must come later--after the present business was
finished, and they had sailed from New York. How long the extravagance
would continue was dependent on the depth of his purse and his
disposition.

"Wasteful extravagance does not apply where you are concerned," he
replied. "However, we'll let Germany pay the consideration, and I'll
have that much more to spend on you."

She rewarded him with one of her alluringly ravishing smiles and a touch
of her slender foot. She had him--and she knew she had him. She would
be Madeline Spencer once again--always having a victim, and always ready
for a fresh one. Since she had failed with Harleston, what mattered it
how many the victims, or what the price they paid.

XXIII

CAUGHT

"Mrs. Spencer and her friend have reached some sort of an
understanding," Mrs. Clephane remarked. "She just smiled at him
significantly and pressed his foot."

"I noticed the smile but not the foot business," Harleston chuckled.
"It's something quite personal to them, I take it!"

"Exactly; but what's the effect on the matter in hand? Does not this
_personal_ understanding signify that the delivery of the formula has
been arranged, maybe even effected."

Harleston nodded. With Madeline Spencer it was, he knew, business first
and personal matters afterward.

"I think we shall see the end of the affair of your cipher letter and
its ramifications before the afternoon is over," he replied.

"What about the French Embassy?" she asked.

"The Marquis has been advised that we have the translation. He will keep
his hands off, you may believe."

"You think either that Captain Snodgrass has the document in his
possession, or that he has given it to Mrs. Spencer?"

"Or that it will come into his possession before they leave the
Rataplan, and be transferred to her here or in the taxi on their way
back to town," he added.

"What if he transferred it to her on their way here?"

"Then she still has it--once she gets it in her possession she won't
part with it, even in her sleep, until she places it in the hands of the
official who sent her to America."

"And Mr. Carpenter was here to watch until you came?"

"Yes--and afterward; you see one of us might be called away. From the
time she and Snodgrass met at the Chateau this morning, they have not
been out of espionage and close espionage. So long as they are in a
taxi, or at the Rataplan, there is no danger of the document getting
away if either