“Jane,” he persisted, with an impatient gesture, “we will not discuss that now.  I love you.  You must trust me in spite of everything.  I know you will.  You must.  I can answer no questions.  I can make no explanations.  I can only say I love you.  That must suffice.”

“No, no,” she protested, almost sobbing.

“I came here to-day,” he went on calmly, “to ask a favor of you.”

“A favor,” she cried.

Calming herself she forced herself to look into his face.  There was something so monstrously unbelievable about his audacity that she could hardly believe her ears.  What sort of a credulous stupid creature was he, she angrily asked herself, that in one breath he could all but confess to her that he was a spy and in the next beseech her to do him a favor.  Yet there came to her now a remembrance of her duty to her country.  She felt that she must mask her feelings toward him, that if she was to be of service she must endeavor bravely to lead him on.  She must try to induce him to confide in her.  Hard as her task might be, what was it compared to the work her brother and those other brave American boys had undertaken facing the fire of death-dealing guns, facing the terrible gas attacks, living for days and weeks in those terrible trenches?  Reinforced by a sense of duty, she made a pitiable effort at cordiality as she asked: 

“What is it you wish of me?”

From one of his pockets he had brought forth a small packet which he held out to her.  In spite of her agitation she forced herself to study it observingly, making note that it was tied with strong cord and sealed in several places with red wax.  Curiously, too, she noted that on it was written her own name.

“Jane,” said Hoff, “to-night I am going away.  I may be absent for only a day or two if all goes well, but it is possible I may never come back,—­may never be able to see you again.”

She caught her breath sharply.  There was the solemnity of finality in his tones.  Where was he going?  What might happen to him?  She realized that the journey he was about to make was in connection with the plot that she and Chief Fleck were seeking to uncover.  Evidently he anticipated peril in what he was about to undertake.  Suppose he should be trapped in the commission of some act inimical to America’s welfare?  What would happen to him?  He would be arrested, of course.  More than likely he would be sent to prison.  He might even be shot as a spy.  What if she were the one responsible for his meeting a disgraceful death?  How could she go on with it?  She must warn him.  She must try to persuade him to give up his plans.  She tried hard to steady herself, to think calmly.  She must listen to every word he was saying and try to remember it.

“This little packet is for you,” he went on.  “I want you to keep it safely.  In case anything happens, in the event that within one month I have not returned and you have heard nothing of me, I wish you to open it and keep what it contains.  Promise me that you will do what I ask.”