It is recognised that a man's duty, not only to himself, but to the
organisation, is to make all the money he can, and thus not be liable
to fall back on the relief fund. This frank admission of my dependence
on Valmont made it all the more impossible that anyone there listening
should suspect that it was Valmont himself who was addressing the
conclave.
'You will then take the night train tomorrow for Paris?' persisted the
inquisitive French delegate.
'Yes, and no. I shall take the night train, and it shall be for Paris,
but not from Charing Cross, Victoria, or Waterloo. I shall travel on
the 8.30 Continental express from Liverpool Street to Harwich, cross
to the Hook of Holland, and from there make my way to Paris through
Holland and Belgium. I wish to investigate that route as a possible
path for our comrade to escape. After the blow is struck, Calais,
Boulogne, Dieppe, and Havre will be closely watched. I shall perhaps
bring him to London by way of Antwerp and the Hook.'
These amiable disclosures were so fully in keeping with Paul
Ducharme's reputation for candour and caution that I saw they made an
excellent impression on my audience, and here the chairman intervened,
putting an end to further cross-examination by saying they all had the
utmost confidence in the judgment of Monsieur Paul Ducharme, and the
Paris delegate might advise his friends to be on the lookout for the
London representative within the next three or four days.
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