He found his car on the high-road:
"Home," he said to Octave.
When Sernine reached home, he rang up Neuilly and telephoned his instructions to the friend whom he called the doctor. Then he dressed, dined at the Rue Cambon Club, spent an hour at the opera and got into his car again:
"Go to Neuilly, Octave. We are going to fetch the doctor. What's the time?"
"Half-past ten."
"Dash it! Look sharp!"
Ten minutes later, the car stopped at the end of the Boulevard Inkerman, outside a villa standing in its own grounds. The doctor came down at the sound of the hooter. The prince asked:
"Is the fellow ready?"
"Packed up, strung up, sealed up."
"In good condition?"
"Excellent. If everything goes as you telephoned, the police will be utterly at sea."
"That's what they're there for. Let's ge
