"M. Delcassé wishes to see you at once," he said, and Lépine, with one regretful glance in the direction of the dining-room, hurried up the stairs to the Minister's apartment. He found him dictating to his secretary, a great pile of letters before him.
Without pausing in his dictation, Delcassé picked up a telegram which lay at his elbow, and handed it to Lépine. It was dated from Paris, and had been filed but an hour before. It read:
"Seven notes one hundred francs B162810R to B162816R deposited to-day by Thomas Cook & Son.
Linné, Governor Bank of France."
Lépine laid the telegram on his desk and glanced at his watch.
"I must be in Paris in the morning," he said.
Delcassé nodded.
"Yes," he agreed. "And Crochard?"
"Is no doubt already there," and he handed Delcassé the note which Samson had given him.
Delcassé read it, and looked up with an amused smile, in which there lurked a trace of malice.