ere lounging on the
pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually
interfered. As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and
his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in
which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street. Very few
words were exchanged during the short journey. His solicitor,
however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing
was by no means the bearing of a man in despair.

In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat
remarkable little gathering took place. The two men chiefly
responsible for the destinies of the nation--the Prime Minister
and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs--sat side by side
before a small table. Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in
front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their
envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of
the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal. The
Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit
of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the
presence of big events.

"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to
stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this
document?"

"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly.
"That is no copy which you have there. On the contrary, the
handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself."

The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague. The
latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words,
looked up.

"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in
my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance.
One moment, if you please."

He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from
an adjoining room.

"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company
at Paddington. Ask for the station master in my name, and see that
a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour.
Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up,
but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged."

The young man bowed and withdrew.

"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on,
"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem.
We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail
his visit--why he came, as it were, under protest, and