In the boathouse where Stepan had left him, Dick knew almost as soon as he saw Mike Hallo's narrow eyes appear around the closet door, that Mike had not seen him as yet. But he was too frightened to take any advantage of that consciously. Dick had proved that he was not a coward, and yet he was afraid of Hallo. He knew that the man hated him, and, for some reason, feared him. And here, where he would be so completely in his power, there would be nothing to restrain Hallo. He would not even have to call in the police to help him; he could get rid of a boy who threatened him without a witness. And Dick knew enough of Mike Hallo to feel that he would not be deterred by any scruples.

In another moment Mike's little eyes, peering around the dimly lighted room, but not yet well enough accustomed to even that much light after the utter darkness of the closet, would have fallen on Dick. But fear loosened Dick's hold on the electric flashlight that, by pure chance, happened to be in his hand. He started with dismay and tried to catch it, succeeding partly, so that it made only the faintest of noises as it struck a button of his coat. But that was enough. Hallo heard it, and started.

Yet it was that trifling accident that saved Dick. For Hallo, startled, and nervous himself, as of course he had good cause to be, better cause than Dick could guess, darted back into his closet at once. For a moment as Dick stared at it with fixed eyes, the closet door remained ajar. Then very slowly, very quietly, it was drawn to, until it clicked, and was firmly closed. On the instant, then, Dick moved.

He took the chance of being heard, and made a swift dash for the boat. His reason was a twofold one. For one thing, it offered the only possible place of concealment, aside from the closet that Mike Hallo had already preËmpted for himself, and it contained the weapons of which Steve had told him. Dick knew how to use a pistol, and he felt that with a gun of some sort in his possession he would have a chance at least with Hallo, even if he were armed. He would not hesitate to shoot, he told himself, if he had to. He had reason enough to believe that Hallo would not spare him, and in self-defence he would be justified in taking any means to save himself.

But he did not think it was particularly likely that it would come to anything so desperate now as a hand-to-hand struggle. He was recovering his nerve, and the panic that had possessed him when he had first seen Hallo's face had passed. Once he was in the boat, well concealed by the steel hood, he felt that the odds were in his favor, rather than against him, and he could stop to think and reason, which he had certainly not been able to do in the first moment of shocked surprise.

He felt the main thing that favored him was that Hallo was at least as badly frightened as he was himself. And that, after all, stood to reason. The very fact that the man was here at all seemed to Dick proof that he knew the character of this place, and that he was here as a spy. Then he would naturally be startled by a sudden sound, for he would think that it betokened the return of one of the Servian spies who used this as a hiding place and refuge.

"He would know, of course," Dick thought, "that they wouldn't hesitate any more over shooting him than if he were a mad dog. They couldn't, because he isn't threatening only their safety by being here, but their whole plan. And men who are brave enough to be spies in time of war aren't thinking of themselves at all, but of their country."

This was comforting reasoning for Dick, because it made it vastly improbable that Hallo would come out to look for him. He would be concerned with the problem of escaping himself; he would not think of looking for anyone else, but of preventing someone who was looking for him from finding him. So it seemed likely to Dick that he would escape any sort of personal encounter with Hallo, and he was glad of that. He had the same feeling that Stepan had expressed to Milikoff, although, of course, he knew nothing of that talk, nor of how Hallo had happened to come to this place. It seemed to him that Hallo would be worth more to the Servians alive than dead, and it was certain that the only chance for the success of the mission that had brought him from New York to Semlin would be gone if anything happened to Hallo.

From his position, crouched down in the bottom of the boat, Dick could see the closet door. And, as it began to move again, after five nerve racking minutes, Dick clutched his revolver, feeling that it was a pretty good thing to have as an ally, even if it was so unlikely that he would have occasion to use it. His fear had passed away altogether by this time, and a bold plan was beginning to come into his mind. But its execution depended upon Hallo and what that swindler might do next.

For just a second, as Hallo came out into the boathouse, Dick thought of starting up suddenly, covering him with a revolver, and forcing him to surrender. But he decided against that. Mike Hallo, as he knew, was not without a certain crude sort of physical courage. If he was armed—as it was practically certain that he was—he might be able to put up a good struggle. And, though Dick was no longer afraid for himself, he felt that it would involve too great a risk of letting the man get clear away if he followed his impulse.

