no doubt, give a verysubstantial sum for such important information as that which had beenstolen.
His Excellency, on his part, stood with his cigar half-smoked betweenhis teeth, a smart figure in his General's undress uniform, with thegreen-and-white cross of Maurice and Lazarus at his throat, controllerof an army which in case of war would consist of three and a halfmillion men.
Was Hubert's faint suspicion correct? Regrettable as it was, few men inItaly accepted Ministerial portfolios for the sake of the smallremuneration paid to them. Everyone looked to office as a means ofincreasing his income, from the Minister of Justice down to the mostobscure prefect. Therefore, was General Cataldi an exception, or was heendeavouring to fix a scapegoat among his underlings? Such acircumstance was not at all unknown in the modern official life in Rome.
But Hubert Waldron determined not to form any premature theory. Herefused to allow his mind to become prejudiced by previous events.
In several notable cases of espionage, particularly when that secretreport of the British Admiralty regarding the results of our navalmanoeuvres two years before had mysteriously disappeared from Whitehall,he had successfully cleared up the mystery. Indeed, he had earned thethanks of the Prime Minister and of the Sovereign, and had gained hisM.V.O. for his clever and untiring efforts, by which he was actuallyable to wrest the precious and most confidential documents from thepossession of the spy--a traitorous Englishman who had acted on behalfof Germany--a man who that same night committed suicide at his house atRichmond, in order to avoid arrest.
Probably it was knowledge of Hubert's previous successes that hadinduced His Majesty King Umberto III to invoke his assistance. At anyrate His Majesty could scarcely have chosen a keener, or moreresourceful man.
He had made a second and most thoroughly exhaustive examination of thesafe when Major Brusati entered, saluted, and remarked:
"Corporal Tonini is in the ante-room, Excellency."
"I will see him alone," said Hubert, "if I may be permitted?"
"Certainly, signore," replied His Excellency politely. Then, addressingthe Major, he said:
"Take Signor Waldron to the man. He wishes to see him."
Promising the General to return and make his adieu, Hubert followed theartillery officer out into the corridor to a room on the opposite side.
Waldron opened the door, and at once a soldier, aged about thirty, witha thin face and rather crooked nose, sprang to attention. He wore thedark blue uniform with crimson facings of the renowned Bersiglieri, orriflemen, with his large, round hat with cock's plumes at the side.
"You are Corporal Tonini?" asked Waldron kindly, as he closed the doorand advanced into the bare, severely furnished room, which smelt ofstale cigars, as do all the rooms in the Italian Ministries.
"Yes, signore," replied the soldier, looking askance at the civilianforeigner who had come to question him.
"Sit down," Waldron said, taking a seat himself. "I had better explain.I am acting on behalf of His Majesty your King, in order to clear upthe mystery of the theft of those plans from His Excellency's room."
"The plans?" gasped the man, and by his accent Hubert knew that he wasnot a Roman. "Then you know, signore?"
"You come from Tuscany, Tonini?"
"_Si, signore_."
"What part?"
"My home is at Signa, near Firenze."
And from that moment Hubert Waldron, whose knowledge of Italian waspractically perfect, spoke in the Tuscan tongue, using all the aspirated"c's" and substituting the "r's" for "l's" which is the betrayal of thetrue Florentine or the Livornese.
"I want you, Tonini, to put yourself at once at your ease," theEnglishman said. "First, there is nothing against you, not theslightest breath of suspicion. His Excellency the Minister has told methat you have been an excellent soldier. You fought in Tripoli withdistinction, as your medal shows, and you have, I see, the medal forsaving life. But I want you to be perfectly frank with me--to help me,as His Majesty wishes you to do."
"Has His Majesty been told that I was on sentry duty?" asked thecorporal.
"Yes, it has been reported to him, and you, as a loyal soldier of yourSovereign, must assist in every way to help me to clear up this mystery.You know the value of those documents, I presume?"
