It was some weeks since they had been in the same room awaiting a telegram from Heinric von Lertz who was in charge of the attempt on the Welland Canal. There had been many details to arrange and only that same day had they received their passports and permission from the British Government to safely pass the blockade which had been established around Germany. The safe conduct passes had been a disappointment. They were made out for separate ships and Von Papen and Boy-Ed had planned many enjoyable hours together on their journey home, receiving wireless reports on the success of plans which they were discussing with Von Bernstorff and Dr. Albert.
"Von Bopp has proved a wonder at organization," said Von Papen speaking of the Imperial German Consul General in San Francisco. "We have made the mistake of failing to employ our entire forces in a general attack. As we have been operating in the past we have engaged in but minor tasks, plans which would have resulted in great damage if successful but minor in the sense that only a small percentage of our forces were engaged. The result has been that the Secret Service has always been able to oppose us with an adequate force, after they have been led to it by the damnable luck of Harrison Grant. We have them hopelessly outnumbered, however, and in the campaign which will open as soon as we have left the country we propose to make good use of our superiority in forces. Briefly the plan is this. To strike with explosives and fires simultaneously over the entire width and breadth of America with a two-fold object—first to cut off the supplies for the Allies by destroying the means for their manufacture and secondly to create such a reign of terror in America that a declaration of war against Imperial Germany will be too fearful a thing to even contemplate. Boy-Ed, will you read the latest report we have received from Von Bopp?"
"Naturally it is in code," responded the naval attache, "but I can give you the sense of it. Attacks are planned upon the Canadian Pacific Railroad in British Columbia with the main damage inflicted in the Selkirk Mountains where a little explosive will go a long way; the blowing up of a number of troop trains, and trains carrying horses and explosives also in western Canada, in fact a general renewal of the plans in Canada which Koolbargen undertook but which resulted so badly for our cause."
"Before you proceed farther," interrupted Von Bernstorff, "No more money is to be spent upon any schemes in connection with Canada. It is too costly for the result to be accomplished. Canada is practically drained now of all the help she will be able to extend England. Her supply of men is nearly exhausted, and two-thirds of the supplies she is sending are gotten from the United States. We have no one left in Canada to work through and the effort to get agents through the emigration lines is too great for the work that can be done. Instruct Von Bopp to confine his efforts to the United States."
"Exactly my own idea," said Von Papen, "but Von Bopp is a fanatic in regard to Canada. His plans in regard to Canada are harmless for I never intended that they should be started. What has he to say of this country?"
"The docks at Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, San Pedro and other coastwise towns have received his consideration. Munition plans which have been suggested to him have also been carefully investigated and are all available for our general scheme. He only wants orders to begin the work."
"He can wait," said Von Papen, and then turning to Von Bernstorff and Albert, "you can appreciate the advantage of having affairs directed from San Francisco. The Secret Service is paying little or no attention to affairs there. Von Bopp, assisted by Baron Eckhart H. Von Schaack, his vice-consul, Lieutenant Wilhelm von Brincken, and a number of others, has been getting the necessary men, not only for his own territory but for operations in the middle west and in the east and south. Von Lertz will have supervision over everything east of the Rockies but the men who will act for him will receive their instructions before they leave San Francisco. A whole week of explosions and fires in some of the biggest and most rushed plants in the country will be the result. Each night will see its toll taken, with the climax coming with the destruction of the Bethlehem big calibre gun works. In regard to this Von Lertz is entitled to a great deal of credit. The only unprotected portion of the plant is the coal shutes leading directly to the fire rooms. Although the idea was undoubtedly suggested to him Von Lertz was keen enough to realize its worth. Women gathering up coal which has been spilled in the unloading of cars into these shutes, is an ordinary sight. Workers of ours will go to the shutes, ostensibly to gather waste fuel, carrying lumps of coal which have been hallowed out and filled with trinitrate of toluol and will slide these chunks down the shute. Could any sight be prettier than the one which will occur when these are thrown into the fire boxes? The explosions which will follow will scatter the fires so far that nothing can save the plant from destruction. If any portion of it does escape it will be useless for the entire plant will be wrecked by the explosions within the fire boxes. Is not this plan alone, without the others worthy of commendation by Imperial Germany?"
Totally unconscious of the stamp of fiendishness which he had planned upon Germany by asking commendation of a scheme which would inevitably result in horrible deaths by scalding and fire, of stokers whose only offense was the earning of an honest living by hard work, Von Papen paused to see the effect of this announcement upon his hearers. Albert clucked his delight by clicking his tongue against his set teeth. Von Bernstorff smiled evilly:
"I might say that Germany is compensated for the loss of your services in America by the splendid work you have planned as your farewell greeting," he said. "I have heard enough. You have planned well and wisely. But let me caution you not to become too rash before you leave. Clear your office well for with your departure it will lose its sanctity, and nothing must be found. Now for a little service I wish you to perform for me."
He opened a drawer at the table at which he was sitting and after unlocking a compartment within it produced a pair of field glasses. Undoing a catch at the side divided the object into two sections showing that the interior had been cunningly arranged as a camera. From it he took two small cartridges of films.
"Some pictures, which will amuse Hindenburg," he said handing the films to Von Papen. "They contain views of the military parade which took place this morning, and as they were taken through two of the finest microscopic lenses in the world enlarged prints will give him much information about the state of training and the equipment of the American army. To me it was an amusing sight, comparable to a chorus in a musical comedy. They make a brave showing on dress parade, but everyone knows that they are few in number, inadequate in equipment, and with absolutely nothing in the way of preparation for a war."
"Tin soldiers who have no conception of discipline or the rudiments of fighting," commented Von Papen. "I doubt if a quarter of a million men could be induced to enter the army if America did declare war."
"The number who would respond would make no difference," said the German Ambassador. "Untrained they would be slaughtered in France and would leave less opposition to us here when 'Der Tag' arrives for America. Four years is the least possible time in which a civilian may be made into a soldier for it takes that time in Germany, working with the most intelligent material in the world and with the best equipped system. By that time, if training were attempted here, France and England will be subjugated and America on the defense in its own country."
Nods of approval from his three listeners gave assent to the fact that he had but expressed an idea which they all held, in fact, a belief which was held by the entire military party of Germany.
"And now we must say farewell," said Boy-Ed, "we will not see you again for you must condone our indescretions and show your revulsion of our methods by being unfriendly. For were you too friendly toward us, who have betrayed you, why even the pig-headed Americans might be led to suspect that Imperial Germany condoned, even if it did not sanction, our activities here."
A hearty laugh followed this ironic sally, and then after leave takings, Von Papen and Boy-Ed departed to take a train for New York, where many things, in addition to their packing, remained to be done before they sailed and the time was short.
Heinric von Lertz, Madam Augusta Stephan, Baroness Therese Verbecht and Wolf von Igel, were in Von Papen's New York office when they arrived.
