- ing an officer, declaring that he was "Chief of the Secret
Service from New York to Boston." His game was to advertise for women to engage in espionage work, saying that the Government would pay a big price and would also buy clothes and hats for the operatives and put them up at the best hotels. It was suspected very keenly that Mr. A. L was neither employed by the Government nor acting as an officer and a gentleman ought to act. He did not know anything about the deadly dictagraph which A. P. L. had placed in this apartment. Hence, he conversed quite freely with a certain Mrs. U, who had answered his advertisement and at whose apartment he was paying a call. They seem first to have talked about the apartment itself, the conversation going as follows:
Mrs. U.: Isn't it nice? I'm crazy about it. He is a curio
dealer, the owner of the apartment. Here is the dish closet.
Here is the kitchen. Look and see the bedroom. I haven't
got my bed linen yet. Sit down and I'll talk to you. Oh,
I've got to get rid of this hat; my head aches.
Mr. L—: Oh, what a nice lamp.
Mrs. U—: Isn't it lovely? See, you can turn the lights on here. Look, this is the telephone downstairs. There's one thing; they are very strict here. You have to be careful. Sit down there.
(Pause of a minute.)
Mrs. U—: I can't swallow a pill to save my life. Now, I'll tell you what I have to say. Do you know I like that picture? I think it must have been a calendar. You know he said he would buy me anything I wanted. He is some kid, that boy. This is just like the headache I had two weeks ago. I had such a headache. All day Sunday I was in bed and I couldn't get any relief. It's just the same old way all along. It is so trying. Now, I want to hear all about your trip. I am terribly interested. Tell me all about it.
Mr. L—: Now, tell me exactly what you told him.
Mrs. U—: Sit down. Here's what I told him.
Mr. L—: What's his name and all about him?
Mrs. U—: Well, the first time I met him he told me all about the story of his life. Then, some time after that I met him again. "Hey, kid," he said, "you know a lot of people in Wall Street; take me down there and introduce me to some
