that I earnestly wish you to succeed; but I repeat to you that, from the circumstances in which you find yourself, I fear that it will be difficult. Do you not know that, according to the description you have received, this robber resembles an honest man exactly?"
"Consul," replied the detective dogmatically, "great robbers always resemble honest people. You understand that those who have rogues' faces have but one course to take, to remain honest, otherwise they would be arrested. Honest physiognomies are the very ones that must be unmasked. It is a difficult task, I admit; and it is not a trade so much as an art."
Fix was not wanting in a certain amount of self-conceit.
In the meantime the wharf was becoming lively little by little. Sailors of various nationalities, merchants, shipbrokers, porters, and fellahs were coming together in large numbers. The arrival of the steamer was evidently near. The weather was quite fine, but the atmosphere was cold from the east wind. A few minarets towered above the town in the pale rays of the sun. Towards the south, a jetty of about two thousand yards long extended like an arm into the Suez roadstead. Several fishing and coasting vessels were tossing upon the surface of the Red Sea, some of which preserved in their style the elegant shape of the ancient galley.
Moving among this crowd, Fix, from the habit of his profession, was carefully examining the passers-by with a rapid glance. It was then half-past ten. "But this steamer will never arrive!" he exclaimed on hearing the port clock strike.
"She cannot be far off," replied the Consul.
"How long will she stop at Suez?" asked Fix.
"Four hours. Time enough to take in coal. From Suez to Aden at the other end of the Red Sea, is reckoned thirteen hundred and ten miles, and it is necessary to lay in fuel."
"And from Suez this vessel goes directly to Bombay?"
"Directly, without breaking bulk."
"Well, then," said Fix, "if the robber has taken this route and this vessel, it must be in his plan to disembark at Suez, in order to reach by another route the Dutch or French possessions of Asia. He must know very well that
