"Yes, but I can't deliver it except in the presence of the manager."
"Is it in the code of the Secret Service?" asked Ned.
"It is in some code unknown to me."
"If you don't deliver it in five minutes," declared the officer, "I shall call the American consul!"
The official made no reply.
"You can read this code, I suppose?" he asked of Ned.
"Certainly."
"Well, I'll communicate with the manager, and if he says it is all right I'll give you the message and take your receipt for it. Will that answer?"
"It must, I suppose," replied the officer.
The obdurate official left the room.