took the launch--yet they
might put in at some lonely cove and scatter."

"It must have been expected soon," she answered. "They were working
desperately. They were very anxious to-night."

"You must have guessed, Nora, as soon as I left New York. How?"

"By giving father a scolding," she answered with a smile. "I knew that
Mrs. Alden had been born in Berlin, and that her family was still
prominent there where Mr. Alden had married her. Even since her marriage
she's spent much time abroad. I wondered what these shadowy figures were
doing in the woods on foggy nights unless they were transporting
something or working about some building. But Mr. Alden would know if it
had anything to do with the house or the stable. Since he was sick, the
boat-house might be their objective without his knowing it. I suspected
the truth then. Such an opportunity! No one would doubt the property of
a man who manufactured ammunition for the government. The natural
thought was that any attempts by Germans here would be directed against
the furnaces or Alden personally. It was ideal. All that was necessary
was to scare the servants away and keep Alden in the house while his
wife and the rest made ready for it."

"Still those men in the woods?" Garth asked.

"They were probably working at the furnaces. When you saw them they were
on their way to the boat-house to make the necessary alterations. And,
of course, they carried all the supplies there. You see, I went to the
freight agent of the only railroad that runs to Deacon's Bay. He helped
me a lot. We found that a large number of heavy cases had been sent here
and to nearby stations, falsely invoiced and labelled to be called for.
He had suspected gasolene in one of them and was about to hold up
further shipments. That settled it for me. I knew you were going
blindly, so I took the next train."

"How did you learn about the signal?" he asked.

"I came very quietly," she answered, "a little like a sneak-thief, I'm
afraid. That front window is a little open. I overheard Mrs. Alden and a
huge man. Of course she was only to light that signal if the game was
wholly up. It meant to them that there was a party big enough to handle
the lot of them. So I made up my mind I must slip in and burn it
to-night, in case it was near by. I knew then they would burn the
evidence, escape themselves, while the submarine would turn back,
believing that the game was up."

"What a base!" he muttered. "Wit