Though the corridors of the house were lit by gas, this room had none,
and the lamp being broken, I had to depend upon the bit of candle which
might fail while I still had need of it. I separated it carefully from
its bed of grease on the mantel, and as I did so the wavering light
touched my hand and shirt cuff. Both were stained red, and I turned
slightly sick at the sight. There was blood on my brown boots, too, and
the grey tweed clothes which I had not had time to change since arriving
in Paris.
I told myself that I must do my best to wash away these tell-tale stains
before leaving the room; but first I would look for the treaty.
I began my search by stirring up the mass of scattered papers on the
floor, and in spite of the horror which gripped me by the throat, I
cried "hurrah!" when, half hidden by the twisted rug, I saw the missing
letter-case. It was lying spread open, back uppermost, and there came an
instant of despair when I pounced on it only to find it empty. But there
was the treaty on the floor underneath; and lucky it was that the
searchers had thrown it out, for there were gouts of blood on the
letter-case, while the treaty was clean and unspotted.
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