Majesty's Minister for ForeignAffairs. A contrast indeed to the fairylike glories of the palace ofYildiz.
Five minutes later, the tall, red-moustached Englishman was conducted toa private room, shabby as was all at the Sublime Porte, where, at atable, sat a benevolent white-bearded old gentleman in frock-coat andfez, the Grand Vizier of the Sultan.
The high official greeted him in French, and having motioned him to achair on the opposite side of the table, said:
"I am greatly obliged to you, M'sieur Mullet. I have read with intenseinterest the document you gave me yesterday, and last evening I placedthe matter before his Majesty, my sovereign, at the Palace. As you areaware, his Majesty is always tolerant of other religions that are notour Faith, and has ever been most lenient towards the Hebrew race. Thisdiscovery, and your statement that certain persons hostile to the Jewishreligion are in search of the supposed sacred relics, have bothinterested him, and he has commanded me to tell you that inquiries havebeen made by telegraph in Jerusalem. It appears that a certainEnglishman named James Jannaway is staying at the Park Hotel, and is intreaty with the owners of two plots of land at the base of the Mount ofOffence, one belonging to Poulios, a Greek, and the other to a certainHadj Ben Hassan, an Arab. The Governor of Jerusalem reports that theprice is fixed, and only the contracts remain to be drawn."
"The man Jannaway, your Excellency, is the agent of Sir Felix Challas,"declared Mullet.
"As you yourself have been when you have visited Constantinople toobtain concessions from us on previous occasions, M'sieur!" remarked thewily Turkish official. "Why have you betrayed your employer?"
"For reasons which I have already explained in the document I handed toyou. Your Excellency has always been extremely good to me personally,and I deemed it but my duty to inform you of the secret excavationsabout to take place in Jerusalem."
"You have no ulterior motive--eh?" asked the old man, fixing his eyeskeenly upon him.
"None whatever, your Excellency. On the contrary, I shall be theloser."
The Grand Vizier stroked his beard for a few moments in thoughtfulsilence. Then he said:
"His Majesty never fails to repay generously any service rendered him.I may as well tell you he considers the rendering of this information avery valuable service. It might easily have happened that the mostsacred relics of the Hebrews could have been taken from our country insecret by enemies of the Jews, a circumstance which would have causedhis Majesty the utmost annoyance and anger."
"Your Excellency has already satisfied yourself that I have told thetruth, I hope?"
"Certainly; during the night I have had several long telegrams from theGovernor of Jerusalem, all of which bear out your allegation of a secretattempt about to be made to excavate in the Mount of Offence."
"And what action will the Ottoman Government take?" asked "Red Mullet,"eagerly.
"His Majesty has already taken action," was the Grand Vizier's reply."This morning he signed an irade which I placed before him, prohibitingthe sale of any of the land of the Mount of Offence to any foreigner,and forbidding any excavations or any investigation whatsoever beingmade there."
"Red Mullet" was silent. The situation was an unexpected one. Such anirade would prevent Griffin and Diamond--the rightful holders of thesecret--from taking any action, or making any investigation! Bysuccessfully opposing Challas, he had unfortunately also opposedProfessor Griffin!
"Is not that--well--well, just a little in opposition to his Majesty'swell-known policy of progress? The Imperial irade forbids anyinvestigation whatever, I take it?"
"It forbids every investigation, of whatever nature," slowly replied thewhite-bearded mouthpiece of the Sultan. "Besides, there is a Jewishcemetery in close proximity; we will not have that desecrated, by eitherarchaeologists or treasure-hunters."
"Then the secret cipher elucidated by Professor Griffin is to remain anunsolved problem?" Mullet said in a tone of great disappointment.
"For the present, yes," was the old gentleman's response. "There aremany difficulties. Suppose the sacred relics were really discovered, towhom would they belong?"
"To the Hebrew race--and permit me to express the opinion, yourExcellency, that they should be searched for, and given over to theJews."
