"Joe," said Josie impressively, "you know who I am, don't you?"
"Why, you're one of the Liberty Girls, I guess."
"I'm from Washington," she said. "My father, John O'Gorman, is one of the government's secret service officers; I'm working on a case here in the interests of our government, and I may want you to help me foil a German spy plot."
"Count on me!" said Sergeant Joe, emphatically. And then he added: "I'd like to make sure, though, that you're really what you claim to be."
Josie opened her hand bag and from a side pocket drew a silver badge engraved "U. S. Secret Service. No. L2O1." That was her father's number and a complimentary badge, but Joe was satisfied. He had to glance inside the handbag to see it, for the girl dared not exhibit it more openly.
"If you want to know more about me, ask Colonel Hathaway," continued Josie.
"No," said Joe; "I believe you're on the square. But I'd never have suspected it of you. Tell me what I'm to do."
"Nothing, at present. But should a crisis arrive, stand by me and obey my instructions."
"I'll do that," promised the man.
When the girl had regained her room in the hotel, she sat down with a businesslike air and wrote upon a sheet of paper, in her peculiar cypher, the story of her discoveries and the conclusions they justified up to the present hour. This was to fix all facts firmly in her mind and to enable her to judge their merits. The story was concise enough, and perhaps Josie was quite unaware how much she had drawn upon her imagination. It read this way: