"We've delivered the goods, sir," one of them jested, with a fat, jolly chuckle. "We were beginning to get a bit nervous and to wonder if you'd guessed right and if this was really the way she meant to clear out by.

But, by Jove, sir, the baggage gave us some work to do. A proper h.e.l.l-cat! She struggled and bit like a badger. And the way she yelled!

Oh, the vixen!" And, to the soldiers, who were in fits of laughter, "Mates, this bit of game was just what we wanted to finish off our day's hunting. It's a grand bag; and Lieutenant Delroze scented the trail finely. There's a picture for you! A whole gang of Boches in one day!

. . . Look out, sir, what are you doing? Mind the beast's fangs!"

Paul was stooping over the spy. He loosened her gag, which seemed to be hurting her. She at once tried to call out, but succeeded only in uttering stifled and incoherent syllables. Nevertheless, Paul was able to make out a few words, against which he protested:

"No," he said, "not even that to console you. The game is lost. And that's the worst punishment of all, isn't it? To die without having done the harm you meant to do. And such harm, too!"

He rose and went up to the group of officers. The three, having fulfilled their functions as judges, were talking together; and one of them said to Paul:

"Well played, Delroze. My best congratulations."

"Thank you, sir. I would have prevented this attempt to escape. But I wanted to heap up every possible proof against the woman and not only to accuse her of the crimes which she has committed, but to show her to you in the act of committing crime."

"Ay; and there's nothing half-hearted about the vixen! But for you, Delroze, the villa would have been blown up with all my staff and myself into the bargain! . . . But what was the explosion which we heard?"

"A condemned building, sir, which had already been demolished by the sh.e.l.ls and which the commandant of the fortress wanted to get rid of. We only had to divert the electric wire which starts from here."

"So the whole gang is captured?"

"Yes, sir, thanks to a spy whom I had the luck to lay my hands on just now and who told me what I had to do in order to get in here. He had first revealed the Comtesse Hermine's plan in full detail, together with the names of all his accomplices. It was arranged that the man was to let the countess know, at ten o'clock this evening, by means of that electric bell, if you were holding a council in your villa. The notice was given, but by one of our own soldiers, acting under my orders."

"Well done; and, once more, thank you, Delroze."

The general stepped into the circle of light. He was tall and powerfully built. His upper lip was covered with a thick white mustache.

There was a movement of surprise among those present. Bernard d'Andeville and his sister came forward. The soldiers stood to attention. They had recognized the general commanding-in-chief. With him were the two generals of whom the countess had spoken.

The gendarmes had pushed the spy against the wall opposite. They untied her legs, but had to support her, because her knees were giving way beneath her.

And her face expressed unspeakable amazement even more than terror. With wide-open eyes she stared at the man whom she had meant to kill, the man whom she believed to be dead and who was alive and who would shortly p.r.o.nounce the inevitable sentence of death upon her.

Paul repeated:

"To die without having done the harm you intended to do, that is the really terrible thing, is it not?"

The commander-in-chief was alive! The hideous and tremendous plot had failed! He was alive and so were his officers and so was every one of the spy's enemies. Paul Delroze, Stephane d'Andeville, Bernard, elisabeth, those whom she had pursued with her indefatigable hatred: they were all there! She was about to die gazing at the vision, so horrible for her, of her enemies reunited and happy.

And above all she was about to die with the thought that everything was lost. Her great dream was shattered to pieces. Her Emperor's throne was tottering. The very soul of the Hohenzollerns was departing with the Comtesse Hermine. And all this was plainly visible in her haggard eyes, from which gleams of madness flashed at intervals.

The general said to one of those with him:

"Have you given the order? Are they shooting the lot?"

"Yes, this evening, sir."

"Very well, we'll begin with this woman. And at once. Here, where we are."

The spy gave a start. With a distortion of all her features she succeeded in shifting her gag; and they heard her beseeching for mercy in a torrent of words and moans.

"Let us go," said the commander-in-chief.

He felt two burning hands press his own. elisabeth was leaning towards him and entreating him with tears.

Paul introduced his wife. The general said, gently:

"I see that you feel pity, madame, in spite of all that you have gone through. But you must have no pity, madame. Of course it is the pity which we cannot help feeling for those about to die. But we must have no pity for these people or for members of their race. They have placed themselves beyond the pale of mankind; and we must never forget it. When you are a mother, madame, you will teach your children a feeling to which France was a stranger and which will prove a safeguard in the future: hatred of the Huns."

He took her by the arm in a friendly fashion and led her towards the door:

"Allow me to see you out. Are you coming, Delroze? You must need rest after such a day's work."

They went out.

The spy was shrieking:

"Mercy! Mercy!"

The soldiers were already drawn up in line along the opposite wall.

The count, Paul and Bernard waited for a moment. She had killed the Comte d'Andeville's wife. She had killed Bernard's mother and Paul's father. She had tortured elisabeth. And, though their minds were troubled, they felt the great calm which the sense of justice gives. No hatred stirred them. No thought of vengeance excited them.

The gendarmes had fastened the spy by the waistband to a nail in the wall, to hold her up. They now stood aside.

Paul said to her:

"One of the soldiers here is a priest. If you need his a.s.sistance.

But she did not understand. She did not listen. She merely saw what was happening and what was about to happen; and she stammered without ceasing:

"Mercy! . . . Mercy! . . . Mercy! . . ."

They went out. When they came to the top of the staircase, a word of command reached their ears:

"Present! . . ."

Lest he should hear more, Paul slammed the inner and outer hall-doors behind him.

Outside was the open air, the good pure air with which men love to fill their lungs. Troops were marching along, singing as they went. Paul and Bernard learnt that the battle was over and our positions definitely a.s.sured. Here also the Comtesse Hermine had failed. . . .

A few days later, at the Chateau d'Ornequin, Second Lieutenant Bernard d'Andeville, accompanied by twelve men, entered the casemate, well-warmed and well-ventilated, which served as a prison for Prince Conrad.

On the table were some bottles and the remains of an ample repast. The prince lay sleeping on a bed against the wall. Bernard tapped him on the shoulder:

"Courage, sir."