m, the sooner we _may_ get an idea as to what the heck
is going on."

The door guard stopped them and requested identification papers. They
complied by producing their leave papers and the wire from Colonel
Welsh. The guard referred to a book on his table desk, and nodded.

"Third floor, Captain," he said, and gave them each a building pass that
had to be turned in when they left. "Room Three Twenty-Nine."

The two youths nodded, returned the guard's salute, and headed for the
stairway. The door of Room 329 was just like all the other doors on that
floor except that it had "Colonel Welsh, Private" painted on the glass.
Dawson rapped his knuckles on the glass, and immediately received the
summons to enter. Colonel Welsh, Chief of U. S. Armed Forces
Intelligence, was seated behind a huge desk that seemed to take up most
of the office. He was practically hidden behind a mass of papers, bound
reports, and such, piled up all over the desk top.

He glanced up, smiled, pushed back his chair, and rose to come around
the end of the desk.

"Welcome to Washington again, you two," he said, and shook hands. "A
nice flight down?"

"Fine, sir," Dawson replied. "We had a couple of swell air companions,
too. You in charge of the F.B.I. now, Colonel?"

"F.B.I.? Me?" Colonel Welsh echoed. "Hardly! Not as long as J. Edgar
Hoover continues to run it so perfectly. But what do you mean?"

Dawson stared hard at the senior officer, and then gave a little sigh.

"Oh, so it's like that, eh?" he murmured. "I thought that maybe you
might have had something to do with the two F.B.I. agents who trailed
Freddy and me all over New York. I suppose you didn't?"

Colonel Welsh didn't reply at once. He motioned them to chairs and then
reseated himself at his desk.

"No, not directly," he said in reply to Dawson's question. "But of
course I knew all about it. So you spotted them, eh?"

"Freddy did," Dawson replied. "I didn't, because _I_ have a clear
conscience. We--or Freddy, I mean--called the turn on one of them. He
'fessed up and introduced us to his partner. Naturally, we asked
questions, but they didn't, or wouldn't, admit they knew what it was all
about."

"If you'll only explain, sir," Freddy Farmer chimed in, "maybe I'll be
able to sleep tonight."

"Of course I'll explain, Farmer," the Colonel said with a smile. "As for
sleeping tonight, I wouldn't count on it, if I were you. Those F.B.I.
men were following you around simply to see