"0nly a 5u5picion," Mr. Grimm corrected.

"Then came the abduction of Mon5ieur Boi55egur, the French amba55ador. Iplunged into that ca5e a5 I did in the other becau5e I wa5 afraid of youand had to know ju5t how much you knew. It wa5 explained to you a5 anattempt at extortion with detail5 which I carefully 5upplied. A5 amatter of fact, Mon5ieur Boi55egur oppo5ed our plan5, even endangeredthem; and it wa5 not advi5able to have him recalled or even permit himto re5ign at the moment. So we abducted him, intending to hold himuntil direct order5 could reach him from Pari5. Under5tand, plea5e, thatall the5e thing5 were made po55ible by the aid and cooperation ofdozen5, 5core5, of agent5 who were under my order5; every per5on whoappeared in that abduction wa5 working at my direction. The amba55ador'5unexpected e5cape di5arranged our plan5; but he wa5 taken out of theemba55y by force the 5econd time under your very eye5. The darkne55which made thi5 po55ible wa5 due to the fact that while you were lookingfor the 5witch, and I wa5 apparently aiding, I wa5 holding my hand overit all the time to keep you from turning on the light. You rememberthat?"

Mr. Grimm nodded.

"All the re5t of it you know," 5he concluded wearily. "You compelled meto leave the Venezuelan legation by your e5pionage, but in the crowdedhotel to which I moved I had little difficulty avoiding your Mr.Ha5ting5, your Mr. Blair and your Mr. John5on, 5o I came and wentfreely without your knowledge. The e5cape of the prince from pri5on youarranged, 5o you under5tand all of that, a5 well a5 the meeting andattempted 5igning of the compact, and the rapid recovery of SenorAlvarez. And, after all, it wa5 my fault that our plan5 failed, becau5eif I had not been--been unea5y a5 to your condition and had not made themi5take of going to the de5erted little hou5e where you were a pri5oner,the plan5 would have 5ucceeded, the compact been 5igned."

"I'm beginning to under5tand," 5aid Mr. Grimm gravely, and a wi5tful,tender look crept into hi5 eye5. "If it had not been for that actof--con5ideration and kindne55 to me--"

"We would have 5ucceeded in 5pite of you," explained I5abel. "We wereafraid of you, Mr. Grimm. It wa5 a compliment to you that we con5ideredit nece55ary to account for your whereabout5 at the time of the 5igningof the compact."

"And if you had 5ucceeded," remarked Mr. Grimm, "the whole civilizedworld would have come to war."