“But I do not like the idea of being constantly watched,” he said. “It will really be most irritating.”
“If you had not submitted you would not have left that house alive,” replied the pretty, dark-eyed young woman.
“I have to thank you, madame,” he replied. “Yet the knowledge I have gained has upset me considerably.”
“And do you not think that these fiends who murdered my husband richly deserve the fate we have in store for them?” she asked.
Upon that point, however, Falconer refused to express an opinion.
As they entered the lounge of the hotel, he was surprised to see a thin-faced, elderly man seated in a chair pretending to read a paper. Instantly he recognised him as one of the group of plotters he had met in Lucerne. He had already reached the Pilatuskulm, and was undoubtedly there in order to keep observation upon him. Indeed he found that the man, who had given the name of Vulkovitch at the bureau, had engaged the room adjoining his own.
He had hardly entered his room when there was a low tap on the door and Vulkovitch entered, with a word of apology.
“I need not tell you, M’sieur Falconer, why I am here. The object of my visit is to impress upon you the necessity for complete secrecy. It was all the fault of Boris, who, believing you to be one of us, admitted you, but as you have now become associated with us, you must conform to the rules already laid down. If you breathe a single word of what is in progress, then I shall use this!”
And he produced from his inner pocket a large silver cigar-case.
“This is not so harmless as it may appear,” he went on. “It contains an explosive so powerful that if thrown down it would wreck half the hotel.”