it is Crochard's," Lépine 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 Delcassé, 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, Lépine," 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 Lépine 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, Lépine 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. Lépine 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 Delcassé'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, "Lépine tells me you have more news for us. Be seated. What is the news?"
"I requested that M. Lépine should make certain inquiries—"
"Yes, about the wireless," and Delcassé 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 atthe wreck, a thought came to me—a vague thought—not to be put into words...."
"Well," said Delcassé, 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 theJena, 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 Delcassé 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 Delcassé. "M. Lépine, 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 wasLa Libertédestroyed?" he asked.
"The first explosion was at 5:50. There weretwo 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 Delcassé 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. Delcassé'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 Lépine. "Read it aloud!" he added, "that I may be sure my eyes have not deceived me!"
And Lépine 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."Linné, Governor Bank of France."
"Note B162864R, one hundred francs, one of series of three hundred such notes sent to Imperial Bank, Berlin, September 8.
"Linné, 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 Delcassé, 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!"
Delcassé 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 Delcassé 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. Lépine 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, Delcassé leaped to his feet and seizedhis 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 Lépine. "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, Delcassé 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.
Delcassé kept close at the leader's heels, fairly panting with eagerness. Lépine 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!"
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 Delcassé.
"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 werestretched 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 ofLa Liberté."
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. Delcassé. "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. Delcassé'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 Delcassé, looking at it curiously.
"About that there is no mystery," smiled Crochard. "I purchased it, together with that lockyonder, 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."
Delcassé 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. Delcassé and Lépine, 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 Delcassé 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 Delcassé, 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 Delcassé. "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 aFrenchman, and whose actions appeared to my friend to be suspicious."
Delcassé 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 Delcassé. "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 Delcassé. "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. Lépine'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."
Delcassé pondered this for a moment, his eyes on Crochard's face. Then he turned to Lépine.
"You must learn more of this stranger, Lépine," he said. "You, also, are at the head of a system—and a very expensive one."
"Yes, and a good one, sir," said Lépine, 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 Delcassé'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 Delcassé. "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 ofLa Liberté? 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?" Delcassé 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 ofLa Liberté."
Delcassé 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 werenotso 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 Libertéwas no longer there to explode," Delcassé objected grimly.
"True; but there were other ships near by—La Patrie,La République,La Vérité. 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 thatLa Libertéhad in hers."
"But you have already said that the waves could be intensified in a certain direction," Delcassé 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 asLa Liberté."
"And what is your deduction from all this?" inquired Delcassé.
"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 destroyedLa Liberté."
"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 Delcassé.
"I would make the statement thus: 'Those signalsalonedid not and could not cause the explosion.'"
Delcassé 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 ofreasoning 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 boardLa Liberté. 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 ofLa Liberté, 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 hutto 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 ofLa Liberté. 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 Delcassé.
"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 thissecond mechanism was installed—and where it probably still remains."
"Yes, that would be proof," agreed Delcassé 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. Lépine has it in his pocket."
Delcassé stared, uncomprehending; but Lépine, 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 Delcassé, "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."
Delcassé'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 Libertéwould have been saved?"
"Precisely that, sir."
Delcassé'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. Lépine 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 inthis. 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 Delcassé.
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.
Delcassé 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 Delcassé glanced through rapidly.
"These are the result of the first report from Berlin," he said, "of officers who are absent from theircommands and whose present whereabouts is not definitely known. A supplementary report will follow."
"We can begin with these," said Lépine, 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, à la Kaiser, with which nearly all the pictured faces were adorned. "A brush and a tablet of watercolour will do it."
M. Delcassé 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. Lépine," and he bowed the three men out.
Half an hour later, Lépine 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 Lépine's identity fromhis 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. Lépine, Prefect of the Paris Service du Surété, 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. Lépine and the unknown Highness relished their Château Yquem was a great compliment to the house.
After these amenities, Lépine 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 Lépine.
"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 Lépine.
"Sure! But of a certainty! I would swear to him!"
Lépine 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 Lépine 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 Sèvres. Inside the vase was a card, "To Monsieur and Madame Aristide Brisson, from Théophile Delcassé, 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 Lépine 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.