.
Please remember, Monsieur, that we will accomplish what we set out to
do. Nothing can stop us--nothing."

At just about the same moment the name of Prince d'Abruzzi had been used
in the dining-room, but in a different connection. Mr. Cadwallader was
reciting some incident of an automobile trip in Italy when he had been
connected with the British embassy there.

"The prince was driving," he said, "and one of the best I ever saw.
Corking chap, the prince; democratic, you know, and all that sort of
thing. He was one scion of royalty who didn't mind soiling his hands by
diving in under a car and fixing it himself. At that time he was
inclined to be wild--that was eight or nine years ago--but they say now
he has settled down to work, and is one of the real diplomatic powers of
Italy. I haven't seen him for a half dozen years."

"How old a man is he?" asked Mr. Grimm carelessly.

"Thirty-five, thirty-eight, perhaps; I don't know," replied Mr.
Cadwallader. "It's odd, you know, the number of princes and blue-bloods
and all that sort of thing one can find knocking about in Italy and
Germany and Spain. One never hears of half of them. I never had heard
of the Prince d'Abruzzi until I went to Italy, and I've heard jolly well
little of him since, except indirectly."

Mr. Cadwallader lapsed into silence as he sat staring at a large group
photograph which was framed on a wall of the dining-room.

"Isn't that the royal family of Italy?" he asked. He rose and went over
to it. "By Jove, it is, and here is the prince in the group. The picture
was taken, I should say, about the time I knew him."

Mr. Grimm strolled over idly and stood for a long time staring at the
photograph.

"He can drive a motor, you know," said Mr. Cadwallader admiringly. "And
Italy is the place to drive them. They forgot to make any speed laws
over there, and if a chap gets in your way and you knock him silly they
arrest him for obstructing traffic, you know. Over here if a chap really
starts to go any place in a hurry some bally idiot holds him up."

"Have you ever been held up?" queried Mr. Grimm.

"No, but I expect to be every day," was the reply. "I've got a new
motor, you know, and I've never been able to see how fast it is. The
other evening I ran up to Baltimore with it in an hour and thirty-seven
minutes from Alexandria to Druid Hill Park, and that's better than forty
miles. I never did let the motor out, you know, because we ran in the
dark mo