"One matter which you will have to arrange yourself," said Von Papen immediately plunging into the matter which was engrossing the attention of all. "With Von Bopp making the arrangements for the actual explosions and fires with the exception of the one at Bethlehem, I want you to devote your time to the propaganda work. Have a correspondent near each place at the time the event occurs, prepared to exaggerate everything in connection with it. The story may contain suggestions of the existence of a league of British and French born workingmen who have been active in the neighborhood which had for its object the stoppage of manufacture of supplies for the Allies in order to prevent a war which is forcing the British and French workmen into the army, training women for their positions, doing everything to disrupt labor while providing capital with the means of intrenching itself. Arrange, if possible, to have German reservists in the vanguard of those who protect the property which remains. In each story emphasize the number of German reservists in this country. You understand the object?"
Von Lertz shook his head hopelessly.
"It is for this reason," continued Von Papen. "At the time when America is appreciating its own helplessness, because of inability to prevent property destruction with the attendant loss of life, such stories will drive home the fact that Germany already has a trained army in this country which outnumbers the entire regular army of the United States. We have tried to persuade America, tried to make them see the justice of our cause, and failed. Now we will browbeat them into remaining neutral.
"Stephan and Verbecht will remain under your orders. Von Igel will remain with me. Now get out, and get busy. I will see you here tomorrow morning before my steamer sails."
Von Papen turned into his private office to begin the packing of all documents, which, if they fell into the hands of the Secret Service, would reveal the full extent of the complicity of the Imperial German Government itself in the many outrages which had been committed in America. Madam Stephan, Baroness Verbecht and Heinric von Lertz, left the office together to separate when the street was reached, the two women to return to their own apartments and Von Lertz to attend to some business which had suddenly become urgent since Von Papen would expect a report upon it on the morrow.
Before proceeding on it, however, Von Lertz stepped to a telephone, to speak to Dixie Mason, asking to be excused from a luncheon engagement with her. He did not know how long the business he had in hand would take and stood in too wholesome fear of the departing military attache of the Imperial German Government to neglect it for pleasure.
"Perhaps I am derelict in my duty to my country," said Dixie Mason to Harrison Grant, at an appointment she had arranged with him after she had received the telephone call from Von Lertz. Grant had promptly extended a luncheon engagement and the two of them were seated at a window table in one of the more exclusive New York hotels. "Von Lertz is slipping away from me, and I cannot bring myself to make the necessary effort to hold him. Since the Baroness Verbecht joined the German spy army he has found a woman who will cater to all of his beastly instincts, and the demands he makes on me are impossible."
"America does not demand such a sacrifice from her womanhood," said Grant heatedly, "if such methods are necessary to gain information then we will go on without any information he can furnish us."
"It isn't that he has lost confidence in my loyalty to his cause," continued Dixie, after a grateful little nod to Grant for his understanding of her position, "but most of my information was gained through little chats over a dining table. Now he has no time for these between entertaining the Baroness and his own work. Something is brewing, I know, for he is not with the Baroness today since she is at home. I haven't the least inkling as to where he is, but Heinric is not such a lover of work that he will do it for the mere sake of having it done. It means he is doing something under instructions, and that means something against America."
"Nothing will be attempted until after Von Papen and Boy-Ed are safely out of the country," said Grant, "and by that time we may strike a lead of some kind."
"If only you could bring yourself to meet Madam Stephan half way," bantered Dixie, for the admiration which the German woman spy had for him was an aggravating matter to the president of the Criminology Club. "I think she knows what it is all about and might tell you in return for just a little affection."
"Please, please," said Grant, "but tell me, how does she feel about the way in which the Baroness is pushing her out of her position as leader of the women spies because of the attraction Von Lertz has found in the Baroness?"
"Much hurt at it, for she has a sincere affection for Heiny."
"Do you think a letter from me appealing to jealousy might result in a confession from her?"
"No," answered Dixie after a thoughtful pause. "She is intensely loyal to the master she serves and will let nothing personal interfere with that. No information could be gotten from her because of the deflection of Von Lertz unless something happens. But I have to leave you, it is understood that you will keep Von Papen in sight until he is on his steamer and I am to do the same for Boy-Ed."
Dixie found that circumstances aided her greatly in the task she had selected for herself. Despite the fact that Von Papen and Boy-Ed were being dismissed in disgrace, a large number of people called at the office which housed both of them to wishbon voyageto the discredited emissaries. When she arrived at the office she found that Baroness Verbecht, Madam Stephan and Von Lertz were already closeted with Von Papen and that Boy-Ed was receiving all the callers who were of sufficient importance to be met personally. So it naturally fell to Dixie, as an intimate of both the former Embassy aides, to act as hostess to the throng which gathered.
It was to her liking. She flitted here, there and everywhere throughout the offices, greeting a person here, and bidding adieu to one there, but all the time with her eyes open for any information which might be of value. Only one thing did she find. This was a bill submitted by a telegraph company which Von Igel was working upon, checking on the receipt of the message from the office files. To aid himself he had carefully written on the blank the name of the sender of the message, or the name of the person to whom it had been sent. The frequent repetition of "Von Bopp" on the blank caused Dixie to pocket it for future investigation. Another thing which she noticed was that Boy-Ed was sending most of his personal and private papers into Von Papen's rooms, which led to the surmise that Von Papen had undertaken the task of caring for all the important papers of the office.
It was of this she first spoke when she met Harrison Grant after both Von Papen and Boy-Ed had been escorted to their separate boats.
"It is a shame that we had to observe the rules of civilized nations by letting them take those papers," she said, "when they themselves have violated every one."
"I noticed how careful Von Papen was of two bags, a portfolio and one trunk," said Grant, "so I have cabled the British authorities that it might not be amiss to search them for information which might be of comfort to the enemy when the ship touches at Falmouth."
"Oh, good," exclaimed Dixie. "And now I am starting for San Francisco this afternoon. I think I have a lead worth working on."
Then she told him of her reasons for wanting to watch the movements of Franz von Bopp, the Imperial German Consul General at San Francisco. Grant heartily agreed with her. Then on finding that she had already engaged her train he accompanied her to the station and saw her start on her week's journey.
He chafed at the idleness which confronted him. Shadows had been sent on the Baroness, Madam Stephan and Von Lertz, as well as others who had been active in previous German activities. Von Lertz was reported as having interviewed and retained the services of a larger number of publicists whom he had dispatched to various parts of the country. Grant decided that perhaps acts of violence as a part of the German propaganda were to end with the departure of the two arch-conspirators, and that Von Lertz was directing a campaign of publicity work in an effort to regain American sympathy.
Finally through sheer inactivity he began thinking of the letter to Madam Stephan of which he had spoken to Dixie. He finally decided that sending it could do no harm, and he dispatched a short note, telling her that it might be wise for her own safety to give up any information she might possess.
The note was destined to have a far reaching effect, but not in the way in which Grant thought. Madam Stephan received it and after reading it tore it to small pieces, enraged at the idea that Grant had such a poor opinion of her that he could believe she would turn informer. Baroness Verbecht called a short time later while Madam Stephan was busy with her morning toilet. The Baroness was a natural spy and when she saw the torn bits of letter on the table she gathered them up carefully, and carried them with her when she left. At her own apartment she spent the day piecing them together until the whole note stood revealed. Then she had a hearty laugh at the stupidity of the American who would expect an agent of the Wilhelmstrasse to turn informer and brave the mighty wrath of Imperial Germany.
