the other,
Ferris! And you must all use a thousand precautions when we act.
I'll have half the truth by to-morrow night. My chum, Jim Condon,
is hammering shoes as cobbler James Lennon opposite the room where
one of the suspects lives. And if Lilienthal or Ferris should miss
either of the parties who will be arrested, they may warn the real
criminal." The plainly-spoken words carried conviction to each
listener.

The three friends were breathlessly hanging on the officer's frank
words as he now described the departure of the fated Clayton from
the street corner in the carriage with a woman, and decoyed there
by the boy.

"Why did you hide all this?" was Alice Worthington's astounded
query.

"Because the time was not ripe; because it meant the escape of
the real criminal; and because I want the honor of the arrests, and
the double reward. It means a life of ease and promotion, as well
as the glory of bringing the brute who killed Clayton to bay! Now,
Jim Condon is on watch. The woman is packing to slip away to Europe;
she must meet the boy again! I will shadow him; Condon will watch
the woman. Within three days they will meet, probably to-night, as
the German steamers sail in two days. We will soon have them both!

"I've arranged for their safe handling."

"And what do you propose to do?" anxiously cried the heiress.

"Why," simply said McNerney, "the doctor and I will take the woman,
go over to Europe, and catch 'Mr. August Meyer,' who forgot that
the name of the sender of a valuable package is put on the envelope
by the German government. That has betrayed him."

"And Mr. Witherspoon?" the excited woman said. "Stays here and
secretly holds the boy hidden, even against the law, until we have
the other. Then we can trap Ferris or Lilienthal, or both."

"Is this plan your joint work?" asked Alice. The three men bowed.

"And it's the only one, Miss," stoutly said the policeman. "One
word dropped to any one, and we lose the game forever! I go out
of my duty. I risk my place! But I've got three-months' leave of
absence. Condon has two."

"I will guarantee your future," said the heiress to McNerney. "Go
ahead, and God speed you. These gentlemen will furnish all the
money you need."

"Then it's a go!" bluntly answered the officer. "I feel it in my
bones we'll get them to-night."

After a whispered colloquy with the two friends, McNerney offered
his hand to the agitated woman. "I'll risk my life for yo