Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/242

 "Which seems to be consld'r'ble!" commented Sadie, as she took a small mirror from her vanity bag and wearily proceeded to powder her nose.

"And what are we to do?" asked the ever-practical Wilsnach.

"They've sent us orders to corral Strasser. That mild-mannered crank, it seems, finally got indignant at the suspicion and contempt with which he was being treated by the federal authorities. He kicked over the traces and announced that if Uncle Sam didn't want to buy his secret he'd go to a government that would be glad enough to get it. He suddenly packed up and made for New York."

It was Sadie who spoke next.

"How d'yuh know he wasn't tryin' to get next to those new coast guns of ours?" she casually inquired. "Why couldn't a guy like that be a come-on for Keudell all the time?"

"As for that, of course, we are still in the dark! And we can't get the answer to it until we get the man himself."

"And what's the procedure this time?" inquired Wilsnach.

Kestner sat for a moment deep in thought. Then he handed over the photograph to his colleague.