assed, hasn't it? The world-war of which we have been talking is
rendered impossible, isn't it?"

"That's a question," answered Mr. Grimm. "If you will pardon me for
suggesting it, I would venture to say that as long as there is an
invention of that importance in the hands of nations whom we now know
have been conspiring against us for fifty years, there is always danger.
It seems to me, if you will pardon me again, that for the sake of peace
we must either get complete control of that invention or else understand
it so well that there can be no further danger. And again, please let me
call your attention to the fact that the brain which brought this thing
into existence is still to be reckoned with. There may, some day, come a
time when our submarines may be exploded at will regardless of this
percussion cap."

The secretary of war turned flatly upon Chief Campbell.

"This woman who is mixed up in this affair?" he demanded. "This Miss
Thorne. Who is she?"

"Who is she?" repeated the chief. "She's a secret agent of Italy, one of
the most brilliant, perhaps, that has ever operated in this or any other
country. She is the pivot around which the intrigue moved. We know her
by a dozen names; any one of them may be correct."

The brows of the secretary of war were drawn down in thought as he
turned to the president.

"Mr. Grimm was speaking of the personal equation," he remarked
pointedly. "I think perhaps his meaning is clear when we know there is a
woman in the case. We know that Mr. Grimm has done his duty to the last
inch in this matter; we know that alone and unaided, practically, he has
done a thing that no living man of his relative position has ever done
before--prevented a world-war. But there is further danger--he himself
has called our attention to it--therefore, I would suggest that Mr.
Grimm be relieved of further duty in this particular case. This is not a
moment when the peace of the world may be imperiled by personal feelings
of--of kindliness for an individual."

Mr. Grimm received the blow without a tremor. His hands were still idly
clasped behind his back; the eyes fastened upon the president's face
were still listless; the mouth absolutely without expression.

"As Mr. Grimm has pointed out," the secretary went on, "we have been
negotiating for this wireless percussion cap. I have somewhere in my
office the name and address of the individual with whom these
negotiations have been conducted. Throug