Marsh leaned forward, took the cablegram, read it gravely, and
returned it to Morgan.

"You have certainly got me tied up," he said.

"Tight as a drum!" agreed Morgan. "The game's up, Marsh. You're
coming with me to Headquarters."

"I'm afraid you have sort of spilled the beans, Morgan," laughed
Marsh, rising.

Morgan, however, was used to the last minute plays of cornered
criminals. Leaning back in his chair, and smiling encouragingly, his
hands, without seeming purpose, were slipped into the side pockets
of his coat. The right hand quickly gripped a revolver in readiness.

"Yes," continued Marsh, "I had hoped to work quietly, but this
incident has upset my plans. Yet, after all, perhaps we can work
together with greater success."

"Now we come to the 'divvy' proposition," thought Morgan. He
remained expectantly silent, however, and his face still wore its
encouraging smile.

Marsh came closer and the end of the concealed revolver barrel moved
upward just a trifle. The next moment the smile on Morgan's face
faded out and his eyes filled with an astonished stare.

Marsh had thrown back his coat, revealing the badge of the United
States Secret Service!

CHAPTER VIII

A DEFINITE CLUE

"You can take your hand off that gun now," suggested Marsh, as he
smiled at Morgan and went back to his chair. "I'll tell you my part
of the story, and perhaps we'll find in the end that two heads are
better than one."

"You have made a big but perhaps a natural mistake. If you doubt my
word in anything I am about to tell you, it will only be necessary
for you to consult the Secret Service branch in the Federal
Building, to confirm my status in this case."

"Without any intention of trying to kid you, Morgan, I want to say
this--you've done some quick and clever work in approximately
twenty-four hours. I realized from the first that things had framed
themselves in a peculiar way against me. Yet, I will say frankly,
that I did not expect a local policeman to put the facts together so
quickly."

"I am only human, Marsh," broke in Morgan, "and your appreciation
sounds good to me. But let's get down to the story."

"Quite right," agreed Marsh. "It begins two years ago. At that time
the Government discovered that counterfeit five-dollar bills were
appearing in the East. They put me on the case and I traced them
from city to city. Suddenly the output seemed to stop. For a time I
was at loose ends, and then I had wo