y, she will not attempt to leave Washington; I am
confident of that. Again, it didn't seem wise to me to employ the
ordinary crude police methods in the case--that is, go to the Venezuelan
legation and kick up a row."

For a long time Campbell was silent; the perplexed lines still furrowed
his benevolent forehead.

"The president is very anxious that we get to facts in this reported
Latin alliance as soon as possible," he said at last, irrelevantly. "He
mentioned the matter last night, and he has been keeping in constant
communication with Gault, in Lisbon, who, however, has not been able to
add materially to the original despatch. Under all the circumstances
don't you think it would be best for me to relieve you of the
investigation of this shooting affair so that you can concentrate on
this greater and more important thing?"

"Will Senor Alvarez die?" asked Mr. Grimm in turn.

"His condition is serious, although the wound is not necessarily fatal,"
was the reply.

Mr. Grimm arose, stretched his long legs and stood for a little while
gazing out the window. Finally he turned to his chief:

"What do we know, here in the bureau, about Miss Thorne?"

"Thus far the reports on her are of the usual perfunctory nature," Mr.
Campbell explained. He drew a card from a pigeonhole of his desk and
glanced at it. "She arrived in Washington two weeks and two days ago
from New York, off the _Lusitania_, from Liverpool. She brought some
sort of an introduction to Count di Rosini, the Italian ambassador, and
he obtained for her a special invitation to the state ball, which was
held that night. Until four days ago she was a guest at the Italian
embassy, but now, as you know, is a guest at the Venezuelan legation.
Since her arrival here she has been prominently pushed forward into
society; she has gone everywhere, and been received everywhere in the
diplomatic set. We have no knowledge of her beyond this."

There was a question in Mr. Grimm's listless eyes as they met those of
his chief. The same line of thought was running in both their minds,
born, perhaps, of the association of ideas--Italy as one of three great
nations known to be in the Latin compact; Prince Benedetto d'Abruzzi, of
Italy, the secret envoy of three countries; the sudden appearance of
Miss Thorne at the Italian embassy. And in the mind of the younger man
there was more than this--a definite knowledge of a message cunningly
transmitted to Mr. Rankin, of the Germ