"I thought him a clever fellow, but it seems that he's a bungler after all."
"But while we keep Krail at arm's length, as we are doing, what have we to fear?" asked Goslin.
"Yes, but how long can we keep him at arm's length?" queried Sir Henry.
"You know the kind of man—one of the most extraordinarily inventive in
Europe. No secret is safe from him. Do you know, Goslin," he added, in a
changed voice, "I live nowadays somehow in constant apprehension."
"You've never possessed the same self-confidence since you found
Mademoiselle Gabrielle with the safe open," he remarked.
"No. Murie, or some other man she knows, must have induced her to do that, and take copies of those documents. Fortunately, I suspected an attempt, and baited the trap accordingly."
"What caused you to suspect?"
"Because more than once both Murie and the girl seemed to be seized by an unusual desire to pry into my business."
"You don't think that our friend Flockart had anything to do with the affair?" the Frenchman suggested.
"No, no. Not in the least. I know Flockart too well," declared the old man. "Once I looked upon him as my enemy, but I have now come to the conclusion that he is a friend—a very good friend."
The Frenchman pulled a rather wry face, and remained silent.