Page 121 - the-thirty-nine-steps

England.’
‘Another thing must be said,’ it was Royer who spoke. ‘I
talked freely when that man was here. I told something of
the military plans of my Government. I was permitted to
say so much. But that information would be worth many
millions to our enemies. No, my friends, I see no other way.
The man who came here and his confederates must be tak-
en, and taken at once.’
‘Good God,’ I cried, ‘and we have not a rag of a clue.’
‘Besides,’ said Whittaker, ‘there is the post. By this time
the news will be on its way.’
‘No,’ said the Frenchman. ‘You do not understand the
habits of the spy. He receives personally his reward, and
he delivers personally his intelligence. We in France know
something of the breed. There is still a chance, MES AMIS.
These men must cross the sea, and there are ships to be
searched and ports to be watched. Believe me, the need is
desperate for both France and Britain.’
Royer’s grave good sense seemed to pull us together. He
was the man of action among fumblers. But I saw no hope
in any face, and I felt none. Where among the fifty millions
of these islands and within a dozen hours were we to lay
hands on the three cleverest rogues in Europe?
Then suddenly I had an inspiration.
‘Where is Scudder’s book?’ I cried to Sir Walter. ‘Quick,
man, I remember something in it.’
He unlocked the door of a bureau and gave it to me.
I found the place. THIRTY-NINE STEPS, I read, and
again, THIRTY-NINE STEPS I COUNTED THEM HIGH

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