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diff --git a/46348-8.txt b/46348-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a7d96ab..0000000 --- a/46348-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5843 +0,0 @@ - OVER THERE WITH THE CANADIANS AT VIMY RIDGE - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Over There with the Canadians at Vimy Ridge -Author: George H. Ralphson -Release Date: July 20, 2014 [EBook #46348] -Language: English -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OVER THERE WITH THE CANADIANS -AT VIMY RIDGE *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - -[Illustration: THE CANADIANS WERE MASTERFUL FIGHTERS -IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE WAR. -(The Canadians at Vimy Ridge)] - - - - - OVER THERE - - WITH - THE CANADIANS - AT - VIMY RIDGE - - - _By_ - - CAPT. GEORGE H. RALPHSON - - Author of - OVER THERE WITH PERSHING'S HEROES AT CANTIGNY, - OVER THERE WITH THE DOUGHBOYS AT ST. MIHIEL, - OVER THERE WITH THE MARINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY - - - - M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY - CHICAGO NEW YORK - - - - - Copyright, 1919 - M. A. DONOHUE & CO. - CHICAGO - - - - - *CONTENTS* - -CHAPTER - -I Shells and Minnenwerfer -II Irving's Idea -III In No Man's Land -IV "Kamerad!" -V The Turtle Is Wounded -VI A Little History -VII Tourtelle Apologizes -VIII Cubist Art -IX Bob's Letter -X Dots and Dashes -XI Irving Tells the Sergeant -XII Quizzing a Spy -XIII Tourtelle Admits -XIV Tourtelle's Story -XV Irving an Orderly -XVI A Startling Announcement -XVII Parachute Practice -XVIII Studying to Be a Spy -XIX Last Preparations -XX "Second Looie Ellis" -XXI The Blowing Up of Vimy Ridge -XXII Behind the German Lines -XXIII Off for Berlin -XXIV In Berlin -XXV The Reading of the Cryptogram -XXVI Followed -XXVII The Spy's Decision -XXVIII Making Progress with the Baron -XXIX Orders for Money and Clothes -XXX Before Breakfast -XXXI At Work in the Spy Office -XXXII A Startling Recognition -XXXIII A Surprising Offer -XXXIV Skin Grafting -XXXV The Tapping on the Window -XXXVI A Revelation -XXXVII The Submarines -XXXVIII "Kamerad!" Again -XXXIX "Accidents Will Happen" - - - - - *Over There with the Canadians - at - Vimy Ridge* - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - *SHELLS AND MINNENWERFER* - - -"Look out! There she comes." - -These words were whispered, for it would have been a serious military -offense if the speaker had lifted his voice to a resonant tone in -addressing his companion. Both were in khaki uniform, and had helmets -on their heads. They had been crouching in a camouflaged pit out in No -Man's Land in the Vimy Ridge sector of the western battle front in -Prance. - -It was dusk of evening, a mist-laden dusk, quite as serviceable for -secret movements as the darkness under a clear sky. One could not see -an object as large as a man twenty yards away because of the fog. - -All day it had been raining, just a slow drizzle, but nevertheless, a -good deal of water had fallen, and the chief characteristic of the -trenches was mud. "Second Looie" George Tourtelle and Private Irving -Ellis had been sent out through the communication trench to the -listening post, in which they were crouched when Irving whispered the -words "Look out! There she comes!" - -There was really no need of his offering any such warning to his -companion, for the latter could hear the whistle of the approaching -shell just as well as he, but there was also no call for the punishment -that the second lieutenant administered. The shell passed harmlessly -over their heads and exploded behind the front line trenches of the -Canadian company, of which the occupants of the spy pit were members, -and almost simultaneously with the explosion, Lieut. Tourtelle struck -Irving a sharp blow in the face with the back of his hand. - -"There!" he said viciously, with apparently no effort to subdue the tone -of his voice in accord with the strict precautionary rules of such -positions. "See that you keep your thoughts to yourself hereafter or -I'll send you back to report to the captain." - -Irving was astonished, as well as angered at this treatment. He was -sure there was no call even for a reprimand, whereas the officer had -spoken in tones quite loud enough for the enemy to hear fifty, or -possibly a hundred, yards away. In fact, he was sure that if the "second -looie" had any reflection in him at all, he must have experienced a -thrill of apprehension very soon afterward lest the sound of his voice -had been heard by some of his superior officers in the front trenches. -If so, an inquiry into its meaning most certainly would follow. - -Of course,-Irving resented the uncalled-for exhibition of brutality just -exhibited by Lieut. Tourtelle, but he had too much military sense to -show his resentment by look or act. Instead, he decided to take his -punishment and the accompanying rebuke as provocative of a little -self-discipline and to profit from the experience, in spite of the -injustice that went with it. - -"I never did like that fellow from the first day I met him," Private -Ellis told himself, grinding his teeth with rage under the first impulse -of revenge. "Now I know him to be the very sort I thought he was. -Nobody but a coward would do what he did. He knows he'd never dare to -meet me on even terms. I'd clean him up so thoroughly there wouldn't be -anything for a minnenwerfer to smell if one came along and dropped onto -the spot where he ought to be. Goodness! there's one now." - -The "minnie" referred to in Irving's soliloquy lighted right in the -communication trench not more than 200 feet from the outlook pit in -which the officer and the private were stationed. The explosion threw up -a mass of earth, several bucketfuls of which came down into the pit as -if from a giant pepper-box. One stone about the size of two fists -struck Irving on his left shoulder, and for several minutes the boy -feared some of the bones were broken or the joint dislocated. - -But it proved to be only a bruiser and presently the young soldier was -using his arm confidently, although with considerable pain. In the -excitement that followed almost immediately after the explosion of this -shell, he forgot the injury, although under ordinary circumstances, -every movement of his left arm must have been more or less painful. - -There was no shriek of warning preceding the next explosion fifty feet -to the right, such as had called forth the whispered "look out" from -Private Ellis that was rebuked with a blow of the hand and an equally -unmilitary reprimand from the second lieutenant. But it was much more -mighty in force and sound. It tore up the ground almost, it seemed, to -the very edge of the pit in which the outpost was located. Strange -enough, too, not nearly as much of the upheaved earth fell back into the -pit as had fallen there after the explosion of the first shell. Irving -felt that he knew the reason. - -"That was a minnie dead sure," he told himself with a shudder. "I like -the others much better. You know when they're coming and maybe can -dodge 'em. But a minnie never gives any warning. They've spotted this -outpost and the next one'll probably wipe us out. We'll never know what -hit us." - -Evidently something of this sort was going on in the mind of Lieut. -Tourtelle, for suddenly he darted back through the communication trench -toward the front line. - -"That's funny," Irving muttered under his breath. "He's ducked without -giving any order to me. What'll I do--stick? I feel like sticking just -to show him that I'm made of different stuff. But no, I guess I hadn't -better. He's just mean enough to report that he ordered me back, but I -disobeyed his order." - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - *IRVING'S IDEA* - - -Private Ellis had not been back in the front line trench long before he -had good cause to congratulate himself for resisting the temptation to -offer himself as an example of bravery in the face of the cowardly -actions of the second lieutenant. A second minnenwerfer dropped -unannounced right into the pit they had just left and the size of the -bowl-shaped listening post was increased many times. - -"Now, if I were an officer and in position to make suggestions, I'd -advise that that pit be remanned in about half an hour," Irving mused. -"The boches, no doubt, have a report of the success of their last shot, -and will naturally assume that the place has been put out of commission -as a lookout, and the occupants reduced to their original elements. I -believe that hole in the ground is just as serviceable as it ever was to -play peek-a-boo at Heinie." - -Lieut. Tourtelle was in the trench within a few feet of Irving and the -latter would have made an effort to get the proposition to him if it had -not been for the experience he had had with the insufferable nature of -the officer in the listening pit. - -"I wish it weren't against orders to whisper in the front trenches--that -is, when you have something of importance to communicate to the -higher-up," the boy continued to himself. "I'd really like to go out -there and try it again." - -At this moment someone took hold of his arm--the sore one, as the pain -in his shoulder reminded him--and gave it a pull. This was as much as -to say, "Follow me." He obeyed, and soon reached the communication -trench that connected the first and second line trenches. His leader, a -first lieutenant named Osborne, led the way through this trench back to -the second line. During the passage, Irving became conscious of the -fact that others were following along behind. What was up, young Ellis -wondered. It was not time for him to be relieved, for he had been in -the trenches only about fifteen hours. - -He was not long kept in doubt. Immediately on their arrival at the -second line, Lieut. Osborne gathered them together--one officer and five -privates--and gave the following instructions in low tones: - -"I want you boys to go out beyond the barbed wire and see what you can -find out. Remember your stock instructions. Don't get into any fights. -If you meet anybody, retreat. We want to find the location of any -patrols of theirs out in No Man's Land. Look out for evidences of their -work laying mines, repairing barbed wire, sinking listening pits, or -anything of the sort. Then get back as soon as possible, keeping your -bearings and the locations of your discoveries well in mind. If any -'very lights' go up, you must lie or stand still, or remain unwaveringly -in your positions and attitudes until they go out, unless the light is -directly between you and our trenches. In that case, you must duck and -make the best of your way back under a hail of bullets, for you'll be -seen. You will be armed only with pistols, hand grenades, and trench -knives. Use the bombs or pistols only to save yourselves from death or -capture. Remember it is information we want from you, not scalps. You -will be under charge of Second Lieutenant Tourtelle." - -Irving's heart went "way down" in his hob-nailed shoes at this latter -announcement. He had had no idea who his companions during this patrol -excursion were to be, for the night had fallen heavy and it was -difficult for those in the group to recognize identities in one -another's dimly silhouetted forms. The last information handed to them -was almost enough to cause Private Ellis to do something desperate. As a -substitute for the impulse he did the thing that had been uppermost in -his mind most of the time since he left the listening post out in No -Man's Land. - -"Lieutenant," he said; "may I offer a suggestion which, it seems to me, -would be of service to us right now?" - -"Certainly, Ellis," the officer responded encouragingly. "What is it?" - -"It seems to me that that pit that was increased to the size of a small -volcano crater since Lieut. Tourtelle and I left it could be used with -almost perfect safety now," the boy said eagerly. "The boches won't be -expecting anybody to use it now. They, no doubt, think they've settled -the question of its usefulness for all time to come. Now, if you'd send -a couple of machine guns out there with some men to operate them, we -could report back at that point to them and they could do quick -execution. After they'd done their work, they could run back to our -front line and the boches 'u'd have a merry time dropping some more -minnies into an empty bowl." - -Lieut. Osborne was quick to see the value of the suggestion. - -"That's a good idea, Ellis," he said in tone of hearty approval, "and -I'm going to do that very thing. Lieut. Tourtelle, see that these men -are supplied with pistols, grenades and trench knives, or persuasion -sticks, as they prefer, while I get the machine gunners." - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - *IN NO MAN'S LAND* - - -Private Ellis felt fully compensated for the treatment he had received -from the second lieutenant by the recognition and adoption of his -suggestion to utilize the "minnenwerfered listening pit" for the purpose -for which it was originally intended. Fully an hour had elapsed since -this pit had been converted into a miniature crater, and not another -explosion had taken place in the vicinity. It seemed, indeed, that he -had not erred in his surmise that the enemy had checked up the results -of their firing and concluded that any more shells dropped at this point -would be a waste of ammunition. - -But Irving was not without misgiving as the party started out through -the communication trench for their patrolling and machine gun battery -headquarters out in No Man's Land. The fact that Lieut. Tourtelle had -been put in command of this expedition dampened his spirits and caused -him to fear disaster. He fought hard against this apprehension. It had -been too dark for him to discern from the "second looie's" countenance -how that officer received the adoption of Private Ellis' suggestion, but -he was certain it was not accepted with the best of grace. He could -well picture in his mind a darkening of the countenance of "the turtle," -a clenching of his hands, and a dogged sullenness of demeanor as the -ill-natured officer contemplated the favor shown the boy whom he -evidently hated for no good reason whatever. - -Irving renamed the second lieutenant "the turtle" in a kind of -subconscious way. It was not done with malice aforethought. The term -just came to his mind, like a flash, and was inspired, no doubt, by the -contemptible conduct of the "shave-tail," as flippant military fancy has -dubbed the "second looie," and by the play of idea suggested in the -spelling of his name. - -The communication trench was partly a tunnel. From the front line as far -as the barbed-wire entanglements it was just a plain trench, seven or -eight feet deep. Then it became a subterranean passage with about two -feet of earth overhead, continuing thus until beyond the wire belt, when -it opened overhead again. When the patrol reached the spot where the -first "minnie" exploded, they found it necessary to proceed with special -caution, for the passage was blocked there on both sides of the crater -with heaps of earth. However, they managed to pass this place safely, -and presently were in the listening pit that had recently been very much -increased in capacity with minnenwerfer aid. - -A period of waiting and listening followed the arrival at this "crater." -Not a word was uttered, not even a whisper. Everybody gave the keenest -attention of which his senses were capable to everything that offered -stimulation to eye or ear. However, their careful looking and listening -was unrewarded with aught save what appeared to be the most unwarlike -silence and inactivity in the immediate vicinity. Now and then in the -distance could be heard the thunder of heavy cannon or the nasty -spit-snap of machine guns. - -Conditions appearing to be satisfactory, Lieut. Tourtelle gave the -agreed signal, which consisted of placing one hand on the left shoulder -of each of the scouts, and the latter climbed up over the sloping -embankment at several points in the big cup and crept cautiously out -over No Man's Land. - -By this time the fog had lifted, and stars were beginning to peep out -through rifts in the cloud-swept sky. Added to the muddiness of the -ground, the chill of the atmosphere rendered life in this sector -exceedingly uncomfortable. - -Each member of this patrol went alone out over the rising slope of land -that lay between the front line trenches of the Canadians and the common -enemy of the Allies. They either crouched low or crawled on all fours. -Each scout was assigned to a section of the territory as clearly defined -as possible in order that there might be no crossing of paths or -mistaking one another for members of a boche patrol. - -Irving took a course to the right, advancing with a cautious, low -crouch. His instructions were to proceed about 100 yards along a line -parallel to the trenches and then advance toward the enemy line to see -what he could discover. - -He proceeded the distance stipulated southward as nearly as he could -estimate over a half-mud and half-sod surface and then found himself -close to a thicket of low bushes, the extent of which he knew to be not -very great, for he had observed this feature of the terrain in the -daylight. He decided that he ought to examine these bushes carefully, -but realized that he must not take much time for the investigation, as -each member of the patrol had been limited to half an hour in which to -gather material for his report. - -Private Ellis, therefore, decided to make a detour around the bushes, -listening meanwhile for any sound of moving bodies among the leaves and -twigs. The detection of such sounds would be ample reason for sweeping -the patch with machine gun bullets. - -He made almost the entire circuit without detecting the faintest noise -that could command the respect of his suspicion, and was about to turn -around and creep back toward the enemy lines, when a bunch of "very -lights," fired from boche pistols, threw their brilliance over the -scene. The unwelcome illumination was prolonged in a manner that Irving -had not witnessed before. The lights floated down slowly, being -suspended in the air by small parachute arrangements that opened out -with the increasing resistance of the air. - -But something else startled the boy even more than these lights. -Instinctively he remained stock still in the crouching position in which -the illumination caught him. But right in front of him, not more than -twenty feet away were the figures of two soldiers. They were standing -erect and facing each other. One of the faces was turned well toward -Private Ellis, who could hardly smother an exclamation of astonishment -as he recognized him. - -It was Lieut. Tourtelle! - -"What in the world does he think he's doing?" Irving questioned to -himself. "He doesn't seem to be very anxious to protect himself. He -hasn't a pistol, knife or bomb in his hand." - -The lights went out, and presently a new cause for wonder came to the -ears of the crouching boy. - -"Kamerad!" - -Could he believe his senses? No, he wouldn't. It came to him very -clearly, that utterance, from the spot where Lieut. Tourtelle stood. And -yet, this was impossible. It must surely have been the enemy soldier -who uttered the word of friendly greeting. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - *"KAMERAD!"* - - -"That's a piece of boche treachery as sure as I'm a Yank fighting with -the Canadians," was Irving's speedy conclusion after witnessing the -scene exposed by the lights and hearing the salute which he decided must -have come from the enemy scout. "That's the way they work it! They're -noted for treachery of that very sort." - -"Kamerad!" - -The salute was repeated, scarcely above a whisper, but clear enough for -Irving to hear it distinctly. And with the utterance of that word -another thrill of apprehension, doubt, confusion, electrified the mind -and body of the listening scout, who had not been discovered by -Tourtelle and the boches when the lights illuminated the field, -undoubtedly, because he happened to be crouching close to a bush large -enough to cast a shadow about him. - -"My!" exclaimed the boy under his breath; "I'd 'ave sworn that word came -from the very spot where Tourtelle was standing. They can't 'ave -changed positions so quickly. And yet, I must be mistaken. Common -sense tells me it must 'ave been the boche who gave that salute. I -wonder what's the matter with my hearing. - -"But I'll have to go to that miserable 'shave-tail's' rescue if the -other fellow plays a trick on him. I think I'll get close and see -what's going on." - -Irving crept cautiously toward the spot where he had seen the second -lieutenant when the lights blazed forth. The distance was so short that -he fancied he ought to have been able to see both the officer and the -enemy scout from his position near the bush. The boche, unless he had -moved since the lights went out, was a similar distance away from the -watcher and about twenty-five feet to Private Ellis' right. - -In a few seconds Irving reached approximately the spot where he had seen -Lieut. Tourtelle, when the "very lights" illuminated the vicinity, and -was surprised and just a little worried on failing to find him still -there. Then he began to look around him to see if his eyes could not -pierce the surrounding darkness far enough to discover the form of the -officer. His search was interrupted by another startling incident. - -Something struck the calf of his right leg a rather severe blow, and the -boy gripped his trench-knife in one hand and his pistol in the other, -ready to defend himself if attacked. Nothing further of disturbing -nature followed immediately, and Irving stooped down to examine the -object that had struck him. It was a short, stout club of the kind -known in No Man's Land as a "persuader stick," which can be used -effectively, like a policeman's billy, in the dark. - -"Who in the world threw that?--not the boche, surely," the boy muttered. -"It's like the one I've seen in 'the turtle's' possession; but what -could he want to throw it back here for?" - -"Kamerad!" - -"There it goes again," buzzed through Irving's head. "I don't believe -it's a trap set for me, but maybe it is for the 'looie,' and he may be -just fool enough to fall for it. I owe it to--to--Uncle Sam to save -him, if I can, though I'm afraid Uncle Sam 'u'd be better off without -'im." - -Private Ellis put his knife and pistol away, gripped his club, and -advanced toward the spot whence the last "kamerad" seemed to have come. -As he moved ahead slowly he became conscious gradually that a dark -object stood before him a few yards away. Would he be able to determine -whether it was friend or foe? He was in doubt on this question and -determined to exercise the greatest care and caution. - -He moved around in a semi-circular path to the other side of the object -that had attracted his attention. But he had scarcely done this when -the presence of another and similar obstruction to his vision caused him -to stop and remain motionless. - -This object was moving slowly and with seeming caution toward the other -one. His attitude and manner were not clear because of the darkness, so -that Irving could not interpret his purpose from any such indication. - -"Kamerad!" - -This time there could be no mistake from whom of the two scouts the -salute came. It was from the one who apparently had thrown his -"persuader stick" away, the one who was nearer the spot where he had -seen Lieut. Tourtelle during the illumination. - -"What's he doing--surrendering?" - -Irving might have suspected that the officer in charge of this patrol -was working a "boche trick" on a boche if it had not been for the fact -that he had thrown his stick away. But this act made it appear that a -panic had seized him and he was signaling his desire to surrender -because he feared to enter into mortal combat with the enemy scout. - -"Why doesn't he retreat if he's afraid to fight?" Irving wondered. "He -could do that with perfect grace, for he's under orders not to fight -unless he has to. But he seems to be advancing right toward Heinie -without any reason for doing it. Maybe he's going to shove a pistol in -that fellow's face, but it looks to me more as if he's lost 'is senses -from fright. Anyway, I'm goin' to help 'im just for the sake of Uncle -Sam. I'll hit that boche a tap on the head that'll make 'im see the -Star Spangled Banner." - -The boy with the club quickened his steps silently, for he was skilled -with the "moccasin tread" even on hobnails. Moreover, the softness of -the wet earth was in his favor. In about a minute he had stolen around -behind the boche, who was advancing cautiously toward the "kamerad -saluter." - -He was morally certain that the soldier now within ten feet of him was -an enemy, but he resolved to be very careful lest he attack one of his -own comrades. So he continued to approach with the utmost caution, -hoping to identify the fellow by an inspection of his uniform. In the -darkness this was an exceedingly difficult thing to do, for there is a -general similarity in the make of the uniforms of soldiers of most -nations, so that when silhouetted they differ very little to any but a -keenly observing expert. - -But Irving was not forced to depend alone upon his vision in the -darkness of the night to verify his identification of the two patrol -scouts. There was another salute in low tone, and this time an answer -was given. - -"Kamerad!" - -"Was willst du, hund?" - -Crack! - -The "persuader stick" in the hand of the Yank swung with sharp impact -against the head of the boche just under his helmet. The -"Canadian-hund" hater dropped in his tracks. - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - *"THE TURTLE" IS WOUNDED* - - -The next instant Lieut. Tourtelle turned and scuttled away as fast as he -could scuttle. Irving's first impulse was to follow him, but he checked -it. - -However, knowing well the pyramid fashion in which boche patrols work in -No Man's Land, the boy governed his next actions with caution that took -this into consideration. The man he had just put hors de combat may -have been the "apex" of such a "pyramid," which is a very treacherous -sort of trap. It is the game of the "apex" to retreat and induce a lone -enemy scout to follow him if possible. A short distance on toward the -boche trenches, perhaps twenty or thirty feet apart, the distance -depending upon the darkness of the night, are two more Heinies, who -close in behind like a pair of pincers as the intended victim passes the -line of their positions. Still a little farther on are two other -soldiers, the "cornerstones" of the "pyramid," who also close in upon -the victim just as the attack is made. His capture is inevitable. - -Irving did not purpose to be caught in any such trap; so he moved away -twenty or thirty feet from the scene of his victorious exploit and -waited and watched for developments. - -They were not long coming. Apparently the Yank's suspicion of a -"pyramid trick" was not in error. Apparently also the other component -parts of the man-trap had heard the crack of Private Ellis's club on the -head of the "apex" of the "pyramid," for they soon were gathered around -the unconscious form of their comrade and muttering a torrent of "hund -curses." - -"Gee! I must get back in a hustle and we'll get those Huns," was -Irving's next thought. "No doubt they'll carry that fellow to their -trench, and necessarily they'll go pretty slow." - -He scuttled back to the listening pit even more rapidly, if possible, -than "the turtle" had scuttled, and soon was with his comrade scouts. - -"Is everybody here?" he asked in a whisper. - -"Yes, you're the last one out," Lieut. Tourtelle replied in, Irving -fancied, a sneering tone. - -"Then sweep that section right over there"--indicating with his right -hand. "There are several boches 200 yards in that direction carrying in -a comrade that I cracked on the head." - -The other scouts had returned with information of interest to the -machine gunners, and presently the "typewriters" were rattling away with -a hail of steel-jacketed messages. Cries and groans from several -quarters of the arc swept by the guns indicated the effectiveness of the -firing. Irving was rewarded for his evening's work by hearing several -evidences of hits from the neighborhood of the scene of his adventure. - -After the firing, there was a quick retreat to the Canadian front line. -They got back before the Heinies were able to collect their wits and -concentrate an answering fire upon the pit which undoubtedly they -thought they had recently converted into a combined shambles and tomb. - -This last statement is true, but misleading. The patrol did not get back -without some punishment. One machine gun of the enemy got busy just -before the scouts leaped back into their trench. Again we are -misleading. One of the returning scouts did not leap into the -trench--he fell. It was Lieut. Tourtelle. - -Irving sprang to his aid, lifting the officer to his feet and supporting -him thus. But his efforts were of little use. The wounded man had -fainted. - -Another soldier offered assistance, and together they carried him to a -lighted dugout. There speedy first-aid remedies brought the wounded -soldier back to consciousness, but it was evident that he was severely -injured. - -A telephone call in the dugout soon brought a team of stretcher bearers, -and in a short time Lieut. Tourtelle was being conveyed to a Red Cross -ambulance. - -Next day Irving's left shoulder was so sore that he was unable to use -the arm. He tried to conceal his embarrassment, but it was observed by -Sergt. MacDonald, who reported it to Lieut. Osborne. Then followed an -examination, which proved that the young American's shoulder was -discolored and swollen as a result of the wound he received following -the explosion of minnenwerfer No. 1 near the listening pit early in the -evening, and he was ordered behind the lines for treatment. