<h3> BY WIRELESS </h3>
<p> </p>
<p>They paused in the office, the three of
them, and while Miss Thorne was giving
some instructions as to her baggage
the prince went over to the telegraph booth and
began to write a message on a blank. Mr.
Grimm appeared at his elbow.</p>
<p>"No," he said.</p>
<p>"Can't I send a telegram if I like?" demanded
the prince sharply.</p>
<p>"No, nor a note, nor a letter, nor may you
speak to any one," Mr. Grimm informed him
quietly.</p>
<p>"Why, it's an outrage!" flamed the prince.</p>
<p>"It depends altogether on the view-point,
your Highness," said Mr. Grimm courteously.
"If you will pardon me I might suggest that it
is needless to attract attention by your present
attitude. You may—I say you <i>may</i>—compel
me to humiliate you." The prince glared at him
angrily. "I mean handcuff you," Mr. Grimm
added gratuitously.</p>
<p>"Handcuff <i>me</i>?"</p>
<p>"I shouldn't hesitate, your Highness, if it
was necessary."</p>
<p>After a moment Miss Thorne signified her
readiness, and they started out. At the door
Mr. Grimm stopped and turned back to the desk,
as if struck by some sudden thought, leaving
them together.</p>
<p>"Oh, Miss Thorne left a message for some
one," Mr. Grimm was saying to the clerk.
"She's decided it is unnecessary." He turned
and glanced toward her, and the clerk's eyes followed
his. "Please give it to me."</p>
<p>It was passed over without comment. It was
a sealed envelope addressed to Mr. Charles Winthrop
Rankin. Mr. Grimm glanced at the superscription,
tore the envelope into bits and
dropped it into a basket. A minute later he was
assisting Miss Thorne and the prince into an
automobile that was waiting in front. As the
car moved away two other automobiles appeared
from corners near-by and trailed along behind to
the station. There a private compartment-car
was in readiness for them.</p>
<p>It was a long, dreary ride—a ride of utter
silence save for the roar and clatter of the moving
train. Mr. Grimm, vigilant, implacable,
sat at ease; Miss Thorne, resigned to the inevitable,
whatever it might be, studied the calm, quiet
face from beneath drooping lids; and the prince,
sullen, scowling, nervously wriggled in his seat.
Philadelphia was passed, and Trenton, and then
the dawn began to break through the night. It
was quite light when they rolled into Jersey
City.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry for all the inconvenience I have
caused," Mr. Grimm apologized to Miss Thorne
as he assisted her to alight. "You must be exhausted."</p>
<p>"If it were only that!" she replied, with a
slight smile. "And is it too early to ask where
we are going?"</p>
<p>The prince turned quickly at the question.</p>
<p>"We take the <i>Lusitania</i> for Liverpool at ten
o'clock," said Mr. Grimm obligingly. "Meanwhile
let's get some coffee and a bite to eat."</p>
<p>"Are you going to make the trip with us?"
asked the prince.</p>
<p>Mr. Grimm shrugged his shoulders.</p>
<p>Weary and spiritless they went aboard the
boat, and a little while later they steamed out
into the stream and threaded their way down the
bay. Miss Thorne stood at the rail gazing
back upon the city they were leaving. Mr.
Grimm stood beside her; the prince, still sullen,
still scowling, sat a dozen feet away.</p>
<p>"This is a wonderful thing you have done,
Mr. Grimm," said Miss Thorne at last.</p>
<p>"Thank you," he said simply. "It was a destructive
thing that you intended to do. Did
you ever see a more marvelous thing than
that?" and he indicated the sky-line of New
York. "It's the most marvelous bit of mechanism
in the world; the dynamo of the western
hemisphere. You would have destroyed it, because
in the world-war that would have been the
first point of attack."</p>
<p>She raised her eyebrows, but was silent.</p>
<p>"Somehow," he went on after a moment, "I
could never associate a woman with destructiveness,
with wars and with violence."</p>
<p>"That is an unjust way of saying it," she interposed.
