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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75240 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+                               SUSPENSE
+
+                          By ISABEL OSTRANDER
+
+                               AUTHOR OF
+                        "THE CLUE IN THE AIR,"
+                           "THE PRIMAL LAW,"
+                                 ETC.
+
+                               NEW YORK
+                        ROBERT M. McBRIDE & CO.
+                                 1918
+
+                          Copyright, 1918, by
+                        ROBERT M. MCBRIDE & CO.
+
+                         Published March, 1918
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+
+                         I THE GIRL WITH THE SCAR
+
+                        II THE SILENT INTRUDER
+
+                       III THE VELVET GLOVE
+
+                        IV BLINDFOLD
+
+                         V BOX A-46
+
+                        VI A MESSAGE FROM PHARAOH
+
+                       VII TEN THOUSAND SHEEP
+
+                      VIII THE ORCHID LADY
+
+                        IX CROSSROADS
+
+                         X FACE TO FACE
+
+                        XI THE FOURTH PEW
+
+                       XII THE FANGS OF THE WOLF
+
+                      XIII JUSTICE NODS
+
+                       XIV NAKED FOILS
+
+                        XV THE PORTRAIT OF BEETHOVEN
+
+                       XVI THE CLOSING NET
+
+                      XVII TURNED TABLES
+
+                     XVIII UNMASKED
+
+                       XIX THE HONOR OF THE NAME
+
+                        XX TREASURE TROVE
+
+
+
+
+                               SUSPENSE
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+                       _The Girl With the Scar._
+
+
+"Young woman, well-bred, educated, stranger in city, and without
+relatives, desires situation as companion or social secretary with lady
+of established reputation and position. Good oral reader, pianist,
+quick and accurate household accountant, intelligent amanuensis,
+willing and obliging. Amount of salary optional. Address Miss Betty
+Shaw, 160 Wakefield Avenue."
+
+The girl read the advertisement for the twentieth time, then dropped
+the newspaper upon the shabbily ornate center table with a shrug of
+impatience, a frown gathering between her level brows.
+
+The boarding house parlor was shrouded in gloom, and outside the window
+whirling snowflakes showed white against the deepening dusk. A little
+heap of torn envelopes and a card or two upon the mantel bore evidence
+that the naïve appeal had evoked response, yet it was with a hopeless
+gesture that the girl turned from them and began pacing the floor, her
+brooding eyes fixed as though they would pierce the shadows which crept
+about her.
+
+All at once she paused tense and alert with lifted chin and quickened
+breath. The throbbing purr of a motor had pulsed upon the stillness of
+the snow-enwrapped street, and halted with a dull grinding of brakes
+before the door.
+
+She darted to the window and peered eagerly out between the dingy
+curtains. A massive limousine stood at the curb, its bulk looming
+blackly against the lesser darkness, with broad diagonal lines of white
+striping the lower body, and a rakish torpedo-shaped hood. It was just
+such a car as a person of somewhat bizarre taste and the wealth with
+which to gratify it might have chosen, yet had it been a veritable
+juggernaut its effect upon the girl could have been no more sinister.
+She recoiled from the window, her hands clenched, her breast heaving
+tumultuously, and shadowed as it was, her face seemed distorted into a
+mere mask of malevolent fury akin to triumph.
+
+Then the small hands relaxed, and with a visible effort at control, she
+turned toward the door, as laggard feet shuffled along the passageway
+and a murmur of voices arose.
+
+"'Nother lady to see you, Miss." A frowsy head appeared in the doorway
+and the girl advanced to meet the summons.
+
+"Ask her to come in, please, Susan." Her voice was guilelessly soft and
+low. "No, wait, I must light the gas--"
+
+But the servant had already disappeared and in her place stood a tall,
+commanding figure, swathed in furs and heavily veiled. For a moment the
+girl hesitated, then with a steady hand she struck a match and a flare
+of light streamed from the gas jet. In the full flow of its radiance,
+she turned and faced her visitor.
+
+The woman in the doorway took a step forward and paused involuntarily,
+with a slight murmur of shocked surprise. The girl before her was
+slender and of quite a usual type, with soft brown hair and moderately
+large blue eyes, but a spreading blood-red scar with five curved
+streaks reaching out from it like an angry clutching hand covered her
+left cheek from brow to neck.
+
+If the girl observed the other's momentary loss of poise she gave no
+sign. Her level brows were arched ingenuously, her expression childlike
+in its bland candor, but the smile which parted her lips did not reach
+her shadowed, inscrutable eyes.
+
+"Won't you take this chair? You wished to see me regarding my
+advertisement for a position?"
+
+The woman advanced and sank into the seat indicated, loosening her furs
+deliberately before she replied. The heavy veil still obliterated her
+features, but through its meshes her eyes glowed fixedly.
+
+"Yes." She inclined her head slightly. "You are Miss Shaw?"
+
+The girl nodded in turn.
+
+"I have had no previous experience, but it has become necessary for me
+to earn my own living and I have not had any specialized training. I am
+quite alone in the world--"
+
+The woman leaned suddenly forward.
+
+"May I ask why you stated that in your advertisement, Miss Shaw?
+You are very young and doubtless inexperienced, but you must have
+realized that to announce yourself as alone and friendless would invite
+unsuitable and even dangerous response."
+
+The girl glanced at the cards on the mantel and then back to her
+visitor in wide-eyed amazement.
+
+"Why, no!" she exclaimed. "I wanted to make it clear that I could give
+no references except social ones from my own home town, and that my
+object was not so much a matter of salary as a home of refinement where
+I could feel safe and sheltered. It is dreadful to be adrift, with
+no one to take a personal interest, but back in Greenville there was
+nothing for me to do."
+
+"Greenville?"
+
+"In Iowa. My mother and I moved out there to live with an uncle of
+hers when my father died. I was a little girl then. Last year Uncle
+Will died, and six months ago, my mother." She glanced down at the
+simple black gown. "There is no one left belonging to me, and very
+little money, so I came back to the city where I was born to try to
+find a position. I have been here only a few days, but it is more
+difficult than I had thought. You are looking for a companion or
+secretary? I did not put it in the advertisement, but I am quite
+capable of taking charge of a household and managing servants. If--if
+you have children I can amuse them, too, they always take to me."
+
+The woman's eyes searched the flushed, eager face but seemed to linger,
+repelled yet fascinated, on the sinister scar.
+
+"You--er, you have had an accident?" she asked.
+
+"Accident?" The girl repeated. Then with a smile of understanding quite
+free from bitterness she touched her cheek. "You mean--this? It is a
+birthmark and everyone around me is so accustomed to it that I scarcely
+ever think of it. It must be awfully unpleasant to strangers, though. I
+suppose it--it would be a drawback----"
+
+Her tone was wistful, almost pleading, and she paused with a catch in
+her breath. There was a long minute of silence before her visitor spoke.
+
+"Not unpleasant. It will merely be necessary, as you so sensibly
+say, for one to become accustomed to it. I am not sure that it is
+a disadvantage--" she caught herself up abruptly. "You spoke of
+social references from Greenville. You have friends there to whom I
+can write, if we come to an understanding? You realize that I, too,
+must be careful about whom I take into my household in so intimate a
+relationship as that of companion."
+
+"Of course," the girl assented quickly. Then she hesitated. "You live
+here in the city?"
+
+"On the North Drive. I am Mrs. Atterbury." The woman spoke as if the
+mere mention of her name sufficed to establish her status, and with
+a deliberate gesture she threw back her veil. The face revealed to
+the girl's frankly curious gaze was colorless, the thin, arched nose
+and firm, straight lines of her lips as immobile as if carved from
+marble. Only the eyes, sloe-black and glittering, gave a semblance of
+life to the flawless, masklike expression. The smooth, dark hair was
+coiled tightly about her head and brought low over the ears, but did
+not cover them sufficiently to conceal their peculiar formation. Small
+and delicately pink, they were lobeless and narrowed toward the top so
+sharply that the girl wondered if beneath the hair they might not be
+pointed, like a cat's.
+
+As if intuitively aware of the other's scrutiny, the woman drew her
+furs more closely about her neck and spoke hurriedly.
+
+"I forgot for a moment that you were a stranger here. My husband was
+one of the most prominent financiers in the city, but since his death
+I have lived very quietly, receiving only a few old friends quite
+informally. I am childless, and, like you, alone in the world." She
+paused, with a slight suggestion of a smile and the girl's intent gaze
+shifted and dropped. "My home is one which you would perhaps consider
+luxurious, but it needs a youthful presence. I want the companionship
+of a bright, cheerful young girl, gently reared, who can amuse and
+interest me, and assist in the occasional entertainment of my guests.
+Practically the only duty you would have would be to attend to my
+correspondence, which is large as I have financial interests and
+property all over the country. I would require your time unreservedly,
+however. That is why I prefer a stranger, with no affiliations to
+distract her. For such services I am willing to pay well, but there are
+certain conditions I should impose."
+
+The girl had listened without a change of expression, but now she
+glanced up quickly.
+
+"Mourning depresses me. Would you be willing to lay it aside and dress
+in colors, such colors as I choose for you?"
+
+"Oh, yes. I thought of that, in any event."
+
+"Do you speak any foreign language?"
+
+The girl shook her head.
+
+"There were no foreigners in Greenville but the Italian road builders."
+
+"You are prepared to place yourself absolutely at my disposal? There
+will, of course, be hours when I will not need you, but I shall want
+you within call. Moreover, if I make you a member of my household I
+shall feel responsible for you. You must not attempt to go about the
+city alone without consulting me first. That is understood?"
+
+The girl's eyes narrowed and for an instant her lips compressed, but
+she replied quietly:
+
+"Of course. I appreciate the interest you take in me, Mrs. Atterbury,
+and I am grateful for it. I shall do my best to please you."
+
+A few details followed.
+
+"Then we will consider the matter settled." The women glanced at the
+jeweled watch on her wrist. "How long will it take you to pack?"
+
+"You mean you wish me to go with you at once?" The girl's face had
+whitened until the scar stood out in cruel clarity upon her cheek. "I
+had thought of taking a few days to prepare--"
+
+"Anything you need can be purchased tomorrow." There was a hardened
+note of dominance in the cold voice which brooked no denial. "I am
+a person of quick decisions, as you will discover, Betty--that is
+your name, isn't it? I came to take you home with me if I found you
+suitable, but I cannot keep my car waiting long in this storm."
+
+Betty rose submissively.
+
+"I have no trunk, only two bags. It will take me only a few minutes to
+pack, if you will excuse me."
+
+Mrs. Atterbury sat immovable until the sound of the girl's footsteps
+had died away upon the creaking stairs far overhead. Then she rose and
+gliding swiftly to the mantel, glanced over the cards and notes of her
+predecessors. Tossing them aside contemptuously, her eyes fell upon
+an open desk between the windows. A sheet of note-paper half covered
+with writing lay upon it and picking it up she scanned it deliberately,
+nodding in evident satisfaction.
+
+"'Reverend Doctor Slade,'" she repeated aloud. "Greenville, Iowa."
+
+A quarter of an hour later, two figures emerged from the dingy
+vestibule and descended to the waiting car, the girl cringing in her
+thin black cloak against the icy blast which swirled about them, the
+older woman erect as if the very elements themselves could not compel
+her to bow her head.
+
+With her foot upon the step the girl hesitated and her eyes swept the
+bleak snowy darkness in swift terror, like a trapped animal. The look
+was gone as quickly as it had come, however, and into her face crept
+a trace of the sinister, resolute triumph which had crossed it while
+she waited behind the curtains of her window for the entrance of this
+woman in whose hands she had placed herself.
+
+In silence she seated herself beside her new employer, the footman
+closed the door with a snap and they glided swiftly away through the
+snow-muffled streets. Few words were spoken during the brief journey,
+and they were mere commonplaces, but beneath the casual banality ran an
+undercurrent of sharp tension almost tangible enough to be felt. It was
+as if, unconsciously, they were adversaries, pausing by tacit consent
+to take breath for a second encounter. The girl lay back relaxed with
+half-closed eyes, the woman sat with her veiled face averted, and each
+seemed buried in her own thoughts, yet each was aware of the sly,
+furtive glances of mutual speculative appraisal which passed between
+them.
+
+The droning wind arose to a shrieking gale when they turned into the
+North Drive, the merging strands of electric light breaking into widely
+detached clusters as compact rows of brick and stone gave place to
+exclusive residences, each sequestered within its private park. The
+whistles of the river boats rose eerily above the blast of the storm
+and the girl shuddered and drew the straggling fur collar more closely
+about her throat.
+
+"You must have warmer clothing." The woman spoke without turning
+her head. "You will need one or two dinner frocks also. That can be
+arranged tomorrow, and I will supply them, as you are disposing of
+your mourning at my request. We are home at last."
+
+The car swerved from the broad avenue and turning in between two high
+gate-posts, followed a short winding drive to a brilliantly lighted
+_porte-cochère_. Light streamed, too, from the opened doorway, upon the
+threshold of which stood a thick-set man in the conventional black of a
+butler.
+
+"Welch," Mrs. Atterbury spoke with curt authority, "Miss Shaw will take
+Miss Harly's place. Show her to her room, please." Turning, she added
+to her companion: "We dine at seven. You need not change."
+
+The butler bowed obsequiously, but his beady eyes surveyed the girl
+deliberately from head to foot in a coolly impudent stare before he
+picked up her bags and started for the staircase.
+
+The hall was square and of spacious dimensions, with a gallery
+encircling the second floor landing, from which rare tapestries were
+hung. The leaping flames of the hearth played upon their soft, mellow
+hues and glancing off in darting rays from the brass andirons, turned
+the dull brown of the leather wall paneling into burnished gold.
+
+Betty Shaw mechanically noted the general effect as she followed her
+surly guide. There was little surprise and no curiosity in her gaze,
+which had flown straight to the door opposite the hearth. As she
+reached the foot of the stairs this door was flung violently open, and
+a man sprang forward, confronting her employer.
+
+"Good God, where have you been?" he demanded, his voice grating harshly
+with anxiety. "'Ranza has been trying to locate you all the afternoon.
+She saw him, but he has broken! He's going to--"
+
+No countering exclamation from the woman had interrupted him, yet he
+paused with a strangling gasp, as if a hand had been laid suddenly upon
+his throat.
+
+Betty glanced over her shoulder. Mrs. Atterbury stood silently drawn up
+to her full height regarding the intruder with eyes which blazed from a
+face that might well have given pause. The impassivity which had masked
+it was gone, the brows were drawn and knotted and the lips curled back
+in a distortion of silent rage so that her strong, white teeth gleamed
+menacingly in the firelight. The girl caught one swift glimpse of the
+man who cringed in the doorway, then turned and fairly fled up the
+stair.
+
+The hall was dimly lighted but a rosy glow came from an opened door
+around a turning, and approaching, Betty found herself in a veritable
+bower of a room, spacious but cozy, with flowered chintz draperies and
+soft, rose-shaded lamps.
+
+"If you want the maid, Miss, there's the bell." Welch had deposited
+her bags beside the dressing-table, and was again surveying her with
+his curiously intent, lowering gaze. "Should you be liking a cup of
+tea, now,--"
+
+"Thank you. I shall require nothing before dinner." Her quiet tone was
+in itself a dismissal, yet the man still lingered as if on the point of
+further speech. Before her steady eyes, however, his own shifted and
+fell, and turning, he shambled from the room.
+
+Betty waited until his stealthy, cat-like footsteps had passed
+well down the hall, then closed her door softly and began a minute
+examination of her apartment. It faced the side of the house, with two
+long French windows opening on a narrow balcony. A door in each wall
+led presumably to connecting rooms, but upon examination the first
+proved to be fastened, evidently by a bolt on the farther side, for
+the keyhole was plugged with a hard substance resembling sealing wax.
+The opposite door disclosed a well-appointed bathroom, with no opening
+other than a ventilator, high up in the wall.
+
+Completing her simple preparations for dinner, the girl sank in a low
+chair before the glowing coals in the English grate and chin in hand,
+lost herself in a reverie. The eager, childishly trustful expression
+had vanished when she found herself alone and in its place had crept
+a hardened, crafty look which robbed her face of its youthful charm.
+The scar leaped again into prominence, and seemed to throb as if its
+clutching fingers were tightening in a relentless grip, and in her
+somber eyes abiding passion brooded.
+
+The silver tones of a gong echoing up from below aroused her and she
+sprang to her feet, her clenched hands pressed to her burning temples.
+For an instant she stood swaying in the intensity of some all but
+overmastering emotion. Then her hands fell to her sides, revealing
+again the mask of disingenuousness.
+
+But behind it there lurked, not wholly concealed, an air of joyous
+triumph, and she glanced exultantly about her as if out of all the
+world, the shelter of this roof had been her goal, and in winning
+her way into the household she had brought some deep-laid plan to
+consummation.
+
+While she hesitated at the stair's foot, Mrs. Atterbury's voice
+summoned her to the drawing-room, where she found beside her employer a
+sallow little woman, dull-eyed and slender to the point of angularity,
+who was presented as Madame Cimmino. As Betty responded timidly to
+the conventional greeting another figure came forward from a shadowed
+corner and paused, smiling and urbane.
+
+"Betty, this is an old friend, Mr. Wolvert." An odd smile twisted Mrs.
+Atterbury's attenuated lips. "Don't make love to Miss Shaw, Jack. She
+seeks sanctuary with me from the world, the flesh and the devil."
+
+"Dear lady!" He raised a deprecating hand before extending it to the
+shrinking girl. "You malign me! Let me assure you of your immunity from
+evil here, Miss Shaw. Our hostess tolerates no serpents in her garden,
+as you will find."
+
+The man's tone was smooth and unctuous, but there was an undercurrent
+deeper than mere mockery in the careless words, and Mrs. Atterbury's
+eyes glittered dangerously, although she shrugged in cold distaste.
+
+"Shall we go in? Cook times her soufflés to the instant and she is the
+only mortal before whom I quail. Come, Speranza."
+
+Madame Cimmino laid her hand lightly on Jack Wolvert's arm as she
+passed him, but his gaze was riveted upon the girl, and followed her
+slim figure curiously until the curtains fell behind her.
+
+"She is attractive, this new little one, eh?" Madame Cimmino had halted
+in the doorway and there was a hard ring in her voice. "It is an added
+charm, perhaps, that brand upon her face!"
+
+"Don't be absurd, 'Ranza." The man frowned impatiently. "There's
+something queer about that girl, something oddly reminiscent. I could
+almost swear I had seen her before, or at least heard her voice."
+
+During the simple but perfectly served meal, Betty unobtrusively
+studied the two guests seated at either hand. Madame Cimmino was
+evidently of Latin birth, although her quick, impulsive speech was
+interlarded with ejaculations in many tongues. Huge opal hoops dragged
+at the lobes of her ears and her brown, clawlike hands were loaded
+with rings which glistened barbarically in her ceaseless gesturing.
+She ignored the newcomer as far as courtesy permitted, snubbed Wolvert
+with a proprietary air, which failed to carry weight before his bland
+equanimity, but showed an anxious almost fawning deference to her
+hostess.
+
+Wolvert made a half-playful attempt to draw out the little companion,
+but finding no encouragement in her shy, monosyllabic replies, he
+devoted himself to his dinner, and Betty found opportunity to observe
+him at her leisure. He was a man of approximately forty, lean and wiry
+with olive skin and curiously light eyes in grotesque contrast with his
+crisply curling, black hair and small, military mustache. The man's
+whole personality seemed oddly at variance. His hands were slender and
+shapely, with the tapering, sensitive fingers of an artist, yet the
+high Slavic cheekbones, spreading nostrils and heavy jaw belied a finer
+sensibility, and his face in repose was saturnine.
+
+Regarding him, Betty could scarcely bring herself to believe that he
+was the same man who had burst upon the scene at the moment of her
+arrival with his impassioned outcry. The inexplicable words still rang
+in her ears. "'Ranza," was evidently Madame Speranza Cimmino, but why
+had she tried so frantically to ascertain Mrs. Atterbury's whereabouts
+during the long afternoon? Who was the man she had seen, and what was
+the meaning of the phrase that he had broken?
+
+Dinner concluded, they returned to the drawing-room, and after a brief
+desultory conversation Betty was dismissed, to her infinite relief.
+Wolvert sprang forward gallantly to open the door for her departure and
+stood staring after her until she disappeared around the turning at the
+stair's head, the same puzzled, questioning look in his eyes with which
+he had regarded her at their meeting.
+
+Her light extinguished, Betty lay motionless and seemingly relaxed, but
+her sleepless eyes were fixed as though they would pierce the darkness,
+and her ears strained for the slightest sound. The storm swirled
+unabated outside the windows, and the tall clock on the stairs droned
+out the hours at all but interminable intervals.
+
+Midnight came, and with it the hum of a high-powered motor on the
+drive. A subdued murmur of voices floated up to her from the hall, the
+front door closed with a thud and the motor snorted its way through
+the piling snowdrifts to the gate. A few minutes later there was a
+faint silken rustle of skirts past her door, then the cat-like tread
+of Welch as he went his final rounds and darkness and utter silence
+reigned supreme.
+
+One o'clock struck, then two, and as the echo of the second stroke died
+away, Betty threw back the covers, and slipping from bed stole to her
+dressing bag. She fumbled for a moment and then a tiny, thread-like
+ray of light leaped from her hand. With the electric torch carefully
+shielded, she enveloped herself in a dark kimona, thrust her feet into
+soft felt slippers, and unbolting her door, crept silently out into
+the hall. The gleaming strand of light wavered, then steadied and
+moved slowly along to the turning into the gallery. Its pale afterglow
+lingered like a nimbus for a minute and then vanished, and darkness
+descended once more about the sleeping house.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+                        _The Silent Intruder._
+
+
+The storm ceased with the coming of day, and when Betty awoke a
+glistening expanse of diamond-encrusted snow met her gaze between the
+parted curtains of her window. Softened by sleep, her face was flushed
+and girlishly winsome as she lay with the cruel scar pressed deep into
+her pillow, her bewildered eyes roving the unfamiliar room. Then,
+with returning consciousness, the shadow descended once more and her
+expression perceptibly hardened.
+
+Rising, she walked to the window and flung the curtains wide. The view
+of park and clustering, frost-spangled cedars was intersected sharply
+with vertical bars of iron and she gave a little involuntary gasp of
+dismayed surprise at the discovery that the narrow balcony beyond her
+windows was stoutly enclosed, like a huge cage.
+
+The same trapped look of terror which had leaped to the girl's eyes
+on the previous day when she faltered at the door of the limousine
+returned anew, but she steeled herself against the sudden tide of
+emotion which all but overwhelmed her and moved resolutely to her
+mirror. The birthmark flamed back angrily at her, but she touched it
+almost caressingly as if the knowledge of it gave her strength, and an
+enigmatic smile wreathed her lips.
+
+She breakfasted alone in the sunny morning room, attended by Welch,
+whose scrutiny of her at her arrival seemed to have satisfied him, for
+his bearing was that of a mere well-trained automaton. Betty observed
+him surreptitiously as he moved about the room, his heavy-jowled face
+and massive bulk incongruous with the light, springing, silent tread
+and his shifting eyes obsequiously lowered.
+
+"If you please, miss," he coughed apologetically, as she rose, "Mrs.
+Atterbury will see you in the library."
+
+Betty submissively followed him to a door at the left of the entrance
+hall. A voice bade her enter and she found her employer seated at an
+official-looking desk, already deeply engrossed in her correspondence.
+Her dress was severely plain, her hair coiffed low over the lobeless
+ears and to the girl's shy morning greeting she turned a face waxen in
+its pallor but inscrutable as on their first meeting.
+
+"You are not late, my dear," she responded to Betty's contrite query.
+"I rose unusually early and have been sorting my mail in order to show
+you just what your task will be."
+
+She motioned to a chair by the desk, and Betty eyed with inward
+misgiving the formidable heap of unopened envelopes which still
+remained.
+
+"Any letters which may be marked with a small cross in the corner,
+like this, for instance," Mrs. Atterbury held one out for inspection,
+"you may put aside. The rest you are to open and read, dividing them
+into two separate piles, business and purely social, for me to glance
+over later. Begging letters, even from personal friends for charity
+subscriptions, belong in the financial stack. Do you think you can
+manage now with these?"
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Atterbury. Do you wish me to reply to them?"
+
+"At my dictation. I will come back in an hour and we can go over them
+together." Mrs. Atterbury rose. "My seamstress will be here this
+afternoon to measure you for some new frocks."
+
+When the door had closed behind her, Betty applied herself to her task.
+The social letters were few and formal in tone without intimate detail.
+Four of the remainder bore crosses and these she laid obediently aside.
+The others were palpably business communications and from their tenor
+it would have appeared that Mrs. Atterbury's financial interests were
+amazingly varied, and of a magnitude which even the luxury of her
+environment had not conveyed.
+
+Mines, oil wells, railroads, stock companies and enterprises of every
+sort were represented in the heterogeneous collection, from the latest
+invention to live stock on the hoof. One letter, evidently concerning
+the latter, made Betty pause with a puzzled frown. It began without
+any form of address and was unsigned, its few lines being hurriedly
+scrawled, but unmistakably legible, although they conveyed no sense to
+the girl.
+
+"Five thousand sheep no go," she read. "Bulls instead. Pink wash fed.
+Clearing den. Tail comet yellow."
+
+In bewilderment she took up the envelope; the superscription was in the
+same irregular hand, and it was postmarked Laramie, Wyoming.
+
+The desk telephone rang as she laid it aside, and hesitatingly she
+picked up the receiver.
+
+"Marcia!" It was unmistakably the voice of Wolvert, but the bantering
+derisive note was gone, and stark fear rasped in every syllable. "Some
+one has squealed! He's got the dope and it's all--"
+
+"I beg your pardon." Betty's tones were cool and steady, but her heart
+stood still, for her quick ear had caught the rustle of a skirt just
+behind her. "This is Mrs. Atterbury's secretary. To whom did you wish
+to speak?"
+
+There was a smothered exclamation at the other end of the wire, and
+Mrs. Atterbury snatched the receiver from the girl's hand.
+
+"What is it?" she demanded in a voice which she strove in vain to
+control.
+
+"I-I don't know," Betty murmured. "The person spoke so quickly I could
+not distinguish a word." "Mrs. Atterbury speaking.... Oh, the market
+has broken? Well, sell the shares I hold in that company at whatever
+price you can obtain, do you understand? At whatever price! There will
+be no panic, tell your partner not to lose his head. It must be made
+clear that I will trade no more in that stock.... It will be enough, it
+must be. Remember, I look to you to settle the matter absolutely. Let
+me have an accounting by tonight."
+
+She hung up the receiver and turned with a shrug but Betty saw that her
+lips were white.
+
+"My broker," she remarked, with studied carelessness. "Conscientious
+man, but not resourceful. By the way, my dear, I neglected to tell you
+that you need never answer this telephone. It is my own private wire.
+Call me if it rings when I am at home, but pay no attention to it if I
+am not here."
+
+"I am sorry--" began Betty, but the other silenced her.
+
+"It is of no consequence. We will take up the letters now. You did not
+find them difficult?"
+
+"No-o," Betty responded hesitatingly. "There is one, however, which I
+could not understand at all. It seems to be a business matter, but the
+wording doesn't make any sense; it's something about sheep."
+
+"Sheep?" Mrs. Atterbury's level tones sharpened. "Where is the
+envelope? Was there no cross upon it?"
+
+"No. At least I didn't see any, and I am quite sure I looked carefully.
+This is the one."
+
+"Idiot!" The ejaculation was clearly not intended for the girl, as Mrs.
+Atterbury looked vainly for the distinguishing mark, and filliped the
+envelope angrily aside. "Give me the letter, please."
+
+She glanced over it rapidly, without comment or change of expression
+and put it on the little heap of private letters.
+
+"We will get rid of the social ones first--" she was beginning, when
+Betty suddenly interrupted her.
+
+"There is a motor car coming up the drive."
+
+"Ah, it is Mme. Cimmino." Mrs. Atterbury arose, her glance following
+the trim little electric brougham as it lurched over the hillocks of
+snow. "She will probably stay to lunch, and that means the letters will
+have to be held over until tomorrow. Amuse yourself as well as you can,
+my dear. You'll find plenty of books here and there is a phonograph in
+the corner."
+
+But Betty did not turn to the well-filled bookcases which lined the
+walls. Instead she sat with the strange letter spread out before her,
+reading and re-reading it as if to memorize every word. That it was a
+code of some sort she did not doubt, and without the key it would seem
+a hopeless task to attempt to decipher it, yet the young girl pored
+over it as eagerly as though its possible solution contained a message
+of vital import to herself as well as her employer.
+
+Welch brought her lunch upon a tray and the afternoon was well advanced
+before the summons came for her to go to the sewing room. She spent the
+intervening hours in a searching examination of the library itself, but
+it yielded nothing of seeming interest or import to her. There was no
+sign of Mme. Cimmino, but her car had not left the drive and a subdued
+murmur as of several voices came from behind the tightly-closed door
+of the drawing-room as the girl passed. Welch ushered her to a large
+sunny room at the top of the house where she found Mrs. Atterbury deep
+in consultation with a faded little woman of indeterminate age who
+fluttered nervously on being presented.
+
+"Miss Pope knows what you require, I think," observed Mrs. Atterbury.
+"Everything must be as simple as possible, you know."
+
+Miss Pope nodded, her mouth full of pins which she was sticking with
+mathematical precision into the little flat cushion that hung from her
+belt. When the last was in place, she took up her tape measure.
+
+"Now, miss, if you please."
+
+Betty stood patiently, marvelling at the odd tremulousness of the
+withered hands which fumbled about her. Could it be merely nerves, or
+was the worn, pallid, little creature under the spell of some emotion
+too strong to be wholly controlled?