The dispatch published the following day, however, telling of the seizure of Von Papen's papers at Falmouth caused her to think of the letter. A plan whereby she could put Madam Stephan in a position where she could no longer claim the leadership of the women spies of the Kaiser in America occurred to her and she put it into instant execution.
She hurried to the former office of Von Papen where, as she expected, she found Von Lertz seething with rage at this new disaster to Germany. She had counted upon rage and fear dulling the never too sharp wits of Von Lertz, and he was in the mood which she had anticipated willing to believe almost any explanation.
"How, how could they have known of those papers, check stubs and everything else which should have been destroyed, instead of being taken to Germany as proof of our fidelity?" he groaned.
"Here is your explanation," said the Baroness extending the note to Madam Stephan from Grant on the letterhead of the Criminology Club. The fact that it was undated made her story plausible. "She received that five days ago and since then I have watched her. She has met Grant four times and was with him four days ago when he sent a long cablegram to England. I could not get the contents of that message but it was without a doubt notification of the papers which Von——"
But Von Lertz had not waited to hear her finish. He had fallen a ready victim to Baroness Verbecht's scheme for discrediting Madam Stephan and had dashed from the office to confront the supposed traitor with her perfidy.
He was forced to wait at her apartment, for Madam had not yet arisen and as he strode up and down in her study his rage momentarily increased. An open book lay on the table. Hardly aware of what he was doing he picked it up and read two or three passages before he even noted the title.
"Bah," he suddenly exclaimed in disgust. "'A Tale of Two Cities.' She has so far forgotten Germany that she turns to English books for entertainment."
Then Madam Stephan entered the room. Enraged at the cool unruffled appearance of the woman he hurled forth a violent denunciation of her as a being unworthy of the respect of anyone, and ending by accusing her of being a traitor to Germany. A finer grained man would have read the falsity of the charge in the effect the accusation of disloyalty had upon Madam Stephan. In the moment she was turned from a bright, vibrant, keenly alert woman to a crushed, heart-broken, dull eyed, horror stricken, pleading wretch.
"No, Heinric, no," she moaned, falling to the floor at his feet. "Tell me that you don't mean it. I have forgotten compassion, sympathy and kindness that I might be faithful to Germany. I have given my every thought, my life, my right to love and happiness, and even virtue itself to carry out Germany's command. Am I not now even worthy of trust?"
Her voice had gained in strength as she made her plea, and she paused, kneeling, with tear streamed face upturned, and out-stretched arms.
Even the dull witted Heinric von Lertz was affected by the sincerity of the appeal, but it was not for a German gentleman, a disciple of Hun Kultur, to weaken at the misery of a woman.
"Imperial Germany demands that your fealty be above question, or that you die," he said brusquely. "Unless you can send me absolute proof within one week that you have communicated in no way with Harrison Grant you must die. One week of grace I grant you, because last night the reign of terror for America began, and I will be very busy. One week from today—absolute proof or death."
As he was talking Madam Stephan had fallen forward and had grasped him tightly around the knees. As he finished Von Lertz disentangled the clutching arms, threw her violently to the floor and hurried from the apartment. Madam Stephan lay still. A faint had quieted for the time being her tortured brain.
Von Lertz had spoken truly of being busy. As he re-entered his office Von Igel met him.
"There was a long distance telephone call," said Von Papen's former secretary. "The message was 'O.K. at Buffalo' and also this telegram."
Von Lertz grasped the yellow envelope and hastened into the former private office of the military attache. There he took a long list of cities in America from his pocket and put a check after Buffalo. Then he tore open the telegram.
"O.K. at Wilmington," read the printed message.
And throughout the day similar messages continued to arrive from all parts of the country, each denoting the destruction by fire or explosion of American property and in many instances American lives. Many were from the West for Franz von Bopp was busy. As proof after proof came to his hand that the crimes were proceeding unmolested, showing that the Secret Service had been totally unwarned, Von Lertz thought of Madam Stephan.
"I must see her tomorrow," he told himself as he closed his desk late that night. "Perhaps there is a mistake, but I am too tired tonight."
He overslept the next morning and arose too late to stop at her apartments before he was due at his office, and by this little chance happening the entire course of Franz von Papen's reign of terror for America was changed. Madam Stephan, following her recovery from the first shock of the accusation had set herself to thinking clearly. She knew of the mental processes of Heinric von Lertz, and as she noted the success of the plot she felt there was hope for her. When the morning papers of the following day showed more explosions and more fires she became almost cheerful. Then the noon editions of the daily papers dashed her hopes to the ground.
Franz von Bopp's office in San Francisco had been raided by the Secret Service. The papers hinted that much documentary evidence of German plots had been seized. Many prisoners had been taken. But Dixie Mason who had caused the raid was uneasy. Evidence had been gained of plots for explosions and fires on the western coast, but explanations of the crimes in the east had not been found, and the little Secret Service operative knew that but half her work had been done.
The effect of the news upon Madam Stephan was startling. She dismissed any hope of being able to prove her innocence to such a man as Heinric von Lertz. She thought of how different it would be if he were a man of the type of Harrison Grant. Then in a flash the whole truth burst upon her. She realized in a twinkling the entire falsity, the utter worthlessness of a system which could elevate a man of Von Lertz's calibre to the position he occupied. She appreciated the vileness of the crimes in which she had participated and gained an understanding of the glorious things for which American ideals stood. With the thought came a decision based upon the fineness of her nature which she had suppressed during her entire life. She called for her wraps. It was as a woman new born that she left her apartment. She was a woman arrayed on the side of humanity as against Imperial Germany.
She made her way straight to the Criminology Club. As she walked she wondered how she could ever have thought that the thing she was about to do was abhorrent, how she could ever have thought of it as anything but her bounden duty to humanity. At the club the announcement that she was awaiting him made Harrison Grant start eagerly.
For two nights he had gone without sleep, working incessantly, trying to get some clew which would expose the whole of the plot. He knew of the messages which were being received by Heinric von Lertz, but the coincidence of each being from a city in which a fire or explosion had taken place was not sufficient evidence to warrant a raid. The news of the raid in San Francisco had not aroused hope, for he had received a long message from Dixie Mason telling of everything found in the offices and he realized that he still had before him his work of stopping the reign of terror in the East, without aid to be expected from anywhere. So he grasped the out-stretched hand of Madam Stephan eagerly.
"You came in response to my letter?" he asked.
"I had scarcely thought of that," responded Madam Stephan. "I have come as a true friend of the German people. Mr. Grant, I love my people and my country. Events of the past two days, of which you need never know, have shown me that it is only through the destruction of Imperial Germany and everything for which it stands, that they, my people and my country, can take the place I want them to have in the world. Misguided as they have been from birth they cannot throw off the yoke. With America's help it can be done. So I am here to aid America. I will be compensated if I bring the day of Germany's salvation, the day upon which the horizon of humanity is revealed to the German people, as it has been revealed to me today, one hour nearer."
She then related quickly all that she knew of Von Papen's plan for a reign of terror in America.
