as not a particle. I know not whence come his
ideas, the most penetrative. It cannot be from _son Esprit_ of which
he has none; his brain reposes, without doubt, in his stomach. Yet,
_ma foi_, that man whom I detest and to whom I am a colleague most
loyal, is of a practical ingenuity most wonderful. Did you ever learn
how he hid the great cruisers _Intrepid_ and _Terrific_ from the
watching eyes of the Boche, and won, here in England, a glorious
victory for the English Navy, eight thousand miles away? I was with
him, and at the end, falling upon his bosom in generous admiration, I
kissed him on both cheeks. And what was my reward? It was to receive a
short-arm blow upon the diaphragm. That man of mud took my wind, as he
called it, and I was laid gasping upon the floor. It was in this
fashion that he repulsed me--me a Count of _l'ancien regime_. I could
have his blood."

I soothed Froissart, and extracted enough from him in rapid French
spasms--his idiomatic staccato French is often beyond my
understanding--to give me a general idea of what Dawson had done.
Thereafter I pursued my inquiries, pumping Dawson himself--who, for
some reason, did not greatly value the affair--tackling others who
knew more than they were always willing to tell, even to me their
friend. Yet in many ways, of which it were well not to be particular,
I arrived at the full story which I now tell. To my mind it shows
Dawson at his best, and Dawson's best is very good indeed.

* * * * *

It was early in November, three months after war had begun. Dawson, to
whom had been committed the general supervision of all known enemy
spies in London, and who had already put in force that combination of
tight net and loose string which I have described, received a summons
from his Chief the moment he arrived at his office at the Yard. "You
are wanted at the Admiralty," said the Commissioner--"and wanted
badly. You are to report at once in the First Lord's private room."

"What is the game?" inquired Dawson. "I have lots to do here which I
cannot well leave."

"I don't know. But I have orders to send you, and to relieve you from
all other duties. If you want help, you can take Froissart, that
French detective who has just been sent to us from Paris as a sort of
liaison officer. He is strongly recommended as a first-class man."

"Hum," said Dawson, between whom and his Chief was a very close
friendship. "I suppose I must toddle