"I will attend to all that," agreed Delcassé, and touched a bell. "If General Marbeau is in his office," he added to his secretary, "please say that I wish to see him at once."
The door had closed behind the French Chief of Wireless and the white-haired enthusiast, and for a moment the three men who were left behind gazed at each other in silence.
"Do you believe in this power?" asked Delcassé, at last.
"There was La Liberté," Crochard reminded him.
"True," and the Minister fell silent again.
"To attack the fort at Strasbourg will not be easy," said Crochard, at last. "The Germans are no doubt already on their guard."
Delcassé smote his forehead with his open palm.
"That is it!" he cried. "Lépine, that is the explanation! It is not for war they prepare; it is in terror they withdraw their fleets into mid-ocean and throw cordons of soldiers about their forts! At this moment, in spite of their bold front, the Emperor and his ministers are trembling! For of course they know that Pachmann failed—and that we succeeded!"
"Undoubtedly," Crochard agreed. "Pachmann would notify the Emperor of his failure as soon as he regained consciousness!"