ssac.
This theft was committed this morning."

"What did they steal?" asked Grace.

"Monsieur de Grissac's ivory snuff box, mademoiselle."

"His snuff box? You don't mean to say that they are making all this fuss
over a trifling thing like a snuff box?"

"Yes, mademoiselle. Such is, indeed, the case."

"But why?"

"That I cannot tell. I do not know. It is sufficient to me that Monsieur
Lefevre wishes it recovered. In our service, mademoiselle, we are not
supposed to ask questions, but to obey orders."

Grace repressed her annoyance as best she could. "I suppose it must be
very valuable," she remarked, lamely.

"Undoubtedly. Very valuable, as you say. Now that it is stolen, it must
be recovered without delay. Monsieur Lefevre informs us here in Brussels
that others have gone to London to recover it. Should they fail to do
so--we believe that the persons who have committed the theft will come
here."

"Why?"

"Because they are acting, we believe, in the interests of a certain Dr.
Hartmann, who is a resident of Brussels."

"Why should this Dr. Hartmann want the box?" asked Grace, somewhat
mystified.

"That I am unable to tell you. He is an enemy of my country. He has many
agents, and is a man of great power."

"But why don't you arrest him?"

"Alas, mademoiselle, you do not understand. This Dr. Hartmann is a
physician of great prominence. His cures of nervous and mental disorders
have made him famous throughout Europe. He has in Brussels--just outside
the city, a sanatorium, where he receives and treats his patients. He is
looked up to by all. His work as an enemy of France is quite secret,
known to but a few. Even we know very little about it."

"Then how do you know that he had anything to do with the matter of this
snuff box?"

"We do not know it--we only surmise. There is a reason, which I am not
permitted at present to tell you, which causes Monsieur Lefevre to
believe that Dr. Hartmann had a hand in this matter. It is for that
reason, indeed, that he has sent you here."

"What can I do?"

"I will tell you. For a long time we have tried to get one of our own
agents into Dr. Hartmann's house, but without success. He is very
shrewd--very cautious. All his servants are countrymen of his, upon whom
he knows he can depend. His patients are people of wealth, position,
standing, who, he knows, could not possibly be agents of the French
police. He will take no others, and always insists upon the strict