"Heinric von Lertz will not wait until the day set for the destruction of the Bethlehem steel works to attempt it," she said. "The news from San Francisco will cause him to attempt the climax of the plot planned by Von Papen before it is discovered. Even now he may be starting on it."
She then gave him the address of the artisan in Harlem who was inserting explosives in the hollow lumps of coal for use at Bethlehem. Grant tarried hardly longer than was required to express his thanks after receiving this information and hurried away.
But he and his men arrived too late. Evidence aplenty was found to prove that Madam Stephan's description of the work that was being done had been true. But the three men who had occupied it were gone.
"They left but a moment since, sir," volunteered a woman who lived on the same floor. "A sleek light mustached young man called, and they left with some satchels in a taxicab."
So Heinric von Lertz had taken the course which Madam Stephan expected of him. Grant did some quick thinking. Hastily running over timetables which he carried in his pocket he found that a train was leaving shortly for Bethlehem and taking a long chance he ordered his men back into the machine that had taken them to disregard speed regulations and quickly arrived at the station.
With but a few minutes to spare they burst into the large train room. Suddenly Grant raised his arm and pointed. Heinric von Lertz was at one of the track gates talking earnestly, to three men.
"Stewart, Cavanaugh, come with me, we must keep out of sight of Von Lertz," cautioned Grant. "You other men are not known to him. Keep the men to whom he is talking, in sight. We will meet you on the train."
Grant, and his two most trusted men, found their way to the train through the employee's gate, opened to them by their Secret Service badges. On the train he found the three German conspirators well covered by his men. Von Lertz had not boarded the train, according to a report of one of the operatives.
It was after night-fall when the train landed them in Bethlehem. The sky was lurid with the glare from the big gun works, incessantly turning out large calibre artillery, by means of three shifts of workmen who kept the wheels turning night and day. The three conspirators slunk off into the shadows leading toward the settlement of the foreign laborers in the big plant, closely followed by Grant and his men.
In one of the poorest sections of the city the men mounted an outer stairway leading to the top floor of a two-storied building. After some delay they were admitted. Ten minutes later the figure of a woman came down the stairway, stepping cautiously and carrying gingerly some objects in her apron. Hastily assigning two men to keep her in sight, he organized the remainder of his force for a raid.
Despite a desperate resistance the four men found in the upper part of the house were quickly overcome. One grip filled with the doctored coal was seized and on the floor lay the discarded outer clothing of a man. Taking only Stewart with him Grant started in pursuit of the figure which had left the house, a figure which he now felt sure was one of the three men who had come from New York now dressed as a woman.
The conspirator because of his acquaintance with the neighborhood had easily eluded the two men who were shadowing him. Grant came upon them hopelessly searching to pick up his trail. Without delaying Grant started, running at top speed, toward the coal shutes.
The conspirator was already there and was busy dropping bombs down the shutes. Grant fired one shot, but missed, due to the uncertain light. The man at once fled and sending Cavanaugh and the others in pursuit Grant ran to the nearest shute. Without hesitation he dropped into the yawning black pit of its mouth.
A second later, bruised and covered with coal soot, he rolled into the boiler room of the big plants. Springing hastily to his feet, he tore his coat aside to show his Secret Service shield.
"Stop, men," he shouted. "Not another shovelful until we have examined the coal."
He stooped, for almost at his feet lay a chunk of coal which he recognized as being of the same kind used for making the bombs. It was larger than the ordinary screenings used in the furnaces, but would never have attracted attention for large lumps were frequently found. Picking up the piece that had excited his suspicions, Grant found one side was of black card board. Hastily he peeled it off, and held it up before the astonished stokers, who had been watching him wild eyed, a tube filled with the most powerful explosive known!
Orders were given hastily. The firing pits were all emptied and the coal taken away for rescreening. Fresh cars were rushed up to the shutes and before the steam had dropped below the point where it would not drive the engines fresh coal, safe coal, was being poured into the gigantic fire boxes. Grant's work was done and he repaired to town to wash and dress. Hardly had he restored his usual immaculate appearance when his men arrived to report that the spy at the shutes had been captured and was in jail with his fellow conspirators.
Then telegrams began to arrive, forwarded from the Criminology Club in New York. They told of raid after raid which had been made, each nipping a plot in its budding, each conducted on information furnished by Madam Stephan. Not one of Imperial Germany's attempts had been successful. Grant's last waking thought that night, was of two women.
"Dixie and I must see to it," he murmured sleepily, "that Madam Stephan is given opportunity to appreciate to the full the life of freedom to which she has just awakened."
But Madam Stephan had already made the supreme sacrifice. She was lying at that moment in her apartment, dead, a bullet wound in her heart, victim of a system the full extent of which she had not yet realized although she had been a member of it. An hour before her maid had requested the evening out and had appeared at the office of Heinric von Lertz. He had scarcely noticed her for message after message had reached him of the frustrations of the various plots of destruction, and he was nearly frenzied. Suddenly he was drawn up taut. The maid had given him the secret sign of the Imperial German spy army.
"You, you," he gasped.
"Yes," she answered without emotion. "Eight years have I served Madam Stephan as personal maid on guard against the moment which has now arrived. She gave information to Harrison Grant at the Criminology Club, and I have come to remind you of your duty."
The heart of Heinric von Lertz became cold with fear. So this was the way Germany trusted her most confidential workers. He wondered of his own valet, of his housekeeper, of everyone whose respect he had thought he held. Mechanically he put on his coat and hat. He talked aimlessly as they rode toward Madam Stephan's apartment, wondering, thinking of the relentless grip Germany held upon her spies.
At the door to Madam's apartment the maid pushed something into his hand. He shuddered as he felt it to be a revolver.
"It is her own," said the maid in a cold lifeless voice, "so it makes no difference which one of you use it. You will find her in the library."
As she was speaking she had slipped her latch key into the lock and had entered. Von Lertz followed in a semi-daze, and walked alone into the library.
"Madam Stephan, I have come to claim the debt you owe Imperial Germany," he said in a voice which he hardly recognized as his own. Mechanically he thrust the revolver toward her.
Madam Stephan started to her feet from the easy chair in which she had been reclining. One look at the pallid, set face of Von Lertz convinced her of the desperateness of her position. Life had become very sweet to her after her intimate talk with Harrison Grant. She made a sudden lunge at Von Lertz.
She had just reached him when there came the muffled report of a revolver shot smothered in clothing. Von Lertz had reversed the weapon and pulled the trigger. Madam Stephan staggered back and then fell full length on the floor, her life blood oozing out through a wound which had penetrated her heart.
As Von Lertz stood aghast gazing at the result of his handiwork the maid entered. She took the revolver from his nerveless hand and stooping by the body of her former mistress twisted the fingers of the right hand, already cooling in death, about the handle and the trigger. Then she walked to the table and picking up a book, opened it, and began marking a passage.
"This will be absolute proof of her suicide," she remarked calmly. "It occurred to me this afternoon. You know she had been reading Dickens, expecting to be ordered to England any day for work."
