"And you do not know who the man is, nor what he is about to betray?"
Marston asked.

"I do not--nor am I in the least inquisitive, despite the fact that I'm
a woman. I haven't even so much as tried to guess. I was ordered here
under express instructions; which are to meet someone who will
communicate with me by letter in which a certain phrase will occur.
Thereafter I am to be guided by him and the circumstances until I
receive from him a certain package, when I am instantly to depart the
country and hurry straight to Berlin. Whether I am to receive a copy of
a secret treaty between our friends or our enemies, a diplomatic secret
of high importance, a report on the fortifications or forces of another
nation, or what it is, I haven't the slightest idea. It's all in the
game--and the game fascinates me; its dangers and its uncertainty. Some
other nation wants what Germany is about to get; some other nation seeks
to prevent its betrayal; some other nation seeks to block us; someone
else would even murder us to gain a point--and our own employer would
not raise a hand to seek retribution, or even to acknowledge that we
had died in her cause. They laud the soldier who dies for his flag, but
he who dies in the secret service of a government is never heard of. He
disappears; for the peace or the reputation of nations his name is not
upon the public rolls of the good and faithful servants. It's risky,
Marston; it's thankless; it's without glory and without fame;
nevertheless it's a fascinating game; the stakes are incalculable, the
remuneration is the best."

"You're quite right as to those high up in the service," Marston
remarked, "the remuneration, I mean, but not as to us poor devils who
are only the pawns. We not only have no glory nor honour, but