"
"You will not. You are under arrest."
I laughed heartily and snapped my fingers, saying:
"Before you give me over to your police, first telegraph to your
Minister of Finance, Monsieur de Witte, and inquire of him who and what
I am."
"I don't understand you."
"You have merely to send my name and description to the Minister and ask
for a reply," I said. "He will give you instructions--or, if you so
desire, ask his Majesty yourself."
"And why, pray, does his Majesty concern himself about you?" he asked,
at once puzzled.
"You will learn later, after I am confined in Kajana and your secret is
known in Petersburg."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," I said, "I mean that I have taken all the necessary steps to
be forearmed against you. The day I am incarcerated by your order, the
whole truth will be known. I shall not be the sufferer--but you will."
My words, purposely enigmatical, misled him. He saw the drift of my
argument, and being of course unaware of how much I knew, he was still
in fear of me.
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