Von Lertz dully took the book which was extended to him. He recognized it as the copy of "A Tale of Two Cities," which he had examined but a few days previously. He saw the sentence which the maid had underlined:
"It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done, it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."
He stood motionless as the maid took the book from him and placed it on the table where the message would be the first thing to catch the eye of an investigator.
Chapter XIV
THE MENACE OF THE I.W.W.
Since the attempt on the part of Imperial Germany to foment a strike of the 'longshoremen on the Atlantic and Pacific seacoasts as a means of preventing shipments of supplies and munitions to the Allies, the Secret Service had been continually on the alert against other attempts to cause trouble in various branches of organized labor. In this work the unions of America had given more than a hearty co-operation. Committees of members were appointed to confer with the Secret Service to learn the best means of detecting efforts of German agents to interfere with any industry by agitation among the workers. American labor proved itself loyal to the core.
Germany had made numerous attempts to create havoc in the American manufacturing plants by using various methods to entice workingmen away from their daily tasks. In many instances, the old method of agitation against conditions was tried. Subtler attacks were employed elsewhere. Tempting offers of employment at their trade in distant cities, with transportation paid, were made on condition that a sufficient number of workmen would join the migrating colony. Cunningly worded stories of fictitious dangers which confronted workers in various occupations were inserted in printed matter which was designed to reach wives, mothers and sweethearts, but every effort failed, because of the intense loyalty of the unions.
"Report anything which may cause two or more workingmen to leave the place where they are employed now," was the request made by the Secret Service. Members of the special committees, by ever watchful vigilance, detected the efforts of Germany at their inception.
Complaints against conditions were usually proved groundless by the Secret Service. In cases where the workingmen were not receiving fair treatment, a word to the owner was usually sufficient to correct the trouble, for the manufacturers had combined with the workers in preventing Germany from being successful in its plotting. The ideal positions which existed at distant points were proved to be phantoms. The Hun-inspired stories of dangers existing through the handling of various substances were denied by authoritative sources which could leave no doubt in the mind of the families of the workers. This was the work which the Secret Service had been doing in conjunction with labor since the attempt to foment the longshoremen's strike had been baffled.
Harrison Grant, president of the Criminology Club, and Dixie Mason, the pretty little Secret Service operative, had often discussed reports of these activities of German agents. Von Bernstorff, and his aides, had followed the traditional course in each effort, using members of the Kaiser's spy army in America to do the actual work of enticement or intimidation. Then this department of activity against America by the Huns suddenly stopped. Agents of the Kaiser no longer sought membership in unions, control of labor papers was relinquished by Dr. Heinrich Albert, the paymaster of the spy army, and it seemed that Germany had admitted defeat through the loyalty of American workingmen.
But neither Grant nor Dixie were deceived. Through the wireless in the Criminology Club, and through phonographic attachments at other stations confidential messages between the Wilhelmstrasse and the Imperial German Embassy in Washington were picked out of the air and later the secrets of the coded messages were deciphered. Through these Grant and Dixie knew that Germany's demands for successful demoralization of American labor had become more and more insistent as efforts of the spy army met with failure after failure. Then the demands suddenly ceased without any apparent reason and the president of the Criminology Club and the young Secret Service operative, through their intimate knowledge of Hun methods, felt that Von Bernstorff had sent a written report to Berlin of some plot which promised success if time were given for its prosecution and fulfillment.
So no vigilance was relaxed. The labor committees were warned against falling into a false feeling of security because of the apparent inactivity of Imperial Germany. Many months of watchful waiting followed, and then came the first rumbling of a storm which threatened the whole existence of labor, a storm which actually accomplished the destruction of millions of dollars worth of wheat and other cereal supplies.
It was the outbreak of the Industrial Workers of the World, an organization which is more readily recognized by its initials—I.W.W., formed originally by a cracked-brain, illogical theorist to agitate the doctrine that a worker is entitled to the gross proceeds of his labor and it attracted to its membership radicals from all over the world. It always proceeded on the lines of anarchism—destruction to anything which impeded its progress. The cry of higher and better wages attracted a great many workingmen when it was first introduced into this country, but they soon dropped away. The utter absurdity of a theory that a laborer could increase his earnings by insisting that he receive everything that he produced without any thought of the workingmen who had produced the tools and the material with which he worked, soon stopped the growth of the membership and then a sudden slump in the number of supporters until only professional agitators could be found in the organization. Even these soon deserted for they agitated only for the money that there was to be acquired and the treasury of the I.W.W. was depleted to a point where it was no longer a shining target for the greed of the professional trouble maker who found more profitable organizations elsewhere.
Then the I.W.W. suddenly acquired apparently unlimited money from some source. Agitators from everywhere flocked to its standards which was the surest sign that the treasury was well filled. There were indications also that some sane person had planned out a definite campaign for the organization to follow under the guise of agitating only the theory for which it stood. Groups of I.W.W. workers appeared in industrial centers in every part of the country. They harangued against the conscription of British and French labor as they afterward argued for the resistance of the draft in America. They pleaded for general strikes everywhere, ostensibly as a means of getting for the worker all the wealth he produced. In every way they played the part which Imperial Germany had attempted but had failed because of the inability of the members of the spy army to inspire the confidence of the American workers.
The I.W.W. was different in method from the individual Hun spies. It held open its ranks to workers. It exhibited a well filled treasury and offered good pay. Many of the lazier and reckless members of the unions were induced to enroll, but in the main the American workingman recognized it for its worthlessness and left it alone. But the I.W.W. was prepared for this attitude on the part of the workers and took measures to coerce them.
Harrison Grant and Dixie Mason were in the vanguard of the forces which were detailed to resist the revitalized I.W.W. Both had a well definited theory as to where the unexpected wealth had come from, and knew that in meeting the agitation of the I.W.W. they were in reality working against another German plot in America. Raid after raid was made on local headquarters of the I.W.W. and many prisoners were made and hauled into court on charges of almost every felony on the docket, from murder down. Yet the organization continued to flourish. Outbreaks occurred all over America, some serious, others quelled almost before they were started.
Grant and Dixie devoted their time to investigation and very seldom were engaged on a particular case when the time for raiding came. They discovered the plotters, an outline of the object toward which they were working, then turned the clearly defined trail over to other less skilled workers to pursue, while they gave attention to other fields which indicated a plot was brewing. Masses of documents teaching sabotage, destruction of all sorts, the making and firing of bombs, sedition and many other things detrimental to the industrial health and strength of a nation were the natural accompaniment of every raid. Sabotage was the most dangerous of all and it was to this branch of the I.W.W. activity to which Grant and Dixie devoted most of their time.
Machinery in various plants suddenly broke down, despite the reliability of its manufacturers. Grant and Dixie discovered that emery powder had been mixed with lubricating oil, and as a result locks were placed on lubricating cups, and trusted men attended to the duties of oiling, using only oil that had been strained and inspected and kept under lock and key. There were epidemics of typhoid in colonies of workers and after their first investigation Grant and Dixie made a report which put every health officer in the country on guard against diverted sewage.
