"
The two men were dressed in rough clothes, as for an outing, and in spite
of the habitual trifling tone of their talk, they wore a serious air.
Durand's eyes danced with excitement and he twisted his mustache
nervously. Chauvenet had gone to Washington to meet Durand, to get from
him news of the progress of the conspiracy in Vienna, and, not least, to
berate him for crossing the Atlantic. "I do not require watching, my dear
Durand," he had said.
"A man in love, dearest Jules, sometimes forgets;" but they had gone into
the Virginia hills amicably and were quartered with the postmaster. They
waited now for Zmai, whom they had sent to the Springs with a message and
to get Chauvenet's mail. Armitage, they had learned, used the Lamar
telegraph office and they had decided to carry their business elsewhere.
While they waited in the bare upper room of the inn for Zmai, the big
Servian tramped up the mountain side with an aching head and a heart
heavy with dread. The horse he had left tied in a thicket when he plunged
down through the Claiborne place had broken free and run away; so that he
must now trudge back afoot to report to his masters.
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