CHAPTER XXVI.
THE PLOT FOILED.
General Gallieni started back in great surprise.
"You to be the assassin?" he exclaimed.
"Yes, sir," replied the lad, "I was fortunate enough to draw the red ballin the den of the Apaches, sir."
The general advanced and took him by the arm.
"Come with me," he said, and led the way toward his private office.
Chester motioned for Jean to follow, and the little man did so, thoughplainly not without some trepidation.
"Who is that?" asked General Gallieni, pointing to Jean.
"He is the man who is to shoot me in case I fail to shoot the President,"said Chester cheerfully.
"Hadn't we better have him thrown into a cell?"
"No, sir. We have agreed that it is not right to shoot the President, andI am sure that we can count on his help should we need it. It is likelyto be valuable."
"Well," said the general, sinking into a chair and motioning the othersto seats, "tell me all about it; and where, by the way, is your friend?"
"He is trailing Duval, sir."
"Good! Now, let's have the story."
Chester put the facts before the military governor as clearly andconcisely as possible, and when he had concluded General Gallieni jumpedto his feet.
"We must act at once!" he exclaimed, and pulled the telephone toward him.
"But not with too great haste, General," protested Chester, also rising."We must first decide upon a plan."
"What do you mean?" asked the general.
"Why," said Chester, "if we hope to capture Duval--who will be on handto-morrow, and who is likely to shoot the President himself--we mustfigure out the best means of doing so."
"I shall have the President cancel his engagement."
"That," said Chester, "might only delay the assassination."
"What would you suggest?"
Chester was silent for some minutes before he replied:
"If the President doesn't make his address to-morrow, his life probablywill be attempted the next day or the next. If he does speak, Duval issure to be on hand. Jean and I must be in the crowd, so that Duval maysee us; for, if we are not there, Duval may suspect treachery and shootthe President himself.
"Seeing us there, however, Duval will take no action himself. As thePresident's speech progresses, Duval will be waiting for me to fire. Hewill be continually thinking that I will do so in another moment.
"Now, I should say that this is the best way: Let the President cut hisspeech short, say to three minutes. The moment he ceases speaking, rush aheavy guard between him and the crowd and have him stoop immediatelybehind them. Realizing that the plot has failed, Duval may not fire; but,in the event that he does, we shall probably be able to spot him and gethim before he can escape."
General Gallieni spent some minutes considering the feasibility of thisplan. Finally he said:
"If we only knew Duval by sight, we could avoid all this by seizing himthere before the Palace."
"The trouble is we don't," replied Chester dryly.
General Gallieni turned to Jean.
"Do you know Duval by sight?" he asked.
"I have never seen his face, sir," was the reply. "He has never appearedbefore us without his mask."
"Well, then," said General Gallieni, "we shall have to do the best wecan. Now, you two go into the next room and get some sleep. I'll get thePrime Minister and explain the matter to him and to the President, thatwe may all act in accord."
Chester saluted the general, and, followed by Jean, made his way into theadjoining room, while the general proceeded to get busy on the telephone.
Chester turned to Jean and clapped him heartily on the back.
"Isn't this better than attempting to assassinate the President?" heasked.
Jean smiled back at him.
"It is," he said quietly. "And you may count upon me to the limit."
"Good!" exclaimed Chester. "I knew it."
He threw himself upon a little cot and was soon fast asleep. Jeanfollowed his example.
Daylight was streaming into the room through the large French windowswhen Chester was aroused by a hand on his arm. The lad was upon his feetin an instant and faced General Gallieni. Immediately he turned andaroused Jean, who was still sleeping heavily.
"All is in readiness," said General Gallieni. "The President and thePrime Minister have been apprised of the plan, and it is to be acted uponas you suggested."
Chester produced his watch and glanced at it.
"Half-past ten," he said. He turned to the general. "Have you had anyword from Hal?"
"Who?"
"Hal--Lieutenant Paine."
"No."
"By Jove!" said Chester. "I hope he hasn't gotten into any trouble."
Eleven o'clock came, and still no word from Hal.
At 11:15 Chester and Jean left the Hotel de Ville and made their waytoward the Palace. A great crowd had already assembled when they arrived,and they had some difficulty in pushing their way through, so that theymight get as close as possible to the spot where the President was tostand while delivering his address.
By the dint of hard shoving and pushing, and the use of their elbows,however, they were finally successful, and came to a pause near thefoot of the steps, in the very first line of spectators. Beyond wasdrawn up an armed guard of perhaps a hundred soldiers. No one couldapproach closer.
Chester turned and surveyed the crowd. He thought it possible that Halmight be there some place, but, scan the faces as he would, he could seeno sign of his chum.
The crowd was good-natured, and the people jostled and pushed and shovedeach other jokingly.
Chester scanned the crowd once more, seeking to determine the figure ofDuval, the Apache chief. Several times he thought he recognized the manby his peculiar build, but in each case he soon found another that lookedjust the same in the crowd.
Jean also, at Chester's request, had put his keen eyes to the test; buthe was no more fortunate. However, both realized that, some place in thatcrowd Duval had his eyes on them.
In the distance came the faint sound of a bell, as a clock chimed thefirst stroke of the hour of noon; and, with the last stroke, thePresident of France appeared upon the steps of the palace.
A great roar of applause went up from the crowd and continued for fullyfive minutes; nor did it cease at once as the President advanced to thevery edge of the uppermost step and raised a hand for silence.
Then, gradually, the sounds of tumult died down, and President Poincareopened his mouth and began to speak.
One, two, three minutes the President spoke, while all about reigned thesilence of death; then, suddenly, at the expiration of the third minute,he stepped back suddenly, while at the same moment a long line of Frenchsoldiers stepped into place in front of him.
From the edge of the crowd, at the side nearest Chester and Jean, thestillness was suddenly shattered by the sharp crack of an automatic, anda soldier who stood before the President of France toppled in his tracks.Another stepped into his place, and the President was safe.
But, with the crack of the revolver the great crowd became a wild,howling mob. Shrieks, screams and cries of anger filled the air, and as asingle man the crowd swooped upon the spot where a tall man with asmoking revolver in his hand was attempting to make his escape.
Chester, who had been prepared for the shot, sprang forward upon theinstant, with Jean but a step behind him. Through the crowd they wereforced to fight their way, but eventually they came to the edge of it,only to find that Duval, for such they were sure the would-be assassinwas, had fought his way out and fled.
But, as the Apache chief ran, the crowd dashed after him. Chester nowhad his school days to thank for the fact that he was more fleet offoot than the others of the crowd. He passed them rapidly, as he ranafter the flying figure of Duval, now at least 200 yards ahead of himdown the street.
The lad raised his revolver as he ran and fired. But Du
val did not halt.Chester had missed.
With the howling pack at his heels, and Chester gradually closing up thegap between them, Duval exerted himself to the utmost. Suddenly heturned into a narrow alley, where he halted. Chester, who was nearerthan any of the others, dashed into the alley without slackening hisspeed, and, as he did so, Duval struck him a heavy blow in the face withthe butt of his revolver.
Immediately he turned and dashed forward again.
Chester was not knocked unconscious by the force of the blow, but hereeled and fell to the ground. He was up in a moment, however, and withblood streaming from an ugly gash in his head, dashed after the fugitiveonce more.
Gradually Duval and his pursuer outdistanced the rest of the crowd.Chester was near enough not to be thrown off the track, as Duval roundedcorner after corner; and, try as he would to shake off his pursuer, Duvalwas unable to do so.
At the next corner Duval darted into a little store, and out the otherside, upsetting a group of men as he did so. Chester dashed in after him.
But here he encountered an obstacle. The group of men upset by Duval roseto their feet, very angry. At the sight of a second running man, notrealizing the seriousness of the chase, they lined up and stopped thelad's progress.
Realizing it was no time for talk, Chester struck out right and left, andmen dropped. But the rest closed in, and Chester went down. A heavywrench was raised over his head and would have fallen on it.
But a newcomer caught the upraised arm. Chester looked up. It was Hal.