Then came the fires in the wheatfields of the country. Grant and Dixie were already on their way to Minnesota when the announcement was made that their fields burst into flames under their own eyes, without another person being in sight. But Grant and Dixie did not accept this explanation. They knew that almost anything was possible where there was money to be obtained and they knew that Germany was supplying funds recklessly.
Convinced that the fires were of incendiary origin, despite the testimony of the farmers, Grant and Dixie went directly to one of the devastated fields. There was nothing to be seen except acre after acre of charred soil where a few days earlier had stood bushels and bushels of wheat ready for harvest. The farmer pointed out to them the spot where the fire had started. Grant began an examination of the ground, while Dixie looked over the surrounding country. A railroad ran about a quarter of a mile distant.
"It couldn't have been a spark from an engine?" she asked the farmer.
"Not a chance," he responded. "Every engine has a sieve in its stack, and anyway there hadn't been a train pass within two hours of the time this fire started."
"Will meet you at the hotel tonight," Dixie called to Grant, and started across the field toward the tracks.
"Loan me your handkerchief, will you?"
It was a call from Grant, and it caused the farmer to turn from watching the pleasing, trim figure of Dixie Mason making her way across the field. He saw that Grant had already filled his own handkerchief with soil dug out of the field. Grant took the spacious piece of cloth which the farmer handed him wonderingly, and walking nearly a hundred feet from where he had taken his original sample of the soil, he knelt down and with his pocket knife dug up another generous clod and put that in the farmer's handkerchief. Then picking up both handkerchiefs, he turned to the farmer:
"Can you drive me right into town? I have some work to do."
"Sure," answered the farmer, impressed by Grant's manner, and then his curiosity prompted the question, "Have you found gold or oil?"
"Maybe something more valuable than either to the wheat farmer," answered Grant. "I think I have found the cause of the fires in the wheat fields, but will know for a certainty by tonight."
The farmer asked no more questions but hurried away, soon to re-appear on the road near the field at the wheel of a speedy little roadster. On the way into town several more fields which had been shorn of their yield by fire were passed and Grant stopped at each one of them. He walked over their blackened lengths carefully until evidently the thing for which he searched was discovered. Then as before he took a sample of the soil and a second sample many yards distant from the first position. By the time the little roadster drove up in front of the one hotel in the nearest city the pockets of both men were filled with Minnesota soil.
They had already made a stop at a drug store where Grant taxed the stock of the proprietor with the demands he made. He succeeded in getting everything that he wanted, acids, salts and other things of which the farmer had never heard. Once in Grant's room at the hotel, the president of the Criminology Club spread out a large piece of white paper on the floor. On it he marked several circles in parallel rows.
"Empty your right hand pockets on this side, and put the soil from your left hand pockets on this side," he ordered briefly, and then in response to the mute request on the face of the farmer he added, "Yes, stay if you want to," and began emptying his own pockets.
With the soil samples from various fields arranged in neat piles on the white paper Grant set to work on matters which were, for the most part, mysterious to the farmer. A Bunsen burner was connected with the chandelier in the room. Small portions of the soil from each pile were placed in separate test tubes. Then each was heated, mixed with small portions of the matter from the various bottles and packages which had been gotten at the drug store. Each test tube was treated in identically the same way and as he finished with each one Grant entered figures in his note book. He was working on the last tube when a knock came on the door, and in response to Grant's "Come" the door opened and Dixie Mason entered. The little Secret Service operative remained silent while Grant finished the test tube. He jotted some figures in his note book, then snapped it shut, and turned toward her smiling.
"You have discovered something?" Dixie asked.
"I think so," answered Grant. "But first let us hear what you have discovered, to see if it fits in with my find."
"It isn't an awful lot," answered Dixie. "In the first place every fire has started in the portion of the field nearest to the road or a railroad, and almost invariably there has been water near the place where the fire started. The only strangers which have been observed in the vicinity were a couple of traveling geologists, who did most of their traveling on foot and carried the samples they had collected in little cloth bags. That is about all."
"It is enough," said Grant. "The point of origin of the fire in the first field I examined attracted my attention because it had been burned with a more intense heat than burning grain would make. I took a sample there and then for purposes of comparison took another sample of the soil some distance away. It was easy to determine the place of the origin of the fires in the other fields, for in each place I found a spot where there had been intense heat. The samples from these spots which I have analyzed show a large percentage of phosphorus oxide, while the other samples are free from it. Phosphorus oxide is formed by the burning of phosphorus."
"Which makes it very clear as to how the fires started," commented Dixie.
"It may be to you," interjected the farmer, "but I can't see what started the phosphorus burning even if some was placed in the field."
"Phosphorus has a peculiar property," explained Grant. "When it is in a certain degree of solution it unites readily with the oxygen in the air, which is merely another way of saying that it burns. The burning of the wheat fields is an example of the methods of the I.W.W. prompted by Imperial Germany's desire to keep supplies of food from reaching the Allies. These bogus geologists had small bags filled with dry phosphorus. To accomplish their design it was merely necessary to give the bag a soaking with water and throw it into a field. Several hours afterward when the sun had dried the phosphorus to the degree of solution where it unites with the air it would burst into flame and ignite the wheat."
As a convincing demonstration to the farmer Grant procured a small piece of phosphorus and showed him how it would start burning by merely dropping it into water.
"You see it floats when placed on water," said Grant as the farmer watched the little blue flame with changing expressions. "The underpart is too thoroughly saturated while the top part is dry. Between there is a section which is at the proper percentage of solution and hence the burning."
"Let me assure you," said the farmer finally with a set jaw, "that the wheat lands are going to be a mighty unhealthy place from now on, for I.W.W.'s, German spies or anyone else carrying little sacks of anything."
"I can give you the assurance," said Grant, "that from now on it will be a very risky thing for a person to try to purchase phosphorus anywhere in the country unless he can prove a legitimate use for it."
Dixie and Grant started back for New York that night, for every moment which they could spare was devoted to Von Bernstorff, Dr. Albert and Heinric von Lertz in an effort to gain the evidence which they knew existed that Germany was supplying the I.W.W. with the funds by which the agitators were spreading havoc throughout the country. But they were destined not to reach there, at least not until several weeks later. A telegram forwarded from the Criminology Club was handed to Grant on the train while it was speeding through Ohio.
"Will you see me at your earliest convenience."
That was the wording of the message and the fact that it was signed by Mrs. Blank, the wife of an unscrupulous broker who had virtually sold her to Von Bernstorff in return for tips which he might receive which would be profitable on the stock market in case Germany's plots were successful, caused Grant to alight at the next station and call her on the long distance telephone.
"Von Bernstorff was here," came the voice of Mrs. Blank over the wire, "raging about the part I took in the arrest of Baroness Verbecht. He tried to find out if I was allied with the Secret Service and offered me any amount of money to assure my allegiance to him and Germany. In making the offer he drew his wallet from his pocket and banged it down on the table scattering papers right and left. He gathered them up hastily but I saw one, a telegram from Von Lertz, at Old Forge, Pennsylvania. It read simply 'Progress favorable.'"
