"
"But you are convinced of Darzac's innocence?"
"At one time I did believe in the possibility of his guilt. That
was when we arrived here for the first time. The time has come
for me to tell you what has passed between Monsieur Darzac and
myself."
Here Rouletabille interrupted himself and asked me if I had brought
the revolvers. I showed him them. Having examined both, he
pronounced them excellent, and handed them back to me.
"Shall we have any use for them?" I asked.
"No doubt; this evening. We shall pass the night here--if that
won't tire you?"
"On the contrary," I said with an expression that made Rouletabille
laugh.
"No, no," he said, "this is no time for laughing. You remember the
phrase which was the 'open sesame' of this chateau full of mystery?"
"Yes," I said, "perfectly,--'The presbytery has lost nothing of its
charm, nor the garden its brightness.' It was the phrase which you
found on the half-burned piece of paper amongst the ashes in the
laboratory."
"Yes; at the bottom of the paper, where the flame had not reached,
was this date: 23rd of October.
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