"I think we'd better go, too," some one said. "This is too
extraordinary--We're in no frame of mind to go ahead--"

"I must insist that you remain long enough to hear me out. You have no
right to refuse. There is something you _must_ be told."

"I'll admit I'm curious to know what the devil it all means," Murphy,
the lumberman, confessed; "but I don't know that I should accept an
explanation from you. Not after Henry's accusations. I've known him and
Bell for years--"

"I respect your friendship for them, and I sha'n't expect you to put
trust in my words. It seems to me, however, that you owe it to that
friendship to hear me. This incident has taken a turn wholly
unexpected, and, I must confess, disappointing. I looked for a
different outcome--hoped I'd be able to force an explanation--" The
speaker shook his head and frowned again, perplexedly. When, after a
moment of indecisive murmuring, the three directors seated themselves,
Gray thanked them with a bow. "I'll be as brief as possible, and if you
don't mind I'll stand as I talk. I'm in no mood to sit. I'll have to go
back a bit--" It was several seconds before he resumed.

"When it became evident that the United States was going to war, I
managed to get in at Plattsburg and took the officers' training course.
It was easy for me to complete that course, because I had served in the
Spanish War and had kept up my interest in military affairs. Something
convinced those who ought to know that I possessed qualifications of
unusual value to the country--a wide business experience at home and
abroad, a knowledge of languages perhaps--anyhow, I was called to
Washington. There I met Henry Nelson--a valuable man, too, in his way.
We were commissioned at the same time and sent overseas on the same
ship to engage in the same work--military intelligence. I didn't like
the job, but it was considered important, and naturally I couldn't pick
and choose. Of course it was secret, confidential work. No need of
going into that here.

"Nelson's and my duties were identical, our authority was equal; we
were ordered to work hand in hand, and although we were commissioned
together, technically, he outranked me owing to the fact that he was
given his commission a moment before I got mine.

"That's where the trouble started. We clashed, even on shipboard. He
proved himself to be authoritative, overbearing; he immediately assumed
the position of my superior officer. I'm not a mild-tempere