with a tired gesture.

"Say, old man!" exclaimed Ned, "what you want is a day off, and I'm
going to see that you get it. You need a little vacation."

"Perhaps I do," assented Tom wearily.

"Then you'll have it!" cried Ned. "There's going to be a little picnic
to-morrow. Why can't you go with Mary Nestor? She'd like you to take
her, I'm sure. Her cousin, Helen Randall, is on from New York, and she
wants to go, also."

"How do you know?" asked Tom quickly.

"Because she said so," laughed Ned. "I was over to the house to call. I
have met Helen before, and I suggested that you and I would take the
two girls, and have a day off. You'll come, won't you?"

"Well, I don't know," spoke Tom slowly. "I ought to--"

"Nonsense! Give up work for one day!" urged Ned. "Come along. It'll do
you good--get the cobwebs out of your head."

"All right, I'll go," assented Tom, after a moment's thought.

The next day, having instructed his father and the foremen to look well
to the various shops, and having seen that the work on the new aerial
warship was progressing favorably, Tom left for a day's outing with his
chum and the two girls.

The picnic was held in a grove that surrounded a small lake, and after
luncheon the four friends went for a ride in a launch Tom hired. They
went to the upper end of the lake, in rather a pretty but lonesome
locality.

"Tom, you look tired," said Mary. "I'm sure you've been working too
hard!"

"Why, I'm not working any harder than usual," Tom insisted.

"Yes, he is, too!" declared Ned, "and he's running more chances, too."

"Chances?" repeated Mary.

"Oh, that's all bosh!" laughed Tom. "Come on, let's go ashore and walk."

"That suits me," spoke Ned. Helen and Mary assented, and soon the four
young persons were strolling through the shady wood.

After a bit the couples became separated, and Tom found himself walking
beside Mary in a woodland path. The girl glanced at her companion's
face, and ventured:

"A penny for your thoughts, Tom."

"They're worth more than that," he replied gallantly. "I was thinking
of--you."

"Oh, how nicely you say it!" she laughed. "But I know better! You're
puzzling over some problem. Tell me, what did Ned mean when he hinted
at danger? Is there any, Tom?"

"None at all," he assured her. "It's just a soft of notion--"

Mary made a sudden gesture of silence.

"Hark!" she whispered to Tom, "I heard someone mention your name then.
Listen!"

CHA