at possibility was realized as she glanced at Raymond Owen. His
set, tense face reflected for the moment all his hatred of Harry and
Pauline, who were talking blithely with Ensign Summers, another naval
officer and two of the wives of the civilian visitors. She turned to
him with a suddenness that would have seemed abrupt in the manner of
one less beautiful.

"Mr. Owen, do come to see me," she said. "I am sure--at least I
think I am sure--that we have many matters of mutual interest."

In her softly modulated tones, the invitation had no significance
beyond the literal meaning of the words.

"It will be an honor," he answered.

"Tomorrow evening, then?"

"Delighted. And, later, the Naval Ball?"

"No, I'm afraid the Ensign will not permit any one else to take me to
the ball; but we shall meet there, afterward."

In a New York street, among the lower there was at that time a foreign
agency that was not a consulate, but was visited by diplomats of the
highest rank in a certain nation, the name of which, or the mystery of
whose suspicions, need not be touched upon.

There was no regular staff at the agency. The rooms were maintained
under the name of a certain foreign gentleman--or, rather, under the
name that he chose to assume. There were two servants, but they saw
little of the master of the house. He was seldom at home, but when he
was, he had many visitors.

An hour after the luncheon in the rooms of Ensign Summers, the master
of the mysterious dwelling was at home. And he had four guests. It
would have, greatly surprised Ensign Summers had he known that one of
the diplomat's guests was his own man servant, Catin.

"It is the worst duty I have ever had to perform," the diplomat said
solemnly. "It means, almost certainly, your death. But it is death
for your country. It is the command of your country. The submarine
must be destroyed and the plans--we shall get the plans through
another agent."

"I am not afraid to die," said Catin.

"Then here is the model of a submarine--not of the one you will
enter, of course, but it will give you an idea. I have marked the
place where you will secrete the explosive until the proper moment. I
have also indicated the position for you to take in order to have some
faint chance of reaching the surface and being saved."

One of the other men stepped forward and handed Catin a small square
box. "This is the explosive. You know how to handle it."

With a