"Before going further," he suggested, "I should very much like to hear M. Crochard's story. There is much about this extraordinary affair which I do not understand—and I desire to understand everything. Will you not begin at the beginning, my friend?"
"It was very simple," said Crochard, and told briefly of the pursuit, of the encounters on the Ottilie, and of the final struggle in New York. "After our escape," he concluded, "we hastened to M. Vard's residence, where, as I anticipated, his daughter and that admirable M. Webster whom she loves, soon joined us. It was a most happy reunion, and in the end, M. Webster forgave me for the theft of the little box. Of our plans we said nothing, except that M. Vard was journeying back with me to Paris, and we were aboard the Lusitania when she sailed next morning. We arrived at Liverpool last night, and here we are!"
Lépine's face was shining with a great enthusiasm.
"Permit me to congratulate you, sir," he said. "It was finely done. I realise that the more deeply because I myself was completely baffled; and yet it should have occurred to me that the Captain of the Ottilie might wish to deceive me. My theory was, however, that the tickets had been purchased to throw me off the scent. M. Vard had, of course, as I supposed, sought refuge in Germany. Even yet I do not understand why he should have gone to America."
The remark was, in a way, addressed to the inventor, but he had fallen into revery and paid no heed to it.
"He is often like that," said Crochard, in rapid French. "I suspect that something is wrong here," and he touched his forehead. "The trip to America was, as I understand it, a matter of sentiment with him. He insisted that this great treaty, which was to bring about world-wide peace and the brotherhood of man, should be signed on American soil."
"He is really in earnest about that treaty?" asked Delcassé. "He is not a mercenary?"
"Mercenary? Far from it, sir. Why, M. Delcassé, he was asked to choose his own reward, and he refused. He is utterly in earnest—he asks nothing for himself. And I believe his idea practicable. I hope that you will consider it carefully, sir. The Emperor refused because of his conditions. One was the reconstitution of Poland—he is himself a Pole. The other was the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France. Pachmann did at last agree to give up Poland—and to make him King of it, if he chose!—but the other condition was too much for him. Besides, he thought the game was in his hands—he saw his Emperor ruler of the world! Permit me to outline for you the plan of this remarkable man."
And clearly but briefly, Crochard laid before the astonished Minister the plan for world-wide disarmament, for universal peace, for the freeing of subject peoples, for the restoration of conquered territory, and for the gradual establishment of representative government, to the exclusion of all hereditary rulers, great and small.
"And I see no reason," Crochard concluded, "why France should hesitate to give herself wholeheartedly to this plan. With all of these things she is in sympathy; 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' has been her watchword for a hundred years. Once we regain Alsace-Lorraine, we can be well-content to lay down our arms. I believe that we can secure the support of the United States and perhaps of England. To the United States, a project so idealistic would be certain to appeal; and as for England, she is terrified at heart, she fears the future, she staggers under the burden of her great armaments——which yet are not great enough. Yes, we could win England!"