Page:Ruth of the U.S.A. (IA ruthofusa00balm).pdf/148

 they sat down, "but which I wish to have used anonymously, if it is at all possible."

"Information against someone?" he asked.

"Against a man who goes by the name of Louis de Trevenac," she said in a low voice. The placards all about Paris warning, ''Be on guard! Enemy ears listen!'' influenced her even behind the closed doors.

Gerry Hull started. Not greatly, for he had been in France long enough to hear accusations—false or true—against almost anyone.

"You know him?" Ruth asked.

"He is well known," Gerry said. "I've heard of him."

"I am absolutely certain that he is a German spy."

"How do you know?"

"If I wanted to tell how I know, I would not have sent for you. It was not easy," Ruth said with a gentle sweetness which caught him with a flush. "I thought it was possible that you would know a method of starting inquiry regarding one without having to give details of the cause of your suspicion."

Gerry nodded. "That's possible."

"Then please do that in regard to M. Louis de Trevenac. At once!"

He regarded her, conscious of having to make an effort to consider what she asked without feeling for her. The attraction to her which instantly had given him curiosity about her that first time they met—attraction not merely to her warm, glowing vitality, but to the purpose which imbued her and to the challenge of her eager, honest mind—was swaying him. He got for a moment, and quite without his will, the feeling of her lithe, round little form