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - *A LITTLE HISTORY* - - -Irving was not confined to an invalid's couch at the hospital behind the -Canadian lines. His left arm was put in a sling and his shoulder -bandaged in hot cloths, frequently changed. It was found that the stone -that struck him had strained and bruised the muscles and ligaments -severely, so that the subsequent use of the arm had brought about a -condition resembling results of a bad sprain. - -He was in the hospital a little over a week, and although he was not -subjected to any of the heroic treatment that is administered to many of -the wounded, yet the exciting thrills that had filled his short -experience in trench and No Man's Land with "lots of pep and pepper" had -a very fitting sequel in his hospital sojourn, very much unlike the -usual wearisome wait of the wounded. - -As we have intimated, Private Irving Ellis was an American of the United -States brand. His home was in Buffalo, N.Y. His father was a ship -captain employed by a company that operated a line of passenger and -freight steamers on the Great Lakes. As a result the boy grew up a -"fresh water tar." He worked with his father on the latter's boat most -of the time during the summer vacations after he reached his teens. - -The steamer of which Mr. Ellis had charge touched at several Canadian as -well as United States ports. In one of these lived an uncle of -Irving's, John Douglas, and the latter's family. - -Mr. Ellis had married a Scotch Canadian bride, and as both families -lived near Lake Erie, there was frequent visiting between them back and -forth across the mid-water line. - -As a result, Irving's best chum of his schoolboy days was his cousin, -Bob Douglas. They were about the same age, and both were fond of life -on the lake. Bob also was given work under Mr. Ellis's command in the -summer when he became old enough to be of service on board. - -Soon after England declared war against Germany, Canada began the -organization of an army to aid her mother country in the great fight, -and Bob was one of the first to enlist. On the day of his enlistment he -wrote a long letter full of fiery patriotism to his cousin over in the -United States, and perhaps you can imagine the sensation this -communication created in the family of the steamboat captain. - -But no, you can't, for the big sensation was not immediate. Of course, -there was a good deal of excitement among Irving's brothers and -sisters--two boys and two girls, all younger than he. Cousin Bob was a -real hero in their minds, and Irving envied him. The violation of the -Belgian treaty, the storming of Liege and the invasion of France across -the Belgian frontier were still fresh in the minds of the people -everywhere. The "scrap of paper" was still waving like a red flag in -the face of popular demand for the inviolability of international honor. - -Well, two days later, Irving electrified the family circle at the -breakfast table with the announcement that he wished to enlist. Nobody -protested; nobody approved. In fact, Mr. Ellis had paved the way for -his oldest son's wish by expressing the opinion that the United States -would be drawn into the war before it was over. Even the younger -children were so imbued with a sense of the seriousness of the great -struggle as a result of things they had heard father, mother, and older -brother say, that they just looked awed when Irving's announcement came. - -Mr. and Mrs. Ellis had too good sense of the logic of things to start an -argument to dissuade their son from his unexpected desire. They rather -decided upon a plan of silence, which put an end to discussion of the -war in their household. The radical change that suddenly transformed -the family conversations was almost grewsome in its emptiness; the -substitution of silence for talk frequently became embarrassing. But -there was one thing that did not stop; that was the arrival of letters -from Bob. They came almost with every mail, and Irving devoured them -eagerly. - -At last the boy was able to stand the embarrassing silence no longer, -for the desire to take part in the great struggle against the hosts of a -hated military power was growing every day. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis saw the -inevitable coming. They knew that they would not forbid their son to -enlist when once they were convinced of his deep-seated desire to do so. -They could sacrifice their son for a great cause just as well as for -country. - -"Father, mother, I want to go," the boy said one day. - -It was an isolated statement, that would have been Greek to one not -intimately familiar with the campaign of silence that had preceded. The -consent was given in silence and the subject was not discussed again -until Irving began to make preparations for his departure. - -He went to Canada and enlisted. Partly through a deliberately planned -purpose and partly by good fortune, he was able to get into the regiment -with which his cousin was training and a few months later was aboard a -transport on a zig-zag, submarine-dodging course for England. After -their arrival in France, Irving because of his training in certain -technical lines was put in the engineering service, but shortly before -the occurrence of the events already related herein, he succeeded in -getting a transfer back to his regiment on the plea that he wished to do -some real fighting. - -Then for the first time he learned that his cousin had been severely -wounded and sent back to Canada incapacitated for further service -several months before. This information came in a letter from Bob -written at home. Two weeks later, while Irving was in the hospital -recovering from the injury he received in the listening pit in No Man's -Land, another letter came from his cousin, communicating a seemingly -innocent but strange bit of news which was destined to have an important -bearing on Private Ellis's future experiences as a soldier. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - *TOURTELLE APOLOGIZES* - - -But something remarkable and of great importance, affecting Irving's -soldier career, took place between the time when he entered the hospital -and the time when he received the second letter from his cousin at home. -The deep significance of the event did not develop at once, but the -novelty of the thing kept the attention of interest upon it until the -real meaning was uncovered. From that time on the young American -soldier's war experiences were a succession of thrills, surprises, and -dangerously interesting work. - -The field hospital to which he was taken consisted in part of a group of -farm buildings that might have served as the nucleus of a village a -short distance behind the rear battle line. Everything was slow and -uninteresting to him during his first two days at this place. Then came -the first incident in the chain of events that was to mean so much to -Private Ellis as an American fighter in France. - -He received a message from one of the guards patrolling the grounds that -a wounded officer in one of the buildings wished to see him. No -explanation as to why he had been sent for was given by the bearer of -the message. The head nurse of the building would direct him to the man -who wished to see him, he was informed. - -Wondering a little who the officer could be and what was the nature of -his interest in him, Irving hastened to answer the call. He was -conducted by a nurse upstairs in a former rural residence and into a -small room, little larger than a closet and occupied by a single patient -on an army cot. - -On the way he ran over, in his mind, the list of officers with whom he -could claim anything in the nature of a personal acquaintance and found -it very small. Moreover, he had not known that any of these had been -wounded. In this review of acquaintances of both commissioned and -non-commissioned rank, however, he missed one who should not have been -disregarded, although their intimacy had been of anything but friendly -nature. This officer he found lying on the cot in the little room which -he now entered. It was Second Lieut. Tourtelle. - -The surprise became almost startling when Irving saw the face of the -"shavetail" brighten up with a look of apparent eagerness as he -recognized the caller. The nurse withdrew immediately and the American -soldier was left alone with his strange "comrade enemy" of No Man's -Land. - -"Hello, Ellis," the "second looie" greeted, extending his right hand to -his visitor and making an effort to smile pleasantly. "I sent for you -because I wanted to have a talk with you. Sit down on the edge of the -cot. Sorry there's no chair here, but I'm not the housekeeper." - -This latter "breath of levity" didn't sound bad at all, and Irving began -to have a vague suspicion that there might be an intelligent side to the -nature of this young officer who had behaved so brutally toward him. -However, he indicated that he preferred to stand and waited patiently -for Tourtelle to continue. - -"I called you to ask you to do me a favor," the wounded officer -continued; "but first I want to apologize for the way I treated you. I -won't attempt to explain why I did it because I don't know. But I acted -like a bum scoundrel and ought to have been reported for it. The fact -that you made no complaint against me shows that you're a real man and -makes me feel ashamed of myself." - -Irving was rather embarrassed by this unexpected speech on the part of -his supposed "comrade-enemy." He could not well reject the profession -of humility, and yet he was uncertain just how to take it. Lieut. -Tourtelle apparently desired to convey the impression that he was -suffering from pangs of deep regret, but although the "pangs" twisted -the muscles of his countenance the visitor was unable to convince -himself as to the depth of the patient's mental suffering. - -"I hope you will forgive me, Ellis," the injured soldier said after a -few moments' silence. "I had a spell of very bad temper that night and -have regretted nay actions ever since. If there's anything I can do to -make it right, I'll do it." - -This seemed to be as much as any reasonable person could ask under the -circumstances; so Irving replied: - -"I'm sure I don't bear you any ill will under the circumstances, -lieutenant. I admit I was pretty much offended by what you did, but I'm -sure, after what you've just said, I can let bygones be bygones. We -must remember that we are fighting a common enemy and it is ridiculous -for us to be fighting one another. We ought rather to be helping one -another." - -"That's an excellent idea," Tourtelle declared. "Now what would you say -if I should ask you to do something for me? Would you resent it?" - -"I couldn't very well, after the principle I just laid down," Irving -answered with the shadow of a smile; "provided it were reasonable," he -added. - -"Oh, I don't see how there's anything unreasonable in it," the officer -replied quickly. "The only thing is, you may think it a very odd -request, freakish perhaps. But I think I can explain it satisfactorily. -First, let me enlist your sympathy a little by informing you that my -wound is more severe than was thought at first. I'm going to lose my -left arm. One of the doctors told me today that it would have to be -amputated between the elbow and the shoulder." - -"That's too bad," Irving said with evidence of fellow feeling for the -second lieutenant. "If there were anything I could do to save your arm -for you I'd surely do it. But what's the matter?" - -"A bad compound fracture and gangrene. The doctor said he'd have to cut -it off today or my whole system might be poisoned. But here's the favor -I want you to do for me: - -"When the doctor told me my arm would have to be cut off, I asked him if -it would be possible to save the limb, so I could take it back home with -me." - -Irving interrupted this statement with a start of surprise. - -"That's what the doctor did when I suggested the idea to him," Tourtelle -continued, noting the effect of his suggestion. "He wanted to know why -I wished to save the arm, and I replied that it was for two reasons: -first, because I thought it would make an excellent souvenir; second, -because it was tattooed in a very artistic manner and I don't want to -lose the art. I'm of an artistic temperament, and it would break my -heart more to lose that bit of tattooing on my arm than to lose the arm -and keep the art." - -"I think I get you," said Irving with a smile. "You want me to put the -arm in alcohol and preserve it, tattooing and all?" - -"That's a clever inference, but not quite to the point," Tourtelle -commented without much change of expression on his face. "The doctor -offered a substitute suggestion, and that's what I'm going to put to you -now." - -The patient paused a moment or two, and Irving waited expectantly for -the next development in the strange narrative of novel events. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - *CUBIST ART* - - -"Yes, I am of an artistic temperament," Lieut. Tourtelle continued in a -sort of dreamy way, which tended rather to give his audience-of-one "the -creeps" than to "soften his soul," as art is supposed to do. - -"If he's an artist, he ought to be painting kaisers, crown princes, -Hindenburgs, and Ludendorfs with horns on their heads and arrow-tipped -tails," he thought grimly. "But maybe he means it all right. Perhaps -he really believes he has artistic temperament, but hasn't sized himself -up right. A few years ago I thought I could write poetry, but found I -couldn't even write an acceptable advertisement in verse for sentimental -candy or floating soap. I'll humor 'im a while and see what's on 'is -mind." - -Tourtelle's mind was wandering now, either with a purpose in view or -because of a real genius delusion. He rambled along thus: - -"I made a study of art ever since I was old enough to daub with a little -box of colors and a paint brush. When I was old enough to attempt -something better than a smear, I went to an art school and there made -quite a hit with the professors with some of my novel ideas. Then when -that craze of the cubists and the futurists swept the country a few -years ago, I took it up and made quite a hit with some of my paintings. -One painting in particular, a cubist production representing a basket of -eggs spilling down a stairway, was regarded as a student masterpiece. -The praise I received over that work intoxicated me, I guess, for I -caused a copy of it to be tattooed on my arm by a fellow student. - -"Well, the original was lost and I had only the copy on my arm. So, you -see, I became very fond of that copy, as the original was acknowledged -to be worthy of exhibition along with masterpieces of well known -painters. By the way, you remember something of that cubist craze a few -years ago, don't you?" - -"Yes," Irving replied, "I remember something about it. There was a good -deal about it in the magazines. I suppose I recall it because it was so -perfectly crazy. Those artists seemed to take great delight in making a -human being look as if he had gone through a threshing machine and -afterwards raided a hornet's nest." - -"You've got the idea exactly--I mean the layman's idea," said the -self-styled cubist enthusiastically. "And I don't blame you, in a way. -But if you could only have got an artist's view of the idea, you'd look -at life a good deal differently. But that's neither here nor there. -Oh, yes, it is, too--I forgot myself on the moment. It's here--on my -arm--and I want to save it. Now, this is what the doctor told me to do. -He told me to peel off the skin where the tattooing is, as soon as the -arm is sawed off. That is, he didn't tell me to do it myself, for I'd -be in no condition to perform such an operation on my amputated limb. -He meant that's the way it should be done. But I don't believe he'd -ever look after the job himself. He'd cut the arm off while I'm under -the influence of ether, and that 'u'd be the last I'd ever see of it, -including the miniature copy of my painting. - -"So I decided to get somebody else to look after the matter, and that's -what I called you here for. It isn't much of a job. All you have to do -is to cut the skin around the tattooing and peel it off, then pack it in -salt to preserve it. The doctor said it would peel off easily and that -salt packing would keep the skin and the tattooed colors in good -condition. The nurse got me a little box and some salt, so everything -is ready as soon as the doctor comes along with his saw." - -"When is he coming?" Irving inquired. - -"Sometimes this afternoon, he said," Tourtelle replied. "What do you -think about it, Ellis? Will you do me the favor?" - -"Sure," the private answered with a smile. "I'm sorry you're going to -lose your arm, but I'll take care of your cubist art for you with -pleasure. I'm really very curious to see what it looks like." - -"I'd roll up my sleeve and show you, but I'm afraid I'd hurt my arm," -the "second looie" said in response. - -"Oh, no," Irving returned hurriedly, "I wouldn't have you do that for -anything. But I'll kind o' hang around until the surgeon comes. If I'm -not here right on the dot, the nurse'll be able to find me without much -trouble." - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - *BOB'S LETTER* - - -Irving almost forgot that there had ever been any difficulty between him -and Lieut. Tourtelle in contemplation of the novel service he had -promised to perform. Perhaps his remembrance of that trouble had been -smothered by his curiosity as to the character of this tattooed copy of -a "Basket of Eggs Spilling Down Stairs." - -The surgeon came at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and got busy at once. -However, before administering the ether, he acknowledged an introduction -to Private Ellis and promised to "skin the tattoo off the arm" after the -amputation and turn it over to its delegated caretaker. - -Irving was permitted to be present during the operation. He watched -with a good deal of curiosity for a first vision of the cubist art on -the patient's arm, and was not at all disappointed. It surely was a -clever piece of work, from the point of view of a votary of this sort of -art. This was the conclusion of all who saw the operation, and it was -the general subject of conversation until the arm was removed. - -The surgeon took more interest in the subject now than he had taken at -any time previously. This doubtless was due to the special preparations -made by the patient for the preservation of the tattooed skin. While -the ether was being administered by a nurse, he bared the wounded arm -and examined the "copy of quaint art" with interest. - -"What does he call this picture?" the "military sawbones" asked as he -gazed at the seemingly unmethodical arrangement of distorted "cubes" of -all sorts of shapes and angles. - -The patient was not yet unconscious, although the nurse was dropping -ether into the mask covering his mouth and nose. In a low dreamy voice -he answered the question thus: - -"It's 'The Basket of Eggs Spilling Down Stairs.'" - -The surgeon and the two attending nurses laughed at this answer. - -"His mind is wandering under the anæsthetic," said the surgeon. - -"No, it isn't," Irving interposed. "He told you the same thing he told -me. You see, he's a cubist. That's his idea of art. That tattooing on -his arm is a copy of a picture painted by him when he was a student in -an art school. That's the story he told me this morning." - -The expression on the surgeon's face went through a motion-picture -metamorphosis while the boy onlooker was making his statement. First it -indicated a kind of professional resentment at the contradiction; then -followed a wave of incredulity, succeeded by an enigmatical smirk. As -he cast a glance of still-smirking amusement at young Ellis, the latter -interpreted it to mean that he questioned the sanity of the patient. - -"If I were to perform this operation in the manner that cubists execute -their art, he'd probably want to sue me for malpractice," said the -scientific man as he finished preparation for the use of the knife. - -The operation was quickly performed, and the surgeon obligingly peeled -off the portion of skin containing the cubist tattooing and handed it to -Irving. The latter proceeded at once to pack it in the box of salt -provided for the purpose, and said to the nurse in charge: - -"I'll lay it here on the bed beside his pillow, so that he'll find it -when he wakes up. Will you please call his attention to it?" - -The nurse promised to do as requested, and Irving left the building and -heard nothing more of the incident for several days. At last his -shoulder recovered from its lameness and he was ordered back to the -front. - -Before returning to the trenches, however, he received a letter from his -cousin, Bob, that stirred in him a thrill of excitement that no -sensational activities of battle could have aroused. The affair thus -revealed over a distance of thousands of miles confronted Irving with -what seemed at first a most remarkable coincidence. But the boy was -unable to accept it as such without first making an inquiry about -certain suspicious circumstances. He suspected at once that something -was doing that ought to be laid before army officials for investigation. - -"I'm getting along first rate, Irving," Bob wrote. "My wounds have all -healed. I was pretty badly shot to pieces. One of the bones of my left -leg was pretty much shattered. They thought, at first they'd have to -amputate the limb, but it was saved, thank goodness, although the knee -will always be stiff. I had half a dozen shell and machine gun wounds -in my body, too, though fortunately all of them were well removed from -vital spots. But, although these injuries were as bad as one would care -to receive, all of them together were not nearly as dangerous or -uncomfortable as the dose of gas I got. Believe me, Irving, I don't -want any more of that. If you want my opinion of it, I'll tell you I -think it's more cruel than submarine warfare where they sink passenger -ships without warning. The doctors thought for a while that I was going -to have the 'con,' but I'm about over the effects of my dose now." - -"Well, while I was convalescing, I had to have some amusement--I mean -after I was able to be up and around, but hardly strong enough to shovel -snow. Say, we've had some awful heavy snow storms this winter. Regular -blizzards, with snow over your shoetops when you're standing on your -head. That's snowing some, isn't it? - -"Well, about the time I was able to get around without doing myself any -harm--the gas effects kept me pretty weak quite a while,--I went up to -Toronto to visit some friends. I was invited up there by one of the -boys who was gassed at the same time I was. He and others had organized -a 'Gas club,' consisting of fellows who had been gassed in the war. -Grewsome idea, wasn't it? But it took famously. They wanted me to -join, and I went up there and was initiated. - -"Well, while I was up there, I saw considerable outdoor life. Several -of us went hunting on snowshoes one day, and that capped the climax of -my physical exertions. I ought to have been more careful, for I was not -strong enough yet for such life. Well, I became ill on the way, and the -boys got me to a hospital in the outskirts of the city and a physician -examined me. The doctor said there was nothing serious the matter with -me, only over-exertion in my weakened condition, so I did not notify -father and mother. - -"Two days later the doctor said I was in good enough condition to leave -the hospital, but advised me to go straight home and not try any more -such vigorous exercise until I was in condition to return to the -trenches. This was in the evening, and I decided to remain in the -hospital until morning. I was sitting up when the doctor called, and -after he left I went out into the hall to find a telephone to call up my -friend and tell him of my plan to return home next day. - -"The building is an old brick structure that undoubtedly would have been -condemned for hospital purposes if the interior woodwork had not been of -the best material and well put together. However, the layout was -decidedly old-fashioned and confusing to one accustomed to modern -architecture. Anyway, I got lost, so to speak, in the hall while trying -to find my way to the stairway. - -"I found a stairway, but soon realized that it was not the one I wanted, -and was about to turn back, when something caught my attention and held -it for several minutes. I was on a kind of half-floor landing before an -entrance into a low rear addition, and from that position found myself -gazing into a laboratory in which something very strange was going on. -Three men were in the room, one of them little more than a boy and in -the khaki uniform of a soldier; the other two in civilian clothes. In -the upper half of the door were two glass panels, through which I could -see very clearly, and the transom over the door was swung partly open. - -"There was something peculiar about the two older men which almost -fascinated me. Both had a decidedly foreign look. One was -smooth-shaven, except for a heavy kaiser mustache; the other, the older -of these two, wore a full beard. - -"The young fellow in khaki was seated on a chair, with his left arm -bared above the elbow, resting on a table. The other two men were -working over the arm in a most studious manner. Over them was a -brilliant calcium light which illuminated their work. I could see the -arm very plainly and it took me only a minute or two to determine what -the two older men were doing to it. - -"They were tattooing the arm, and a most remarkable kind of tattooing it -was. They were extremely careful with their work and progressed slowly. -Judging from the care they took and the slowness with which they -progressed, they must have worked on that arm several days. Also, -spread out before them, was a small sheet of white paper, to which they -referred frequently. - -"It is hard to describe to you the appearance of the result of their -work, but I'll send you a copy of the original they were working from -and explain how I got it. I think you'll agree with me that it looks -more like a piece of kindergarten patchwork than anything else -imaginable. - -"While I was gazing in a kind of fascination at the strange scene, the -man with the kaiser mustache turned suddenly and saw me. His next -movement was just as sudden and much more astonishing. He sprang to the -door, flung it open, and before I could realize what was taking place he -had seized me by the arm and was dragging me into the laboratory. I -struggled to prevent him from getting me inside, but, because of my -weakened condition, was unsuccessful. My next impulse was to cry out -for help, but the situation seemed to me so ridiculous that I decided I -would only make myself look foolish by so doing. This hospital was -surely a highly respectable institution, I reasoned, and the -misunderstanding of which I was a victim would soon be cleared up. -Perhaps these men thought I was a spying meddler bent on some malicious -mischief. - -"After they got me inside--for the other men sprang to my captor's -assistance--they closed and locked the door, also the transom, and began -to quiz me as to what I was doing out in the hall. I was too sore at -their treatment of me to give an explanation and demanded what they -meant by their actions. I saw that they were very uneasy about -something and that made me bolder. It soon dawned upon me that they had -been doing something that they wanted to keep secret. That resolved me -to get back at them with interest, and while they were busy with their -excited demands, I got my wits together to devise some sort of trick -that would show them it wasn't quite so easy to browbeat me as they -seemed to imagine. - -"All three of them huddled together right in front of me and rained -questions at me excitedly. This suited me first rate as soon as I had -decided what to do. I wasn't afraid of any desperate violence on their -part; the place was too public for that. I retreated slowly to the -table at which they had been working and leaned back resting my hands on -it. They never caught on to what I was up to, but pressed close to me -with their excited questions. I met these with noncommittal replies, -and at the same time got one hand closer and closer to the mysterious -slip of paper on the table. It was not more than six inches long and -three wide, and I figured that if I could get one hand on it I might -crumple it in my fist without their observing what I was doing. After I -had been dragged into the room, I saw the young fellow hurriedly draw -down the sleeve of his shirt over the tattooed portion of his forearm. -He seemed so nervous while doing this that my suspicion of something -wrong became very acute; and yet, the mystery could hardly have been -more baffling. - -"Well, I got my hand on the paper and crumpled it in my fist, and they -never got onto my trick, at least, not until I got out of that room and -away from them. I was now ready to answer their questions. I told them -I was a patient in the hospital and was just trying to find my way to -the office and started down the wrong stairway--that was all there was -to it. I then demanded that they release me at once or I would make -serious trouble for them. They asked me my name, and I told them. Then -the bearded man left the laboratory, and I presume he went to the office -to make inquiry about me, for he came back in a few minutes and reported -that he guessed I was all right. But they held a whispered conversation -in German--I caught enough of their words to be sure of that--and then -told me I might go. But before the door was unlocked, the bearded man -apologized, as nearly as I can remember, in the following words: - -"I hope you will forgive our rough conduct, but we are engaged in very -important government work, and when we saw you looking through the glass -at us and apparently listening to our conversation, we presumed you were -a German spy. You have satisfied us that you are all right, and we -recommend that, as you love your country and wish to aid us to win the -war, you keep this affair strictly to yourself." - -"I was astonished and more confused than ever. That statement convicted -them of something on the face of it, but of what I could not conjecture. -The idea that a responsible secret agent of the government should make -such a speech as that under any circumstances was simply ridiculous. I -was mighty sure they were not doing work for the government. They were -trying to cover something up, but what I could make no rational guess. - -"I decided not to remain in the hospital any longer than it would take -to get my few belongings together and pay my bill. I was afraid they -would discover the loss of the paper I had stolen. Well, I got out of -that place so rapidly that I had everybody staring at me who beheld my -movements. - -"I went to a hotel, but I am dead sure I was followed. In the morning -when I went down to breakfast I was conscious of being watched. I -telephoned to my friend, but while in the booth I glanced about with -apparent unconcern and caught one of my shadowers looking in my -direction over the top of a newspaper from a seat in the hotel lobby. I -met my friend, but said nothing to him about my adventure. I wanted to -get back home as soon as possible. I wasn't in condition physically