"Quiet," she assured him. "You couldn't have come at a better time. Every one's away. Is there anything wrong?" "I am being followed," he told her, "and I don't like it--just now, at any rate." "Any one else coming?" she enquired. "Rentoul," he told her. "He is in a mortal fright at having to come. They found his wireless, and they are watching his house. I must see him, though, before I go away." "Going away?" she echoed. "When? When are you going?" "To-morrow," he replied, "I sail for London." She seemed for a moment absolutely speechless, consumed by a sort of silent passion that found no outlet in words. She gripped a fancy mat which covered an ornate table by her side, and dragged a begilded vase on to the floor without even noticing it. She leaned towards him. The little lines at the sides of her eyes were suddenly deep-riven like scars. Her eyes themselves were smouldering with fire. "You are going to England!" "That is what I propose," he assented. "I am sailing on the _City of Boston_ to-morrow afternoon." "But the risk!" she faltered. "I thought that you dared not set foot in England." "There is risk," he admitted. "It is not easy to amuse oneself anywhere without it. I have been offered a hundred thousand pounds to superintend the conveyance of certain documents and a certain letter to Berlin. The adventure appeals to me, and I have undertaken it. Until I found this man following me this afternoon, I really believed that we had put every one off the track. I know for a fact that most of the American officials believe that the papers for which they have searched so long and anxiously are in that trunk with the broken seals which they found at Halifax." "What about the Englishman, Crawshay, and Sam Hobson?" the girl asked. "They are not quite so credulous," he replied, "but at the present moment they are in Chicago, and if we get off at four o'clock punctually to-morrow afternoon, I scarcely think I shall be troubled with their presence on the _City of Boston_." "I have been reading about the trunk," the girl said. "Is it really a fake?" "Entirely," he assured her. "There is not a single document in it which concerns either us or our friends. Everything that is of vital importance will be on the _City of Boston_ to-morrow and under my charge." She looked at him wonderingly. "But, Mr. Thew," she exclaimed, "you are clever, I know--even wonderful--but what possible chance have you of getting those things through--on an American steamer, too!" "I have to take my risks, of course," he admitted coolly, "but the game is worth it. I can't live without excitement, as you know, and it's getting harder and harder to find on this side of the ocean. Besides, there is the money. I can think of several uses for a hundred thousand pounds." She caught his wrist suddenly and leaned across the table. "Can I come with you?" she asked breathlessly. He shook his head.