"Sh----! Monsieur. It is no laughing matter. And there are those I must warn you against." Her eyes stared widely past him from under tangled brows. "Two whom you must fear--of finesse, craft and intelligence--a woman without a conscience and a man without a soul----"
"Ah, you interest me. A woman! Their names----"
Before Tanya Korasov could reply, there was a knock upon the door which was pushed quickly open and the shock-headed man entered.
"What is it, Stepan?" asked the girl.
"Monsieur Khodkine has just come in at the gate, Mademoiselle," he said in French.
Rowland saw the girl start and felt her fingers close upon his arm.
"Ah, Stepan," she said quietly, "tell him to come here, and bring Issad and Picard."
And when Stepan had gone, "It is one of those whom I have spoken, Monsieur Rowlan'," she stammered. "Be upon your guard, Monsieur--and keep this paper, committing to memory the names and figures upon it."
Rowland opened the slip of paper curiously and it bore this inscription:
"Droite 12 Gauche 23 Droite 7."