an, as the agent of the Master Spy, can dictate what
they must do."

Kauffman slammed his door and locked it. He was going out. Josie opened
her own door a crack to look after him. He was walking deliberately
down the corridor, openly carrying in his left hand the black satchel.

To Josie this seemed the essence of effrontery. He had no intention of
using the fire-escape, after all. He trusted in bravado, as so many
careless criminals do. As she stealthily followed him, she observed the
man stop in the office and exchange commonplaces with one or two guests
whom he knew.

In reality, this was his safest plan. The black bag did not look
suspicious. Presently the bomb would be turned over to Dyer and
Kauffman's responsibility would then end. His very boldness was
calculated to prevent suspicion.

Leaving the hotel, Kauffman walked leisurely up the lighted street.
Only when he turned a corner did Josie momentarily lose sight of him.
There were many pedestrians at this hour and they masked the girl's
form and for a while enabled her to keep near to the man she was
shadowing. The only thing that puzzled Josie was the fact that Kauffman
was proceeding in a direction exactly opposite that taken by Dyer a
short time before. Dyer went south and Kauffman was going north.

When the business section of Dorfield was passed, the streets became
more deserted. They were not well lighted either, which favored Josie
the more.

Kauffman kept steadily on, and as the houses along the way thinned,
Josie decided he was headed directly for the steel works. That upset
her calculations a bit, for she knew he had not seen Dyer since the
latter's interview with Tom Linnet, nor had he seen Linnet; therefore
he could not know that any arrangements he had previously made with
them had fallen through. The German's present actions, however,
indicated that he had decided to place the bomb himself, without the
assistance of his fellow conspirators. Had he been warned of Linnet's
defection? Had he means of communicating with Dyer unknown to Josie?
Dyer was a mystery; even his wife believed he was now on his way to
Washington.

Surprises, in Josie's line of work were not uncommon, and this was no
time to consider whys and wherefores. The one thing she was sure of was
that the bomb was in the black satchel and the black satchel in
Kauffman's hand. No matter where the other conspirators might be or how
they were implicated in tonight's plot, as long