All things are fair I see;
And the light in a golden tide has run
Down out of the sky to me.
And the world turns round and round and round,
And my thought sinks into the sea;
The sea of peace and of joy profound
Whose tide is mystery.
—S.W. Duffield.
The man whom John Armitage expected arrived at the Hotel Monte Rosa a few hours after the Claibornes' departure.
While he waited, Mr. Armitage employed his time to advantage. He carefully scrutinized2 his wardrobe, and after a process of elimination3 and substitution he packed his raiment in two trunks and was ready to leave the inn at ten minutes' notice. Between trains, when not engaged in watching the incoming travelers, he smoked a pipe over various packets of papers and letters, and these he burned with considerable care. All the French and German newspaper accounts of the murder of Count von Stroebel he read carefully; and even more particularly he studied the condition of affairs in Vienna consequent upon the great statesman's death. Secret agents from Vienna and detectives from Paris had visited Geneva in their study of this astounding4 crime, and had made much fuss and asked many questions; but Mr. John Armitage paid no heed5 to them. He had held the last conversation of length that any one had enjoyed with Count Ferdinand von Stroebel, but the fact of this interview was known to no one, unless to one or two hotel servants, and these held a very high opinion of Mr. Armitage's character, based on his generosity6 in the matter of gold coin; and there could, of course, be no possible relationship between so shocking a tragedy and a chance acquaintance between two travelers. Mr. Armitage knew nothing that he cared to impart to detectives, and a great deal that he had no intention of imparting to any one. He accumulated a remarkable7 assortment8 of time-tables and advertisements of transatlantic sailings against sudden need, and even engaged passage on three steamers sailing from English and French ports within the week.
He expected that the person for whom he waited would go direct to the Hotel Monte Rosa for the reason that Shirley Claiborne had been there; and Armitage was not mistaken. When this person learned that the Claibornes had left, he would doubtless hurry after them. This is the conclusion that was reached by Mr. Armitage, who, at times, was singularly happy in his speculations9 as to the mental processes of other people. Sometimes, however, he made mistakes, as will appear.
The gentleman for whom John Armitage had been waiting arrived alone, and was received as a distinguished10 guest by the landlord.
Monsieur Chauvenet inquired for his friends the Claibornes, and was clearly annoyed to find that they had gone; and no sooner had this intelligence been conveyed to him than he, too, studied time-tables and consulted steamer advertisements. Mr. John Armitage in various discreet11 ways was observant of Monsieur Chauvenet's activities, and bookings at steamship12 offices interested him so greatly that he reserved passage on two additional steamers and ordered the straps13 buckled14 about his trunks, for it had occurred to him that he might find it necessary to leave Geneva in a hurry.
It was not likely that Monsieur Chauvenet, being now under his eyes, would escape him; and John Armitage, making a leisurely15 dinner, learned from his waiter that Monsieur Chauvenet, being worn from his travels, was dining alone in his rooms.
At about eight o'clock, as Armitage turned the pages of Figaro in the smoking-room, Chauvenet appeared at the door, scrutinized the group within, and passed on. Armitage had carried his coat, hat and stick into the smoking-room, to be ready for possible emergencies; and when Chauvenet stepped out into the street he followed.
It was unusually cold for the season, and a fine drizzle16 filled the air. Chauvenet struck off at once away from the lake, turned into the Boulevard Helvétique, thence into the Boulevard Froissart with its colony of pensions. He walked rapidly until he reached a house that was distinguished from its immediate17 neighbors only by its unlighted upper windows. He pulled the bell in the wall, and the door was at once opened and instantly closed.
Armitage, following at twenty yards on the opposite side of the street, paused abruptly18 at the sudden ending of his chase. It was not an hour for loitering, for the Genevan gendarmerie have rather good eyes, but Armitage had by no means satisfied his curiosity as to the nature of Chauvenet's errand. He walked on to make sure he was unobserved, crossed the street, and again passed the dark, silent house which Chauvenet had entered. He noted19 the place carefully; it gave no outward appearance of being occupied. He assumed, from the general plan of the neighboring buildings, that there was a courtyard at the rear of the darkened house, accessible through a narrow passageway at the side. As he studied the situation he kept moving to avoid observation, and presently, at a moment when he was quite alone in the street, walked rapidly to the house Chauvenet had entered.
