Now Robard’s voice rose angrily.

“You forbid it!” he exclaimed.  “You forbid it!  Well, little good will that do.  I will see that the work is carried out if I have to do it myself.  And what is more, I will see that the blame falls on you.  You are right.  I have plotted to discredit you, and I shall do it, or my name is not Robard.”

“I shall see that your actions are brought to the attention of the emperor,” declared the ambassador.  “And more than that, I shall immediately notify the Italian authorities of your plans, that they may be on their guard.”

“You will never do that,” replied Robard, and his voice was so low that the listeners could scarcely catch the words.

“Robard,” said the ambassador sternly, “you may consider yourself under arrest.”

There was the sound of a scraping chair and heavy footsteps moving in the room beyond.

“Another move and I shall fire,” came Robard’s voice.

“Man, you don’t know what you are doing,” came the surprised voice of the ambassador.

“Don’t?” said Robard, with a sneer in his voice.  “I’ll show you.”

Again there came to the listeners’ ears the sounds of heavy footsteps, followed by the noise of a struggle.

“Great Scott!  They are fighting!” exclaimed Hal.  “What can we do?  He might kill the Ambassador.”

“There is nothing we can do, old man,” replied Chester quietly.  “We’ll have to let them fight it out.”

They listened intently.

The struggle continued, and occasionally the listeners could catch the sound of fierce ejaculations.  Then, suddenly, there came the sound of a shot.  Then silence, followed a moment later by a voice: 

“There!  I guess now you will know better than to interfere with me.”

“Robard,” said the voice of the ambassador, very weak now, “you shall pay for this.”

“I don’t know whether I have done for you or not,” came Robard’s voice after a pause, “and I don’t care.  In fact, I hope I have.  Now, just to blacken your reputation a bit, if I have killed you, I shall go through with my plan.”

The boys could hear him stalk heavily across the room.  A moment later a door slammed.

Hal rose to his feet and passed a hand across a moist brow.

“And to think that we were unable to lend a hand,” he muttered.

“He’s a black villain,” declared Uncle John.

“And now,” said Chester, “he is on his errand of mischief.  Can we do nothing to thwart him?”

“I can’t see how,” declared Uncle John.

“Nor I,” said Hal.

“Wait a moment, though,” said Chester.

“Well?” queried Hal anxiously.

“I think it can be done,” replied Chester quietly.  “At least there is a chance.”

“Let’s have it,” demanded Hal eagerly.