FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103  
104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   >>   >|  
e to him," declared Daspry. "Confide in him without reserve. Tell him all you know and all you may hereafter learn. Your interest and his interest are the same. He is not working against Mon. Andermatt, but against Alfred Varin. Help him." "How?" "Has your husband the document that completes the plans of Louis Lacombe?" "Yes." "Tell that to Salvator, and, if possible, procure the document for him. Write to him at once. You risk nothing." The advice was bold, dangerous even at first sight, but Madame Andermatt had no choice. Besides, as Daspry had said, she ran no risk. If the unknown writer were an enemy, that step would not aggravate the situation. If he were a stranger seeking to accomplish a particular purpose, he would attach to those letters only a secondary importance. Whatever might happen, it was the only solution offered to her, and she, in her anxiety, was only too glad to act on it. She thanked us effusively, and promised to keep us informed. In fact, two days later, she sent us the following letter that she had received from Salvator: "Have not found the letters, but I will get them. Rest easy. I am watching everything. S." I looked at the letter. It was in the same handwriting as the note I found in my book on the night of 22 June. Daspry was right. Salvator was, indeed, the originator of that affair. * * * * * We were beginning to see a little light coming out of the darkness that surrounded us, and an unexpected light was thrown on certain points; but other points yet remained obscure--for instance, the finding of the two seven-of-hearts. Perhaps I was unnecessarily concerned about those two cards whose seven punctured spots had appeared to me under such startling circumstances! Yet I could not refrain from asking myself: What role will they play in the drama? What importance do they bear? What conclusion must be drawn from the fact that the submarine constructed from the plans of Louis Lacombe bore the name of `Seven-of-Hearts'? Daspry gave little thought to the other two cards; he devoted all his attention to another problem which he considered more urgent; he was seeking the famous hiding-place. "And who knows," said he, "I may find the letters that Salvator did not find--by inadvertence, perhaps. It is improbable that the Varin brothers would have removed from a spot, which they deemed inaccessible, the weapon which was so valuable to them." And he continued to search
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103  
104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Daspry

 

Salvator

 

letters

 

interest

 

letter

 
importance
 

seeking

 

Lacombe

 

points

 
Andermatt

document

 
coming
 

circumstances

 

appeared

 

startling

 

remained

 

punctured

 

unnecessarily

 

concerned

 

Perhaps


hearts

 

instance

 

finding

 

obscure

 

darkness

 

thrown

 

unexpected

 

beginning

 

surrounded

 

submarine


inadvertence

 
urgent
 

famous

 

hiding

 

improbable

 
brothers
 

valuable

 

continued

 

search

 

weapon


inaccessible

 

removed

 

deemed

 

considered

 

problem

 

conclusion

 
refrain
 

affair

 

thought

 

devoted