The Highflyers

almost from the ground. She presented a spectacle similar to that of a naughty little girl being led by the ear; she trotted along on tiptoe with a consciousness that she offered a most

n from steel; she bit her lip to restrain a cry of pain. Her father breathed heavily, noisily.

rm!" she sai

r a little and s

rting my a

him, she knew his rage was the equal of her own in intensity, but she knew it was a brutal rage, a rage which, if further provoked, might relieve itself by some unthi

he car and, reaching over her

s here,"

to arise. She scrambled to her feet and sat in the corner of the seat, pressing as far away from her father as po

ing the drive to their home. When the car stopped and the chau

, roughly, not off

away from him as she pass

d. He approached her and reached aga

. Don't dare to to

my permission, or I'll lock you in.... Don't leave th

rs, nor as she opened the door of her room. She entered, closed the door gently-and locked it. Then she stood quite still, white and slender, with a look on her face not good to see on the face of a young girl. H

ately, but coldly, with calculation. Then s

nched and white and strained she looked, and bit her lip.... On the dressing-table in a silver frame was a photograph, the photograph of a woman still young. It

ried him.... You lived with him of your own acc

n to whom she had given herself, for he had shown her none of that gentleness, that consideration, that tenderness that form so sure a foundation for the coming years. More marriages are wrecked within twenty-four hours of the ceremony than are wrecked in the succeeding twenty-four years. Marcia von Essen's was one of these.... She might have separated herself fro

t on the cushion, she drew her knees under her chin and stared out at the snow-covered lawn, the wealth of shrubs swathed in white, down the slope to the b

, in a whisper. "She had to

. She would leave her home and her father, but how? And how could she make it certain

ents must be made outside that house for her reception, a

suddenly. "He's got to."

him. Events had coupled them in a manner which compelled her to think of him as she thought of no other young man.... She would ask him to help, to find some way, to devise some

o her desk

onscious that it pained her. She stood up and removed her waist to examine the arm. It was bruised, swollen, rapidly blackening, and the marks of his ruthless fingers were plain. She sat down to write again. "My arm," she wrote, "is nearly wrenched off, and you can see the mark of every one of his

ed a stamp. Then she replaced her wai

ugh to know what to d

ld do nothing but brood and toy with her anger, keeping it alive and pouring fuel upon

did not expect him to send a tray to her room; that would be a courtesy so utterly foreign to him that she did not even give it a thought. Besides, she was not hungry. She could not have eaten. So she sat and

drinking beer and smoking those pudgy black cigars without which he was seldom seen. She threw a wrap over her head and tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs. Very cautiously she passed al

a stranger. She believed it to be a stranger, for she did not recognize it. Both voices were muffled

himself arrested the other day, wasn't much better. But those things were to be expected. It wasn't

t surprised her or caught her attention in the beginning, for she wa

of me now?" she he

de toward the fatherland. You and men like you have been invaluable there. But we must take more vigorous steps. A little has been done. We've stirred up a lot of unrest, and we have the pacifists working nicely." He chuckled. "That I. W.

ssen, "but what d

You recognize your du

y," said

That ore makes rifles and cannon and shells for the Allies. It would be a great service to the Emperor to interfere with that traffic, and the surest way is to-er-discontinue the use of the canals. That's one thing. Then Detroit is manufacturing

h matters. I want to see the fatherland win. I'm a German. But I hav

you have scruples against such

'd like to see every munition-p

ld. Once a man boasted that he was a Roman citizen; after we are through he'll boast that he'

Emperor's money,

o the fatherland and ennobled, eh? Made a count, let

unted vo

have been picked because you are the right

von Essen,

the city in your limousine with Mr. Bradley. I can repeat to you every word of your conversation. It was an unimportant conversation, but I know what wa

d von Essen

nothing. I say we need you-and you

willing to help in a reasonable w

ozen have been caught. There is no risk, and there will be great gain. It

e orders. I'm an

a Canadian town not far from here. It did quite a satisfact

plosion-did you

Herr von Ess

u're c

You have the credit there.... Now, H

ur secret recor

e where he was the night of that so-called outrage, they might be interested, eh?... And if it was hinted that a search of your premises would une

you say on that nig

ome to your assistance, of course. I'm afraid there would be evidence directly against you, however. It would look black for you if your chauffeur were to swear that he carried you to a point on the

ecation. She was even sorry for him. Yet she felt a malicious satisfaction. He w

stranger when von Ess

n't be safe for you. I sho

ue to live after that? Give a

plosive in

ty of

ed. "What do yo

n-and you'll quite enjoy yourself. Really, there's a satisfaction

e stranger. "We'll call it settled, then," the latter said. "I'm pleased for your sake. You will g

e from which all arrogance, all

with such interest, that she had not had time to consider other than the immediate aspects of it. She did not yet consider her father as a traitor to his country, nor go deeply

was no sound. Whoever had seized her carried her silently to the stairs, up to the second floor, opened a door, and set her within. The d

ployed in the von Essen household; some one familiar with it; some one who knew without hesitation where her own room was. It was startling, terrifying. She tottered across to her bed and threw herself upon it, nerves aflutter. Hildegarde was not given to nerves, but

done. The strange thing is that she was not afraid. It was not fear she felt so much a

er. Then she went to her door and tried it. It was not locked. This was startling, for she had heard dis

ad not been hurt; apparently there was neither desire nor intention to hurt her.... As yet. But she had heard matters not safe to overhear. Possibly her assailant knew how much she had overheard; possib

people were coming to understand daily as more and more of a menace to the well-being of their country, she had not imagined. And now Herman von Essen was to go farther; he was, so to speak, initiated into the inner ring of German intrigue, that inner ring commissioned by a conscienceless power to carry out unspeakable designs against a friendly,

etuously, girlishly loyal to the United States.... But in the condition that faced her, what could she do? Where lay her duty? It was a question too complex for her immaturity. She answered it by avoiding it. Her determination was the

ts bolt, and stepped out into the night. She ran to the street, fearful lest she should be stopped even now, and felt a great surge of relief as she dropped her note to Pott