to -undergo any great strain. - -"At last I was on the train and speeding toward home, but hadn't covered -more than half of the journey when I discovered that one of my shadowers -was making the journey with me. He got off when I got off and for -several days had a room in one of our local hotels. I talked the matter -over with father and we came to the conclusion that I had fallen into a -nest of the kaiser's spies. We examined the paper I had taken from the -table in the laboratory of the Toronto hospital and I made a copy of it. -Then we went to the chief of police and I told nay story to him. He -said the matter ought to be taken up with government officials and asked -me to let him show the mysterious paper in my possession to them. I had -expected this, and gave him the paper. - -"A few days later I read in a newspaper that the hospital had been -raided by government agents. Also, I saw nothing more of the fellow who -had followed me from Toronto after I made my report to the chief of -police. - -"Now, what do you think of all this? Isn't it some adventure? I'm -sending to you, just for your amusement, a copy of the drawing on the -paper that I stole from the hospital laboratory. Can you make anything -out of it? It may afford you some diversion during long, dreary watches -in camp, trench or dugout." - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - *DOTS AND DASHES* - - -Not more than a minute after reading this letter and examining the slip -of paper that accompanied it, Irving said to himself: - -"This drawing is very similar to the cubist tattooing on the arm of -Lieut. Tourtelle." - -He studied over the matter a little more and then added: - -"I believe that both were made from the same copy, or original." - -A little more puzzling over the problem caused him to supplement thus: - -"It looks very much as if Tourtelle and the soldier who bared his arm -over the table in the hospital laboratory are one and the same person." - -The suggestion startled the boy as a realization of the logical sequence -flashed in his mind. - -"Gee whillikens!" he exclaimed. "That means that his story about being -an art student and about the tattooing of that picture on his arm by one -of his fellow students is a fake. But why should he have faked it? Why -wouldn't the truth have served his purpose just as well?" - -Irving was at battalion headquarters, awaiting orders, which were -expected to come after sundown, to move forward into the trenches. While -reading the letter he was seated on the log of a tree that had been -literally uprooted by a concentrated shell fire at this point a week or -two before. Nobody else was interested in what he was doing and he was -too much preoccupied to feel much interest in anybody right now except -the mysterious Lieut. Tourtelle and his equally mysterious "amputation -souvenir." - -"Now," continued the boy, resuming his reasoning soliloquy, "if he told -me a fake story about being an art student and having one of his fellow -students copy one of his pictures on his arm, what was the motive? He -wanted to deceive me, of course, but why? I'll have to leave that -question unanswered for the present, I'm afraid. If I could get at his -real reason for wanting that picture tattooed on his arm, I might feel -some encouragement in trying to get at his motive in deceiving me. -There's no doubt the picture on his arm is practically the same as the -copy on this paper. I shouldn't wonder if they were the same size, -drawn with precisely the same dimensions. Supposed to represent a -basket of eggs spilling down stairs. What a ridiculous title. I'm sure -I'd have hard work picking out the basket and the smashed eggs. It -looks to me almost as if someone had pinned this paper up on a wall and -fired a lot of eggs at it--and hit it, too, every crack. After all, -it's the best title to a cubist art picture I ever heard of. I remember -our teacher gave us a talk about that kind of art and showed us some -copies of cubist paintings in magazines at the time when everybody was -gossiping--yes, that's the word--about cubist art. And we surely had a -lot of fun over it. - -"Tourtelle told me that another student tattooed that picture on his -arm. Bob's description of the scene in the hospital laboratory makes -that 'second looie' look very much like a liar. I take it from this -letter that both of those men were pretty well advanced in years. Art -students as a rule are younger people. Moreover, students wouldn't act -so strangely just because they suspected somebody of secretly watching -them at their work. Then, again, Bob says the government raided that -hospital. What for? Enemy agents, of course; there could be no other -reason. And this raid followed Bob's report of his experience to the -police. Plain as daylight. And yet, what possible connection can there -be between enemy spies and cubist art? I give it up." - -Irving would have liked to make a report of some kind concerning the web -of strange events that clung in confusing tangle to the mystery of the -ridiculous tattooing recently peeled from the amputated arm of Lieut. -Tourtelle, but the more he studied over the matter, the more probable it -appeared to him that such action on his part would be unwise. His -conclusions must of necessity be exceedingly vague. He could not figure -out a motive in any way explaining the apparently eccentric ideas and -actions of the "hobby ridden second lieutenant." Yes, that phrase -characterized Tourtelle exactly when the spy suspicion contained in -Bob's letter was dismissed, and undoubtedly the average officer, unless -he be of a very suspicious nature, would take that view of it. - -"I'd be laughed at if I made a report of this affair without being able -to place my finger on anything more definite than I seem to be able to -single out now," he concluded. "So I guess I'll have to keep this thing -to myself or else whittle my wits to a sharper point than I have been -able to whittle them thus far." - -About an hour after nightfall Irving returned to the front line trenches -together with seventy-five or a hundred other soldiers who constituted a -relief shift, to take the place of a like number of tried and -muscle-cramped boys whose capacity for efficient service was in need of -recuperation. The sector was quiet on this occasion and the relief -exchange was effected without notable incident. In fact, conditions -were such that it was considered safe to permit most of the soldiers to -sleep under ground of sentries here and there along the trenches and in -listening posts out in No Man's Land. - -But Irving did not "sleep a wink," although general conditions were -favorable for sleep in the dugout where he wrapped himself in a blanket -and attempted to follow the reposeful example of half a dozen comrades -with little on their minds save the ordinary routine of bloody battle in -the past and prospect of much more fight and blood in the future. No -mystery racked their minds, and they rested peacefully enough. With -Private Ellis, however, it was different, and in a very few minutes -after he lay down a plausible solution of the puzzle that had been -teasing him for several hours popped into his brain with startling -suddenness and rendered sleep about as impossible to him as peaceful -surrender was to outraged Belgium. - -After the excitement of the first thrill was over, Irving was unable to -trace the process by which he arrived at his conclusion. After all, -"process" is too slow a word to use in this relation. "The first thing -he knew," his mind had jumped from the rough pen sketch of the cubist -art drawing in his pocket to the tattooed copy as he had seen it on -Tourtelle's arm. A moment later he found himself almost weirdly -interested in the recollection of a marked difference in these two -copies which had not impressed him before. - -Then came a new thrill of eagerness, followed by incredulity, then -eagerness and incredulity battling for supremacy, over a suspicion that -would not be downed in spite of its almost laughable character. Could -it be possible? Yes, no, yes, no--back and forth the contradictions -swung. But one thing was certain; Irving recalled it distinctly: In the -maze of configurations of "distorted cubes" were myriads of dots and -dashes, dots and dashes. What could they mean? If the theory which -forced itself upon him was correct there was only one reasonable -solution of the whole mystery. - -The boy in the dugout could scarcely contain his excitement as the -seemingly logical explanation of the mystery "dotted and dashed" itself -into a position of settled conviction in his mind. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - *IRVING TELLS THE SERGEANT* - - -"Dots and dashes, dots and dashes, dots and dashes," kept running -through Irving's mind. - -He took Bob's letter from his pocket and drew from the envelope the -paper containing his cousin's copy of "The Basket of Eggs Spilling Down -Stairs." - -"Bob drew this in a hurry, or at least he had no appreciation of the -value of minute details which, I believe, are more important than a -thousand baskets of eggs," the young soldier mused as he gazed at the -cleverly drawn, but rather inaccurate, copy in the light of the trench -lamp. "He disregarded most of those clots and dashes, except in a few -places, thinking, I suppose, that continuous lines would do just as -well. And he was right so far as the picture is concerned. In fact, I -believe those dots and dashes that were on Tourtelle's arm detracted -from the art of the artist, if I may pose as an art critic; but for the -purpose intended they are absolutely essential. - -"Now, I wish I could get hold of an officer who would listen to me and -maybe I could start an investigation that would result in something -worth while. But Sergt. Wilson, who messes in here, is out with some -other men in a listening post and I'm sure it would be better to -approach the lieutenant through him. That means I've got to wait here -probably until morning before I can get this great weight of -responsibility off my mind." - -And that was exactly what he did. He lay there thinking over and over -again the events of his own and his cousin's adventures concerning -Lieut. Tourtelle. There was no use of his attempting to slumber, and it -was not long before he gave up the idea entirely. However, he was in no -great need of sleep, inasmuch as he had almost reveled in the luxury of -rest ever since he was ordered to the field hospital for treatment of -his shoulder. - -Through all the rest of the night, Irving continued to review and -analyze the strange case of "freak art." And perhaps it was fortunate -that he had ample opportunity to do this, for it is quite possible that -otherwise he would not have had certain important points sufficiently in -mind to make a strong and convincing case when at last he found -opportunity to make his report. - -"It seems to me those dots and dashes explain Tourtelle's anxiety to -keep that tattooing on his arm," the boy mused. "Now, if he's a spy, he -was putting over just a clever 'con game' when he sent for me and begged -my forgiveness and then asked me to do him a favor. After all, I've got -to admit that that fellow is pretty smooth. No, I don't think he -overdid it at all. I did think it a little strange when he followed his -plea for forgiveness with a request that I do him a favor. But the -favor was so simple, although unusual enough, goodness knows, and there -appeared to be so little opportunity for him to trick me into something -I wouldn't like to do, that it seemed foolish for me to hesitate. It -looks now as if he tricked not only me, but the surgeon and nurses, too. -I wonder what that surgeon would say if he knew that a spy had made -clever use of him to prevent a very deep enemy plot from going to pieces -at a time when the bottom was about to drop out of it. He'd be a lot -sorer, I bet, than he was when I contradicted him after he said -Tourtelle's mind was wandering under the anæsthetic. - -"'A Basket of Eggs Spilling Down Stairs'--that's some name for a -painting. I wonder what's behind it. Now, it's just possible that that -name's written somewhere in cipher in the picture, and maybe a key goes -with it and that key applied to the name will produce the message he's -carrying to the enemy. I suppose he'll watch his opportunity and-- - -"My goodness!" - -Irving uttered this exclamation aloud and the sound of his voice awoke -one of the sleepers in the dugout, who asked what was the matter. The -soliloquist replied "nothing," that he had merely startled himself with -a "bright idea," whereupon the awakened soldier grumbled, "You're a -nut," and rolled over and went to sleep again. - -"I wonder if the sergeant will call me a nut, too, when I tell him my -story," Irving reflected a little apprehensively. "In spite of the way -everything fits into everything else as logically as can be, the whole -account is bound to sound a good deal like a fairy story. Sometimes I -feel like giving it up and casting the whole affair out of my mind, -but--but--I can't. Now, that idea that made me burst out like a 'nut,' -as that soldier called me, fits in just as pat as can be with all he -rest. It looks, it looks, yes, sir, it looks just as if Tourtelle was -trying to surrender out in No Man's Land the other night when we were -scouting there together. I don't know how I can prove it, but it's -plain enough to me, unless my whole theory falls down, and I don't see -how it can." - -At last, shortly before the break of day, reliefs were sent to the -various sentry posts, and Sergt. Wilson returned to the dugout with -several other men. Irving seized the first available opportunity to -tell the "non com" that he had some important information that he wished -to "get off his mind," and they withdrew to one side of the underground -room to talk the matter over. - -In a few minutes Private Ellis had Sergt. Wilson interested by his -simple, direct method of presenting his subject. In fifteen minutes, -the boy had finished his narrative and turned over his cousin's letter -to the officer to read. The latter pored with intense interest over not -only the epistle but the accompanying copy of the mysterious "Basket of -Eggs Spilling Down Stairs." Presently he said: - -"You've got something very important here, Ellis. I'm going to see -Lieut. Osborne right away. I think you had better come along. Unless -I'm badly mistaken this matter will get to the major in a very short -time and something important will be doing." - -The sergeant climbed up out of the dugout into the trench, and Irving -followed, and soon they were making their way to another similar -excavation which was the headquarters of Lieut. Osborne. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - *QUIZZING A SPY* - - -Sergt. Wilson's prediction that Private Ellis's spy story would go to -the major of the battalion was more than realized. Affairs moved -rapidly from the time when the non-commissioned officer got a clear idea -of the importance of the situation. He and Irving made a rapid transit -from their trench cave to the dugout where Lieut. Osborne was stationed, -and there the story was repeated. The lieutenant was interested at once -and took the matter up with the captain. The latter instructed the -lieutenant to remain at the telephone until he could communicate with -his superior officers. - -There followed a wait of rather nervous expectancy for Irving. It -really was not more than half an hour, although it seemed much longer to -the young soldier who made the original complaint. At last, however, -came a ring of the muffled telephone bell, and Lieut. Osborne lifted the -receiver to his ear. He listened a minute or two, then hung up the -receiver and said: - -"Ellis, you and I are ordered to proceed to the hospital and confront -this young spy of yours with the fact that we have the goods on him. -The captain communicated with the major, and the major with the colonel; -so, you see, your story has gone up to the head of the regiment. Sergt. -Wilson, I am going to leave you here in my place while I'm gone. I hope -to be back before nightfall. If I'm delayed longer than I expect to be, -I'll communicate with you by 'phone. Ellis, we'll start at once. The -colonel has ordered an automobile to be ready to meet us at the nearest -relief station back of the lines. Come on." - -In a few minutes the officer and the private were racing through the -nearest communication trench, which was deep, sinuous and well -camouflaged, on past the second and third lines to the relief station -just beyond a small inn covered with a growth of trees and a thicket of -tall bushes. The promised automobile was waiting for them, and they -were soon speeding away toward the field hospital which, in the last -hour, as a result of Private Ellis's story, had become a center of very -serious interest in a strange admixture of an elaborate spy system and -"high art." - -Lieut. Osborne and his companion were both apprehensive lest they find -the second lieutenant in condition so weakened that it would be -inadvisable to subject him to the strain of a "third degree." They -discussed this possibility on the way, and the officer decided that he -would broach the subject gently in order to avoid the danger of -defeating their purpose through a physical and mental collapse of the -patient. - -But Lieut. Tourtelle proved to have withstood the shock of the operation -much better than might have been expected. They found him looking -really bright and vigorous. Apparently he had had the best of care and -had rested well. Nevertheless, Lieut. Osborne called a nurse aside and -asked her to administer a stimulant to him, as he had important business -with the patient under instructions from the commander of the regiment. -The nurse did as requested without arousing any suspicion in the "cubist -art spy." - -"This is quite a surprise to receive a visit from a superior officer -under such circumstances, and I'm sure it's very much appreciated," -Tourtelle remarked after he had answered several questions put by Lieut. -Osborne regarding his condition and the attention he was receiving. - -"The occasion fully warrants our coming to see you," the superior -officer replied in a purposely peculiar tone of voice. Tourtelle -noticed it and looked inquiringly at Lieut. Osborne. - -"Private Ellis told me about that art souvenir that was peeled off your -arm and I have come to see it," continued the leader of the "visiting -expedition." - -Tourtelle shot a furtive, searching glance at each of his callers. -These glances did not escape the observation of either the officer or -the private, for both were looking for evidence of this sort; but they -were well on their guard and did not betray, by the slightest -expression, any evidence of what was going on in their minds. - -"Of course you have it here," Lieut. Osborne continued in tone of -assurance. "Ellis tells me he laid it by the side of your pillow and -asked the nurse to call your attention to it after you came out from the -effects of the anæsthetic." - -Plainly enough Tourtelle was struggling within himself over something, -and his visitors did not have much trouble convincing themselves what it -was. But finally he settled the problem tentatively in favor of the -evident inevitable and replied: - -"Yes, of course, I have it here, only I hate to unpack it; but if your -curiosity over a freak idea is uncontrollable, I must submit. I'm very -jealous over that affair, because the average person is utterly -incapable of appreciating it and would only laugh at me." - -"Oh, you needn't be afraid of our doing anything of the kind," returned -the lieutenant reassuringly. "We're deeply interested, both of us." - -"You must be profoundly interested if you can leave your places at the -battle front just to inspect a sample of what most people would call -freak art. You didn't call a truce and sign an armistice just for this, -did you?" - -The lieutenant realized by this time, as Irving had realized before, -that he was dealing with a young fellow of no puny intelligence. -Tourtelle, although signifying willingness to do as requested, was -evidently fencing with weapons of jest and banter, intended to be -accepted as conversational pleasantry. He made no motion as yet to -produce the box containing the tattooed section of skin packed in salt. - -"No," the visiting officer replied quietly; "but I'm sure you won't -disappoint me after I've gone to the trouble to get permission from the -colonel to come here and see that remarkable curiosity that Ellis says -you possess. Where is it?--under your pillow?" - -Lieut. Osborne made a move as if to reach under the pillow. The patient -made no motion to object; he maintained a passiveness of manner which -the inspecting officer accepted as an admission as to the whereabouts of -the article of interest. The next moment the box was produced from its -"hiding place," for Irving and the lieutenant were certain that when -Tourtelle put it under the pillow his purpose was primarily to conceal -it from inquisitive eyes. - -The officer opened the box and poured the contents out on a paper lying -on the floor. Then he picked out the "cubist parchment" and gazed at it -with deep interest. - -"By the way, Lieut. Tourtelle," he said after an inspection lasting a -minute or two, "would you mind telling me what these dots and dashes -mean in this work of art? They look to me like letters of the Morse -telegraph code." - -As he spoke he looked sharply at the soldier on the cot, whose face in -an instant became an interesting study of struggling effort to appear -calm and curious and only superficially concerned. Irving realized, -however, that Lieut. Osborne was getting down to business without any -preliminary foolishness. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - *TOURTELLE ADMITS* - - -"Nonsense," replied Tourtelle, with remarkable calmness, after what must -have been a desperate effort at self-control. "Nothing of the kind. I -drew the original picture and I don't know the first thing about -telegraphy." - -"But it's here," Lieut. Osborne insisted. "I've had a course in wireless -and can read the code like a book. Let me read some of it to -you--'h-e-f-c-k-a-w-r-t-m-c-a-a-b-l'--and so on, all around every one of -these cubes." - -"Is that so?" exclaimed the patient, rising slightly on his remaining -elbow, but falling back. "Let me see it. I never noticed that. Bickett -must have put one over on me if you're right. Bickett was the student -who tattooed the picture on my arm." - -"Where was that tattooing done?" asked Lieut. Osborne. - -"In our room in Montreal," replied Tourtelle, without hesitation. "He -and I roomed together and attended art school." - -"You're sure it wasn't in a laboratory of a hospital in Toronto?" was -the inquisitor's next query. - -This was too much for the bedridden "second looie." He opened his mouth -as if to speak, but his jaw dropped and remained in its lowered position -half a minute as if paralyzed. At last, however, he managed to find his -voice again, but it came with a succession of stammers. - -"Wh--wh--why," he said, with a brave enough effort to transform -confusion into astonishment. "Wh--wh--what do you mean? I--I don't -understand you. You talk like a sphinx. I hope you're not questioning -my word. I can't understand what your motive can be. But maybe you're -making sport of me. If I told you that I was born in--in New Brunswick, -would you try to make out it was in Saskatchewan?" - -"Not unless the fellow who was seized out in the hall and dragged into -the laboratory should appear suddenly and contradict your statement," -the investigating officer answered. "By the way, did you know the -hospital was raided by government agents a few days after the tattooing -operation?" - -By this time, Tourtelle, who must have realized the gravity of the -situation, had summoned all the nerve needed to provide him with a bold -front to meet the emergency. He just sat and stared blankly at his -visitors. - -"Why don't you answer?" Lieut. Osborne demanded. - -"Because I haven't the faintest idea what you're driving at," Tourtelle -replied, with well assumed mystification. "But I'm sure of one thing, -or rather one of two things, and that is that either somebody has put -you on a very bum steer, or you have got things very badly twisted. -You'll have to straighten matters out some way or else stop this line of -questioning, for I don't know how to answer you except by denying -absolutely more than half you say." - -"Now, see here, Tourtelle," returned the visiting officer severely; -"this camouflage of yours has gone far enough. I came here to get from -you an admission of the main truth and some additional information. I -already have all the proof needed to convict you of being a spy. Unless -you do what I ask you to do, undoubtedly you will be courtmartialed and -shot. Now, the question is, do you want to save yourself from such a -fate?" - -"That is a grave accusation," Tourtelle answered icily. "At any rate, -I'll listen to the evidence you have against me. Suppose you tell me -what it is." - -"It's right here in this," Lieut. Osborne replied, unhesitatingly, -holding up the section of skin containing the tattooed outlines of -strange art. "You have here a message of secret information for someone -on the other side of the Rhine. I want to know whom it is for and the -substance of the message." - -"But how do you figure that I could get it into the hands for whom it is -intended, admitting for the sake of argument that you are correct in -your inference?" the soldier on the bed inquired. - -"By surrendering to our enemy at the first opportunity," was the answer. -"That's what you tried to do out in No Man's Land the night you were -wounded." - -This was a new startler for the wounded spy, as was evident from the -expression on his countenance. After a few moments of undoubtedly -painful meditation, he continued: - -"Again, just for the sake of argument, how could I be certain that you -would keep your word after promising to save my life if I acted -according to your instruction?" - -"All you have is my word for it and your own common sense. If you give -us some valuable information that could not have been obtained -otherwise, it stands to reason--doesn't it?--that we'd forget that you'd -been a spy, particularly so if the value of your information was greater -than your menace as a spy." - -"All right, I'll admit I'm a spy," said Tourtelle, a little doggedly; -"but I'm not going to tell you anything until I have more authoritative -assurance that I'll not be courtmartialed." - -"I don't mean to assure you that you won't be courtmartialed," Lieut. -Osborne answered, hastily. "I mean that I will intercede for you. -Moreover, there is no evidence that can be produced against you except -through Private Ellis and me. We have the information, and will either -produce it or keep it under cover as we see fit." - -"But suppose I really have no information of great value; suppose I'm -merely a bearer of a cipher message, which I can't read and don't even -know the person to whom it is addressed--what then?" - -"I don't ask anything impossible," the inquisitor replied. "All I want -is a straight-forward story from you, with all details. If you keep -anything back or lie to me, I'm very likely to find it out, and then -you'll fare worse than if you refused point blank to enter into an -agreement with me." - -"All right," said Tourtelle, "I suppose I may as well give in, for you -seem to have some real information, although I can't understand where or -how you got it. Anyway, here's my story: - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - *TOURTELLE'S STORY* - - -"I must first tell you who I am," Lieut. Tourtelle began, after some -moments' deliberation. Ordinarily his countenance was almost -expressionless, for he belonged to a certain type of pulseless-souled -humanity that talks little with the face, except through that orifice -where the tongue wig-wags the signals of the mind. But on this -occasion, he looked not only serious, but seriously concerned over his -predicament. Before he got farther with his introduction, however, -Lieut. Osborne interrupted him with this warning: - -"I want to urge you, Tourtelle, to be very careful to tell the truth and -the whole truth, because you are surely going to get yourself into -trouble if you don't. We know a good deal more than I have told you, -and I promise you that I have some information on which I can catch you -if you tell me any lies." - -"You needn't be afraid of my lying to you," the spy returned quickly; -"for, to tell the truth, I'm sick of this whole business. I wish I'd -never got into it, and if I succeed in getting out with a whole skin, -I'll admit I'm glad you caught me. - -"I've done a whole lot of thinking since I agreed to put this thing over -or try to put it over. There's a lot of difference between sitting -still and dreaming how you love your father's fatherland before he -emigrated, and plotting in the midst of your fellow countrymen to help a -lot of tyrants whom you've never seen on the other side o' the world. I -didn't think of that until I got up to my neck in this business and -found it almost impossible to get out. - -"You see, my father was an Austrian, and my mother was from -Alsace-Lorraine. Both of them died when I was five or six years old and -I was adopted by a brother of my father, also an Austrian, of course. -By the way, my name is not Tourtelle and never was. That was just a bit -of camouflage, so that I might pass as being of French descent. My real -name is Hessenburg. My uncle was most bitterly anti-British in this -war, and is yet. He was a man of considerable means and position in the -business world, was a member of the board of directors of that hospital -in Toronto where my arm was tattooed. Yes, that hospital was a hotbed -of spies, and I'm glad they raided it. - -"I wasn't taken into the confidence of the high-ups in the spy -organization in Canada, but I know it was a big one. I suppose they -thought I was too young to be trusted with any more information than was -necessary to make me useful. And for that reason, you see, they did not -translate to me the message that was tattooed on my arm, and they didn't -give me the key to work out the cipher. Besides, I'm no telegrapher. -You'll understand, therefore, that they didn't pick much of an expert to -carry their message." - -"Didn't you know that there were telegraphic characters in that picture -on your arm?" asked Lieut. Osborne. - -"Yes, or rather I suspected it pretty strongly," was the reply. - -"And you don't know what the message is?" - -"No, I don't." - -"Haven't you any idea?" - -"Well, yes, I have an idea, but it's pretty vague. I overheard a little -of a conversation not intended for my ears, and from that I got the -notion, or perhaps it's only a suspicion, that the message contains the -British naval or aeronautical wireless code." - -"At any rate, it's of great importance," suggested Lieut. Osborne. - -"Oh, there's no doubt about that," Tourtelle, or Hessenburg, assured. - -"Are you an artist?" was the inquisitor's next question. - -"Yes, I am; that is, I was an art student, and the story I told Ellis -about making a hit with a cubist painting is true. That's what started -the scheme of tattooing a picture message on my arm." - -"Who suggested it?" - -"One of the fellows who did the work. He was something of an artist as -well as a chemist. - -"The fellow with whiskers?" - -"Yes," replied the spy. "I see you have had a pretty thorough report of -that affair." - -"We have. Did you know that the boy who was seized in the hall and -dragged into the laboratory left with the pen-and-ink sketch of your -painting crumpled up in his hand?" - -"No. Is that what became of it? One of the men suggested that he must -have stolen it, but I didn't think he was right." - -"Did you know they put detectives on his track?" - -"No. Did they?" - -"That's what they did. And that is probably the reason why the hospital -was raided a few days later. If they hadn't followed him, the boy -probably would have passed the matter up and dismissed it from his mind. -But he became restlessly curious and reported the affair to the police." - -"Hm!" Tourtelle grunted at this elucidation. - -"Do you mean for me to understand that you have no idea whom this -message is for?" asked Lieut. Osborne, indicating the section of skin -illuminated with cubist art. - -"That's exactly what I mean," the cubist spy replied. - -"But what were you supposed to do after you got over into Germany?" - -"Seek out an army officer and tell him my story. Any officer, I was -told, would know at once what to do with me." - -"Do you speak German?" - -"Not much, nor Austrian, either. I studied German at school and learned -enough to be able to make myself understood on the other side of the -Rhine." - -"Come on, Ellis," said Lieut. Osborne, rising suddenly. "We've got all -we want now. I'll report to the colonel and probably in a day or two -Tourtelle will hear from us again. I'm going to take this cubist -souvenir with me." - -In the course of the conversation he had repacked the section of -tattooed skin in the salt, and as he arose to leave he put the box in -one of his overcoat pockets. Irving followed him out of the building, -and soon they were speeding back over the road by which they had reached -the field hospital. