. Shall I send an attorney to you? Would you like a book of any
kind? Or some delicacy sent in from a restaurant? Can I be of any
service to you in any way? If I can please drop me a line.

"Sincerely,

"Isabel Thorne."

At last she rose and standing in the window read the note over, folded
it, placed it in an envelope and sealed it. A maid came in answer to her
ring, and there at the window, under the watchful eyes of Blair and
Hastings--and, perhaps, Johnson--she handed the note to the maid with
instructions to mail it immediately. Two minutes later she saw the maid
go out along the avenue to a post-box on the corner.

Then she drew back into the shadow of the room, slipped on a
dark-colored wrap, and, standing away from the window, safe beyond the
reach of prying eyes, waited patiently for the postman. He appeared
about five o'clock and simultaneously another man turned the corner near
the post-box and spoke to him. Then, together, they disappeared from
view around the corner.

"So that's Johnson, is it?" mused Miss Thorne, and she smiled a little.
"Mr. Grimm certainly pays me the compliment of having me carefully
watched."

A few minutes later she dropped into the seat at the desk again. The
dark wrap had been thrown aside and Hastings and Blair from their
hiding-places could see her distinctly. After a while they saw her rise
quickly, as an automobile turned into the avenue, and lean toward the
window eagerly looking out. The car came to a standstill in front of the
legation, and Mr. Cadwallader, an under-secretary of the British
embassy, who was alone in the car, raised his cap. She nodded and
smiled, then disappeared in the shadows of the room again.

Mr. Cadwallader went to the door, spoke to the servant there, then
returned and busied himself about the car. Hastings and Blair watched
intently both the door and the window for a long time; finally a closely
veiled and muffled figure appeared at the bay-window, and waved a gloved
hand at Mr. Cadwallader, who again lifted his cap. A minute later the
veiled woman came out of the front door, shook hands with Mr.
Cadwallader, and got in the car. He also climbed in, and the car moved
slowly away.

Simultaneously the front door of the house on the corner, where Hastings
had been hiding, and the front door of the house near the corner, where
Blair had been hiding, opened and two heads peered out. As the car
approached Hastings' hiding-place he withdrew into the