“Why not telephone your office and see if they’ve heard anything?”
“I did so. They heard nothing, but promised to telephone me as soon as they did.”
We had sat for a couple of hours talking when the bell rang, and I answered. It was the office.
“You slipped up this time, Orrington,” said the man at the other end. “A German battleship, the Kaiserin Luisa, has just disappeared off Portsmouth.”
I passed the word to the eager trio.
“That means war between England and Germany,” cried Ordway.
“I believe it does,” I exclaimed, “and I’m going to take the first boat for London. Here’s just the chance to run him down. He’ll be sure to stay in one place now. His work will be in the British Channel.”
“We’ll come too,” cried Dorothy, her eyes lighting at the prospect of the chase. “We’ll bring along the wave-measuring machine, and run him down at close quarters, won’t we, Tom?”
Tom nodded vigorously. “I’m with you. This man has simply obsessed me. I can’t do any decent work till I’ve found him.”