“Ah! It is evident that the object of the attack was the discoveries made by Trémont. In this abominable plot, which has ended in the murder of a man we loved, a remarkable savant, I see—but do not let this go beyond the three of us here present—the hand of the foreigner.”
There was a moment’s silence. Baradier and Graff looked at one another, uneasily, and as though undecided. But the impetuous Baradier could not long keep to himself the idea working in his brain.
“We, too, General, seem to recognize in the blow which has fallen on our friend some hateful intention against him and against ourselves at once.”
“Baradier,” intervened Graff, “you are going too fast and too far! How can you risk such a charge, on suppositions alone?”
“Ah! You still hesitate!” exclaimed Baradier. “You are still bound down by scruples! The deuce! I feel there is treason and infamy in all this! I—Let me continue! I would swear that Lichtenbach is at the bottom of it all!”
“You have no right to speak in that way!” exclaimed Graff, rising to his feet and quivering with emotion. “How can you insinuate that a man against whom nothing can be said from either a professional or a moral point of view, is a party to a crime, simply because he is our enemy? It is abominable! We must give some place to justice!”
Baradier, boiling over with excitement, rose in his turn, and began to walk to and fro, speaking in snatches.
“For the last two hours, General, we have been disputing in this way, Graff and myself, and the only reply he can give me is that I am not just! As though that were a matter of concern when an imperious instinct cries out to you: ‘There is the culprit. He is not seen; he is well masked, cunningly concealed, and appears in nothing.’ Probably he will not be found out, but it is he all the same who has done the deed, because it was to his interest and hatred combined to do it! No! With his justice, humanity, and philanthropy, you can have no idea how stupid Graff is, at times!”
In spite of the gravity of the situation, the three friends burst into a loud laugh, and Graff, bending forward his great body, exclaimed—
“Thanks!”