se, if I had gone alone
to the Treasury vault and kept my discovery to myself, I might, perhaps,
have 'held up' the Government of Austria-Hungary as successfully as I
'held up' the Chief of Police to-night. But with the Director watching
everything I did, and going with me to the chemist, there was no
possibility of keeping the matter a secret."

"Well, Jennie, all I can say is that you are a very foolish girl. Here
you are, working hard, as you said in one of your letters, merely to
make a living, and now, with the greatest nonchalance, you allow a
fortune to slip through your fingers. I am simply not going to allow
this. I shall tell my husband all that has happened, and he will make
the Government treat you honestly; if not generously. I assure you,
Jennie, that Lord Donal--no, I won't mention his name, since you protest
so strenuously--but the future young man, whoever he is, will not think
the less of you because you come to him with a handsome dowry. But here
we are at home; and I won't say another word on the subject if it annoys
you."

When Jennie reached her delightful apartments--which looked even more
luxuriantly comfortable bathed in the soft radiance that now flooded
them from quiet-toned shaded lamps than they did in the more garish
light of day--she walked up and down her sitting-room in deep
meditation. She was in a quandary--whether or not to risk sending a
coded telegram to her paper was the question that presented itself to
her. If she were sure that no one else would learn the news, she would
prefer to wait until she had further particulars of the Treasury
catastrophe. A good deal would depend on whether or not the Director of
Police took anyone into his confidence that night. If he did not, he
would be aware that only he and the girl possessed this important
piece of news. If a full account of the discovery appeared in the next
morning's _Daily Bugle_, then, when that paper arrived in Vienna, or
even before, if a synopsis were telegraphed to the Government, as it was
morally certain to be, the Director would know at once that she was the
correspondent of the newspaper whom he was so anxious to frighten out
of Vienna. On the other hand, her friendship with the Princess von
Steinheimer gave her such influence with the Chief's superiors, that,
after the lesson she had taught him, he might hesitate to make any move
against her. Then, again, the news that to-night belonged to two persons
might on the m