“Under torture, the American told all that he knew. His confession was sent by code to Berlin. It was forwarded into my hands by secret messenger.
“With it came the word to work by way of Riga; then came the new order to go by Paris. You have made observations by my order. We have learned that our information is absolutely correct.
“Although the lair of our enemies lies less than a mile from this very spot, here in the Kitai Gorod, we had never once suspected it.
“Two blocks from the broad Prospekt, on the byway called Gostinny Ulitza, stands a house very much like this. Plain, obscure, it is actually the most vital spot in Moscow.
“While we have cast hungry glances toward the empty vaults of the Kremlin; while our agents in Petrograd have been seeking hopelessly, our objective has been close at hand.
“The reports that we had gained of the interior arrangements were remarkably exact when checked by the statement that has come from New York.
“Persons have been to this concealed treasure house. They have told what they have seen. But all were taken under guard and blindfolded. They could give no clew to the location — until Ivan Motkin made his great mistake.”
As Senov finished speaking, his accomplices murmured excitedly. All were discussing what they had just learned. Anxious to set forth on their great adventure, men approached Senov and spoke in low voices, giving him details of the preparations they had made toward the culmination of the contemplated plot.
TIME passed rapidly in that little room. When the hour of nine arrived, Senov gave a command for silence.
“We must depart,” he said. “Each man must go to his place of duty. Our zero hour will be ten o’clock. Strike as planned.”