"Is it Monsieur Necker I have the honor of addressing?"
"If you are a clerk in the General Control Office you must know that it is," said the gentleman, in a dry tone.
"But I am not a clerk in the General Control Office," said Dick, quietly. "I am, through a strange accident, the chosen instrument of a secret society whose object is to kill you. Don't think I am a madman. What I say is perfectly true. I have taken an oath that requires me to make an attempt upon your life. But that obligation, through lack of foresight, does not forbid my giving you means of defending yourself; therefore," and here Dick opened wide his coat, and held forth a sword, "I offer you one of these swords, and beg you to stand on guard. Don't call for help. If you do that, I must savemyself by having at you immediately. Take the sword, I advise you, for I certainly intend to attack you."
"'OH, YOU HAVE A VISITOR! MON DIEU, SILVIUS!'"
Monsieur Necker had risen, and he stood looking at Dick in the most profound astonishment.
"Why do you keep us waiting, papa?" came a voice from a suddenly opened doorway, and a moment later a slender figure followed the voice into the room. "Oh, you have a visitor! Mon Dieu, Silvius!"
"Mon Dieu, Amaryllis!" Dick's lips went through the motions of these words, but what he uttered were rather the shadows or ghosts of words than words themselves. He continued unconsciously to hold out the sword towards her father, while gazing at her.
"What does it mean, papa?" she asked, in a hushed voice that betokened vague alarm. "Silvius, what are you doing with those swords?"