“Of course your father refused to consider any offer from German sources,” continued Jack, eagerly.
“He was very angry at being approached by an agent of a Government with which the United States was likely to go to war at any time since the Lusitania was sunk. He told this Adolph Tuessig what he thought of his nerve, and I guess must have shown him the door in a hurry, for I know father’s temper.”
“And what happened next, Tom?”
“Well, father was so busy just then on another experiment that he neglected to take proper precautions, a fact he is bitterly sorry for now. The time to shut and lock the stable door is when the horse is still safe inside. But then you know inventors are not like ordinary people, Jack; they live up in the clouds much of the time; and my father was always a great hand for putting off things.”
“Too bad, Tom, for I can begin to see this was one time that failing got him into trouble. So the paper was stolen, was it?”
“No question about it, Jack, for father found his room had been entered, and the safe in which he kept many of his private papers, forced open and rummaged. But as luck would have it, he carried one of the papers in his pocket at the time, so that although the thief took the other away with him, it may be possible that even the clever airplane builders over on the Rhine or on Lake Constance, will have a hard time puzzling out the real meaning of his figures and incomplete design.”
“They are a keen bunch, though,” said Jack, looking worried, “and if they set their minds to it the chances are they’ll succeed in the end. But perhaps the thief may realize he has not secured the precious paper he was after, and on that account fail to deliver it to the German Embassy at Washington?”
“Father hopes that may turn out to be so,” replied Tom. “But remember, Jack, this is to be kept a dead secret. Father has good reasons for not wishing it to become known to the Government yet; though you must understand there’s nothing dishonorable about his motives.”
“I’ll never breathe a word of it, Tom, you can depend on that. But doesn’t he mean to put the case in the hands of the Secret Service men? They might manage to recover the paper before it falls into the hands of the enemy.”
“But to do that, don’t you see, he would have to take the Government into his confidence, which he is loth to do just yet. No, he has hired a detective of national reputation, John Mullins, who is even now on the trail, and he hopes to intercept the thief. But since Washington is not many hours away from our home town by rail, it may be that the precious paper was in the legation safe before my father even learned of his loss.”