some clerks at the Ministry of War and had obtained from them some very
important confidential documents. The wretched men (there were two
of them) had confessed their crime and were to be shot that night.
To-morrow all the town would be talking of the affair. But the worst was
that the Emperor Napoleon was furiously angry at the discovery, and had
made up his mind to have the Russian envoy arrested.

"Such was De Castel's disclosure; and though he had spoken in low tones
Tomassov was stunned as by a great crash.

"'Arrested,' he murmured, desolately.

"'Yes, and kept as a state prisoner--with everybody belonging to
him....'

"The French officer seized Tomassov's arm above the elbow and pressed it
hard.

"'And kept in France,' he repeated into Tomassov's very ear, and then
letting him go stepped back a space and remained silent.

"'And it's you, you, who are telling me this!' cried Tomassov in an
extremity of gratitude that was hardly greater than his admiration for
the generosity of his future foe. Could a brother have done for him
more! He sought to seize the hand of the French officer, but the latter
remained wrapped up closely in his cloak. Possibly in the dark he had
not noticed the attempt. He moved back a bit and in his self-possessed
voice of a man of the world, as though he were speaking across a card
table or something of the sort, he called Tomassov's attention to
the fact that if he meant to make use of the warning the moments were