+
+Mrs. Atterbury had strolled to the window with a fashion book and the
+seamstress dropped to her knees before Betty to measure the skirt
+length. Glancing down, the girl met the tired eyes of the older woman
+and found them fixed on hers with a mute insistent appeal in their
+depths.
+
+Involuntarily she started, and Miss Pope, with a warning gesture,
+turned over the pincushion at her belt. Upon the under side worked out
+in rough irregular letters formed by the pin heads, Betty read the
+words, "Go away."
+
+Her eyes sought those of the seamstress once more in puzzled
+questioning, but the woman, after a vehement nod, evaded her glance,
+and her quivering fingers plucked at the pins until the strange message
+was obliterated.
+
+"Have you finished?" Mrs. Atterbury's calm tones cut the pregnant
+silence.
+
+"Yes, ma'am. I will come tomorrow for the lining fitting." The
+seamstress barely breathed the words, as she scrambled to her feet, but
+there seemed a shade of significance as she added: "I-I hope the young
+lady will be satisfied."
+
+"_I_ shall be," Mrs. Atterbury responded with good-humored but
+unmistakable emphasis. A faint flush mounted in Miss Pope's wan cheeks
+and she did not glance again toward Betty, even as she bowed herself
+out.
+
+"My dear, I shall not need you again this afternoon. Would you care to
+go out for a little while?"
+
+Betty's eyes eagerly turned to the window were sufficient answer.
+
+"You will find several paths leading around the grounds if you don't
+mind the snow, but do not go beyond the gate." Mrs. Atterbury smiled,
+but she watched the girl's face keenly. "You look pale, and the fresh
+air will do you good. We must not keep you cooped up in the house too
+much, but I do not want you to go about the city aimlessly until you
+learn your way."
+
+"I will not leave the grounds," promised Betty.
+
+"One thing more," Mrs. Atterbury paused at the door. "Don't go near the
+garage, for Demon may be unleashed. He is the watch dog and underfed to
+keep him savage. Be sure you come in at dusk."
+
+When Betty, as warmly clad as her meagre wardrobe would allow, slipped
+out at the side door, the pale wintry sun was already sinking in the
+West and the still air nipped her sharply, bringing a tingling glow to
+her cheeks. She set out jauntily down the first path which led among
+the cedars, her footsteps ringing on the hard packed snow and the
+frosty vapor of her breath floating like a veil before her.
+
+The events of the past twenty-four hours, culminating in the
+inexplicable attitude of the seamstress, had wrought upon her nerves
+and the sense of freedom and solitude was grateful, illusive though
+she knew it to be. No doubt of Miss Pope's good will or sanity came to
+her, but she wondered what part the faded little creature was called
+upon to play in the strange scene of which she herself had become a
+supernumerary.
+
+What crisis had arisen in the mysterious affairs of her new employer
+and why were her friends, Mme. Cimmino and the man Wolvert, so deeply
+concerned for her? The voice of the latter over the telephone that
+morning had revealed a frenzy of emotion which his debonair assurance
+on the previous evening had utterly belied. Then his impetuous outburst
+at the moment of her arrival returned to her mind. Who was the
+mysterious "he?" The frantic telephone message of a few hours before
+had concerned the same man. Who could he be, and through him what
+menace threatened the quiet woman with the inscrutable face to whom her
+services were bound?
+
+So engrossed was Betty in her maze of thought, that she had followed
+the path unheedingly and only paused when she found her way blocked
+by a square granite post. She had reached the entrance gates beyond
+which she might not stray. For a moment she lingered, her eyes turned
+wistfully down the broad, bleak avenue, a mad, incomprehensible impulse
+to escape surging up within her, as if tangible bonds held her to her
+voluntarily assumed duty, and danger lurked for her in the house behind
+the cedars. The next minute she had turned resolutely and started to
+retrace her steps.
+
+The early dusk was already descending and Betty quickened her pace lest
+she prolong the hour of freedom beyond the time allotted her. Midway,
+the path entered a thick clump of trees, and all at once she became
+aware of the rapid thud of feet on the snow behind her. Someone was
+running toward the house.
+
+The thought that she was being pursued flashed into her mind, but
+she banished it, and turning hastily aside, concealed herself behind
+a screen of tangled evergreens. Scarcely had she done so, when a
+man appeared around a turn in the path, and passed her with almost
+incredible speed.
+
+The single fleeting glimpse she obtained of his gray, set face,
+however, had sufficed for recognition. It was Wolvert, and some
+unnameable terror sped with him through the eerie gloom.
+
+Betty shivered and looked blindly about her for another way out of the
+grove. She dared not enter the house on the heels of this visitor, nor
+from the same direction in which he had come, lest she seem to have
+been spying upon him, and she desired above all else to reach her own
+room unobserved.
+
+At length she discerned a break in the trees at her right and
+approaching found a second path branching off in a curve which promised
+to lead around the house. Mrs. Atterbury's warning had passed from
+her memory and only when the low square bulk of the garage loomed up
+before her and a rumbling growl assailed her ears, did she remember the
+presence of the dog.
+
+She hesitated, a new and very tangible fright gripping her, but it
+was too late to turn back. Even as she paused, the growl changed to
+a deep, full-throated cry, and a huge shape bounded toward her out
+of the shadows. To attempt escape would only betray her fear to the
+brute intelligence and precipitate an attack upon her. Betty knew and
+understood canine nature and she realized that her safety depended on
+coolness now.
+
+Motionless, she waited until the dog was almost upon her, and then held
+out her hand, palm uppermost. The great beast halted in his tracks, his
+slavering jaws agape and every hair bristling on his neck.
+
+"Demon! Good Demon!" she called softly. "Steady, old boy. Come here."
+
+Slowly the fire died out of his gleaming eyes and he approached warily,
+step by step, while her own eyes held his unwaveringly. He sniffed at
+her hand, gazed up at her in mute question and reading confidence and
+mastery in her face, dropped obediently in the snow at her feet.
+
+The wave of relief which swept over her was checked by a fresh
+disquieting thought. Was the dog merely guarding her until his keeper
+appeared to relieve him of his charge? The slightest movement on her
+part might bring him up with a spring at her throat, but to wait until
+help came would mean the discovery of her disobedience.
+
+Chance solved the problem for her before many minutes had passed. A
+shrill whistle sounded from the direction of the garage, and the dog,
+lifting his head, gave tongue in response. The whistle was repeated,
+followed by a hoarse, blasphemous command. Demon rose reluctantly,
+brushed against her knee in friendly farewell, and loped away in the
+fast-gathering darkness.
+
+"Oh, Demon!" The girl breathed a sobbing little cry after him.
+"Remember me well, the sound of my voice and the scent of me. Sometime
+I may need you!"
+
+Then ashamed of the momentary, hysterical weakness, Betty turned and
+fairly flew to the house. Slipping in at the side door by which she had
+left, she reached her room, breathless, but unobserved, and sank into a
+chair.
+
+The house was oddly silent. No sound of voices had met her ears, but
+a narrow streak of light had shone from under the library door as
+she passed, and her overwrought imagination pictured for her a tense,
+constrained group within. In spite of Mrs. Atterbury's specious
+explanation, Betty knew beyond question whose voice had come to her
+over the telephone, and no mere financial crisis could have brought to
+Wolvert's face the look which she had seen upon it when he unwittingly
+crossed her path among the trees.
+
+A half-hour went slowly by and then the whirring of the electric
+brougham broke the stillness and droned diminishingly into the
+distance. Mme. Cimmino had evidently taken her belated departure. Had
+Wolvert accompanied her? Betty shrank from encountering him at dinner
+and the effort to meet his forced banter serenely, conscious of what
+lay beneath it seemed beyond her power.
+
+When she obeyed the gong's summons, however, she found the table laid
+only for two, and Mrs. Atterbury already in her place.
+
+"You enjoyed your walk, my dear?" The latter raised imperturbable eyes
+to greet the girl. "You did not find it too cold?"
+
+"Oh, no, the air was wonderfully bracing," Betty replied at random,
+scarcely aware of what she was saying. "I very nearly lost my way,
+though. There are so many paths and the trees quite hide the house."
+
+"Yes. I purchased the property mainly because of the privacy and
+seclusion it promised. I am not a hermit," Mrs. Atterbury added, with
+the shadow of a smile, "but the rush and turmoil of an active social
+existence bore me. You will, perhaps, find it rather monotonous here,
+Betty, but there will be more tasks for you to do when you have settled
+down and learned your way about the city. I shall have many errands for
+you."
+
+"I am glad," Betty responded with nervous eagerness. "The thought of
+the city doesn't frighten me any more, now that I feel anchored, Mrs.
+Atterbury, and I want to do anything I can. You know I have been idle
+all day and it does not seem as if I were earning my salary."
+
+Mrs. Atterbury scrutinized the girl's face, and her own relaxed for
+an instant and sagged into deeply graven lines of utter weariness and
+exhaustion. The necessity for rigid self-command had faltered before
+Betty's seemingly innocent candor; the mask had slipped momentarily
+and from beneath it peered a shadow of the anxiety and dread which had
+beset her unexpected guest of the afternoon.
+
+With the next breath, however, she had herself again in hand.
+
+"You will not complain of that tomorrow." Her voice was amusedly
+tolerant. "We shall have a double amount of correspondence to attend
+to, remember, and I will positively be at home to no one until it is
+finished. I think I shall retire almost immediately after dinner, my
+dear, for I have a slight headache."
+
+The warmth of the house after the sharp, nipping atmosphere outdoors
+brought an early drowsiness to Betty, who went directly to her room
+after the meal. In spite of the puzzling events of the day, and the air
+of mystery which seemed to envelop the household, a lassitude stole
+over her and her heavy eyelids drooped and fell.
+
+The dropping of coals in the tiny grate awakened her and she started up
+to find that it was close on to midnight. Stumbling softly to the door
+she opened it and listened, but the silence was unbroken.
+
+Disrobing, she laid her dressing gown and slippers ready to hand,
+extinguished the lamp and crept into bed. Her first deep sleep was over
+and Betty lay wide-eyed, staring into the darkness. A vague sensation
+of suspense set her brain a-tingle and she felt as if she were waiting
+with every nerve taut for something which she could not name.
+
+Gradually, however, the feeling was dispelled and she was sinking
+into an uneasy slumber when all at once she started up in bed with a
+shivering gasp, her heart leaping wildly and the very hair upon her
+brow seeming to stir and rise as though an unseen hand were lifting
+it. A sudden, muffled crash had pierced her consciousness and the very
+air seemed to quiver with the jar of impact, although no further sound
+broke the stillness. Betty listened with bated breath for a moment,
+then rose, impelled by an impulse stronger than her power to combat.
+
+Throwing her gown about her, she snatched the electric torch from the
+drawer of her dressing-table and made her way to the door. Impenetrable
+darkness greeted her as before, but it seemed to her overwrought fancy
+that a shuddering tension filled the air and the ticking of the tall
+clock beat like a tocsin upon her brain.
+
+As one in a trance she moved mechanically to the stairs and down,
+the thread of light which played from her hand guiding her cautious
+footsteps. The doors of the library and drawing-room were closed, but
+that of the dining-room was opened wide and a frigid draft blew through
+it, whipping the gown about her bare ankles.
+
+Betty flashed her light upon the aperture and the outline of the
+heavily carved dining table leaped into view, while all about it on the
+floor lay fragments of something which scintillated in the shaft of
+radiance like scattered diamonds.
+
+Slowly she approached the door, the darting rays from her torch
+piercing the sinister darkness, the very breath hushed in her throat.
+On the threshold she paused and stood transfixed.
+
+The dining table had been slewed to one side, chairs were overturned,
+draperies pulled from their rings and the great glass punch bowl lay
+shattered on the floor.
+
+But it was not upon these signs of violence that her eyes were fastened
+in a glaze of horror. A man lay stretched before the hearth with
+upturned face and arms flung wide, a man whose eyes stared with tragic
+vacuity and from whose breast a sluggish crimson stream had flowed to
+form a spreading pool upon the rug.
+
+For a long minute the girl stood staring with eyes as fixed as those of
+the dead. She opened her lips, but no sound issued from them to raise
+an alarm or summon aid. Instead she lifted her hands jerkily to her
+throat as if struggling to draw breath, and turning, fled silently for
+her very life up the stairs.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+                          _The Velvet Glove._
+
+
+Betty was seated before her mirror, gazing somewhat doubtfully from
+the small round box of rouge in her hand to her wan reflection. Dare
+she hope successfully to conceal the ravages of a sleepless, tortured
+night? Her cheeks and very lips were blanched and her eyes sunken and
+heavily circled. Only the birthmark, like a scarlet stain, glowed
+sullenly and served but to accentuate her pallor. It were better by far
+that her employer's keen eyes should note a condition which she could
+attribute to illness than that her effort to conceal it would be so
+palpable as to invite suspicion of a graver nature.
+
+How she had managed to reach her room after the shock of her tragic
+discovery, she could not have told. No memory remained with her of
+that swift silent flight from the room of death. She only knew that
+she found herself back in bed once more, trembling in every limb and
+with an icy, pulseless void in her breast where her heart had been.
+Reason itself seemed to have fled, and her thoughts become a whirling
+phantasmagoria of horror in which but one thing stood out as if stamped
+indelibly upon her mind: the face of the slain man.
+
+It floated before her in the darkness as distinctly as the pitiless
+glare of her torch had revealed it, strangely calm and detached amid
+the debris of the devastated room below, and the girl cowered as if
+once more in its dread presence.
+
+For hours which seemed like years she lay in an agony of expectancy,
+waiting for a cry of alarm when the inevitable discovery should be
+made. But no sound broke the tomb-like stillness save once, when a
+vague muffled thud came to her ears. Even that she could not be sure
+of, for her senses were tottering on the verge of hysteria, and the
+night passed in the hideous unreality of a dream.
+
+With the dawn came utter exhaustion, but she desperately combatted its
+lethargy, in fear lest sleep bring a nightmare which would wring from
+her unconscious lips a shriek of betrayal.
+
+The hazy patch of light at her window broadened into day and at last
+faint but unmistakable sounds came to her from below. The servants were
+stirring, and surely now, at any moment, the alarm would be raised.
+
+Wonder succeeded expectancy as the minutes passed and the normal
+tranquility of the house remained unbroken. At length, unable to endure
+the torture of inaction, she had arisen. Whatever the immediate future
+held in store, she, at least, must appear ignorant of all that had
+occurred during the silent watches of the night.
+
+The breakfast gong sounded as she replaced her rouge unused in the
+drawer, and with leaden feet she descended the stairs. The door of the
+dining-room was open and from within it issued the cheerful clatter of
+silver and purr of the coffee urn.
+
+As if hypnotized, Betty made her way down the hall but paused
+involuntarily on the threshold. The room was in perfect order, the
+furniture arranged as usual; even the great cut-glass bowl, which she
+had seen only a few hours before shattered into a score of fragments,
+stood whole and unmarred in its accustomed place upon the sideboard.
+
+The girl's eyes turned incredulously to the hearth where the ghastly
+figure had lain. It was spic and span, and the pale gray of the silken
+rug showed no slightest trace of the sinister pool which had reddened
+it a few short hours before. The bright sunlight, streaming in between
+the curtains at the window, added the last touch of solid reality to
+the scene, and Betty felt that her sanity was rocking in the balance.
+Had she indeed been the victim of some fearful hallucination? Was the
+tragedy upon which she had stumbled but the figment of a dream?
+
+All at once she became conscious of eyes upon her and turned sharply.
+Mrs. Atterbury stood just behind her, smiling her calm, inscrutable
+smile.
+
+"Good morning, my dear. Did you sleep well?"
+
+"Not very." Betty forced her stiffened lips to frame the words. "I
+awoke toward morning with a terrific headache, but it is better now."
+
+She stood boldly, with a shaft of sunlight full upon her face,
+conscious of the keen scrutiny to which she was being subjected, but
+determined to avoid possible suspicion by as realistic a semblance of
+candor as she could command.
+
+The pause seemed interminable, but Mrs. Atterbury broke it at last.
+
+"You are very pale. I must give you a headache powder before your
+coffee. Welch!"
+
+A figure moved in the shadowed corner of the china closet, and Betty
+all but cried out in dismay. Had the sly, soft-footed butler been
+standing there, silently noting her hesitation on the threshold, and
+her significant glances about the room?
+
+"Madame?"
+
+"Tell Caroline to give you one of the powders from the blue box in my
+medicine chest; remember, the blue box."
+
+"Yes, Madame."
+
+Mrs. Atterbury seated herself in her accustomed place, and Betty took
+the chair opposite. She dared not refuse the proffered medicine but a
+hideous fear gripped her. Suppose her subterfuge had been suspected
+and she was now to be done away with, like that other whose body she
+had seen! Or had he really never existed, save in her distraught
+imagination?
+
+She managed to drink her coffee, but the food repelled her. As her
+nerves steadied and self-command returned to her, she furtively studied
+the faces of her employer and the butler. There was no mistaking the
+significance of their suddenly acute espionage. She could not account
+to herself for the magic rehabilitation of the room, but as the chaos
+of her mind subsided one fact resolved itself irrefutably; the event of
+the night had been no dream or vision born of hysteria.
+
+Upon that rug so miraculously cleansed had lain the body of the
+murdered man. How it had been spirited away, or how, indeed, the
+intruder had gained entrance, and the violent struggle which the
+condition of the room had indicated could take place without its noise
+alarming the house, were mysteries Betty made no attempt to solve.
+
+Every sense was alert to her own danger, and she realized that her
+very life depended now upon her powers of dissimulation. The watchers
+had become the watched, and she noted that Welch's pasty face was gray
+in the strong light of morning and his shifty, ratlike eyes darted
+furtively over his shoulder when he crossed before the hearth.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury, too, left her food practically untouched, and the hand
+with which she raised her cup shook visibly, but her indomitable brain
+was evidently schooled to the utmost concentration, for immediately
+after the farce of breakfast was concluded she conducted Betty to the
+library and dictated steadily for more than two hours.
+
+The social letters were devoid of interest to the girl, and under the
+stress of the moment seemed curiously banal. Those concerning financial
+matters were for the most part unintelligible, but she strove to fix
+her mind on them and banish the hideous vision which still obsessed
+her. No allusion was made to the private letters marked with a cross,
+nor did Mrs. Atterbury dictate any reply to the cryptic communication
+concerning five thousand sheep which had arrived on the previous day.
+
+However, when the voluminous correspondence had been seemingly disposed
+of and Betty's eyes were turning longingly toward the crisp sunshine
+beyond the window, Mrs. Atterbury rose and going to a tall, narrow
+bookcase built in a corner of the wall, swung it nonchalantly outward
+with a light practised touch.
+
+A compact steel safe was revealed, imbedded in the solid brick of the
+wall, and Betty watched eagerly, striving to note each twirl and stop
+of the combination as the other woman swiftly manipulated it. With a
+final click the door swung open, disclosing row after row of numbered
+pigeonholes like a post-office rack, each containing its quota of long,
+legal-looking envelopes.
+
+The girl's gaze was riveted, tense and fascinated upon the movements of
+her employer, and unhidden there crossed her face once more that sly,
+subtle look of Machiavelian cunning and triumph, maturing yet debasing
+its artless charm.
+
+Had Mrs. Atterbury turned at that moment she might have read a warning
+in the silent strained figure, but she was engrossed in her occupation.
+When at length she selected a packet and closing the safe carefully
+came back to her desk, the girl was rearranging its contents, her face
+averted.
+
+"Here are rough drafts of some letters which I want you to copy for
+me. Be careful that you transcribe them exactly; I think you will find
+them readily legible. When you have finished, mark the envelopes with a
+cross and place them with the others, for Welch to mail."
+
+The new task occupied Betty until lunch time, and when Welch appeared
+with her tray, as on the previous day, she ate with relish, grateful
+to escape the ordeal of another hour in that room of mystery under the
+Argus eyes of Mrs. Atterbury and her servitor.
+
+The former returned as she concluded her simple meal.
+
+"You have finished the letters? Good! I can see that you are going to
+be a valuable aid. Your predecessor, Inez Harly, was a conscientious
+girl, but stupid--!" Mrs. Atterbury rolled her eyes with an expressive
+shrug. "My dear, have you ever done any library work at home in--let me
+see, where did you come from?--Greenville, Iowa?"
+
+"'Library work'?" Betty repeated with a smile. "Our community was not
+important enough to have attracted the attention of Mr. Carnegie, but
+we had quite an extensive library of our own, and I always took care of
+it for my--my mother."
+
+If Mrs. Atterbury noted the odd hesitation in the last words she gave
+no sign.
+
+"Then you understand the rearrangement, classification and listing
+of books? I wonder if you will attend to mine? There are, I believe,
+over four hundred in this room alone and many others are scattered
+practically all over the house. The sets are all in a jumble and I
+never seem able to put my hand on any particular volume when I want it."
+
+"I think I can do it." Betty's eyes had turned again wistfully to the
+window and her heart sank. "It will take me several days, I am afraid,
+but if you have nothing more pressing for me to do--"
+
+"I haven't at the moment." Mrs. Atterbury moved toward the door. "I
+shall be glad if you will begin this afternoon. Take all the time you
+require and when the books are arranged, please catalogue them for me.
+There are a few rare volumes among them which may interest you, if you
+are a student. I will send for you when Miss Pope comes."
+
+The books were in an almost hopeless state of confusion and Betty had
+no mind for her task. She was still shaken with the horror of the
+previous night's discovery, and the imperturbability of the other woman
+had suggested to her a new and startling train of thought. What if Mrs.
+Atterbury herself were ignorant of the tragedy which had taken place
+beneath her roof? Could it have been the work of Welch? The girl had
+read the evidence of his guilty knowledge unmistakably stamped upon his
+elemental, brutish face that morning, but Mrs. Atterbury's inscrutable
+countenance defied analysis.
+
+The continued strain was telling upon the girl and she longed
+unspeakably for the cold, bracing air of out of doors, but it was
+evident that her employer intended to grant her no leisure that day.
+Could the rearrangement of the books have been merely an expedient
+to keep her occupied and close at hand? Mrs. Atterbury had shown her
+nothing but kindness, yet she was conscious of the woman's dominant
+character, and that beneath all her suavity lurked the pitiless tyranny
+of an inflexible will. She was beginning to feel the iron hand within
+the velvet glove, and she shuddered at the mere fancy that it might
+some time close about her.
+
+It was significant that no thought of escape came to her. She had met
+the new danger as something which must be faced and lived down, and
+the natural alternative of notifying the authorities of the foul play
+to which she had been an unwitting accessory after the fact never
+entered her mind. Instead, with a singleness of purpose which seemed
+inexplicable she resolutely forced her thoughts into other channels
+than those which led to the appalling mystery, and strove to focus her
+attention on the books.
+
+Through the long afternoon Betty plodded on at her tedious task, for
+it was dusk when Welch came to announce the seamstress' arrival. The
+silence in the house had remained unbroken, but as she left the library
+the girl became aware of distant and confused shouting in the street
+beyond the great gates. It sounded upon her ears like the clamor of an
+approaching mob, and her heart beat fast as she hurried upstairs.
+
+"What can it be?" she voiced her query aloud as Mrs. Atterbury met her
+at the door of the sewing room. "Those cries upon the street! Did you
+hear them? Could there have been a--an accident?"
+
+"It is just the news-sellers crying an 'extra'," the other responded,
+adding with an amused smile, "No wonder it startled you! I suppose they
+are unknown in your home town. They are an unmitigated nuisance, but
+the public feeds on cheap sensation--"
+
+"There's been a murder!" the little dressmaker croaked suddenly
+from the corner where she had been waiting. "A gentleman was found
+stabbed--"
+
+Mrs. Atterbury's lips tightened and she lifted an authoritative hand.
+
+"If you please, Miss Pope!" Her voice was as cold as the ringing of
+steel on steel. "Horrors do not appeal to me, and I am averse to
+discussing them."
+
+"I'm very sorry, I'm sure." Miss Pope fluttered in distress, her pallid
+face flushing darkly. "I didn't think when I spoke, but I saw it in
+big staring headlines in a man's paper on the car, and the words just
+popped out of my mouth. I wouldn't say anything to upset anybody for
+the world----"
+
+"You haven't." Mrs. Atterbury stemmed the quick, nervous flow of
+speech, and her own voice had sunk to its normal unemotional level. "I
+do not believe in encouraging a tendency to morbidity, especially in
+the young. We all know, unfortunately, that crime exists, but we who
+do not come in contact with it should spare ourselves the revolting
+details. Now let us see how the gown will fit."
+
+Tremblingly, the cowed little creature busied herself about the girl's
+slender figure. Betty stood like an automaton, turning obediently at a
+touch of the seamstress' hand, but oblivious to all that went on about
+her. Miss Pope's inadvertent words had seared themselves on her brain
+in letters of fire and for an instant everything grew black before her
+eyes. Then out of the whirling darkness had come a fleeting glimpse of
+Mrs. Atterbury's face and all doubt of her knowledge of the midnight
+tragedy was gone forever. Stunned by the confirmation of her own secret
+fears, Betty gave no heed to the seamstress, until Welch appeared to
+call his mistress to the telephone.
+
+When they were alone, Miss Pope glanced up with a strange intensity in
+her lack-lustre eyes.
+
+"You--stay?" The words were barely formed by the woman's shaking lips.
+
+"I think so," Betty murmured in response. "If Mrs. Atterbury likes me."
+
+"Oh, she'll like you, fast enough." Miss Pope looked fearfully behind
+her as if the shadow of her employer lingered in the doorway. "Before
+you know it you'll be caught, too, and you'll never be able to get
+free. Why didn't you go yesterday when I warned you?"
+
+"What did you mean? Mrs. Atterbury is kind and I must earn my living.
+Why should I leave this place?"
+
+"Because you are young, with all your life before you! I can't explain.
+I'm taking an awful chance now, but oh! believe me, miss, and go! You'd
+be better off homeless, in the streets, than here!"
+
+"You must tell me more!" Betty urged. "What is wrong here? What harm
+can come to me? I cannot give up a good position without even knowing
+why!"
+
+The seamstress' hands fluttered in a little hopeless gesture, and she
+laid one finger warningly on her lips. When she spoke, it was in an
+altered tone.
+
+"Yes, Miss, as you say, a little more fullness here. Mrs. Atterbury
+will advise me about the draping."
+
+Her ear had been quicker than the girl's, for even as she paused the
+rustle of a skirt came to them down the hall and the mistress of the
+house appeared in the doorway. She darted a keen glance from one to
+the other, but Betty met her eyes calmly, and the seamstress' face was
+averted.
+
+The fitting concluded and Miss Pope dismissed, Mrs. Atterbury turned to
+the girl.
+
+"A few friends are dining with me tonight and I do not want you to
+appear in that sombre black. I have had Caroline put one of my waists
+in your room which I think you can manage to wear. Come down to the
+drawing-room early, please."
+
+Betty obeyed, but found that some of the guests had already arrived.
+Mme. Cimmino was curled up felinely in a corner of the great davenport,
+a cigarette between her fingers and a spot of red glowing in each
+sallow cheek. She was talking rapidly with shrugs and darting, nervous
+gestures, to a tall, white-haired, distinguished stranger who was
+introduced as Doctor Bayard.
+
+Wolvert stood alone, with one arm resting on the mantel. He was gazing
+into the fire and his face in the flickering glare seemed aged and
+shrunken, the high cheek bones glazed like those of a skull and the
+pale eyes shadowed.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury was conversing with two other men by the door and as
+Betty was presented she took furtive note of them. The first, Leonard
+Ide, was a mere youth with a receding chin and vacant, glassy eyes. His
+dinner coat was extreme to the point of foppishness, but its dashing
+lines could not conceal the narrow stooped shoulders and hollow chest
+beneath. The hand he extended was cold and clammy to the girl's touch,
+and his high, thin voice grated unpleasantly on her ear.
+
+The other was in appearance almost humorously antithetical. Short and
+stocky, with a rotund paunch, and bushy, iron-gray hair, he stood with
+his plump legs set wide apart and his eyes twinkled benignly behind
+huge rimmed glasses as he bowed his salutations. His voice was deep
+and gutteral with a decided accent and his ruddy face glowed in the
+firelight. Betty did not catch his name, but the others called him
+"Professor."
+
+The pale youth attempted to engage her in conversation with an air of
+bored patronage which would have amused her under other circumstances,
+but as she looked from face to face, one question rang insistently
+through her brain. Did they know? The old gentleman with the air of an
+aristocrat, the jovial Professor, the spineless youth--could they bear
+the burden of guilty knowledge in common with the rest?
+
+There was an undercurrent of perfect understanding, a veiled intimacy
+about the scattered group, ill-assorted as it was, which suggested a
+closer bond than that of old acquaintanceship. Betty could not have
+defined the sensation which assailed her but she felt that her every
+move and intonation were being weighed in the balance, as one brought
+before a tribunal.
+
+Wolvert had turned from the fire-place and was approaching her, when
+the door was once more flung open, and Welch announced:
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Dana."
+
+There was nothing distinctive at first glance about the couple who
+entered. The man was smooth shaven and of middle-age, slightly florid,
+slightly bald with lines of fatigue or dissipation about his eyes. The
+woman, a trifle younger, carried herself with a certain indolent grace,
+but her complexion was a shade too brilliant, her hair meretriciously
+yellow, and her voluptuous figure in its shimmering gown resembled a
+gorgeous over-blown flower.
+
+The others addressed them familiarly as "Mortie" and "Louise," but with
+their entrance Betty noted a perceptible change in the spirit of the
+assembled party. The talk became disjointed, but more general in tone,
+and the note of intimacy was lacking.
+
+At dinner, Betty was seated between the fatuous young man and Mr. Dana,
+with Wolvert again facing her across the table, as on the evening
+of her arrival. The debonair, bantering manner was gone, and he sat
+in moody silence, the food untouched before him, but his wine glass
+emptied as quickly as Welch could replenish it. A dull red gathered
+beneath his cheek bones, and his eyes glowed fitfully as the dinner
+progressed.
