He placed his right hand against the bosom of his shirt. His fingers were apart. He closed his hand and extended two fingers.
His quick motion denoted the number seven. The action was observed by Zuvor. The man who called himself Richard Albion responded with the same sign.
Lamont Cranston uttered three words in Russian. Zuvor replied. Then in English, Cranston said:
“The stars are bright to-night.”
“The brightest stars are the planets,” replied Zuvor, in a low voice.
“And they are seven,” whispered Cranston.
“The seven which shall rule,” answered Zuvor.
The two men had exchanged the pass words of the Seventh Star — the secret order of Royalist Russia, which had numbered among its members only the most trusted nobles of the czarist regime.
Yet, despite Lamont Cranston’s prompt responses, Prince Zuvor still eyed him with a remnant of doubt.
“Your age may be deceiving,” he said. “Yet you are not a Russian.”