"'And if you cannot accept straightway, will you promise to forget that it was made?' she asked.

"Again I acquiesced. I admit, I was curious.

"'We a.s.sume,' said she, 'that between France and Germany you are indifferent.'

"'Paris and Berlin have each their good points,' I replied.

"'Quite so,' she acquiesced; 'just now, however, we ask you to favour Berlin and for a consideration.'

"'I don't want a consideration,' I smiled; 'tell me what's the favour you seek?'

"'We ask you,' she replied instantly, 'to take a letter to the French Amba.s.sador and tell him that it is the letter Madame Durrand gave you in New York, and that it has just been returned to you by the American State Department.'

"'Have you the letter with you?' I asked.

"'I have,' she replied, producing it from her bag. 'It may not exactly resemble the original.'

"'It doesn't,' said I.

"'But the French Amba.s.sador won't know it,' she smiled. 'Further, so as to make the matter entirely regular with you, you will receive an appointment in the German Secret Service and five thousand dollars in advance.'

"'Is it usual to--change sides so suddenly?' I asked.

"'You're not changing sides,' she explained. 'You've never had a side, in the diplomatic sense. It is entirely regular in diplomacy for you to take such a course as is proposed; there is nothing unusual about it.

And, my dear Mrs. Clephane, a position in the German Foreign Secret Service is a rare plum, I can a.s.sure you, even though you may not care to be--active in it.'

"Naturally, I understood. Mrs. Spencer thinking me the same type as herself, without conscience, character, or morals, had evolved this plan either to test me or to ensnare me. To test me, because she is jealous of you; or to ensnare me because she wants to win out diplomatically--or both, it may be. I am a poor hand at pretence; but I played the game, as you would say, to the best of my ability. So I seemed to fall in with her scheme; France was nothing to me; I had been given no option in the matter of accepting the letter and attempting its delivery; I had done all and more than could be expected of a disinterested person; I had lost the letter but through no fault of mine. I was acquitted of further responsibility; was at liberty to choose. And Mrs. Buissard agreed with me in everything. In the end, I accepted the spurious letter for delivery to the French Amba.s.sador."

"Good!" Harleston applauded. "You're learning the method of diplomacy very rapidly; fire with fire, ruse with ruse, deceit with deceit--anything for the object in hand."

"It went against me to do it," she admitted, "but I'll pay them in their own coin--or something to that effect. Of course, I've no intention of delivering the letter to the French Emba.s.sy. I'll deliver it to you instead."

"Delightful!" Harleston exclaimed. "You're a bully diplomat. However, I'm not so sure that Spencer ever imagined her letter would reach the Marquis. She's playing for something else, though what is by no means clear. Let us have a look at the letter; maybe it will help."

She stood beside him as he cut the envelope and he took out the single sheet of paper--on which was an a.s.sortment of letters, set down separately and without relation to words.

"What is it," said she, "a scrambled alphabet?"

"Looks like it!" he smiled. "As a matter of fact, however, it's in the Blocked-Out Square cipher--like the original lett--"

"Then they could read the original?" she cut in.

"Not unless they have its particular key-word--"

"Oh, yes; I remember now," said she. "Go on!"

"There's no 'go on,'" he explained. "Nor would it help matters if there were. This letter is spurious; there is nothing to find from it, even if we could translate it. It's intended as a plant; either for us or for the Marquis; but I fancy, for us--so with your permission we will waste no time on it further than to keep alert for its purpose. When were you to receive the five thousand dollars?"

"I don't know!" she laughed.

"And the appointment to the German Secret Service?"

"I don't know; she didn't say and I didn't ask. I was too much occupied with meeting her on her own ground and playing the game. I was crazy to get the letter so I could show it to you."

"Which doubtless was what she too wanted; I can't see through her scheme--unless it is to muddy the water while the main play is being pulled off. And our men haven't discovered a single material thing, though they have had Spencer and all the rest of the gang under shadow since the morning after the cab affair."

The telephone buzzed. Mrs. Clephane answered it.

"Yes, Mr. Harleston is here," she said, pa.s.sing the receiver to him.

"h.e.l.lo!" said Harleston.

"Can you make it convenient to drop around here sometime this evening?"

Major Ranleigh inquired.

"Will ten o'clock do?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there," said Harleston.

XVII

IN THE TAXI

At ten o'clock Harleston walked into Ranleigh's office.

"I just wish to ask," said the Major, "if you want us to pick up the man who met Mrs. Spencer this afternoon. It's against your orders, I know, but this chap can be arrested without resulting complications, I think.

He's an American."

"Who is he?" Harleston asked.

"Snodgra.s.s, an ex-Captain in the Army; a man of seeming independent means, who lives at the Boulogne."

"I'm acquainted with him," returned Harleston. "I can't think that he's crooked. I reckon Spencer's figure and face attracted him--or probably he has known her in Europe."

"I'm only giving you the facts: he's the first man, other than those of her entourage, that she has met since we've had her under surveillance.

It was at Union Station, this afternoon. She went there alone, after loitering for an hour through the shops of F Street. In the train-shed she chanced, seemingly by the veriest accident, upon Snodgra.s.s. He almost b.u.mped into her as they rounded the news-stand. From their gaiety they are old acquaintances; and after a word he turned and accompanied her to the cab-stand and put her in a taxi. As far as the shadow saw, there was no letter or papers pa.s.sed--only conversation. And what he managed to overhear of it was seemingly quite innocent of value to us.

He called her Madeline and she called him Billy, which isn't his name, and invited him to Paris; so they must be pretty well acquainted. They are to meet at one o'clock tomorrow. That's the first matter to report.

The second is that Marston is spying around the French Emba.s.sy. He has walked up Sixteenth Street frequently since four o'clock, and never once glanced at the big marble mansion when he thought anyone was looking.

His eyes were busy enough other times. Also he visited, after dark, Paublo's Eating-House in the Division, and had a talk with Jimmy-the-Snake--a professional burglar of the best cla.s.s. We are watching The Snake, of course. Something will be done at the French Emba.s.sy tonight, I imagine. Finally, at nine o'clock, Marston went to Carpenter's residence and was admitted. He came out fifteen minutes later, and returned to the Chateau. I a.s.sume that Carpenter will tell you of this errand."

Harleston nodded.