THE MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS
M. Delcasse was a busy man, that morning, and he snorted with derision
when Lepine, having secured admission for a moment, told him of
Crochard's request for an audience at eleven o'clock.
"Impossible!" he said. "The Board of Inquiry is to convene at that hour,
and I must be present to address them."
"Perhaps it would be possible to adjourn the meeting until afternoon,"
Lepine suggested.
Delcasse stared at him in astonishment.
"Possible, yes," he said; "most things are possible. But do you know
what it is you are proposing?"
"I am proposing," said Lepine boldly, "that you permit nothing to
interfere with the conference which Crochard requests."
"But Crochard--who is Crochard that I should disturb all my arrangements
for him?"
"I will tell you who he is, sir," said Lepine, gently; "he is the man
whom, next to yourself, I consider the most remarkable in France."
Delcasse softened. The compliment was, perhaps, not delicate, but it was
at least deserved.
"You believe that?" he asked.
"Yes, I do believe it. I must tell you more of Crochard, some day.
Beside him, I am a mere bungler--I realise it more deeply each time I
meet him. And I assure you that I am not one to underestimate myself."
Delcasse looked at him with a little smile.
"It seems to me that your note has changed," he said. "This morning--"
"I have seen Crochard since then," explained Lepine, simply.
"And you are in earnest about this conference?"
"In deadly earnest, sir. So is Crochard."
Delcasse pondered a moment.
"You may bring him here at seven o'clock to-night," he said, finally.
"That is the first moment I have at leisure."
"It will not do, M. Delcasse," said Lepine, firmly. "The other inquiry
must wait. It is not that inquiry which is important, it is this one."
Again the Minister stared.
"But it seems to me that you are telling me what I must do," he said.
"Explain yourself."
"Your official inquiry," answered Lepine boldly, "for all the famous men
who take part in it, will discover nothing--it will be like that other
inquiry into the affair of the _Jena_."
"And what will yours discover?"
"It is not mine--it is Crochard's," Lepine corrected. "It is he who is
in command. And it seems to me that he has already made a beginning. I
am convinced that he has something more to tell us. He has charged me to
secure answers to two questions."
"What are they?"
"Whether there are any wireless stations in the town, or in the
neighbourhood, and whether there has recently been any peculiar
interference with the working of the instruments on our battleships."
"Ah!" said Delcasse, whose expression had changed from irritation to one
of absorbed attention. "So he has thought of that, also!" and he fell
into a moment's revery. "Very well, Lepine," he added. "I believe that
you are right. I will arrange for the President to open the sitting, and
I will summon the man who can answer the questions."
He rang for his secretary, and Lepine hastened away to secure the closed
carriage. He smiled to himself as he did so. How incredulous Pigot and
all the rest would be should they ever hear that their chief had obeyed
blindly the instructions of The Invincible, and that the first Minister
of France had altered his plans in accordance with them!
The carriage engaged and one of his own men placed in charge of it,
Lepine took his station at the principal entrance, to watch the crowd
until Crochard should appear. The corridors were thronged with people,
hurrying in and out. Lepine knew many of them, for a whole staff had
been brought from Paris to carry on the business of the State, and more
than one august individual paused for a word with him. But to their
questions he could only respond by a shake of the head.
At the stroke of eleven, Crochard mounted the steps to the door, and, at
a nod from the Prefect, followed him up the stairs into the anteroom of
Delcasse's suite. An attendant, who was evidently on the watch for them,
showed them at once into the Minister's private office. He was deep in
correspondence, but he instantly pushed it to one side and dismissed his
secretary.
"Well, M. Crochard," he said, "Lepine tells me you have more news for
us. Be seated. What is the news?"
"I requested that M. Lepine should make certain inquiries--"
"Yes, about the wireless," and Delcasse looked at him closely. "Tell me,
why did you think of that?"
"I do not know," answered Crochard, rubbing his forehead slowly; "but as
I sat last night gazing at the wreck, a thought came to me--a vague
thought--not to be put into words...."
"Well," said Delcasse, as he paused, "I had the same thought last night,
before I slept. It seems to me a most striking coincidence. Are you
aware that, in the case of the _Jena_, wireless was mentioned as a
possible cause?"
"Yes," answered Crochard; "I am aware of that."
The eyes of the two men met in a long glance. Then Delcasse touched a
bell.
"Introduce General Marbeau," he said to his secretary.
The latter returned in a moment with a dark little man in full uniform.
Then he went out again and closed the door. The little man bowed deeply
to the Minister of Marine.
"Be seated, General," said Delcasse. "M. Lepine, I think you already
know--as who does not! This other gentleman I will not name--I will only
say that he is a coadjutor whose services we value very highly. He has
certain questions to ask you, which I wish you to answer as though I
myself were asking them. Proceed, sir," and he nodded to Crochard.
"General Marbeau is the chief of our wireless service."
"What wireless stations are there in the city of Toulon, General?"
Crochard began.
"None, sir, except the one at the arsenal," Marbeau answered, looking at
his questioner with discreet curiosity.
"And in the neighbourhood?"
"None nearer than Marseilles."
"There are no private installations?"
"The government does not permit private installations."
"Yet there might be some, clandestinely built?"
"That is possible."
"However, you can assure me of this: if any such do exist, they are
outside the law?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Why are private stations prohibited?"
"They are prohibited because they would interfere with the government
stations. You understand, sir, that wireless waves clash in the air, as
it were; when they cross or intermingle, the result is a confusing
chatter, until the sending and receiving instruments have been carefully
tuned with each other. Even that does not always overcome it. A few
private stations have been authorised strictly for scientific purposes,
but there is none nearer than that at the University of Lyons."
