He had inclosed the packet in a clean wrapper, but now, a thought striking him, he took it out again.
"I'd best break off the royal seal, lest it be spied among the president's papers. I'll scratch out my initial, too. The cipher tells nothing."
"He is not likely to leave it about, Monsieur."
"No, but this time we'll provide for every chance. We'll take all the precautions ingenuity can devise or patience execute."
He crushed the seal in his fingers, and took the knife-point to scrape the wax away. It slipped and severed the cords. Of its own accord the stiff paper of the flap unfolded.
"The cipher seems as determined to show itself to me again as if I were in danger of forgetting it," Monsieur said idly. "The truth is—"
He stopped in the middle of a word, snatching up the packet, slapping it wide open, tearing it sheet from sheet. Each was absolutely blank!