y explosion down
below at nine o'clock, and there won't be any at all--so don't worry."

He worked his cigar over into the corner of his mouth and looked up at
his victim in a tantalizing manner, waiting. And he was not
disappointed, for in the angry tirade which the passenger uttered it
became very apparent that he was a foreigner. Mr. Conne seemed quietly
amused.

[Illustration: "ACCORDING TO THE ALARM CLOCK DOWN IN THE STORE-ROOM, I
GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT." Page 144]

"Doc," said he sociably, almost confidentially, "I believe if it hadn't
been for this youngster here, you'd have gotten away with it. It's too
bad about your watch being slow--German reservists and ex-army officers
ought to remember when they're traveling that this is a wide country and
that East is East and West is West, as old brother Kipling says. When
you're coming across Uncle Sam's backyard to blow up ships, it's
customary to put your watch an hour ahead in Cleveland, Doc. Didn't they
tell you that? Where's all your German efficiency? Here's a wideawake
young American youngster got you beaten to a stand-still----"

"This is abominable!" roared the man.

"Say that again, Doc," laughed Mr. Conne. "I like the way you say it
when you're mad. So that's why you didn't get off the ship in time last
night, eh?" he added, with a touch of severity. "Watch slow! Bah! You're
a bungler, Doc! First you let your watch get you into a tight place,
then you let it give you away.

"I don't know who you are, except you came from west of Cleveland; but
here's an American boy, never studied the German spy system, and, by
jingoes, he's tripped you up--and saved a dozen ships and a half a dozen
munition factories, for all I know. German efficiency--bah! The Boy
Scouts have got you nailed to the mast! This is the kind of boys we're
going to send over, Doc. Think you can lick 'em?"

Tom was blushing scarlet and breathing nervously as the fierce,
contemptuous gaze of the tall man was bent for a brief second upon him.
But Mr. Conne winked pleasantly at him, and it quite nullified that
scornful look.

Then, suddenly, the detective became serious, interrupting the stranger,
who had begun to speak again, and brushing his words aside.

"You'll have to show me your passport, sir," he said, "and any other
papers you have. I'll go to your stateroom with you. Then I'm going to
lock you up. I'll expect you to tell me, too, what became of the young
fellow who happened to discov