+
+Betty could feel his gaze fastened upon a point just back of her,
+and involuntarily she glanced over her shoulder. The table had been
+enlarged to accommodate the augmented circle, and she realized with a
+start that she was seated directly in front of the hearth, almost upon
+the very spot where the body of the dead man had lain.
+
+Madame Cimmino leaned over swiftly with her hand on Wolvert's arm, and
+whispered a few words in his ear, then deliberately she reached across
+for his wine glass and placed it beside her own plate.
+
+He straightened as if suddenly awakened and flashed a lightening glance
+around the table, and at that moment the nasal tones of Mrs. Dana were
+raised in lazy derision.
+
+"Ghosts! They went out of fashion with moated granges and secret
+panels. Good Lord, who believes in 'em nowadays?"
+
+The professor shook his shaggy gray head.
+
+"There is much that not yet scientifically explained has been," he
+remarked argumentatively. "It is the talk of a child to say, 'This
+cannot be,' because we know it not. I, myself, haff seen----"
+
+"My dear Professor!" Doctor Bayard lifted a slim, blue-veined hand in
+deprecation. "I suffer from insomnia. Do not present me, I beg of you,
+with a group of shades to evoke about my bed! If the ghosts of men
+live after them, it can be only in the thoughts of those who are left
+behind."
+
+"Household pets, eh!" Wolvert's voice rang out in a strident laugh and
+he seized the wine glass from Madame Cimmino's detaining hand. "Let's
+drink to them! To the ghosts of yester-year! May their shadows never
+grow less!"
+
+Watching, Betty saw his eyes stray past her once more, and the glass
+halted half-way to his lips. For an instant a sick horror stole over
+her and then she heard Mrs. Atterbury's calm, level tones.
+
+"That is a toast for Hallowe'en, Jack, but not apropos now. Why drag in
+bogies when you can pledge other things more to your taste?"
+
+"Beauty, my boy, and youth. That's the ticket, eh?" Mortie Dana looked
+up from the hothouse pear he was peeling with placid precision. "Me
+for the youth thing every time--until Louise tries to teach me the new
+dance steps. Then I pass."
+
+Under cover of the titter which ran around the table, Mrs. Atterbury
+collected the eyes of her women guests, and they retired to the
+drawing-room for coffee. Betty hesitated in the doorway, declining
+Welch's proffered tray and her employer smiled tolerantly.
+
+"You are tired? My dear, run along to bed, if you like. You have been
+indoors all day and busy, and I forgot that your head ached. If you
+cannot sleep, ring for Caroline, and she will give you a bromide."
+
+Betty thankfully availed herself of the opportunity and made her
+escape, but sleep was furthest from her thoughts. The hideous mystery
+still hammered at the gates of her brain, and could not be dismissed,
+but she was grateful at least for solitude that she might relax from
+the strain of dissimulation.
+
+She wrapped a loose robe about her, unbound her hair and extinguishing
+the light threw herself on the _chaise longue_ before the hearth. A
+pale moon rode high in the sky, glinting on the frost-laden cedars
+beyond her window, and the smouldering coals in the grate cast a
+cheerful ruddy glow about her. In the tranquil reality, it seemed
+incredible that tragedy and crime could have lurked beneath that roof
+so short a time before. In a swift revulsion of feeling the girl
+wondered if the suspicion and watchfulness which she had read on every
+face save those of the Danas, could have been, after all, but the
+product of her imagination.
+
+A sudden sharp scream, muffled but unmistakable, brought her to her
+feet with her heart beating wildly. How long she had lain there, in
+the lethargy of a complete reaction, she had no means of knowing. The
+cry was not repeated, but the silence seemed pregnable with unnameable
+horror, and unable to control herself, Betty stole to her door and
+opened it. Then she paused, rigid with surprise. A few paces away, the
+maid, Caroline, sat on guard.
+
+"Did you want something, Miss?" The woman rose respectfully, but her
+eyes did not meet the girl's. "Mrs. Atterbury said you might need me."
+
+Betty started indignantly to speak, but checked the words which had
+risen to her lips. After a pause, she said quietly:
+
+"No, but I fancied someone called."
+
+"Oh, that was just somebody laughing, Miss. They're playing cards,
+Welch tells me."
+
+Betty bade the woman a brief goodnight and closing her door, locked it
+with an emphatic click. The cry still echoed in her ears. Muffled as it
+had been, she recognized the voice of Mrs. Dana, and knew that no mirth
+had sounded in its shrill crescendo, but stark terror. Was a fresh
+tragedy being enacted below?
+
+One point, at least, was clear beyond further doubt; the espionage and
+surveillance had been no vain imagining. The woman outside her door was
+there as jailor, not servitor. She herself, was a virtual prisoner!
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+                             _Blindfold._
+
+
+The offices of the Joseph P. McCormick Detective Agency, Incorporated,
+occupied the entire nineteenth floor of the Leicester Building and
+more nearly resembled those of a potentate of finance than a private
+investigator. The Chief's sanctum was protected by a series of smaller
+communicating offices presided over by subordinates of ascending rank
+and importance, through whose hands the visitor, client or culprit,
+must pass before gaining audience with the great man himself; a process
+which tended either to crush or irritate the stranger, according to his
+temperament.
+
+The lady who sent in her card to the Chief on a certain crisp morning
+in late winter, however, seemed to find food for amusement in the
+ceremonious progression. She was of the type which proclaims rather
+than admits age, but in spite of her snow-white hair, her tall figure
+was as erect as that of a girl and her snapping gray eyes behind the
+gold _pince-nez_ were neither dimmed nor mellowed by time.
+
+A dry smile tightened the fine lines about her lips as she was ushered
+into the last of these offices, which served as an ante-chamber to the
+supreme consulting room. A slim, mild-looking youth with the face of a
+student was seated behind a typewriter table and raised his eyebrows
+superciliously as he greeted her with the question which through
+reiteration had appealed to her sense of humor.
+
+"You wish to see Mr. McCormick himself?"
+
+"That fact should be self-evident even to a detective, since I
+have gained admittance as far as this." Her tone was pleasant, but
+peremptory, as if she were addressing an inquisitive schoolboy, and the
+young man gasped, but preceded doggedly with the formula.
+
+"You have no appointment?"
+
+"None. I have already stated that to a red-headed boy, two totally
+uninterested young ladies and several men, as you are doubtless aware."
+
+A harassed look was creeping into the eyes of her inquisitor.
+
+"If you will kindly state the nature of your business, Madame--"
+
+"I came here to consult a private detective, not to discuss my affairs
+with his subordinates or shout them from the housetops." A sharper note
+had penetrated her tones as if a smooth weapon were suddenly turned
+edge upwards. "If your Mr. McCormick is too busy to talk to me in
+person, I prefer not to waste further time."
+
+The young man rose resignedly.
+
+"I think the Chief is at liberty now. Step this way, Madame."
+
+He threw back a door at the farther end of the office, revealing a huge
+corner room walled on two sides by windows, from which a dazzling glare
+shone full upon their faces. A heavy-set, brawny figure, with keen eyes
+beneath beetling brows and a straight-clipped black mustache, rose
+impressively to receive her as the door closed behind her guide.
+
+The old lady brusquely forestalled his opening remark.
+
+"Young man," the Chief was at least forty-five, "I've been presented at
+five European courts with less fuss and bother than I have experienced
+in trying to reach you. Let us come to the point. I want someone found;
+if you think you can accomplish it for me, name your price."
+
+The Chief smiled slightly as he glanced at her card on the desk before
+him.
+
+"It is possible that I can be of service, Madame Dumois." His voice was
+blandly ingratiating. "Take this seat and give me the particulars. Is
+the missing person a relative?"
+
+Madame Dumois seated herself as he had indicated and her lips set in a
+straight line.
+
+"I did not come here to be cross-examined, my good man, and I haven't
+said the person was missing. I mean there has been no mysterious
+disappearance, if that is what you are getting at. I will tell you
+as much as I have a mind to and no more, and if you do not find it
+sufficient to work on, we can stop right here. I have lost track of a
+certain young woman, and I want to locate her. Never mind why, or what
+our relations have been. I'd pay a good price to lay eyes on her again."
+
+Her voice hardened perceptibly and a faint, angry flush mounted in her
+faded cheeks and boded ill for the unfortunate object of her search.
+Detective McCormick leaned forward persuasively in his chair.
+
+"But my dear Madame, I must have a few personal details or I shall not
+know what type of operative to assign to the case. I take it that it is
+strictly confidential?"
+
+"I congratulate you!" Her lips twitched again in grim humor. "I seemed
+unable to convey that impression to your various secretaries. Your
+operative will have to be a person of intelligence and tact, and if
+he is to come in personal contact with this young woman, he must be a
+gentleman. She is what you would call a lady, I'll say that much for
+her."
+
+"You do not care to give me her name?"
+
+"It is immaterial."
+
+The detective lifted his shaggy brows.
+
+"May I ask if this young woman is a fugitive? Is there a likelihood
+that you will bring charges, criminal or civil, when she is located?"
+
+"It is possible, under certain conditions." Madame Dumois' tones
+trembled for the first time, then steadied and she added in a sharper
+key. "That is beside the point. I want her found; your case ends there.
+The rest is my affair. Call in your operative and I will put him in
+possession of such facts as I consider essential."
+
+"It is absolutely essential that I should know more, myself, before I
+can assign anyone to the case." The detective squared himself firmly in
+his chair. "Have you any idea where this young woman may be found? Any
+possible clue? Where and when was she last seen?"
+
+Madame Dumois rose majestically.
+
+"I will not take up more of your valuable time, Mr. McCormick. I see
+that we will be unable to come to an understanding. Good morning."
+
+She turned to the door, but he extended a swift detaining hand.
+
+"My dear Madame Dumois! I am prepared to do anything that is possible
+to be of service to you, but you must realize that you have given me no
+data whatever to work upon."
+
+"I was under the impression that you would not undertake this matter
+personally in any event." She had halted, but there was no yielding in
+her tone. "If you have a moderately clever, discreet operative with
+the bearing and appearance of a gentleman, I will talk with him. I do
+not wish to discuss the details of the case any more than is absolutely
+necessary. I will give him a description of the young woman, nothing
+more. The rest will be in his hands."
+
+The detective reflected.
+
+"I think I have just the man for you," he announced at last.
+"Unfortunately, he is out on a case at the present moment, but I will
+recall him and send him up to see you this afternoon, if you will leave
+your address."
+
+"I will meet him here," Madame Dumois replied hastily. "If he has tact
+enough to accept what information I am prepared to give him, and brains
+enough to turn it to account, it will be all I shall ask. At what hour
+can you have him here?"
+
+"Shall we say three o'clock? I am confident that you will find Mr. Ross
+eminently suitable for your purposes. He is young, good-looking and
+discreet, with great personal magnetism--"
+
+"I am not requesting him to make love to the girl." A flash of her old
+humor returned. "And now, Mr. McCormick, what are your terms?"
+
+The business arrangement was briefly concluded and the detective bowed
+his visitor out with grudging admiration in his eyes. He waited until
+her firm, methodical footsteps had died away down the corridor,
+and then pressed a button upon the under edge of his desk top. The
+studious-looking young man made his appearance almost instantaneously
+from the adjoining office.
+
+"Yes, sir?"
+
+"Disappearance. Young woman, good standing. Probable social scandal.
+Detail Clark to tail Madame Dumois and get what info he can. Try the
+hotels, the old-fashioned conservative ones first. Wire Ross, 192-A.
+Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, to return immediately earliest
+train and report here at two-thirty. Send Luders out to take his place."
+
+The young man whipped out a pad, wrote rapidly and then paused with an
+inquiring glance. His chief nodded, chuckling.
+
+"That's all. Peppery old lady, but she knows her business. Ross is the
+chap to handle her."
+
+At precisely half-past two a young man bounded up the steps of the
+Leicester Building and, elbowing his way good-naturedly into the
+already packed elevator, shot up to the nineteenth floor. He was
+boyish-looking and slim, but his broad, straight shoulders and lithe
+hips betokened the athlete and his laughing eyes had a habit of
+narrowing suddenly in keen intensity.
+
+He nodded a careless greeting to the red-headed boy and the burly
+strong-arm man who guarded the outer office, and made his way
+unceremoniously into the presence of his chief.
+
+The latter explained the reason for his recall and told him succinctly
+of the morning's interview.
+
+"Tactful and brainy and a gentleman; that's what the old lady says
+she wants, and I guess you fill the bill, Bert," McCormick added.
+"You're the gentleman, all right, because you were born one, and that's
+something you never lose and can't fake. For kid glove cases no one
+stands in the same class with you, but you'll need more than that in
+handling Madame Dumois; asbestos gloves would be safer. She wants to
+find the girl, but she's dead scared of our getting a line on her.
+Sharp as a steel trap, she is--a regular Tartar!"
+
+"Um--French?" Herbert Ross seemed in no wise perturbed by the
+formidable description.
+
+"No. Yankee accent, but there's a Paris look to her clothes. Dressy old
+party, in spite of her widow's cap. Shouldn't wonder if she's just back
+from the other side. That's why I had her looked up at the hotels, but
+I couldn't smoke her out. Don't antagonize her by asking questions or
+you're a goner. Just let her do the talking and pick up what scraps of
+data you can. I'm not worrying about your ability to make a success of
+it, Bert, if you can only get enough out of the old lady to work on,
+but blood from a stone would be a cinch in comparison."
+
+"Any hint as to why she wants the subject located?"
+
+Ross lighted a cigarette and leaned forward in his chair.
+
+"Not in words, but from her manner I judge it is not from any desire
+to remember the young woman in her will," the Chief responded dryly.
+"Looks more like a scandal than anything else, as she's so anxious to
+keep the girl's identity a secret. I tried my level best to worm some
+information from her, but she flared up and threatened to call it all
+off. The best I've got is that the subject is young, refined and to
+all appearances a lady, although Madame Dumois seemed to grudge that
+fact. You go to it, Bert, and see what you can do." The young operator
+pondered for a moment.
+
+"Well, sir," he began at last, "I can't hope to succeed where you have
+failed, if I work along the same lines. In your official capacity you
+have had the bad luck to antagonize her, so I think I shall try another
+scheme. May I have the reference library for an hour? I'll receive her
+there instead of here."
+
+"Take the whole shop if you want it, but get the right dope from her
+about the girl!" The detective brought his hand down on the desk in a
+resounding slap. "It will be a long step up the ladder for you if you
+can start to make a reputation for yourself of successful discreet work
+among conservative people of the sort the old lady belongs to. That's
+why I put you on this; I haven't the time to go after it myself and it
+requires class as well as brains. The woods are full of refined young
+ladies who have turned one trick or another; a chance word may give
+you a line on how to locate this one. Try any scheme you like, but get
+results. That's all we're after."
+
+The reference library was more like a club room than the sanctum of a
+private detective. A long, mahogany table surrounded by heavily carved
+chairs occupied the center of the room, and the walls were lined with
+bookcases, interspersed with tall glass cabinets filled with curios. A
+few prints and signed photographs hung above them and over the mantel
+was mounted a neat arrangement of firearms and various weapons.
+
+There was nothing remarkable about the room or its appointments at
+first glance, save its obvious incongruity with the rest of the
+suite, but a closer inspection would have revealed the fact that all
+the volumes--with the exception of those in a small case between two
+windows--dealt with one subject; crime. The curios in the cabinets, the
+weapons above the mantel, each had its individual history, tragic or
+sordid, to bear mute testimony to the futility of defiance of the law.
+
+Madame Dumois' return was punctual to the moment and she was ushered
+without delay to the apartment, where Ross awaited her. She stared
+critically at the slim, straight, immaculate figure as he turned
+toward her from the low bookcase, a quaint vellum-covered volume open
+in his hands.
+
+"Madame Dumois?" he bowed low with continental courtesy over her hand.
+"I have come from Philadelphia to be of what service to you I may; I am
+Herbert Ross."
+
+"Mr. McCormick suggested you--" she began, but he interrupted her
+swiftly.
+
+"Do you know, while awaiting you I have come upon a real treasure here?
+The collected verse of Nizami!"
+
+Mme. Dumois stepped backward, blinking.
+
+"Poetry!" she ejaculated faintly, in blank amazement.
+
+"Ah! I see you are interested." His face lightened in boyish eagerness.
+"Nothing so appeals to the woman of rare discernment and feeling as the
+lilting charm of the early Persians. The casual reader knows only the
+Bacchanalian philosophy of Omar, but you, I am sure are familiar with
+Rumi and this greatest of lyricists, Nizami, to say nothing of Hafiz--"
+
+"Upon my soul!" Mme. Dumois had backed until the table barred her
+retreat. "You are a most extraordinary young man!"
+
+"Should one permit the ugliness of life to blind one to the beauties
+of expression? But I see you have not done so. You possess that rarest
+of all gifts, sympathetic appreciation, Madame Dumois!" He beamed
+upon her. "Do you remember this lament of Majnun over the grave of
+Laili? Where even in the exquisite love letters of your own Abelard to
+Heloise, can you find such haunting beauty? Listen, I beg of you:
+
+    "_Oh, bower of joy, with blossoms fresh and fair,
+    But doomed, alas! no ripened fruit to bear.
+    Where shall I find thee now in darkness shrouded!
+    Those eyes of liquid fire forever clouded--_"
+
+He sighed dramatically and closed the book. "Your French poets--but I
+forgot; I had fancied from your name that you were a native of France--"
+
+"I am American--" Madame Dumois stammered, still dazed from his
+unexpected onslaught.
+
+"That I realized at once when I saw you. I knew even the part of the
+country from which you came, Madame." He bowed again. "Only the women
+of New England retain their girlhood grace and beauty of form with
+their native charm of manner through years of cosmopolitan life, as
+this little volume has retained its beauty of thought and inspiration
+in spite of the fact that it was discovered in the pocket of an arch
+murderer when he was searched in the death house."
+
+A faint flush had risen to the faded cheeks of the old lady at his
+daring flattery, but she paled again with an involuntary shudder.
+
+"Mercy! Put the horrid thing away!"
+
+He laid the book upon the table.
+
+"Forgive the digression, Madame Dumois. I am at your service."
+
+For once she seemed at a loss.
+
+"You are really a detective?" Her eyes searched his face keenly, as he
+pulled out a chair for her.
+
+"That is my profession," responded Ross, with a touch of quiet dignity.
+
+"This McCormick person has told you what I require?"
+
+"You wish to find a certain young lady, whom you will describe to me."
+
+"Precisely." Madame Dumois' tone was gracious. "I think, Mr. Ross, that
+we shall get on. This young woman appears refined, well-bred and rather
+more comprehensively educated than the average girl of today, but in
+appearance she is quite a usual type, neither blonde nor brunette, not
+actually pretty nor strikingly plain."
+
+Ross nodded encouragingly as if he found valuable points in the
+negative description, and the old lady warmed to her task.
+
+"She has brown hair and blue eyes, and her taste in dress is
+conservative, but her manner when last I saw her was altogether too
+self-reliant; pert, it would have been considered when I was a girl.
+There is very little more that I can tell you about her, but I believe
+her to be in the city somewhere."
+
+"Your description is remarkably clear." The young detective preserved
+an inscrutable face as he added blandly: "No doubt you have a
+photograph of her?"
+
+"If I had, young man, I should not exhibit it," the old lady retorted.
+
+"Only to me," he smiled persuasively, then dodged the issue. "You say,
+Madame Dumois, that the young woman is well educated. Is she also
+accomplished? Music, art, languages?"
+
+"A mere smattering of music, but she is a perfect parrot in picking
+up strange tongues; a born linguist." She caught herself up abruptly.
+"However, I did not come here to answer questions, Mr. Ross, as I
+explained very definitely this morning. I want this young woman found.
+You have her description; now go ahead and find her."
+
+"I will do my best." His smile had not wavered, and he bent forward
+ingratiatingly. "But will you permit one solitary question? It will
+not be an impertinent one, and it would simplify matters greatly. It
+has been said, you know, that the most passive, idle-minded of us has
+one pet enthusiasm, one hobby or talent, call it what you will, which
+interests us above all other things. Has this young woman any special
+predilection?"
+
+"I hadn't thought of that!" Madame Dumois exclaimed. "Of course, she
+has, and a most ridiculous one for a gentlewoman: Egyptology."
+
+The detective gave no sign that at last a clue lay within his grasp,
+but remarked with studied carelessness:
+
+"Oh, that sort of thing is a fad nowadays, to acquire the patter
+of some science or art and pose as a savant or connoisseur. In all
+probability the young woman has no real knowledge of the subject."
+
+"If she hasn't it is her own fault." The old lady returned in unguarded
+haste. "She was a pupil of the greatest authority of the age, Professor
+Mallory, of Cairo."
+
+"Indeed. I have not heard of him." Ross brushed the information aside
+with a slight gesture, as if it were of no moment. "I think, however,
+that I shall be able to proceed with the data you have given me."
+
+Madame Dumois rose, and her sharp eyes flashed in a sort of grim
+exultation.
+
+"In that case, I can only wait for your success. If you can lay
+your hands on that young woman, Mr. Ross, you will not find me
+unappreciative. You will report to me----?"
+
+"But not here!" he expostulated. "The atmosphere, you know, for a
+person of your delicate sensibility in frequent visits to a detective
+agency would be too repellent to be borne. I will be delighted to
+come to you, Madame Dumois. I do not anticipate any insurmountable
+difficulty in the case, but if I find myself in a quandary I am sure
+your opinion and advice would be of inestimable value."
+
+The broad touch of flattery proved the final straw to break the back of
+her prejudice, and the old lady capitulated.
+
+"Well, you may call, if you like. I am staying with an old friend, Mrs.
+Hemmingway, on the North Drive, but I do not care to have my address
+bandied about this office, Mr. Ross."
+
+"I quite understand." As he held the door open for her to depart he
+added coolly: "I will come tomorrow for the photograph."
+
+"Which you will not get!" She chuckled in frank enjoyment of his
+pertinacity. Then the stern lines tightened about her mouth. "Find this
+young woman with the information I have given you, Mr. Ross, or drop
+the case. You have wormed more out of me than I meant you to, but I
+think I can trust you not to take advantage of it in any way other than
+to promote my object. The girl must be found."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+                              _Box A-46._
+
+
+On the morning after Mrs. Atterbury's dinner party, Betty awoke from
+a deep sleep of mental and physical exhaustion to find that a fresh
+snowstorm was raging. The fine, hard-driven flakes swirled past her
+windows like a heavy meshed veil, obscuring even the cedars just
+outside and piling in soft drifts between the iron bars of the balcony.
+
+The terrified scream which had aroused her from her reverie at midnight
+still rang in her ears. She was sure that it had been the voice of Mrs.
+Dana, and she dared not allow her thoughts to dwell on what it might
+portend.
+
+Her own position in the household, now clearly defined by her discovery
+that she was indeed under surveillance, left her no alternative but to
+disarm the suspicion directed against her at all costs. An instant off
+guard would be fatal and she summoned all her self-command to her aid.
+
+Nevertheless, it was with a sinking heart that she dragged herself
+downstairs in response to the breakfast gong, dreading lest she come
+upon evidences of a second tragedy. The sedate, seemingly tranquil
+house had become for her an abode of horror, and with each reluctant
+step fear gripped her more tenaciously by the throat.
+
+To her unspeakable relief, however, she heard Mrs. Dana's high, nasal
+tones issuing from the dining-room and entered to find the lady herself
+already seated opposite her hostess. She was attired in a teagown
+belonging to the latter, beneath which her ample figure sagged, and her
+face in the cold light was ghastly and drawn.
+
+"Sit down, my dear." Mrs. Atterbury nodded her good-morning from behind
+the coffee urn. "You slept well?"
+
+"Yes, thank you. My headache has quite disappeared," Betty murmured,
+adding deliberately: "It was kind of you to have Caroline at hand, but
+I did not need her services."
+
+For a moment they looked squarely into each other's eyes; Mrs.
+Atterbury's were the first to fall.
+
+"I kept Mrs. Dana with me as you see, because of the storm. Mr. Dana
+stayed over night, too, of course, but he left for his office half an
+hour ago. We played bridge until very late."
+
+"I'm a wreck this morning," Mrs. Dana remarked fretfully, but there was
+a curious quiver in her voice. "Mortie says I am the original daylight
+saver; I only make use of the night hours."
+
+"The moon was ever so bright when I went to bed," ventured Betty. "The
+storm must have come very quickly."
+
+"Quickly enough to give me quite a house party," Mrs. Atterbury
+replied. "Madame Cimmino remained also, and Professor Stolz, but they
+have not risen yet. I hope you will have an opportunity to talk with
+the Professor, Betty, you would find him most interesting. He is an
+eminent scientist and justly celebrated in his own country."
+
+Betty would have liked to ask what branch of science had claimed him,
+but she discreetly remained silent, with a mental reservation to find
+out for herself, if possible.
+
+Madame Cimmino appeared shortly, looking more sallow and shrunken than
+ever, and while her hostess greeted her, Betty slipped away to the
+library to sort the morning's mail.
+
+The room had not yet been put in order for the day, and the girl's
+attention was caught by a heap of torn papers, half charred, on the
+cold hearth. The writing upon the scraps seemed oddly familiar, and she
+stopped hastily and examined them. They were the letters she herself
+had painstakingly copied from the originals which Mrs. Atterbury
+had taken from the safe and given to her on the previous day. Like
+the rearrangement of the bookcases, the letters had been merely a
+subterfuge to keep her employed and under watchful eyes.
+
+Nevertheless, she doggedly assailed her uncongenial task and was midway
+through the morning's mail, when a heavy foot sounded in the hall, and
+Professor Stolz stuck his shaggy head in the door.
+
+"Pardon. I a book would wish to have and Mrs. Atterbury says it here
+is," he translated idiomatically from his native tongue. "I disturb
+you, no?"
+
+"Not at all." Betty rose. "Perhaps I can help you, Professor. What sort
+of book are you looking for?"
+
+"It is Egyptian--a history of the twelfth dynasty."
+
+"Egyptian!"
+
+The professor had been peering along the bookshelves, but at her
+exclamation he turned.
+
+"Yes. Professor of Egyptology I have been for fifteen years already, in
+the University of Leipzig. The book you have perhaps seen, Fräulein.
+Very old and rare it is, with the cover much stained--"
+
+"Is this it?" Betty held out a quaint, time-worn volume, which he
+seized with avidity.
+
+"In here an inscription is, from the tomb of Ameni-emhat, at
+Beni-Hasan, for which long looking have I been." He turned the pages
+eagerly, then paused with a snort of satisfaction, and read in a
+mumbling undertone: "'_Renpit XLIII Xer hen en Horu anx mest suten net
+xeper-ka-Ra anx Petta--_'"
+
+"Year forty-three, under the Majesty of Horus, living one of births,
+king of the North, Kheper-ka-Ra, living forever--" Betty translated
+softly, in utter self-forgetfulness.
+
+"Himmel! What is this?" The professor stared at her over his
+huge-rimmed glasses. "You know Egyptian!"
+
+Betty flushed.
+
+"I--I knew a young man in my home town who had studied it abroad, and
+he taught me a little," she stammered hastily.
+
+"A little? Donnerwetter! For my assistant I should like you, so
+fluently you translate!" His eyes shone with the fire of an enthusiast.
+"After my own heart you are, Fräulein, and to teach you more, proud I
+should be!"
+
+"Thank you, Professor, but I--I have no time at present." Betty turned
+back to her desk with a determined air and after futile efforts to
+engage her further in conversation he departed, shaking his head in
+stupefaction.
+
+For several days thereafter no untoward incident disturbed the surface
+monotony of the household routine, and only the unobtrusive but
+persistent surveillance to which she was subjected remained to keep the
+tragic mystery uppermost in Betty's thoughts.
+
+Of her knowledge of the espionage she gave no sign, but went about her
+daily tasks with winning docility and an outward serenity of bearing
+which brought the hoped-for reward. After the third night, Caroline
+was no longer installed on guard outside her door, and before the week
+was out the girl felt that she had at last lulled all suspicion. Mrs.
+Atterbury had not suggested that she walk again in the grounds of the
+estate, however, and although the confinement was telling upon her,
+Betty feared to risk a direct refusal by seeking permission.
+
+However, from the hour that Caroline's vigil ceased, Betty had pursued
+her secret exploration of the home. As on the first night after her
+arrival, and the second, when she made her gruesome discovery, she had
+continued her mysterious quest throughout the sleeping house and every
+spare moment during the day, when she could escape detection, found
+her delving in odd nooks and corners. She managed in time to visit
+each of the sleeping apartments and even penetrated to the attic, but
+her efforts continued to be fruitless. The object of her clandestine
+activities seemed still to elude her.
+
+She attended to the correspondence each morning and completed the
+rearrangement of the books in the library. Miss Pope appeared on two
+subsequent occasions, but made no further effort to communicate by
+stealth with the girl even upon the day she delivered the finished
+gowns. Whatever her motive had been, her courage was not equal to a
+second attempt.
+
+The Danas made no reappearance, nor did the pale, foppish youth, Jordan
+Ide, but Mme. Cimmino and the ubiquitous Wolvert were constant visitors
+and on more than one occasion Betty heard Dr. Bayard's measured tones
+issuing from the drawing-room. By tacit arrangement, she now retired to
+her own room immediately after dinner on such evenings as there were
+guests present and the silent hours of readjustment and utter mental
+relaxation gave her renewed strength to play her daily part.
+
+By the end of the week a thaw set in which swept the cedars bare of
+frost and turned the unbroken expanse of white into a veritable sea of
+mud. Mrs. Atterbury herself had not left the house since she acquired
+her new companion, but early one morning she entered the library where
+Betty sat wearily anticipating her secretarial duties, with a proposal
+which made the girl's eyes dance.