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - *IRVING AN ORDERLY* - - -"We will go direct to Col. Evans' headquarters," Lieut. Osborne -announced shortly after the return trip had been begun. "He asked me to -report back to him as soon as possible." - -The trip was soon made. The colonel's headquarters were less than a -mile behind the rear line trenches, and the road to this point was in -fairly good condition. - -Irving felt a deep interest in this visit aside from the bearing it had -on the matter under investigation. He had never seen a colonel's -headquarters and was curious to know what appearance such a place might -present. - -He was not greatly surprised to find it a dugout, although he had not -pictured it such in his mind. The first suggestion that had offered -itself to him was that the head of the regiment probably had stationed -himself in the palatial residence or chateau of some wealthy fugitive -civilian. However, when the truth appeared to him with the most -commonplace simplicity, he decided that it was the very thing that he -ought to have expected. - -The dugout was a two-room affair in the side of a hill on the outskirts -of a small village. The hill was covered with fruit trees and berry -vines, affording an excellent camouflage. One of the rooms was occupied -by the colonel and the other by his orderlies. The walls and roof were -of concrete, thick enough to resist heavy bombing from the air. Other -attaches of this headquarters were housed in several homes of the -otherwise deserted village. - -The commander of the regiment received the visitors in his elaborately -furnished living room, bedroom and dining room. Lieut. Osborne began at -once a rapid account of the interview he had had with Second Lieut. -Tourtelle, or Hessenburg. The colonel listened attentively, every now -and then casting a sharp and sometimes lingering glance at Private -Ellis, who had all he could do to suppress the anxious eagerness he felt -relative to impending developments. Naturally, as he had rather -dubiously offered the original information that led up to the partial -disclosure of extensive spy activities, he felt as if his whole future -depended upon the full success of the investigation. - -Lieut. Osborne opened the box containing the tattooed message and took -it out of its salt packing. Col. Evans examined it curiously while the -reporting officer explained all he knew about it, calling attention to -the telegraphic dots and dashes running around the numerous "cubes." - -"We ought to get somebody who is skilled in cryptographic work busy on -this at once," said the colonel. "I've been in communication with the -brigadier general's headquarters and suggested that to them, and now -that I have this in my possession, I'm going to urge it stronger. I'll -get them on the wire again." - -They were seated at a table at one side of the room, and as he spoke, -the regiment commander cranked the telephone box at his right and lifted -the receiver to his ear. The conversation was short, for the -intelligence department at the brigade headquarters had been busy on the -colonel's suggestion and already had found an expert qualified to probe -the mystery of the cubist cryptogram. He would start at once for the -regimental headquarters. - -"Just wait here till our cryptologist arrives," said the colonel, after -reporting the result of his conversation over the telephone; "and maybe -he'll be able to clear up matters so that we may begin to see bottom." - -The expert, Lieut. Gibbons, attached to the divisional commander's -intelligence staff, arrived half an hour later, and the spy story had to -be told all over again for his benefit, while he examined curiously the -"freak-art camouflaged message." - -"I may be able to work this out in a few hours, and then again, it may -take several days," he said. "I'd better take it with me back to -headquarters and work on it there and report back results as soon as I -get them." - -The colonel assented to this and the expert prepared to depart with the -cubist cryptogram in his possession. Then the regimental commander -turned to the officer and the private and said: - -"Lieutenant, you will return to your company. I will call on you when I -wish to communicate with you again on this matter. Private Ellis, you -will remain here. I can use another orderly, and, besides, I'd like to -have you close at hand in case of further developments in this spy -investigation. By the way, can you operate a motorcycle?" - -"Yes, sir," Irving replied. - -"Good. You can be useful at once. I have some papers that I want -delivered to the brigadier general. You may follow Lieut. Gibbons' -automobile and learn the way. He goes past the brigadier general's -headquarters." - -A motorcycle was soon produced and Irving, after a hurried examination -of it, announced that he understood it thoroughly. A minute later he -was in the saddle and "lickety-chugging" along after the intelligence -official's automobile. - -And meanwhile there was buzzing in his brain this new wonder with eager -expectation: - -"What was the real purpose of Col. Evans in keeping him at -headquarters"? Was that officer likely to have further army detective -work for him to do? - -Already he was beginning to feel like a government secret service man, -and he longed to be of further service to his country and the cause of -world freedom in this romantic line. - -He little dreamed how far beyond the scope of his saner imagination his -patriotic longing was to be realized. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - *A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT* - - -Three days later Col. Evans summoned Irving into his dugout office and -said to him: "Well, the cubist cryptogram has been read." - -The officer smiled with a kind of grim exultation as he spoke. Then he -added: - -"And it contained very important information." - -"I'm glad of it," the boy answered simply, although he felt almost as if -he would burst with a "hurrah!" that threatened to explode within him. - -"Of course you are," the commander concurred. "And I suppose you'd like -to know what's in it." - -"Naturally," Irving replied; "but I doubt very much if you are going to -tell me." - -"Why?" - -"Because, in the first place, it's none of my business as a private; -and, secondly, I presume it is information of a character that the war -department wishes to keep secret." - -"Right you are, Ellis. That's the main reason I put the matter up to -you. I wanted to find out what you thought of it. But there's another -reason why you shouldn't know the contents of that message, and I'll -tell you that later. Meanwhile, I have another important matter that I -want to quiz you on. Do you want to go back to the trenches?" - -"I'm perfectly willing to go back if that is the best thing I can do," -Irving answered readily. "But I'll say this, that if there's any other -place where I can be of greater service, I prefer to be sent there. -It's a question of service pure and simple with me. Naturally, I have -my selfish preferences, but I manage to suppress them." - -"Have you any idea where you could be of greater service than in the -trenches?" asked the colonel. - -"I'll answer your question in this way: I'm sure that the time I spent -helping to run down a dangerous spy was put to much better purpose than -it would have been if spent in the trenches, although I think I did some -good work out in No Man's Land in front of the trenches. But, of -course, there's no more of that kind of work left for me to do." - -"Are you sure about that?" - -Irving looked curiously at the putter of this question, considered a -moment or two, and then replied: - -"No, I'm not; but I don't know of anything more." - -"Suppose some more of that kind of work should be found, would you like -to do it?" - -"Surely." - -"Irrespective of the size of the task or the danger?" - -"I don't know how I could find anything much more dangerous than that -skirmish in No Man's Land," Irving replied slowly. "The other part of -your question I don't wish to answer rashly. Tell me the task, and I'll -tell you if it's too big for me." - -"That's the very answer I wanted you to make," said the colonel, almost -eagerly. "Now, suppose we should ask you to go over into Germany on an -important spy mission, how would that strike you?" - -This was something Irving was not looking for, and he was so astonished -that he did not answer for several moments. Then he said: - -"It would strike me all right." - -"Suppose you were given a credential that would effect admittance for -you into high official circles--would you go there and attempt to obtain -information that might be available, because of your credential?" - -"Yes, sir," Irving replied firmly. - -"What do you think of that stunt of tattooing a message in the form of a -freak art production on the arm of Lieut. Tourtelle?" - -Irving smiled. - -"Of course," he said, "it was clever and under ordinary circumstances -ought to have been successful; but I'd rather not go through life with a -thing like that on my arm. It might brand me as a freak, if not -something worse." - -"I don't blame you," returned the colonel, but as he spoke a peculiar -shrewdness lighted his eyes, causing the boy to wonder a little. Then he -added: "Still, it might be possible for one to submit to such nonsense -if thereby he might advance a great and worthy cause." - -"Sure, that's quite possible," Irving agreed; "but I don't see how -Tourtelle, or Hessenburg, can claim any such motive." - -"No, but if he had done it for his own country, the British empire, to -advance the cause of human freedom, what then?" - -"Well, in spite of the ridiculous appearance of the picture on his arm, -I'd say he ought to be proud to keep it there. I would. I think I'd be -proud to show it. It would be something to show and tell about -to--to--my great-great-grandchildren when I got old, you see," Irving -finished with a really illuminating smile. - -"I think I've quizzed you far enough on this subject," Col. Evans -announced at this point, throwing off the manner of vagueness that had -hitherto characterized a good deal of his conversation, and speaking -with unmistakable directness. "I'm now going to ask you to consent to -have that cubist picture tattooed on your arm." - -Irving looked in astonishment at the commanding officer of the regiment, -being scarcely able to believe his ears. Surely the proposition was -nonsensical. And, yet, this was no occasion for nonsense. But the -boy's wondering conjectures were interrupted by the officer, who was -adding to his last announcement. - -"After the art work on your arm is finished," he said, "I'm going to -send you into Germany to find out some things we want to know." - -"Yes?" Irving responded, with a rising inflection that carried with it a -suggestion of an interrogation. - -"Yes," the officer continued; "I want you to take the place of the spy -whose tattooed arm had to be amputated." - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - *PARACHUTE PRACTICE* - - -Private Ellis looked hard into vacancy and thought just as hard for half -a minute; then he said: - -"I get you, I think, Col. Evans, all except one point; and that, I -suppose, would come to me all right if I knew the contents of that -tattooed message." - -"No, you wouldn't," the colonel returned quickly. "It wouldn't do you a -bit of good." - -"I'd know whether it's important," Irving insisted. - -"I can tell you that much," was the officer's reassurance; "and then -you're no better off. It's of vast importance and would be of -incalculable value to our enemies if it fell into their hands." - -"Then there's only one explanation of your proposition," Irving -concluded. "You will change the dots and dashes so that they will -convey information different from that originally intended." - -"Good!" exclaimed the colonel. "You'll do all right. Are you willing -to undertake it?" - -"I am," said Irving. - -"Very well. So far so good. Now I'm going to test your nerve some -more. Look out, for this is going to be a corker. If you drop, you'll -drop hard." - -"I'm waiting," said the boy, with a kind of gritty grin. - -"All right. Would you dare make a descent with a parachute from an -altitude of several thousand feet?" - -This was a tester, indeed. Irving knew it the instant the last word of -the question left the colonel's lips, but he did not flinch. - -"Of course, I ought to have some preparation for such a feat," he -replied. "I've never been up in an aeroplane." - -"To be sure," Col. Evans agreed, with a vigorous nod. "You'll get all -the schooling necessary. You'll start out on the venture well equipped. -I'm going to send you to the aviation field near brigade headquarters, -and there you'll learn to do your umbrella stunt. Then you'll come back -here and go through some more preliminaries. The work of a spy, you -see, is just as much of a science as the handling of an army." - -That ended the interview, and an hour or two later Irving started in an -automobile for the aviation field with a note from the colonel to the -flying commander. There he was placed under an expert, and his -schooling in the art of dropping from lofty heights began. - -Private Ellis did not clearly understand just how all this program was -to be carried out, but he had no doubt that Col. Evans had a complete -plan in mind and that the missing details would fit in well with what -had already been revealed to him. So he went about his new work -confident that the outlook for success was good. - -His training at the aviation field lasted a week. During that time he -made half a dozen descents by parachute from various altitudes. The last -descent was from a height of 3,000 feet. By this time the experience -had become almost as commonplace a thriller as coasting on a long -toboggan slide or "dipping the dips" at an up-to-date amusement park. -He had never dreamed that descending with a parachute could become so -matter-of-course a performance. - -"I understand now how circus people can look on their death-defying -stunts without being awe-struck with their own daring," he mused after -he had floated down the fourth time at the rate of three-and-a-half feet -a second. "Just think of it: a good swift sprinter would run a hundred -yards in about one-third the time that I take to fall thirty-five feet. -This is quite a revelation of physical science to me." - -Irving was by nature a very observing youth. His instructor was -something more than a mere bird-man, for he had studied aviation as a -mathematical, as well as a physical, science. He showed the boy how to -figure out the rate of falling after being given the diameter of a -standard-made parachute and the weight of the aeronaut. - -The parachute with which the young spy-student got his experience as a -diver from the sky was one of several supplied for experimental work -following reports that the enemy had perfected a similar device which -had proved successful as a life saver in air battles. But the -experiments of Allied aviators had not proved sufficiently successful to -warrant providing all air fighters with "high-dive umbrellas." Descents -could be made with reasonable assurance of safety from aeroplanes flying -in good order, but if a pilot lost control of his machine the chances -were small that he or his companion gunner or bomb dropper would be able -to leap free from the struts and other framework with a parachute. - -Irving would have liked to learn to pilot an aeroplane, but there was -not time enough for him to take up that study. Indeed, before half the -week had elapsed he decided he could like no occupation better than that -of an aviator. He saw several expeditions start out to meet the enemy at -the front, and also saw them return, followed by the announcement on two -occasions that several of the British and Canadian flyers who had gone -out to meet the foe, full of confidence in their own prowess, would -return no more. They had been either shot down or forced to descend -within the enemy's lines. - -Nothing was said at the aviation field regarding the reason for the -training that was being given to Private Ellis. No questions were asked -and Irving did not volunteer any information. At last the instructor -stated to the boy that he had completed his course and had learned his -lessons well, and that he was now at liberty to seek further directions -from the colonel. He accordingly returned to the latter's dugout. - -Col. Evans asked him a number of questions, and then said: - -"I want you to return to the field hospital and get some more -information from that spy, Tourtelle, or Hessenburg. And in getting -your information, remember that you are to impersonate him on the other -side of the Rhine. Now, this is going to be a test of your -spy-intelligence. Let's see how well equipped you can return here after -your next interview with him. Do you get me, or must I give you some -tips?" - -"Don't give me any tips, but let me show you what I can do," Irving -replied. "If I fall down on this mission, you'll know I'm not the -fellow for the job." - -"All right," said the colonel. "I've telephoned for Lieut. Osborne to -come here and accompany you again. But this time, remember, you are to -do the quizzing, and the lieutenant is to report to me how efficiently -you went at it." - -"I'm glad to be put on my own responsibility, sir, before I drop down -from the clouds into the midst of the enemy," the boy said grimly. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - *STUDYING TO BE A SPY* - - -An hour later Lieut. Osborne arrived at the colonel's headquarters, and -he and Private Ellis started at once for the field hospital. There they -found Hessenburg, alias Tourtelle, much improved physically, but not a -little nervous regarding his own rather precarious prospects. Instead -of being an officer helping to direct, in his small way, the battle -against the autocratic presumption of a great military power, he was -something more than an ordinary prisoner of war--a trapped spy, who had -conspired with others for the downfall of his own country. With -seemingly genuine repentance, he exhibited much eagerness to give all -the information possible in order to induce leniency for himself from a -court-martial. - -"I am instructed by Col. Evans to make this statement to you as coming -from him," Irving announced early in the interview: "He desires all the -information you can give him regarding your program that was to have -been followed if you had succeeded in making your way beyond the enemy -lines. He has certain plans in view, the success of which will depend -largely on the correctness of your information. If you should misinform -him, through us, those plans undoubtedly would fail. Moreover, if any -enemy spy should get a tip through you or anybody else, that the -information supplied by you was being used to attain important ends, -those ends probably would never be reached. - -"What we must have from you, therefore, is the truth, and the whole -truth. To insure his receiving this, Col. Evans has asked me to inform -you that the only thing that can save you is the success of his plan. -If the plan fails, he will assume that the blame is yours and you will -be shot." - -Irving paused a moment, and Hessenburg seized the opportunity offered to -interpose thus: - -"You mean to say that he will have me shot for something for which I'm -not the least responsible?" - -"Not at all," Irving replied. "You will be shot for being a spy, which -has already been proved against you. But if you're careful to tell us -the truth, even though I don't cover some of it with my questions, your -chances to escape that penalty are good." - -"I understand," said the spy. "Fire away. I'll do the best I can." - -The three were seated about a small table in a small room selected for -the purpose. The door was closed. Irving drew a note-book and pencil -from his pockets and prepared to jot down reminders of the information -received by him. - -"First," he said, "we'll all talk in low tones to prevent, if possible, -anybody's overhearing us. Now, begin by telling me what was the extent -of your acquaintance with spies in Canada and their system of -operations." - -"My acquaintance with those people and their affairs was very limited," -Hessenburg replied. "I can't even say that my uncle was, or is, a spy, -although it would be natural to suspect him. Government agents watched -him pretty closely, and it's possible that he didn't actually do -anything that would call for his arrest. But I'm pretty certain he knew -a good deal more than I did. I think he knew all about my affair and -approved of it. To tell the truth, I believe that it was through him -that the spy organization learned that my sympathies were treasonable -and decided to approach me on the subject of making a spy agent out of -me. - -"It was the man with whiskers at the hospital who first broached the -subject to me: You seem to have a pretty complete report of that affair. -That man was a physician, and I got acquainted with him while making -business trips to the hospital for my uncle. He learned that I was an -art student, and one thing led to another, until he knew I wanted -England and France to be defeated and was willing to do anything I could -secretly to bring that about. After that it didn't take him long to -persuade me to be the bearer of a tattooed message on my arm into -Germany. The other fellow who helped tattoo the message was the artist, -an architectural draftsman with considerable skill at free-hand -drawing." - -"What are their names?" asked Irving. - -"Dr. Adolph Marks and Jacob L. Voltz." - -"What is your uncle's name?" - -"Ferdinand J. Hessenburg." - -"What does the 'J' stand for?" - -"Johan." - -Irving put a long string of questions of this kind, and thus obtained -much detailed information regarding the spy and his family connections -and home surroundings, also concerning the art school he attended in -Toronto. He made copious notes of the answers, so that the process of -questioning the confessed enemy agent was necessarily much slower than -it otherwise would have been. - -"I'm up against one difficulty that I'd like to clear away," the -inquisitor mused in the course of his examination of the wounded "second -looie"; "and that is the fact that this fellow is an artist and I am -not. Suppose when I get over in Berlin, some wise fellow, full of -information from Canada, should ask me to paint a cubist picture. What -would I do? I must find out if there's any danger of my being asked to -do anything of that sort to test my identity." - -He continued his questioning thus: - -"Did those two men who tattooed that picture on your arm know that you -were an art student?" - -"Oh, sure," Hessenburg replied. "That's how they happened to suggest -the art method of conveying the message." - -"And how about your credentials, your identification when you got into -Germany? How were the German officials to know who you were, that you -weren't a fake?" - -"By the message itself." - -"You think your instructors believed that was enough?" - -"Yes, they said so. We had that question up for discussion. I raised -it myself." - -"How did you raise it?" - -"I wanted them to get word to Berlin by another route to look out for -me, but they said that would involve a danger that they were trying to -avoid by the tattoo method. If they tried to get a wireless code -message to Berlin, it might be intercepted and deciphered, and then a -thorough search would be made for me." - -Irving was much relieved by this statement. There was no reason to -suspect Hessenburg of trying to deceive him in this regard. The spy -could have no grounds to suspect that his inquisitor was planning to -take his place and carry an altered copy of the cubist message to the -war lords of the enemy. - -"I guess I'm safe enough in that regard," he told himself. Then he -added aloud: - -"You think they have no information regarding you in Berlin?" - -"Yes--I don't see why they should. I was informed that the contents of -the message would be all the credential I'd need, that it would make me -so popular among the high-ups that I could have anything I asked for." - -"But they wouldn't tell you what was in the message?" - -"I didn't ask. I knew better. The plan we were working on was directly -opposed to my knowing the information I was to carry." - -The quizzing of Hessenburg continued half an hour longer, and Irving and -the lieutenant started back for the colonel's headquarters. - -"Did I omit any questions I should have asked?" the spy-student inquired -after they had ridden a short distance. - -"You did fine," Lieut. Osborne replied. "I couldn't think of another -question that I would have asked." