The Washington times., 1918-12-04


admiralty for most Of the mine
neids around your east coast. To
begin with, his stay In septIand was
q sham. He was most Of the tine
with the neet and round the coasts.
His nshins excursions from hers
have been OF the same order, only
more 50. All the places Of import
ance, from here to the mouth Of.
the Thames, have been mined. or
rather the approaches to them have
been mined, under his Instructions.
Ny mission In this country, here
at Dreymarsh-do notu shrink frorIr
me II you can help twas to OBJ
tain q copy Of his mine protection
scheme Of certain town on the
east coast.
~Why should I shrink from your,
she nurmured. This Is ali toe
wonderfuii What a little beast
Henry must think met she added,
with truly feminine and marvellous
ly selfish irrelevance.
You and Miss Fairclough,p Les
singham went on, have rather
scoffed at my presence here on BE-
half OF our secret service. II SEEM
ed to you both very ridiculous
Now you understand"
1T makes no difference" Philippe
protested tearfully. you always
It'd US the truth"
And I shall. continue 10 do so,-
Lessingham assured her. Il am not
a clever person at my work which
Is all new to me, but fortune favor
ed me the night yoyr husband was
shipwrecked. succeeded IN steal
ing from him. on board that wreck
ed trawler, the plan Of the mine
field which I was sent over to pro-
cure" a.
aof course you had to do It II you
could" Philippe sobbed. Il think IL
was very clever Of u" ~
He smiled.
There are others who might look
at the matter differently" he said.
II am going to ask you q question:
which know Is unnecessary, but I
must have your answer to take
away with me. II you had known
all the time that your husband in
stead OF being a skulker, as you
thought him, was really doing spien-
did work for his country, you would
not have listened to me for one
moment, would your You would
She eiutched his hands.
You are the dearest man I'm tie
world she exclaimed, her lips stIIf
quivering. "but. as you say. you
know the answer. was always -
love with Henry It was because I
loved him that was 50 furious. i
liked you so much that It Sas
mean Of me ever to think of--of
what so nearly happened"
so nearly happened" he repeat
ed, with a sudden access of the bit
terest self-pity.
Once more the low. warning hoot
OF the motor horn, this time ut.
tie more impatient broke the 81
lence. Phiiippz was fllcd with an
unrcasoning terror
"You must gel" she implored.
'fou must so this minute! II they
were to take you. couldn't bear Il.
And that man Griffths--hs has
sworn that 10 he can not get tbs
Government authority. ne will shook
you!"
Griffith has gore to I.oadca." as
reminded her.
yes, but he may be back by tsiis
train" she cried, sisncinS at the
clock. "and have a strange sort
of fancy-I have had It al day
that Henry might como. too. It u
overdue now. Any one might ar
rive here. Oh, please, for my sake.
hurry away" she begged. the tears
streaming. from her eyes. IF SEy-
thing should happen. ] could never
forgive myself II is because you
have so dear. so true and honor
able, that al lthis time has been
wasted Il It were to cost !12r
lifeE"
She was seized by a Mt OF nervous
anxiety which became almost .
paroxysm. She buttoued his coat
for him and almost dragged him To
the door. And then she stopped for
a moment to listen. Her eyes be
came listended. Her lips were part
ed. She shook as though with al
ague.
att Is too Iate!" she faltered hys-
tericalIy. "I can hear Henry's
voice! Quick. Come to the window.
You must get out that way and
through the postern gate
Your husband will have seen
the car" he protested. And be-
sides, there is your dressing bag
and your travelling coat"
II shall tell him everything" she
declared wildly. Nothing matters
except that you escape. oh, hurry:
1 can hear Henry talking to Jimmy
Dumble-for Gods sake"
The words died away upon her
lips. The door mad been opened and
closed again immediately There
was the quick turn Of the lock,
sounding like the click OF fate SIR
Henry, we'll inside the room, nod
ded to them both aifably.
well, Philippa? You weren't sx-
pectinE me. eh? Hullo, Lessing-
ham! Not gone yet? Running It
trife fine. aren't your"
Lessingham glanced towards the
fastened door.
Perhaps" he admitted. "a tribe
too fine"
Sir Henry was suddenly taken BY
storm. Philippa had thrown herself
into his arms, Her fingers were
locked around his neck Her lips,
her eyes, were pleading with him.
Henry, Henry, you must forgive
me! never knew never dreamed
what you were really doing. I shall
never forgive fysclf, but you-yo0
will be generous
That's all right, DEAR" he prom
ised, STOPPING down to kiss her.
Partly my fault, OF course 1 had
to humor those old ladies' down at
White hall. who wanted mo to pos4
as a particularly harmless idiot
You see" nc went on, glznc.sS to-
ward Lessingham. "they were al
ways afraid that my steps TnaRhH be
dogEed by spies, II my position were
generally known"
-.