"Do you ever suffer from interference here?"
"Oh, yes; the English have a very powerful station at Gibraltar and
another at Malta; their battleships are all equipped with it, as are
those of Italy. So are most of the passenger steamers which enter the
Mediterranean. The air is often filled with messages."
"Has there been any such interference during the past few days?"
"Yes, a great deal of it; one instance in particular of which my
operators have complained."
"Ah!" said Crochard. "Will you tell us exactly what it was?"
"Last Saturday," explained Marbeau, "about three in the afternoon, there
came from somewhere a series of long dashes, lasting nearly half a
second, and spaced about two seconds apart. This continued for perhaps
half an hour."
"You had no idea as to their origin?"
"We thought that perhaps the English were tuning up a new and very
powerful instrument at Gibraltar."
"You had no way of verifying this?"
"We did not try to do so."
"Was this interruption repeated?"
"Yes; our automatic recorder shows that the signals began again a little
before five o'clock yesterday morning and continued for nearly two
hours."
Crochard's eyes were shining.
"At what hour was _La Liberte_ destroyed?" he asked.
"The first explosion was at 5:50. There were two others, a few minutes
apart. The main magazine exploded at very close to six o'clock."
"So that these signals began at least an hour before and continued
nearly an hour past that time?"
"That is so, sir," assented Marbeau, in surprise; "but I can imagine no
connection--"
"Do not imagine anything," broke in Delcasse quickly, his voice
quivering with excitement. "Perhaps there is no connection; but
nevertheless I think these signals should have been reported to me. Come
in," he added, as a tap sounded at the door.
His secretary entered and handed him a telegram. Delcasse's eyes were
positively gleaming as he read it.
"Better and better!" he cried. "Oh, this is a game after my own heart!"
and he tossed the telegram to Lepine. "Read it aloud!" he added, "that I
may be sure my eyes have not deceived me!"
And Lepine picked up the message and read:
"Note B162864R, one hundred francs, one of series of three
hundred such notes sent to Imperial Bank, Berlin, September
8.
"LINNE, Governor Bank of France."
There was a moment's silence, Marbeau staring blankly, but the other
three gazing into each other's faces with shining eyes.
"Perfect, perfect!" murmured Delcasse, and seized the telegram and read
it again.
"The next step, sir," said Crochard quietly, "is to instruct every bank
in France to report immediately the receipt of any of the other two
hundred and ninety-nine!"
Delcasse drew a deep breath, pulled a pad of blanks toward him, and
scribbled a few words.
"See that this is sent at once," he said, and the secretary took the
message and hastened away.
Then Delcasse did something which he had not done since that night, five
years before, when word came that England had signed the secret treaty:
he removed his great glasses, got out his handkerchief, and deliberately
wiped his eyes.
"Your pardon, gentlemen," he said, with a twisted smile. "This is for me
a great moment. You know my dream! I believed it shattered; but now I
think that it may yet come true!" He snapped his glasses on again and
swung around to Crochard. "If it does," he added, "I shall have you to
thank! Proceed with your questions."
"There are no more questions, sir," said Crochard; "but we have a little
excursion to make. It will consume perhaps an hour, and I think that you
will find it interesting. M. Lepine has a closed carriage at the private
entrance. I would suggest that General Marbeau accompany us. He will be
of great service. Can we start at once?"
For answer, Delcasse leaped to his feet and seized his hat. There was
no longer in his mind any question as to the importance of this inquiry,
and the comparative unimportance of that other one, opening with much
pomp at the Prefecture. In fact, he had forgotten all about it!
"The private entrance, you say?" he asked. "Then come this way," and he
led the way down the private staircase. The carriage stood at the curb.
Crochard glanced at the driver.
"He is your man, of course?" he said to Lepine. "Good." And, as the
others entered, he stopped to speak a few words to him. Then he, too,
leaped inside, and slammed the door.
The driver spoke to his horses, and they were off, along the Rue
Nationale, across the Place St. Roche, through the Botanic Gardens, past
the Marine Observatory, under the Porte Nationale, and through the
faubourgs. At the end of twenty minutes, the town was left behind, and
Crochard stopped the carriage, got out, and mounted to the seat beside
the driver.
Then, at a slower pace, the carriage climbed a narrow road leading
toward the hills back of the town. It was apparently little used, for it
was overgrown with grass, over which the carriage-wheels rolled
noiselessly. Inside the carriage, Delcasse spoke only once.
"On this day of surprises, I am prepared for anything!" he declared, and
relapsed into silence.
At last the carriage stopped, and, pulling back the curtains, those
within it saw they were in the midst of a grove of lofty beeches.
Crochard jumped from the seat and opened the door.
"We must get out here," he said; and when the others had alighted, he
started off before them among the trees.
Delcasse kept close at the leader's heels, fairly panting with
eagerness. Lepine followed and Marbeau came last. The rustling of the
dead leaves beneath their feet was the only sound which broke the
stillness. At the end of five minutes, they came to what was apparently
a deserted shed. Its door was secured by a heavy hasp and padlock.
Crochard drew a key from his pocket, opened the padlock, released the
hasp, and threw back the door.
"Enter, my friends!" he cried, and stood aside that they might pass.
They crowded in and stood staring about them. For a moment, in the
semi-darkness, they could see nothing; then certain vague shapes
detached themselves--a table, a chair, strange jars, a queer-looking
clock....
Marbeau uttered a sudden startled exclamation.
"Why, this is a wireless plant!" he cried.
"Precisely, sir!" agreed Crochard. "The plant from which came those
peculiar signals!"