l hear the news! This message has just arrived. Sirdeller
will have received its duplicate. The final report of the works in
Havana Harbour will await us on our arrival in New York, but the
substance of it is this. The _Maine_ was sunk by a torpedo, discharged
at close quarters underneath her magazine. Gentlemen, the House of
Asturias is ruined!"

There was a breathless silence.

"Your information is genuine?" Sogrange asked softly.

"Without a doubt," the Prince replied. "I have been expecting this
message. I shall cable to von Hern. We are still in communication. He
may not have heard."

"We were about to speak of the Duchesse," Peter reminded him.

The Prince shook his head.

"Another time," he declared. "Another time."

He hurried away. It was already half-past ten and the saloon was almost
empty. The steward came up to them.

"The saloon is being closed for the night, sir," he announced.

"Let us go on deck," Peter suggested.

They found their way up on to the windward side of the promenade, which
was absolutely deserted. Far away in front of them now were the
disappearing lights of the _Lusitania_. The wind roared by as the great
steamer rose and fell on the black stretch of waters. Peter stood very
near to his companion.

"Listen, Sogrange," he said, "the affair is clear now save for one
thing."

"You mean Sirdeller's motives?"

"Not at all," Peter answered. "An hour ago I came across the explanation
of these. The one thing I will tell you afterwards. Now listen.
Sirdeller came abroad last year for twelve months' travel. He took a
great house in San Sebastian."

"Where did you hear this?" Sogrange asked.

"I read the story in the _New York Herald_," Peter continued. "It is
grossly exaggerated, of course, but this is the substance of it.
Sirdeller and his suite were stopped upon the Spanish frontier and
treated in an abominable fashion by the Customs officers. He was forced
to pay a very large sum, unjustly, I should think. He paid under
protest, appealed to the authorities, with no result. At San Sebastian
he was robbed right and left, his privacy intruded upon. In short, he
took a violent dislike and hatred to the country and everyone concerned
in it. He moved with his entire suite to Nice, to the Golden Villa.
There he expressed himself freely concerning Spain and her Government.
Count von Hern heard of it and presented Marsine. The plot was, without
doubt, Bernadine's. Can't you imagine how