haw? I came here to see him."

"He was coming down to-night," George Tolford replied, "but it is so late
now that he may not be here. Anything special?"

"Why, yes," was the reply. "I want to know what he has been saying to his
father about the difficulty in the Canal Zone."

"Why, he doesn't know anything to tell," said Nestor, "not even as much as
the boys here now know, for I have talked the situation over with them but
not with him."

"What do they know regarding the situation?" asked the lieutenant,
apprehensively.

"Nothing except that the Panama canal is threatened by some unknown
influence."

"Well," said the lieutenant, thoughtfully, "some one has been leaking, and
it seems as if our first move in the game must be made right here in New
York."

"It wasn't Frank that leaked," Jimmie asserted, in defense of his friend.
"He wouldn't do such a thing, and he couldn't tell what he didn't know,
anyway," with which logical conclusion the boy turned his back to the
group.

"There is something wrong somewhere," Lieutenant Gordon said. "Wait until
I tell you what took place this afternoon and you will agree with me."

CHAPTER II.

THEFT OF THE EMERALD NECKLACE.

"Early this afternoon," the lieutenant went on as the boys gathered about
him, "I was interviewed by a reporter for the _Daily Planet_."

"Frank's father owns that newspaper," Jimmie suggested.

"Yes," said the officer, "and that is why I thought Frank might know
something of the origin of the inquiry. The reporter was not slow in
getting at the point he was in my rooms to discuss. Almost the first
question he asked me was this: 'Is it true that the government has ordered
you to the Canal Zone to investigate an alleged plot to blow up the Gatun
dam?' Coming from a reporter, as it did, the question knocked me all in a
heap."

Ned Nestor leaned forward with a new interest showing in his face.

"I should think so," he said. "What did you tell him?"

"I tried to bluff him out at first, but soon learned that he knew more
about the Zone situation than I did. He didn't get much information from
me, but I learned from him that the _Daily Planet_ is wise to the whole
situation, as the boys say. Now, the question is this: 'Where did the
editor secure his information?' I asked him in so many words, but he only
laughed at me."

"The place to go for that information," Nestor suggested, "is to the
editor himself. Mr. Shaw would, of course, know all