"An hour or so of publicity of the screaming, hysterical kind will not help us to find Genevieve. But when we do find her, our publicity will have defeated you!" The two men stared at each other. Remington said: "You mean I must shield the organization!" "If you are to be elected--yes!" "Do you think Genevieve and Miss Eliot would consent to shield the organization when we find them? Why, Penny, you're mad! We must call up the chief of police! We must scour the country! I propose to go right to the newspapers! The more people who know of this dastardly thing the sooner we shall recover the victims!" "And the sooner Noonan, when he comes home tonight, will denounce you as an accessory before the fact, with Norton and Doolittle as corroborating witnesses for him! Oh, you're learning politics fast, George!" The thought of what Genevieve would say when she knew, through Noonan and Doolittle, that he had heard of the plot to kidnap Miss Eliot, and within an hour had talked to his wife casually at luncheon without saying anything about it, made George's heart stop. He realized that he was learning something more than politics. He walked the floor of the room. "Well," he said at last, "let's call in Uncle Martin Jaffry. He----" "Yes; he is probably paying for the job. He might know something! I'll get him." "Paying for the job! Do you think he knew of this plot?" cried George as Evans stood at the telephone. "Oh, no. He just knew, in a leer from Doolittle, that they had extraordinary need for Eve thousand dollars or so in your behalf--that they had consulted you. And then Doolittle winked and Noonan cocked his head rakishly, and Uncle Martin put--Hello, Mr. Jaffry. This is Penny. Dress and come down to the office quickly. We are in serious trouble." Twenty minutes later Uncle Martin was sitting with the two young men in the office of Remington and Evans. When they explained the situation to him his dry little face screwed up. "Well, at least Genevieve will be all right," he muttered. "E. Eliot will take care of her. But, boys--boys," he squeezed his hands and rocked in misery, "the devil of it is that I gave Doolittle the money in a check and then went and got another check from the Owners' Protective Association and took the peak load off myself, and Doolittle was with me when I got the P. A. check. We've simply got to protect him. And, of course, what he knows, Noonan knows. We can't go tearing up Jack here, calling police and raising the town!" George Remington rose. "Then I've got to let my wife lie in some dive with that unspeakable Turk and that Mike the Goat while you men dicker with the scoundrels who committed this crime!" he said. "My God, every minute is precious! We must act. Let me call the chief of police and the sheriff----"