k in Belgium. On making inquiries I heard
that he was constantly travelling in the country, and, speaking French
so well, he was passing himself off as a Belgian. Blythe, in the guise
of an English tourist, met him in Boxtel two months ago, and satisfied
himself as to the character of the task he had undertaken, a risky but
most important one. Then we all agreed that, when completed, the secrets
he had possessed himself of should become ours, for the Intelligence
Department of either France or England would be certain to purchase them
for almost any sum we liked to name, so important were they. About two
months we waited for the unsuspecting Otto to complete his work, and
then suddenly the Countess reappears, accompanied by her husband.
And--well, Valentine, you can best tell Ewart the remainder of the
story," added the audacious scoundrel, replacing his cigarette in his
mouth.

"As M'sieur Ewart knows, Captain Stolberg was in love with me, and I
pretended to be infatuated with him. The other night he kissed me, and
my dear 'Gaston' saw it, and in just indignation and jealousy promptly
kicked him out. Next day I met him, told him that my husband was a
perfect hog, and urged him to take me from him. At first he would not
sacrifice his official position as attache, for he was a poor man. Then
we talked money matters, and I suggested that he surely possessed
something which he could turn into money sufficient to keep us for a
year or two, as I had a small income though not absolutely sufficient
for our wants. In fact, I offered, now that he had compromised me in the
eyes of my husband, to elope with him. We walked in the Bois de la
Cambre for two solid hours that afternoon, until I was footsore, and yet
he did not catch on. Then I played another game, declaring that he did
not love me sufficiently to make such a sacrifice, and at last taking a
dramatic farewell of him. He allowed me to get almost to the gates of
the Bois, when he suddenly ran after me, and told me that he had a
packet of documents for which he could obtain a large sum abroad. He
would take them, and myself, to Berlin by that night's mail, and then we
would go on to St. Petersburg, where he could easily dispose of the
mysterious papers. So we met at the station at midnight, and by the
same train travelled Bindo and M'sieurs Blythe and Henderson. In the
carriage he told me where the precious papers were--in a small leathern
hand-bag--and this fact I whispere