By AUGUSTA HUIELL SEAMAN

Author of "The Boarded-Up House," "The Sapphire Signet," etc.

SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS INSTALMENTS

PATRICIA MEADE, staying with her father, Captain Meade, in a big city hotel while he is executing a secret mission for the Government, has been warned by him to beware of foreign spies who are anxious to discover his business. Meanwhile, she has become acquainted with a Belgian refugee, Virginie de Vos, a young girl of her own age, who, with her aunt, Madame Vanderpoel, has a room directly across the hall.

Patricia having shown her friend a number of her father's water-color sketches one afternoon, it is discovered later by the captain that one of them, a drawing of a butterfly called "The Crimson Patch," has disappeared. He is greatly disturbed by this, as the sketch is in some mysterious way connected with his mission. They are obliged to suspect the four persons who entered the room that afternoon, Virginie, Madame Vanderpoel, the bell-boy Chester Jackson, and a waiter, Peter Stoger. The captain goes away next day to begin a hunt for the sketch, leaving Patricia to put herself in care of an old friend, Mrs. Quale, who is staying at the hotel. Later, Patricia discovers that Virginie and her aunt have left the hotel, and the bell-boy, Chester, reveals to her that he is aware that her father is on some secret mission and that there are spies in the hotel watching him.

Toward evening, Patricia hears from her father that he cannot return till the next day, and, Mrs. Quale also having gone away, she induces that lady's maid, Delia, to come and stay with her for the night. Later, Chester hands her a strange scrap of paper he has found in the room left by her Belgian neighbors, which, on being deciphered, proves to be a communication directing some one to go to a place called "Hanford," because he has obtained "it," evidently referring to the Crimson Patch. Patricia also receives a telephone message from Virginie, warning her vaguely of some danger that threatens them both, but the message is strangely interrupted before it is finished.

Patricia looks forward to the night with alarm and dread, but Chester assures her that when he leaves the hotel he will be outside in the park at intervals, on his motor-cycle, will watch her window for any signal of trouble, and will also try to find out something about Virginie's affairs. He tells Patricia to go down early for her mail in the morning, as she may find something of interest in it. And so she is left to pass the night.

her windows, which faced east, Patricia noticed that the sky was faintly streaked with pale light, each moment growing more distinct. She had endured almost seven hours of unbroken, nerveracking suspense, yet nothing alarming had happened. All night she had huddled in a chair by the living-room table, the electric lights full on, even to the farthest wall-bracket, listening breathlessly to the faintest creak or rustle, starting terror-stricken at a sudden flapping of the window-shade, crouching rigid at the slightest footfall outside her door.

Yet the cheering whistle of the war's most popular tune, every hour or so, in the park below, assured her that Chet was true to his promise, even if the loud chugging of his motor-cycle had not likewise informed her of his intermittent presence. He was certainly proving himself a friend, and a staunch one, in this time of her dire need.

With the coming of daylight she turned off the lights and lay down a while, exhausted by the night's vigil, but she did not sleep. She heard Delia go quietly out soon after six. At seven she prepared to go down to breakfast, and, promptly at seven-thirty, stopped at the desk in the lounge for her mail, as Chet had directed. She found that she had two letters, one a short note from

Mrs. Quale, explaining that she had been called away suddenly to New York by the illness of a niece, but expected to be back that evening, and hoping Patricia had not needed her in the meantime.

"She little knows how much I did need her!" sighed Patricia. "But thank goodness! she 's coming back to-night. I could n't-I simply could n't go through another night like last!"

The other letter was directed to her in a handwriting she did not recognize, and she prepared to read it while she was waiting for her breakfast to be served. To her immense relief, Peter Stoger was still absent. She had had the horrible suspicion that he might be there once again to spy on her, perhaps even to be the instrument of the threatened "danger."

While waiting for her cantaloup, she opened the second missive and read it through in startled wonder. It was written in pencil and marked midnight of the night before. It was inscribed also with a fine disregard of spelling, punctuation, and grammar, was only a few sentences long, and signed at the end, "C. J." It ran as follows:

Deer Miss,

I done a heap of scooting around last night on my motor-cicle and I found out quite a bit you will be intrested to no. If you are intrested will you please try to be at the sea wall in the park where you usully like to sit about nine this a m an we can talk it over. will wate for you their. Yours respeckfully, C. J.