+
+"My dear, I wonder if you will undertake an errand for me? The walking
+is atrocious, I know, but you have been cooped up indoors quite long
+enough and the fresh air will do you good."
+
+"Oh, I shall be glad to go!" Betty cried warmly, adding in haste, "Of
+course, I don't know my way about, but if you will direct me I am sure
+I shall not make any mistake."
+
+"I don't think there is a likelihood of your getting lost," Mrs.
+Atterbury smiled. "But if you do, you can always reach a telephone, you
+know, and I will send the car to conduct you home. I want you to go
+to Madame Cimmino's and bring back a package which she will give you
+for me. She lives in the Lorilton Apartments on Falmouth Avenue; walk
+three blocks across town from the corner here, and take a southbound
+red 'bus. Tell the conductor your destination and he will see that you
+reach it safely."
+
+"That seems quite clear, Mrs. Atterbury." Betty rose with alacrity. "Do
+you wish me to go at once?"
+
+"If you will, please. The mail can wait until later, but this is rather
+important."
+
+The air was as mild as on a spring day and Betty's heart leaped as she
+passed out of the gateway to the broad, untrammeled avenue. She glanced
+back sharply at the house, but no one was visible, and its windows
+stared blankly at her.
+
+Rounding the corner, she set out across town at a brisk pace, her blood
+tingling in her veins and the soft wind bringing a flush to her pale
+cheeks. Her gaze was introspective rather than curious and she boarded
+the southbound omnibus almost mechanically, although she scrutinized
+her fellow passengers with grave intentness.
+
+A ride of some twenty minutes brought her to the doors of the Lorilton,
+which proved to be a huge, ornately constructed apartment house in a
+somewhat less exclusive locality than the North Drive.
+
+A gaudily upholstered elevator deposited Betty on the tenth floor and
+in response to her ring, the apartment door was opened by a smug-faced
+Japanese butler who ushered her silently into the drawing-room.
+
+She took a swift mental inventory of her surroundings as she waited.
+The room presented an odd mixture of real artistic treasures, and the
+basest of imitations; rare tapestries hung upon the walls between
+wretched copies of masterpieces, a hideous terra cotta statuette
+overshadowing a Ming vase, and an exquisite Buhl cabinet was filled
+with the most trumpery of knickknacks.
+
+Madame Cimmino made her appearance in a gorgeous but somewhat soiled
+kimona. Her sallow cheeks were highly rouged and the jeweled hoops
+which tugged at her ears seemed oddly garish in the light of day.
+
+"The packet? Ah, yes, I have it," she murmured in response to Betty's
+request. "You came alone? You are learning, then, to find your way in
+this strange city; that is well."
+
+She clapped her hands, and when the butler appeared, jabbered rapidly
+to him in his native tongue, while Betty sat with her face averted. The
+functionary disappeared, to return almost immediately bearing a small
+package which Madame Cimmino placed in the girl's hands.
+
+"Be careful that you do not lose it, my dear," she warned her at the
+door, adding with a flash of her white teeth, "Some day when you have
+leisure, little mouse, you shall come and have tea with me, if Mrs.
+Atterbury permits. I like American young girls."
+
+Betty thanked her and departed. She thrust the precious package in her
+muff without a second glance, and a peculiar, hard light glowered in
+her eyes until she reached once more the house in the cedars.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury accepted the package without comment, and thereafter
+Betty roamed the grounds at will. Her position save for the morning's
+correspondence had become a sinecure, but she felt a presentiment of
+impending change, and awaited developments with keen expectancy.
+
+They ensued more quickly than she had anticipated. She was summoned
+to Mrs. Atterbury's room late one afternoon, to find her employer
+critically examining a gown which had just arrived; an exquisite affair
+of filmy tulle and creamy lace.
+
+Betty could not suppress a little cry of admiration, and Mrs. Atterbury
+smilingly held it out to her.
+
+"I wish you to try this on, my dear. If it fits you, it is yours."
+
+Wondering, Betty placed herself in Caroline's hands and when the
+change had been effected Mrs. Atterbury herself gasped. In the simple
+blouse and skirt Betty had been winsomely attractive in spite of the
+disfiguring birthmark, but the delicate beauty of the gown transformed
+her as if some fairy godmother had touched her with a magic wand.
+
+"Really, you are quite wonderful!" There was amazement mingled with the
+unfeigned admiration in Mrs. Atterbury's tones. "I had no idea that
+you would develop such possibilities, Betty. I did well to select this
+model for you."
+
+"It is really mine?" The girl turned her flushed face from the mirror.
+"I--I don't know how to thank you, Mrs. Atterbury, but when shall I
+have an occasion to wear it?"
+
+"Tonight." The reply came with startling brevity and promptitude. "You
+are going to hear 'Aida'. Have you ever been to the opera?"
+
+"Aida!" gasped Betty. There was a pause, and then she added with a
+change of tone, "No, I--I have never heard any opera except on a
+phonograph. It will be like a dream come true."
+
+And as if in a dream she completed her toilet for the evening. She
+had schooled herself to accept without visible surprise anything
+which might eventuate, but to appear at the opera in company with
+Mrs. Atterbury and her probable guests, was a move she had not in her
+wildest fancy anticipated.
+
+A fresh surprise awaited her when she descended to the dining-room.
+Only Mrs. Atterbury was present, and she was still attired in the
+somber gray gown she had worn throughout the day.
+
+"Perhaps I should have waited to dress later, also," Betty murmured,
+glancing down at her own shimmering elegance. "I did not know we would
+have sufficient time after dinner."
+
+"I am not going with you," Mrs. Atterbury replied to the implied
+question with calm directness. "I am sending you quite alone, Betty.
+The car will take you, and wait to bring you home when you have
+accomplished your errand."
+
+"'My--errand?'" faltered Betty, off guard in her amazement.
+
+"You will occupy Box A-48, in the grand tier," the older woman
+continued as if she had not heard the interjection. "In A-46, on your
+left, there will be seated a party of ladies and gentlemen. You will
+take no apparent notice of them--I can depend upon your breeding to
+prohibit your staring--but be sure to take a chair close to the rail
+which separates the two boxes and allow your arm to rest upon it. At
+some time during the singing of the opera, one of the gentlemen in
+the next box will place an envelope in your hand. Do not betray any
+surprise, whatever you do, but remain quietly for a few minutes longer,
+then slip away as unobtrusively as possible and descend immediately
+to the carriage entrance, where the car will be awaiting you. This is
+a confidential matter, but you are discreet and I am sure that I can
+trust you, my dear. It is really quite simple; do you think you will be
+able to carry it through successfully?"
+
+"I--I think so," responded Betty, faintly. She was dazed, but a new
+light had broken over her consciousness and much that had puzzled her
+was made clear. She shrank from the task before her, yet no thought of
+a refusal entered her mind. She had voluntarily placed herself in this
+woman's hands, and whatever commands were given her, she was prepared
+to obey.
+
+"You do not seem very confident." Mrs. Atterbury's level tone had
+become suddenly stern. "If you follow my directions carefully you can
+make no mistake. I do not find it convenient to go myself, but if you
+object--"
+
+"Oh, it isn't that!" cried Betty in haste to cover her momentary
+hesitation. "I'm sure I shall not have any difficulty in merely
+accepting the envelope and bringing it to you, but I never went to the
+opera before or sat in a box, and I shall feel as if everyone were
+looking at me. I am afraid that I am a trifle self-conscious, after
+all, about the birthmark on my face."
+
+The lines about Mrs. Atterbury's mouth relaxed, and she smiled
+tolerantly.
+
+"So that is all! You need not think of it, my dear, for I assure you
+it is rather attractive than otherwise. It serves to render you
+distinctive, at all events, and that is what everyone is striving for,
+nowadays. The car will be brought around to the door for you at ten,
+when you will be in time for the last act. You will have only one thing
+to remember; be sure that you seat yourself on the extreme _left_ of
+the box, and that your hand is within reach."
+
+"If you will describe the gentleman to me--" Betty began, but the other
+interrupted quickly.
+
+"That is quite unnecessary, as you are to make no advances, nor indeed
+appear cognizant of his existence. Permit him to place the envelope
+in your hand, but do not even glance in his direction. That is quite
+clear?"
+
+"Oh, yes!" laughed Betty ingenuously. "I should be an adept at
+that sort of thing; I have had practice enough at school, passing
+surreptitious notes."
+
+Mrs. Atterbury permitted herself to laugh softly.
+
+"Then I shall take your success for granted. Come to me before you
+start, my dear. I have some flowers for you to wear, and I am going to
+lend you a string of my pearls."
+
+When Betty, wrapped in an ermine cloak the value of which she dared not
+attempt to compute, drew up before the opera house she was tingling
+with excitement, but her brain was clear, and her nerves steady. She
+had realized in a swift flash of comprehension that she was assuming
+the first of her real tasks. Whatever was written in the mysterious
+letter which was to be entrusted to her, and whoever the stranger might
+be from whose hand she would receive it, she was convinced it was for
+this and no other purpose that she had been engaged. The secretarial
+work, the companionship, were mere subterfuges to conceal her true
+mission, although she could not fathom its meaning.
+
+The third act was drawing to a close as she entered her box and Aida's
+exquisite pleading cry: "_Ah no! ti calma--ascoltami_," thrilled her
+very soul. A daring idea came to her. She had been directed to return
+as soon as she received the letter, but why could she not delay its
+delivery until the very end of the opera? She longed to hear the final
+aria, and it would be a simple matter to keep out of arm's reach.
+
+The box on her left was occupied, for although she did not glance
+toward it, a rustling and soft murmur reached her ears as if her
+entrance had occasioned comment, unobtrusive though it had been.
+
+For a moment she hesitated, then obeying the swift impulse she dropped
+her cloak and seated herself in a chair well to the right, her face
+averted. Scarcely had she composed herself when the curtain fell.
+
+Betty sat motionless in the sudden blaze of light, her eyes idly
+sweeping the glittering horseshoe which extended at her right, her
+heart beating wildly. She was conscious only of one pair of eyes upon
+her and she fought down an almost irresistible impulse to turn and meet
+them. Someone was staring at her from the box at her left, staring as
+if mutely compelling her gaze and she flushed darkly beneath the scar
+upon her cheek.
+
+Whoever they were, it was evident that this man and his companions were
+well known, for from the fall of the curtain until its rise again, a
+constant stream of visitors eddied about their box and scraps of gay
+chatter and soft tinkling laughter came to her ears. One chance phrase,
+in a vivacious feminine voice made her breath catch in her throat:
+
+"Oh, don't mind Toddie! He is fuming inwardly, although he won't tell
+why. Anyway, it's a positive comfort to know that there's something on
+his mind beside his hat. How were the ducks in North Carolina?"
+
+Betty stirred uneasily in her chair. If "Toddie" were the man who had
+come to deliver the letter into her hands she could well understand
+the reason for his ill humor. What must he think of her presence yet
+deliberate evasion of him? Her determination did not falter, however.
+Come what might, she meant to drain to its dregs this cup of unalloyed
+happiness which so unexpectedly had been held to her lips.
+
+Just as the lights were lowered, and the first soft strains of Amneris'
+lamentation swelled from the orchestra, she ventured a swift glance at
+the box on her left.
+
+A portly, gray-haired dowager was directly beside Betty with two
+younger women on her left, and all three were glittering with jewels
+like miniature constellations. Behind them an obese elderly gentleman
+dropped his lowest chin upon his broad expanse of shirt bosom in
+well-calculated repose, a younger one bent forward to whisper into
+the ear of the girl in front of him, and a third, a round-faced man
+with a downy blond mustache turned squarely and met Betty's eyes, with
+exasperation glowering in his own.
+
+She permitted her gaze to rest on him impersonally for a moment then
+slowly shifted it to the stage as the curtain rose.
+
+The scene held her, and the beauty of the music so enthralled her
+senses that she forgot herself and the strange errand which had brought
+her there until a chair rasped against the box rail in unmistakable
+signal. With a start she threw off the spell which had entranced her,
+and just as the divine notes of Aida's "_Vedi? di morte l'angelo--_"
+rose winging through the vast house, she moved silently to the chair at
+her left and rested her arm upon the barrier.
+
+There was a sound very like a sigh from the next box, and an envelope
+was thrust almost roughly beneath her fingers.
+
+For a space of interminable minutes she sat as motionless as if carved
+from stone, save that the hand holding the letter was clenched to her
+breast, crushing the cluster of white roses which she wore, and feeling
+like a pulseless lump of ice. The perfume of the flowers, cloyingly
+sweet, all but suffocated her, and the band of pearls seemed to tighten
+about her throat.
+
+The strains of "_O Terra Adio_" were dying away in haunting sadness as
+she rose, and snatching up the ermine cloak, slipped from the box and
+down the promenade like a wraith.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+                       _A Message From Pharaoh._
+
+
+On the morning following her visit to the opera, Betty sat at her
+desk in the library, with a copy of the _Literary Digest_, which had
+just arrived in the mail spread out before her. The waiting heap of
+correspondence was forgotten, and she read and reread as if hypnotized
+the chance advertisement which had caught her eye:
+
+"Wanted:--Translator of Egyptian inscriptions and papyri of later
+dynastic periods. Scholar conversant with Mallory method preferred.
+Exceptionally high rates, tripling those ever previously paid in
+America will be given for accurate authentic work. No immediate time
+limit. Call office nine, National Egyptological Museum."
+
+A gray haze of exuding frost arose from the bare dun lawns stretching
+before the window and the cedars drooped their branches as if weary
+of the long wait for spring, but she was blind to the somber prospect
+before her. Instead rose gorgeous pictures of the East and her vision
+was peopled with the glory of long-buried kings.
+
+Her own precarious position, the inexplicable shadow which lay like a
+pall over the house, even the dead man upon whom she had stumbled on
+that never-to-be-forgotten night had faded alike from her thoughts, and
+her eyes glowed with an eagerness almost fanatical.
+
+If only she dared to reply in person to the advertisement! Aside from
+the emolument, which might prove an asset by no means to be despised in
+her straitened circumstances, the work would relieve her mind from the
+terrific strain under which she had placed herself.
+
+Why should she not avail herself of this opportunity to pursue a study
+which possessed for her an irresistible fascination? In spite of her
+preoccupation, time hung heavily upon her hands and she had come to
+dread the many hours during which she was left to her own devices with
+only the wretched treadmill of her thoughts to bear her company.
+
+It might be that with the successful accomplishment of her strange
+mission at the opera house she would enter upon a new phase of her
+present situation, with exciting adventures in store for her, on like
+mysterious errands, but she looked forward to that contingency with no
+lightening of her spirit. It would be merely a part of the task which
+she had assumed, and was constrained to carry through.
+
+But to feel again the rustle of ancient papyrus beneath her fingers; to
+decipher the messages pictured in quaint hieroglyphs by patient hands
+long since turned to dust, that the unborn legions of the future might
+sit at the feet of ageless philosophy; to delve once more into a past
+which was of a bygone age even when three wise men journeyed out of the
+East--the desire became an obsession which she tried vainly to exorcise.
+
+She did indeed thrust the idea from her while the letters demanded
+her attention, but it returned again with unabated force with the
+first moment of leisure. Why should she not at least investigate the
+advertisement?
+
+At luncheon, Mrs. Atterbury herself precipitated her decision.
+
+"My dear, I wish you would go to Jennings' Art Shop for me this
+afternoon and select a Colonial frame for that tall mirror which hangs
+in my room. They sent me a gilt monstrosity when I ordered by 'phone,
+and I don't want the bother of going myself. If you walk straight
+across town until you come to the park, and follow its wall around the
+southern end to the east side you cannot miss it. The Egyptian Museum
+is on the opposite corner. By the way, Professor Stolz tells me that
+you, too, are interested in Egyptology. How did you ever acquire a
+liking for that sort of thing in the middle west?"
+
+"Through a neighbor, who had made a study of it in Egypt," Betty
+replied readily enough. "It is really fascinating, like a grown-up
+picture puzzle. But about the mirror, does the shopman know the size
+you require?"
+
+With the details of her commission carefully pigeon-holed in her mind,
+the girl started upon her errand. She walked briskly, for she realized
+that her time must be accounted for, and she had determined to use a
+portion of it for her own ends. Reaching the park, she struck boldly
+through it instead of following the longer way around, and no one who
+had known its every path could have chosen a more direct course than
+she, a self-confessed stranger.
+
+The purchase was quickly consummated and she had turned to leave the
+shop, when a figure barred her way. She glanced up to find herself
+confronted by a tiny, fairy-like creature wrapped in sables with a
+great bunch of livid purple orchids at her belt. Her hair shimmered
+like spun gold beneath the fur toque and her face, innocent of
+cosmetics, was exquisitely fair.
+
+For an instant the stranger visibly hesitated and then as if resolutely
+checking her impulse, turned and walked to a distant counter.
+
+Betty, too, halted in uncontrollable surprise, then made her way to the
+street as if in a daze. She had never, to her knowledge, encountered
+the other before, yet the stranger's face had blanched at sight of her
+and in the round, babyish blue eyes which for a fleeting moment had
+met hers, she read unmistakable repulsion and an underlying desperate
+fear. For whom had the woman mistaken her? She was veiled, but the
+birthmark must have been plainly discernible. Could it be that her
+disfigurement was so great as to cause such repugnance and almost
+hysterical fear in a chance observer?
+
+The sight of the museum, however, drove all thought of the odd
+encounter from her mind, and as she ascended the low, broad steps
+to the revolving entrance door she resolved to accept the proffered
+opportunity, whatever the result should Mrs. Atterbury discover her
+dereliction.
+
+The gray-haired attendant directed her to an upper floor where in a
+broad echoing marble corridor she found a double row of office doors.
+Number nine was ajar, and when she knocked a pleasant, masculine voice
+bade her enter.
+
+The office was small, with files and glass cases lining the walls above
+which hung framed sections of parchment, time-frayed and shrunken.
+The westering sun shone through the single window full upon the desk,
+behind which sat a boyish-looking young man, with merry twinkling eyes
+and more than a suspicion of red in his chestnut hair.
+
+Betty had been prepared to confront a sedate philologist of settled age
+and perhaps stern demeanor, and she came forward rather shyly.
+
+"I am looking for the person who advertised in the current issue of
+the _Literary Digest_ for an Egyptian translator," she remarked.
+
+The young man rose from the chair, his eyes still fixed on hers, and
+she observed that they had narrowed swiftly with a keen intensity which
+lent maturity to his expression.
+
+"Please be seated." His tone was quietly courteous. "I placed the
+advertisement in the magazine you mention. Do you understand the
+Mallory method?"
+
+"If you mean the system employed by Professor Mallory, of Cairo, and
+the form of transliteration used by him so that the ancient phraseology
+might be retained, I can claim to be thoroughly conversant with it."
+Betty sank into the chair indicated, her breath ending in a little
+gasp. For all her self-possession, the young man's impersonal but fixed
+regard had a disturbing effect, and in the attempt to combat it her
+manner grew strained. "I have made practical use of it in translations
+for the Museum at Gizeh--"
+
+She paused, biting her lip, but the young man appeared unobservant of
+her sudden check.
+
+"You have studied under Professor Mallory?" The question was casually
+uttered, yet it brought a swift blush to her brow.
+
+"I was a pupil of an associate of his." She spoke slowly as if choosing
+her words with care. "You mention the later dynastic periods in
+your advertisement; you refer doubtless to the era of the Persian
+influence?"
+
+"Precisely. One papyrus in particular which we wish translated as
+literally as possible for purposes of record is believed to be a
+message from one of the kings of the twenty-seventh dynasty, who was
+called 'the Great Pharaoh'." The young man diverted his gaze at last,
+as he fumbled in a desk drawer. "I have a copy here. He isn't the same
+chap as the one mentioned in the Bible, whose daughter found Moses in
+the bulrushes, you know."
+
+Betty could scarcely believe her ears. The flippant display of
+ignorance on the part of one who must be an important official of the
+museum seemed incredible, and a dim suspicion came to her that she was
+being made the victim of a hoax.
+
+"I am aware of that fact," she responded frigidly. "The twenty-seventh
+dynasty was inaugurated only some five hundred years before Christ. Two
+of its rulers were known as 'the Great Pharaoh'; Xerxes and Artaxerxes.
+By which was this papyrus believed to have been inscribed?"
+
+"I will let you judge that." He smiled in winning friendliness, quite
+unabashed by her icy tone. "To tell you the truth, I am not very well
+posted on it."
+
+If this were indeed a hoax, Betty determined to obtain some personal
+satisfaction from it.
+
+"Can you tell me, however, if an interlinear transliteration is
+required, as well as a translation?"
+
+The young man lifted his hands in a gesture of helplessness almost
+comic.
+
+"I mean," she explained, dimpling behind her veil, "do you wish the
+corresponding letter in our alphabet placed beneath each pictured
+letter or hieroglyph, with the translation of the whole phrase on a
+third line? That is the form used by Professor Mallory."
+
+"Then I presume that is what will be required. I am not going to try to
+impose on you by any false display of a knowledge I do not possess,"
+he said with engaging candor. "As a matter of fact, I am lamentably
+ignorant of Egyptology in general, but I happen to be a sort of
+honorary member of the board of directors governing the museum, and the
+task of finding a translator was delegated to me, with instructions to
+obtain, if possible, a pupil of Professor Mallory for the work. The
+official translator for the museum is in Egypt at the present time.
+Here is the photographic copy of the papyrus in question."
+
+He opened a portfolio and took from it several large sheets which he
+passed to her across the desk. Her momentary resentment was forgotten
+and a little exclamation of fervid interest escaped her lips as she
+spread the pages out before her and threw back her veil the more
+clearly to scrutinize them.
+
+The young man leaned slightly forward studying her face, then quietly
+he touched a button in the wall and the room was suddenly flooded with
+light.
+
+"That is better, isn't it?" he asked.
+
+Betty glanced up, blinking in the sudden glare, then nodded
+abstractedly and bent again over the hieroglyphic scrawl. Several
+minutes passed while she sat absorbed, no sound breaking the stillness
+but the occasional rustle of the papers beneath her hand. At length she
+rearranged them with a sigh of satisfaction.
+
+"This purports to be a message from Khshiarsha, or Xerxes, the first
+ruler of the twenty-seventh dynasty to be called 'the Great Pharaoh'
+and if the date of the original papyrus has been authenticated, it is
+a wonderful find, and a valuable addition to Egyptiana. This copy will
+serve perfectly for translation, but I should like very much to see the
+original sometime, if it is in the possession of the museum----"
+
+The eager words died on her lips, and her glowing face paled, then
+flushed hotly. She had looked up to find that the young man's eyes were
+fixed with an expression which she could not fathom upon the birthmark
+on her cheek, and it burned her like a newly-seared brand. With a swift
+gesture she lowered her veil.
+
+"I will see that you have access to it." The young man rose. "I could
+place it in your hands now, but the curator is out. However, if, as you
+say, this copy is suitable for translation, do you care to undertake
+the work? I cannot, of course, judge of your proficiency, but I am
+willing to take it for granted."
+
+"Thank you," Betty responded, simply. "I am confident that my
+translation will be satisfactory. It will take me a few days to
+complete it; shall I bring it here to you?"
+
+"If you will, please. Should I not be here, leave it with the assistant
+curator for Mr. Ross. The fee for translation will be fifty dollars.
+Now, if you will give me your name and address----?" He paused
+expectantly, and Betty's heart sank.
+
+This was a contingency which had not occurred to her. To name her
+present abode would mean that letters or instructions might be
+forwarded to her there, and inevitable discovery on Mrs. Atterbury's
+part would ensue with the probable consequence of immediate dismissal.
+This risk despite the shadow of tragic mystery which enveloped the
+house and her own undoubted peril should the extent of her knowledge
+become known, she would not hazard. A determination stronger than fear
+of death itself bound her to Mrs. Atterbury's service.
+
+But the pause was lengthening, and the young man eyed her in puzzled
+inquiry.
+
+"My name is Shaw--Betty Shaw," she stammered, adding with a sudden
+inspiration: "I live at 160 Wakefield Avenue. Have you any special
+instructions for me, Mr. Ross?"
+
+"None. I will leave the work entirely in your hands. You say you will
+require a few days in which to complete it. Can you bring it here to me
+by Tuesday afternoon, at this time?"
+
+"I will try." Betty flushed behind her veil. "My time is not absolutely
+my own, so I cannot make a definite appointment, but I shall make every
+effort to be here."
+
+"There will be more work when this is finished, you know; inscriptions
+from tombs and that sort of thing," he added, as if on a sudden
+inspiration. "By the way, have you done any translating from the modern
+languages--French, German?"
+
+Betty shook her head, and although the young man waited, she vouchsafed
+no further response.
+
+"Well, we are in no hurry for this." He opened the door for her at last
+and held out his hand smilingly. "We only want to file the translations
+before the originals are placed on exhibition. Good afternoon, Miss
+Shaw."
+
+Betty hurried from the museum, now grim and shadowy in the gathering
+dusk and started south toward Wakefield Avenue with the precious
+transcript clasped tightly in her muff. Late as it was she felt that
+she must arrange to have her change of address concealed should
+the exceedingly frank young man with the laughing eyes attempt to
+communicate with her. His personality had impressed her so strongly
+that the oddity of the whole interview did not present itself to her
+mind. If the translations to be placed on record in a National museum
+were left to the discretion of a young man who was avowedly ignorant
+of the work, it was a proceeding which aroused no suspicion in her
+mind. She knew nothing of the directorship of similar institutions
+in America, and gave it no thought. Her chief concern was that her
+subterfuge should not be discovered.
+
+The work itself, fascinating though it would prove, shrunk to
+insignificance beside the interest the strange young man had aroused
+in her. Isolated as was her voluntarily assumed position, hedged in
+by mystery and distrust and even danger, the candid, disinterested
+friendliness of his attitude had made an appeal to which her lonely
+spirit responded joyously. The crafty, scheming expression which
+sometimes hardened her face was gone as if it had never existed, and
+her eyes glowed with a new unconscious happiness as she turned the
+corner of Wakefield Avenue, and ran lightly up the dingy steps of the
+once familiar house.
+
+Meanwhile, the young man upon whom her thoughts were centered had also
+left the museum and was hastening across the park as fast as a taxi
+could carry him. Blue eyes, brown hair, education, refinement, youth;
+every attribute tallied with the rather vague description furnished to
+him, and the knowledge of Egyptology which the girl had displayed,
+unless it were the most improbable of coincidences, seemed the last
+detail needed to prove the identification complete.
+
+And yet his client had made no mention of the one salient point which
+would render the girl who had just left his presence distinctive in a
+multitude; the strange scar or birthmark, like a clutching hand upon
+her cheek.
+
+The sincerity of Madame Dumois' search, whatever her ultimate motive
+might be, was unquestionable. She could serve no object by deliberately
+eliminating so conspicuous a detail from her description, and it was
+incredible that she could have forgotten it, had the young woman she
+sought possessed such a means of recognition.
+
+His taxi slewed recklessly through the mud as it rounded a corner into
+the North Drive and he glanced idly out of the window at a square stone
+house, half-hidden in a grove of cedars past which he was being rapidly
+whirled. A figure which appeared to be loitering beside the gate turned
+at the sound of the motor and for an instant his face loomed with
+almost grotesque distinctness against the enveloping dusk.
+
+Herbert Ross uttered a sharp exclamation, and starting forward in his
+seat, reached for the speaking tube. The next moment he had checked
+the impulse and sunk back once more, but his round, candid eyes had
+narrowed to mere slits in each of which a steely point glittered and
+his jaw was set in a grim line of dogged relentlessness.
+
+Some half-mile further down the Drive, his taxi turned in at the modest
+ivy-clad gate of an estate smaller than its pretentious neighbors, but
+surrounded with an air of solid, unchanging antiquity which they could
+not boast.
+
+A white-haired butler opened the door and ushered Herbert Ross
+ceremoniously into the drawing-room. It was a long, narrow apartment,
+stiff and ugly with the prim austerity of the mid-Victorian period from
+which it obviously dated, and the conservative handful of coals in the
+grate served only to accentuate the chill and gloom in the lurking
+shadows beyond its proscribed radius.
+
+Madame Dumois appeared with businesslike promptitude.
+
+"Have you news for me, Mr. Ross?" She regarded him shrewdly as she
+extended her hand. "Or are you going to try to wheedle some more
+information from me? If you are, you may spare yourself the trouble. I
+admit that the surprise of encountering a detective who talked Persian
+poetry loosened my tongue the other day but you have all the data I
+can give you to help you locate the young woman, and what takes place
+between us when you have found her, will be my affair."
+
+"Are you sure that I really have all the data, Madame Dumois?" he
+asked earnestly. "Is there not something that you have forgotten or
+purposely withheld, which would be a distinctive means of recognition?"
+
+"I don't know what you mean!" Her voice was guarded, but her eyes
+snapped with sudden fire. "You have a description of the young woman's
+appearance, together with a lot of quite irrelevant detail which I was
+a babbling fool to disclose--"
+
+"Have I?" he insisted. "You have given me a description which would
+fit probably four-fifths of the young women one meets, without a
+single distinguishing feature. Has she none? Think, please. The
+smallest scar, or physical peculiarity would be of inestimable value in
+identification."
+
+He watched her narrowly, but her expression did not change an iota.
+
+"She is unfortunately not branded, like Western cattle!" The old lady
+snorted contemptuously. "Nor is she, as far as I know, six toed like
+a cat. She is just an average, normal, young person, with an abnormal
+amount of duplicity."
+
+"Then she possesses no scar, or birthmark?" Ross inquired slowly.
+
+"Good heavens, no!" Madame Dumois exclaimed. "I wouldn't consider her
+actually pretty, but she has no disfigurement or blemish unless she has
+been injured recently."