"Yes. They are plans of our new fortresses against Austria," repliedthe man in a changed voice, for Hubert's words had greatly impressedhim.
"Then you know it must be a spy of Austria who has stolen them?"Waldron said. "Either a spy in person, or an individual who has soldthem to a spy. Which, we do not yet know. Now you were on duty outsideHis Excellency's private cabinet, were you not?"
"_Si, signore_. From noon till four o'clock."
"The Council of Defence met at noon--just at the time you went on duty.Now tell me exactly who entered or left His Excellency's room."
"I will tell you, signore, exactly. I have nothing whatever toconceal," replied the soldier frankly.
"Of course you have not. If you tell me everything you will greatlyassist me in my inquiries."
"Well, signore, His Excellency came out of the room just as I went onsentry duty, and for half an hour no one else entered. Several clerksand others came to the door, but I did not permit them to go in, andtold them His Excellency was absent. At half-past twelve ColonelPironti, whom I knew as His Excellency's secretary, came up the stairs,and of course I allowed him to pass in. He was there about ten minutes,when he came out again with a large orange-coloured portfolio in hishand."
"That contained the papers," Waldron remarked.
"I suppose so, signore. Then nobody entered the room until ColonelPironti came back again at half-past two. He had the sameorange-coloured portfolio in his hand, and took it inside. When he cameout I saw that he had left it within. He had evidently placed it in thesafe, for as he came out of the door he was putting a key attached to achain into his trousers-pocket."
"And after that?" asked Waldron, his dark eyes fixed intently upon theman he had under examination.
"Well, signore, several gentlemen came to interview His Excellency theMinister, but I, of course, allowed no one to pass. His Excellencyhimself came back at three o'clock. He remained about ten minutes andthen left. His chauffeur came up and told me his car had arrived. Iwent in and announced the fact."
"His car!" sniffed Waldron suspiciously. "He was in a hurry to getaway--eh?"
"His Excellency had an appointment at the Tivoli--so his chauffeur toldme."
Waldron made a mental note of that curious fact.
"And then?" he asked.
"His Excellency had left about ten minutes when Colonel Lambarini, thesecretary of the Council of Defence, came up to the door, which I openedfor him, as he always had access to His Excellency's private cabinet.He was inside for a few seconds when he suddenly rushed out wildly andasked: `Who has been here since Colonel Pironti?' I replied that onlyHis Excellency himself had been there, and had just gone. `There hasbeen a theft! Some very important papers have been stolen; and you, assentry, are responsible!' I stood aghast. Then he dragged me insidethe room, and showed me the safe open, and the drawer was empty."
"Then you are sure--quite sure that nobody entered that room after HisExcellency had left?" asked Waldron earnestly, for that was an extremelyimportant point.
"Nobody, signore. I will swear that as a soldier of Italy, before HisMajesty my King--if necessary."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
BEHIND THE THRONE.
After Hubert Waldron had left the corporal of Bersiglieri he entertaineda distinct feeling that His Excellency the General knew more of thetheft than he had admitted.
On his return to the Minister's private cabinet he found His Excellencyin consultation with his secretary, Pironti, a tall, thin-faced,black-haired man, with whom he presently held a long discussionregarding the theft. The secretary of the Council of Defence was alsocalled, and the quartette sat for nearly an hour putting forward varioustheories as to how the docume
nts could have been extracted. Up to thepresent it was a dead secret. But how long it would remain so was aquestion.
"Secrecy is all-important," Waldron declared at last. "We must allow noword of this to leak out. It is His Majesty's express command."
"That sentry may possibly gossip," remarked His Excellency, drawingslowly at his cigar stump, for he smoked perpetually.
"I have already impressed upon him the necessity for silence," repliedWaldron.
"In my own opinion the man knows something of the affair," the Generalwent on. "He was on sentry duty, and tells us that nobody whatsoeverpassed in here except we three. Yet, notwithstanding, the papers
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