"I am not yet in a position to advise his Majesty upon that point. Forthe present, investigation and excavation are absolutely prohibited.But, rest assured, that no one is more alive to the importance ofProfessor Griffin's discovery than his Majesty himself. Indeed, hewishes for an exact transcript of this extraordinary record in yourBible."
"That investigation by the anti-Semitic group should be prohibited, Iam, of course, much gratified, your Excellency. But I do hope sincerelythat one day his Majesty will allow the right of research to therightful holders of the secret--who, as I have stated, are thediscoverer, Professor Griffin, and his friends."
"Including yourself, M'sieur Mullet--eh?"
"Yes, including myself, your Excellency," laughed the red-moustachedman. "I would most humbly petition his Majesty, through you, to grantto me the concession to search after the truth, if his Majesty evergrants one."
"For the present, rest assured, Mr Mullet, that no permission will begiven to any one. There are many eventualities to be considered, aswell as international complications. But if any concession be grantedin the future, his Majesty will certainly accord it to you, inconsideration of the important and timely information which you have sogenerously furnished to us."
"Then we need not fear the success of our enemies," laughed the tallEnglishman, with much gratification.
"Certainly not," answered the venerable old gentleman with a smile."See here," and he pointed to an open telegram before him, "this is thelast despatch from the Governor of Jerusalem, an hour ago. By my ordersthe Mount of the Offence is surrounded by a cordon of military, who haveinstructions to allow no one to pass. I have taken this precaution incase the affair gets into the press, and the spot is visited by greatcrowds, as it well may be. So," laughed the Grand Vizier, "you haveto-day given your friend, M'sieur Jannaway, a rather unpleasantsurprise, I should fancy."
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.
IS THE CONCLUSION.
The anxiety of Erich Haupt may easily be imagined when, next day at theWaldorf Hotel, he received a telegram from Challas, despatched from anobscure place in Holland, saying that he had been called awayunexpectedly, and telling him to go to Berkeley Square and open anytelegrams that might be there.
He drove westward in a "taxi"--and found one message. It was in codefrom Jim Jannaway. The old German had noticed where the financier keptthe code-book, and had but little difficulty in finding it.
"We have been given away," it ran. "The spot is now guarded bymilitary. Sale of land, and all investigation forbidden, and we havereceived an intimation to leave Palestine at once. Coming home."
Haupt's dismay and chagrin was complete. He drove to the nearesttelegraph-office and "wired" to Jannaway that Sir Felix had been calledaway.
This telegram, however, did not reach Jerusalem before Jim had left.Therefore, when he alighted from a cab in Berkeley Square some dayslater and knocked eagerly at the door of Sir Felix's house, he wassurprised to find it opened by a strange man.
When the hall door had closed behind him again, another man advanced,and asked:
"I believe you are Mr Jannaway?"
"That's my name," replied Jim. "Where's the gov'nor? Who the dickensare you?"
"I'm Inspector Attwell, Criminal Investigation Department," replied theother, "and I arrest you, on a warrant granted in France, for the wilfulmurder of Henri Laroche, banker of Rue de Rouen, Bordeaux, on December6, 1907."
Jannaway stood as though turned to stone. His face was bloodless, hismouth wide-open.
"You--you've made a mistake--a very big mistake!" he managed to exclaimwith a sorry attempt to laugh. "Where's the gov'nor--I mean Sir FelixChallas? I must see him at once."
"I'm afraid, Mr Jannaway, you'll
never see him again," replied theofficer. "Yesterday he was arrested in Breslau on a charge ofcomplicity with you in the crime at Bordeaux, but an hour later hepoisoned himself in the police-cell. It'll all be in the papers thisafternoon, I expect."
"Suicide!" gasped the adventurer, utterly staggered.
"Yes, it seems that the dead man's daughter, Louise Laroche, whom youbelieved you had also killed, though ruined and destitute, has searchedand found you both out, and made a startling statement to the Prefet dePolice of Paris. Hence this warrant. But, come along. I must warn youthat any statement you make may be used