is a beauty, you say?"

"Yes, and her mother, if the older woman be such, is not at all
unprepossessing."

The two ships and their aerial companion were now headed toward Darrin's
base port, traveling at a good rate of speed.

It was well along in the evening when they passed the "Reed." In code
Dalzell exultantly reported that an unusually large number of mines had
been swept and removed from the water, and that two submarines had been
located on the middle shoal and destroyed.

"Good work!" Dave wirelessed back.

Late that night, the "blimp" still leading the way, the destroyer and her
prize entered the base port.

As soon as they had come to anchor Darrin communicated with the British
flag-ship. Officials promptly went aboard the steamer to attend to the
removal to a prison on shore of the officers and crew of the steamship,
and of the women passengers as well.

Immediately after that the ship was subjected to a systematic search by
seamen and longshoremen acting under the direction of British naval
officers.

A name-plate, ready to fit to the front of the wheel-house, was found.
The craft proved to be the "Louisa," well known in a certain British
port at which she had been accustomed to call with cargoes of dried
fish. The fish now on board was taken off rapidly into lighters. And then
it was that, in a sub-hold under the cargo deck, a more significant cargo
was found.

From that sub-hold were removed nearly six hundred floating mines of the
commonest German pattern. All had been packed with extreme care, and all
were ready for transferring to German submarine mine-layers at sea.

It was after two in the morning when Captain Allaire, an officer of the
British military intelligence department, came on board the "Grigsby,"
requesting that her commander be called. Dave received Captain Allaire in
the chart-room. Allaire had come to seek information as to the speech and
conduct of the two women at the time of their arrest.

Dave answered these questions carefully, then added:

"I shall be glad, indeed, if I brought in women prisoners of real
importance along with the other prisoners."

"There are very few pairs whom we would rather have in our prisons,"
answered Captain Allaire. "The older woman is the notorious Sophia
Weiner; the younger is her daughter, Anna Weiner. They use various other
names, though. Every intelligence and secret service officer in Great
Britain knows of their exploits, and is ever