"That's the third lucky escape you've had from his murderous intentions," remarked Entwistle quietly. "I can tell you now. He tried either to murder or kidnap you by means of the Zeppelin that came to Barborough. That the authorities gathered from one of the crew when the airship was wrecked in the North Sea a few days ago and the men rescued by a British patrol boat. Secondly, he did his level best to shoot you in the back this morning----" "Is that so?" asked Barcroft. "I can just understand a man doing such a thing through violent personal motives, but for a mere international reason----" "My dear fellow, there was the sum of ten thousand marks waiting to be earned." "Yes," admitted Peter. "I know that. But only yesterday he fished me out of the Dingle Dell stream when I was almost on the point of being drowned. For why?" "Ask me another," replied Entwistle. "At any rate, you will have cause to realise the actual existence of the Unseen Hand. But what happened just now, after he fired and missed?" Peter Barcroft glanced at the clock. It wanted thirty seconds to complete the stipulated five minutes. "I talked to him pretty straight," he said. "Shamed him a bit, I think. Anyway, I took four unused cartridges out of the revolver. Being a six-chambered weapon one cartridge remained." "Well?" "I handed the pistol back to him; told him if he were still of the same mind he had yet another chance to settle with me. He didn't--" "Great Scott!" exclaimed Entwistle striding towards the stairs. "You left him with a loaded revolver?" Peter laid a detaining hand on the Secret Service man's shoulder. "I gave him five minutes," he said. "And the time's up." A pistol shot rang out from the upstairs room. Siegfried von Eitelwurmer, otherwise Andrew Norton, had paid the penalty. CHAPTER XXXVI THE ELUSIVE OBJECTIVE "By Jove! old man," exclaimed Kirkwood, "we're up against a big thing to-morrow." Billy Barcroft merely nodded. It was "a big thing," this impending movement. Something that was well worth the risk, but at the same time the chances of the participators in the business returning were very remote. The two chums were pacing the port side of the quarter-deck of the "Hippodrome"--a long and comparatively narrow space betwixt the rise of the deck-houses and the stern, and separated from the corresponding part on the starboard side by the inclined launching platform. The seaplane-carrier was lying in a certain East Coast harbour, with steam raised ready to proceed at a moment's notice, and although her destination was supposed to be a strict secret, the nature of the forthcoming operations was known to all on board.