“Nine o’clock.—The Italian yelling with hunger and thirst. Had him silenced—that was easily managed.
“No one at Stollborg but Stenson, the lawyer, and his little valet—Ulph, the drunkard, is not worth mentioning. Christian Waldo has disappeared, unless he is ill, and in bed. The lawyer, who shares his room with him, won’t admit any one; I begin to have my doubts about him.
“Ten o’clock.—The captain sends to inquire if it is not time to act. Not yet. The Italian has still too much strength. Christian Waldo is decidedly absent. I went into the famous bear-room, and found the lawyer at work. He says that he don’t know where the man with the marionettes has gone. I saw the baggage of the latter. He is not far.
“Eleven o’clock.—I have unearthed Christian Waldo’s valet in the stables of the new chateau, and have made him talk. He knows his master’s real name: Dulac. He must be French, then, and not Italian. A more interesting discovery due to this Puffo is, that there are two Waldos here instead of one. Puffo did not work the marionettes last evening, and the Waldo who talked to me (the man with the wine-colored birth-mark) told me a dozen lies. Puffo does not know who his assistant could have been. For his part, he was drunk and asleep. He cannot imagine, he says, who could have replaced him. I had some idea of sending him to the captain, but felt pretty well satisfied that what he said was true. I shall not lose sight of him. He may be useful.
“This second Waldo must be the false Goefle. So, if we don’t let them know that they are suspected, we can seize them both to-night. I thought old Stenson seemed rather anxious, and told him that he would be left undisturbed. In any event, he must be reassured, so that he may not escape us.
“Noon.—I have it all: the secret proof which I send you, and the disclosures of the Italian, which are as follows: (He did not make the least resistance; the mere sight of our chamber of roses rendered him demonstrative.)
“Christian Waldo is really he whom you are seeking. He is handsome and well-made; his description corresponds exactly with the appearance of the false Christian Waldo. The Italian does not know anything about the man with the birth-mark.
“The famous proof, which I procure you gratis, was hidden between two stones, behind the hogar, in a very well-chosen place, which I will show you. I went to get it myself, and I send it to you without knowing what its value may be. You can judge about that. I have sent M. Italian some breakfast; his real name is Guido Massarelli.
“Do not be in any haste to leave the chase, and show no impatience, even if the papers I send should really be of importance. These mountebanks are undoubtedly in league with Guido, but as they have not been able to communicate with him since yesterday, we have them all in our power. Guido offers to turn against them, but I do not trust him. If the whole thing is merely a mystification to get money out of you, we will pay in another manner than they expect, and will pay dear!”
Having closed his bulletin, Johan tied it to the portfolio which Guido had been forced to deliver up, and sent it, carefully sealed, and by the surest of his messengers, to the baron’s address at the rendezvous of the hunt.