'You're right it is, senator,' chimed Vic. 'I'm calling the chief right away. We'll have a squad
down there to grab the whole outfit. How close can you give us the trail, commander?'
'I paced five hundred and fifty steps from the shack to the siding,' declared Dadren. 'I came
in from the east side of the railroad, on a direct line. While in the box car, I counted
sixty-three telegraph posts until we reached a little station called Alora.'
'That's enough,' decided Vic. 'Let me have the telephone, senator -'
'Just a moment,' interrupted Dadren. Vic stopped. 'These plans'- Dadren picked up the
tracings—'must go in the vault at once.'
'I shall place them there as soon as Marquette calls,' promised Releston.
'And I'll stay here with the senator,' added Vic. 'The chief will handle the squad.'
'I must see Vincent,' declared Dadren. 'Furthermore, I should report at once to the Navy
Department.'
'Vincent is down there,' put in Stollart, 'at an inquiry that concerns Cedar Cove -'
'What!' exclaimed Dadren. 'I must go there, at once. This is important, senator. I can report
to the department, see Vincent and talk at that inquiry, all at once.'
'Shall I go with him, senator?' questioned Vic.
'You belong here,' insisted Dadren. 'You represent the Secret Service. I have placed the
tracings in your charge. I may have to mention that at the inquiry. Otherwise, the Navy
Department might demand the tracings.
'You should stay here also, senator. Nevertheless, I should like to have some one
accompany me. I shall be safe, for I am sure that my abductor has not yet learned of my
escape. At the same time, I prefer to have some one with me -'
'Take Stollart,' interposed Releston, indicating the secretary.
'Good!' A faint smile began on Dadren's lips. Stollart, too, showed repressed satisfaction.
'Very well, senator'- Dadren waved his hand toward the desk—'you have the all important
tracings. You know me to be the real Commander Dadren.
'Come, Stollart. We must start. I shall call you from the Navy Department, senator.'
Turning on his heel, the second visitor strode from the office. Stollart followed close behind
him. Vic Marquette grabbed the telephone, while Senator Releston remained at his desk.
While Vic was telephoning, Releston heard the outer door slam as token of a departure. The
gray-haired senator smiled. Not for a moment did he suspect that he and Marquette—for the
second time within an hour—had become the dupes of a clever game.
CHAPTER XX. TO THE HIDE-OUT
OUTSIDE the Hotel Barlingham, the man who looked like Commander Dadren beckoned
Stollart toward an obscure alleyway. There the two stepped into a coupe. Taking the wheel,
the impersonator headed toward the Northwest District. Then, in a growl that resembled Eric
Hildrow's, he questioned:
'What happened, Stollart? Give me the details.'
'I thought it was you, chief,' replied the secretary. 'I was taken in, like the rest of them.'
'You fool! You knew that I wouldn't arrive until after two o'clock. I didn't want to meet Vincent.'
'I thought you had changed your plan -'
'I hadn't. We've been tricked as badly as Releston and Marquette. Do you know who that
first fellow was?'
Stollart shook his head.
'The Shadow!' hissed Hildrow.
Stollart trembled at mention of the name.
'The Shadow came into the game,' asserted Hildrow, his voice incongruous as it came
from lips that looked like Dadren's. 'He wanted the plans and he got them.'
'He may come back for the tracings,' suggested Stollart, in an awed tone.
'That won't matter,' declared Hildrow. 'I have photostats. We've got to land the plans, that's
all. If we get them, Releston can keep the tracings. Anyway, I still hold Dadren. That's the one
club that may work.'
'What fooled me,' stated Stollart, 'was when the fellow wanted to dictate notes in the living
room. He hoaxed Releston and Marquette into leaving. Then he began to talk.'
'He dictated?'
'No. He told me what to do—to sit tight while he ducked out through that front door. Bolt it
after him, stall around for ten minutes or so, then go back and tell the senator that he had left
for the Navy Department with my notes.'
'And you fell for it!'
'I thought it was you, chief.'
'He didn't give you the countersign?'
'No; but I didn't expect it. I knew you were coming, made up like Dadren. Ducking out
through the front door was just what you might have done.'
'I guess you're right,' admitted Hildrow.
THE car was circling. Hildrow was taking an aimless course, apparently intending to remain
in Washington. Plotting some counterstroke, he at last announced the beginning of a
method.
'I'm sending you back, Stollart,' he decided. 'Keep an eye on what happens. We'll frame
our scheme while we ride along.'
'But The Shadow -'
'He won't come back. Don't worry. He'll be after me. He's wise enough to know he can't
trace me through you. Your hide will be safe, Stollart.'
'I'm not sure about that.'
'Why not?'
'Because of something that just hit me. Listen, chief; you figured that The Shadow beat you
to it, coming in there with the same disguise you're wearing.'
'That's it.'
'Do you think he's better at make-up than you are?'
Hildrow considered. Then he shook his head. That was an admission that he did not care to
make.
'I don't think he is, chief,' insisted Stollart. 'Maybe he's a rum at that game. You've got it
down perfect.'
'All right. What are you driving at?'
'Well, if it was The Shadow who came in there, he took a long shot. Too long a shot. One
that wouldn't have worked.'
'On account of Vincent?'
'That's it. He couldn't have fooled Vincent. You didn't want to risk it, chief. That's why you
came after two o'clock.'
'Well, if it wasn't The Shadow,' sneered Hildrow, 'who was it?'
'Commander Dadren himself,' returned Stollart.
HILDROW shoved the brake and brought the car up to a curb. He turned to stare at his
accomplice. Stollart was solemn. He could see a puzzled expression on Hildrow's face.
'Figure it this way, chief,' suggested Stollart. 'The Shadow got into the game. He was trying
to trace Dadren. He found him.'
'How do you know?'
