The Firefly of France

till all was blue or any other final shade. Still, it was not to be denied that my position looked incriminating. She might be as

pected; I wasn't anxious to have to lie. All the same, a plausible explanation, offered without

Mr. B

age, you know. You don't really think I'm a spy. What you are doing is to give me a third deg

e had an experience or two to shake our faith. The last time this steamer stopped here we caught a pair of spies who

overboard a small bronze paper-weight that was cluttering up my traps. There was nothing surreptitious about

voice addressed the lieutenant at my back. "I was standing at the door behind him that ni

obliging a fashion. He had, I was aware, been too far off that night to know whether I had thrown away a paper-weight or a sand-bag. Moreover, the object had been swathed beyond recognition in the extra t

rtly. "About ten feet? You are quite sure? Well-it's all r

e to owe my immunity to a patronizing lie on Mr. Van Blarcom's part. "You have accused me of spying. Do you thin

nglishman really

e approved. "Since you demand it-certainly, we'll do it," and he glanced at

cared to try. With cold aloofness I offered my keys, and the head steward knelt to officiate, while the crowd gaped and the second English officer abandon

hose mountain high, and neckties as numerous as the sea sands. Noting the rapt attention that McGuntrie in particular gave to these disclosures, I felt that to deserve so inhuman a punishment my crime must have been black indeed. Shoes on their trees

owd. In a similar spirit I bore the examination of my coats and trousers, the rummaging of my vests, the investigation of my hats. "Courage!" I told mys

later that I had a note for the kaiser there. In point of fact, those are simply some letters of introduct

his old friend, the American ambassador to France. So far, so good. But beneath them, with a sickening sense of being in a bad dream, I beheld a thin sheaf of papers, neatly folded, bound with red tape and sealed with bright red wax,-an

covered with closely jotted hieroglyphics, row upon row. But the sphinx-like quality of the contents afforded me no gleam of hope. If they had proclaimed as much in the pl

ark stilettos; the gaze of the Englishman was like a narrow flash of blue steel. He was going to say so

you are traveling with cipher papers, Captain