that, moreover, he was a menace
to nothing but the sleep of those he disturbed. No one was abroad to get in
his way, and he forgot utterly that there might be need for caution, until,
as he went through a fair sized town, he suddenly saw three policemen, two
of whom were also mounted on motorcycles, waiting for him.

They waved their arms, crying out to him to stop, and, seeing that he was
trapped, he did stop.

"Let me by," he cried, angrily. "I'm on government service!"

"Another of them?" One of the policemen looked doubtfully at the rest. "Too
many of you telling that tale to-night. And the last one said there was a
scorcher behind him. Have you got any papers? He had them!"

Harry groaned! So Graves had managed to strike at him, even when he was
miles away. Evidently he, too, had been held up; evidently, also, he had
used Harry's credentials to get out of the scrape speeding had put him in.

"No, I haven't any credentials," he said, angrily. "But you can see my
uniform, can't you? I'm a Boy Scout, and we're all under government orders
now, like soldiers or sailors."

"That's too thin, my lad," said the policeman who seemed to be recognized
as the leader. "Everyone we've caught for speeding too fast since the war
began has blamed it on the war. We'll have to take you along, my boy. They
telephoned to us from places you passed--they said you were going so fast
it was dangerous. And we saw you ourselves."

In vain Harry pleaded. Now that he knew that Graves had used his
credentials from Colonel Throckmorton, he decided that it would be foolish
to claim his own identity. Graves had assumed that, and he had had the
practically conclusive advantage of striking the first blow. So Harry
decided to submit to the inevitable with the best grace he could muster.

"All right," he said. "I'll go along with you, officer. But you'll be sorry
before it's over!"

"Maybe, sir," said the policeman. "But orders is orders, sir, and I've got
to obey them. Not that I likes running a young gentleman like yourself in.
But--"

"Oh, I know you're only doing your duty, as you see it, officer," he said.
"Can't be helped--but I'm sorry. It's likely to cause a lot of trouble."

So he surrendered. But, even while he was doing so, he was planning to
escape from custody.

CHAPTER X

A GOOD WITNESS

Dick's surprise and concern when he found the cache empty and deserted,
with papers and motorcycles alike gone, may be imagined.