<h3> IN WHICH THEY BOTH WIN </h3>
<p> </p>
<p>Mr. Grimm dropped into a chair with
his teeth clenched, and his face like
chalk. For a minute or more he sat
there turning it all over in his mind. Truly the
triumph had been robbed of its splendor when
the blow fell here—here upon a woman he loved.</p>
<p>"There's no shame in the confession of one
who is fairly beaten," Isabel went on softly,
after a little. "There are many things that
you don't understand. I came to Washington
with an authority from my sovereign higher
even than that vested in the ambassador; I came
<i>as</i> I did and compelled Count di Rosini to obtain
an invitation to the state ball for me in order
that I might meet a representative of Russia
there that night and receive an answer as to
whether or not they would join the compact. I
received that answer; its substance is of no consequence
now.</p>
<p>"And you remember where I first met you?
It was while you were investigating the shooting
of Señor Alvarez in the German embassy. That
shooting, as you know, was done by Prince
d'Abruzzi, so almost from the beginning my
plans went wrong because of the assumption of
authority by the prince. The paper he took
from Señor Alvarez after the shooting was supposed
to bear vitally upon Mexico's attitude toward
our plan, but, as it developed, it was about
another matter entirely."</p>
<p>"Yes, I know," said Mr. Grimm.</p>
<p>"The event of that night which you did <i>not</i>
learn was that Germany agreed to join the compact
upon conditions. Mr. Rankin, who was attached
to the German embassy in an advisory
capacity, delivered the answer to me, and I pretended
to faint in order that I might reasonably
avoid you."</p>
<p>"I surmised that much," remarked Mr.
Grimm.</p>
<p>"The telegraphing I did with my fan was as
much to distract your attention as anything
else, and at the same time to identify myself to
Mr. Rankin, whom I had never met. You knew
him, of course; I didn't."</p>
<p>She was silent a while as her eyes steadily
met those of Mr. Grimm. Finally she went on:</p>
<p>"When next I met you it was in the Venezuelan
legation; you were investigating the theft of
the fifty thousand dollars in gold from the safe.
I thrust myself into that case, because I was
afraid of you; and mercilessly destroyed a woman's
name in your eyes to further my plans. I
made you believe that Señorita Rodriguez stole
that fifty thousand dollars, and I returned it to
you, presumably, while we stood in her room that
night. Only it was not her room—it was <i>mine!</i>
<i>I</i> stole the fifty thousand dollars! All the details,
even to her trip to see Mr. Griswold in
Baltimore in company with Mr. Cadwallader,
had been carefully worked out; and she <i>did</i>
bring me the combination of the safe from Mr.
Griswold on the strength of a forged letter. But
she didn't know it. There was no theft, of
course. I had no intention of keeping the
money. It was necessary to take it to distract
attention from the thing I <i>did</i> do—break a lock
inside the safe to get a sealed packet that contained
Venezuela's answer to our plan. I sealed
that packet again, and there was never a suspicion
that it had been opened."</p>
<p>"Only a suspicion," Mr. Grimm corrected.</p>
<p>"Then came the abduction of Monsieur Boisségur,
the French ambassador. I plunged into
that case as I did in the other because I was
afraid of you and had to know just how much
you knew. It was explained to you as an attempt
at extortion with details which I carefully
supplied. As a matter of fact, Monsieur
Boisségur opposed our plans, even endangered
them; and it was not advisable to have him recalled
or even permit him to resign at the moment.
So we abducted him, intending to hold
him until direct orders could reach him from
Paris. Understand, please, that all these things
were made possible by the aid and cooperation
of dozens, scores, of agents who were under my
orders; every person who appeared in that abduction
was working at my direction. The ambassador's
unexpected escape disarranged our
plans; but he was taken out of the embassy by
force the second time under your very eyes. The
darkness which made this possible was due to the
fact that while you were looking for the switch,
and I was apparently aiding, I was holding my
hand over it all the time to keep you from turning
on the light. You remember that?"</p>
<p>Mr. Grimm nodded.</p>
<p>"All the rest of it you know," she concluded
wearily. "You compelled me to leave the
Venezuelan legation by your espionage, but in
the crowded hotel to which I moved I had little
difficulty avoiding your Mr. Hastings, your Mr.
