"What, you didn't transmit it?"
"No," the man answered boldly. Seeing the volcanic wrath awakening behind the Minister's sleepy eyes, he hastened to explain.
"I went to his room," he said, pointing fiercely at Carter, "he gave me a sealed envelope. After I had taken it he handed me a large sum of money—a fortune to a peasant. He told me to let no one see it but the telegraph operator at Schallberg."
"That is true," said Carter. "It was a business transaction, a communication relating to my personal affairs."
"I am an ignorant man," whimpered the messenger, stimulated by a mental contemplation of his supposed injuries, "but I was made the tool of that traitor—that spy." His eyes, red from excessive potations, glared with hatred as he pointed to Carter.
"Be careful, sir," broke in indignant Trusia, "remember the gentleman is one of our Aides and bears a commission in the royal army. Would you taste the whip?"
"Better that than the noose he planned for me," sulkily retorted the peasant.
"You had better be precise," said Sobieska.
"Well, if you will have it, I'll tell you," the man answered. Emboldened by an encouraging murmur from Josef he continued.
Carter held up his hand. "Wait a moment," he exclaimed as he turned appealingly to Trusia. "Highness, this may be of greatest interest to some one not present when Johann, the messenger, was apprehended. It may also be of secret importance to Krovitch, to Your Highness. Is Josef necessary here? Surely he can offer neither testimony nor enlightenment."