+
+"How recently?" He shot the question at her, but she was on her guard.
+
+"It would have to be a comparatively fresh scar." She smiled grimly
+at his discomfiture. "No, Mr. Ross. The young woman for whom I am
+searching has absolutely no feature to distinguish her from a thousand
+and one others. I see your point, and I regret that I can give you no
+fuller information concerning her."
+
+She rose as if to terminate the interview, and he was constrained to
+accept the hint.
+
+"You still could aid me greatly, Madame Dumois, if you would." The
+detective spoke in his most persuasive manner. "Let me see the
+photograph of her, which I am sure you possess."
+
+The old lady drew herself up to her full commanding height.
+
+"There are no grounds for your assurance, sir," she declared coldly. "I
+have no photograph of the young woman."
+
+"Then I will not detain you longer." He bowed. "I cannot accost a
+stranger, claiming her as the girl you seek, unless I can be absolutely
+certain of my ground, no matter how conclusive my suspicions are."
+
+"You mean that you have found some one who answers the description,
+only that she has a scar?" Madame Dumois spoke with rigid control.
+"Take me where I can see her, and I will soon tell you whether your
+suspicions are correct or not."
+
+"Unfortunately, that would be impossible." Mr. Ross shook his head
+gravely. "If I should prove to have been mistaken, explanations might
+involve you in the very notoriety you are seeking to avoid. But if you
+can obtain a likeness of her the question will be settled once and for
+all."
+
+He paused and there was a brief silence while the old lady seemed to
+hesitate. At length she said grudgingly:
+
+"I will try to get one. In the meantime, Mr. Ross, do not lose sight of
+the person you suspect."
+
+He reassured her on that score and departed. He was confident that
+his client would produce the photograph at his next interview with
+her, but a grave doubt filled his mind that the girl who had come to
+him that afternoon was the one sought. The old lady's astonishment at
+the suggestion of a scar or birthmark had been unfeigned, and that
+single incontrovertible fact would overthrow the whole structure of his
+theory. The case which he had assumed practically blindfold seemed no
+nearer a solution and no other translator had risen to the bait offered
+by the advertisement who could by any possibility have been associated
+with his subject.
+
+Meanwhile, Betty had concluded a satisfactory arrangement with her
+former landlady and was hastening homeward. A confused babel of voices
+arose as she crossed the avenue, and amid the raucous shouts one phrase
+beat upon her brain:
+
+"Wuxtry! Wuxtry! Latest news about the big murder! Coroner's inquest
+adjourned. Wuxtry!"
+
+She purchased a paper from the first newsboy who accosted her, and
+stopped in the rosy reflected glow from a drugstore window to scan the
+headlines. The light shining through a crimson globe dyed the page a
+sinister hue and from it there stared out at her the face of a man in
+the prime of life, with a square, determined chin and fine eyes, albeit
+there clustered about them the unmistakable lines of world knowledge
+and satiety.
+
+Beneath it in double type she read:
+
+"Breckinridge inquest adjourned. Coroner holds case open for further
+evidence. Rumor that detectives are working on new and startling clue.
+Close friend of George W. Breckinridge, millionaire clubman whose body
+stabbed to the heart was found in a secluded spot on Vanderduycken
+Road, declares that he has for some time been under a cloud--"
+
+The letters ran together and blurred before Betty's eyes, and crumpling
+the sheet convulsively, she dropped it at her feet. Then as if suddenly
+conscious of the conspicuous spot in which she stood, the girl slipped
+quickly away into the shadows. Her pulse pounded in her ears and her
+brain seemed reeling, but one fact stood out in terrible, relentless
+clarity; the pictured face was that of the man who had lain dead in the
+dining-room of the house among the cedars.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+                         _Ten Thousand Sheep._
+
+
+For several days thereafter Betty was kept closely confined to the
+house. Mrs. Atterbury had accepted her statement that she lost her way
+in attempting a short cut through the park as the explanation of her
+late return and attributed her own agitation to anxiety over the young
+girl's welfare. The mask was lifted for an instant, however, and Betty
+had a glimpse of the sullen fury which seethed beneath her employer's
+calm austerity.
+
+She was in no sense made to feel like a virtual prisoner once more, but
+Mrs. Atterbury made constant demands upon her which practically filled
+her hours of daylight, and no further errands were broached.
+
+The evenings were usually her own, however, and she spent them in
+fascinated study of the Egyptian translation. Her enthusiasm grew with
+its development, but she resolutely banished it from her mind during
+the daily routine, for fear her abstraction be noticed and questioned.
+Yet always, with every hour of freedom from espionage, she continued
+her protracted search. Whatever her object she sought it in every
+place of concealment which suggested itself to her. Betty learned
+quickly to know when the servants' tasks would lead them to various
+parts of the house, and managed skilfully to elude them. It was from
+her employer herself that she most feared discovery, but in this
+eventuality fortune had so far been with her.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury's correspondence continued to prove negative and devoid
+of interest, but one morning she dictated a letter which caught Betty's
+wandering attention. It was evidently in reply to one which had not
+passed through the girl's hands, and the oddity of its phrasing
+impressed her so acutely that when her employer went to receive a
+caller, she sorted it from the pile of envelopes and read it again:
+
+    "My dear Shirley:
+
+    Your letter received. Send me ten of the thousand circulars quoting
+    sheep prices for March. Home market good this week for forty or
+    fifty and even more points rise if my brokers handled the situation
+    properly. State Senator Laramie advocates strict game laws now
+    up before house. Comet, my horse, sold. Speranza invited us last
+    Thursday out for week-end to see her pink hothouse roses bud. The
+    frost killed them, however. Her sister is safe from submarines
+    on the northern way home from Japan. Demon won red ribbon show
+    held last month in Littleton, near Denver. Mrs. Ardmore's 'Alibi'
+    beat him straight. John will meet your friend Professor Blythe, of
+    Chicago University, on Saturday at eight. He says he has obeyed
+    your instructions about buying new machinery; to substitute old
+    endangers success. He fears block contracts will head off buyers,
+    but he is conscientious. There is no longer any danger of piracy,
+    discovery now patented so you can use the invention this year.
+    Unwritten code among manufacturers in America is letting unions
+    ruin us. Do you know what the result was out West in the Cote vs.
+    Williams affair? Was the end satisfactory to all concerned?
+
+    Write soon.
+
+                                                             Sincerely,
+                                                     Marcia Atterbury."
+
+The abrupt change of subject matter throughout, the short sentences and
+inconsistent style of the missive--now terse with telegraphic brevity,
+then verbose in unexpected and seemingly irrelevant detail--was utterly
+unlike her employer's usual concise mode of expression, and Betty's
+wonderment grew.
+
+What had game laws to do with the market value of sheep, and who were
+"Professor Blythe," and "John" and the mysterious "Shirley" to whom
+the puzzling letter was addressed? The girl had not known that Mrs.
+Atterbury owned horses, or Mme. Cimmino a country residence; surely the
+latter had no conservatory in which to raise hothouse roses connected
+with her stuffy, overcrowded town apartment!
+
+A minor point, too, stood out in challenging mendacity; Betty was too
+discriminating a judge of dogs to credit Demon with having taken a
+ribbon at any show. He might possess many traits which would render him
+invaluable as a watchdog, but his mixed breeding was too evident to
+admit of his qualifying on points.
+
+As she further analyzed the letter two coincidences sprang to her mind,
+which brought back vividly the mysterious communication in code that
+she had opened on the first morning of her secretarial work. That, too,
+had contained a reference to sheep, but the number mentioned had been
+five thousand. The last sentence contained the word "comet," and Mrs.
+Atterbury had made use of it also in her present letter.
+
+Another code! Betty stifled an exclamation as the truth burst upon her.
+It would be compatible with her employer's imperturbable daring to
+dictate a private and possibly incriminating letter to her unconscious
+amanuensis, secure in the belief that it would never occur to her to
+question its superficial meaning or seek to solve it without the key.
+Then, too, it might be that for certain cogent reasons, Mrs. Atterbury
+did not wish her own handwriting to appear in the communication,
+although she had said she would address the envelope herself. Betty had
+even signed the former's name, at her request.
+
+If only she might hit upon the key! Concentration was impossible with
+the imminent fear of discovery before her, but she felt that she could
+not relinquish this rare opportunity to pierce the web of mystery
+without at least an effort.
+
+Transcribing the letter hastily, she thrust the copy in her blouse, and
+when her employer returned she found the girl apparently deep in a book.
+
+That afternoon, for the first time since her recent escapade, a
+suggestion was made that she go for a walk, and Betty eagerly availed
+herself of the permission.
+
+"Be sure you do not get lost again!" Mrs. Atterbury warned her, with a
+smile which struck a chill to the girl's heart. "If you go beyond the
+gates, turn only in one direction and when you are tired, retrace your
+steps. I shall expect you home in an hour."
+
+There was more than a hint of spring in the languorous, humid air, and
+the sight of a venturesome robin preening his scarlet breast on the
+lawn made the blood leap in her veins. In spite of the dark shadows
+which surrounded her, and the problematic future looming ahead, the
+youth in Betty responded joyously to the burgeoning year and she
+quickened her pace as she passed out of the tall gate.
+
+Chance led her to turn southward along the drive and at the corner
+she came face to face with a man lounging against a lamp-post. He was
+smooth shaven and respectable in appearance, but the cap pulled low
+over his eyes gave him a furtive air and his burly figure and truculent
+bearing made her think somehow of a policeman, although the clothes
+he wore resembled those of an artisan. He glanced at her sharply and
+moved on, but the trail of cigarette stubs about the lamp-post told of
+a lengthy vigil, and Betty's heart contracted in sudden apprehension.
+
+Could he be a detective watching the house? Had the law already found a
+trail from that secluded spot on Vanderduycken Road to the place where
+George Breckinridge had so mysteriously come to his end? Would swift
+retribution descend and engulf her also, the innocent with the guilty,
+while yet her position had availed her nothing?
+
+She walked on quickly without looking back, conscious of the stranger's
+scrutiny. Her step was still brisk, although the buoyancy had died out
+of it as the momentary, carefree happiness was blotted from her face.
+The future, black and uncertain, stretched forth tentacles of doubt and
+dismay which dragged at her spirit and the bright day seemed suddenly
+lowering and chill.
+
+A half-mile further on, she came to a low, square, ivy-covered
+gate-post, and paused almost wistfully to examine the springing green
+of the new shoots, when a sedate step upon the stone flagging made her
+glance upward.
+
+A woman was coming toward her down the path which flanked the driveway
+from the house; an erect, elderly woman with smooth, white hair beneath
+her severe toque and a figure as trim as that of a girl. She was
+peering about her with an alert, bird-like movement of her head as if
+unaccustomed to viewing the world without artificial aid for her eyes
+and she had evidently not as yet observed the girl at the gate.
+
+For an instant Betty stood rooted to the spot, staring as though she
+could scarcely credit the evidence of her senses. Slowly the blood
+receded from her face, leaving it blanched and ghastly, and into her
+eyes, dulled with introspection but a moment since, there crept a look
+of livid fear.
+
+She swayed, then with a sobbing gasp turned blindly and fled as if the
+very fiends of darkness were pursuing her, back toward the doubtful
+haven of the house among the cedars.
+
+She had scarcely traversed a hundred yards, however, when she collided
+violently with a young man whose approach she had not been conscious
+of in her supreme agitation. She clutched at him instinctively as the
+impact threatened to sweep her off her feet and he put out a steadying
+arm.
+
+"I beg your pardon--" His tone was conventionally contrite, but he
+broke off in unfeigned surprise when she raised her head. "Why, Miss
+Shaw!"
+
+It was the young man from the museum!
+
+"Mr. Ross!" she gasped. "How stupid of me! I must have run full tilt
+into you."
+
+"I'm not seriously injured," he assured her gravely, although his eyes
+twinkled. "But you were going at a most extraordinary pace. Tell me
+what villian was pursuing you and I will cheerfully annihiliate him."
+
+Betty laughed with a note of sheer hysteria in her trembling tones.
+
+"I have an appointment for which I am late." She lowered her tell-tale
+eyes. "I did not see you coming and the long deserted avenue tempted me
+to run for it. I--I cannot wait--"
+
+"You are a long way from home." He had caught the dismayed, hunted
+look which she cast involuntarily over her shoulder. "If anyone has
+annoyed or frightened you, won't you allow me to walk with you to your
+destination?"
+
+"Oh, no!" Her alarm at the suggestion was unmistakable. "Thank you, but
+I shall be quite all right, and I must go on alone. Nothing frightened
+me, Mr. Ross, I was only surprised at meeting you so unexpectedly in
+this part of town."
+
+"And the Egyptian translation?" He was studying her face.
+
+"I will bring it to you on Tuesday. Good bye."
+
+Betty nodded in farewell, and turning, sped lightly off down the Drive,
+the fear that he might follow lending wings to her feet. The broad
+avenue stretched straight away for miles to the northward without a
+curve or obstruction which would serve to screen her destination from
+view, but she felt that in any event she could have gone no farther.
+
+The close confinement of her position had ill prepared her for a
+test of physical endurance and when she reached the gateway of home
+her limbs were trembling beneath her and her panting breath came
+in agonized strangling sobs. Reckless of the young man's possible
+observation she turned in between the high gates, and staggering up
+the side path to a little knoll ringed with low-growing holly bushes,
+she sank breathlessly upon a stone bench, and crouched waiting, but
+her solitude was undisturbed and no tread of an approaching footstep
+sounded upon the graveled walk. Gradually her composure returned
+and with the gathering of her scattered forces she remembered her
+employer's final warning. Whatever the future held in store, she must
+play the game.
+
+Herbert Ross had watched the girl until she disappeared within the
+gates, then slowly proceeded on his way. The surprise in their meeting
+had been mutual, but he made no attempt to fathom the reason for her
+presence in the neighborhood. His thoughts were busied with the cause
+of her evident terror. From whom or what was she flying when chance
+precipitated her into his arms?
+
+She had recovered herself quickly, but her attempt to dissemble had
+been vain. The detective had read aright the hunted, cowering look in
+her eyes. What had so changed her from the confident, self-assured
+young woman of a few days previous to the trembling, terrified creature
+who had shrunk from him in dismay and attempted so vainly to conceal
+her consternation?
+
+The solution of the enigma was approaching even as he cogitated, but
+so unprepared was he for the revelation that it was with a distinct
+sensation of shock he beheld Madame Dumois coming toward him down the
+avenue. The full significance of the scene burst upon his brain and the
+momentary flash of self-disgust for his stupidity was followed by the
+exultation of achievement. He had solved the case!
+
+With the slenderest of clues to work upon and the most difficult of
+clients to handle; blindfold, knowing nothing of his subject's past or
+her relations with the stern old woman who was so relentlessly running
+her to earth, without even a name to guide him, he had found her!
+Nothing remained but to produce her and take his fee.
+
+Then, unaccountably, the girl's face, as he had last seen it, rose
+before him, frightened, appealing in its very helplessness and
+despair. What would be her fate at the hands of his grim client? She
+was so young, with a sufficiently long future before her in which to
+atone for any mistake of the past. He shrank even in thought from the
+suggestion of crime in connection with her, and for the first time in
+his professional career he hesitated in the face of his duty.
+
+And the scar! If indeed it was a birthmark as he had concluded, why
+had Madame Dumois not only eliminated it from her description, but
+deliberately denied its existence when he himself had referred to it?
+What had Betty Shaw to fear from her?
+
+If he could only have felt assured of his client's motive in seeking
+out the girl, his course would have been clearly defined, but his
+experience forced him to conclude it could only be in a spirit of
+retribution for some real or fancied offense. If she were trying to
+find a missing relative, a daughter, perhaps, who had disappeared, her
+anxiety would have been more marked in spite of her iron self-control,
+and why would the other have flown from her? There could have been no
+reason for her secrecy with one professionally bound to preserve her
+confidence, save in the incredible contingency that the young girl was
+a fugitive from justice.
+
+An impulse came to him to turn and flee, even as the girl herself had
+done; to put off the interview until he had made up his mind to face
+the issue. The next moment he banished the thought resolutely and
+stepped forward with extended hand.
+
+"Madame Dumois! This is a fortunate meeting. I was just on my way to
+call upon you, although I rather fancied you could not resist the lure
+of this wonderful spring day!"
+
+"It isn't the weather which has brought me out, young man." She spoke
+dryly, but her sharp eyes softened and her smile was one of unalloyed
+welcome. "When you reach my age you will remember your rheumatism and
+think twice before you venture out in this wonderful humid atmosphere.
+You have news?"
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"If you have an engagement, and I am detaining you----" he began
+weakly, raging within himself in self-contempt at his irresolution, but
+the old lady placed her hand upon his arm.
+
+"No, Mr. Ross. I have no interests which supersede in importance the
+case on which you are working. Come back to the house and tell me why
+you wished to see me. Where is the young woman you mentioned? You have
+not lost sight of her?"
+
+Her voice trembled with eagerness and the angular gloved hand upon
+his coat sleeve trembled too. It was the first sign of emotion she
+had betrayed in the detective's presence, but whether anxiety or
+vindictiveness actuated it, he was at a loss to determine.
+
+"The resemblance can only be a casual one, on the strength of your
+description." He evaded the direct question. "Then, too, remember that
+the young woman whom I have seen bears a mark upon her face. That would
+seem to prove my mistake, would it not?"
+
+They had turned and were walking together up the path which led to the
+house and for a short space the old lady maintained silence. When she
+replied her voice was low, but quite steady once more.
+
+"But as you suggested it might be a fresh scar." She gave him a shrewd
+sidelong glance. "If my description of her appearance were so casual,
+and the mark would seem to disprove it, you must have surer grounds on
+which to base your theory."
+
+He flashed one of his rare, winning smiles upon her.
+
+"Madame Dumois, if you were not beyond the necessity of making a career
+for yourself, permit me to say quite without impertinence that you
+would have been an ornament to my profession."
+
+A delicate flush tinted her cheeks like old ivory and a spark twinkled
+in her eyes.
+
+"You are a most refreshing young man!" She tapped his arm with a long
+forefinger. "But you have not replied to my question."
+
+"I have based my theory on more than the young woman's appearance,"
+Herbert Ross admitted quietly. "Some of the data which you considered
+irrelevant furnished me with a clue to work from. But that is beside
+the point. I came this afternoon to find if you have been able to
+secure the photograph we talked of."
+
+They had mounted the steps and the old lady rang the bell before she
+replied.
+
+"Yes. I will get it for you at once."
+
+While he waited in the gloom of the drawing-room he tried again to
+force his mind to a decision, and once more the girl's face loomed
+before his mental vision, but this time with a haunting entreaty in her
+soft eyes, and the pitiful scar seemed to plead for at least a respite
+from final judgment. He cursed himself for a soft-hearted weakling,
+a susceptible fool to be swerved from his course by the girl's
+unconscious appeal to the innate chivalry he had believed to have been
+burned out long ago by the fire of his experiences and vicissitudes in
+his chosen profession. If only the photograph would prove him mistaken!
+
+The rustle of Madame Dumois' gown sounded upon the stair and in another
+moment she had entered the room and silently placed in his hand a
+cabinet size square of cardboard. He walked over to the lamp ostensibly
+to obtain a better light, but he paused with his shoulder turned to
+her. Trained as he was to disguise his own thoughts, he dared not trust
+himself to the old lady's keen scrutiny.
+
+The lower part of the photograph had been cut away, perhaps to destroy
+a tell-tale inscription, but the upper portion disclosed the picture
+of a young girl seated in a high cathedral-backed chair, with her head
+turned sharply to the left, so that only her profile and the right side
+of her face were visible.
+
+Herbert Ross drew a long breath and Madame Dumois' voice grated
+hoarsely upon the stillness.
+
+"Well? Is it the girl?"
+
+"I cannot tell." He turned and faced her squarely. "The scar I spoke of
+is on the young lady's left cheek, which as you see, does not show in
+this photograph. I only succeeded in obtaining a casual glimpse of her,
+and although there is a general resemblance, the scar changes the whole
+expression, and I cannot be certain until I have had an opportunity to
+observe her more closely."
+
+The old lady seated herself heavily in the nearest chair and the lines
+seemed suddenly to deepen in her face.
+
+"You're not sure?" She clenched her hands upon the chair arms until the
+knuckles showed white beneath the soft lace frills which fell from her
+sleeves. "But there is a resemblance, you say. It must be the girl I am
+searching for! Go to her at once, Mr. Ross. I cannot endure the strain
+of waiting longer!"
+
+"One must have patience, Madame Dumois, in a case of this sort. If the
+young woman knows of your search, and is hiding from you; if she has
+committed a wrong and fears retribution----"
+
+"That is beside the point!" She glared at him. "Never mind what I want
+of the girl, Mr. Ross. That is not your province. Only produce her for
+me and I will be responsible for the consequences."
+
+Madame Dumois set her jaws with a snap, although her breath came
+quickly and her old eyes flashed.
+
+The detective rose.
+
+"I will see the subject I have in mind at the earliest possible
+opportunity, and if my suspicions are verified, I will bring her to
+you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Late that night, Betty, all unconscious of the meeting between the two
+people who had so unexpectedly crossed her path that day, sat before
+the fire in her room, with a paper spread out between her hands. It was
+not the Egyptian translation tonight, however, which held her absorbed,
+but the copy of Mrs. Atterbury's strange letter.
+
+She knew nothing of codes or ciphers and racked her brains vainly for
+a clue which would enable her to glean the hidden meaning from the
+cryptic sentences. The word "sheep" she felt intuitively would prove
+a starting point, since it had appeared in the first secret message;
+"comet," too, must have been indispensable, for the wording of the
+letter was obviously forced to give it space. But "ten of the thousand
+circulars quoting sheep prices for March" read lucidly enough and
+seemed devoid of any suggestion of ambiguity, yet----
+
+All at once Betty started forward in her chair and with parted lips and
+eyes shining with repressed excitement she scanned the page once more.
+She had found it! The key which she had sought so vainly lay revealed
+and the words of the hidden message leaped out at her as in letters of
+fire.
+
+Her mobile face in the light from the glowing hearth reflected each
+successive emotion as she read, and her expression changed from avid
+interest to a dawning horror. Then quite suddenly she threw back her
+head and laughed silently, in a convulsion of ironic mirth which ended
+in a little sob; and she sat staring at the name "Marcia Atterbury,"
+which she herself had obediently signed to the note that morning, with
+a slowly gathering menace in her eyes. As the firelight flared and died
+again, the spreading birthmark upon her cheek seemed to move as if the
+five curved tentacles which radiated from it were writhing to grasp
+their prey and her small hands clenched until the paper tore.
+
+At last she rose with a determined air, and thrusting the letter into
+the bosom of her loose, dark robe, she took her electric torch from its
+hiding place behind a loosened tile of the hearth.
+
+Then extinguishing her lamp, she crept to the door, unbolted it softly
+and stood for a moment listening with every nerve tense. No sound
+echoed back to her from the sleeping house, no light pierced the
+darkness save the thread-like ray which played from her hand, and with
+cautious, silent footsteps she descended the stairs, and entering the
+library, closed the door behind her.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                          _The Orchid Lady._
+
+
+"I shall return in time for lunch." Mrs. Atterbury paused in the
+doorway. "You have quite enough work to keep you occupied, I imagine.
+Don't leave the house until I return, Betty, for you may be called
+to the other telephone. Welch is so stupid I dare not trust him with
+messages and I am expecting a rather important one from Doctor Bayard."
+
+"I doubt if I shall be able to finish before lunch, but I'll try."
+Betty glanced rather ruefully at the loose assortment of letters
+scattered about the desk top.
+
+"Do, please, for this afternoon I shall want you to go on an errand for
+me which may keep you until late. Don't tire yourself, though, my dear."
+
+She nodded a careless farewell, and a few moments later her car whirled
+off down the drive.
+
+Betty waited until its rather bizarre stripes had disappeared and then
+resolutely applied herself to her task. Seated there at the desk in her
+severely simple morning frock, with every hair in place and a serene,
+intent expression masking all emotion, she made a vastly different
+picture from that of a few hours earlier when she had crept into that
+very room in the darkness just before the dawn, trembling with fear of
+discovery yet urged on as if hypnotized by a stronger will than her own.
+
+If her thoughts reverted to that hour and what she had accomplished
+therein, she gave no outward sign, but worked systematically until
+order resolved itself from the chaos before her, and two neatly
+arranged piles of envelopes marked the result of her labors.
+
+A light knock interrupted her and before she could speak the door
+opened and Jack Wolvert entered, smiling in bland assumption of his
+welcome.
+
+"I felt sure I should find somebody about!" he remarked. "Welch left me
+to cool my heels in the drawing-room, but I am not over fond of my own
+society. Do be charitable and give me permission to bore you a little,
+Miss Shaw!"
+
+He lounged with easy grace over to her desk and rested his elbows
+upon its top staring boldly down into her eyes. She averted them and
+leaned back in her chair, an unpleasant sensation, almost of repulsion,
+tingling to her fingertips.
+
+"Mrs. Atterbury will not be back until lunch time, Mr. Wolvert." Her
+voice was coolly impersonal. "If you care to wait until then, however,
+there are books here and Welch will bring you the morning papers or
+anything else you may require."
+
+"But I much prefer to talk to you." The smile deepened and an impish,
+mocking light danced in his pale eyes. "It really is time that we
+became better acquainted, now that we are to see so much more of each
+other."
+
+Betty gasped. She did not understand the final observation but the
+man's audacity disconcerted her. Instinctively disliking him from
+the moment of their first meeting, his appearance on the occasion
+of Mrs. Atterbury's dinner party had not tended to raise him in the
+girl's estimation. His immoderate drinking, the strange toast he had
+proposed like a challenge flung into the spirit world, and his reckless
+abandonment to whatever mood swayed him lingered disquietingly in
+Betty's mind, and she longed to be rid of his presence.
+
+"I am very busy, as you see." She took up her pen suggestively. "Mrs.
+Atterbury will expect me to have finished with her letters----"
+
+"Busy? By Jove, I should think you were! What an industrious little
+person! Our charming hostess certainly believes in Satan's influence
+over idle hands, and has guarded you well against him." He reached down
+deliberately and picked up one of the letters. "Quite distinctive, your
+handwriting; like your personality, it baffles by its lucidity."
+
+Betty's quick eye had followed the action and noted the purpose beneath
+his studied carelessness.
+
+"Give me that letter, please." She spoke courteously, but there was a
+hint of underlying firmness in her tone.
+
+"But there is no harm." He smiled. "Surely you know that Mrs. Atterbury
+consults me about all her affairs. Whatever you may write for her, I
+may read."
+
+"That is for Mrs. Atterbury to say," retorted Betty, flushing with
+resentment at the man's insolence. "I will ask her on her return.
+Meanwhile, her correspondence is in my charge."
+
+Wolvert shrugged and the smile changed to a snarl which showed his
+long, white teeth like suddenly bared fangs, but the letter fluttered
+from his fingers to the desk.
+
+"Mrs. Atterbury is to be congratulated on her choice of a secretary.
+Your honesty exceeds your tact, my dear young lady. You are
+inexperienced and in a strange position; do not handicap yourself by
+making enemies. A friend at court might be very useful to you, more
+useful than you can realize."
+
+He had bent still lower, until his dark saturnine face was within a few
+inches of her own, and he spoke with calculated significance. For the
+first time a little shudder of fear swept over her, but she met his
+eyes calmly.
+
+"I have need of no one's friendship, Mr. Wolvert, on the score of
+usefulness, for I ask no favors and grant none. Mrs. Atterbury is my
+employer and I serve her interests."
+
+He straightened and, thrusting his hands in his pockets, strolled to
+the window, where he stood with his back turned to the room, whistling
+softly between his teeth.
+
+Betty pulled a fresh sheet of paper toward her and when he wheeled
+about, she was apparently absorbed once more in her work.
+
+"I, too, am wholly at Mrs. Atterbury's service." He strode back to her
+side. "You must not doubt that, Miss Shaw. I like you for your loyalty,
+even if you are ungracious to me. Will you not give me your hand, and
+say that we shall be friends?"
+
+"If you insist." Betty forced a smile. "I am sorry if I appeared
+ungracious, but I am really very busy. Rudeness to any friend of Mrs.
+Atterbury is furthest from my thoughts."
+
+She placed her hand shrinkingly in his, and he raised it to his lips in
+exaggerated gallantry.
+
+"'The friends of my friends are my friends,'" he quoted. "You will
+find me at your service also, Miss Shaw. I will leave you now to your
+labors, and see if I am sufficiently in Welch's good graces to coax a
+cocktail from him."
+
+When the door had closed behind him Betty rubbed her hand resentfully
+as if a stain remained from contact with his lips. Her thoughts were
+disquieting. What if she had indeed made an enemy of him? Was the
+extent of his influence in the household great enough to sow seeds of
+suspicion against her, and render her already difficult position all
+but intolerable? Was a new obstacle to be added to those which even now
+crowded everywhere about her path?
+
+At luncheon she learned from Mrs. Atterbury's own lips what the visitor
+had meant about their seeing more of each other. Both Jack Wolvert and
+Madame Cimmino were to be house guests for a time, the latter having
+temporarily closed her apartment, and Wolvert coming on the plea of
+quiet and seclusion in which to finish a new composition.
+
+Betty glanced at him with fresh interest. She had frequently heard
+snatches of brilliantly executed melody from the music room during the
+evening and knew that a master hand was touching the keys, but she had
+never entertained the idea that it might be Wolvert.
+
+All idle thoughts were driven from her mind, however, when at the
+conclusion of the meal, Mrs. Atterbury summoned her to her room. As on
+the occasion of her appearance at the opera, a new costume was spread
+out before her, this time a gown and cloak of daintiest gray, with soft
+silvery furs.
