Castles in the Air Read online

  3.

  Now, I had not said anything to Theodore about this affair. It wascertainly arranged between us when he entered my service asconfidential clerk and doorkeeper that in lieu of wages, which I couldnot afford to pay him, he would share my meals with me and have a bedat my expense in the same house at Passy where I lodged; moreover, Iwould always give him a fair percentage on the profits which I derivedfrom my business. The arrangement suited him very well. I told youthat I picked him out of the gutter, and I heard subsequently that hehad gone through many an unpleasant skirmish with the police in hisday, and if I did not employ him no one else would.

  After all, he did earn a more or less honest living by serving me. Butin this instance, since I had not even asked for his assistance, Ifelt that, considering the risks of New Caledonia and a convict shipwhich I had taken, a paltry four hundred francs could not by anystretch of the imagination rank as a "profit" in a business--andTheodore was not really entitled to a percentage, was he?

  So when I returned I crossed the ante-chamber and walked past him withmy accustomed dignity; nor did he offer any comment on my get-up. Ioften affected a disguise in those days, even when I was not engagedin business, and the dress and get-up of a respectable commissionnairewas a favourite one with me. As soon as I had changed I sent him outto make purchases for our luncheon--five sous' worth of stale bread,and ten sous' worth of liver sausage, of which he was inordinatelyfond. He would take the opportunity on the way of getting moderatelydrunk on as many glasses of absinthe as he could afford. I saw him goout of the outer door, and then I set to work to examine the preciousdocument.

  Well, one glance was sufficient for me to realize its incalculablevalue! Nothing more or less than a Treaty of Alliance between KingLouis XVIII of France and the King of Prussia in connexion withcertain schemes of naval construction. I did not understand the wholediplomatic verbiage, but it was pretty clear to my unsophisticatedmind that this treaty had been entered into in secret by the twomonarchs, and that it was intended to prejudice the interests both ofDenmark and of Russia in the Baltic Sea.

  I also realized that both the Governments of Denmark and Russia wouldno doubt pay a very considerable sum for the merest glance at thisdocument, and that my client of this morning was certainly a secretservice agent--otherwise a spy--of one of those two countries, whodid not choose to take the very severe risks which I had taken thismorning, but who would, on the other hand, reap the full reward of thedaring coup, whilst I was to be content with four hundred francs!

  Now, I am a man of deliberation as well as of action, and at thisjuncture--feeling that Theodore was still safely out of the way--Ithought the whole matter over quietly, and then took what precautionsI thought fit for the furthering of my own interests.

  To begin with, I set to work to make a copy of the treaty on my ownaccount. I have brought the study of calligraphy to a magnificentdegree of perfection, and the writing on the document was easy enoughto imitate, as was also the signature of our gracious King Louis andof M. de Talleyrand, who had countersigned it.

  If you remember, I had picked up two or three loose sheets of paperoff M. de Marsan's desk; these bore the arms of the Chancellerie ofForeign Affairs stamped upon them, and were in every way identicalwith that on which the original document had been drafted. When I hadfinished my work I flattered myself that not the greatest calligraphicexpert could have detected the slightest difference between theoriginal and the copy which I had made.

  The work took me a long time. When at last I folded up the papers andslipped them once more inside my blouse it was close upon two. Iwondered why Theodore had not returned with our luncheon, but on goingto the little anteroom which divides my office from the outer door,great was my astonishment to see him lolling there on the ricketychair which he affectioned, and half asleep. I had some difficulty inrousing him. Apparently he had got rather drunk while he was out, andhad then returned and slept some of his booze off, without thinkingthat I might be hungry and needing my luncheon.

  "Why didn't you let me know you had come back?" I asked curtly, forindeed I was very cross with him.

  "I thought you were busy," he replied, with what I thought looked likea leer.

  I have never really cared for Theodore, you understand.

  However, I partook of our modest luncheon with him in perfect amityand brotherly love, but my mind was busy all the time. I began towonder if Theodore suspected something; if so, I knew that I could nottrust him. He would try and ferret things out, and then demand a sharein my hard-earned emoluments to which he was really not entitled. Idid not feel safe with that bulky packet of papers on me, and I feltthat Theodore's bleary eyes were perpetually fixed upon the bulge inthe left-hand side of my coat. At one moment he looked so strange thatI thought he meant to knock me down.

  So my mind was quickly made up.

  After luncheon I would go down to my lodgings at Passy, and I knew ofa snug little hiding-place in my room there where the preciousdocuments would be quite safe until such time as I was to handthem--or one of them--to M. Charles Saurez.

  This plan I put into execution, and with remarkable ingenuity too.

  While Theodore was busy clearing up the debris of our luncheon, I notonly gave him the slip, but as I went out I took the precaution oflocking the outer door after me, and taking the key away in my pocket.I thus made sure that Theodore could not follow me. I then walked toPassy--a matter of two kilometres--and by four o'clock I had thesatisfaction of stowing the papers safely away under one of the tilesin the flooring of my room, and then pulling the strip of carpet infront of my bed snugly over the hiding-place.

  Theodore's attic, where he slept, was at the top of the house, whilstmy room was on the ground floor, and so I felt that I could now goback quite comfortably to my office in the hope that more remunerativework and more lavish clients would come my way before nightfall.