So he kept perfectly still, instead, while Hallo came out and finally stood in the middle of the part of the boathouse that had a floor. He leaned forward, like a bird dog when it is in doubt, and seemed to be sniffing the air, though Dick knew that he was really only listening with concentrated attention. He was listening, not for a real noise, but for those almost inevitable sounds that the quietest person must make. It seemed extraordinary to Dick that Mike could not hear his breathing, or the beating of his heart, which sounded so abnormally loud to him. But hear them Mike did not, evidently, for after a moment he relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm getting jumpy," he said to himself, aloud, in English. "I guess that wasn't anything I heard before. Just a board creaking, maybe!"

Dick grinned and maintained his silence. And then Hallo, after walking about for half a minute, looked toward the boat.

"If only I knew how to run that!" he said, still aloud.

But, fortunately for Dick, and for Servia, as it was to turn out, he knew nothing of the intricate mechanism of the boat, and so he did not even come over to the water's edge for a closer inspection. Instead, he made for the door, flung it open, and strode out as it banged to behind him.

Dick was after him like a flash, but with his hand on the knob some instinct made him let go and shrink back against the wall. His instinct served him well indeed, for as he did so the door was flung open violently, and Hallo stood in it, looking all about the boathouse a second time.

"Not a soul!" he said aloud. "I must have been dreaming when I heard that noise!"

And all the time Dick was within a foot of him, his pistol gripped tight, ready for anything that might happen!

This time he did not close the door, but turned and walked away. That very action proved that he was no longer afraid that anyone was behind him, for he would not have turned his back had there been any lingering doubt.

And now Dick, giving him a good start, stole after him. He had hesitated as to whether or not he should do so. He had promised to wait for Stepan's return, and he did not like to go without some explanation. But it seemed to him that it was of the utmost importance for him to follow Hallo.

"He's not supposed to be here or to know anything about this place," he said to himself. "And now he may do anything, or go anywhere. He may betray all sorts of secrets. I don't know how long he was in that closet before we came, nor how much he heard—nor what the things he heard meant to him. I didn't understand, but that's no reason for thinking that he didn't. Yes, I'll have to take the chance of worrying Steve and upsetting his plans. I'm going after Mike Hallo. He's my quarry to-night!"

Dick knew that he was taking chances, and perhaps big chances, when he set out to follow Hallo. But he did not stop to think very much about them. He did not have time to think of anything but the work in hand, for Hallo, not content with walking fast, had broken into a run.

Dick understood the reason for that when, in his turn, he heard footsteps; that was what had frightened his man into beginning to run. And Dick ran too, not knowing that the steps were those of Vanya, the soldier, who was on his way to the boathouse with the message from Stepan.

Hallo had all the advantage. He knew the country and Dick did not. Moreover, he could set the pace, and Dick had to follow. To lose sight of Hallo even for a moment meant to risk losing him altogether. And Dick, moreover, dared not follow too closely. He had to be far enough behind to make it impossible for Hallo to learn of his pursuit by stopping suddenly, or making a quick turn.

It was a wild chase that Dick had. Hallo, for a man of his size and years—he was well over forty—made surprisingly good time, and gave Dick, as a matter of fact, all he could do to keep him in sight. And the way was long. Dick was greatly relieved when they came at last from open country into a section where houses were closer together and streets began to take form. In a measure his own risk was greater as they approached the town, but it was also possible for him to get much closer to the man he was trailing, since shelter was so much more frequent. The danger here was of running into the police, but Dick did not greatly fear that.

"I needn't worry about the ordinary policemen," he told himself. "I don't believe they know me at all. I could probably go up to any of them and ask the time, or the way to the railway station, and get away with it all right. It's only the ones who were on my track after I'd been to Hallo's office that I've got to look out for, and I'm not sure that even they would know me."

And now Hallo himself unwittingly made it safer and easier for his dogged pursuer, for instead of going toward the central part of Semlin, where policemen would be more numerous, and where the men who had gone to make the arrest at Dick's lodgings were almost sure to be posted, he circled through the poorer quarter toward the commercial district by the river.

"Oh, this is fine!" thought Dick. "I'll bet he's going to his office before he makes any report. I wonder if Stepan will think of him when I'm missing?"

Dick had to move up very close here, for the streets were crowded with people, and it would have been easy for him to lose his man in the jumble of figures. Several times now Hallo, as he neared his office, was stopped by passersby. He shook them off impatiently when they tried to detain him, however, and once Dick was near enough to hear him say, in an impatient tone: "Let me go! I have an appointment to keep at my warehouse."

And now Dick had a new inspiration. He determined to take a chance. And instead of following Hallo, he seized the opportunity when someone had stopped the Hungarian for a moment, and darted well ahead. He got a good start, and turned the corner of the block leading to the warehouse well ahead of Hallo. In a moment he was inside. Luck was with him, and he hid himself behind a big packing case in Hallo's room.