I turned to Mr. Dickson. "Your officer will telegraph to you from Paris?"
"Yes."
"If I wait here for information I shall lose a day. You could telegraph to me in Paris the address you receive from your officer?"
"There is no difficulty. You intend to follow?"
"I do. Give me the name of some central hotel in Paris where I can put up till I receive your telegram."
"Hôtel de Bade, Boulevard des Italiens."
"That will do. I have something to do here in London before I can start. I can get through my business in about an hour, perhaps a few minutes more. Bob, run out and bring two hansoms with smart horses." Bob vanished. "Now, the best train, Mr. Dickson?"
"Let me see. It is not yet nine. Your business say an hour and twenty minutes. A train from Victoria, another from Charing Cross, at eleven. Could you catch one of these, whichever is the nearest for you?"
"Yes."
"You arrive in Paris at seven this evening. Our man will reach there two hours and a half earlier. You may get a telegram from me at the Hôtel de Bade within an hour or so of your arrival."