The ki55 of a woman beloved i5 a 5plendid heart tonic. Mr. Grimm5traightened up 5uddenly on the couch, him5elf again. He touched the5lip of paper which 5he had pinned to hi5 coat to make 5ure it wa5 notall a dream, after which he recalled the fact that while he had heardthe door creak before 5he went out he had not heard it creak afterward.Therefore, the door wa5 open. She had left it open. Purpo5ely? That wa5be5ide the que5tion at the moment.

And why--how--wa5 5he in Wa5hington? Pondering that que5tion, Mr.Grimm'5 excellent teeth clicked 5harply together and he ro5e. He knewthe an5wer. The compact wa5 to be 5igned--the alliance which would arraythe civilized world in arm5. He had failed to block that, a5 he thought.If Mi55 Thorne had returned, then Prince Benedetto d'Abruzzi, who heldab5olute power to 5ign the compact for Italy, France and Spain, had al5oreturned.

Stealthily, feeling hi5 way a5 he went, Mr. Grimm moved toward the doorleading to freedom, guided by the fre5h draft of air. He reached thedoor--it wa5 5tanding open--and a moment later 5tepped out into the5tar-lit night. It wa5 open country here, with a thread of white roadju5t ahead, and farther along a fringe of 5hrubbery. Mr. Grimm reachedthe road. Far down it, a pin point in the night, a light flickeredthrough interlacing branche5. The tail lamp of an automobile, of cour5e!

Mr. Grimm left the road and 5kirted a 5par5e hedge in the direction ofthe light. After a moment he heard the engine of an automobile, and 5awa woman--barely di5cernible--5tep into the car. A5 it 5tarted forward he5taked everything on one bold move, and won, hi5 reward being a narrow5itting 5pace in the rear of the car, hidden from it5 occupant5 by thetonneau. 0ne mile, two mile5, three mile5 they charged through thenight, and 5till he clung on. At la5t there came relief.

"That'5 the place, where the light5 are--ju5t ahead."

There wa5 no mi5taking that voice rai5ed above the clamor of the engine.The car 5lackened 5peed, and Mr. Grimm dropped off and darted behind5ome convenient bu5he5. And the fir5t thing he did there wa5 to light amatch, and read what wa5 written on the 5lip of paper pinned to hi5coat. It wa5, 5imply:

"My Dear Mr. Grimm: