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Just at present our first duty is to return the box to Monsieur de Grissac." "You are right, monsieur, and at once. There is a train for Antwerp in half an hour. From there we can take the night boat to Harwich. Let us set out without further delay." "And that fellow in there?" remarked the detective with a grim laugh. "We've got to take him with us, you know.
There is one thing which is as important to me as the recovery of the snuff box could possibly be to Monsieur de Grissac, and that is, the safety of my wife." "Your wife?" Dufrenne stared at him in surprise. "Yes, monsieur, my wife. She is at present in Dr. Hartmann's house.
Duvall motioned to the window. "Look out, monsieur," he remarked, quietly. De Grissac did so, then uttered a sudden cry. From the window to the garden below stretched a long slender wooden ladder. "It belongs to the men who have been repairing the rain spouting," he exclaimed. "They leave it in the garden, at night. I knew there was no way in which Noël could get out."
Certain persons, whose identity is not known to the police, have committed a theft in London in fact, have stolen a valuable article from the French Ambassador there, Monsieur de Grissac. This theft was committed this morning." "What did they steal?" asked Grace. "Monsieur de Grissac's ivory snuff box, mademoiselle." "His snuff box?
Presently Duvall spoke. "Monsieur Dufrenne," he began, slowly, "you are no doubt familiar with the matter which takes us to London?" Dufrenne withdrew his gaze from the window and faced about in his seat with a nervous little gesture of assent. "I understand that Monsieur de Grissac has been robbed of his snuff box," he replied. "Is that all you know?" Duvall inquired pointedly.
De Grissac was closeted with the Prefect at the time, but the man's appearance, his urgent request that he see Monsieur Lefevre at once, gained him an immediate audience. The Prefect and the Ambassador stood awaiting his entrance, their faces tense with anxiety. The expression upon the old man's countenance confirmed their worst fears.
The gravity of the issues at stake tortured him ceaselessly, and to add to his discomfort, Monsieur de Grissac arrived from London, determined to ascertain what progress, if any, had been made toward the recovery of his lost property. He was bitterly disappointed to find that Lefevre was unable to give him the slightest encouragement.
"What did the box contain, Monsieur de Grissac," he asked, pleasantly. "A quantity of snuff, monsieur." "Nothing else?" "Nothing." "Oh! And you, monsieur, are in the habit of using snuff?" "Yes. It is the only form in which I use tobacco. Old-fashioned, perhaps, but I belong to the older generation." He straightened himself up suddenly. "Let us proceed, gentlemen.
Yet try as he would, he was unable to imagine what this reason could be. Of course, there must have been something inside the box, his final conclusion was, else why should any one have stolen it? No doubt the Ambassador, Monsieur de Grissac, would acquaint him with the truth of the affair.
But I shall make amends, my children. You have rendered both me, and France, a great service, and I do not forget it. I insist that to-night you shall dine with me. You, De Grissac," he exclaimed, turning to the Ambassador, "will, I know, be one of the party. And it is not alone for the purpose of dining that I ask you, your service to France shall be acknowledged in a more substantial way.
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