I stood there, my heart beating very fast. There. Absolute proof that Houdini had written the article. But what did it mean? Could it possibly mean what I thought it might—that Germany was planning to invade New York soon? Not our enemies yet, Mr. Wilkie had said, but the Kaiser was ambitious and sought to expand his empire. That’s rubbish, I thought. They wouldn’t dare test the might of the United States. The sound of some kind of machinery across the river set my teeth on edge—the whine of metal cutting metal. I looked across at the Brooklyn shoreline. A large ship was out of the water in a dry dock and men were working on its hull. And at the back of the ship was something similar to the flower shape that Harry Houdini had drawn on his underwater device. I stood and stared, trying to understand the implication of this. The strange bullet-shaped device, the motor, the hatch, the flower-shaped addition at the rear that obviously must propel it . . . It wasn’t an illusion at all. What this had to be saying was that Germany planned to attack using a new submarine that Houdini had witnessed when he toured German factories.

Twenty-nine

I had to let Mr. Wilkie know immediately. I could hardly breathe with excitement as I asked for directions to the nearest telegraph office. I expect the man behind the counter wondered why I was so agitated and spending all that money to send a message that said, “Thank you for birthday present. Your niece.”

“I take it you won’t need to wait for a reply, miss,” he said in a bored sort of voice.

“No, I don’t think so.” Mr. Wilkie had already instructed me that he would come to me and I didn’t think he’d risk naming a meeting place or time.

“It must have been a very nice birthday present,” the clerk said, “when someone spends two dollars just to thank him for it. A nice uncle you’ve got there.”

“Very generous,” I said frostily, because I could tell what he was hinting—that he was not my uncle but a very different sort of relation who had been showering me with gifts. Since I didn’t look like the kind of girl who had rich admirers, he was probably bemused by this. “The wire will be sent immediately, I take it?” I asked.

“It has to wait its turn. If the line’s in use it may take a few minutes. It’s not that urgent, is it?”

“Very urgent,” I said. “It has to reach my uncle before he sails to South America.”