man made the same mistake as many others.

"Good evenin', Senator," he said.

Tower nodded and laughed. He had no time to correct the harmless
blunder. Even so, he was too late for the boat, which was already well
away from the stage when he reached it. He lighted a cigarette, and
strolled along the narrow terrace between river and lawn.

Clancy, on receiving his cue, followed Tower. An attendant challenged
him at the iron gate, but Nolan certified that this diminutive stranger
was "all right."

It was on the tip of the detective's tongue to ask if Mr. Meiklejohn had
gone into the clubhouse when he saw, as he imagined, the Senator's tall
form silhouetted against the vague carpet of the river; so he passed on,
and this minor incident contributed its quota to a tragic occurrence. He
heard some one behind him on the bridge, but paid no heed, his wits
being bent on noting anything that took place in the semi-obscurity of
the river's edge.

Meanwhile, the patrolman, encountering a double of Senator Meiklejohn,
was dumbfounded momentarily. He sought enlightenment from the attendant.

"An', for the love of Mike, who was the first wan?" he demanded, when
assured that the latest arrival was really the Senator.

"Mr. Ronald Tower," said the man. "They're like as two peas in a pod,
ain't they?"

Nolan muttered something. He, too, crossed the bridge, meaning to find
Clancy and explain his error. Thus, the four men were not widely
separated, but Tower led by half a minute--long enough, in fact, to be
at the north end of the terrace before Meiklejohn passed the gate.

There, greatly to his surprise, he looked down into a small motor-boat,
with two occupants, keeping close to the sloping wall. The craft and its
crew could have no reasonable business there. They suggested something
sinister and furtive. The engine was stopped, and one of the men,
huddled up in the bows, was holding the boat against the pull of the
tide by using a boathook as a punting pole.

Tower, though good-natured and unsuspicious, was naturally puzzled by
this apparition. He bent forward to examine it more definitely, and
rested his hands on a low railing. Then he was seen by those below.

"That you?" growled the second man, standing up suddenly.

"It is," said Tower, speaking with strict accuracy, and marveling now
who on earth could have arranged a meeting at such a place and in such
bizarre conditions.

"Well, here I am," came the gruff announcem