mand."

A colonel said, "Just a moment, sir. I've fought with Joe Mauser before.
He's a good man."

"Not that good," someone else huffed. "Does he claim to be clairvoyant?"

Joe Mauser said flatly. "Have a semaphore man posted here this
afternoon. I'll be back at that time." He spun on his heel and left
them.

Balt Haer rushed to the door after him, shouting, "Captain! That's an
order! Return--"

But the other was obviously gone. Enraged, the younger Haer began to
shrill commands to a noncom in the way of organizing a pursuit.

His father called wearily, "That's enough, Balt. Mauser has evidently
taken leave of his senses. We made the initial mistake of encouraging
this idea he had, or thought he had."

"_We?_" his son snapped in return. "I had nothing to do with it."

"All right, all right. Let's tighten up, here. Now, what other
information have your scouts come up with?"

IX

At the Kingston airport, Joe Mauser rejoined Max Mainz, his face drawn
now.

"Everything go all right?" the little man said anxiously.

"I don't know," Joe said. "I still couldn't tell them the story. Old
Cogswell is as quick as a coyote. We pull this little caper today, and
he'll be ready to meet it tomorrow."

He looked at the two-place sailplane which sat on the tarmac.
"Everything all set?"

"Far as I know," Max said. He looked at the motorless aircraft. "You
sure you been checked out on these things, captain?"

"Yes," Joe said. "I bought this particular soaring glider more than a
year ago, and I've put almost a thousand hours in it. Now, where's the
pilot of that light plane?"

A single-engined sports plane was attached to the glider by a fifty-foot
nylon rope. Even as Joe spoke, a youngster poked his head from the
plane's window and grinned back at them. "Ready?" he yelled.

"Come on, Max," Joe said. "Let's pull the canopy off this thing. We
don't want it in the way while you're semaphoring."

A figure was approaching them from the Administration Building. A
uniformed man, and somehow familiar.

"A moment, Captain Mauser!"

Joe placed him now. The Sov-world representative he'd met at Balt Haer's
table in the Upper bar a couple of days ago. What was his name? Colonel
Arpad. Lajos Arpad.

The Hungarian approached and looked at the sailplane in interest. "As a
representative of my government, a military attache checking upon
possible violations of the Universal Disarmament Pact, may I request
what you are