I got to work at once checking
up on that technical sergeant. I won't bother you with the details, but
we caught him cold. Complete with a powerful short-wave sending set, and
all the rest of it. That was _after_ he had had time to do his dirty
work, _if any_. I know, now, what that dirty work was, of course. Your
experiences, and Major Parker's, made the picture clear. He simply
flashed word to other agents to get you two by hook or by crook. He knew
your course, and he knew what you carried, though I'm still positive
that he didn't know the contents of those sealed envelopes.

"Anyway, word was flashed along the network of Nazi spies on this side
of the Atlantic and to that U-boat lurking in the Caribbean. Heavens!
That was a daring stunt those devils tried."

"I'm still shaking at how close it came to being successful!" Dawson
spoke up in a strained voice as the colonel paused.

"Amen, and let's not think of that any more," the Intelligence officer
added almost fervently. "As soon as I learned the truth, I flashed you
a message to halt the flight and wait for me. I was too late at Puerto
Rico. I also took off in this plane at once to get down here and contact
you. I stopped at Puerto Rico, and Miami, too, and collected the two
sealed envelopes you had already delivered. Then I came on here and
found out that you two had used your heads. Just in time, too, thank
goodness. That you beat Colonel Baron Franz von Steuben to the punch is
something you can congratulate yourselves on for the rest of your lives.
If I had even dreamed that devil was down here, I would have had
nineteen different kinds of cat fits. But all's well that ends well.
And, although we've got to change our plans, we're still a couple of
jumps up on the Nazis."

Colonel Welsh paused for breath and to take out his handkerchief and
wipe imaginary beads of sweat from his forehead. Both Dawson and Farmer
sat on the edges of their seats waiting for him to continue, but after a
moment or two of silence Dawson couldn't stand it any longer.

"Can't you tell us a little about all this, Colonel? Just a little that
might help us--well, in case we got into another jam? Or are we on our
way back to Washington now? Is the job finished as far as Freddy and I
are concerned?"

"No, we are not heading back to Washington," Colonel Welsh answered
quietly. "As for you and Farmer, the job is just beginning. Well, you've
earned the right to know. Since I was going to