two edges, you see. Oh, my yes." Truthful as his explanation sounded, Gloria was furious. "Why you-" and she aimed another blow at his face which he countered by grabbing her wrist. The cry of pain as the often-offended member was grabbed, caused him to apologize very sincerely. "Oh, I'm so sorry. One forgets—and one forgets. But say now. Let's have a look at you." The agent held Gloria back at arms length. "Yes. Quite. They did do quite a bang-up job didn't they." Gloria turned and gave him a very warm smile.

* *

*

The Chief was in a delighted mood. A rare, but genuine occurrence. "Brilliant, brilliant piece of work, both of you! It is a bit of a shame that we couldn't keep the network intact, but you may be sure that that particular method won't be used again. Imagine-as high as a million copies of highly secret material slipping out of the country a day-all printed in the grooves of the records." He slammed the starred cover of the folder shut. "The PM sends along his regards—and urged some- thing special as a reward for you both, and you both wanted a bit of holiday can't say as I blame you—you've a double fortnight. 661, you've already taken a fortnight while your fellow agent here cleaned up the mess-but in view of the particular sacrifice you've made, I shan't be picky about it. By the by, where did you go? You just van- ished!"

Agent 661 dressed in a deep blue suit—with a dotted blouse and an outrageously feminine hat just smiled. "Oh, just a little tidying up to do. That's all."

"Oh. Oh, I see. Well, alright-have it your way. By the by-the SMO expects you again at 0800 hours tomorrow. All right?" Agent 661 held up one slim, white-gloved hand. "You could do me a very big favor-would you mind returning this to the SMO—I'm afraid I'll be on a plane at 0800 tomorrow." And the chief was handed a small box which he clutched, mystified as his two prime agents hastily exited. He moved over to the window overlooking the motor yard and watched the smaller lead figure quickly exchange hat for a long flowing scarf that billowed on the wind as the noisy 'cycle engine of the Morgan hurtled through the gate, followed by the familiar bulk of the super- charged Bentley five yards behind.

The Chief turned the box over in his hand, then opened it, and flushed deeply. Very deeply. Moving with deliberate care, he dropped

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