[Frontispiece: "You must accept my word."] INSIDE THE LINES _By_ EARL DERR BIGGERS AND ROBERT WELLES RITCHIE _Founded on Earl Derr Biggers' Play of the Same Name_ INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT 1915 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS BROOKLYN. N. Y. CONTENTS CHAPTER I Jane Gerson, Buyer II From the Wilhelmstrasse III Billy Capper at Play IV 32 Queen's Terrace V A Ferret VI A Fugitive VII The Hotel Splendide VIII Chaff of War IX Room D X A Visit to a Lady XI A Spy in the Signal Tower XII Her Country's Example XIII Enter, a Cigarette XIV The Captain Comes to Tea XV The Third Degree XVI The Pendulum of Fate XVII Three-Thirty A. M. XVIII The Trap Is Sprung XIX At the Quay INSIDE THE LINES CHAPTER I JANE GERSON, BUYER "I had two trunks--two, you ninny! Two! _Ou est l'autre?_" The grinning customs guard lifted his shoulders to his ears and spread out his palms. "_Mais, mamselle----_" "Don't you '_mais_' me, sir! I had two trunks--_deux troncs_--when I got aboard that wabbly old boat at Dover this morning, and I'm not going to budge from this wharf until I find the other one. Where _did_ you learn your French, anyway? Can't you understand when I speak your language?" The girl plumped herself down on top of the unhasped trunk and folded her arms truculently. With a quizzical smile, the customs guard looked down into her brown eyes, smoldering dangerously now, and began all over again his speech of explanation. "_Wagon-lit?_" She caught a familiar word. "_Mais oui_; that's where I want to go--aboard your wagon-lit, for Paris. _Voilà!_"--the girl carefully gave the word three syllables--"_mon ticket pour Paree!_" She opened her patent-leather reticule, rummaged furiously therein, brought out a handkerchief, a tiny mirror, a packet of rice papers, and at last a folded and punched ticket. This she displayed with a triumphant flourish. "_Voilà! Il dit_ 'Miss Jane Gerson'; that's me--_moi-meme_, I mean. And _il dit 'deux troncs'_; now you can't go behind that, can you? Where is that other trunk?" A whistle shrilled back beyond the swinging doors of the station. Folk in the customs shed began a hasty gathering together of parcels and shawl straps, and a general exodus toward the train sheds commenced. The girl on the trunk looked appealingly about her; nothing but bustle and confusion; no Samaritan to turn aside and rescue a fair traveler fallen among customs guards. Her eyes filled with trouble, and for an instant her reliant mouth broke its line of determination; the lower lip quivered suspiciously. Even the guard started to walk away.