"Old Forge is a place where they had an exciting time with the I.W.W. several weeks ago," commented Grant, after he had hung up the receiver, to Dixie who had gotten off the train with him prepared to take her part in any emergency that might arise. "After threatening the mayor of the town, the homes of several miners were dynamited because they refused to join the organization. Then the Pennsylvania State Constabulary interfered and since then everything has been quiet."
"But the I.W.W. headquarters have never been abandoned there," said Dixie, "and with Heinric von Lertz there, I think it will be well if we stop over."
They arrived in Old Forge as quickly as a train could carry them, Grant in the guise of a professional agitator with the name of Guiseppe Fantona, and Dixie as a minature edition of Gurley Flynn. In Old Forge they found that the usual form of I.W.W. organization had been maintained, headquarters for the men members and headquarters for a woman's auxiliary, the duty of the members of which was to spread propaganda to the wives, mothers and sweethearts of the miners. Grant was welcomed at the men's headquarters which he found were in charge of Frank Little, later lynched at Butte, Montana for his activities; Stanley Dembriki, secretary of the I.W.W.; Joseph Graber, an unnaturalized German, and Angelo Faggi, a fugitive from Italian and French justice, then and now hiding from an American warrant. Dixie Mason excited no suspicion when she registered at the headquarters of the auxiliary.
A few days later came the first news of trouble. Dixie Mason hurrying from the women's auxiliary, sped forward to catch Harrison Grant, just as he was leaving the headquarters of the I.W.W.
"There's some trouble going on at the mines," she announced. "We've just gotten orders to hurry there and cause a demonstration."
Grant nodded.
"I just got the same sort of a tip. I think it's a blind. I heard orders given to the man just ahead to report as soon as the constabulary was fully engaged there. Come on, we must shadow him."
They started forward. A moment later, from the direction of the mines, came a great sound of crashing timbers, of screams, and the rising of coal dust. Men and women appeared, running forward from every direction. The clattering of hoofs and the constabulary thundered past. Grant leaped to the center of the street.
"Someone has released the brakes from a dump train," he announced, "It crashed back into the shaft of the mine. Miners have been injured. The trouble's on. Keep that man in front in view—don't lose him!"
They hurried on, still watching the form of the hurrying spy before them. They saw him rush to a corner where he might watch the mine dump, then stand there, his eyes roving in every direction. A fight had started at the dump, between legitimate laborers and the I.W.W. agitators who seemed to have sprung from nowhere. Men fought, while women screamed. Agitators were running here, there, everywhere, blaming the dumping of the cars upon the mine owners and demanding that everyone join the I.W.W. that these men might be paid back for the damage they had caused. Again a troop of constabulary passed—then another and finally, Dixie and Grant saw the spy on the corner, suddenly turn and run.
"After him—quick!" ordered the president of the Criminology Club—"he's the one who will point out the real danger!"
Down the street the spy ran, Dixie and Grant following him closely. Into tortuous alleys, across lots—finally to approach a great, warehouse-like building, where one or two other men could be seen entering. The two detectives skirted the building, approached it cautiously and examined it for some loophole, through which they might enter. But there seemed to be none. Here and there were great doors, from which shipping had emanated in other days—but each was carefully locked and bolted now. Grant pressed his ear against one of these—and heard the jabbering and shouting of great numbers of men. He turned, and seeking a foothold, raised himself that he might peer through a corner of a window imperfectly covered from within.
"Dixie," he whispered.
"Yes," the girl was close beside him. "Do you see anything in there?"
"Yes. Practically every I.W.W. in town is here. Someone is on the platform, talking to them. I——"
"Can you make out who's there?"
"Dembriki's one. Faggi's another. And Heinric von Lertz!"
"Von Lertz! Then it means——"
"They're bringing out parcels of something. Laying them on the platform so that they can easily be reached. Hurry——" Grant turned, his face white. "Get the constabulary—quick! It's dynamite!"
In a flash Dixie Mason was pressing every muscle to the utmost as she ran through the lots and back toward the mines that she might summon the members of the mounted police. Grant remained a minute longer at the window, then suddenly dropped to the ground and again began to skirt the building.
Here, there, everywhere, he searched, at last finding a back room to the building, that was separated from the main hall. He pressed against the door. The lock sagged—but did not open. Carefully he brought forth his skeleton keys, and tried them, one after another. At last, a rusty creaking of the lock, a slight snap, and the door opened. Grant hesitated a moment, listening for some sign that he had been overheard from within. But none came. Then he entered.
Within the back room, he stopped again to listen. From the other side of the door that separated him from the main room of the meeting hall, he could hear the thick, heavy voice of Heinric von Lertz, apparently giving the last of a long series of orders:
"Imperial Germany expects every man of you to do his duty and to see that Union Labor is driven from Old Forge," he was saying. "We have here enough dynamite to blow up every miner's house and every coal mine in the district—and I want to see every bit of it used. As soon as we receive the word that everything is all right we will proceed——"
"Here I am sir!" At the sound of the voice, Grant opened the door ever so slightly, to see the form of the spy he had trailed, hurrying up the aisle. "The constabulary is all at the coal dumps, and they have their hands full. If we work quickly——"
"All right. Line up, everybody. You will pass the platform, one at a time and receive your dynamite. Then, each man will cause one explosion—and the result will be that the whole city will be wrecked! Hurry there, line up, line up!"
Grant hurried back to the door for one look up the street. If Dixie were only on the way with the constabulary. If he could only catch sight of her, leading the plunging mass of horsemen on their way to the hall! But Harrison Grant looked in vain. There was no sight of the girl he loved, no sight of the hurrying horsemen that would mean safety for the town of Old Forge. Grant's heart sank within him. Beyond him in the hall were more than two hundred desperate men and hundreds of pounds of explosives. And they must not be permitted to start forth on their journey of destruction!
Grant hesitated only a second. Then as the line of destroyers within the main meeting hall started to receive their dynamite——
A hurtling form crashed through the door from the back room. Leaping toward Stanley Dembriki, in charge of the dynamite, he felled him with a crashing blow from his fist. Heinric von Lertz took one look and ran through the door that had been left open by the entrance of Harrison Grant. But the I.W.W. members could only see this one form and could only know that Grant had interfered with their schemes of destruction. A second of hesitation, then they rushed forward.
But Grant was ready for them. A heavy chair stood nearby. He seized it and taking his place near the dynamite, felled the first man who approached. The crackle of a revolver sounded, and a bullet splintered the wood just above his head. Then a shout——
"Stop that shooting! You're liable to explode the dynamite. No need for that—we'll get him!"
Grant whirled. Again he brought the chair crashing downward, and Faggi had been knocked from the platform. The members of the I.W.W. recoiled slightly. Grant, white faced and grim, scowled at them.
"I'd advise you not to try to touch this dynamite!" he ordered. "I'll use this chair on any one who comes near—and I'll swing to kill!"
A growl answered him, as a great, heavy shouldered German edged his way forward, and sprung toward the platform, Grant kept his word. A second later, the German wavered in his tracks, stumbled and fell, to lay quite still beside the other two men on the floor. Again a recoil—but Grant knew that it was only for a minute.
And in that minute, how his ears strained for the sound of galloping horses! How he waited and hoped!
