“I am prompt to the minute. Is he here?”
“Not yet.”
Mon. Gerbois took a seat, wiped his forehead, looked at his watch as if he did not know the time, and inquired, anxiously:
“Will he come?”
“Well, monsieur,” replied the lawyer, “that I do not know, but I am quite as anxious and impatient as you are to find out. If he comes, he will run a great risk, as this house has been closely watched for the last two weeks. They distrust me.”
“They suspect me, too. I am not sure whether the detectives lost sight of me or not on my way here.”
“But you were—”
“It wouldn’t be my fault,” cried the professor, quickly. “You cannot reproach me. I promised to obey his orders, and I followed them to the very letter. I drew the money at the time fixed by him, and I came here in the manner directed by him. I have faithfully performed my part of the agreement—let him do his!”
After a short silence, he asked, anxiously:
“He will bring my daughter, won’t he?”