“Find out his home address,” added Winckel. “Telegraph it to us and one of us will hurry up and find out if his mother really expects him. How about your part, O’Reilly?”
“I’ll see to it,” answered the Irishman.
“That is finished now. Oh, yes, one more thing, Schmidt, better have Strong watched even more closely. What is the other business?” It could be seen that Mr. Winckel was the moving spirit.
“Tomorrow, eight o’clock, here—the chief will come from Washington. When Captain Knabe comes, he will tell us just when the day will be. It is very soon, very soon; the long wait is over. Then, too, he will tell us what we shall do. You will all be here? Now we shall go to our work.”
They broke up. They were very thorough, each man had his work assigned and would see it carried through.
We shall turn to John Strong, who early that morning had been slipped a memorandum in code by the waitress serving breakfast to him, announcing that Ted was to come and to meet him. Also, Ted’s home address.
John Strong was a clean-cut Canadian, hair graying at the temples. No one knew better than he how carefully he was watched. That he was able to be as useful to his government as he was, showed his ability.
He decided at once that he would not meet Ted. That would show one thing—the important thing to those who would want to know. How could he get to the boy’s mother without being observed?
To the girl who waited on him he whispered that he wanted her to arrange for two cars to wait at the main entrance of the Hotel La Salle at ten o’clock.
He strolled out and immediately felt himself shadowed. He reached the hotel, looked at the register very carefully, as if there was something there he wanted to see, then turned to the cigar-stand. Turning around, he saw another man looking just as carefully at that register. He smiled. Now he knew one of those who were watching him. He pulled out some memorandum slips from his pocket and made some notations. As if by accident he left one of the slips on the case, lighted his cigar, bought a newspaper, and sat down and lounged.