Thus by the hands of the Huns themselves the public were spared an astounding scandal, and the Allies were rid of three ingenious scoundrels engaged in a clever and insidious campaign. After Easterbrook's death we were able to unravel the whole conspiracy. Easterbrook and van Rosen were two of the fingers of the Hidden Hand in England. They operated by means of banking accounts in various names, handling large sums placed freely at their disposal by other wealthy naturalised "Britons," who proved in their own persons the truth of the adage coined in 1914 by a naturalised Hun--"Once a German, always a German." Most of them were laid by the heels, and now, behind barricades of barbed wire in remote parts of the country, have leisure to repent the day when they matched their cunning against the skill of the International Secret Service Bureau of the Allies. CHAPTER TEN. THE MYSTERY OF BLIND HEINRICH. "Blind Heinrich!" Without any conscious effort of memory on my part, these words flashed suddenly into my mind, as, six weeks or so after the events just related, I sat lazily in Armand Hecq's private room in the Boulevard des Capucines, turning over our latest problem in my mind, while I waited for the astute chief, who was busy investigating a report which had just been brought in by one of his numerous financial clients--in other words, by one of the numerous expert agents whom he kept constantly busy up and down Europe, at the task of countering the villainous work of the spy bureau in Berlin. "I wonder whether he is mixed up in the affair," I mused; rapidly working out a new train of thought to which the old scoundrel's name had given rise. So intent was I that I did not notice Hecq's entrance. His quick eye noticed my absorption. "A penny for your thoughts, _mon cher_ Gerald," he laughed. "Well," I said with a smile, "I was pretty far away, I admit. The fact is, I was wondering whether Blind Heinrich is taking any part in the game?" The director of the International Secret Service of the Allies raised his brows and stared at me across the big, littered writing-table. Behind him a tape machine was clicking out its message, just as it should in a well-ordered financier's office. He was evidently surprised. "By Jove!" he exclaimed in English, which he spoke to perfection. "I never thought of him! My dear Gerald, old Heinrich is an extremely wily bird; and if he is mixed up in this business we shall have all our work cut out. Remember how he wriggled out of our hands in the Gould affair, when we thought we had him safely netted?"