+
+"My dear, I am sending you to execute another errand for me, since you
+were so successful with the last. This should be no more difficult than
+the other, and it will give you a glimpse of a new side of city life.
+Here are some furs and a suit of which you have been in need."
+
+"But, Mrs. Atterbury, I really cannot accept these costly things from
+you," Betty stammered. "The salary you are paying me----"
+
+"Nonsense, child! Consider them as commission for the extra work which
+is apart from our original understanding, and for your rare discretion.
+The last errand must have seemed strange to you and this one will
+doubtless be more of an enigma, but I can assure you that when I am
+free to explain it to you fully you will appreciate the reason for my
+reticence, as well as the necessity for putting to use all your finesse
+and diplomacy."
+
+"I had no thought of prying or curiosity, Mrs. Atterbury." The girl's
+face flushed. "I am ready to do whatever you require, as I told you
+when you engaged me. Where am I to go this afternoon?"
+
+"To the Carnival Room at the Café de Luxe. A table for two has been
+reserved in your name, but you will go alone, as before. You will find
+a tea dance in progress and presently a lady will join you at the
+table."
+
+"A lady?" Betty murmured.
+
+"Yes." Mrs. Atterbury paused, and then went on carefully. "A young lady
+with golden hair and very richly gowned. She has a letter to deliver to
+you. You will be able to identify her absolutely by the enormous bunch
+of purple orchids which she will wear. Please remember this carefully,
+Betty, for it is imperative. Should any persons approach you except
+the lady I describe, cut them, absolutely. If they persist, conduct
+yourself just as you would if accosted by any stranger and return home
+immediately. Do you understand quite clearly?"
+
+"Quite, Mrs. Atterbury. When shall I be ready?"
+
+"The car will be brought around for you at four and will wait to bring
+you home."
+
+When, at the hour named, Betty descended the stairs, demure but
+radiant in the dovelike costume, Mrs. Atterbury intercepted her at the
+drawing-room door.
+
+"Charming, my dear! But why do you wear a veil? It really spoils the
+whole effect and you do not need it."
+
+"My face!" Betty seemed to shrink within herself. "The birthmark, you
+know. I--I find the people here look at me so strangely."
+
+Her employer shot a keen glance at her.
+
+"You must not permit yourself to grow self-conscious. The mark is not
+an absolute disfigurement, as I have told you, and even if it were,
+it is irremediable. You can only make yourself needlessly wretched by
+thinking morbidly of it." Her level tones sharpened with the note of
+stern authority which the girl remembered. "Remove the veil at once
+and do not wear it when you go on an assignment for me."
+
+Betty's fingers trembled as she obeyed. Could Mrs. Atterbury have
+divined her subterfuge? When she raised her eyes, however, the other
+woman was smiling graciously.
+
+"Ah! that is better. The fur brings out your color, my dear. Remember
+to hold no communication with anyone except the lady you are going to
+meet."
+
+The Café de Luxe was the most cosmopolitan of the newer establishments
+which had sprung up mushroomlike throughout the theatre district of the
+city to meet the latest demands of an amusement-crazed public. Garishly
+appointed, it was as blatant in character as the clientele to whom for
+the most part it catered. The many mirrors and dazzling-colored lights,
+combined with the blare of the orchestra and the heated, heavily
+perfumed air, confused Betty for a moment and a sensation of faintness
+stole over her.
+
+Through the parted lobby curtains she beheld a vista of crowded tables
+each with its mutually engrossed couple, and behind them in a roped-off
+square the dancers, jerking and swaying like marionettes. As she
+hesitated, a small, white-gloved hand was laid upon her arm and a merry
+voice, glad with surprise, sounded in her ears.
+
+"Ruth! Where have you been all this while? Everyone is asking about
+you! Fancy meeting you here! Isn't this simply fascinating?"
+
+Betty turned slowly. A plump, fair-haired girl with a pretty, doll-like
+face stood beside her. She was dressed in the extreme of fashion but
+valley lilies instead of orchids were clustered at her belt. Betty
+bestowed upon her a slow, deliberate stare of non-recognition, which
+the other returned in wide-eyed bewilderment which swiftly changed
+to confusion and dismay when her eyes encountered the birthmark.
+With a crimson face, she murmured a halting apology and turning,
+fled precipitately. Betty watched the stranger until she vanished in
+the congested group at the entrance door, then made her way into the
+restaurant.
+
+The headwaiter bowed profoundly and with elaborate circumstance led her
+to a retired spot behind a cluster of palms, where covers had been laid
+for two. A low bowl of purple orchids graced the center of her table,
+but she noted that all those nearby were decorated only with daffodils
+in tall vases. Were the flowers meant for a sign by which her own
+identity was to have been disclosed to the mysterious other woman?
+
+The waiter hovered obsequiously about and Betty ordered tea to be
+rid, for the moment at least, of his unwelcome attention. Her eyes
+mechanically swept the moving kaleidoscope of faces about her, but all
+seemed too preoccupied to give a passing glance to the solitary figure
+half-hidden behind the towering palms.
+
+The tea, long since placed before her, grew cold untasted; the
+tintinabulation of the orchestra ceased, then after an interval
+recommenced, and still Betty sat alone. The hands she clenched beneath
+the tablecloth were icy, but her cheeks burned and her heart pounded
+suffocatingly.
+
+How long must she wait? She had not been told the hour of this strange
+appointment, but Mrs. Atterbury had remarked that morning that the
+errand might keep her out until late. The incident of the girl with
+the valley lilies kept recurring to her thoughts, and as the minutes
+lengthened into a half-hour she felt an all but overmastering impulse
+to spring up and run from the chattering, inconsequent throng to the
+seclusion of the waiting car, even if it meant facing the unleashed
+fury of her employer.
+
+All at once she became conscious that a young man had appeared
+beside her; a strange young man, with a clean-cut face and square
+shoulders beneath an irreproachably fitting coat. Betty's swift glance
+encompassed his general appearance, but her eyes fixed themselves upon
+his lapel where nodded a single orchid of a livid purple hue.
+
+The young man bowed stiffly and without waiting for an invitation,
+pulled out the opposite chair and seated himself.
+
+"So sorry to have been late, but I was unavoidably detained," he began
+in a loud, forced voice. Then bending swiftly across to her he added
+in a rapid undertone: "The lady could not come, but I am here in her
+place. Put your muff on the table and I will slip the packet into it."
+
+Betty eyed him steadily.
+
+"You have made some mistake." She spoke in a low voice with quiet
+distinctness. "I do not know you."
+
+"Good heavens, don't make a scene! It is all right, I tell you! Can't
+you understand? The lady was unable to come in person but she sent me
+to deliver it to you. Look! Don't you recognize this?" He spoke with
+half-savage insistence and the girl noticed that beads of perspiration
+had started upon his brow. He touched the flower in his buttonhole,
+then pointed to the others in the bowl between them, but she gave no
+sign of comprehension.
+
+"I do not know who you are, or what you are talking about," Betty said
+coldly. "I must ask you to leave my table at once."
+
+"What sort of a game are you trying to play?" he demanded. "You are
+the woman I came here to find. I recognized you at once from the
+description--"
+
+Betty rose.
+
+"Wait!" The young man put out a detaining hand. "What is the good of
+all this bluff? I give you my word of honor that I am acting in good
+faith with you--"
+
+"You must be mad!" Her eyes flashed with unfeigned resentment and
+indignation. "If you attempt to follow or annoy me further, sir, I
+shall complain to the management."
+
+Turning, she swept from the restaurant and out to where the car awaited
+her at the curb, but as it rolled swiftly away, she sank back and
+buried her burning face among the cushions.
+
+When the strangely pertinacious young man had declared his recognition
+of her, his eyes had been upon the birthmark on her cheek. This, then,
+was the reason for Mrs. Atterbury's peremptory command to her to remove
+her veil. Her very infirmity was being made to serve her employer's
+ends!
+
+Betty laughed softly, bitterly, and struck her small, clenched fist
+against the window frame, in impotent anger. Then her head drooped upon
+her arm and for the first time since she had entered Mrs. Atterbury's
+service, she broke down utterly. Sobbing the weary, heartbreaking sobs
+of a forsaken child, she cowered in her corner, while street after
+street flitted by in the ghostly gray dusk.
+
+At length, spent with the storm of her emotion she lay back, exhausted
+but calm once more. The dusk was deepening to darkness and as she
+watched the chain of lights twinkling past, Betty suddenly came to a
+realization of the flight of time. Surely she should have reached the
+house on the North Drive long before this! Had an hour gone by while
+she sat huddled there, weakly giving way to tears?--
+
+Tears! Betty's very heart stood still for a moment in deathly fear.
+Then she switched on the light and seized the mirror from the leather
+case before her. The face which stared back at her was pale, the eyes
+puffed and reddened, but a dab of cosmetic and powder would conceal the
+ravages of her emotion from even Mrs. Atterbury's keen eyes until she
+could reach the haven of her own room.
+
+The necessary articles were in her wristbag and she applied them
+quickly, then turned off the light once more and peered again from the
+window. The streets were narrow and unfamiliar, even squalid; where was
+she being taken?
+
+Pressing a button, she caught up the speaking tube.
+
+"I wished to go directly home and I cannot understand why we have not
+reached there. Did Mrs. Atterbury give any different instructions?"
+
+"No, miss, only to drive back along the Western Parkway, but I find the
+streets are closed for repairs, and I have to go around. I'm sorry;
+I'll hurry, miss."
+
+The car zig-zagged for several blocks further, then turned a corner
+sharply and swung into the North Drive, shooting forward with
+lightning speed. Betty held her breath as the car skidded between the
+towering entrance gates and she drew a deep sigh of relief when it
+swooped under the _porte-cochère_ and came to a jarring halt before the
+lighted doorway.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury was awaiting her and drew her into the library.
+
+"What has happened?" Her tone was low but vibrating as if she spoke
+with bated breath. "The lady did not appear?"
+
+Betty shook her head.
+
+"A man came instead. He wore an orchid boutonniere, and he tried to
+make me listen to him. He had your letter with him, and wanted to put
+it in my muff but I pretended not to understand, but to be insulted at
+his daring to address me. He would not go, so I left him."
+
+She described her experience of the afternoon in detail, omitting
+only to mention the girl who had accosted her in the lobby, and Mrs.
+Atterbury heard her without interruption to the end, then placing her
+hand beneath the girl's chin, she lifted her face to the light.
+
+"You have been crying, my child. Is there something which you have not
+told me?"
+
+Betty was thankful for the burning blush which swept to her brow.
+
+"I did cry a little, in the car coming home," she admitted. "It was
+silly of me, I know, but the man frightened me, he was so persistent,
+and rather fierce. I'm very sorry I failed, Mrs. Atterbury."
+
+"'Failed!' My dear, you have succeeded! You carried out my instructions
+to the letter, and no one could ask more. I regret that you were
+annoyed, but the gentleman who came to meet you did not himself
+understand the situation. I can promise you that you will not have that
+sort of thing to contend with another time." Mrs. Atterbury's black
+eyes flashed ominously, but they softened when they rested again upon
+the girl's face. "Now run and dress, Betty, for we dine very shortly.
+And remember, child, that I am very well pleased with what you have
+done, and I shall not forget it."
+
+Betty's heart was heavy, nevertheless, as she obeyed. The adventure
+at the opera had brought a thrill of excitement and she had given
+little thought to its possible consequences, but the afternoon through
+which she had just passed brought a swift revulsion of feeling and she
+tore off the costly furs as if they stifled her. She was filled with
+loathing of her task and its instigators and a growing dread of the
+future. Why was she singled out to be the bearer of these mysterious
+missives? She had been prepared to carry out the agreement under which
+she had been engaged, but she shrank from the role of confidential
+messenger and hoped fervently that she would not soon again be called
+upon to play it.
+
+The hope was vain, however, for on the following afternoon she found
+herself again in the car and speeding toward the lower part of town.
+Her destination on this occasion was not the garish Café de Luxe, but
+the old Hotel Rochefoucauld on Jefferson Square, whose conservative
+roof sheltered now only the elect of an older regime, which still clung
+to the aristocratic purlieus of a bygone generation.
+
+"But if the lady with the orchids does not come this time," Betty had
+faltered to her employer, when she received her parting instructions,
+"if the man who met me yesterday appears again, what shall I say to
+him?"
+
+"He will not, never fear." Mrs. Atterbury had smiled, but the cold
+light glinted in her eyes once more. "The lady will be there herself,
+and you need exchange no words with her; just take my letter from her
+hands and bring it to me."
+
+Betty made her way down the wide, dim corridor of the ancient hostelry
+to the writing-room to which she had been directed. The heavy velvet
+curtains at the windows almost wholly obscured the light and she
+fancied at first that the room was deserted, but as her eyes became
+accustomed to the gloom she descried a small figure half-hidden in a
+huge leather chair.
+
+As she approached it, she was conscious only of a heap of soft, brown
+fur with a deep purple blur of orchids nestling in it, but she halted
+abruptly a few feet away. The other rose slowly and for a moment the
+two young women stared at each other.
+
+It was the girl of the art shop! The blonde, fairy-like creature who
+had regarded her with such evident repulsion and fear! Betty stood
+rigid with amazement and then the truth came to her in a flash of
+understanding.
+
+The purchase of the mirror was a mere subterfuge to get her to the shop
+at a certain hour, where this other woman had doubtless been directed
+to note her appearance for future recognition. She remembered how the
+stranger's eyes had lingered on her birthmark, which she evidently
+described to the man who had attempted to take her place on the
+previous day. Every action, no matter how trivial, which was suggested
+by Mrs. Atterbury must be a part of some deep-laid, far-reaching plan.
+
+The same look of fear was intensified now in the eyes fastened upon her
+and a tiny gloved hand was extended as if to ward off a blow.
+
+"I couldn't come yesterday, for I was really ill." The stranger spoke
+in a low, fluttering voice. "I sent him, I played fair, why would you
+not deal with him? Here is what you have come for; take it, and let me
+go!"
+
+She drew from her breast a long, sealed, blank envelope and held it
+out, but Betty's fingers had not closed upon it before the other's
+touch was withdrawn as though contaminated. She glided quickly to the
+door, but paused upon its threshold and turned, her golden head erect.
+
+"Remember!" she cried, her flute-like tones suddenly shrill. "Tell
+those who sent you that I shall have nothing more to do with this
+affair. If a further attempt is made to drag me into it I shall kill
+myself. I will accept no more commands, expose myself to no future
+danger. I am almost mad now, but I shall have enough sanity left to
+take myself beyond your reach. I have kept my wretched compact; see to
+it that you keep yours."
+
+The doorway was empty, but a faint elusive perfume lingered in the air,
+and upon the floor at Betty's feet lay a crushed and trampled orchid,
+its livid petals outspread like the wings of some wounded tropic bird.
+
+Betty stood staring down at it for a moment, then abruptly thrusting
+the envelope into her muff, she turned and made her way to the street.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+                             _Crossroads._
+
+
+The rain was falling in torrents, hard driven before the gusty March
+wind, and turning the gutters into miniature foam-crested freshets when
+Betty struggled up the steps of the Egyptological Museum, with the
+completed translation beneath her arm.
+
+The attendant who took possession of her dripping umbrella stared
+curiously at her unveiled face and his gaze followed her as she
+ascended to the upper floor, but Betty was oblivious to the interest
+her presence created. Her thoughts were travelling ahead of her
+down the corridor to the office numbered nine, and the friendly,
+laughing-eyed young man who awaited her there.
+
+The hour of her previous visit was the one bright spot in the gloom and
+mystery which had surrounded her since she made her entrance into Mrs.
+Atterbury's service, and his protective concern when she had rushed
+blindly into his arms at that unexpected meeting almost at the gates of
+her new home, lingered comfortingly in her memory.
+
+As she entered, Herbert Ross rose from behind his desk with extended
+hand and a beaming smile of welcome.
+
+"You are punctual, Miss Shaw, in spite of the rain. How is the work
+coming on?"
+
+"It is finished." Betty laid the roll of manuscript upon the desk
+before him. "I hope that it will prove satisfactory, Mr. Ross."
+
+"You found it difficult?" He spread the papers out, glancing over them
+rapidly as he spoke.
+
+"No. I have translated almost literally as you can see--But I forgot
+that you were not an Egyptologist yourself."
+
+"Nevertheless, I am sure this will be an admirable addition to our
+collection of translated papyri. What sonorous, mouthfilling phrases
+the old chaps used in those days!" He quoted from her page: "'Hail ye
+living ones upon earth, ye who pass on the Nile, scribes all, readers
+and priests of the ka all, this the great Pharaoh and royal Xerxes,
+triumphant.'--I will place this at once in the hands of the keeper of
+antiquities."
+
+He pressed a button in the wall beside him, then abruptly swung his
+chair around until he faced her. His eyes had narrowed slightly and
+there was no longer a hint of a smile about his firm lips.
+
+"Miss Shaw, you told me when you were last here that your time was not
+wholly your own. Does that mean that you are employed at indeterminate
+hours? I ask this in reference to future work, of course."
+
+Betty nodded, and moistened her lips nervously.
+
+"I did most of this translating at night."
+
+"Ah! You are free, then, in the evenings? What is the nature of your
+work, if I may ask? Are you a teacher?"
+
+A knock upon the door saved her from an immediate reply. A uniformed
+attendant entered and to him Herbert Ross entrusted the manuscript with
+instructions to take it to Professor Carmody. When the door had closed
+once more he turned to her inquiringly, and noted a swift pallor which
+seemed to have blotted all the wind-blown color from her face.
+
+"You teach?" he repeated.
+
+Betty shook her head. She dared not risk his asking where she taught if
+she took refuge in that evasion. The truth, or at least as much of it
+as was possible under the circumstances, would be safest.
+
+"I am a--a visiting secretary."
+
+"Indeed. That explains your presence on the North Drive the other day
+when you literally ran into me." His lips relaxed. "You told me you
+were late for an appointment, I remember. You are not living at present
+at the address which you gave me, Miss Shaw."
+
+It was neither question nor accusation, but a mere statement of fact
+casually uttered, and yet a bomb-shell could not more effectively have
+stunned the girl. Could her former landlady have betrayed her? Her head
+whirled and it seemed another voice than hers which replied quietly:
+
+"No. I am staying temporarily at the home of my employer, but I have my
+mail sent to my permanent address."
+
+"I see. You are not a native of the city, then? Your home is not here?"
+
+What did this continued catechism portend? In so far as the translating
+provided an excuse for this insistent young man's questions she would
+reply, but her personal affairs and former life were surely no concern
+of a museum director.
+
+"No, my home is not here." She paused deliberately. "Perhaps, if this
+translation proves satisfactory and you have other work for me, Mr.
+Ross, you will mail it. I will arrange to have it forwarded--"
+
+She got no farther for the door was suddenly flung wide and a
+shrivelled grey little man precipitated himself into the room. With
+bent shoulders and head thrust forward, he peered eagerly at the
+younger man through thick tortoise-shell glasses and demanded in a high
+voice crackling with nervous excitement:
+
+"Ross, who is she? The young woman you said had undertaken this
+translation for you? I must see her--"
+
+"She is here." The young man rose. "Miss Shaw, allow me to present
+Professor Carmody."
+
+The girl bowed distantly, but the little professor advanced to her with
+outstretched hands.
+
+"My dear young lady, I want to congratulate--" He stopped abruptly,
+amazement and a dawning recognition in his eyes. "It can't be--is it
+possible----?"
+
+"You find my translation satisfactory then, Professor Carmody?" Betty
+darted a swift glance at him, and then turned her head sharply as
+if to gaze from the window. This move presented her profile to the
+nearsighted eyes bent upon her, and brought the birthmark out with
+cruel distinctness upon her cheek.
+
+Professor Carmody halted, stammering, and the look of expectancy died
+from his weazened face.
+
+"I beg your pardon. I fancied for a moment that I had met you before. I
+intruded just now, Miss--Miss--"
+
+"Betty Shaw." The girl prompted him steadily.
+
+"Miss Shaw, I wanted to tell you that your work is admirable! The
+translation is masterly and I doubt if even my friend Professor Mallory
+himself could have improved upon it. You have kept to the text with
+extraordinary fidelity, and retained the spirit as well as the letter
+to a marked degree!"
+
+"Thank you." In spite of herself Betty flushed at the fervent praise,
+but she kept her face averted. "The work was intensely interesting,
+but I feared I had forgotten a great deal."
+
+"Miss Shaw studied with an associate of Professor Mallory," Ross
+remarked.
+
+"Really. I should have believed her to have been a pupil of the great
+man himself." Professor Carmody's eyes still glistened with enthusiasm.
+"I shall be happy to show you several original papyri of profound
+interest, if you will call some morning, my dear Miss Shaw. In this
+intensely modern age, it is a genuine pleasure to encounter a young
+person who appreciates the wisdom and greatness of the past."
+
+He bowed and had turned to the door when Herbert Ross stopped him with
+a reminder.
+
+"You, er--you have the check, Professor?"
+
+"Bless me, of course!" The little man fumbled in his pocket for a
+moment, then drew out a narrow slip of paper which he laid upon the
+desk. "There are one or two inscriptions from tombs of the eleventh
+dynasty, I believe, which have been awaiting translation. You will find
+them in that drawer, there. Good afternoon, Miss Shaw."
+
+When the sound of his quick, nervous footsteps had died away down the
+corridor, Ross handed the check to Betty. It was made out for fifty
+dollars and signed by the secretary of the Egyptological Society.
+Murmuring a conventional expression of thanks, the girl placed it in
+her handbag and rose.
+
+"Would you care to undertake some more translation immediately?" the
+young man asked, opening the drawer tentatively.
+
+"I should, very much," Betty responded, her eyes alight with eagerness.
+
+"In that case, it will be necessary for me to have your present
+address, Miss Shaw." There was no mistaking the businesslike finality
+in his tone, and Betty hesitated. If she refused, she would not only
+forfeit the translating which was a fascinating study, but she might
+never again see this young man, her only link with the world beyond
+Mrs. Atterbury's forbidding gates. On the other hand, her reticence
+would undoubtedly arouse his curiosity and suspicion and if he were
+sufficiently interested, he might institute awkward inquiries and
+precipitate the very crisis she sought to avoid. Would frankness be her
+wisest course? She hesitated only a moment.
+
+"Mr. Ross, I gave you the address of my boarding house because I have
+undertaken this translation unknown to my present employer. I work at
+it only in my leisure hours, but I do not think she would approve of my
+doing anything which lay outside of her own immediate interests. She is
+Mrs. Atterbury, of Three Hundred and Thirty-five North Drive. However,
+I should like all communications sent to the first address I gave you."
+
+Herbert Ross drew his hand quickly across his forehead and there was
+an odd, repressed note in his voice.
+
+"I quite understand. You will remain for some little time in your
+present position? I believe you said it was temporary."
+
+"I--I cannot tell." Betty's tone was very low and her eyes wandered
+restlessly to the door. "I shall have finished this translation, at any
+rate, before I leave."
+
+"Very well." He arose and held out his hand to her. "Bring it to me,
+please, when it is completed. The terms will be the same as before. I
+wish you the best of luck with it, Miss Shaw."
+
+When she had gone he dropped back into his chair and sat for some
+minutes lost in a profound reverie which, judging by his frown, was not
+a happy one. At length he struck the desk an emphatic blow with his
+fist as if to register some vital decisions and springing to his feet,
+he started precipitately for the sanctum of Professor Carmody.
+
+"My dear Ross!" The grey little man glanced up in mild deprecation
+from a heap of yellowed parchments as the other burst in upon him. "I
+trust my abrupt intrusion on your conference did not complicate matters
+for you. I had completely forgotten, in my enthusiasm over the young
+woman's remarkable work, that she was a subject for your own especial
+study."
+
+"On the contrary, Professor, your entrance was fortunate; it lent
+verisimilitude to the little farce I have been playing with your
+valuable assistance. But I want to ask you a question upon which much
+depends. For whom did you mistake Miss Shaw, when you first saw her?"
+
+Professor Carmody pondered for a space.
+
+"I do not know," he responded at length, thoughtfully. "I cannot recall
+her name, but I was forcibly reminded of a young girl whom I had met
+in Cairo some two years ago, who was studying under Professor Mallory.
+When Miss Shaw turned her head I realized my mistake at once, for the
+girl I speak of had no blemish upon her face. It is rather odd, as
+the translation bears unmistakable earmarks of Professor Mallory's
+tutelage, but the association of ideas is undoubtedly responsible for
+my misapprehension."
+
+"Undoubtedly," echoed Ross. "Nevertheless, if you can recall the name
+of the young woman in Cairo, by any chance, I shall be grateful."
+
+It was Professor Carmody's turn to halt his visitor at the door.
+
+"This Miss Shaw to whom you just presented me--I trust that, er, she is
+not under your professional interest as a suspect? A young person of
+such a high order of intelligence, of intellectuality----"
+
+"By no means, Professor. She is merely an unimportant witness in a
+civil case; rather curious, but with no criminal features. I'll look in
+on you tomorrow. Try to remember the other girl's name for me; the one
+in Cairo."
+
+Twenty minutes later, when the young detective was ushered into the
+presence of Madame Dumois, even that astute lady could read nothing in
+his grave non-committal face.
+
+"You have found her?" The aged voice quivered with the tension of her
+control, but there was no hint of a tenderer emotion. "The young person
+you suspected, is she the original of the photograph I showed you?"
+
+Ross shook his head.
+
+"I have been unable to determine." His voice was very low. "She has
+succeeded in eluding me, Madame Dumois. I am sorry to be obliged to
+confess it, but I was too confident. Either I have underestimated
+her intelligence and inadvertently put her on the defensive, or
+circumstances have combined to effect her disappearance a second time.
+She has slipped from my grasp."
+
+The old lady uttered an exclamation of bitter disappointment and anger.
+
+"Why did you not take me to her at once?" she demanded. "A fig for your
+conscientious scruples, sir! Had she not proved to be the young woman I
+am looking for, what harm could it have done?"
+
+"None, save precipitate the notoriety you wish to avoid, Madame
+Dumois." He leaned toward her with a ring of passionate earnestness in
+his tones. "Why will you not be frank with me? What is your interest
+in this girl? What do you mean to do with her when you have found her?"
+
+"I repeat, that is solely my affair." She fixed him with a shrewd
+glance. "I might answer your question by another, young man. What
+interest have you in my motive for instituting this search? You have
+found someone whom you believe to be the one I wish to see, yet you
+claim to be unable to produce her. What has my object to do with your
+chances of locating her once more?"
+
+His interrogator's keen directness took the young detective by
+surprise, but he countered swiftly.
+
+"Everything, my dear Madame! If I were assured that her disappearance
+was a purely voluntary one, resulting from inclination alone, rather
+than any sinister or criminal cause, I could prosecute my search along
+far different lines than those I am compelled to adopt, as long as I am
+working in the dark."
+
+"You have not entirely lost track of your suspect, then?" The old lady
+leaned forward in her chair. "You will be able to find her again?"
+
+"I firmly believe that I shall, but it may require some little time,"
+he responded cautiously.
+
+Madame Dumois straightened herself with an air of conscious triumph.
+
+"In that case, Mr. Ross, our original compact holds, unless you
+voluntarily relinquish it. Find her with the information I have
+already given you, or drop the case. That is positively my last word
+in the matter. I decline to take you or anyone into my confidence.
+What I have to say to that young woman shall be said to her alone, and
+what disposition I shall make of her will be strictly according to her
+deserts. If I did not believe you to be above suspicion, upon my soul,
+I should accuse you of knowing more than you will admit and actually
+trying to shield her!"
+
+"My dear lady!" He raised protesting hands. "I shall not refer you to
+my chief, or call upon my record to witness my utter singlemindedness
+in this, as in every other case I have handled. It is one of the
+generally accepted prejudices against those engaged in my profession
+that we are devoid of any finer feeling and insensible to injustice,
+but I had believed myself immune from such a suspicion, especially in
+the eyes of a person of your rare discernment."
+
+"I haven't accused you of bribery, young man!" There was a softer,
+almost contrite note in her dry tones. "But a baby stare has forced
+many a hasty conclusion. However, we won't quarrel about it. I can
+assure you of one thing; in placing that young woman in my hands you'll
+be saving her from far worse ones. Whether she has dabbled in crime or
+not, the quicker she is located the better for her."
+
+"I shall do my best," Ross said earnestly. "Be assured that I have
+no interest in this but to serve you. My questions may have seemed
+impertinent, but they were not prompted by idle curiosity, you know. I
+shall not intrude again until I have something definite to report."
+
+He bowed over her hand and her withered fingers tightened about his in
+a cordial clasp.
+
+"I hope it will be soon, Mr. Ross," she added in impulsive candor.
+"Call whenever you wish and I shall be at home. I won't promise you any
+further information, but I am a lonely old woman and I find our little
+tilts highly diverting. If you have not yet succeeded in my quest you
+have at least brought me a new interest in life, and I positively look
+forward to your visits."
+
+"Thank you." He smiled boyishly. "I will avail myself of your
+invitation gladly, Madame Dumois, but remember I mean to succeed, even
+if I must work blindfold."
+
+The smile did not linger as he made his way down the path to the Drive.
+The old lady's shrewd instinct had divined his procrastination and
+unerringly probed its cause, and his chief, too, would be clamoring for
+a report. Why should he hesitate? The girl was within reach of his hand
+and his duty was clear. Scar or no scar, he could not blind himself to
+the conviction that in Betty Shaw his search was ended. What was it
+that, stronger than his will, deeper-rooted than his loyalty still held
+him back from the step which sooner or later would be inevitable?
+
+As the toils closed tighter about the girl and the clouds which
+encompassed her grew darker and more sinister, her face shone clearer
+before his mental vision and her steady eyes seemed to meet his in
+sorrowful questioning.
