"Gott!" exclaimed Cherriton, utterly absorbed. "You got this from----"
"Three o'clock to-morrow," mused Cherriton. "There is not much time for us to act!"
"What a woman she is!" he exclaimed. "Invaluable--invaluable!"
"Keep your hold on her, my dear Treves. Your work to-night has been excellent!"
Excitement had brought an unusual gleam into his hard eyes.
He crossed the room and rang the bell imperiously.
"My coat and hat," he commanded of the butler when the man appeared. "When Mr. Manners returns, ask him to wait up for me."
The hour was eleven o'clock. Dacent Smith was, as usual, up to his ears in work. Very little of the real work, conducted by him on behalf of the Department, was dispatched at the office. If he possessed a weakness at all, it was a weakness for the luxury of his own suite of rooms and for the benign, competent aid of Grew. Servant and master were each equally devoted to the other, and yet even Grew was only vaguely aware of the greatness, of the importance of the stoutish, bland, keen-eyed gentleman who was his master.
At Dacent Smith's elbow a green-shaded electric lamp cast a bright light on the papers beneath his hand. The chief wrote neatly and carefully, and when the door opened and Grew came softly in he did not lift his head.
"Oh, Grew, please ask the gentleman who is in the other room to wait a little longer."
Two minutes later John found himself alone with the chief.
Dacent Smith motioned him into one of the deep, leathered-covered arm-chairs, opened a silver box of Egyptian cigarettes, and pushed it towards him.
"Well," he questioned, wheeling his chair and looking at John much as an astute physician might look at a patient; "I can see by your expression," he went on quickly, "that you have something of importance to report."
"In the foyer of the Savoy to-night, sir, Mrs. Beecher Monmouth"--an almost imperceptible change of expression occurred on Dacent Smith's smooth features--"Mrs. Beecher Monmouth," continued John, "passed a slip of paper into my hand. I assumed at once that the paper was meant for either Manners or Cherriton, and, obeying your instructions, I delivered it at once."
"It was very short, sir. I can remember it exactly."
Dacent Smith pushed a pencil and block of paper towards him.