"Message for you, sir, at the purser's."
"Bring it to my stateroom, Totten," said R. Schmidt briefly, and the old man hurried away on the heels of the messenger.
The two young men sauntered carelessly in an opposite direction and soon disappeared from the deck. A few minutes later, Totten entered the luxurious parlour of R. Schmidt and laid an unopened wireless message on the table at the young man's elbow.
"Open it, Totten."
The old man slit the envelope and glanced at the contents. He nodded his head in answer to an unspoken question.
"Sold?" asked R. Schmidt.
"Paris and Berlin, both of them, Prince. Every bond has been gobbled up."
"Does he mention the name of the buyer?"
"Only by the use of the personal pronoun. He says—'I have taken over the Paris and Berlin holdings. All is well.' It is signed 'B.' So! Now we know."
"By jove!" fell from the lips of both men, and then the three Graustarkians stared in speechless amazement at each other for the space of a minute before another word was spoken.