Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG Distributed Proofreaders I SPY BY NATALIE SUMNER LINCOLN 1916 _To MRS. SARAH VAIL GOULD my grandmother to whose affection belongs many joyous days of childhood at "Oaklands" this book is offered as a loving tribute to her memory._ CONTENTS I. AT VICTORIA STATION II. OUT OF THE VOID III. POWERS THAT PREY IV. "SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT?" V. AN EVENTFUL EVENING VI. AT THE CAPITOL VII. PHANTOM WIRES VIII. KAISER BLUMEN IX. THE SPIDER AND THE FLY X. SISTERS IN UNITY XI. A MAN IN A HURRY XII. A SINISTER DISCOVERY XIII. HIDE AND SEEK XIV. A QUESTION OF LOYALTY XV. THE GAME, "I SPY" XVI. AT THE MORGUE XVII. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE XVIII. A PROPOSAL XIX. THE YELLOW STREAK XX. THE AWAKENING XXI. THE FINGER PRINT XXII. "TRENTON HURRY" XXIII. IN FULL CRY XXIV. RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE XXV. LOVE PARAMOUNT LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "He saw Kathleen quickly palm his place card" "As Henry pushed back the door, she collapsed into her father's arms" "'A flash, the rifle's recoil--and Mr. Whitney still standing just where he was'" "Whitney paused to snatch up a magnifying glass and by its aid examined the finger prints" CHAPTER I AT VICTORIA STATION The allied forces, English and French, had been bent backward day by day, until it seemed as if Paris was fairly within the Germans' grasp. Bent indeed, but never broken, and with the turning of the tide the Allied line had rushed forward, and France breathed again. Two men, seated in a room of the United Service Club in London one gloomy afternoon in November, 1914, talked over the situation in tones too low to reach other ears. The older man, Sir Percival Hargraves, had been bemoaning the fact that England seemed honeycombed by the German Secret Service, and his nephew, John Hargraves, an officer in uniform, was attempting to reassure him. It was a farewell meeting, for the young officer was returning to the front. "Much good will all this espionage do the Germans," said the young man. "We are easily holding our own, and with the spring will probably come our opportunity." He clicked his teeth together. "What price then all these suspected plots and futile intrigues?" "Don't be so damned cocksure," rapped out his uncle, his exasperation showing in heightened color and snapping eyes. "It's that same cocksureness which has almost brought the British Empire to the very brink of dissolution." His nephew smiled tolerantly, and shifted his thickset figure to a more comfortable position. "Now, now," he cautioned. "Remember what old Sawbones told you yesterday about not exciting yourself. Said you weren't to read or talk about this bally old war. Leave the worrying to Kitchener; he'll see we chaps do our part."