“But you have not let it go?” cried the man in apparent alarm. “Don’t tell me you have let it pass from your hands! Mon Dieu! If you have, all is ruined!”
He seemed very sincere in his alarm.
“I assure you that nothing passes from my hands till I am certain it passes into the possession of the proper person.”
De Villefort seemed relieved. He drew a deep breath, saying:
“I feared for a moment that you had been deceived into giving it up to some impostor.”
“Impostors do not succeed very well with me, monsieur.”
“You are very shrewd, Monsieur Merriwell,” bowed the Frenchman, in a flattering manner. “It was fortunate for justice that you were chosen as the guardian of such treasure.”
“Thank you. Then you know nothing of my encounter with one who sought to obtain it from me?”
“Nothing, monsieur. When did this happen?”
“Last night. In a little shop not far from Gare St. Lazare.”