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX* - - *LAST PREPARATIONS* - - -The next move in Irving's program of preparation for spy work in Germany -had to do with the tattooing of an altered copy of the cubist art -message on his arm. The alterations were made by the cryptologist who -had deciphered the original message. He made the changes after -consulting with intelligence officials, who prepared a system of dots -and dashes that ostensibly conveyed valuable information. This -"information," however, was not only misleading, but it was of such -character that the deception could hardly be discovered before the lapse -of months and possibly a year or more. - -By the time the spy-student had "completed his course of study" the -material, instruments, and artist were ready for the pictorial -operation. The instruments had been supplied by a surgeon, the artist -had been discovered after a search by telephone communication with the -various official headquarters of the regiment, and the material, some -pure aniline dye, had been found in a moving laboratory, or automobile -chemical outfit, maintained for surgical, sanitation, pure food, and -pure water purposes for the army. - -The artist, aided by a surgeon, and the dye and some sharp-pointed -needles, did the work. It was a long and tedious task, and many rests -were required for the users of the dye-dipped needles in order to keep -their nerves steady and their judgment sure in the delicate workmanship. -After it was finished, the boy compared it with the salt-preserved -original, and decided that the result could hardly have been more -satisfactory for the desired purpose. - -Then Irving had another session with Col. Evans, who gave him his final -instructions. - -"I haven't given you much of an idea yet what we want you to find out -for us at Berlin, or wherever you can get the information," said the -commander of the regiment. "We know, of course, that there is an -extensive enemy spy organization in both Canada and the United States, -and while we are able to get a few of those fellows now and then, still -they're pretty smart as a rule, and we feel that we have only scratched -the surface. We want their names, or the name of every leader of -consequence among them. That's what we're sending you into Germany for. -You must realize, therefore, that the mission on which you are being -sent is one of no small consequence. The highest officers in the army -have been acquainted with the plan and not only concurred in it, but -offered suggestions for its improvement and perfection. - -"You have learned from Hessenburg what you are to do when you land on -German soil. You will probably be taken to Berlin or some important -German military point, and there your message will be read. You will be -a hero in the minds of the highest commanders and will undoubtedly be -granted any favor you ask. My suggestion is that you ask to be assigned -for study to qualify you for the most confidential and important work in -the enemy secret service. Tell them you wish to return to America as a -leader in the work and call their attention to the fact that, as you -have become pretty thoroughly Americanized, or Canadianized, and lost -most of the foreign appearance and accent of your father, you can pass -successfully as a loyal citizen of the dominion. Then work your way -into the confidence of those who are directing the spy system of our -enemies and get at their records. Get the names of all the leaders you -can find. You may be able to do this openly, for your own information -when you return to take up more important work in Canada and the United -States. Give special attention to the spy activities in the United -States, for we want to show that the pro-German agents in that country -are violating its policy of neutrality. - -"Now, let me tell you frankly why we have selected you for this work in -spite of your youth. Any man,--I won't call you a boy, for from now on -you must be a man in every sense of the word,--any man who can put -together the twos and twos you summed up after your experience with -Hessenburg, or Tourtelle, and after reading your cousin's letter, is a -natural-born investigator. The average person would have been confused -by that evidence; he would not have had the nerve to form the -conclusions you formed. I'm not saying this to flatter you. If you feel -in the least flattered, you had better say so at once, and give up the -whole scheme, for there is great danger of your failing and being shot. -Let me tell you why: - -"The man who has one second's time to entertain a conceited or -self-conscious thought, devotes just that much time to the undermining -of his own strength. Get me?" - -"Absolutely," Irving replied. "I've told myself that many times, -although not in those words." - -"Now," continued the colonel, "I believe you told me that you had -studied German at school?" - -"Yes, I had one year of it." - -"And Hessenburg said he knew only a little of the language?" - -"Yes." - -"Does he know any Austrian?" - -"No. His uncle and his father, although Austrians by birth, lived -mostly in Germany until they emigrated." - -"Good. You will not be under suspicion because of your ignorance of the -German language. Still, it would be well for you to be able to make -yourself understood and to understand others from the moment you get -into that country. So I'm going to put you under an instructor for a -few days." - -In accord with this announcement, Private Ellis talked nothing but -German for a week with an orderly of German parentage who had enlisted -with the Canadian army to help "get the kaiser." By the end of that -time he felt as if he could hold his own, conversationally, at anything -from a kaffee klatsch to a Berliner royal turnverein, and announced that -he was ready to make his "high dive" into the land of the enemy. - - - - - *CHAPTER XX* - - *"SECOND LOOIE ELLIS"* - - -Meanwhile activities at the front had been progressing in a decisive -manner, although familiarity with the progress and its significance was -restricted to an exclusive class, consisting of certain officers and an -army of industrious workers, who might be classed as the moles of modern -warfare. - -The latter were the engineers and workmen whose occupation at times was -a good deal like that of a miner. It had been their duty to tunnel, -tunnel, tunnel, until you'd think the whole of the country in this -vicinity must be a system of underground passages that would almost -rival the catacombs of Rome. - -This tunneling, or sapping, was one of the most important forms of -strategy in the war. Undoubtedly in future years, remnants of many of -these underground passages, preserved for their value as historical -curiosities, will be inspected by thousands of tourists visiting the -scenes of the world's greatest conflict. - -Vimy Ridge, near the end of the historic fight at that long elevation of -earth, was a veritable human anthill. The work of opposing armies in -their efforts to undermine each other is an exceedingly interesting, if -terrible, operation, and Vimy Ridge furnished an excellent illustration -of this. - -Early in the fight for possession of the hill the tunneling began. At -the beginning of this narrative, when Private Irving Ellis and "Second -Looie Tourtelle" were scouting in No Man's Land, this boring of the -elongated mole on the earth's surface was as much of a fencing contest -as a sword battle between two seventeenth century Frenchmen. The -Germans held the hill, had taken possession of it and intrenched -themselves on the eastern slope as one of the strongholds of their -advanced positions in France. The Canadians and the British in -attempting to dislodge the invaders, found themselves at a considerable -disadvantage. There seemed to be only one way to overcome this -difficulty without a great slaughtering of the forces of the Allies. -This was by boring under the hill, mining it with trinitrotoluol, -touching off the explosive with electric sparks and blowing the -fortified mound into Kingdom Come. - -Who first started the undermining process may never be known, unless -both kept records of dates and doings along this line. It is probable, -however, that it was begun by the Canadians, for the opposing army had -not as great incentive for haste as had the Allies. Moreover, they did -not have to go back so far to start their tunnels, and their -subterranean operations were more of defensive than offensive character. - -Statements from authoritative sources since the close of the war -indicate that this tunneling contest was somewhat of a "diving" nature. -It was a contest of depth as well as progress. The Allied engineers -began operations at a certain level and went forward. As they advanced -they listened. It was like an American Indian putting his ear to the -ground to listen for the approach of distant enemy horsemen, or a -physician examining the chest of a patient with a stethoscope for -"unfriendly" sounds in the heart and lungs. The engineers carried a -sort of subterranean stethoscope to detect the approach of enemy -tunnelers. The instant they heard sounds of Prussian engineers boring -their way to meet the sappers of the Allies, they stopped operations and -went back to a new starting point and began over again, this time on a -lower level. This process was repeated many times, the Prussians ever -planning to get near enough to the Canadian sappers to enable them to -stop their subterranean operations with high explosives, and the Allied -tunnelers purposing to plant enough trinitrotoluol under Vimy Ridge to -blow it sky-high. - -Meanwhile, Private Irving Ellis, in preparation for the greatest event -of his young career, was oblivious to all these activities, which were -destined to culminate in one of the biggest sensations of the war. He -knew in a vague way that something was going on under the ground at the -front. He had heard more or less reliable trench gossip to this effect -and had enough real information to assure him that there was something -behind it. Moreover, it was reasonable, to one of modern warfare -training, to suspect very extensive sapping activities in positions of -this kind. However, he would have been greatly astonished if an -intimation had come to him of how his own preparations for a plunge from -the skies were converging in point of time with the preparations of the -Canadians for blowing up Vimy Ridge. - -At last the occasion arrived for the carefully planned departure by -night of the "boche spy" with his tattooed message camouflaged in a -"spasm of cubist art," as it was characterized by the architectural -draftsman who helped copy it on Irving's left forearm. The latter sat -in the rear seat of the aeroplane from which he had taken his lessons in -dropping from the sky and which was specially fitted up with an -elaborate parachute mechanism of the latest and most approved -development. - -Apparently it was an important occasion in aircraft activities aside -from Irving's scheduled stunt, for a large squadron of machines was -preparing for flight at the same time. Probably a big raid was about to -be made on the boche lines or some important ammunition or supply -station of the enemy, the boy reasoned. But no information was -volunteered to him on this subject and he asked none, for it had nothing -to do with his affair. He was merely to watch for his opportunity, pick -his own time for taking "French leave," signal the pilot by an agreed -touch on the shoulder, "put up his umbrella," and depart. - -Irving had more than one good cause to feel elated at the manner in -which circumstances had shaped themselves for an all-around success of -his venture up to the present time. And not the least of these was the -presentation to him, a few hours before his flight over the boche lines, -of a second lieutenant's commission. Accompanying this was a note from -Col. Evans wishing him the "best of good fortune," and concluding thus: - -"You will take your leave in the same rank that Hessenburg might have -taken his, namely, as a second lieutenant, if your shrewd interpretation -of developing events had not intervened. If you have any reasonable -degree of success in this big venture of yours--and I'm sure you -will--I'll guarantee you a first lieutenancy, and it will take only a -continued exhibition of the good sense and judgment that I have seen in -you up to date to bring you eventually a captain's commission." - -"It's 'Second Looie Ellis' now," Irving mused, as he took his seat in -the rear cockpit, strapped himself in, buckled about his waist, chest -and shoulders the parachute harness, and waited for the pilot to start -the motor that would send them away off on a wild night trip through the -air over a wilder scene of human slaughter and with one of the wildest -spy-plans in view that ever put thrills into the records of -international secret service agents. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXI* - - *THE BLOWING UP OF VIMY RIDGE* - - -The aeroplane in which Lieut. Ellis made his "get-away" flight was -equipped with two machine guns, one for the pilot and one for the gunner -in the rear cockpit. While practicing the art of parachute descent, -Irving also acquired some practical knowledge of the use of a machine -gun in the air, not with the idea of engaging an enemy plane in battle, -but in order that he might put up an appearance of being skilled in sky -fighting if it became advisable for him to make such pretense in order -to avert suspicion as to the motive of his "escape." In other words, he -must be careful not to create a suspicion that there was collusion -between him and the pilot. - -The parachute was folded compactly and deposited in a cylindrical -chamber behind the rear seat. The mechanism by means of which this aero -life-preserver was put in operation may be described as follows: -Directly in front of the parachute container was a device which, when -put in action, effected the release of the giant "umbrella." In front -of this device was a compressed-air reservoir. Within easy reach of the -person occupying the rear seat was a ratchet-lever, which, when pulled, -threw the seat back to an angle of about forty-five degrees and jerked -open the compressed-air reservoir. The opening of this reservoir put the -release machinery into action, and this in turn threw out of the -containing chamber the compactly folded parachute, which automatically, -on being released, spread out and encompassed a great volume of -resisting atmosphere. This powerful resistance, acting like a hurricane -in a tent, caused the occupant of the rear cockpit to be jerked along -the slanting back of his seat out into the vast expanse of empty space. - -One great beauty of this device, when used for exhibition purpose, was -the fact that if it failed to work, the aviator retained his seat as -comfortably as if nothing had happened. As a life-saver, of course, -this peculiarity had little or no value, inasmuch as a flyer in distress -would be lost if the parachute failed to pull him out of his seat. - -Before each of his experiments, Irving had tested the "sky-umbrella" -with a dummy heavier than himself in order to be certain that there was -no danger of ripping the silken cloth. A slight tear produced by the -strain on the parachute while he was being dragged from his seat might -become larger during the descent and cause him to fall with sufficient -shock to seriously injure or kill him. This was really the only -considerable danger in the whole performance, but it was one that needed -to be guarded against very carefully. - -Up flew the aeroplane with graceful sweep and joined the flock of two -score other "night birds" that were starting out on a raid. The flight -to the front lines was quickly made and without incident of note. In -fact, not an enemy plane arose in the air to oppose the attacking -squadron until the leading flyers were directly over No Man's Land, -brilliantly illuminated with the fireworks of battle, and then something -happened that must have thrilled every aviator who witnessed it, -accustomed though he was almost daily to thrills that make the life of a -soldier on land or a Jackie of the navy seem like a tame existence in -comparison. - -Suddenly there was an upheaval of earth almost directly below him, -followed by another and another in quick succession; then a regular -concert of upheavals in almost a straight line, and a very long line at -that, evidently, even to a pair of eyes looking down from a great height -in the air. There was a magnitude in the scene that could not be -mistaken, although the ridge of land that was visible only a few moments -before looked like little more than an elongated anthill. - -"My goodness!" Irving exclaimed, though the noise of the motor and the -propeller and the rush of air about him made it impossible for him to -hear himself. "My goodness! they've actually blown up Vimy Ridge." - -The machine swept on with the flock of mechanical war-birds, on over No -Man's Land and past the enemy front lines. Meanwhile Irving gazed down, -fascinated by the scene far, far below. It was a scene of the most -diminutive dwarfs now. The trenches looked like little more than pen -scratches on a dim-colored sheet, certainly not more than chalk marks, -of no particular color, on a "faded blackboard." And the people--the -soldiers! Yes, he could see them now, in large numbers. They looked -like ants--no, let's not understate it,--they looked like mice, small -mice, however; and they arose--on the Canadian side--out of the "chalk -marks" and dashed forward, a very short distance, it seemed, only a few -inches or feet at the most, but they chopped off their steps so short -that they appeared just to creep along. Irving was astonished at the -clearness of the night scene under the battle's illumination. - -But they made it finally, up the side of the hill, if indeed any hill -remained, and into the crater--Irving could see an altered condition -following the trinitrotoluol explosions, and concluded that there must -be a long, a very long, crater--miles of it--in the place of Vimy Ridge. -They were cheering like mad--Irving knew it, though he could not hear a -voice. Yes, into the crater they went, a myriad of insects, or wee -animals,--they had possession of it--the enemy seemed not to offer any -resistance. They were whipped, thoroughly--they knew it. Tons and tons -of high explosive planted under that ridge had blown it to the sky. - -"No, it didn't, either," Irving mused with a smile of "altitude -amusement." "It was only a flash in the pan. Not a pebble came half as -high as we are, and the sky is hundreds of miles--umph! How much higher -is it? My! if the world could only get up here and look at itself, I -wonder if things wouldn't go a little differently. No, I'm afraid not! -There'd always be somebody then trying to grab a bigger slice of the -moon than he's entitled to. - -"But what am I thinking about? My head must be getting giddy. That -won't do a bit. I'm on very serious business. The bombing planes are -hovering over the rear line trenches and dropping their flower-pots on -'em. The anti-aircraft guns are getting busy, too. There went one -right ahead of us. They're getting our range. And here comes a fleet -of German planes to meet us. Well, it won't be safe to wait very long, -and it won't be fair to my pilot. Just as soon as we get well beyond -that third trench there, I'll take my plunge." - -Irving set himself fixedly as if about to make a mighty leap or a -pistol-shot start in a foot race. As a matter of fact, he was going to -do nothing of the kind. Only a sort of passive effort was required of -him, and yet, his nerves had never been more tense. He put his right -hand on the release lever and leaned forward, his left hand almost -touching the pilot, and looked down over the side of the car, then off -toward the approaching enemy squadron, then at the camouflaged positions -of the belching anti-aircraft guns, then here and there at the exploding -shells in the midst of the invading fleet, then back again at the ground -scene directly below. - -Suddenly he leaned farther forward and slapped his hand smartly on the -pilot's shoulder. The latter nodded and turned the nose of the sky -machine downward. This was Irving's cue. He leaned back and pulled the -release lever as far as it would go. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXII* - - *BEHIND THE GERMAN LINES* - - -The "escape" was successful in every respect. The boy rocked to and fro -all the way down, like a cork on a billowy sea. Down, down he went, the -scene continuing, in the glare of innumerable lights of the battle, -almost as bright as day. Irving could see clearly where he was going, -although it was just beyond the zone of blazing activities. Between the -chosen landing place and the fighting terrain was a small belt of -timber, but the surroundings were lighted so brilliantly that the -general character and lay of the land could be determined even from a -height of several thousand feet. - -Reinforcements were being rushed forward from points farther in the -rear. Irving could see a wave of men advancing toward the lighted area. -It looked as if attempts were being made to retake the hill, or what was -left of it. Undoubtedly the enemy had lost heavily as a result of the -volcanic explosions and the need of reserves was pressing at the front. - -Irving landed right in the midst of a company of advancing men. The -lieutenant called a halt and remained long enough to make inquiry as to -the meaning of the parachute descent. The boy replied in fairly good -German that he was a spy in the service of the emperor, and asked to be -directed to regimental, divisional or army headquarters. The officer -assigned a sergeant to accompany the "arrival from the sky" and, after a -tramp of more than an hour over a highway on which they had to dodge -camions and autos and motorcycles and troops almost as watchfully as one -must dodge heavy traffic in a warehouse district in a large city, they -arrived at a small town where they found a brigadier general's -headquarters in what had formerly been the chief municipal building of -the place. - -Lieutenant Ellis was taken in charge here by an intelligence attache, -who, observing the Canadian uniform worn by the boy, questioned him as -to his identity and mission. Irving was greatly pleased, as the -conversation progressed, to find that he understood almost everything -his inquisitor said and could answer intelligibly all the questions put -to him. The conversation, freely translated into English, was as -follows: - -"Who are you?" - -"My name is Hessenburg. I am a second lieutenant in the Canadian army. -But I am a Prussian sympathizer and the bearer of a message from agents -of Emperor William working secretly for him on the other side of the -Atlantic ocean." - -"To whom is the message addressed?" - -"I don't know. It is in cipher." - -"Then how are you going to find the person to whom it should be -delivered?" - -"I was informed that any high officer in the German army, from brigadier -general up, could tell me what to do the instant he heard my story." - -"How did you get past the Canadian and German lines without being -captured; or did you surrender in battle?" - -"No, although that was my plan at first. I managed to get into the air -service temporarily and dropped with a parachute, from an aeroplane in -the midst of a big battle after we got over on this side." - -The intelligence attache uttered a guttural something that sounded like -an oath. From the tone and facial expression accompanying it, Irving -mentally translated the ejaculation into the much milder, "You don't say -so!" - -"That's true," interposed the sergeant who accompanied Irving from the -scene of his descent. "I saw him come down. The lieutenant of my -company ordered me to bring him here." - -"If all this is true, I suppose you'll have to see the general," the -attache concluded. "Just wait here and I'll find out how long you'll -have to wait. You say your message is important?" - -"I haven't read it," the spy answered; "but I was informed that it was -very important. I think you'd better help me get it to him as soon as -possible." - -The attache left Irving and his companion seated on a long bench in the -orderly room and entered the adjutant's office. A few minutes later he -came out again and announced that the message was "on its way to the -general" and an order to "come in" would probably come out in a short -time. - -The "short time" was more than two hours, however. The brigadier -general had been napping. Ordinarily his night repose might fittingly -have been called sleep, but the taking of Vimy Ridge rendered any such -peaceful term inappropriate. It is probable, indeed, that there were -naps for few German officers of whatever rank, attached to that sector, -on the night of the great battle on the Canadian front. At any rate, -this officer was one of the few, and he awoke at break of day. One of -the first matters brought to his attention was the arrival of a spy from -America with an important message. - -"Bring him in," he ordered. - -A minute later Irving was standing before a very burly and very fierce -looking individual in the uniform of a high commanding officer and -saluting him with an appearance of self-confidence, in spite of a most -provoking nervousness that unexpectedly seized him. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIII* - - *OFF FOR BERLIN* - - -Irving Ellis recovered his composure and his nervousness left him in -full control of his faculties as he answered the first question put to -him by the brigadier general. It was a very simple question, thus: - -"You are Second Lieutenant Hessenburg of the Canadian army?" - -"I am." - -"But a subject of Kaiser Wilhelm?" - -"No, I am not," Irving replied. "I'm a subject of Great Britain, for my -father was naturalized in Canada. But my sympathies are over here and -when I am old enough, you'll find my citizenship where it ought always -have been." - -"There, I got a little truth into my bunch of lies," Irving interpolated -to himself. "My citizenship will be where it always ought to have been, -and was, and is, and always will be, as long as I live--in the United -States. I spoke with a double tongue and satisfied my own conscience at -the end. Oh, I can see that I'm going to be some prevaricator before -this adventure is finished. Really, it never occurred to me before, but -a spy must have the biggest imagination on earth to be successful. -However, it's a good cause, that's some consolation." - -Before the boy finished this soliloquy, the brigadier general was asking -another question: - -"And you were sent here by some of our agents in Canada?" - -"Yes." - -"With a message?" - -"Yes." - -"Let me see it." - -Irving took off his coat and rolled up his left shirtsleeve, exposing to -view the "cubist art" tattooing recently pricked into the skin with -sharp pointed needles and aniline dye. The brigadier general gazed at -it with deep interest two or three times; then looked into the spy's -face and said: - -"You're all right. You must go to Berlin at once." - -He contemplated the hieroglyphic oddity a minute longer and then said: - -"My curiosity is keen to know how you got over here." - -"I flew over," Irving replied. - -"How could you manage that? Were you in the air service?" - -"Yes, during the last few weeks. I was out with a pilot last night and -slipped away with a parachute in the heat of the battle." - -It was the brigadier general's turn now to utter something of the -explosive character of an oath. As Irving's schooling and recent drill -in the Teutonic tongue did not comprehend such ultra-rhetorical figures -of speech, he did not get the full significance of the expletive. - -But it was evident that the officer's outburst was anything but an -expression of anger. Admiration popped into his eyes and spoke out of -them in "violent harmony" with his oath. But this overflowing -endorsement of the spy's activities was suddenly interrupted by a change -of manner that caused Irving a little uneasiness as a new thought took -possession of the burly military man's mind. - -"What do you suppose they think about you now over in the Canadian -lines? They're onto you now, aren't they? If we want you to return on -another mission over there, you've spoiled the game by your manner of -escape, haven't you? How could you explain it if they put you on the -grill?" - -"That'll be very easy," Irving replied. "I waited for the right -conditions. We got into a fight with a couple of German planes and it -was looking pretty bad for us. Then a shell from an anti-aircraft gun -exploded so near to us that it seemed impossible for us to have escaped -serious damage. Well, two seconds later I saw the pilot was having -trouble with his engine; so I concluded it was time for me to take my -departure." - -The look of gleeful admiration returned to the officer's face. - -"You handled it well, very well," he said, with a disagreeable, gloating -laugh. - -Irving's sentiments, however, were of much different nature. He was -thoroughly disgusted with his own "string of falsehoods," as he -characterized the stories he had told to the intelligence attache and -the brigadier general. - -"I know very well that a spy is a personified fib, pure and simple," he -told himself with a reflective compression of his lips. "I don't think -it's any worse than that, and I don't think the stories I told were any -worse than fibs. A spy is just a misrepresentation walking around on -two feet. If he doesn't tell a single fib, it's his business to make -the enemy think he's something he isn't. If he does this for a bad -cause, he's a bad man; if he does it for a worthy cause, he's a good -man, not because he fibs, but because of the cause he misrepresents. So -long as he doesn't misrepresent the cause, he ought to be all right. -Still, the world will admire him more if he's smart enough to get what -he wants without telling any downright li--fibs like the ones I told. -I'm going to see if I can't get along hereafter without fibbing." - -Irving worked this reasoning out in his mind as the conversation with -the officer proceeded. He was much relieved also on finding that he was -able to answer all succeeding questions without resorting to any gross -misstatements of facts. At last the brigadier general closed the -interview by saying: - -"I'll excuse you for the time being. Meanwhile I'll communicate with my -superior officers and you'll wait under orders of the adjutant for -instructions from me." - -Irving returned to the orderlies' room. He had not eaten breakfast and -informed an officer of the hungry condition of his stomach. This -resulted in his being turned over to an orderly who conducted him to the -officers' mess, where he was served with a very good meal. - -"I guess I'm in right," he mused. "They give me the best feed and show -me considerable attention. The auspices are good. Hope I can keep -things coming my way, and I'll get what I'm after." - -About an hour after breakfast, the adjutant summoned Irving into his -office and spoke to him, thus: - -"We have just received orders to send you to Berlin. Are you ready to -go?" - -"I haven't any luggage to pack," the spy answered. - -"You will be supplied with what you need," the adjutant continued. "You -will also be accompanied by a young lieutenant who is recovering from -wounds received at the front and who has been granted home leave for a -month or two. He lives in Berlin. He will be here soon and go with you -to the train." - -An hour later Irving was on a troop train, speeding away to the -northeast, away from the still thundering battle front and toward the -objective city of his secret-service aims, hopes, plans and patriotic -ambition. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIV* - - *IN BERLIN* - - -Berlin! - -The name was well worth the exclamation. If Irving did not utter it -aloud, he thought it in the "tone of voice" in which it appears here. - -He had ridden more than half of the preceding day, all night and well -into another day with a companion in whom he was able to find little of -sympathetic interest. The fellow, an infantry lieutenant, about 30 -years old, was a cold-eyed, emotionless individual and about as cruelly -boastful Prussian as one would care to meet. There was no fate too -frightful for an English soldier in his opinion, and all other Allies -fighting on the side of the British ought to be reduced to vassalage and -forced to pay tribute to the House of Hohenzollern. - -Irving tried for a while to engage in intelligent conversation with him, -but at last found this impossible and decided to encourage him along the -line of least resistance with the view of obtaining as much information -from him as his prejudiced mind was capable of giving. By discounting -every thing uttered with a burst of passion or with sneer of contempt or -tone of bravado and by watching for inadvertent admissions, Irving -gleaned enough to convince him that the central allies were not nearly -as confident of winning the war as they wished the outside world to -believe. - -Lieutenant Ellis was a good enough spy not to confine his observations -to the one supreme purpose of obtaining a list of enemy agents in Canada -and the United States. He saw at once, after landing with his parachute -in the boche lines, that he could be of great service to the cause for -which the Allies were fighting by gathering a fund of information -regarding the man power, supplies, ammunition and the general attitude -of the people in the kaiser's country. By the time he reached Berlin, -he felt considerably compensated for the uncongeniality of his traveling -companion during the trip. - -They took a horse-cab--there were no automobile taxis in evidence--and -were driven at a very sleepy gait to a high-class hotel in -Friederichstrasse. The horse behind which they rode looked as if he -might have had a full meal of oats and corn some time before the war. -There was little in the scenes through which they passed that impressed -Irving as bearing any indications of the ravages of war, except perhaps -the scarcity of automobiles and the lack of that spick-and-span -condition for which the streets of Berlin had long been famous. The boy -spy was unable to discover any quality of excellence at all superior to -that of Buffalo, N.Y., in general appearance. - -The hotel he found well furnished, decorated and supplied with rugs. -The rooms taken by Irving and his companion were all that a -"particular," if not fastidious, guest would demand. True, a girl -operated the elevator, but the young spy had learned, through letters -from his cousin, that Canadian girls went much farther than this in -their patriotic efforts, sharing not a little in the heavy labors of -munition shops and the general industries. - -Irving's companion, whose name was Fritz Vollmer, spoke a few words to -the clerk in an undertone, and the clerk nodded knowingly, as if to -indicate that everything was all right. - -"An old friend o' mine," Lieut. Vollmer remarked as they walked toward -the elevator. "I just told him you were all right in spite of your -uniform, that you'd been a spy over in the enemy's country and hadn't -had time to change your clothes since you got through the lines. You -won't be bothered about room rent or any other expenses here. Those -will be taken care of. You're not to change your uniform until after -you've had a session at intelligence headquarters." - -"When will that be?" Irving inquired. - -"This afternoon some time," was the answer. "I'll go over and make -arrangements and then come back and go with you. Meanwhile we'll go out -and have some lunch." - -In spite of Lieut. Vollmer's supercilious ways and boastful language, -the young boche officer evinced a deep personal interest in his -companion. But undoubtedly the reason for this was the daring and -romantic record that the young spy had behind him. And this record -necessarily obtruded itself so conspicuously in Irving's affairs right -now that the vainglorious Teuton could not subordinate it even when -picturing his own "high excellence." Therefore Lieut. Vollmer's -uncontrollable admiration for the venturesome youth whom he was -companioning was just a result of the over-awed condition of his own -mind. - -They went out to a cafe in Friederichstrasse and ate a very modest -luncheon for which Vollmer paid fifteen marks. Then they returned to -the hotel, and Irving remained in his room while Vollmer went to -Wilhelmstrasse to announce the arrival of "the spy" and make -arrangements for presenting him to the proper official. The boy would -have been glad to go out and stroll through the streets of the capital -of the great war-making nation, but hesitated to do this because he -feared that his Canadian uniform might get him into needless difficulty. - -An hour later Fritz returned and announced that he had found the proper -official to receive the spy's message. That official, he said, was -eager to meet the kaiser's daring agent, and would he please return with -Lieut. Vollmer at once? - -Irving assented, and together they left the hotel. On the way the -Prussian officer thrilled the spy with patriotic fervor which he was -able to suppress only with great difficulty by informing him that the -United States had declared war against Germany a few days before. - -"America will bitterly rue the day she took that action," Lieut. Vollmer -declared vengefully. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXV* - - *THE READING OF THE CRYPTOGRAM* - - -It was a rather imposing structure with gray-stone front that Irving and -his companion entered in Wilhelmstrasse as the headquarters of the -globe-encircling spy system of the terrible German empire. They walked -through the doorway and passed down the cavernous corridor, with its -innumerable ramifications of mystery, secrecy, penetration. All of these -ramifications were by no means physical and evident to the inquisitive -eyes of the visitor from across the sea. Most of them, nearly all, in -fact, were pictured in the brain of Lieut. Ellis, who saw visions of -thousands of communicating branches reaching out into every part of the -civilized world. - -The names of Bernstorf, Von Papen, Boy-Ed, and other former leading -agents of the kaiser in the United States flashed through his mind, and -he was curious to know what sort of men directed their activities from -central headquarters. It was not long before his curiosity was rewarded -with visual evidence. - -Lieut. Ellis and Lieut. Vollmer walked up a broad flight of flagstone -steps to the second floor and into the waiting room of a large suite of -offices. There they were met by a girl of freshman high-school age, who -evidently served in the capacity of office boy. - -"Have the office boys all been drafted for military service?" Irving -asked himself as his companion answered the girl's questions. - -They were directed to wait a few minutes, which they accordingly did, -and in a quarter of an hour were ushered into the presence of a -mild-eyed man whose least prepossessing characteristic was the -undependability of the mildness of his gaze. Irving had not been long -in the room with him before he realized that the fellow's "gentleness" -was a carefully cultivated "attribute," schemed, plotted, and devised to -qualify him for the shrewdest and most subtle of government secret -service. He was a large man of good proportions, with a mustache that -stood out like a tooth-brush parted in the middle and a very fair and -well rounded face. Although he might have passed for thirty-five years -of age, Irving subsequently learned that he was nearly ten years older. -He answered to the title of "the baron," addressed familiarly by Lieut. -Vollmer. - -"Here he is," said the latter, who seemed to think this was all the -introduction needed. - -Irving bowed, and "the baron" bowed. There was no shaking of hands -between them. - -"Very well," said the intelligence official, indicating thereby that the -announcer's duty was performed and that he might now retire. Vollmer did -as suggested by the manner of the receiving nobleman, and Irving and his -world-plotting host were alone. - -"I have heard your story from Lieut. Vollmer," "the baron" began. "He -said you had a message tattooed on your arm. Let me see it." - -Irving took off his coat, rolled up his shirt sleeve and exhibited for -inspection the "cubist art cryptogram" on his left forearm. The -official gazed at it closely a minute or two; then said: - -"Just wait a minute and I'll have it read." - -He lifted a telephone receiver to his ear and called out a local number -through the transmitter. Presently he was talking to the desired -department. - -"Send Kiehler and Joe Weber in here," he said. - -Three minutes later two middle-aged men entered. Neither of them was of -striking appearance. In fact, each had a rather stolid look, but it was -not long before Irving realized that there was some real mechanical, if -not imaginative, ability underneath their apparent stupidity. - -"Take this young man into your office and read that cipher message on -his arm," ordered "the baron." - -The two cryptogram readers bowed and one of them requested Irving to -follow. They left the office and proceeded to another on the top floor -of the building. - -It was a very light suite of rooms that Irving now found himself in. -One room particularly was supplied with the best of daylight -illumination through a skylight overhead. It reminded Irving of an -architectural drafting room. Half a dozen men were seated at as many -desks working as diligently over record and manuscript material before -them as so many college students "cramming" for a trigonometry or -chemistry exam. Irving was conducted to an unoccupied desk in a remote -corner of the room and there he and his two companions sat down and the -consultation began. - -The two cryptologists, however, had little to say. They seemed to have -little interest in Irving save as to the cipher message he had brought -for them to translate. They exhibited no surprise when the boy spy -rolled up his sleeve and disclosed the manner in which he had conveyed -his message. They seemed to have become so accustomed to the discovery -of unusual things that nothing could astonish them. Stolidity of manner -was a term that fitted them exactly, but certainly not unqualified -stolidity. Irving felt almost as if their eyes burned right into his -arm. - -They worked diligently for more than an hour over the boy's bared arm, -frequently jotting down characters on tabs of paper before them. At -last they finished and informed him that he might go. - -"Go where?" Irving inquired. - -Without answering, one of the men picked up the receiver of a telephone -and put it to his ear. He gave a number to the operator and soon he was -talking to someone. The waiting boy was sure that the person "at the -other end" was "the baron." - -"Go back to the hotel and remain there for instructions," the man at the -'phone said presently, as he hung up the receiver. - -Irving left the building, intending to take a cab to the hotel. He had -scarcely reached the street, however, when it suddenly occurred to him -that he had no money with him. - -"I'll have to walk," he mused. "Well, it isn't very far and I can make -it easy before suppertime. But I wonder if I'll get through with this -uniform. Well, I'll use my nerve and see what happens." - -He started out briskly, but observed as he went that he attracted -attention from a good many persons on the street, some of them soldiers. -Undoubtedly it was his nerve that got him through, but he could not -avoid several times turning his head with whatever nonchalance he could -command and stealing glances to the right and left and behind. After -looking back two or three times, he became curious regarding the purpose -of a middle-aged man in civilian clothes whom he had observed in front -of the intelligence building as he came out of the main entrance. - -"I wonder if that fellow is following me?" he said to himself, a little -nervously. - -He walked a few squares farther, then stopped and looked into a tailor -show-window. He remained there several minutes, really interested in the -display and the prices. With a kind of meditative look, he glanced down -the street, but could see nothing of his supposed shadower. Then he -moved on again, turned a corner, walked half a square, and suddenly -faced about as if he had made a mistake in his direction and must -retrace his steps. - -The middle-aged man in civilian clothes, who was not more than a hundred -feet away, turned almost as suddenly as the boy in Canadian khaki had -turned and entered a cafe that he seemed about to pass. - -"I'm being followed," muttered the spy with a real chill of alarm. "I -wonder what's up. Have they found something wrong with that message? -Did those cryptogram readers discover that the message had been tampered -with?" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVI* - - *FOLLOWED* - - -Irving walked on as if nothing unusual had occurred to disturb his peace -of mind, and yet nothing more disquieting perhaps had ever moved the -quakings of fear within him. If the man who had followed him could have -looked into the face of the young second lieutenant in khaki as the -latter passed the cafe, undoubtedly he would have seen there an -expression of countenance exceedingly interesting to him. - -The day was now rapidly drawing to a close, and the damp April -atmosphere, chilly enough when the sun was at its zenith, was becoming -cold toward night. Irving had no overcoat. He had worn only a -flying-coat and "cover all," aside from his ordinary fair-weather -garments, on the night of his ascent in an aeroplane and descent with a -parachute, but he was not particularly uncomfortable even under present -conditions. Still, he felt that it would be much more pleasant within -four walls of a first class hotel, even though, as he suspected, the -management was burning coal under war emergency limitations. So he -hurried on, and did not slacken his pace until he was back at the -hostelry. - -About a square from the hotel he turned and looked down the street to -see if the middle-aged man in citizen's clothes was still following him. -Yes, there he was, 200 feet back, sauntering with a long stride, which -rendered it possible for him to keep pace with the spy without an -appearance of haste. As the latter entered the lobby and walked toward -the elevator, he said to himself: - -"I'll have to bluff it through. I'm not going to pretend ignorance of -the fact that I've been followed. But I mustn't appear to be afraid of -being watched. I must present the matter in a different light." - -He knocked on the door of Vollmer's room, but received no response. -Then he went to his own room to wait until his guide returned. - -"I'll have to wait for him before I can get any supper," he mused. "I'm -in a peculiar situation, and don't know exactly where I'm at. I think -I'll have to have a plain talk with him tonight, much as I hate to rest -any of my fortunes on his questionable goodwill." - -Lieut. Vollmer returned at about 6 o'clock and announced without any -formal greeting that they would go out to supper. Irving picked up his -hat from the bed where he had thrown it on entering the room and -signified his readiness to go at once. - -He was eager to begin conversation on the subject that interested him -most, but decided that he must await a favorable opportunity. His -companion had relapsed again into unsociable aloofness, and the walk of -three squares to the cafe where they had their luncheon was made without -the passing of a word between them. - -The meal, too, was eaten almost as quietly. Irving made a few attempts -to draw his companion into conversation, hoping to lead up gradually to -the subject that was weighing rather heavily on his mind, but he failed -utterly. At last just as they were about to leave the restaurant, the -young German lieutenant altered the aspect of affairs very much by -saying: - -"I'm going to leave you to your own devices now, Hessenburg. For -anything you want, get in touch with the baron; he'll give instructions -for taking care of you. They'll probably give you an army uniform and -send you to the front to fight for the fatherland. I'm on a leave of -absence and am going home to stay there until my leave expires." - -Irving was stunned by this announcement from his uncongenial guide, who -was about to leave him unceremoniously in the lurch. He did not know -how to reply and so made no attempt to do so aside from the utterance of -a few conventionalities, such as, "I hope you'll enjoy your furlough," -and "I thank you for the courtesies you have shown me." - -Lieut. Vollmer did not return with Irving to the hotel, but gave him a -limp handshake out on the sidewalk, tossed a careless "aufwiedersehn" at -him and sauntered away. The deserted spy went back to his room and -passed an uncomfortable night, tormented with so many doubts of -conflicting nature that he soon found himself in a very nervous -condition. After he had lain awake an hour or two trying to clear up the -obscurities in his mind, he decided that the course of thinking that he -had permitted to sway him would result disastrously even if there was no -reason for him to feel apprehensive of the outlook. - -"I must throw this out of my mind and get a good night's rest," he told -himself. "If my nerves are all shot to pieces tomorrow, it'll be folly -for me to attempt to get any satisfaction from the government officials. -They'll see there's something wrong, dead sure. I'm proving myself a -mighty poor spy, and ought to have stayed in the Canadian trenches. Of -course, I must expect to run into the most dangerous situations and -depend on my wits, bluff, and nerve--yes NERVE--to get me out. What if -I am under suspicion? If they have no goods on me, I'm safe enough so -long as I don't convict myself by a guilty manner. I must be mistaken -in my suspicion that they have found something wrong in that cubist art -message. They'd 'ave arrested me right away if they'd discovered the -change. I'll probably find everything all right tomorrow when I talk -with the baron. Why, he may even decorate me with an iron cross. Hope -it won't be too heavy to carry around, that's all. Or maybe they need -all the iron to make shells with and will give me a leather cross--no, -they need that for shoes; or a rubber cross--no, they need that to make -rubber heels so they can pussy-foot out in No-Man's-Land. There! I've -got my nerves in better shape; think I can go to sleep now, but I do -wonder why that middle-aged man in civilian clothes was following me. I -wonder if he wore rubber heels." - -That was the way Irving managed to induce sleep an hour or two before -midnight. He adopted the method very systematically and determinedly, -and it worked. But his slumber was not as undisturbed as he would have -had it, for he dreamed the most violent and mysterious of dreams -enlivened and peopled with aeroplanes and booming cannon and -minnenwerfers and parachutes and rubber-heeled secret service men who -followed him so softly, gently, stealthily that it seemed as if even the -thunder of battle was being toned down to zephyrs of inconsequential -ghostly conflict. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVII* - - *THE SPY'S DECISION* - - -Irving arose at daybreak next morning. In spite of his uneasy night, he -was much refreshed and felt confident that he had good command of his -nerves. This was an important reassurance, and the young spy decided -that he would not let it get away from him. - -"I'll tie it down with a string of self-confidence and a knot of -determination," he told himself resolutely. - -This way of putting the idea amused him a little and added to his -strength of purpose. - -"First of all, how about breakfast?" he asked himself as he combed his -hair with a pocket comb which he carried with him and regarded the -puzzled wrinkling of his brow in the wash-room mirror. - -"Well," he added, as he returned the comb to its case-and the case to -his pocket, "I guess I'll have to go without breakfast. Not a very -comfortable idea, either, but there seems to be no way out of it. That -fellow Vollmer seemed to take a malicious delight in forgetting every -one of my comforts. I wish I had something to do between now and 9 or -10 o'clock. I don't like to stroll around any more than is necessary in -this uniform." - -But there seemed to be nothing for him to do except remain in his room -and wait for his wristwatch to tick several thousand seconds. It seemed, -too, as if all of these ticks hammered away right in the center of his -brain, always striking on the same pin-point spot and irritating his -nervous system almost beyond endurance. At 8:30 o'clock he decided to -wait no longer and grabbed his hat and hastened from the hotel. Without -making particular note of his surroundings, he set out at a brisk pace -for the building that contained the intelligence offices which he had -visited the day before. - -Meanwhile he had forgotten all about the middle-aged man in civilian -clothes who had followed him through the streets. It had not occurred -to him that the fellow might return to the hotel and continue his -espionage next day. He had presumed that the man would make a report to -his superiors and the affair would be taken up again in some other -manner if, indeed, there should be any resumption at all of the -investigation. - -"If I'm suspected of being a British spy, they'll probably arrest me -when I report back at the baron's office," he mused before leaving the -hotel. - -After walking a square or two, Irving slowed his pace considerably, -realizing that it was still early and that he probably would have to -wait an hour or more for "the baron" after his arrival at the latter's -office if he continued to walk as rapidly as he had started. To "kill" -a little of the surplus time ahead of him, therefore, he stopped and -looked into several shop windows, the last being an "eat shop," which -teased his appetite not a little and caused him to feel that he could -chew a piece of army meat of the consistency of leather, or rubber, with -a good deal of relish at that moment. - -The suggestion contained in the word rubber, for which there seemed to -be no appropriate reason in connection with a steaming breakfast, -revived his burlesque musings of the night before as he was drifting -away into a nervous slumber. The semi-dream pictures in his mind of a -government sleuth on rubber heels brought him back to his startling -experience of the previous day so suddenly that he turned almost -involuntarily and gazed in the direction from which he had come. - -If he had been a person of superstitious susceptibility wandering -through a country cemetery in the ghostly moonlight, he could not have -been more apprehensively thrilled by what he saw. Half a square up the -street was the mysterious middle-aged man in civilian clothes who had -followed him from the intelligence building to the hotel. - -"Gee! I must hustle along and get to the baron's office as soon as -possible," he decided as he quickened his steps. "I must bluff this -thing through as I never bluffed before. I must put the matter up to -him and find out what it means." - -He hurried on more rapidly than the pace with which he started from the -hotel and did not slow up again until he reached the building in -Wilhelmstrasse for which he was headed. - -He decided not to pretend to be ignorant of the fact that he was being -followed; indeed, he would have retraced his steps and accosted his -shadower if it had not seemed probable that such a course would have -been futile. So, just as he was passing through the pillared entrance, -he turned and looked again up the street. - -Yes, there he was, 150 feet away, sauntering along as if his greatest -object in life was the sniffing of the damp April ozone. One look was -enough, and the shadowed spy entered the building and walked up the -flagstone stairway. - -"I'm going to find out who that fellow is and what he's up to if such a -thing is possible," he resolved. "I'm going to put it up to the baron -right now and if I'm under suspicion I'll soon find out and, I hope, -drive the suspicion away." - -The young spy was now exhibiting real qualities necessary to make a -successful army secret service man. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVIII* - - *MAKING PROGRESS WITH THE BARON* - - -Irving entered "the baron's" outer office and asked to see the big -intelligence official. To his surprise, that secret service dignitary -was in, and the caller was requested to wait a few minutes until he was -at leisure. - -"Even the nobility are getting up early to help win the war," Irving -ruminated as he waited. "Well, that shows a good trait of character--if -they only had a good cause to fight for. I wonder if they really think -they have. I don't see how they can." - -Presently he was informed by an office girl that "the baron" would see -him, and he entered the latter's private office. The big, usually -mild-eyed official looked at him rather sharply, he thought, but he -resolved not to be overawed by his dominating personality. - -"I am here," he began, rather abruptly, but with a bow of seeming -respect, "to find out what is to become of me. I feel lost in this big -city. Lieut. Vollmer left me last night and informed me that if I wanted -anything, I should apply to you. In the first place, I should like to -have some breakfast." - -"The baron" seemed to be amused by this speech. He did not, however, -indicate any particular concern over the hungry condition of the spy, -who had proved himself a daring and spectacular hero "in the service of -the fatherland." But he smiled and answered in reassuring tones: - -"No breakfast? Ach himmel! You shall have all you can eat, and by the -time you have finished your breakfast, you'll realize how futile is the -English blockade." - -"What kind of plans have you for me?" Irving asked, deeming it of no -advantage to enter into a discussion of conditions in Germany with a man -who undoubtedly would express only the most optimistic views. "I'm -getting impatient, I can't stand it to be idle. I want something to do." - -"What do you want to do?" asked "the baron." - -"Whatever I'm best fitted for. I hoped I'd been successful enough in -the venture just completed to warrant your keeping me in something of -the same line." - -"Do you want to go back to Canada?" - -"I'd thought some of that, but it doesn't seem practicable," Irving -replied. "You see, I'm an enlisted soldier now and would be sent back -to the front if I returned. But it seems to me that I might do some -good work in the United States." - -"Yes, that's true, you might," "the baron" admitted, meditatively. -"I'll think that over." - -"Meanwhile," Irving continued, "I'd like to get rid of this uniform. It -causes me no end of inconvenience. I'm constantly expecting to be -stopped on the street and questioned." - -"Have you been stopped yet?" - -"No, but I've been followed. I'd have gone out and walked around some -last evening, but was followed all the way from here to the hotel. The -same man followed me from the hotel here this morning." - -"The baron" appeared to be genuinely surprised at this statement. - -"I don't understand that," he said. "What kind of looking man was it -that followed you?" - -"He was middle-aged and dressed in civilian clothes." - -"I'll find out about this," "the baron" announced, pressing a button on -his desk. - -An office messenger between 60 and 70 years old entered. - -"Is Schoensiegel or Blau out there?" inquired "the baron." - -"Blau is," replied the messenger. - -"Send him in." - -The messenger went out and a minute later an individual who might have -passed for an ordinary plain-clothes man of the police force entered. - -"Blau," said the intelligence official, "this is Mr. Hessenburg, one of -our friends from America--Canada. He was with the Canadian army at the -front and broke away to bring us some important information. He's been -here only a couple of days, but has been followed on the street by -someone, not under orders from this office. I want you to go outside -and wait until he leaves, and then find out who it is that's following -him and why he's doing it. Maybe some other department or the police -are laboring under a misapprehension as to our friend's identity." - -"Gans gewiss, Herr Hauptmann," said Blau, bowing himself out of the room -and indicating acceptance of his commission. The conversation was -resumed between the spy and "the baron." - -"I'll provide you with a uniform and make you an attache of this office -for the present," the latter announced. "Later I'll take up your -suggestion for keeping you in this branch of the service and see what I -can do. The skill and daring of your achievements thus far deserves -recognition, I can say that much at least." - -Irving was reassured and encouraged by these words. He was convinced -that "the baron" entertained no doubt regarding the genuineness of his -representations. - -"Why not give me employment that will enable me to advance my efficiency -for further spy work?" the boy suggested. - -"That's a good idea," declared the intelligence official with a look of -professional animation in his eyes. "I think I'll do that. As soon as -you get your uniform, report at this office and I'll have you assigned -to your new duties. Meanwhile I'll put you on the payroll and give you -an order for a month's salary in advance. Your bill at the hotel has -been taken care of, but from now on you'll pay that yourself. Lieut. -Vollmer was guilty of an inexcusable oversight when he left you without -money for your meals and other incidentals. I thought that was being -taken care of." - -Irving thanked "the baron" for the interest shown in his welfare. Then -he took up the subject on which he had expected to make his strongest -play with the intelligence official. - -"I want to speak to you now," he said, "about a matter that perhaps I -should have brought to your attention sooner. It's about the message on -my arm. I don't know what's in that message, but it may be that -Canadian officials have taken steps to render worthless the information -I brought to you. Would it be possible for them to render it of no -value to you if they knew the contents of the message I brought?" - -The keen interest that "the baron" manifested instantly in these -suggestions indicated to Irving that he could hardly have broached a -subject that would command closer attention. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIX* - - *ORDERS FOR MONEY AND CLOTHES* - - -"It would not only be possible for the Canadian officials to nullify the -value to us of the message you brought, but that is exactly what they -would do if they found out the contents of that message." - -This is the reply "the baron" gave to the question put to him by Irving -at the close of the preceding chapter. The spy put the question in -accord with a suggestion made by Col. Evans in the course of his -instructions behind the Canadian lines. The intent of this move was to -obviate suspicion that he had delivered a fake message when discovery -was made that the information it contained did not answer its professed -purpose. - -"Have you any reason to believe that they discovered the nature of the -information you brought in that message?" asked the high Prussian -official after he had answered the spy's question. - -"I'm afraid I have," the latter replied. "Why didn't they arrest you?" - -"Because they didn't know where to find me. I was lost somewhere in the -Canadian army. They probably had no way of identifying me. However, they -must have made a search for me when they learned what had been going -on--maybe they're searching yet." - -"Do you know what they learned that a message of this kind was being -brought over here?" - -"I know enough to feel that there is grave danger that they made such a -discovery." - -"How did you find that out?" - -"This way: One of the boys in the company to which I belonged received a -letter from his cousin in Canada that told almost the whole story, and I -read the letter. That cousin told a long story about his going to -Toronto to visit some friends and getting sick while there. He was -taken to a hospital--_our_ hospital, by the way--and while he was -convalescing, he strolled out in the hall and saw the tattooing -operation on my arm. The two men who were doing the work saw him -standing there and gazing through the glass door, and they rushed out, -collared him, and dragged him into the laboratory. But he satisfied them -that he was merely a curious onlooker and they let him go. - -"However, they had him watched, and after he left the hospital he was -followed everywhere he went. He communicated with government officials -and a week or two later the hospital was raided. This is all the -information the letter contained, but it is possible that they compelled -somebody to reveal the contents of the message that was tattooed on my -arm." - -"Very possible," agreed "the baron," leaning forward with a look of hard -and harsh concern in his eyes. "And where were you in the meantime?" - -"On my way on a transport for England. The spy in the hospital, I -suppose, did not observe me very closely. Fortunately I had my coat off -and perhaps he did not identify me as a soldier. At any rate, I was not -interfered with, and I am here." - -"No doubt of that," returned the intelligence official rather absently; -"and you brought the message. Well, all we can do is remember the -circumstances you have just related and take them into consideration if -developments don't prove satisfactory. I'm glad you told me about this, -for it may prevent a lot of confusion. It wouldn't be well for you to -venture back into Canada with that picture on your arm. You'd be picked -up as a deserter, and the intelligence officers wouldn't be very slow -finding out that you were the fellow they've been hunting for ever since -the raid on that Toronto hospital. As a matter of fact, I doubt if you -can be of much use to us in any of the countries of our allied enemies -with that thing on your arm." - -"I have an idea to remedy that," said Irving with a smile that suggested -something of a novelty in his mind. - -"What is that?" asked "the baron." - -"Peel this picture off and graft some new skin in its place." - -The intelligence official laughed, but he was interested as well as -amused. - -"That isn't a bad idea at all," he said. "On the whole I am inclined to -take you seriously. You seem to have a scientific turn of mind, and that -always appeals to an intelligent German. I'm going to put you to work -under the direction of a man who will give you a thorough tryout, and -we'll find out what you're good for. You seem to be ambitious and -intelligent and have a good record behind you. Go ahead now and show us -what you're worth." - -This announcement and the accompanying instruction delighted the spy -beyond measure. If his recent experiences had not schooled him in the -very wise habit of self-restraint, his first joyful impulse might have -got him into trouble. - -"Just wait a minute and I'll fix you up with an order for some money and -some clothes," said "the baron" after a few moments of silence. - -He picked up a pen and busied himself filling out a form and writing a -note on a letterhead of the department. These he folded and placed hi -separate envelopes. The envelopes he addressed and handed to the spy. - -"There, that's all today, I think," he said. "Whatever you need -hereafter will be taken care of by Mr. Herrmann. Inquire outside and -you'll be directed where to go to have this order cashed." - -Irving thanked him and left the office. Ten minutes later he was -outside the building with a comfortable roll of bank-bills in his -pocket. As he started up the street with directions in his mind for -reaching the quartermaster's office, he saw Blau on the opposite -sidewalk and was reminded of the instruction given that intelligence -operative to shadow the young spy's shadower. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXX* - - *BEFORE BREAKFAST* - - -Irving dismissed from his mind for the time being the mystery concerning -the middle-aged man in civilian clothes who had followed him through the -streets on two occasions. His fears regarding the incident were -dispelled, for he felt that Blau, the intelligence operative on the -opposite side of the street, would take care of that matter very -efficiently. Everything was coming his way now, and he in his mission -than he had felt at any other time walked alone; with greater confidence -of success since landing with his parachute. - -It was a ten minute walk to the quartermaster's headquarters. At the -entrance of the building, his curiosity concerning the game of "shadow -chase shadow" which he presumed to be going on behind him was aroused by -a sudden reverting of his mind to the subject, and he turned and looked -down the street by which he had come. There was Blau, half a square -away, but the "middle-aged man in civilian clothes" was not in sight. - -"I wonder if he got onto the fact that somebody was directed to watch -him," Irving mused. "But that ought not to have stopped him. He had -nothing to fear from an agent of another department if he was engaged in -legitimate government business." - -The spy delivered his requisition for a soldier's uniform and was given -in turn an order on the supply house and directions how to reach it. -Then he left the building and took a car for the place where he was to -get his suit. - -Blau took the same car, but the "shadow" he had been ordered to "shadow" -was not there unless he had disguised himself so successfully that -Irving was unable to recognize him. The operative appeared to be -somewhat puzzled, too, but he made no sign of recognition to the soldier -in enemy uniform, and the latter maintained a like pretense of -unacquaintance. - -An hour later the spy was clad in a first lieutenant's uniform and on -his way back to the hotel. Blau kept within hailing distance of him, -but his shadowing seemed to be futile, for the "middle-aged man in -civilian clothes" had not appeared in any recognizable guise or -disguise. Indeed, Irving was certain that nobody except the operative -had followed him since he came out of the quartermaster's office and -started for the store-rooms. - -The applicant for an army uniform was required to enlist for service in -the army before it could be supplied. Irving was not surprised at this, -but he was very much surprised by the kind of uniform given him. It -bore the insignia of a first lieutenant's rank. - -"That's certainly generous on the baron's part," he said to himself. "I -don't understand it. I didn't read his note to the quartermaster, nor -the quartermaster's order. Maybe they would have afforded some -explanation. Maybe I shall have to earn my rank and meanwhile will go -about like an automobile for which a license has not been issued but -bears a tag 'license applied for.' Maybe that's my case here--first -lieutenant's commission applied for. It looks kind of irregular, but I -suppose 'the baron' knows his business. Anyway, mine is a special case -all around, however one looks at it." - -When he filled out his enlistment papers, of course Irving signed the -name of Adolph Hessenburg, late of Toronto, Canada, and on the "history -sheet" that he had to fill out he entered data given him by the boy of -the original tattooed cubist-art message. Then he was granted the use -of a room where he discarded his Canadian uniform and put on his new -Prussian military disguise. - -He felt that he was disguised now as he at no time had hoped to be since -planning his spy expedition into the heart of the kaiser's kingdom. He -surely must have the full confidence of the Prussian officials with whom -he had come into contact, or he would not have been elevated to the -military rank and position of trust that now were virtually his. - -Irving was particularly pleased with the ease he had experienced in -picking up the idioms of the German language. He had an excellent -memory and scarcely a word or a phrase that was taught to him at school -or behind the Canadian lines, or that he had heard since landing with a -parachute on territory held by the Prussian armies, had failed to make a -lasting impression on his mind. Moreover, he was very quick to put -ideas together and in that way get their associated significance; so -that he skillfully "figured out" the meaning of not a few words that he -had never heard before they were used in conversation with him by "the -baron" and other persons with whom he came in contact. And he was -almost as quick and skillful in his use of those same words for the -expression of his own ideas. - -After leaving the quartermaster's supply depot, Irving visited a -haberdashery and bought several suits of underwear, shirts, collars, and -socks, and then returned to the hotel. As he entered his room and -deposited his bundles on the bed a funny thing happened. - -He stopped short--true, he could not have gone much farther without -falling over the bed, but nevertheless there was a decided "shortness" -to his "stop." - -"My goodness!" he exclaimed, clapping his hand to his appetite region. -"I haven't had any breakfast yet." - -Which being a sufficiently thrilling climax for the closing of a -chapter, we will carry the reader over in suspense to the next. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXI* - - *AT WORK IN THE SPY OFFICE* - - -Irving laughed and felt hungrier than ever. The humorous relaxation -afforded him great relief from the nervousness of his morning's -activities, which had been associated enough with doubt and apprehension -to make a coward run and a brave man extremely cautious. - -"Well, that's a good one," the young pseudo-boche lieutenant continued -in soliloquy. "Here it's nearly 2 o'clock and I haven't eaten my -breakfast, and meanwhile I'd forgotten all about it. And I'm as hungry -as a bear. I wonder if the British blockade has left enough food in the -kaiser's kingdom, to fill up the vacuum inside of me. I think I'll go -and find out. That'll be worth-while information to carry back to the -Canadian commanders." - -So out he went to a restaurant two squares away, where he had small -difficulty in getting all he wanted to eat, the only qualification being -that he had to pay prices so out of proportion to his income that he -instinctively began to figure out the financial problem of how to make -his salary carry him through to the end of the month. - -"I'm starting out too swell," he concluded after several minutes' -reckoning. "I'll have to eat at cheaper restaurants and get a cheaper -room. That makes me think I don't know how much my room at the hotel is -going to cost me; but it's bound to be pretty steep. Anyway, I don't -care, so long as I can pull through on my salary. I don't want to carry -any of this money with me when I go back to the other side of No-Man's -Land." - -Irving did not ask how much the hotel was charging for his room. He -merely announced that he would check out that evening after engaging -quarters in a comfortable rooming house in a semi-residence district -near the Tiergarten. Economy was not the only motive that caused him to -make this move. Being now in German uniform, he reasoned that he might -be able to throw off of his trail the "middle-aged man in civilian -clothes" who had been shadowing him, if he changed his living address -also. As a further precaution he made this change late in the evening. - -Next morning he reported for duty at the office of "Mr. Herrmann" as he -had been instructed by "the baron" to do. Mr. Herrmann proved to be in -charge of a suite of offices in the intelligence building in which were -employed more than a hundred persons, most of them men, varying in ages -from 20 to 70. Irving, for want of detailed information regarding their -duties, classed them all as clerks, stenographers and typists at first -glance, and this in general was a very good classification, although -many of them performed special work that entitled them to ranking -positions of greater dignity. And he had not been employed there more -than two or three days when he learned that half of them held such -ranking positions together with salaries proportionate to the grades of -work they did. - -"Can you operate a typewriter?" asked Mr. Herrmann after conducting the -new employe through one large and several smaller work-rooms under his -superintendence. - -"With two fingers," Irving replied with a smile. - -"Learned it at home, eh? Well, you won't need a lot of speed. I -understand your education in German is not very far advanced." - -"Not very far," the spy replied. - -"Can you read the script?" - -"Yes, I can work it out. I know the letters, but they come to me rather -slowly." - -"You'll make it all right after a few days' practice. I'm going to set -you at work first copying some translated cipher messages." (The boy's -heart began to thump eagerly, but the thumping became a weaker reflex -pattering as the superintendent continued.) "They don't amount to much. -We get masses of indifferent material from numerous sources, but we keep -it all carefully cataloged, indexed, and cross-indexed several times. -Any little insignificant item of information may be worth a good deal to -us at any time. That's one secret of the great value of the German spy -system. Now I'll leave you with this budget of communications and let -you work it out with your own intelligence. That's one way we have of -finding out what a man is worth." - -Irving longed to ask him how he protected such an intricate system of -concentrated information from leaks that might be of value to the enemy, -but wisely refrained. - -"I'll find that out by keeping my eyes and ears open," he told himself. -"I mustn't ask any questions except such as bear directly on my duties -and are calculated to promote my efficiency." - -He sat down at the desk assigned to him and was soon diligently, eagerly -at work. His eagerness, however, was a well-camouflaged secret. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXII* - - *A STARTLING RECOGNITION* - - -For two weeks Irving continued his work in the record offices of the -great German espionage system. His experiences there during this time -were without special incident, except that they evolved before his mind -a continuous motion picture of scientific detail far more intricate, -comprehensive, and deep-reaching than he could ever have imagined. - -There could be no doubt that "the baron," Mr. Herrmann, and the staff of -experts, clerks, stenographers, and typists looked upon the "parachute -hero" as a bona fide fatherland loyalist. The story of his "camouflaged -escape" by parachute from an enemy aeroplane to deliver a cryptic-code -message that he carried all the way from America had circulated among -them, and the glee with which they commented on his skill and success -indicated the intense feeling with which they, one and all, regarded the -cause for which the Teutonic race was fighting--the supremacy of the -empire founded by Prince Bismarck. Irving discovered also another -important human factor in this relation, namely, that the initiated -members of the great spy organization of the central powers could -discuss among themselves the secrets of their system without becoming in -the least gossipy; hence, the danger of their inadvertently dropping -hints of important state matters never intended for "outside ears" was -small indeed. - -A more secretive group of employes it would be difficult to imagine. -Moreover, their secrets seemed to be grouped in sections and degrees. -And the most peculiar feature of the whole system, perhaps, was the fact -that few instructions were given, defining these sections and degrees. -Irving received none himself, and in all the time he was connected with -the bureau he learned of nobody else who had been told what, or what -not, to do or say in this regard. - -"Here seems to be another instance of the requirement of instinctive -understanding," he told himself a good many times. "They seem to give -me credit of being an extremely intelligent fellow. Well, I hope I -exceed their estimate of me. If I do, they may find it necessary co -revise their system somewhat." - -The degrees of secrecy Irving learned in the course of a week or more -were of a graduated character. For instance, he soon discovered that he -might talk about his own work to any and all other members of the force, -but all of them outside of his class would not discuss their work with -him. After he was advanced to the next higher grade of work he found, -as he had already had reason to suspect, that there were two degrees of -the great spy system within the "circumscribed freedom" of his -intelligence. This "freedom" was circumscribed by a prohibition, -forbidding him to discuss any spy subject to anybody outside the office -except on special direction from superior authority. - -Irving progressed rapidly in his work. He exhibited such ready -comprehension of details and purposes that he was soon marked by the -entire office force as a "coming man" in the government secret service. -Undoubtedly his spectacular method of transit from the Canadian to the -German lines helped materially to boost along his growing reputation, -but it would also be unfair to put too much emphasis on this feat of -daring and skill. Irving really deserved much credit for innate -ability. - -In his efforts to create a general feeling of satisfaction and -confidence in order to ward off any suspicions which might arise -regarding his purpose and motives, the young spy did a good many things -that almost caused in him a rebellious boiling over of patriotic -sentiment. He did much to perfect a filing system that had been -neglected because of illness of the man previously in charge, and -offered a number of suggestions for certain other efficiency -improvements which brought forth complimentary notice from -Superintendent Herrmann. But all the time, while doing these things, -Irving kept in mind the big purpose of his mission which outmeasured so -greatly in importance his services to the enemy that his feelings of -self-reproach for the aid he was incidentally giving the kaiser's spy -machine were short-lived. - -Evidently it was the purpose of Mr. Herrmann to advance his spy pupil as -rapidly as possible. Undoubtedly he was under orders to do this from -"the baron." Although the reason for this method of procedure had not -been stated in so many words, the understanding seemed to be clear -enough that it was the purpose of the department to send him back to -America equipped for very important work at an early date. - -Three weeks after he entered the office he began to accumulate the -information for which he had been sent. He then was given access to the -card-index system of the great world-spy organization. It was like a -city-library catalog, with references to files of interminable data -buried away in metal boxes in a large vault. - -In his work with this catalog and files he was associated with a man -whose countenance was strangely familiar to him from the first. He -tried to assume that there was merely a resemblance in the face of this -man to that of some other man he had known on the Canadian front or at -home, but such assumption failed to satisfy him. He could not drive -away the feeling that he had met this fellow somewhere since he dropped -from the sky with a parachute behind the German battle lines, but -although he studied over the matter for hours while busy with his work -he was unable by such efforts to solve the mystery. - -The solution came during a period of relaxation, as the solution of many -mysteries come. On the third day since his last advancement in the -service, while making entries on certain catalog cards, there recurred -to him a mental picture of his experiences with the unidentified man who -had shadowed him through the streets while he was still in Canadian -uniform. Two weeks before he had dismissed this incident from his mind, -being convinced that the man had given up his quest, whatever it was. - -But the returned picture did not rest long peacefully in his mind. It -was followed closely by a thrill that almost made him drop the card that -he held in his hand. He looked quickly, almost involuntarily, at his -associate worker, who was bent over a task at his desk. - -Irving knew at once that he was not mistaken. Before him was the -"middle-aged man in civilian clothes" who had shadowed him more than -three weeks before from the intelligence building to the hotel where he -was living and to other places in the city. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXIII* - - *A SURPRISING OFFER* - - -Emil Strauss was the name of Irving's coworker in the card index room. -One could hardly say that he was either an agreeable or a disagreeable -fellow. He had little to say. It was generally understood that he was -very efficient in his work and ranked as one of the leading, if not the -leading, experts in the department. - -Strauss was not a typical Teuton in appearance. Irving thought he looked -as much like an Irishman as a German, that he might have passed for -either or a Swede. He was of medium height, somewhat slender of build, -and had a smooth, round face, out of which shone two piercing black -eyes--that is, they shone and pierced when the camouflage of heavy -eyelashes and eyebrows was lifted. Otherwise one would have noticed -almost everything else about him first. - -There was no doubt in Irving's mind as to his identification, but he -caught not even a surreptitious glance of recognition from the fellow at -any time. He attended strictly and diligently to his own business, and -the spy did likewise from the moment of his recognition of the man. He -was determined his new associate should see no evidences of uneasiness -in him as a result of this development. - -Three days elapsed after Irving's last advancement to the card-catalog -division, and still the conversations between him and his working -companion were of the "yea, yea, nay, nay" character. Finally, however, -the boy decided to attempt to draw Strauss into conversation. He did -this by reference to humorous incidents in the war as brought out in -cartoons and pointed paragraphs in Berlin newspaper and magazines. - -He was somewhat surprised, and pleased also, to note that the -"middle-aged man in civilian clothes" did not meet his advances with -coldness or indifference. The fellow proved, indeed, to be much more -polite than it had at first seemed possible. He appeared to enjoy -Irving's palaver, for the youth was something of a wit, but preferred to -listen rather than talk himself. Finally, however, he grew more -communicative and manifested something of interest in his associate's -personal affairs. - -"They're telling some great stories about you around here," he said one -day as they were preparing to go out for lunch. It was the first time -they had quit work for the noon hour at the same time. Usually Irving -went first and his companion went out after he returned, although -Strauss was virtually "his own boss" and came and went as he chose. - -"Yes, they're a bunch of gossips around here," Irving replied with a -deprecating smile. "And you know what magnified stories gossips turn out -when their tongues get busy." - -Strauss smiled mysteriously and said: - -"Oh, for that matter we are all gossips, even the quietest of us -sometimes. All you have to do is to get us off on the subjects that we -are well informed about and you'll soon find out how our tongues can wag -at both ends." - -"It's pretty hard for me to imagine your tongue wagging at both ends," -Irving returned with more meaning in his mind than he expressed in his -tone of voice. - -"Why?" - -"Because you seem to enjoy listening more than talking." - -"I am engaged in a secret business," Strauss explained, lifting his -shaggy brows slightly and darting a sharp glance at the other. - -"Yes, so am I," Irving returned quickly. "But I like to talk." - -"So I observe," said Strauss with veiled significance, which the boy did -not try to penetrate. - -"Just to be sociable," the spy added by way of explanation and to -prevent the conversation from lagging. - -But Strauss did not appear to be so talkatively eager. They were in the -locker and wash room during most of this exchange of words, and nothing -further was said between them until they were outside the building. The -catalog expert then spoke first. - -"Where do you eat?" he asked. - -"Oh, any place," Irving replied. "I've been in two or three restaurants -around here. There's a good one down in the next block." - -"That suits me," said Strauss. - -They walked along in silence half a square, and then the boy's -mysterious companion put to him the most inquisitive query that the spy -had listened to from this man since he became acquainted with him: - -"When do you expect to go back to America?" - -"Good!" Irving said to himself. "Sounds as if he's going to open up. -Maybe I'll get something out of him after all." - -He little dreamed how much that something was going to be. - -"I don't know," he answered aloud. "I haven't received any orders yet." - -"You'd better begin to find out then," was the expert's advice uttered -in tones of startling sharpness. "I suppose you know it's up to you to -decide that matter yourself." - -"Oh, yes, I suppose so," Irving replied with a matter-of-factness of -manner, which was anything but expressive of what was going on in his -mind. The fact is, he was a little disturbed by the last remark of his -companion. - -"I'll have to undergo a surgical operation before I start back," he -added. - -"What's that?" inquired Strauss. "Were you wounded?" - -"No," Irving replied. "But I must get rid of a mark of identification -and go back as another person." - -Strauss nodded a stoical sign of interest. They were now at the entrance -of the restaurant for which they were headed, and the conversation -ceased until they were seated at a table in one corner of the room and -well removed from other lunchers. After they had been served they -resumed their discussion of Irving's proposed operation in subdued -tones. - -"It must be a curious growth on your body that you should have to remove -it in order to avoid identification," Strauss remarked as he spread a -"knife-end" of war-time "butter" on a piece of black bread. - -"No, it isn't a growth," Irving replied. "It's that cubist art picture -on my arm." - -"Oh, I see," Strauss grunted. "But," he added, "I don't just see how an -operation there is going to do you much good. What are you going to -have done--have your arm cut off?" - -"No--have the skin peeled off." - -"Ach," grunted the card-catalog expert. "That will leave a scar." - -"Not if I have some other skin grafted in its place." - -"Quite an idea. Where do you expect to get the other skin to graft -there?" - -"From some part of my body," Irving replied. - -"Ja wo-ohl," said the other slowly, with a suggestion of doubt in his -voice not contained in the phrase. "But that would leave a scar on your -body, and if some sharp fellow tried to identify you as the person who -brought that tattooed message ever here the scar might help him to -explain the disappearance of the picture on your arm." - -"Yes, that's true," Irving agreed. "But the chance of anything of that -sort is small. Anyway, I'd have to find somebody who would give me a -section of his skin four inches by two." - -"There are thousands of patriotic Germans who are willing to give their -lives for their country," reasoned the expert. "It ought not to be hard -to find somebody who would give a few inches of skin." - -"You are very logical," the spy observed. "Perhaps there's somebody in -our office who would make such a sacrifice for his country." - -"I'll do it myself," declared Strauss quickly. - -In view of the fact that the latter appeared a few weeks previously to -have regarded him with very grave suspicion, Irving had to admit to -himself after this offer that the spy-cataloger was more of a mystery -than ever. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXIV* - - *SKIN GRAFTING* - - -"Your offer is very kind," Irving said with emphasis intended to express -warmth of feeling. - -"No--patriotic," Strauss declared. - -"No doubt of that," the spy admitted; "but a man can be patriotic and -kind at the same time, can he not?" - -"Yes, but this is all patriotism." - -"Very well, I'll accept your offer," Irving announced. "But I doubt if -Mr. Herrmann will allow it. You are a very valuable man in the office, -and the operation would surely make it necessary for you to lay off a -few days. He'll probably insist that an office boy or clerk or -stenographer make the patriotic sacrifice in your stead." - -"That'll suit me--just so there is no delay in finding someone who's -willing," Strauss replied. - -Irving proved to be correct in his prophecy of the probable attitude of -the superintendent toward the proposition. Mr. Herrmann objected -strenuously for the reason suggested by the spy and he took it on -himself to find a person who would supply the skin to be grafted. Two -days later he reported success and preparations for the operation were -begun. - -But everybody connected with these preliminaries had an important lesson -to learn regarding the proper method for a layman to approach a matter -of science. None of them, of course, knew anything, except in a very -general way, about skin grafting. Irving had assumed that it was a -simple process, and, as a matter of fact, it is, if we accept the -principle of the simplicity of all things. But what startled him most -was the simplicity of the error he had fallen into. - -Mr. Herrmann gave Irving a note to the superintendent of one of the city -hospitals and directed him to go there and make arrangements for the -operation. He was authorized to state that a young soldier who had lost -one of his legs in the first battle of the Marne had promised to furnish -the needed four-by-two inches of skin to replace the tattooed integument -on his arm. - -The spy did as instructed and was turned over to a member of the -surgical staff. The latter listened to the boy's story and his -suggestions and then inquired: - -"At what college of physicians and surgeons did you get your degree?" - -Irving no doubt flushed like a schoolboy. He realized that the member -of the hospital staff was laughing at him, and this confused him more -than a veiled suspicion that he was a Canadian spy would have done. - -"The college I graduated from was that of mother's home remedies," he -replied. - -"I thought so," nodded the surgeon with a smile. "Let me see--you are -in the intelligence department, are you not?