Gentlemen in search of adventures do well to avoid the continental20 wall. Mr. Armitage brushed the glass from the top with his hat. It jingled21 softly within under cover of the rain-drip. The plaster had crumbled22 from the bricks in spots, giving a foot its opportunity, and Mr. Armitage drew himself to the top and dropped within. The front door and windows stared at him blankly, and he committed his fortunes to the bricked passageway. The rain was now coming down in earnest, and at the rear of the house water had begun to drip noisily into an iron spout23. The electric lights from neighboring streets made a kind of twilight24 even in the darkened court, and Armitage threaded his way among a network of clothes-lines to the rear wall and viewed the premises25. He knew his Geneva from many previous visits; the quarter was undeniably respectable; and there is, to be sure, no reason why the blinds of a house should not be carefully drawn26 at nightfall at the pleasure of the occupants. The whole lower floor seemed utterly27 deserted28; only at one point on the third floor was there any sign of light, and this the merest hint.
The increasing fall of rain did not encourage loitering in the wet courtyard, where the downspout now rattled30 dolorously31, and Armitage crossed the court and further assured himself that the lower floor was dark and silent. Balconies were bracketed against the wall at the second and third stories, and the slight iron ladder leading thither32 terminated a foot above his head. John Armitage was fully1 aware that his position, if discovered, was, to say the least, untenable; but he was secure from observation by police, and he assumed that the occupants of the house were probably too deeply engrossed33 with their affairs to waste much time on what might happen without. Armitage sprang up and caught the lowest round of the ladder, and in a moment his tall figure was a dark blur34 against the wall as he crept warily35 upward. The rear rooms of the second story were as dark and quiet as those below. Armitage continued to the third story, where a door, as well as several windows, gave upon the balcony; and he found that it was from a broken corner of the door shade that a sharp blade of light cut the dark. All continued quiet below; he heard the traffic of the neighboring thoroughfares quite distinctly; and from a kitchen near by came the rough clatter36 of dishwashing to the accompaniment of a quarrel in German between the maids. For the moment he felt secure, and bent37 down close to the door and listened.
Two men were talking, and evidently the matter under discussion was of importance, for they spoke38 with a kind of dogged deliberation, and the long pauses in the dialogue lent color to the belief that some weighty matter was in debate. The beat of the rain on the balcony and its steady rattle29 in the spout intervened to dull the sound of voices, but presently one of the speakers, with an impatient exclamation39, rose, opened the small glass-paned door a few inches, peered out, and returned to his seat with an exclamation of relief. Armitage had dropped down the ladder half a dozen rounds as he heard the latch40 snap in the door. He waited an instant to make sure he had not been seen, then crept back to the balcony and found that the slight opening in the door made it possible for him to see as well as hear.
"It's stifling41 in this hole," said Chauvenet, drawing deeply upon his cigarette and blowing a cloud of smoke. "If you will pardon the informality, I will lay aside my coat."
He carefully hung the garment upon the back of his chair to hold its shape, then resumed his seat. His companion watched him meanwhile with a certain intentness.
"You take excellent care of your clothes, my dear Jules. I never have been able to fold a coat without ruining it."
The rain was soaking Armitage thoroughly42, but its persistent43 beat covered any slight noises made by his own movements, and he was now intent upon the little room and its occupants. He observed the care with which the man kept close to his coat, and he pondered the matter as he hung upon the balcony. If Chauvenet was on his way to America it was possible that he would carry with him the important paper whose loss had caused so much anxiety to the Austrian minister; if so, where was it during his stay in Geneva?
"The old man's death is only the first step. We require a succession of deaths."
"We require three, to be explicit44, not more or less. We should be fortunate if the remaining two could be accomplished45 as easily as Stroebel's."
"He was a beast. He is well dead."
"That depends on the way you look at it. They seem really to be mourning the old beggar at Vienna. It is the way of a people. They like to be ruled by a savage46 hand. The people, as you have heard me say before, are fools."
The last speaker was a young man whom Armitage had never seen before; he was a decided47 blond, with close-trimmed straw-colored beard and slightly-curling hair. Opposite him, and facing the door, sat Chauvenet. On the table between them were decanters and liqueur glasses.
"I am going to America at once," said Chauvenet, holding his filled glass toward a brass48 lamp of an old type that hung from the ceiling.
"It is probably just as well," said the other. "There's work to do there. We must not forget our more legitimate49 business in the midst of these pleasant side issues."
"The field is easy. After our delightful50 continental capitals, where, as you know, one is never quite sure of one's self, it is pleasant to breathe the democratic airs of Washington," remarked Chauvenet.
"Particularly so, my dear friend, when one is blessed with your delightful social gifts. I envy you your capacity for making others happy."
There was a keen irony51 in the fellow's tongue and the edge of it evidently touched Chauvenet, who scowled52 and bent forward with his fingers on the table.
