ied carefully
the coast of Essex. Burnham stood upon the river Crouch, which Dawson
had heard of as a famous resort for motor-boats. His eyes gleamed, and
he threw up his head, which had been bent over the map. "The man shall
have his leave," murmured he. "But I don't think it will be his mother
who is buried."

Just at that moment in came Froissart, looking, as Dawson at once
remarked, merry and bright. "It is no wonder," said he, "for see this
telegram of which I have just had a copy. It was spotted at once at
the Bureau, and the man who despatched it has been shadowed by a
police officer." The telegram read, "Coming to-day by South Western.
Meet me this evening at usual place." It was addressed to
Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex.

Dawson picked up the note which he had received and passed it to
Froissart, who read it slowly. "The same place!" cried he.

"Yes," said Dawson slowly, "the same place, and a famous resort for
motor-boats. We have not finished yet, my friend, with the _Intrepid_
and _Terrific_"

CHAPTER XIV

A COFFIN AND AN OWL

Dawson laid the letter and the telegram upon his breakfast-table, and
bent his head over them. In a few minutes he had weighed them up,
sorted out their relative significance, and spoke. "We have here,
Froissart, two distinct people. I am almost sure of that. My man of
the dockyard who wants leave to bury his mother in Essex has not yet
received permission from his Chief. He would not therefore be
telegraphing about his train. He does not know yet whether he will be
permitted to go at all. Your man is quite confident that his movements
are in no way restricted. As I read between the lines I judge that my
man, who knows the actual truth about the docking and sailing of the
battle-cruisers, wants to reach the East Coast, whence he has means of
transmitting the priceless news to Germany. Your man is of one of the
Towns; he has seen the dummy cruisers ashore in the Sound; he believes
them to be genuine, and he also wants to transmit the news to his
paymasters in Germany, He will be an ordinary German agent. The
identity of place whither both wish to go is partly a coincidence, and
partly explained by its excellence as a jumping-off place for fast
motor-boats, which, during these long autumn nights, could race over
to and get back again between sunset and dawn. We have coast watchers
always about for the very purpose of stopping such lines of
communication. You shall accompan