"Pardon, Monsieur," said Erard politely. "Is that the way to leave a lady? I kiss your hand, Mademoiselle. I am relieved of that so-dirty work of the ward for a season—is it not?"
He spoke French. He bowed low before her and carried literally into action his words by raising her hand to his lips.
Swiftly he pressed a bit of paper between her fingers. She held it tightly—breathless, shaken—while Carl marched the staggering little man away.
She went slowly back to her ward. Secretly she looked at the tiny note. The envelope was of rice paper—two cigarette papers sealed together with green wax. It seemed to her as she examined it, that the seals had been tampered with; yet if so, the note had been reinclosed.
Within was written in pencil on a third paper folded so that it could not be read through the envelope, a single line in English:
"Trust not Rabbit-mouth too far."
It was a warning—a warning referring to Erard, but brought by the infirmier himself! Although it was not signed, the line must have been written by Renaud, the spy.
Erard had tried to read it, too. But Belinda was well aware the lame man could not read English. The mystery troubled her exceedingly.
Erard had met the spy and certainly must have told Renaud of Sanderson's plight. The spy's peril was imminent. His task of getting out of the enemy's country was enormous. And yet he considered it necessary to warn the American airman against trusting Erard too far!