, that no charge was actually named against Curtis,"
said Devar. "The Earl of Valletort demanded that he should be found
and arrested, and described him as a dangerous adventurer, but gave no
shred of proof of his wild-cat statement that Curtis had been engaged
in a scandalous abduction, and, when asked for it, discovered that he
had urgent business elsewhere."

Steingall held up a hand in quiet reproof.

"My own view is that it would be best, at this stage, to say merely
that the two noblemen came here inquiring for Curtis, and leave it at
that. I am not trying to deprive the press of a sensation. Surely
there is enough in Chapter One for to-night, and those reporters who
have had the luck to be present will be able to fill in gaps in
Chapters Two and Three when they come along to-morrow or next day."

"Right," said the journalist who, by tacit agreement, seemed to
represent his confreres. "There are one or two items we want you to
clear up, if you don't mind. First, did Curtis, or anybody else, note
the number of the automobile?"

"Yes," said Steingall instantly. "The number is X24-305, and Curtis
heard the man who was murdered address the chauffeur as 'Anatole.' He
spoke French to the man, too."

"You omitted both of those interesting facts from your summary,"
commented the reporter with a smile.

"Did I? That was a piece of sheer forgetfulness on my part."

"You didn't forget to rope us all in here as witnesses when the
Hungarian prince came on the boards. I knew you had something up your
sleeve the moment you began to fill in details. But, as to the crime
itself--have you found out the name of the man who was killed?"

"No. There were no papers in his clothes, but that may be accounted
for by the singular accident of the exchange of overcoats. His linen
was marked 'H. R. H.'"

"'H. R. H.,'" cried a bespectacled journalist who had been a silent
listener hitherto. "That's rather odd. Those are the initials of
Henry R. Hunter, a member of our staff. The news editor wanted him to
take hold in the first instance when the fact that a murder had been
committed was 'phoned to the office, but he could not be found
anywhere, so I am here in his stead."

"I don't recall anyone of that name," said Steingall sharply.

"No, you wouldn't. He was in our Chicago office till the beginning of
September. He did one or two bright things there that caught the
chief's eye, so he was brought to New York. . .