"
Wondering at the peculiar sentiment of the card she tore off the
enclosing tissue paper from the flowers. Orchids, wonderful, delicately
tinted orchids, nestled in a sheaf of feathery green fern--five of them.
"Five orchids--the fifth book--a profitable afternoon."
Jane felt sure now she had betrayed the government's watchers to at
least one of the watched.
CHAPTER VII
THE WOMAN ON THE ROOF
It is amazing how much information on any given subject any one--even a
wholly inexperienced person like Jane Strong--can acquire within a few
days when one's mind is set resolutely to the task. It is much more
amazing how much one can learn when aided and abetted by an experienced
chauffeur, or more properly speaking a mysterious and cultured secret
service operative, masquerading as an automobile driver.
Who Thomas Dean was, why he was in the secret service, and what his real
name was, were questions that kept perpetually puzzling Jane. In the
presence of her father and mother, so skilful an actor was he that it
was hard to believe him anything but what he appeared to be, a
respectful, intelligent and prompt young man who knew the traffic
regulations and the anatomy of automobiles. When he and Jane were by
themselves he invariably threw off his mask to some extent.
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