Then a sudden rush of men. It seemed that by some common impulse, the whole great hall surged forward—climbing upon the platform, dodging and swirling, seeking to come under the defense that Harrison Grant kept up, ducking the blows of the heavy chair, surging back then coming forward again, striving to corner him, to beat him down——
High in the air went the chair to descend again—and to carry with it the form of a plotter. Again—and again—and again. Then Harrison Grant felt the chair wrested from his grasp and thrown far to one side. A screaming voice echoed in his ears——
"Now we've got him! Come on men!"
Grant had his back to the wall. Regardless of the danger of exploding the dynamite he brought forth his revolvers.
"Stand back there," he shouted. "The first man who comes at me gets a bullet! Understand? Stand back there!"
They hesitated just a second. Then the rush came again. The crackle of Grant's revolver sounded—to be echoed by a groan as a man fell. Then the sheer weight of men bore him down, crushing his revolver from his grasp, pinioning his wrists, while fists beat upon his breast and his face.
From far away came a slight clattering sound—the sound of hoof beats. It sent new life into Harrison Grant. He broke from his assailants and with tremendous crashing blows, again cleared a space before him. But only for a moment—then his opponents closed in again.
But above the shouting, above the racking pain, above everything, could be heard the clattering of those hoofs—coming closer, closer, closer——
Sudden shouts came from the crowd that surged on the platform. The crashing of great blows against the doors. A new milling of the assailants, as they left the platform and sought to guard the doors of the great warehouse. But impossible. One after another, the dazed, wavering form of Harrison Grant saw the doors surge and splinter, as the trained horses of the constabulary sent thundering kicks against them. Panic stricken now, the members of the I.W.W. sought escape through those doors and through the windows of the great room. But that was impossible also. Beneath every window waited a member of the constabulary. And at the doors—
One after another they yielded, to allow the entrance of the mounted men of the constabulary, riding straight into the meeting hall, their horses vaulting chairs and obstructions as they circled about the big room, rounding up the criminals. Resistance had disappeared. Like sheep they were herded to one end of the hall, the men who but a few minutes before had been obsessed with a mania for destruction. A smile came to Grant's lips as he watched. Then, the whole hall went suddenly black before his eyes, and he fell to the platform unconscious from his hurts.
When he became aware of the world again, it was to feel the tender touch of a woman's hand and to hear a soft voice of sympathy. His eyes opened, to look into those of Dixie Mason, bending over him, smoothing the hair from his discolored temples, seeking to assuage his wounds and bruises. He smiled in spite of the pain of his injuries.
"It is worth being hurt just to have you nurse me," he said, then with a sudden remembrance he attempted to rise to his feet. "The Constabulary?" he asked. "Did they arrest——"
"Everyone who was in the hall except you," came the answer of Dixie Mason. "But I am afraid that Heinie von Lertz must have run as soon as he saw you. He wasn't found."
"Couldn't help it," responded Grant cheerfully. "I had my hands full."
"It doesn't matter much, I think you will be forgiven," laughed Dixie with him. "We will soon have Heinie where he can't cause any more trouble. And anyway he has the cheerful news to take to the Embassy that another fine little plot has gone wrong and failed."
Chapter XV.
THE GREAT DECISION
The Kaiser's note reached America and its stinging insults fanned into flame the coals of wrath which had been burning in the breasts of Americans since the revelations made by the discovery of the contents of Dr. Heinrich Albert's portfolio, the recall of Captains Von Papen and Boy-Ed, and the arrest in practically every community in the country of one or more German plotters. Harrison Grant received a copy of the note from the wireless room of the Criminology Club as it was sent to the Department of State, and he was probably the first person in the United States to voice the opinion which became universal after the note was made public.
"This means war," he commented to his trusted aide Cavanaugh who had brought him the message.
"This means war," said Count Von Bernstorff, the Imperial German Ambassador, when with blanched face he had finished reading the note, couched in the insolent terms which he knew only the Great One of Germany, himself, would be permitted to use in diplomatic intercourse. Von Bernstorff turned pale at the thought of war with the United States for he, alone, of all the trusted advisers of the Kaiser knew and appreciated the powers of America.
"This means war," was the verdict reached by every American as he read the note in the newspapers, a verdict prompted by the fearless patriotic pride which beat in every breast. Then the individual American waited, reading each new development in the diplomatic engagement which followed with bated breath, waited for the decision which they felt was inevitable.
But there was no period of waiting for Harrison Grant, nor the members of the Criminology Club. Dixie Mason and the other members of the Secret Service had no time to wait for the decision. Every other investigating branch of the government worked at high tension, for everyone who had been engaged in the secret warfare with German Agents knew that once war became inevitable the Kaiser's spy army would throw caution to the four winds and make the mightiest efforts to bring wanton destruction in every manner possible.
Grant felt that there could be no doubt in the mind of Bernstorff that war would result from the note and the conditions proposed to place upon American commerce. The night it was received he called a special meeting of the Criminology Club, and it was attended by Dixie Mason.
"Men, the supreme test of the worth of our organization has come," said Grant addressing the meeting. "The next few weeks will see the German spy army in the United States striving by every desperate means at their command to kill and destroy everything American. We must not fail in this supreme test. Beginning tonight we must shadow every member of the spy army in the country. His every action must be investigated, every person to whom he speaks must be regarded as a suspicious character. That is all. You will find your assignments in your letter boxes."
Harrison Grant had selected Heinric von Lertz as the spy for whose activities he would be responsible, and Dixie Mason had accepted the post of keeping watch over Baroness Verbecht, who had succeeded in gaining her liberty from the Tombs under bail, after the discovery of the invisible ink messages on her body by Grant and Mrs. Blank. Before either of the spies they were watching had made a suspicious move, reports were received from other operatives that the judgment of Grant that Germany was preparing for a break was correct. Any number of the lesser spies of the Kaiser in America had received orders direct from Washington which took them to the interned ships of Austria and Germany in all the harbors of the United States.
"Not one of these ships must be useful to the United States in the event of war," was the order delivered to each interned boat. "Where it is possible engines must be destroyed, otherwise the boat must be sunk. Make plans now and when the wireless lanes are filled with dots, just dots, then let the work commence."
Nothing could be done to prevent the consummation of this plan for the holds of interned vessels were forbidden property to the Secret Service under international law. So, despite the fact that it was known from many sources that these were the orders which had been sent forth to every Austrian and German commander who had a boat in an American port, the best that could be done was to station operatives near every interned boat to rush aboard the minute war was declared.
For several days Grant and Dixie had little to do except stay near the New York offices of Heinric von Lertz. Each morning he would go there and spend the entire day until evening then go to the Hohenzollern Club. Apparently he had no part in any of the affairs which were engaging the other members of the Kaiser's spy army in America. He saw no one and received none but the most ordinary messages.
Then he suddenly became active. One evening just before he left his office he sent a long code message to Washington. The next morning before the message had been deciphered for Grant, Von Lertz received a summons and went to Washington. Then he returned and started by automobile on a trip in which he employed every dodge he could think of, but Grant, Dixie and Sisson kept him in sight and at last found a real clue to his plans.