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idently did not anticipate an immediate decease. His
communications usually took a week to reach me, for they
were sent under cover to Spain and then to Newcastle. He
had a mania, you know, for concealing his tracks.’
‘What did he say?’ I stammered.
‘Nothing. Merely that he was in danger, but had found
shelter with a good friend, and that I would hear from him
before the 15th of June. He gave me no address, but said he
was living near Portland Place. I think his object was to clear
you if anything happened. When I got it I went to Scotland
Yard, went over the details of the inquest, and concluded
that you were the friend. We made inquiries about you, Mr
Hannay, and found you were respectable. I thought I knew
the motives for your disappearance not only the police, the
other one too and when I got Harry’s scrawl I guessed at the
rest. I have been expecting you any time this past week.’ You
can imagine what a load this took off my mind. I felt a free
man once more, for I was now up against my country’s en-
emies only, and not my country’s law.
‘Now let us have the little note-book,’ said Sir Walter.
It took us a good hour to work through it. I explained the
cypher, and he was jolly quick at picking it up. He emended
my reading of it on several points, but I had been fairly cor-
rect, on the whole. His face was very grave before he had
finished, and he sat silent for a while.
‘I don’t know what to make of it,’ he said at last. ‘He is
right about one thing what is going to happen the day af-
ter tomorrow. How the devil can it have got known? That is
ugly enough in itself. But all this about war and the Black

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