"Let him take us at once to the President, then," Jack announced quickly. "We have no right to prolong the delay, now that we are actually in the city toward which we have been aiming for what now seems to me to have been years."
Fred indicated their desires to the Frenchman.
"Oui! Oui!" the latter exclaimed several times in succession, and led the way through the throng which parted for them, and toward an imposing building across a great public square.
Five minutes later they were in the presence of the President of the United States and the more important members of the American delegation.
"You have the documents?" asked the Secretary of State, after the President very briefly but very fervently had thanked the men for their courage and ability.
For answer, Jack undid his blouse, opened his clothing beneath, and produced a packet enclosed in a heavy reddish-brown envelope.
The premier of the American cabinet hastily opened it and took out the papers it contained. He counted them carefully, and then began a minute examination of their signatures and certain secret markings which would not have been noticeable to anyone who did not know they were there.
"They are intact, sir," the Secretary of State finally announced, turning to the President.
"Very well," the latter replied, and he bowed to the young men in a way that not only expressed his profound gratitude, but the fact also that they might now consider themselves at liberty to take the long rest in which they were of so much need.
"Quarters already have been arranged for you, and I trust that you will find all the comforts and conveniences," the President announced, and they were ushered back across the square and to a splendid suite of rooms in one of the quietest and most exclusive hotels in Versailles.