Rouletabille arrived next day at the hour agreed on. He was dressed
in a suit of English tweed, with an ulster on his arm, and a valise
in his hand. Evidently he had prepared himself for a journey.
"How long shall you be away?" I asked.
"A month or two," he said. "It all depends."
I asked him no more questions.
"Do you know," he asked, "what the word was that Mademoiselle
Stangerson tried to say before she fainted?"
"No--nobody heard it."
"I heard it!" replied Rouletabille. "She said 'Speak!'"
"Do you think Darzac will speak?"
"Never."
I was about to make some further observations, but he wrung my hand
warmly and wished me good-bye. I had only time to ask him one
question before he left.
"Are you not afraid that other attempts may be made while you're
away?"
"No! Not now that Darzac is in prison," he answered.
With this strange remark he left. I was not to see him again until
the day of Darzac's trial at the court when he appeared to explain
the inexplicable.
CHAPTER XXVI
In Which Joseph Rouletabille Is Awaited with Impatience
On the 15th of January, that is to say, two months and a half after
the tragic events I have narrated, the "Epoque" printed, as the
first column of the front page, the following sensational article:
"The Seine-et-Oise jury is summoned to-day to give its verdict on
one of the most mysterious affairs in the annals of crime.
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