embassy in London. Among them was a draft of a letter of Drouyn de
Lhuys, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and on this and on others
were sharp comments in the emperor's well-known hand, giving reasons
for acknowledging the Confederacy without delay. There were even hints
at intervention by the European powers as desirable. I sat amazed as
at last I tied up the papers, and placing them again within my
waistcoat, lay down on a lounge before the fire to rest, for sleep was
not for me. I lay quiet, thinking of what had become of Merton and
Alphonse, and wondering at the amazing good fortune of my first
attempt at burglary.

XIV

At seven in the morning I sent a guarded note to our chief, and at
eight he appeared. I need not dwell upon his surprise as he listened
to the full relation of my encounter with Le Moyne, about which and
our subsequent difficulty he already knew something. When I quietly
told him the rest of the story and, untying the ribbon, laid the dusty
package on the table, he became grave. He very evidently did not
approve of our method of securing the papers, but whatever he may
have felt as to the right or wrong of what we had done was lost in
astonishment as he saw before him the terribly plain revelation
of all we had been so long dreading. Here was the hatching of an
international conspiracy. As he sat, his kindly face grew stern while
I translated to him the emperor's comments.

"It is evident," he said, "that a resume of certain of these papers
should go to Berlin and Russia in cipher, but this may wait. The
originals must as soon as possible reach our minister in London."

While Mr. Dayton considered the several questions involved, the first
secretary, who had been sent for, arrived. The minister at once set
before him the startling character of the papers on the table, and my
story was briefly retold. Upon this there was a long consultation
concerning the imminence of the crisis they suggested, and in regard
to the necessity of the originals being placed as soon as possible in
the hands of Mr. Adams, our able representative at the court of St.
James. No one for a moment seemed to consider the documents as other
than a lawful prize. We could not burn them. To admit of our having
them was to convict Madame Bellegarde; and not to use them was almost
treason to our country. So much I gathered from the rapid interchange
of opinions. When the method of sending them to Mr. Adams came before
u