Princess Zara

"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."