porter left them alone together.

"Won't you sit down, Miss Baxter?" said Mr. Hardwick, with no trace of
that anger in his voice which she had expected. "I have been waiting for
you. You said you would be here at five, and I like punctuality. Without
beating round the bush, I suppose I may take it for granted that the
_Evening Graphite_ is indebted to you for what it is pleased to call the
Board of Public Construction scandal?"

"Yes," said the young woman, seating herself; "I came up to tell you
that I procured for the _Graphite_ that interesting bit of information."

"So I supposed. My colleague, Henry Alder, saw Hazel this afternoon at
the offices of the Board. The good man Hazel is panic-stricken at the
explosion he has caused, and is in a very nervous state of mind, more
especially when he learned that his documents had gone to an unexpected
quarter. Fortunately for him, the offices of the Board are thronged
with journalists who want to get statements from this man or the other
regarding the exposure, and so the visit of Alder to Hazel was not
likely to be noticed or commented upon. Hazel gave a graphic description
of the handsome young woman who had so cleverly wheedled the documents
from him, and who paid him the exact sum agreed upon in the exact way
that it was to have been paid. Alder had not seen you, and has not the
slightest idea how the important news slipped through his fingers; but
when he told me what had happened, I knew at once you were the goddess
of the machine, therefore I have been waiting for you. May I be
permitted to express the opinion that you didn't play your cards at all
well, Miss Baxter?"

"No? I think I played my cards very much better than you played yours,