"Enough of that, if you please."
"As you will, carino; but you will pardon me for offering my condolences on the regrettable departure of la belle53 Americaine. If you had not been so intent on matters of state you would undoubtedly54 have found her here. As it is, you are now obliged to see her on her native soil. A month in Washington may do much for you. She is beautiful and reasonably rich. Her brother, the tall captain, is said to be the best horseman in the American army."
"Humph! He is an ass," ejaculated Chauvenet.
A servant now appeared bearing a fresh bottle of cordial. He was distinguished by a small head upon a tall and powerful body, and bore little resemblance to a house servant. While he brushed the cigar ashes from the table the men continued their talk without heeding55 him.
Chauvenet and his friend had spoken from the first in French, but in addressing some directions to the servant, the blond, who assumed the rôle of host, employed a Servian dialect.
"I think we were saying that the mortality list in certain directions will have to be stimulated56 a trifle before we can do our young friend Francis any good. You have business in America, carino. That paper we filched57 from old Stroebel strengthens our hold on Francis; but there is still that question as to Karl and Frederick Augustus. Our dear Francis is not satisfied. He wishes to be quite sure that his dear father and brother are dead. We must reassure58 him, dearest Jules."
"Don't be a fool, Durand. You never seem to understand that the United States of America is a trifle larger than a barnyard. And I don't believe those fellows are over there. They're probably lying in wait here somewhere, ready to take advantage of any opportunity,—-that is, if they are alive. A man can hardly fail to be impressed with the fact that so few lives stand between him and—"
"The heights—the heights!" And the young man, whom Chauvenet called
Durand, lifted his tiny glass airily.
"Yes; the heights," repeated Chauvenet a little dreamily.
"But that declaration—that document! You have never honored me with a glimpse; but you have it put safely away, I dare say."
"There is no place—but one—that I dare risk. It is always within easy reach, my dear friend."
"You will do well to destroy that document. It is better out of the way."
"Your deficiencies in the matter of wisdom are unfortunate. That paper constitutes our chief asset, my dear associate. So long as we have it we are able to keep dear Francis in order. Therefore we shall hold fast to it, remembering that we risked much in removing it from the lamented59 Stroebel's archives."
"Do you say 'risked much'? My valued neck, that is all!" said the other.
"You will do well," said Chauvenet, "to keep an eye open in Vienna for the unknown. If you hear murmurs61 in Hungary one of these fine days—! Nothing has happened for some time; therefore much may happen."
He glanced at his watch.
"I have work in Paris before sailing for New York. Shall we discuss the matter of those Peruvian claims? That is business. These other affairs are more in the nature of delightful diversions, my dear comrade."
They drew nearer the table and Durand produced a box of papers over which he bent with serious attention. Armitage had heard practically all of their dialogue, and, what was of equal interest, had been able to study the faces and learn the tones of voice of the two conspirators62. He was cramped63 from his position on the narrow balcony and wet and chilled by the rain, which was now slowly abating64. He had learned much that he wished to know, and with an ease that astonished him; and he was well content to withdraw with gratitude for his good fortune.
His legs were numb65 and he clung close to the railing of the little ladder for support as he crept toward the area. At the second story his foot slipped on the wet iron, smooth from long use, and he stumbled down several steps before he recovered himself. He listened a moment, heard nothing but the tinkle66 of the rain in the spout, then continued his retreat.
As he stepped out upon the brick courtyard he was seized from behind by a pair of strong arms that clasped him tight. In a moment he was thrown across the threshold of a door into an unlighted room, where his captor promptly67 sat upon him and proceeded to strike a light.
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1
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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2
scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
elimination
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| n.排除，消除，消灭 | |
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4
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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5
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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6
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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7
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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8
assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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9
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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10
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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11
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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12
steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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13
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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14
buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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15
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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16
drizzle
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| v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨 | |
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17
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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18
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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19
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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20
continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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21
jingled
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| 喝醉的 | |
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22
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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23
spout
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| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
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24
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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25
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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26
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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27
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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28
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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29
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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30
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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31
dolorously
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| adj. 悲伤的；痛苦的；悲哀的；阴沉的 | |
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32
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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33
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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35
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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36
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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37
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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38
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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39
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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40
latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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41
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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42
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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43
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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44
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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45
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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46
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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47
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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48
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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49
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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50
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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51
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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52
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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54
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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55
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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56
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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57
filched
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| v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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59
lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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61
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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62
conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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63
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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64
abating
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| 减少( abate的现在分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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65
numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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66
tinkle
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| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
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67
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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