Blair and your Mr. Johnson, so I came and
went freely without your knowledge. The escape
of the prince from prison you arranged, so
you understand all of that, as well as the meeting
and attempted signing of the compact, and
the rapid recovery of Señor Alvarez. And, after
all, it was my fault that our plans failed, because
if I had not been—been uneasy as to your
condition and had not made the mistake of going
to the deserted little house where you were a prisoner,
the plans would have succeeded, the compact
been signed."</p>
<p>"I'm beginning to understand," said Mr.
Grimm gravely, and a wistful, tender look crept
into his eyes. "If it had not been for that act
of—consideration and kindness to me—"</p>
<p>"We would have succeeded in spite of you,"
explained Isabel. "We were afraid of you, Mr.
Grimm. It was a compliment to you that we
considered it necessary to account for your
whereabouts at the time of the signing of the
compact."</p>
<p>"And if you had succeeded," remarked Mr.
Grimm, "the whole civilized world would have
come to war."</p>
<p>"I never permitted myself to think of it that
way," she replied frankly. "There is something
splendid to me in a battle of brains; there is exaltation,
stimulation, excitement in it. It has always
possessed the greatest fascination for me.
I have always won, you know, until now. I
failed! And my reward is 'Traitor!'"</p>
<p>"Just a word of assurance now," she went on
after a moment. "The Latin compact has been
definitely given up; the plan has been dismissed,
thanks to you; the peace of the world is unbroken.
And who am I? I know you have wondered;
I know your agents have scoured the
world to find out. I am the daughter of a former
Italian ambassador to the Court of St.
James. My mother was an English woman. I
was born and received my early education in
England, hence my perfect knowledge of that
tongue. In Rome I am, or have been, alas, the
Countess Rosa d'Orsetti; now I am an exile with
a price on my head. That is all, except for several
years I was a trusted agent of my government,
and a friend of my queen."</p>
<p>She rose and extended both hands graciously.
Mr. Grimm seized the slender white fingers and
stood with eyes fixed upon hers. Slowly a flush
crept into her pallid cheeks, and she bowed her
head.</p>
<p>"Wonderful woman!" he said softly.</p>
<p>"I shall ask a favor of you now," she went on
gently. "Let all this that you have learned take
the place of whatever you expected to learn, and
go. Believe me, there can only be one result if
you meet—if you meet the inventor of the wireless
cap upon which so much was staked, and so
much lost." She shuddered a little, then raised
the blue-gray eyes beseechingly to his face.
"Please go."</p>
<p>Go! The word straightened Mr. Grimm in
his tracks and he allowed her hands to fall limply.
Suddenly his face grew hard. In the ecstasy
of adoration he had momentarily forgotten his
purpose here. His eyes lost their ardor; his
nerveless hands dropped beside him.</p>
<p>"No," he said.</p>
<p>"You must—you must," she urged gently.
"I know what it means to you. You feel it your
duty to unravel the secret of the percussion cap?
You can't; no man can. No one knows the inventor
more intimately than I, and even I
couldn't get it from him. There are no plans
for it in existence, and even if there were he
would no more sell them than you would have
accepted a fortune at the hands of Prince
d'Abruzzi to remain silent. The compact has
failed; you did that. The agents have scattered—gone
to other duties. That is enough."</p>
<p>"No," said Mr. Grimm. There was a strange
fear tearing at his heart,—"No one knows the
inventor more intimately than I." "No," he said
again. "I won from my government a promise
to be made good upon a condition—I must fulfil
that condition."</p>
<p>"But there is nothing, promotion, honor, reward,
that would compensate you for the loss of
your life," she entreated. "There is still time."
