ight--but a miss is as good as a mile," said Stepan,
with a laugh. "He knew--and the staff knew--and I knew! I found out all
about those things by reading his private letters, Dick. That was the
part I hated most about the work. I had to read all his letters after we
became sure of what he was doing. It made me feel wretched at first, as
if I were doing something very dishonorable."

"But you weren't doing it for a dishonorable reason, Steve. Still I can
see how you felt."

"But I didn't feel that way very long, Dick, because I soon found out
what a miserable cheat and swindler he was! You were surprised, you
know, when you found out that I knew all about you."

"I certainly was! I never was so much surprised in all my life!" said
Dick very quickly.

"Well, I may have some more surprises for you still, Dick. I'm not sure,
but I do know some things I haven't told you yet."

"You do, Steve? Why can't you tell me now?"

"I can, but I want to make sure that they will be of some use to you
before I do. If I told you some things I know, they might make you
change your plans, and then they might not be of any value, after all.
They might only put you off. You see, when I first found out these
things about the way he had treated you, I didn't know you and didn't
have any reason at all to suppose that I ever would, or that I'd ever
even see you. New York's a long way off--and, of course, I was more
interested in what was going on here, because I knew that this war might
come along at any moment, and I was here just to see what I could do for
Servia and to interfere with the things we had reason to suppose Mike
Hallo was doing for the Austrians."

"Of course. I can understand that, Steve. There wasn't any reason for
you to do as much as you did, and to take all the interest you did in
me, when you didn't know anything about me."

"Well, at first I just wanted to help you because I hated him so. I
thought there was a chance to spoil the trick he was trying to play on
you. When I found that he was planning to get rid of you by having you
arrested before you could get back to the American consulate I wanted to
trip him up."

"You certainly did a lot for me, Steve. I don't know whether I'll ever
be able to get anything out of him, but if I do it will be due to you.
If they had ever got me out of here and away to Buda-Pesth, I'd never
have been able to come back, even if they had not managed to trump up
some charge against