"I'm sure of it, Walton, I'm sure of it, and so is Sir Roger." Again Mr. Llewellyn John looked across at his colleague who, seeming to lose interest in his lower waistcoat button, suddenly looked up. "The question is, how long is this to continue?" he asked. For some moments Colonel Walton did not reply. He appeared to be weighing something in his mind. "We're up against the cleverest organisation in the world," he said at length, "and Sage believes that a single man controls the lot." "Nonsense!" broke in Sir Roger. "This spy craze is pure imagination." "In any case it causes the War Cabinet a great amount of concern," said Mr. Llewellyn John drily. "I think," proceeded Colonel Walton, "that before the expiration of the four months stipulated for by John Dene, Department Z. will have justified itself." "How?" demanded Sir Roger. "I can say nothing more," said Colonel Walton, moving towards the door, "at present." "Well, carry on, Walton," said Mr. Llewellyn John and, with a wave of his hand, "and good luck." "Those two men have megalomania in its worst possible form," growled Sir Roger, as he too rose to take his departure. "Well, if they don't make good on this," said Mr. Llewellyn John, "you can decide whether or not their resignations be accepted." With a nod Sir Roger left the room, conscious that he had to explain to the permanent officials at the Home Office why Department Z. was still in being. II During the weeks that followed the disappearance of John Dene, a careful observer of Apthorpe Road could not have failed to observe the trouble that it was apparently giving the local authorities. A fatality seemed to brood over this unfortunate thoroughfare. First of all the telephone mains seemed to go wrong. Workmen came, and later there arrived a huge roll of lead-covered cable. Labour was scarce, and never did labourers work less industriously for their hire. On the morning after the arrival of the men, Mr. Montagu Naylor paused at the spot where they were working, and for a minute or two stood watching them with interest. Was there any danger of the telephone system being interrupted? No, the cable was being laid as a precaution. The existing cable was showing faults. Mr. Naylor passed on his way, and from time to time would exchange greetings with the men. They were extremely civil fellows, he decided. Mr. Naylor felt very English. The telephone men had not completed their work when the water-main, as if jealous of the care and attention being lavished upon a rival system, developed some strange and dangerous symptoms, involving the picking up of the road.