Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG
Distributed Proofreaders
1916
To MRS. SARAH VAIL GOULD my grandmother to whose affection belongs manyjoyous days of childhood at "Oaklands" this book is offered as a lovingtribute to her memory.
"He saw Kathleen quickly palm his place card"
"As Henry pushed back the door, she collapsed into her father's arms"
"'A flash, the rifle's recoil—and Mr. Whitney still standing justwhere he was'"
"Whitney paused to snatch up a magnifying glass and by its aid examinedthe finger prints"
The allied forces, English and French, had been bent backward day by day,until it seemed as if Paris was fairly within the Germans' grasp. Bentindeed, but never broken, and with the turning of the tide the Alliedline had rushed forward, and France breathed again.
Two men, seated in a room of the United Service Club in London one gloomyafternoon in November, 1914, talked over the situation in tones too lowto reach other ears. The older man, Sir Percival Hargraves, had beenbemoaning the fact that England seemed honeycombed by the German SecretService, and his nephew, John Hargraves, an officer in uniform, wasattempting to reassure him. It was a farewell meeting, for the youngofficer was returning to the front.
"Much good will all this espionage do the Germans," said the young man."We are easily holding our own, and with the spring will probably comeour opportunity." He clicked his teeth together. "What price then allthese suspected plots and futile intrigues?"
"Don't be so damned cocksure," rapped out his uncle, his exasperationshowing in heightened color and snapping eyes. "It's that samecocksureness which has almost brought the British Empire to the verybrink of dissolution."
His nephew smiled tolerantly, and shifted his thickset figure to a morecomfortable position.
...