She was pleading now, with her slim white hands
resting on his shoulders, and the blue-gray eyes
fixed upon his face.</p>
<p>"It's more than all that," he said. "That
condition is you—your safety."</p>
<p>"For me?" she repeated. "For me? Then,
won't you go for—for my sake?"</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"Won't you go if you know you will be
killed," and suddenly her face turned scarlet,
"and that your life is dear to me?"</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>Isabel dropped upon her knees before him.</p>
<p>"This inventor—this man whom you insist
on seeing is half insane with disappointment and
anger," she rushed on desperately. "Remember
that a vast fortune, honor, fame were at his finger
tips when you—you placed them beyond his
reach by the destruction of the compact. He
has sworn to kill you."</p>
<p>"I can't go!"</p>
<p>"If you <i>know</i> that when you meet one of you
will die?"</p>
<p>"No." The answer came fiercely, through
clenched teeth. Mr. Grimm disengaged his
right hand and drew his revolver; the barrel
clicked under his fingers as it spun.</p>
<p>"If I tell you that of the two human beings in
this world whom I love this man is one?"</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>A shuffling step sounded in the hallway just
outside. Mr. Grimm stepped back from the
kneeling figure, and turned to face the door with
his revolver ready.</p>
<p>"Great God!" It was a scream of agony.
"He is my brother! Don't you see?"</p>
<p>She came to her feet and went staggering
across to the door. The key clicked in the lock.</p>
<p>"Your brother!" exclaimed Mr. Grimm.</p>
<p>"He wouldn't listen to me—<i>you</i> wouldn't
listen to me, and now—and <i>now</i>! God have
mercy!"</p>
<p>There was a sharp rattling, a clamor at the
door, and Isabel turned to Mr. Grimm mutely,
with arms outstretched. The revolver barrel
clicked under his hand, then, after a moment, he
replaced the weapon in his pocket.</p>
<p>"Please open the door," he requested quietly.</p>
<p>"He'll kill you!" she screamed.</p>
<p>Exhausted, helpless, she leaned against a
chair with her face in her hands. Mr. Grimm
went to her suddenly, tore the hands from her
face, and met the tear-stained eyes.</p>
<p>"I love you," he said. "I want you to know
that!"</p>
<p>"And I love you—that's why it matters so."</p>
<p>Leaving her there, Mr. Grimm strode straight
to the door and threw it open. He saw only the
outline of a thin little man of indeterminate age,
then came a blinding flash under his eyes, and
he leaped forward. There was a short, sharp
struggle, and both went down. The revolver!
He must get that! He reached for it with the
one idea of disarming this madman. The muzzle
was thrust toward him, he threw up his arm to
protect his head, and then came a second flash.
Instantly he felt the figure in his arms grow
limp; and after a moment he rose. The face of
the man on the floor was pearly gray; and a
thin, scarlet thread flowed from his temple.</p>
<SPAN name="image-5"><!-- Image 5 --></SPAN>
<p class="figure">
<SPAN href="img5.jpg">
<ANTIMG width-obs="60%" src="images/img5.jpg" alt="In a Stride Mr. Grimm Was Beside Her."/></SPAN><br/>
<b>"In a Stride Mr. Grimm Was Beside Her."</b></p>
<p>He turned toward Isabel. She lay near the
chair, a little crumpled heap. In a stride he
was beside her, and had lifted her head to his
knee. The blue-gray eyes opened into his once,
then they closed. She had fainted. The first
bullet had pierced her arm; it was only a flesh
wound. He lifted her gently and placed her on
a couch, after which he disappeared into another
room. In a little while there came the
cheerful ting-a-ling of a telephone bell.</p>
<p>"Is this the county constable's office?" he inquired.
"Well, there's been a little shooting accident
at the Murdock Williams' place, five miles
out from Alexandria on the old Baltimore Road.
Please send some of your men over to take
charge. Two hours from now call up Mr.
Grimm at Secret Service headquarters in Washington
and he will explain. Good-by."</p>
<p>And a few minutes later Mr. Grimm walked
along the road toward an automobile a hundred
yards away, bearing Miss Thorne in his arms.
The chauffeur cranked the machine and climbed
to his seat.</p>
<p>"Washington!" directed Mr. Grimm. "Never
mind the speed laws."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<center>
<b>THE END</b>
</center>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />