I shrieked, and tried to spring fiercely upon my assailant, but he was
too quick for me.
My eager hand grasped his arm, but he wrenched himself free, and next
instant had vaulted lightly through the open window and had disappeared.
And as for myself, I gave vent to a loud shriek for help, and then sank
inertly back, next second losing consciousness.
The man had escaped with all my precious permits, signed by the Emperor,
as well as my money!
My long journey was now most certainly a futile one. Without those
Imperial permits I was utterly helpless. I should not, indeed, be
allowed to speak with Madame de Rosen, even though I succeeded in
finding her alive.
My loss was irreparable, for it had put an end to my self-imposed
mission.
Such were the thoughts which ran through my overstrung brain at the
moment when the blackness of insensibility fell upon me, blotting out
both knowledge of the present and apprehension of the future.