It is a bargain.
Your child shall be restored to you.
On the faith of - on the faith of Hercule Poirot himself."
Again that strange woman laughed - this time long and unrestrainedly.
"My dear M. Poirot, I am afraid I laid a little trap for you.
It is very kind of you to promise to find my child for me, but, you see, I happen to know that you would not succeed, and so that would be a very one-sided bargain, would it not?"
"Madame, I swear to you by the Holy Angels that I will restore your child to you."
"I asked you before, M. Poirot, could you restore the dead to life?"
"Then the child is -"
"Dead?
Yes."
He stepped forward and took her wrist.
"Madame, I - I who speak to you, swear once more.
I will bring the dead to life."
She stared at him as though fascinated.
"You do not believe me.
I will prove my words.
Get my pocket-book which they took from me."
She went out of the room, and returned with it in her hand.
Throughout all she retained her grip on the revolver.
I felt that Achille Poirot's chances of bluffing her were very slight.
The Countess Vera Rossakoff was no fool.
"Open it, madame.
The flap on the left-hand side.
That is right.
Now take out that photograph and look at it."
Wonderingly, she took out what seemed to be a small snapshot.
No sooner had she looked at it than she uttered a cry and swayed as though about to fall. Then she almost flew at my companion.
"Where?
Where?
You shall tell me.
Where?"
"Remember your bargain, madame."
"Yes, yes, I will trust you.
Quick, before they come back."
Catching him by the hand, she drew him quickly and silently out of the room.
I followed.
From the outer room she led us into the tunnel by which we had first entered, but a short way along this forked, and she turned off to the right.
Again and again the passage divided, but she led us on, never faltering or seeming to doubt her way, and with increasing speed.
"If only we are in time," she panted. "We must be out in the open before the explosion occurs."
Still we went on.
I understood that this tunnel led right through the mountain and that we should finally emerge on the other side, facing a different valley.
The sweat streamed down my face, but I raced on.
And then, far away, I saw a gleam of daylight.
Nearer and nearer.
I saw green bushes growing.
We forced them aside, pushed our way through.
We were in the open again, with the faint light of dawn making everything rosy.
Poirot's cordon was a reality.
Even as we emerged, three men fell upon us, but released us again with a cry of astonishment.