Edgar Wallace

“ Later Chick, a little dishevelled, had a consultation with the Chief of the Police.
"I fear that by this time they are on their way to Brussels," said the policeman, shaking his head. "We could overtake them in an aeroplane, but we haven't an aeroplane. We could stop the train and arrest them, but there, again, how shall we know your lordship's dispatches are intact?" ”

“ He was beginning to identify himself with the Foreign Office, and the fact that the incriminating documents were actually within the walls of that building gave the news vital importance in his eyes. Did he but know, he was to be almost as interesting a figure to the leaders of this easy-money movement as they were to him.
There are certain features of English public life which have been for all time an insoluble mystery to the foreigner. ”

“ She left the carriage, and was driving from the station at the very moment when Chick had come back with the Baron to discover she was gone.
The man with the large moustache gave the driver directions, and the taxi was turned in the direction of Knocke, which is in the opposite direction to Ostend.
Fortunately Gwenda had a strong bump of locality. As the boat came in, she had noticed that Ostend lay to the south of the harbour, and a passenger had pointed out the hotels on the front. To reach the Splendide they must turn to the right and not to the left. ”

“ Chick unlocked the portfolio and handed the heavily-sealed package to the Minister, and that worthy gentleman examined it with a puzzled frown.
"And yet, milor," said he, "I cannot understand why these men should have taken the trouble, for they are not farmers. And if they were farmers, how could they be interested in swine fever?" ”

“ Her driver would have turned into the hotel, but she stopped him.
"Continue following that cab," she said, and the philosophical chauffeur, who in his life had had many strange commissions, kept in the track of Chick's car. The taxi, however, was much slower than the car which carried Chick which was soon out of sight. Here, however, the trailing presented no difficulty, because there was only one road and, except in the little villages through which they passed, no side-roads. ”

“ They came out of Mariakerke and saw the car standing in front of a dilapidated house. At once the girl knew that something was wrong. Chick was carrying dispatches, she realised, and dispatches which might mean the exposure of men who certainly were desperate, and assuredly would not hesitate to take the most extreme measures to prevent their falling into the hands of the authorities. Again she leant out of the window, and this time her voice Was urgent.
"Do not stop," she said, in a low voice. "Pass that cab and continue until the road turns." ”