"You may be quite sure of it, if it is a reasonable one. Now tell me
your name."
"You do not care about my true name, I suppose?"
"I want the one by which you are known among the nihilists."
"Jean Morét."
"And here, in the palace?"
"The same."
"I shall send you to your prison now. I cannot promise what it will be
for to-night. To-morrow I will see you and will keep my word in every
respect. In the mean time I want you to think over all that you have to
say to me so that we may lose as little time as possible when we meet
again."
I left him then and went to the door. Outside, waiting in the corridor
was the prince, and in a few words I explained to him what had taken
place during his absence at the same time apologizing for having sent
him from the room. Then I asked that the captain of the palace guard be
sent for, and in a few moments Jean Morét was placed in his care. After
that the prince and I smoked another cigarette together and then parted
for the night.
"Mr. Derrington," he said, as he was about to take his leave, "I am
more than ever convinced that you are the right man in the right place.
Tell me how you discovered the presence of that spy. I had no idea that
he was there, and thought that we were entirely alone."
"I knew he was there the moment we entered the room," I replied. "It is
my habit to glance at everything in sight whenever I enter an
apartment, and I do it now without realizing that I do so, if you can
understand the seeming paradox. When we passed the threshold I saw
instantly that one of the curtains did not hang properly, so I seated
myself in a position from which I could keep it in view. Twice I saw
that it moved; a very little to be sure, but enough to satisfy me that
somebody was concealed behind it That is the reason why I rather forced
the conversation in English. The rest you know. I am convinced that the
man we captured is the victim of circumstances, and I think I can make
him very valuable."
"Well," acknowledged the prince, "there might have been a man behind
every one of the curtains and I would not have thought to suspect it.
This service alone, Mr. Derrington, is worth all the pay you will draw
from Russia."
"Yes," I replied, "for I believe that the spy will confess to me that
he was sent there with orders to murder the czar."
"My God! And even now there may be others of the same sort in the
palace."