第53章 CHAPTER XXVII(2)

"Excellent!" Mr. Sabin said. "Now listen, Emil. It has pleased me chiefly, as you know, for the sake of your wife, the good Annette, to be very merciful to you as regards the past. But I do not propose to allow you to run a poison bureau for the advantage of the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer and his friends - more especially, perhaps, as I am at present upon his list of superfluous persons."

The man trembled.

"Monsieur," he said, "the Prince knows as much as you know, and he has not the mercy that one shows to a dog."

"You will find," Mr. Sabin said, "that if you do not obey me, I myself can develop a similar disposition. Now answer me this! You have within the last few days supplied several people with that marvelous powder for the preparation of which you are so justly famed."

"Several - no, monsieur! Two only."

"Their names?"

The man trembled.

"If they should know!"

"They will not, Emil. I will see to that."

"The first I supplied to the order of the Prince."

"Good! And the second?"

"To a lady whose name I do not know."

Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows.

"Is not that," he remarked, "a little irregular?"

"The lady wrote her request before me in the yellow crayon. It was sufficient."

"And you do not know her name, Emil?"

"No, monsieur. She was dark and tall, and closely veiled. She was here but a few minutes since."

"Dark and tall!" Mr. Sabin repeated to himself thoughtfully. "Emil, you are telling me the truth?"

"I do not dare to tell you anything else, monsieur," the man answered.

Mr. Sabin did not continue his interrogations for a few moments.

Suddenly he looked up.

"Has that lady left the place yet, Emil?"

"No, monsieur!"

Mr. Sabin smiled.

"Have you a back exit?" he asked.

"None that the lady would know of," Emil answered. "She must pass along the passage which borders this apartment, and enter the bar by a door from behind. If monsieur desires it, it is impossible for her to leave unobserved."

"That is excellent, Emil," Mr. Sabin said. "Now there is one more question - quite a harmless one. Annette spoke of my life being in some way insured."

"It is true, monsieur," Emil admitted. "A lady who also possessed the yellow crayon came here the day that - that monsieur incurred the displeasure of - of his friends. She tried to bribe me to blow up my laboratory and leave the country, or that I should substitute a harmless powder for any required by the Prince. I was obliged to refuse."

"And then?"

"Then she promised me a large sum if you were alive in six months, and made me at once a payment.

"Dear me," Mr. Sabin said, "this is quite extraordinary."

"I can tell monsieur the lady's name," Emil continued, "for she raised her veil, and everywhere the illustrated papers have been full of her picture. It was the lady who was besieged in a little town of South Africa, and who carried despatches for the general, disguised as a man."

"Lady Carey!" Mr. Sabin remarked quietly.

"That was the lady's name," Emil agreed.

Mr. Sabin was thoughtful for a few moments. Then he looked up.

"Emil Sachs," he said sternly, "you have given out at least one portion of your abominable concoction which is meant to end my days.

Whether I shall escape it or not remains to be seen. I am forced at the best to discharge my servant, and to live the life of a hunted man. Now you have done enough mischief in the world. To-morrow morning a messenger will place in your hands two hundred pounds. A larger sum will await you at Baring's Bank in New York. You will go there and buy a small restaurant in the business quarter. This is your last chance, Emil. I give it to you for the sake of Annette."

"And I accept it, monsieur, with gratitude."

"For the present "

Mr. Sabin stopped short. His quick ears had caught the swish of woman's gown passing along the passage outside. Emil too had heard it.