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Doing important work, aren't you?' - -"I believe so." - -"Work that requires sharp wit?" - -"Supposedly." - -"Well, sharp wits never assume anything without some information to back -them up. Your ideas of skin grafting are a good deal like a child's. In -the first place we shan't need anybody to supply any skin. Sorry to -disappoint the young patriot with really commendable spirit of loyalty." - -Irving looked his surprise. - -"You'll supply all the skin we need," the surgeon continued. - -"But it is important that there be no scars," Irving insisted. - -"There won't be any, or so slight that they'll be hardly noticeable," -was the surgeon's reassuring reply. "Let me explain the process to an -unscientific keen wit of the government's intelligence department." - -The surgeon lifted the spy's bared arm with his left hand and began his -explanation, indicating with one finger now and then the various moves -necessary as he described the process. - -"With a razor," he said, "we will cut an outline around this hideous art -of yours. Then we'll peel off the atrocity and cremate it over an -alcohol flame. Next we'll peel a strip of the same length and -three-fourths of an inch wide just below here, leaving the upper end of -the strip attached and twisting it around so that it will lie midway -between the edges of the raw space where the tattooing was. Then we'll -cut under the skin along both sides to loosen it an inch or more back -and draw the loosened skin to the piece in the center and make a hair -suture. The reason we must run a strip of skin over the middle of the -raw area is because this area will be too wide for stretching the skin -at the sides over it. Skin that is stretched too tight will die. The -narrow raw place produced by the peeling of the strip down over the -wrist can be covered by pulling together the edges of the skin on both -sides after running the razor back under it a short distance. Quite -different from the process you imagined, isn't it?" - -"Yes, it is," Irving admitted. - -"I bet you thought all that was necessary was to peel off a piece of -skin and lay it on the raw place after this cubist art picture had been -removed. Isn't that true?" - -"Maybe--something of the kind. I hadn't thought it out in detail," -Irving replied. - -"Of course, you hadn't. You'd have been too scientific for a secret -service operative, wouldn't you?" - -"Can't secret service people be scientific?" Irving inquired. - -"What do you think about it?" asked the surgeon. "You ought to know -more about it than I do. But I'll tell you what my frank and -unscientific opinion in the matter is." - -"What is it?" - -"That government secret service is 1 per cent information and 99 per -cent bluff." - -"That's a little strong on the side of the bluff," said the spy, -smiling. - -"But there's something to it?" - -"Yes." - -"Now you need this much science to prevent your bluff from getting you -into trouble. When you attempt to bluff a scientific man be sure not to -bluff along the line of his knowledge and the line of your ignorance. -By the way, when do you want that operation performed? - -"The sooner the better," Irving replied. - -"How about now?" - -This almost took the boy's breath away, but after a few minutes he -answered: - -"That's all right, I suppose, but I'd better call up my office first and -tell the boss what's doing." - -"Very well; here's a telephone. Call him up." - -Irving did so and in a few minutes had authority to "go ahead and have -it over as soon as possible." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXV* - - *THE TAPPING ON THE WINDOW* - - -Irving slept under an anæsthetic during the operation. He objected at -first to the administration of ether, but the surgeon insisted. - -"I don't want you to make any trouble," he insisted. "Remember you're -not a scientific youth and might do something ridiculous. If I'm going -to perform this operation you must take orders and obey them." - -That settled it; Irving acquiesced. When he recovered consciousness he -found himself in a hospital bed with his left arm bandaged and feeling a -good deal like a limb of a tree, or anything else with a like degree of -life. He remained in bed until the next morning, when his arm was put -in a sling and he was permitted to move about as he pleased, although -directed to remain in the hospital. Two days later he was allowed to -leave the institution, but was instructed to return daily for -examination and redressing of the graft. - -He returned at once to the intelligence office and reported the success -of the operation. The chief surgeon had informed him that his arm might -be taken out of the sling in about a week. - -During this period Irving was in the office much of the time, although -he was able to be of little service with the use of only one arm. -Still, he found it possible to add a good deal to his knowledge of the -system of which the government was planning to make him an important -agent, and this was, on the whole, quite satisfactory to him. - -The youthful spy's plans for carrying out his mission for the British -government had been developing rapidly since he became a member of the -staff in the German intelligence office. And not a little of this -development had been quite unforeseen by him. His original plans, -therefore, underwent considerable change as time and experience -advanced. - -For instance, he decided not to attempt to make a list of names of -leading enemy agents in the United States and Canada to take back with -him. This had been his original purpose. He now regarded it as unwise, -unsafe. He would depend on his memory to retain a store of information -of this kind. So he watched and examined and probed and memorized, -going over the information he had accumulated many times in his leisure -hours in order to keep it fixed and unmistakable in his mind. - -"I think I could go back to school and memorize history dates as I never -did before," he told himself one evening about a week after the -skin-grafting operation. "Gee! I never realized I had such a memory. -I can run off a string of dope as long as the tune the old cow died on, -just like saying the ABC's." - -Irving had forgotten the "tune the old cow died on," but the expression -stuck in his mind as a relic of nursery days. - -One of the divisions of service in the intelligence department that -interested the spy particularly was the telegraphic division. It came -as an intermediate grade in his course of instruction, and he was -required to learn to read the ticking of the telegraph instrument. -Fortunately, a few years before, he had learned the alphabet while -amusing himself with an amateur wireless outfit, and it now required -comparatively little time for him to develop a fair degree of -proficiency as a key-listener. - -"You can never tell when it'll be greatly to your advantage to be able -to read the telegraph instrument," Mr. Herrmann explained. "In fact, -that may be one of your most important occupations in America--tapping -wires, for instance." - -Indeed, the spy caught a number of messages of incalculable importance -while pursuing his studies in this division and made careful note of -them in his mental repository. - -About a week later he had a novel "telegraphic" experience, which, in -turn, was to have an important bearing on his fortunes as a spy in the -enemy's country. The affair took place in the rooming house where he -was living. While he endeavored to get out in the evening, as a rule, -and mingle with citizens of all sorts and descriptions, in order to -absorb as much general information as possible, still he retired almost -every night in good season, and not infrequently went early to his room -to study, rehearse, memorize and plan. In this manner he endeavored to -improve every opportunity to make his excursion a success. - -He had just finished one of these solitary sessions in which several -leading newspapers and magazines played an important part, and was about -to lay them aside and prepare for bed, when his attention was attracted -by a faint tapping sound. At first he gave little heed to it, -presuming, in a semi-conscious way, that it was occasioned by a -continuous breath of air and a tiny, loose pendant of some sort in the -exterior construction work of the house. But it continued in a -strangely familiar way and seemed to grow a little louder very -gradually. - -Suddenly, Irving sat up straight and listened rigidly. Anyone observing -him in this attitude could not have failed to be impressed with the -feeling that an alarm of some character was thrilling his every nerve -center. - -"My goodness!" was the exclamation that smothered itself within him. -"What in the world can that mean? Yes, no, yes--somebody is trying to -communicate with me. He's using the telegraphic signal. He's asking me -to answer, to indicate in some way that I am getting his message. He -says he's a friend. He knows I'm a British spy. But maybe it's a trap -to catch me. What shall I do? If he's a friend he surely ought to know -better than to expect me to make such an admission. But he says he has -important information. What--what in the world shall I do? I may be in -very great danger. Here is certainly the test of my life." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXVI* - - *A REVELATION* - - -"I have an important message for you. I am a French spy. I must get -this message to you. Answer me in some way. Heave a big yawn or clear -your throat and I'll know you hear me and get what I'm saying. I merely -want to make sure you are what I think you are. I don't dare reveal -myself to you for fear that I may be mistaken and you'd turn me over to -the government." - -These words were tapped off, alphabetically, with a small instrument, -probably a pencil, on the window overlooking a court inclosed by the -building on three sides. After a pause of half a minute, following the -appeal just recorded, the dot-and-dash tapping continued thus: - -"I am looking through the shade of your window and can see that you are -listening attentively; so you need not reply. Just continue to listen, -and I shall know everything is all right. - -"When you leave for America you will be supplied with a message in -cipher, prepared by me, for a certain agent of the kaiser. That message -will bear the appearance of having been written by a friend of yours to -you, but it will contain information in invisible ink for your benefit -as a loyal agent of the Allies. This information will be of great value -to the Allies, supplying them with material for undermining the Teutonic -spy system in England, France, and America, which recently declared war. - -"This is all. I merely wished to advise you of what you will find -written with invisible ink on the paper that will be placed in your -possession when you set out on your return to America." - -The tapping ceased. Irving remained like a statue in his chair for -several minutes. Then he arose, went to the window and pulled the shade -aside. The court was dark, save for a solitary dim light out at the -entrance. He could just faintly discern the steel structure of the fire -escape near the window. - -"That's the way he got up," he half muttered. "He stood there on that -landing while he tapped his message. I wonder who he is and how he -spotted me. He must be a very clever fellow. I really believe he's -what he represented himself to be; and yet, it may possibly be a trap to -catch me. However, I don't see what I can do except await -developments." - -He went to bed and slept better than might have been expected under the -circumstances. But he had become so used to critical situations by this -time that he felt almost capable of sleeping peacefully on the "edge of -the earth" with a torpedo for a pillow. - -Next day the mystery of the window-telegraph spy bothered him a good -deal, even more than it did immediately after the fellow had "dotted and -dashed" his message on the pane of glass. - -"I wonder who he was?" he repeated many times. "I wonder if he's -somebody I'm in close touch with every day?" - -The suggestion caused him to watch narrowly every person in the office -with whom he did business for the German government. But the more he -watched, the more unsatisfactory the situation became. He continued his -furtive outlook several days, but finally admitted to himself that the -prospect of his efforts solving the mystery was anything but bright. - -Meanwhile the spy's preparations for a new excursion out into a broad -field of international espionage were rapidly drawing to a close. The -surgeon at the hospital who had performed the skin-grafting operation on -his arm pronounced it sufficiently well healed, first, to warrant taking -the limb out of the sling, and then, a week later, for the removal of -the bandage. There were a few slightly rough places here and there. -around the edges of the patch, and one small scar at the lower end of -the middle strip of skin where it had been twisted to cause it to lie -"right side out" through the middle of the larger patch and make the -latter complete by meeting the outer edges that had been undercut and -drawn to it. - -All things considered, Irving was well pleased with the course of events -during his sojourn in the German capital. Although a number of -situations had developed with rather dangerous aspect, he had pulled -through all of them with apparent success. While he was still reporting -daily at the hospital for the dressing of his arm his lieutenancy -commission was acted upon in the war office and was delivered to him -through Mr. Herrmann. - -At last the day arrived for a windup of the young spy's affairs in the -intelligence offices, and he was summoned into the presence of "the -baron" and Superintendent Herrmann. A third man also was present to -receive the young espionage student. He wore a navy uniform and was -introduced as Capt. Bartholf of the submarine service. - -"You will go with Capt. Bartholf on board his boat," "the baron" -announced, addressing "Lieut. Hessenburg." "He will land you on the -coast of Spain and from there you will go to a German consul and devise -a method for getting you to Mexico and from there into the United -States. - -"By the way," the high intelligence official remarked, suddenly -interrupting himself and addressing Superintendent Herrmann; "how about -that letter that was being prepared for Lieut. Hessenburg to take -along?" - -"I'll see," replied Herrmann, as he started for the door. - -"Bring Strauss in with you," "the baron" called after him. "I may want -to ask him some questions." - -"Strauss!" - -The name echoed in Irving's brain with a succession of significant -thrills. What did Strauss have to do with the preparation of the letter -he was to take with him? Was it possible--? - -He did not finish the sentence in words, but the idea was there and -remained uppermost in his mind during the remainder of the session in -"the baron's" office. Presently Herrmann returned, accompanied by the -card-catalog expert, who carried an envelope of ordinary -business-correspondence size in one hand. This envelope he laid on the -desk in front of the intelligence chief. - -The latter picked it up, looked keenly at Strauss and asked with like -sharpness of voice: - -"This paper was prepared entirely by you, was it?" - -"Yes," the cataloger answered. - -"And it has been in no other person's hands at any time since you began -work on it?" - -"No." - -"And you vouch for the accuracy and thoroughness of its preparation?" - -"Yes." - -"That's all. You may retire." - -Strauss left the room. "The baron" turned to Irving, handed him the -letter, and said: - -"This innocent looking missive is of vast importance. It is addressed -in cipher to a very important person in America who is high in the -confidence of the United States government. You have learned how to read -this cipher and will work it out for yourself. That is all. Good-by. I -wish you a continuation of the success that has been yours in a -remarkable degree heretofore." - -Irving took "the baron's" offered hand and then left the office -accompanied by Capt. Bartholf. As he went the name of Strauss continued -to ring in his head, together with this startling conviction: - -The catalog expert was the French spy who had tapped the "telegraph -message" on his window at the rooming house! - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXVII* - - *THE SUBMARINES* - - -Lieut. Ellis of the Canadian army, alias Lieut. Hessenburg of the German -army, had quite enough to think about as he left the office of "the -baron" in company with the submarine commander. Out in the reception -room the latter took leave of him, saying, "Meet me at the Kaiserhof at -9 o'clock tomorrow morning"; then the youthful spy, with a -counter-spying commission from the enemy, went to his desk and began to -make arrangements for his departure. - -Mr. Herrmann selected from the office force a former soldier who had -lost one arm, and to him Irving made a brief statement of the work he -had been doing so that his successor might continue where he had left -off. For a short time he debated in his mind whether to go to those of -his fellow workmen with whom he had been more intimately associated and -bid them farewell, but he decided that this would not be in harmony with -the "community conduct" of the officials and employes of the bureau. In -fact, he had observed little in the association of the office that had -suggested real community life. Everybody connected with the -intelligence bureau seemed either to have been born with a cold -furtiveness of manner or to have developed an espionage attitude of this -sort in the atmosphere of the greatest spy system the world had ever -known. - -However, he disliked very much to leave the place for the last time -without passing at least an "aufwiedersehen" to the one person there who -he felt certain was a friend of the great cause of human liberty for -which the allied nations were fighting. But Strauss seemed disposed to -ignore him if possible. He passed several times near the expert's desk, -but the latter pored more diligently than ever over his work. Once -Irving caught his eye and attempted to pass him a look of intelligent -meaning, but Strauss turned away quickly, and Irving left the building -without saying good-by to one of the occupants. - -"A very cold-blooded business," he told himself. "My! I'm glad to be -out of there. I'm afraid I'm not built along cold enough lines for a -spy even in behalf of a great and meritorious cause. That fellow -Strauss is an ideal spy. He must be the best any nation ever produced. -He certainly has worked himself into a powerful position of confidence -with the enemy. But that was some chance he took when he tapped that -message on my window. I wonder if he expected me to discover who he was -after he told me he was the fellow that prepared the letter that was to -be given to me. And when he assured the baron that nobody else had had -the letter in his possession, nobody else remained for me to suspect. -Well, he must know now that I spotted him; but he surely exhibited -extremely wise caution when he refused to recognize even a significant -look from me. Good-by, Mr. Strauss, or whatever your name is. You were -too shrewd to let me shake your hand, and cold judgment tells me you -were right. I hope after the war is over I may take a trip to Europe -and look you up. But, judging from the way you looked at me, or avoided -looking at me, I'm afraid you'd take advantage of the opportunity to -give me a calling down such as few people have ever received. I'd -probably feel the knives of your sarcasm making ridiculous mince meat -out of me." - -Next morning, promptly at the appointed hour, Irving was at the -information desk of the Kaiserhof, asking for Capt. Bartholf. The -latter was in his room waiting for the young intelligence officer. Two -hours later, arrangements having been made for the transfer of baggage, -the captain and the lieutenant were on board a train and headed for one -of the principal submarine ports of the German coast. - -The trip was uneventful, except that it afforded Irving an opportunity -to make a study of the character of an official representative of the -policy of ruthlessness of the military government of Germany. Capt. -Bartholf was a fit exponent of this policy and exceedingly efficient -because of the intelligence with which he could disguise the barbarous -nature of his ideas. Hours before they reached the port of their -destination, the spy was convinced that an enemy who fell into the -clutches of this sub-sea commander might as well toss hope to the -fishes. - -"I don't believe he'd take a prisoner if he could help it," Irving mused -as a climax to his conclusions. "I'd never surrender to a man like him -if I knew in advance what kind of fellow he was. It'd be a finish fight -even though there were no hope in it for me." - -They arrived at the seaport in the evening and took rooms at a hotel. -Two days they remained in this city. The captain explained the delay by -saying that he was awaiting orders to start on a raiding cruise. -Finally the orders arrived, and he announced that they would go on board -at once. - -Half an hour later they were at the docks, where a dozen U-boats were -lined up, some of them taking in provisions and oil, or undergoing -inspection and minor repairs. Irving's eyes were busy with new objects -of interest at this submarine harbor, for he had never before seen an -undersea craft. Eagerly he took in the scene, regarding the various -objects with more than the calculating interest of an international spy; -and while in the act of boarding the vessel in which he was about to -take his first submarine trip, he almost forgot, as the romantic thrill -of the experience went through him, that he was surrounded by enemies in -whose hands his life would be worth only a volley of rifle balls if his -real identity were revealed to them. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXVIII* - - *"KAMERAD!" AGAIN* - - -"Shut off the power." - -Irving was in the conning tower with Capt. Bartholf and Lieut. Voltz of -U-31 when the latter, who was at the periscope, gave the foregoing order -through the speaking tube. - -They had been out all night and half the preceding day, running much of -the time on the surface of the ocean in order to make the best possible -speed. Irving had not a clear idea where they were, but presumed that -they must have passed a considerable distance beyond the western end of -the English channel. - -Lieut. Voltz gazed again into the glass of the periscope after giving -his order to the engineer. He had had his hand on the lever at his -right and with this had turned the periscope tube so that his eye could -sweep the horizon. Now, however, he had discovered something, and he no -longer moved the lever except occasionally little more than a hair's -breadth in order to keep the object of interest in view. After a few -moments of further careful examination and reference to the telemeter -attachment to determine the distance away of the discovered object, he -called again into the speaking tube. - -"Go down four fathoms." - -Then turning to Capt. Bartholf, he said: - -"There are two vessels about five knots a little south of west from -here. One is probably a convoy." - -"Run about three knots closer and take another peep," the captain -ordered. "Did 17 and the 23 sight them also?" - -"I think so. Seventeen just went under." - -Irving understood this question and answer to refer to two other U-boats -that accompanied No. 31 on this trip. Meanwhile the latter submerged to -the depth ordered by Lieut. Voltz. - -Twenty minutes later the periscope was again a few feet out of the water -with the lieutenant's eye glued to the glass and his right hand working -the lever. - -"Let me have a look," said the commander. - -He gazed a minute into the glass and then said: - -"I'm going to try to get that convoy first and then the other, which -appears to be a hospital ship." - -Irving shuddered. - -The order was again given to submerge. The lieutenant seemed to be -doing all the work of lookout, pilot and operating master, for he was -busy at the steering wheel, periscope, and speaking tube almost -simultaneously much of the time. All these were within easy reach from -one position. The "sub" arose several times near enough to the surface -to enable the lieutenant or the captain to take a peep at the -prospective prey, and then down again it would go. At last, under -direction from the captain, the lieutenant gave this order through the -speaking tube: - -"Have the men slide a torpedo into one of the forward tubes." - -Eager to witness this operation, Irving sprang to the stairway and was -soon down on the lower deck. There he saw several members of the crew -remove the safety attachment from the nose of a sixteen-foot -phosphor-bronze torpedo, which was seventeen or eighteen inches in -diameter, and slide it into a tunnel-like hole in the midst of a maze of -operating machinery. A minute or two later the order was given to -"shoot," and out it went, under initial propulsion from a compressed air -engine. - -Then the order to submerge was given again, and away they went southward -at full speed under three fathoms of water. Ten minutes afterward the -periscope peeped up over the surface of the sea once more, and Capt. -Bartholf had his eye glued eagerly to the glass. - -A moment later he gave a yelp of delight, and Irving knew that a hit had -been scored. - -"We've hit 'em both fine!" the commanding officer exclaimed. "One of -the other boats must have fired a torpedo about the same time we did. -Both of those ships are going down." - -It was not regarded safe to show the hulks of the submarines above the -water yet, however, for fear lest the convoy hit one or more of them -with a shell as a last living act of revenge. But they did not have to -wait long, however, for the doomed vessels sank rapidly. - -Then all three submarines showed themselves on the surface and Irving -was delighted to observe that apparently all of the sailors, soldiers -and nurses that had been on the hospital ship and the convoy were now in -lifeboats, which were being rowed with frantic desperation away from the -U-boat-infested spot. - -"Follow them up and let's see what they look like," Capt. Bartholf -ordered, with a kind of gloating glee. - -All three captains seemed to be of like mind, for all three U-boats took -the same course and ran up close to the crowded lifeboats. Several -officers and members of the crew of each of the submarines appeared on -the outer deck to view the results of their uncontested victory. - -Suddenly there came from one of the boats a call that thrilled and -chilled Irving with a sense of awed familiarity. - -"Kamerad!" - -Where had he heard that cry in that tone of voice before? He could not -decide on the moment, and yet he was apprehensive of an unpleasant -discovery. - -The captain of U-31 determined to investigate and ordered the lifeboat -from which the hail proceeded to come alongside. The occupants could do -nothing more sensible than obey. As it approached a young man with an -empty left sleeve arose and repeated his appealing cry, and Irving -almost dropped in his tracks. - -The one-armed fellow was Adolph Hessenburg, alias Tourtelle, the former -Canadian lieutenant of the tattooed cubist art cryptogram. Undoubtedly -he was being sent to England to be held there for a determination of his -fate after information had been received regarding the success or -failure of his substitute spy's mission within the German lines. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXIX* - - *"ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN"* - - -If anybody had observed the precipitation with which Irving dived down -the hatchway of U-31 a moment or two after he recognized the "cubist art -spy," there is no doubt that the observer would have been impressed with -the mystery of the proceeding. As it was, all of his boche companions -on the outer deck were too much interested in seeking an explanation of -the "kamerad" cry from the midst of a boatload of enemy soldiers and -sailors to give attention to anything less than the explosion of a bomb -on their own vessel. - -Irving meanwhile picked up a sou'wester that he found on the lower deck, -put it over his head so that it partly covered, shaded, and hence -considerably disguised his face, and then returned to the outer deck. -True, the weather was not stormy, but the air was chilly and the -"cloudburst hood" added considerably to his comfort. - -The real Hessenburg had been assisted on board and was being questioned -by Captain Bartholf. Irving heard the latter ask him his name, and then -suddenly something happened which the trembling spy has ever since -declared undoubtedly saved his life and some very important information -for the Allies. - -What caused the sudden lurch of the submarine was not subsequently -disclosed. Possibly one of the men below, accidentally or thoughtlessly -moved a lever or wheel that resulted in a momentary spasm of mechanical -action. At any rate, all on the outer deck were dancing around for -several seconds to preserve their balance, and one of them was not as -successful as the others. That was Hessenburg, who was thrown violently -against the low railing so that he struck his head on one of the iron -standards or posts. - -Evidently he was seriously injured, for he did not attempt to rise. The -pallor of his face and the glassy look in his eyes indicated that he had -fainted. He was carried below and restoratives were administered to -him, but these did not bring back more than barely enough life to -reassure his caretakers that the concussion on his head was probably not -fatal. - - * * * * * - -The run from the scene of the sinking of the British hospital ship and -convoy to the Spanish coast was made in about eighteen hours, and before -noon of the day following, Irving was landed on a bleak and desolate -spot on the Bay of Biscay. Meanwhile, he had thankfully observed the -slowness with which the former "cubist art spy" recovered. Although he -found it necessary several times to be at the bedside of the patient, -the latter showed no signs of recognition; indeed, he at no time before -Irving was put ashore indicated that he had fully recovered from the -stupor which followed the shock of his fall. - -The story of how Irving found his way to a Spanish settlement and -subsequently got in touch with a British consulate and thence again with -the Canadian army is of little interest compared with the thrilling -events heretofore narrated. Suffice it to say that in due time success -met his efforts to get back with the Canadians, who retained unshakable -possession of Vimy Ridge, and that the information he was able to turn -over to his superior officers brought him recognition and honors from -very high sources. - - - - - * * * * * * * * - - - - - *BOYS' COPYRIGHTED BOOKS* - - -Printed from large, clear type on a superior quality of paper, -embellished with original illustrations by eminent artists, and bound in -a superior quality of book binders' cloth, ornamented with illustrated -covers, stamped in colors from unique and appropriate dies, each book -wrapped in a glazed paper wrapper printed in colors. - - - *ARMY BOYS SERIES* - - *By Major Andrew S. 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