The other man's face flushed with pleasure as he heard these words.
"Thank you," he replied simply. "I certainly took every precaution that suggested itself to me. Subsequently I was the victim of circumstances. The French-speaking Turk, as I have told you, took no part whatever in the negotiations, and when he became aware of the modus operandi determined upon——"
"By the way," said Brett, "how did he become aware of it?"
"Oh, Mehemet Ali told him in French."
"Didn't that strike you as curious?"
"Most certainly it did. But the scoundrel explained it afterwards by telling me that although a Turkish subject, he had lived in Algiers and France since he was a child, and had quite forgotten his mother tongue. But he was employed in a confidential position in the Turkish Embassy at Paris, owing not only to family influence, but to his intimate acquaintance with the French language."
"Ah!" said Brett, "Monsieur Henri Dubois has a ready wit."
"What!" cried Edith, who naturally enough was following each word with the utmost interest, "do you already know his name?"
"Not only his name," replied Brett, "but his identity, Miss Talbot. You shall see him in another skin and without the sword-cut. It is possible, however, that before we meet, this distinguishing mark may be replaced by a fractured skull or a bullet wound."