That same evening Rouletabille and I left the Glandier. We were
very glad to get away and there was nothing more to keep us there.
I declared my intention to give up the whole matter. It had been
too much for me. Rouletabille, with a friendly tap on my shoulder,
confessed that he had nothing more to learn at the Glandier; he had
learned there all it had to tell him. We reached Paris about eight
o'clock, dined, and then, tired out, we separated, agreeing to meet
the next morning at my rooms.

Rouletabille arrived next day at the hour agreed on. He was dressed
in a suit of English tweed, with an ulster on his arm, and a valise
in his hand. Evidently he had prepared himself for a journey.

"How long shall you be away?" I asked.

"A month or two," he said. "It all depends."

I asked him no more questions.

"Do you know," he asked, "what the word was that Mademoiselle
Stangerson tried to say before she fainted?"

"No--nobody heard it."

"I heard it!" replied Rouletabille. "She said 'Speak!'"

"Do you think Darzac will speak?"

"Never."