+
+He was a detective, but he was also a man; must he in willful ignorance
+of the consequences, deliver her to the tender mercies of Madame
+Dumois? She had trusted him, she had replied in simple faith to the
+decoy advertisement and placed herself in his hands. Madame Dumois had
+also given him her confidence, relying upon his professional honor.
+Which would be the greater betrayal?
+
+Detective McCormick was in the best of humors, and shook hands heartily
+with his young operative.
+
+"My boy, that was the finest bit of sheer luck that has come our way in
+many a long day!" he exclaimed. "Your running into Ide hanging around
+the gates of that place out on the North Drive has given the whole
+investigation a new turn, and I shouldn't wonder if the results would
+be sensational."
+
+"I wouldn't be too sanguine, sir." Ross spoke with curious repression.
+"It was dusk, as I told you, and I only had a momentary glimpse as I
+flashed past in a taxi. I may have been mistaken."
+
+"You didn't think so the other day." The Chief turned in his swivel
+chair and stared up at him. "You were sure enough then of the
+identification, and I think myself that you were right. I've had the
+place covered ever since, and there's something queer doing there, as
+sure as shooting!"
+
+"Doesn't seem likely." Ross shook his head. "People of the social
+standing of those who live on the North Drive couldn't be mixed up in
+any game of Ide's. What did you mean 'queer,' sir? Who's on the job?"
+
+"Clark. The house is owned by a woman named Atterbury; lived there for
+years and seems to rate A1 in the neighborhood, but she's laying mighty
+low, too low for a person who is on the level. She's comparatively
+young and a good looker, but she lives like a hermit, and there's a
+young girl in the household, a girl with a scar on her face, who will
+bear watching."
+
+"I think it's a mistake, sir, it must be." Ross spoke with all the
+assurance he could command. "There's nothing wrong with the Atterbury
+woman, and as for the girl--"
+
+"As for her, what?" demanded his chief, as he paused. "What do you know
+about them?"
+
+"Nothing, except in a general way," he hedged lamely. "But if she's the
+Mrs. Atterbury I imagine, Clark is barking up the wrong tree and he'll
+only make a fool of himself if you let him push this matter. Ide--if it
+was really Ide whom I saw--may have been passing by. That is a blind
+trail, Chief."
+
+"Look here, Ross, what's got into you?" McCormick blustered. "You were
+as keen on the scent as Clark is now and all of a sudden you back down.
+The fellow was Ide, all right; I've never known you to make a mistake
+yet in spotting a man, and I tell you this Atterbury woman, whoever she
+is, has an ace in the hole, somewhere. What's the dope?"
+
+"Simply that she is too well known, too prominent. You couldn't touch
+her, sir. It's out of the question."
+
+"Is it?" McCormick swore a vigorous oath. "Nobody ever flew so high yet
+that I couldn't bring 'em down when I had the goods on them. And I'll
+get it, Ross, don't make any mistake about that! This is the first time
+you've laid down on anything, but Clark will stick like a burr and even
+if Ide is out of it, there's some other little game being pulled off up
+there, you mark my words. We'll get to the bottom of it before I call
+Clark off it. But what's the good word in your own case?"
+
+"Nothing doing." Ross raised his eyes with an effort to those of his
+chief. "I've been stalling Madame Dumois and trying to kid her into
+giving me enough data to work on, but you know how it was with you. She
+is fighting so shy of possible notoriety that she won't loosen, but I
+haven't given up hope. I found one clue that looked promising, but I
+was on the wrong track. It wasn't the right girl."
+
+"Well, keep after the old lady." McCormick resumed the cigar butt he
+had relinquished at the other's appearance. "You can get around her in
+time if anyone can. Let me know when something turns up."
+
+"Very well, sir." Ross accepted the hint and departed, but long after
+the door had closed behind him, McCormick sat gazing reflectively
+before him with a startled half-incredulous query in his eyes.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+                            _Face to Face._
+
+
+Betty attacked the new translation that evening with undiminished
+enthusiasm but her mind wandered and when midnight came a few meager
+lines proved to be the result of her labors. She paused to read them
+over before putting them away and the quaint phraseology fell strangely
+from her lips upon the stillness of the room.
+
+"To the Stele of Abu I have come in peace to sepulchre this of eternity
+which I have made in the horizon western of the home of Abydos--"
+
+Her voice halted and trembled into silence and she stood listening
+with every nerve strained. A dull jarring crash had sounded from below
+accompanied by the muffled but harsh tones of a man's voice raised in
+anger or expostulation.
+
+Hastily disposing of her work she extinguished the light and
+groping her way to the door, opened it. The voice had sunk to an
+indistinguishable rumble, and mingled with it was a murmur in a higher,
+clearer tone which she had no difficulty in recognizing as that of Mrs.
+Atterbury.
+
+The girl hesitated, then crept to the head of the stairs. The house
+was in darkness save for a narrow shaft of light which glowed from the
+open door of the music room. Clinging to the banisters and keeping well
+in shadow, Betty made her way down the staircase and from behind the
+shelter of the newel post she peered into the room.
+
+Jack Wolvert was crouched half over the table, both fists full of
+crumpled papers and his dark face, half-defiant, half-cringing, leered
+up at his hostess who stood before him drawn up to her full height in
+imperious disdain.
+
+"You're crazy!" he ejaculated. "What's the good of playing a waiting
+game? Come out in the open and make one big bluff, that's my idea."
+
+"You'll find it decidedly dangerous, my man, to execute your ideas
+without my sanction." Mrs. Atterbury's quiet tones dominated his
+blustering whine. "Remember, I am master and I will not brook any
+rebellion against my authority. I might remind you that the last time
+you took matters into your own hands the result was unfortunate."
+
+"Ah-h!" The sound which issued from his lips was between a snarl and
+a groan, and Betty saw his whole body quiver as he cowered back. Mrs.
+Atterbury advanced a step and her cameo-like face suddenly hardened.
+
+"We're all in this for life or death. If one succeeds, all succeed; if
+one fails, he fails alone. That was my rule, but once I broke it for
+you. Hereafter you fare with the rest. You have your uses, I admit, but
+no one is indispensable to me. You know what happened to the Comet;
+remember her luck when you are tempted to play a lone hand, my friend."
+
+Betty waited to hear no more, but turned and fled silently up the
+stair, her heart beating tumultuously. The level unemotional voice of
+Mrs. Atterbury had not raised in pitch or increased in volume, yet
+there had been something far more sinister in its measured utterance
+than any display of ungoverned wrath could have evidenced.
+
+The girl sank trembling upon her couch and for the first time a vision
+came to her of her own possible fate should the extent of her knowledge
+be even suspected by the ruthless woman downstairs. She had learned
+from the cipher letter of the retribution which had overtaken "The
+Comet," and once again the stark face of Breckinridge rose before her,
+his sightless eyes fixed on hers in mute warning.
+
+She covered her face with her hands, striving to shut out the dread
+picture imagination conjured for her. She, like the Comet, was playing
+a lone hand, but the stakes were worth the hazard! At that thought her
+momentary weakness dropped from her like a cloak and she straightened,
+her eyes aflame with resolution. She would win, she must!
+
+Disrobing in the dark, she lay for long listening intently, but no
+sound reached her from below, and the strained effort brought its
+own reaction of fatigue. She slept at last, to awaken only when the
+sunlight of broad day streamed through the uncurtained window and
+flooded her face.
+
+There was no hint of the previous night's quarrel in the genial
+camaraderie of Mrs. Atterbury's attitude toward Wolvert, but Betty
+fancied that Madame Cimmino regarded them both with ill-concealed
+anxiety and the girl was glad to escape to the seclusion of the library.
+
+The morning's correspondence awaited her, and she opened the first
+letter in listless abstraction, her thoughts still centered on the
+implacable words she had overheard. One glance at the sheet of
+note-paper in her hand, however, and everything else was banished from
+her mind.
+
+    "My dear Marcia:
+
+    "Professor Blythe has caught pneumonia in Chicago. Doctor's
+    consultation held over him on Monday. Too old for recovery,
+    Hamilton says is verdict. Much grieved but still hope. McCormick
+    has been getting orders which evidence strong market. New machinery
+    no trouble to operate. Marked Mary's improved letters; she has
+    seized her opportunity. Hear from out west that John Cote won
+    appeal. Sanitarium being planned for consumptives here. Good
+    air but nothing can be doing if Mayor refuses permit. Please
+    communicate in care Trust Company. Give nobody business confidence
+    but me. They lie who say low prices ruin business. It is dead if
+    the end of the superfluous stock is not sold out regardless of cost.
+
+    "With kindest regards,
+
+                                                                "Yours,
+                                                             "Shirley."
+
+With a curious set smile Betty read and reread the missive, then laid
+it aside, and sat for some minutes staring out of the window. The
+hidden message was pregnant with meaning and a shade of anxiety crossed
+her face. The man whom she had seen loitering under the lamp-post just
+outside the gates a few days before loomed up as a possibility more to
+be dreaded than any present contingency within the house and she felt
+that she was being irresistibly carried forward in a chain of events
+forged by circumstance which she could not break if she would.
+
+When Mrs. Atterbury came to her, Betty watched surreptitiously for her
+reception of the cipher letter and saw that after a quick glance her
+employer thrust it without a perusal into her belt. The girl marveled
+anew at her stoicism; she must at least have gleaned the purport of
+the first sentence, yet her eyes were as clear and her voice as steady
+as though it had been the most casual of communications.
+
+Her dictation was interrupted by the abrupt entrance of Madame Cimmino.
+
+"Look!" the latter exclaimed with an excited gesture toward the window.
+"It is Louise Dana, but in what haste! Without a hat, too, in this most
+detestable of climates! Is it that something has happened? An accident?"
+
+She spoke lightly, but her eyes smouldered as they met Mrs.
+Atterbury's, and the rouge stood out in patches of vivid scarlet
+against the sudden pallor which blanched her cheeks.
+
+Mrs. Dana was running swiftly up the path from the gate, her
+meretriciously golden head bare and gleaming in the sunlight. A cloak
+had been flung carelessly about her figure, but as she sped past the
+window Betty noted that her feet were encased in the thinnest of
+boudoir slippers.
+
+With a murmured ejaculation Mrs. Atterbury hurried from the room
+followed by Madame Cimmino, and the girl was left to her own thoughts.
+A bell pealed wildly through the house and its echo had not died
+away when there came a slam of the front door and a piercing cry
+which reached even to the secluded library, although Betty could only
+distinguish a word or two.
+
+"Mortie--caught--help--!"
+
+"Good God!" It was unmistakably Wolvert's voice but shaken with the
+same craven fear which had actuated it on the day of Betty's arrival.
+"What do you mean by coming here? Do you want to give us all--"
+
+"Silence!" Mrs. Atterbury dominated him and after a confused murmur
+from which not a separate word could be gleaned another door closed and
+the hysterical sobs of Louise Dana were hushed.
+
+What had happened to bring that woman in terror to the house? For it
+was mortal terror which had distorted her face as she passed the window
+and had rung in her desperate cry. She had come for help, but what
+help could she find there? Betty remembered her single meeting with
+the florid middle-aged man whose eyes were lined with weariness and
+dissipation. What had he "caught," or was it that he himself had been
+caught in some difficulty?
+
+For half an hour Betty restlessly paced the library, fearing to
+venture forth lest she be suspected of eavesdropping yet longing to
+escape to her own room. The hum of a motor drew her to the window, and
+she reached it in time to see the familiar bizarre stripes of Mrs.
+Atterbury's own car whirl past and down the drive, with a fleeting
+glimpse of a golden head within it. Whatever her trouble, the woman had
+not remained to add its shadow to those already clustering about the
+household.
+
+It was with somewhat of a shock that Betty turned to find her employer
+standing on the threshold.
+
+"Yes, she has gone." Mrs. Atterbury nodded, following the girl's
+glance. "Such a ridiculously nervous, excitable, young woman!
+Just fancy, my dear! Mr. Dana--you met him at my last dinner, if
+you remember--has been ailing for some days, and this morning the
+physician was called and found that he was suffering an acute attack of
+diphtheria. It is very sad, of course, although I do not doubt that he
+will pull through, but that silly wife of his rushed out of the house
+just as she was with only a cloak over her negligee, jumped into a taxi
+and came straight to me. Unfortunately, the car broke down a short
+distance beyond our gates and what the neighbors will think of her
+running about bareheaded I cannot imagine!"
+
+"I am sorry about Mr. Dana," Betty remarked in a lowered tone.
+"Diphtheria is very dangerous, isn't it?"
+
+"Not since medicine has become the science that it is today," responded
+the other, indifferently. "Mr. Wolvert was quite annoyed. Did you hear
+him? He is an arrant coward about contagion, like most men, and he
+feared she would give the disease to all of us! It really was stupid of
+her, but they are strangers here, you know, and I am practically the
+only friend she has. I arranged by 'phone for Mr. Dana's reception in a
+private hospital and she has gone back to him with her nerves steadied.
+What empty-headed fools most modern women are!"
+
+Her tone was a skillful blend of indignation and amusement but she bent
+her eyes upon the girl in a keen, unwavering scrutiny as if to satisfy
+herself that the explanation was received in good faith.
+
+Betty smiled back at her steadily.
+
+"People are apt to lose their heads when someone they love is in
+trouble, don't you think?" she asked.
+
+"Some people, not those with any self-control. I don't believe that you
+would, for instance, my dear. I think that you could be counted upon
+to act in any emergency which presented itself with quick decision and
+courage if you were sufficiently interested."
+
+Betty flushed but she replied without a tremor.
+
+"Perhaps I should. I hope so. We never can tell until the moment comes."
+
+Luncheon was a constrained meal. Madame Cimmino maintained a
+non-committal silence and her nervous fluttering hands were still,
+but Wolvert's mood had changed to a mocking frivolity which Betty
+had learned to recognize as the reaction of his lawless nature from
+any emotional stress. Divining the girl's aversion, he directed his
+witticisms at her, and sought in impish perversity to compel her
+response. Madame Cimmino listened and watched with sombre eyes and Mrs.
+Atterbury flashed an ominous warning to him as they rose.
+
+For the better part of the afternoon her employer kept Betty beside
+her, busied with the mending of household linen, while from the music
+room came strange intermittent bursts of melody, rippling, elusive,
+hauntingly sweet. Long moments of silence would ensue and then a
+thunderous crash of chords as if in very fury the musician sought to
+smother the softer, tenderer strain.
+
+Betty was fascinated in spite of herself. It was as though the man's
+inmost soul were revealed racked with the storm of his passions yet
+alluring in its reckless gay abandon. A dangerous man to himself as
+well as to others she felt, and to her own heart there came again that
+thrill of fear.
+
+When she descended the stairs at dusk, she found Wolvert standing
+before the great hearth in the hall staring moodily into the flames.
+She would have passed him with a mere nod, but he stepped forward
+impulsively.
+
+"Where have you been hiding yourself since lunch? I looked for you in
+every corner, but you had vanished."
+
+"For me?" Betty paused in unguarded surprise.
+
+"For you, mademoiselle!" he mimicked her slyly. "Why will you not be
+kind and talk to me? I know that you disapprove of me most heartily,
+but you have promised to be friendly and I am bored with my own
+exclusive society. Come and sit here and tell me what goes on behind
+those grave, wise, young eyes of yours."
+
+He pushed a chair forward coaxingly but she shook her head.
+
+"I--I have a message for Welch--" she began.
+
+"A plague take Welch!" Wolvert interrupted. "In all this great house,
+where no one ever does anything and nothing ever happens, must you
+alone be always busy, you who alone are worth talking to? You could
+tell me much, if you would."
+
+There was a note of studied intent in his tone which held her as much
+as the choice of phrase piqued her curiosity.
+
+"What do you mean, Mr. Wolvert? What could I tell you?"
+
+He shrugged, laughing lightly.
+
+"Why you are always so still, for one thing, like a little mouse. Your
+silence intrigues me. Why your glance is always so distrait as if
+you were listening to a far-off voice." He knelt upon the chair his
+arms folded across its back and brought his dark face close to hers.
+"Perhaps you will tell me also why your smile is so sad and so bitter.
+What has life taught you, Little Mouse?"
+
+"To keep my own counsel, Mr. Wolvert." Betty retreated a step or two,
+but her eyes met his gravely. "To walk warily, and to do my appointed
+work."
+
+"That is a wise creed." He seemed to muse aloud. "But is this your
+appointed work? To write at another's dictation, to fetch and carry,
+to serve and wait and to be finally dismissed! You are so demure, so
+docile, so perfectly in the picture, that I sometimes wonder if you are
+not playing a part."
+
+He paused and she waited breathlessly seeking to read in his sardonic
+smile how much of serious purpose lay behind the facetious drawl.
+
+"Your work is still new to you, but are you content?" He rose and
+strode around the chair to face her. His manner had changed and the
+words fell in a rapid, insistent undertone from his lips. "Will you
+be satisfied always to stay in the background, to occupy the extra
+chair, to be commanded when you might command? You have too much
+intelligence to be without ambition, too much common sense to work for
+a mere pittance when you might share, too much personality to remain a
+nonentity. You are quick-witted and discreet, you would go far if you
+were shown the way, and I----"
+
+"Jack!" Madame Cimmino's querulous voice sounded from the stairs, and
+Betty shrank guiltily. Wolvert straightened and uttered an oath beneath
+his breath, but the next instant the little mocking smile was curling
+about his lips.
+
+"Ah, Speranza! Now that I have ceased torturing the piano, you come
+forth from your refuge! I have been trying to beguile Miss Shaw from
+her duty and succeeded only in boring her. Come down and tell me how
+you liked my concerto; you must have heard it for I thundered it to the
+gods."
+
+"Miss Shaw does not look bored." Madame Cimmino flashed a look of
+unconcealed hostility at the girl, her usually dull eyes snapping fire.
+"Marcia has sent me for you. She is in her private sitting-room."
+
+"At your service, Madame." He shrugged, glanced at Betty from beneath
+lowered lids and bounded lightly up the stair. Midway he passed the
+woman and she caught his arm, murmuring something in a staccato patter
+of Italian. He shook himself free and laughing vanished around the
+gallery overhead.
+
+"Will you be satisfied always to be commanded when you might command?"
+His words still rang in Betty's ears and his dark face, sinister and
+insurgent rose before her mental vision. Had he not spoken as much to
+himself as to her? He, too, appeared to be at Mrs. Atterbury's command
+and the girl recalled his half-cringing defiance in that secret quarrel
+of the previous evening. Was he contemplating revolt?
+
+All at once she was aware that Madame Cimmino stood staring with
+insolent hauteur into her face.
+
+"I must find Welch; I have a message for him." She stammered and was
+turning away when the other woman detained her with a gesture.
+
+"Surely a further delay will make but little difference, Miss Shaw."
+Her tones were silky. "There is something I wish to say to you and you
+would do well to listen to me. You are clever even for an American
+young girl, but you rely too much upon your ability to take care of
+yourself. For your own good I speak; do not try to play with Jack
+Wolvert."
+
+"I don't understand you, Madame," Betty said coldly. "What have I to do
+with any guest of Mrs. Atterbury?"
+
+"What indeed?" The woman came close and thrust her sallow pointed chin
+forward. "Do you think I have no eyes, that I have not seen your sly
+crude efforts to engage his attention? _Mille tonneres!_ You are but a
+conceited, over confident child! Your very gaucherie may amuse him for
+the moment but you could not hold him a day. Do I not know him? Have
+I not studied his every mood these many years? Could you think in the
+insolence of your youth to take him from me?"
+
+"You are mistaken, Madame." The girl spoke in quiet control, but she
+met the snakelike glitter in the other's eyes with an answering gleam.
+"I have no interest whatever in Mr. Wolvert and his inclinations and
+prejudices are alike of no moment to me. In any case I am accountable
+to my employer alone for my conduct and I have received no complaint
+from Mrs. Atterbury. Let me pass, please."
+
+"Then I warn you!" Madame Cimmino turned livid. "You are treading
+on dangerous ground, more dangerous than you know. Keep your silly
+schoolgirl wiles for others, but leave Jack Wolvert to me or I will
+make you wish that the earth had opened and engulfed you before you
+crossed my path!"
+
+Betty smiled.
+
+"Your threats do not interest me, Madame Cimmino. I shall accept
+censure only from Mrs. Atterbury, and I beg that you will go to her. I
+really cannot listen any longer to these unfounded accusations."
+
+She turned and left the other inarticulate with rage. Her own heart
+was filled with a dull ache of resentment, not against the hysterical
+virago and her absurd charge, but against the perverse fate which
+through no act or fault of hers, seemed rearing difficulty after
+difficulty in the way of her purpose. She did not underestimate the
+intelligence of Wolvert or the danger of arousing his suspicions, while
+she realized that the jealous animosity of Madame Cimmino might at any
+moment precipitate a crisis. She must walk warily, indeed.
+
+Her message delivered to Welch, she ascended the back stairs to avoid
+a second encounter with the woman who had become her enemy, and was
+rounding the gallery shadowed in the gathering dusk, when a blotch of
+white lying against the baseboard caught her eye.
+
+It was a folded paper, crumpled in the center and even before she
+opened it, a premonition warned her of its contents. The cipher letter!
+The significant words leaped out at her anew from the irrelevancies
+with which they were cloaked and on a swift impulse she thrust the
+letter into her breast.
+
+Late that night when all was still Betty crept from her room and down
+the stairs like an unquiet wraith intent upon the secret motive which
+actuated her, yet on her guard for the slightest warning of discovery.
+
+The darting ray from her electric torch played before her, dancing in a
+diminutive circle of light upon the wall and piercing the almost opaque
+darkness like a flash of forked lightning. The midnight silence was
+oppressive in its intensity and for the first time there seemed to be a
+brooding menace in the soundless void.
+
+The girl's nerves were tingling and the torch wavered fitfully in her
+hand. A hallucination, vague but terrible, took possession of her
+that something unnameable lurked in the shadows watching, crouched to
+spring. In vain she summoned her resolute will to her aid, lashing
+herself with scorn for her weakness. A swift unreasoning fear clutched
+her by the throat and her trembling limbs all but refused her support.
+
+Doggedly she forced herself to go on but the distance from stair foot
+to library door seemed interminable and when she had traversed it Betty
+paused, an unexplainable reluctance staying her hand upon the knob.
+
+At length she set her teeth and with an impatient jerk opened the door.
+Her torch light circled about the familiar room, the desk with its
+orderly array of papers, the center table, the bookcases--
+
+Her breath caught in a strangling gasp. One bookcase was swinging
+loosely on its secret hinge and the safe in the aperture behind was
+open, a handful of documents scattered upon the floor.
+
+Slowly her light travelled along the wall creeping ever nearer and
+nearer to the hearth. The brass andirons glittered dazzlingly from the
+darkness and the outline of a massive chair leaped into prominence.
+Something lay relaxed upon its arm, and the wavering light stopped.
+
+It was a black coatsleeve, motionless but seemingly vibrant with life
+and from it protruded a pallid hand shapely and slender, its tapering
+fingers loosely extended.
+
+There was a roaring as of many waters in Betty's ears and her heart
+seemed to have ceased to beat, but mechanically she trained the light
+upward. Jack Wolvert's face, diabolic in triumph, leered at her.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+                           _The Fourth Pew._
+
+
+For a long moment Betty stood transfixed with the electric torch rigid
+in her hand and her eyes held by the insolent challenging ones so near
+hers. Then with an almost physical effort she wrenched her gaze away
+just as his cynical voice, drawling no longer, but keen with malign
+exultation, cut the silence like a knife thrust.
+
+"So, Little Mouse! You venture forth from your hiding place at night
+when all are sleeping, to nibble at forbidden dainties, eh?"
+
+He sprang from his chair with the agility of a cat and seized her wrist
+in a viselike grip which forced her tortured fingers to relax their
+hold and the torch clattered to the hearth. His hot breath, laden with
+the fumes of wine, played upon her neck, and she felt, rather than
+realized, the menace in his low, breathed words.
+
+"I thought there was a traitor in camp! Who sent you here to spy upon
+us, girl? In whose pay are you? Quick, or I'll--"
+
+"I don't know what you mean!" Betty whimpered into the darkness. "Let
+me go, you are hurting me, Mr. Wolvert! I--I--could not sleep, I came
+down for a book I left unfinished and you frightened me!"
+
+"That doesn't go; it's too thin!" he growled harshly. "Young ladies
+don't prowl about at night with electric torches for any innocent
+purpose. What's the lay?"
+
+"I don't understand!" Betty reeled against him, then shrank away. "I--I
+feel faint--"
+
+His grip insensibly relaxed and the girl, seizing her opportunity,
+tore herself from his grasp and vanished into the black void of the
+hall. She could hear the crash of the massive chair behind her as he
+overturned it in his stumbling pursuit and a rumble of oaths followed
+her up the stair. Miraculously she cleared every obstacle and her alert
+brain out-paced her flying feet. One desperate move was left her to
+turn certain exposure into possible victory. Its failure could not
+increase the peril of her present position and success would serve to
+entrench her more firmly in the confidence of the woman who would be
+her judge.
+
+She groped her way noiselessly to her own door, found the switch in the
+wall and flooded the room with light. A pink boudoir candle stood upon
+her dressing-table and seizing it she thrust it into the live coals in
+the grate until it was partly consumed. Then shielding its flickering
+flame, she went straight to her employer's door and knocked boldly.
+
+A murmur responded, a light flared up within and Mrs. Atterbury stood
+on the threshold. In her white robe with her long, dusky hair in two
+heavy plaits upon her shoulders and her waxen expressionless face, she
+might have been an effigy taken from some ancient place of worship; all
+but her eyes which gleamed like banked fires suddenly revealed.
+
+"What is it?" she asked calmly. "You are not well, my dear?"
+
+"Oh, it isn't that. I am quite well, but I thought you would wish to
+know that your safe is open downstairs," Betty whispered.
+
+"My safe!" Mrs. Atterbury fell back a step and her pale face grayed.
+
+"Yes, the one in the library. I suppose it is all right, as Mr. Wolvert
+is there, but I felt that I could not sleep without telling you."
+
+"And what were you doing in the library at this hour?" The woman's
+scrutiny fairly burned into Betty's brain, but her wide ingenuous eyes
+did not flinch nor her voice falter.
+
+"I was restless and wakeful and I remembered a book I had left there,
+so I lighted my candle and went down. Everything was dark, but when I
+opened the library door I saw a man with an electric torch in his hand.
+He sprang forward and seized me and I thought it must be a burglar,
+until he spoke and I recognized Mr. Wolvert's voice. The safe was open
+and papers all scattered about, and somehow his manner frightened me.
+I--I thought I had better come straight to you."
+
+"An electric torch?" Mrs. Atterbury repeated and paused, her lips
+pursed thoughtfully. Betty waited in an agony of suspense. Would the
+slender thread of her fabrication bear the weight of this woman's
+keen analysis or would it snap beneath her swift inexorable judgment?
+Freedom, perhaps life itself, hung upon the issue.
+
+"You did the proper thing, my dear, and I am very glad that I can
+rely on you to let me know at once if anything seems wrong in the
+household." Mrs. Atterbury's smile announced the verdict. "But in this
+instance, everything is quite all right. Mr. Wolvert was going over
+some private accounts for me at my request, and doubtless you startled
+him by your sudden appearance as much as his presence surprised you."
+
+"I am sorry I disturbed you--" Betty began in well-simulated
+contrition, but the other stopped her with a gesture.
+
+"You did not, but in any case it would have been your duty, my dear.
+However, I do not approve of your going about the house so late at
+night, for Welch has an inordinate apprehension of burglars and is
+likely to blaze away promiscuously with his revolver if he hears any
+untoward sound. Be careful in future. And now good night, Betty, and
+thank you."
+
+The reaction from the strain through which she had passed was so great
+that the girl all but collapsed when her own door had been closed once
+more behind her. She had forestalled Wolvert's betrayal, but would
+her version of the evening's encounter prevail against his narration,
+bearing as it must the stamp of truth?
+
+Then another contingency presented itself to her mind. What if
+Wolvert's visit to the library had been, like her own, a surreptitious
+one? She remembered his significant phrase of the afternoon: "You
+have too much common sense to work for a mere pittance when you might
+share." She had fancied then that he was but voicing his own inmost
+thought, the aftermath of his open rebellion which Mrs. Atterbury had
+so imperiously quelled on the previous night. Had he turned traitor
+to the mysterious compact that bound him and all of their circle in a
+sinister secret alliance? Had she, by this betrayal, made of him an
+implacable enemy? Even if she had succeeded in lulling her employer's
+possible suspicion, her presence in the library had disclosed her true
+position in the household to Wolvert and she realized that a powerful
+weapon lay within his reach if it were to be war to the knife between
+them.
+
+To her amazement, the matter was not again referred to in the days that
+immediately ensued and if Wolvert had gone to Mrs. Atterbury with his
+tale, or learned of the girl's disclosure, he gave no sign. While he
+did not openly avoid her, he made no effort to arrange a tête-à-tête,
+only his gaze burning with a strange intensity of questioning, filled
+her with troubled unrest.
+
+Madame Cimmino treated the girl with frigid indifference, but
+unconsciously played into her hands by constant demands upon Wolvert's
+time and attention.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury's manner did not betray an iota of change and the days
+followed one another in an unbroken routine until the following Sunday,
+when there occurred an event which plunged Betty deeper than ever into
+the toils of difficulty and danger.
+
+The breakfast gong, sounding a full hour earlier than usual, aroused
+the girl from slumber and she descended to find Mrs. Atterbury already
+at the table, the coffee urn bubbling at her elbow.
+
+"My dear, I am going to send you to church this morning," she began,
+nodding as Betty lifted inquiring eyes to hers. "It is another letter
+which I wish you to obtain from one of our outstanding members, and he
+has arranged to meet you there. You may object to making use of a house
+of worship for a mundane transaction, even though the cause be a worthy
+one, but the better the day, the better the deed, you know."