And then, musingly: "Isn't it odd
that you and I—standing here by the rail—have,
in a way, held the destinies of the whole
great earth in our hands? And now your remark
makes me feel that you alone have stood
for peace and the general good, and I for destruction
and evil."</p>
<p>"I didn't mean that," Mr. Grimm said quickly.
"You have done your duty as you saw it,
and—"</p>
<p>"Failed!" she interrupted.</p>
<p>"And I have done my duty as I saw it."</p>
<p>"And won!" she added. She smiled a little
sadly. "I think, perhaps you and I might have
been excellent friends if it had not been for all
this."</p>
<p>"I know we should have," said Mr. Grimm,
almost eagerly. "I wonder if you will ever forgive
me for—for—?"</p>
<p>"Forgive you?" she repeated. "There is
nothing to forgive. One must do one's duty.
But I wish it could have been otherwise."</p>
<p>The Statue of Liberty slid by, and Governor's
Island and Fort Hamilton; then, in the distance,
Sandy Hook light came into view.</p>
<p>"I'm going to leave you here," said Mr.
Grimm, and for the first time there was a tense,
strained note in his voice.</p>
<p>Miss Thorne's blue-gray eyes had grown mistily
thoughtful; the words startled her a little
and she turned to face him.</p>
<p>"It may be that you and I shall never meet
again," Mr. Grimm went on.</p>
<p>"We <i>will</i> meet again," she said gravely.
"When and where I don't know, but it will
come."</p>
<p>"And perhaps then we may be friends?" He
was pleading now.</p>
<p>"Why, we are friends now, aren't we?" she
asked, and again the smile curled her scarlet lips.
"Surely we are friends, aren't we?"</p>
<p>"We are," he declared positively.</p>
<p>As they started forward a revenue cutter which
had been hovering about Sandy Hook put toward
them, flying some signal at her masthead.
Slowly the great boat on which they stood crept
along, then the clang of a bell in the engine-room
brought her to a standstill, and the revenue
cutter came alongside.</p>
<p>"I leave you here," Mr. Grimm said again.
"It's good-by."</p>
<p>"Good-by," she said softly. "Good-by, till
we meet once more."</p>
<p>She extended both hands impulsively and he
stood for an instant staring into the limpid gray
eyes, then, turning, went below. From the revenue
cutter he waved a hand at her as the great
<i>Lusitania</i>, moving again, sped on her way. The
prince joined Miss Thorne at the rail. The
scowl was still on his face.</p>
<p>"And now what?" he demanded abruptly.
"This man has treated us as if we were a pair of
children."</p>
<p>"He's a wonderful man," she replied.</p>
<p>"That may be—but we have been fools to allow
him to do all this."</p>
<p>Miss Thorne turned flatly and faced him.</p>
<p>"We are not beaten yet," she said slowly. "If
all things go well we—we are not beaten yet."</p>
<p>The <i>Lusitania</i> was rounding Montauk Point
when the wireless brought her to half-speed with
a curt message:</p>
<p>"Isabel Thorne and Pietro Petrozinni aboard
<i>Lusitania</i> wanted on warrants charging conspiracy.
Tug-boat will take them off, intercepting
you beyond Montauk Point.</p>
<p>"CAMPBELL, Secret Service."</p>
<p>"What does <i>that</i> mean?" asked the prince, bewildered.</p>
<p>"It means that the compact will be signed in
Washington in spite of Mr. Grimm," and there
was the glitter of triumph in her eyes. "With
the aid of one of the maids in the depot at Jersey
City I managed to get a telegram of explanation
and instruction to De Foe in New York,
and this is the result. He signed Mr. Campbell's
name, I suppose, to give weight to the message."</p>
<p>An hour later a tug-boat came alongside, and
they went aboard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<SPAN name="CH20"><!-- CHAPTER 20 --></SPAN>
<h3> XX </h3>
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