d in time."

"Good!" came the reply. "I suppose all other details have been attended
to and that the thing will be pulled off smoothly. To-morrow night should
see the end of Louvain."

Chester straightened up.

"I must get out of the house before he does," he told the girl. "I must
follow him."

"But won't you be in danger?" protested Edna. "Why not report to the
general at once?"

"No," the lad declared. "I must at least find the rendezvous."

Quickly he slipped from the room, and stepped outside the front door just
as a door on the upper floor slammed to.

Chester walked slowly down the street, whistling.

"I hope he comes this way," he told himself. "Otherwise, I shall have to
do some fast walking."

Fortune favored the boy. As he walked slowly along, a man brushed swiftly
past him. Taking care to avoid all pretense of pursuit, Chester followed.

CHAPTER XXII.

CHESTER DISCOVERS A PLOT.

For half an hour the lad stalked his prey through the streets of the
city, winding about here and there until Chester had absolutely lost his
sense of direction. Several times the man turned round and glanced
furtively about, but apparently he took no notice of his shadow.

Finally he turned into a crooked little street near the outskirts of the
city. Chester also turned the corner, just in time to see the man
descend a pair of steps into the basement of what was apparently an
unoccupied house.

The lad hurried up and arrived in time to hear the man give a peculiar
knock at the door--one loud tap, followed by three soft taps, then
another loud one.

Chester walked back around the corner, where he stopped to think.

"If only I could get in there," he said to himself. "I wonder--"

He stopped, struck by a sudden idea.

"By Jove! I believe it can be done," he said.

He continued to pace up and down, apparently deep in thought.
Occasionally he stopped to look in the direction from which he had
followed his prey to the rendezvous.

After nearly an hour the lad, after a glance down the street, slipped
quietly into a doorway. Apparently the thing for which he had been
waiting was about to come to pass.

Footsteps sounded on the street, coming closer. Save for the one lone
pedestrian, the street was deserted. The footsteps approached closer, and
Chester gathered himself for a spring. As the man came abreast of the
doorway in which the lad was hiding, Chester hurled himself upon him.
With one hand the lad c