e waters as a "bad egg".

Yet it would be most injudicious for the naval authorities to relax
their watchfulness. Areas of strategic importance must still be
closely guarded, since it was just possible that the wily Teuton would
refrain from submarine warfare in the Channel until the patrol-boats'
crews were lulled into a sense of false optimism.

The only break in the monotony was the occasional and welcome
appearance of a motor-boat from Shoreham, bringing off fresh supplies,
newspapers and letters for the patrol vessels.

Amongst Ross's correspondence was a letter from his father. Admiral
Trefusis gave no indication of what he was doing, merely a brief
statement that he was still "somewhere in the North Sea". He
congratulated his son upon his escape, and mentioned that he had heard
from the captain of H.M.S. _Tremendous_ with reference to his son's
action in warning the battleship. But although the Admiral did not
express himself very enthusiastically on paper, he was as pleased as
only a proud father can be at his boy's display of gallantry and
resource. "Under the circumstances," he wrote, "I think you did right
in temporarily abandoning your preparation for Sandhurst. No doubt you
will acquit yourself in your present position as a Trefusis should do.
I was certainly surprised to hear about that fellow Ramblethorne. He
always appeared to be a really decent man. It only shows how careful
one has to be when dealing with a highly organized enemy."

Amongst Vernon's batch of correspondence was a letter from
Detective-inspector Hawke. It was couched in semi-official language, a
survival of days long ago when the Inspector was a budding constable
and had to submit countless written reports to his superiors.

There was, he wrote, no definite news concerning Ramblethorne,
otherwise von Hauptwald. The local police had taken up the case, and,
assisted by the military, were still scouring the country. As usual,
there were inaccurate and misleading reports from various parts of the
country. It was generally accepted that the spy was being hidden by
some of his compatriots who, by indulgence of the British Government,
were still at large in the country, or else that he had succeeded in
getting away on board a neutral ship.

The inquest on von Ruhle had taken place, with the anticipated result,
a verdict of _felo de se_ being returned by the jury. No evidence had
been submitted as to the dead man's real occupa