+
+"I have no scruples." Betty smiled slightly. "It will be interesting to
+see what the churches here are like; I have not attended service since
+coming East."
+
+"St. Jude's is one of the most prominent in the city. The minister is
+noted and the congregation representative of the best society. I am not
+a church-goer myself, as you have seen, but laziness, not prejudice,
+is responsible for my dereliction. You won't be bored, I promise you,
+and the incidental errand will not be complicated by any such annoying
+misunderstanding as on the last occasion. You will enter by the door
+leading to the center aisle and tell the usher that you wish to be
+placed in the fourth pew from the back of the church on the right as
+you face the altar. Be careful of this, as the location is of the
+utmost importance. Seat yourself at the end of the pew next the aisle
+and pay no attention to anyone. When an envelope is presented to you,
+no matter in what manner or from what quarter, accept it without a word
+and at the conclusion of the service bring it home to me."
+
+"I shall remember, the fourth pew from the back," Betty repeated. "The
+service commences at eleven, does it not?"
+
+"Yes. The car will be here for you at a quarter before the hour, but it
+will be necessary for you to return without it. However, I will direct
+you explicitly and you will be in no danger of losing your way a second
+time. Come to me when you are ready."
+
+Betty's pulse quickened in spite of her inward reluctance to perform
+the task before her. That it had been given her, proved to her own
+satisfaction that her daring move on the night of her discovery had
+really achieved the result she had hoped for, and that she was more
+firmly established than ever in her employer's confidence.
+
+Attired in the gray suit and silvery furs, she presented herself for
+Mrs. Atterbury's final instructions, and the latter regarded with
+approval her dainty appearance and unveiled face.
+
+"You have determined like a sensible girl to overcome that absurd
+self-consciousness about your birthmark? That is well." She placed an
+ivory-bound prayer book in the girl's hands. "This adds the finishing
+touch to your costume, my dear. You look quite like a modern Puritan.
+Now as to the directions for finding your way home. St. Jude's is on
+the corner of Carlton Avenue and Brinsley Square. Walk five blocks
+north and two east and you will come to the terminus of the Highmount
+trolley line. Take a green car and ride to Wellesley Place. There you
+can connect with a red bus which will drop you three blocks from the
+corner here, at the same spot you alighted when returning from Madame
+Cimmino's apartment. Do you think you will be able to remember?"
+
+"I think so," Betty replied slowly. "About the letter, Mrs. Atterbury;
+it makes no difference who offers it to me in this instance, I am to
+accept it without question?"
+
+"Certainly. There will be no difficulty about that. There is the car,
+now. Remember, Betty, the fourth pew."
+
+The girl nodded reassuringly and started upon her way. To her relief,
+there had been no sign of either of the house guests that morning and
+it was with freer breath that she found herself departing even for an
+hour from their vicinity. The gloom and apprehension which enveloped
+her and insensibly sapped her nerves in the environment of mystery
+and repression within the house, lifted as soon as she was beyond the
+gates, although a little frown gathered upon her brow.
+
+Beneath the lamp-post stood the same idly-lounging figure she had
+seen on the day of her unexpected encounter with Herbert Ross, and he
+peered keenly into the limousine as it whirled by, making no attempt to
+cloak his eager interest. Whatever the motive of his protracted vigil,
+his presence alone indicated that it had not yet borne result, yet it
+served as a goad to her own secret intent.
+
+A short, shrill whistle sounded upon the air as the car rounded the
+corner, but Betty was only subconsciously aware of it, so preoccupied
+was she with her own thoughts. Since the night of her encounter with
+Wolvert in the library and Mrs. Atterbury's adroitly conveyed command
+that she indulge in no future nocturnal wanderings, she had not
+ventured to leave her room in the small hours, but now the realization
+came to her that if she were not to be forestalled she must risk all.
+
+The car took its place in the decorous line and Betty alighted before
+the doors of the imposing edifice, mingling with the brilliant
+stream which eddied about the vestibule. The measured chant of the
+processional welled forth when the inner door was opened and the
+girl waited until the others had preceded her to their places before
+venturing into the nave.
+
+A tall, tow-haired usher, very young and very self-important, bowed
+stiffly and turned to conduct her down the aisle, when she touched his
+arm and whispered:
+
+"The fourth pew on the right, please, if it is vacant. I have a
+particular reason for wishing to occupy that seat."
+
+Betty fancied that his expression changed; it was patent, at any rate,
+that he regarded her curiously, although he responded with ready
+courtesy:
+
+"Certainly, madam. The rear pews are all reserved for strangers."
+
+She slipped into the pew designated and knelt for a moment in silent
+prayer before taking her seat. Her mind was filled with unrest but the
+quiet and solemn peace which pervaded the atmosphere was like balm
+upon her troubled spirit and insensibly she relaxed beneath its gentle
+influence.
+
+The vaulted arches high above, shadowy and vague in the half-light,
+rang with the clear, swelling notes of the white-robed choir which
+she could glimpse above the sea of heads before her; and when their
+echo had died away, the sonorous well-rounded tones from the pulpit
+fell with soothing monotony upon her ear, lulling her to a temporary
+forgetfulness of her errand.
+
+Not for long, however. A late comer, a woman, was ushered into the
+pew beside her and Betty's drugged senses awoke to instant alertness.
+She had been given no hint as to what manner of person would keep the
+strange appointment with her and no one could so unobtrusively pass an
+envelope to her as an occupant of the same pew.
+
+She darted a furtive glance at her unknown companion, but could form no
+conclusion. The woman was of middle-age, neatly but plainly dressed in
+contrast with the brilliant assemblage about her, and her comely serene
+face bore no indication of one engaged upon a secret mission.
+
+The seat behind Betty was occupied by a governess and three restive
+children; that before her contained two elderly ladies, an anæmic youth
+and a bent old man, his white head nodding above a gold-topped cane.
+Surely none of these could have entered the church with an ulterior
+motive.
+
+Betty had been placed so that the left side of her face was turned to
+the aisle and the birthmark prominently visible. She realized that this
+must have been planned to proclaim her identity, but the woman seated
+beside her politely ignored her existence and as the lengthy sermon
+drew to a close, the girl was forced to conclude that the unknown
+associate in the transaction would approach her on the way out.
+
+A hymn, a prayer, and then from the pulpit the familiar: "Let your
+light so shine before men--" proclaimed the collection. The opening
+notes of the offertory sounded from the choir and Betty abstracted some
+money from her purse and idly watched the approach of the smug-faced
+rotund little man who minced down the aisle, pausing at each pew to
+extend apologetically his felt-lined silver salver.
+
+She heard the rustle of banknotes and clink of coins as he drew nearer,
+and when he had reached the pew immediately in front of her, Betty saw
+that the salver was heaped high with offerings.
+
+The bearer paused over long and she glanced up to find that his small
+pouched eyes were fixed as though fascinated upon her face. A swift
+forewarning of the truth darted across her mind, even before she
+observed that with surprising dexterity he had whipped from his pocket
+of his frock coat an envelope which he laid upon the pile of currency.
+
+Two short strides brought him to her side and he thrust the salver
+nervously before her. She had no need to glance again into his face
+to confirm her thought for upon the envelope had been scrawled an
+odd, fantastic mark, meaningless to others but of unmistakable
+significance to her. It was the outline of an irregular formless blotch
+with five curving tentacles reaching out from it; a crudely sketched
+representation of the scar upon her cheek!
+
+With a hot flush mounting to her brow, Betty dropped her offering upon
+the salver and deftly palmed the envelope, not daring to raise her
+eyes. The woman beside her was intently fumbling in her purse and the
+swift furtive movement of the girl had been unobserved.
+
+The bearer of the salver emitted a gasping breath that was almost a
+snort, and as the stranger's bank-note was added to the rest he bowed
+and passed on with obvious relief to the next pew.
+
+Wedging the envelope between the pages of her prayer book, Betty
+watched as the smug-faced man joined his colleague who had passed down
+the opposite row and marched beside him with grave dignity back to the
+altar rail. The solemnity, the calm spiritual peace had vanished for
+the girl and the warm, incense-laden air stifled her as the recessional
+died away in the dim recesses of the vestry, and she knelt mechanically
+for the final prayer.
+
+The slow, crowded egress from the edifice tortured her beyond measure
+and when at length she stood in the dazzling sunshine on the steps she
+drew a deep breath of profound relief.
+
+It was a blustery day and the treacherous March wind caught her roughly
+in its grasp, but she faced it boldly as though welcoming the physical
+exertion.
+
+Amazement at the daring manner in which the missive had been placed in
+her hands had momentarily numbed her faculties. Its donor was the last
+person from whom she would have expected to receive it. His strutting
+importance, his bland, patronizing air of conscious dignity and social
+eminence accorded ill with her preconceived idea of the type of person
+she would meet.
+
+His predecessors passed in quick, mental review before her; the
+weak-chinned, downy-mustached scion of society in the opera box, the
+timorous, fragile, exquisite lady with the orchids, and now this
+rotund, pragmatical pillar of the church! What mysterious bond held
+these three, widely diversified as they were, in a common fellowship
+with Mrs. Atterbury and her coterie?
+
+So absorbed was she in her reflections that Betty gave only a passing
+glance at a man who had elbowed his way through the throng at the
+church steps and in apparent inadvertence followed her as she walked
+north from Brinsley square and turned eastward in her footsteps. She
+was vaguely aware that someone boarded the Highmount car when she
+did, alighting behind her at Wellesley Place. Ignorant of the city
+as she had claimed to be, she could not fail in the realization that
+the directions given her to follow were curiously roundabout ones and
+had taken her several unnecessary miles out of her way. Why had Mrs.
+Atterbury chosen this route for her?
+
+Her mind was filled with this new problem and she did not observe her
+pursuer enter a taxicab as she boarded a red bus. It was only when she
+noted that the smaller vehicle deliberately stalked the larger, halting
+when the bus stopped and following it doggedly through the mazes of
+Sunday traffic, that her interest was aroused, and as one after another
+of the passengers descended until she was left in sole possession of
+the conveyance and still the taxi cab clung tenaciously behind, a
+suspicion came to her that she might be the subject of espionage.
+
+A memory came to her of the circuitous route followed by the limousine
+in bringing her home from the Café de Luxe. Could the motive have been
+to elude pursuit? Had the same purpose prevailed in Mrs. Atterbury's
+mind when she issued these devious directions for her messenger's
+return?
+
+Betty alighted at her corner and walked swiftly off toward the North
+Drive without a backward glance, but her acute ear told her that the
+taxicab had turned and was trailing slowly in her wake.
+
+Deliberately she slackened her pace and the machine stopped, hastening
+on she heard it start again. The first cross street was but a few yards
+away, and on a sudden inspiration Betty started to run, turning the
+corner sharply, and darting into a narrow tradesman's alley between two
+houses. There she crouched motionless while the taxicab veered around
+the corner, stopped with a harsh grating of brakes and then chugged
+uncertainly on and out of sight.
+
+Betty's face was scarlet, and her eyes ablaze, but her heart was turned
+to lead within her breast, for her pursuer had leaned for an instant
+from the cab window and she had recognized the face of Herbert Ross.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+
+                       _The Fangs of the Wolf._
+
+
+"Misfortune seems to be treading upon the heels of our friends more
+relentlessly this season than before." Doctor Bayard looked up from
+his salad with a sympathetic sigh. "Our poor dear Professor dying in
+Chicago, Mortimer dangerously ill, and yet another gone down under the
+strain of financial worries and cares."
+
+Betty glanced quickly at his grave ascetic face crowned with its wealth
+of snowy hair and then her eyes wandered to her employer.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury was sitting very straight in her chair, her expression
+as immobile as ever, but the girl fancied that a shade of weariness
+had clouded the glitter of the keen, black eyes and the fine lines had
+deepened about the firm, chiselled lips.
+
+"Professor Blythe will recover." There was a finality in her tone which
+brooked no argument. "He has been in a far more critical condition than
+this and regained his health almost miraculously."
+
+"But consider the attendant circumstances, my dear Marcia." Wolvert's
+voice, coolly ironical, intervened. "The previous illnesses must have
+weakened his constitution, and--er--complications may set in at any
+time."
+
+"As a diagnostician, Jack, let me remind you that your conclusions have
+been erroneous more than once." Mrs. Atterbury raised her eyebrows
+significantly. "As for Mortie Dana, we have every reason to believe
+that he will pull through. The doctor's report is highly satisfactory,
+although of course he is likely to be quarantined for some time to
+come."
+
+"That would seem to be a foregone conclusion." Wolvert was in no wise
+abashed by the snubbing he had received. "Louise is in no danger of
+contagion, however, and the change of air will do her good."
+
+Betty could not repress a little gleam of interest. She had wondered
+why Mrs. Dana did not come again to the house, but had not previously
+heard of her departure from town.
+
+"Personally, I shall be pleased if she remains away indefinitely."
+Madame Cimmino shrugged. "She gets upon one's nerves, with her
+hysterics. One never knows when she may make a scene."
+
+"To say nothing of the possibility of contagion--" Wolvert caught his
+hostess' eye and turned in obvious haste to Doctor Bayard. "But of whom
+were you speaking just now, Doctor, who has gone to pieces?"
+
+The doctor held his wineglass up to the light and gazed into its amber
+depths reflectively as he replies.
+
+"My old friend--Cote. I had heard depressing reports of his mental
+condition, but I would not believe them until I had investigated
+personally." He shook his venerable head. "I returned only a few days
+ago from a visit to him and I seriously fear that his usefulness is
+passed. He is unable to handle his financial affairs and his permanent
+retirement is all that can be looked for."
+
+"But surely the others in his firm will assume his obligations!"
+Wolvert's bantering tone had sharpened. "It is almost as vital to them
+that his affairs should be straightened out as it was to him. They must
+be made to understand the situation."
+
+"You talk like a child!" exclaimed Madame Cimmino. "What is to
+prevent them from going into voluntary bankruptcy, now that he is
+incapacitated? Others have done that before, when driven to the wall."
+
+Betty sat with downcast eyes and a politely detached air but her hands
+were clenched tightly in her lap and her breath came quickly. If those
+about her at the luncheon table remembered her presence they must have
+believed their conversation unintelligible to her, yet every word was
+fraught with meaning, and she waited with leaping pulses for the next
+disclosure.
+
+"That would scarcely be possible in this instance." There was an
+implacable note in the old Doctor's measured tones. "His is not a
+corporation, you know; he has one silent partner who without doubt
+will carry out the contract entered into by my friend when he learns of
+it. Unfortunately, it will be necessary to locate this partner first
+and I have not the address."
+
+"That can be arranged." Mrs. Atterbury rose. "Jack, come and play the
+new concerto for Doctor Bayard."
+
+Betty had been granted permission to go out for an hour but her heart
+was heavy as she dressed. The discovery of the previous day that the
+supposed museum director was shadowing her had come with a shock which
+had benumbed her brain, but the reaction aroused all her faculties to
+the alert against this new threatened danger. Through the long hours of
+the night she lay in silent combat between the dictates of common sense
+and a strange, incomprehensible influence which sought to undermine her
+surer judgment and defy the evidence of her reason.
+
+Herbert Ross a spy! It was unthinkable! His merry, candid eyes, his
+grave sympathetic manner, the latent boyishness and straightforward
+simplicity--all belied the possibility of such a role, and yet her
+coolly analytical mind forced her to the contemplation of hitherto
+unconsidered trifles which, viewed in the light of her discovery,
+assumed new and alarming proportions.
+
+His confessed ignorance of Egyptiana in contradistinction to his avowed
+position of museum official; the readiness with which he had assigned
+the work of translation to her with no assurance of her qualifications,
+seeking only to learn her address; the personal questions he had later
+plied her with and his discovery that she no longer resided at the
+boarding house she had claimed as her home, all puzzled her and seemed
+to point at some ulterior motive in his conduct.
+
+Could the advertisement itself have been a bait to draw her into
+his net? If so, from whom could he have learned of her penchant for
+Egyptology?
+
+The grim, old woman whose unexpected presence in the neighborhood
+had so disconcerted her flashed across Betty's thoughts. Was Ross in
+her employ or was he in turn making a tool of the woman, using her
+knowledge to aid in snaring his prey for other and more desperate
+opponents?
+
+Reason won in the unequal contest with the emotion which she could not
+name, and instinct warned her that no alternative remained but to sever
+all relations with the young man who had occupied her thoughts more
+than she realized until the decisive moment came.
+
+With the completed translation secreted in her muff, she let herself
+out of the side door and proceeded to the gates from whence she chose
+a widely deviating course to the museum. In the maze of suspicion
+and distrust through which she walked she must guard herself on all
+sides and the knowledge that she might be trailed from the house at
+Wolvert's instigation or perhaps by the man on his own initiative led
+her to exercise all precaution.
+
+Mr. Ross was absent when she reached the museum and to her inward
+dismay she was ushered into the study of Professor Carmody. The
+shrivelled little man greeted her with flattering warmth and reviewed
+the inscription from the Stele of Abu in glowing terms, but she felt
+his nearsighted eyes upon her in recurring perplexity and doubt and she
+longed to bring the interview to an end.
+
+The tinkle of a telephone in an adjoining office interrupted her
+tentative move of departure and Professor Carmody returned from it
+rubbing his withered hands in obvious relief.
+
+"That was our young friend, Ross," he announced in high feather. "He
+will be here directly and he begs that you will wait. In the meantime,
+I have here a genuine papyrus of rare antiquity, presented to me by
+Professor Mallory himself. It dates from the pre-dynastic period and
+some of the symbols, as you see, are Sammarian in form."
+
+"But it has been restored!" Betty cried protestingly, resentment of
+the sacrilege overruling her caution. "What a pity! The word 'suten'
+or king, has been inserted here where the text would clearly indicate
+'priest' and the whole tenor of the theme is changed. Surely Professor
+Mallory did not sanction such a desecration!"
+
+"Then you have seen the papyrus before?" Professor Carmody spoke in
+quiet satisfaction as if a mooted question had been settled in his own
+mind. "I was under the impression that I had met you in Cairo, but your
+name had escaped me. You know the great man himself?"
+
+"No. I studied with an associate of his, in this country," Betty
+stammered desperately. "I have never been in Cairo and I do not know
+Professor Mallory, but I have seen a copy of the papyrus before this
+attempt was made to restore it."
+
+"I myself presented it to the museum here, and the restoration was
+done at another's suggestion, overruling my objection." The professor
+returned the ancient scroll to its glass case as he added, dryly: "I
+was not aware that a copy was in existence."
+
+Betty writhed, but resolutely turned the conversation to some
+newly-discovered monoliths which had created a mild sensation in
+archeological circles, and the arrival of Ross on the heels of his
+message shortly brought the disquieting interview to a close.
+
+The young man ushered Betty into his private office, but she declined
+the chair he indicated and stood before him with her grave eyes
+fastened upon his in cold disdain.
+
+"There really was no need of my waiting to see you, Mr. Ross," she
+observed. "The translation is finished and approved by Professor
+Carmody and the matter is closed."
+
+"I don't understand!" he exclaimed in haste, adding lamely: "I have
+other work for you, you know. There is more translating to be done--"
+
+Betty shook her head decisively.
+
+"I shall undertake no more at present." There was finality in her tone,
+and her expression had hardened. "As I have explained, my time is not
+at my own disposal and I am late now for an engagement. If you will
+permit me--"
+
+"But surely you will not relinquish the work without a reason! If your
+other duties interfere, perhaps some arrangement can be made--"
+
+"My other duties concern no one but myself!" Betty retorted, in a flash
+of temper which instantly subsided. "I do not wish, for reasons of my
+own, to continue with this work and nothing further remains to be said.
+Good afternoon, Mr. Ross."
+
+"Wait, please." His tone was quiet, but there was a compelling quality
+in it which halted Betty against her will. "Something has occurred to
+annoy you and make the work distasteful. Won't you tell me what it is
+that I may take steps to remedy it? Surely you owe me an explanation."
+
+"The work is not distasteful; it has merely ceased to interest me. In
+undertaking it I assumed no obligations to continue it indefinitely,
+Mr. Ross, and I do not feel that any explanation is due from me."
+
+"Is it that meddling old fool Carmody?" Ross demanded. "Has he offended
+you in any way?"
+
+"By no means. I am not offended in the least, I have simply changed my
+mind. My secretarial work is sufficient occupation."
+
+"But you were so absorbed, so enthusiastic about the translation." His
+eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. "I cannot believe that it has
+ceased to interest you; it must be more suitable for a young woman of
+your attainments, more congenial than the task to which you have been
+assigned."
+
+There was no mistaking the deliberate intent in his tone and Betty
+countered swiftly.
+
+"Mr. Ross, may I ask why you are so solicitous in this matter? On
+my last interview with you, you asked me many irrelevant and highly
+personal questions. I responded to your advertisement, I came in good
+faith to accept the work if it were offered me. I did not anticipate a
+cross-examination, or interference with my private affairs." Resentment
+was fast getting the better of her discretion and she spoke with all
+the bitterness of a lost illusion. "I might ask you in turn how long
+you have been officially connected with this museum, and whether that
+advertisement was really inserted in good faith or with an ulterior
+motive. I would demand also to know why you have been following me
+about the streets, but the motive for your annoyance does not interest
+me. I decline absolutely to have anything further to do with this
+work, and I must request that you let me go at once."
+
+Herbert Ross sprang from his chair and placed himself between her and
+the door.
+
+"Miss Shaw, you shall not leave until one thing is plain to you. I
+have tried to be your friend. You have repelled every overture from
+me, but believe it or not as you please, my only desire is to protect
+you. If I have followed you in the street, it was from a motive far
+removed from any intention to annoy you." The young man, too, seemed in
+danger of losing his self-control. His face flushed and his voice grew
+hoarse. "Suppose I were to tell you that I have followed you because
+I could not help myself, because in spite of appearances, in spite of
+my certain knowledge, I believe in you, I want your friendship, your
+confidence, your--your liking--"
+
+"I cannot suppose you would venture such an assertion, Mr. Ross; you
+are far too shrewd to insult my intelligence." Betty made as if to pass
+him but he suddenly laid his hands upon her shoulders and looked deep
+into her eyes.
+
+"Will you at least try to believe this? I mean to be your friend
+whether you desire it or not. If the time ever comes when you need the
+help of a man, call me up here. Professor Carmody can reach me, and you
+will find me at your side."
+
+His hands fell and he walked swiftly to the window where he stood with
+his shoulders turned to her and his head bowed.
+
+Betty regarded him thoughtfully, a little soft gleam of compunction
+appearing unbidden in her eyes. She opened her lips to speak, but
+paused uncertainly and in another moment she had slipped silently from
+the room.
+
+She stumbled down the steps of the museum and entered the park,
+her feet mechanically seeking the right path. The naked trees and
+clustering skeletons of shrubbery upon the brown patches of lawn were
+blurred and shapeless before her and she seemed to see again the face
+of Herbert Ross as he wistfully proffered his friendship, the stab of
+pain in his clear eyes when she refused it.
+
+Once she hesitated and turned as if to go back, but the vague impulse
+died and she pressed resolutely on. He had found her by a trick, a
+mere subterfuge; perhaps his offer of friendship was another trap to
+gain her confidence now. He had sought her out, followed her, spied
+upon her, and for what purpose than to serve those who were working
+against her, who might even now be planning a coup which would mean the
+demolition of her own hopes and drag her down into the ruins?
+
+Matters were in a state of armed truce now between them. When they met
+again--if they met--it must be open war.
+
+Betty had taken no note of distance or direction and she came to a
+realization of her surroundings only when the roar of traffic sounded
+in her ears, and she found that she had traversed the park and was
+within a few blocks of the North Drive. As she hurried homeward she
+forced her thoughts resolutely to the future and the work which still
+lay to her hand, but the long hours of early evening loomed before
+her, robbed of the absorbing study which had proved such a stimulating
+relief from the continuous mental strain; and the days to come would
+be empty indeed with the budding friendship, which had come to mean so
+much to her, brought so swiftly to an end.
+
+She was dispirited, tired in mind and body as she entered the gates
+of home, and her feet lagged wearily along the path. The house looked
+blank and forbidding, and the wind soughed dismally in the sagging
+branches of the trees.
+
+Faintly the high-strung wailing note of a dog's whine reached her and
+she remembered her encounter with Demon when first she walked in the
+snowy garden. Would the dog know her again, if chance should deliver
+her to his mercy?
+
+Memory returned to her also of that other encounter in the same hour
+when, unconscious of her presence, Wolvert had passed her place of
+concealment as if racing with the very fiends of darkness, cowardly
+fear stamped upon every lineament of his dark face. Why had he avoided
+her since their mutual surprise meeting in the library? Was he
+deliberately evading the issue or delaying it for some sinister purpose
+of his own?
+
+She had reached the clump of trees through which the path wound, and
+even as her thoughts were centered on Wolvert the man himself stepped
+from the tangle of evergreens which had screened her on the former
+occasion, and confronted her. It was evident from his smile and air
+of easy assurance that he had lain in wait for her, and Betty's first
+feeling of dismay was superseded by a sensation of relief that the
+long anticipated moment had arrived and the contest between them at
+immediate issue.
+
+"You have been long upon your foraging expedition, Little Mouse, and
+you have strayed far from your hiding place." He laid his hand upon
+her arm in an insolent assumption of familiarity. "Not so fast, my
+dear. The mistress you serve so conscientiously is not in need of your
+presence and the time has come for an understanding between us."
+
+"I have nothing to say to you, Mr. Wolvert." She met his sneering smile
+with one of calm defiance. "I think we understand each other fairly
+well."
+
+"Perhaps, but the knowledge has not yet accrued to our mutual
+advantage. We have been working at cross purposes and that means
+disaster. I warned you once that a friend at court is not to be
+despised, but as an enemy you would not find it advisable to cross
+swords with me. I do not underestimate your pluck and resourcefulness;
+sheer admiration for your audacity has stayed my hand against you
+so far. Your move in carrying the war into my camp by going to Mrs.
+Atterbury with your naïve little story was a bold one. Gad, you even
+explained away the evidence against you, the electric torch, better
+than I did later, I don't mind confessing; but do you suppose I could
+not have smashed your transparent subterfuge to atoms if I had wished?"
+
+"Why did you not, in that case?" Betty asked coolly. "I am not in the
+least afraid of you or what you can do. Come now to Mrs. Atterbury
+if you care to; I will go with you to face her and she shall choose
+between us."
+
+His grip upon her arm tightened.
+
+"Do you think that I am imbecile enough to call your bluff?" he
+demanded. "When I find you seriously in my way I shall crush you like
+this! Until then, my dear, you will prove mildly amusing. You interest
+me as I never thought to be interested again in a woman. Your eyes,
+your smile are branded upon my brain even as that brand is upon your
+cheek like a hand reaching out for the unattainable. You might set a
+man's blood on fire, sear his very soul and drive him to madness, but
+you would never bore him. Little, quiet, inscrutable mouse, with you
+beside him there is nothing that a man who gambles with life might not
+win!"
+
+"You talk in riddles, Mr. Wolvert." Betty disengaged her arm and
+stepped back from the savage light in his empassioned eyes. "Your
+opinion of me is flattering, but if you are detaining me for further
+expression of it, I must beg leave to continue on my way to the house."
+
+"You may go when you have answered one question: what is your game? I
+knew from the moment I saw you that you were superior to the position
+you chose to occupy, but not until I encountered you in the library did
+I guess the truth. How much do you know? Are you a free lance or in
+someone's pay?"
+
+"If I had an ulterior motive in entering Mrs. Atterbury's service, is
+it likely that I would make a confident of you whether you are her ally
+or a traitor?" Betty shrugged. "Your attitude is a matter of absolute
+indifference to me; why should I reply to your questions?"
+
+"Because you may find me useful." He came close to her once more. "What
+is it you desire within those walls that you court danger to obtain?
+Perhaps I can get it for you. What is your purpose? It may be that I
+can aid in its accomplishment. Traitor or not, I am at your service!"
+
+"But why?" A swift thrill of fear darted through her, and she glanced
+about, but the tall bushes ringed them on all sides and they seemed
+as isolated as in a wilderness. "Suppose that another purpose actuated
+me than to fulfill the duties for which I was engaged--and I do not
+for a moment admit that there is any truth in your wild assertion--why
+should you offer me your aid? Why should you, Mrs. Atterbury's guest
+and friend, conspire with one you profess to regard as a deceitful and
+dishonest servant?"
+
+"Because you have driven me mad!" He seized her, dragging her into a
+half-savage embrace. "Because I want you as I've never wanted any other
+woman!"
+
+"Let me go!" Betty panted struggling with all her strength, but her
+heart sank within her for no help could reach her from the house and
+her efforts to free herself were unavailing against the man's brute
+grasp.
+
+He laughed exultantly and drew her closer.
+
+"'Little Mouse,' I called you; Little Wild-Cat! But I'll tame you, or
+break you with my hands! What I want I take, and you're mine, do you
+understand; you're mine!"
+
+All at once a new sound broke upon Betty's ears. The dog's continuous
+whine, of which she had been dimly aware like an undercurrent in the
+swift torrent of Wolvert's words, had changed suddenly to a deep,
+full-throated cry which seemed to her excited fancy to be drawing
+nearer and nearer. A swift thought like a prayer mounted in her brain
+and by a supreme effort she extricated her head from the stifling folds
+of her captor's coat where he had crushed her to his breast.
+
+The cry came again and with it the soft rush of padded feet on moist
+yielding ground. Betty drew a deep breath and screamed with all the
+power of her pent-up fear.
+
+"Demon! Here! Come here!"
+
+With an oath, Wolvert's arms dropped from about her and he sprang
+backward as a huge, dark shape lunged through the undergrowth and
+sprang full at his throat. The force of the impact hurled Betty aside
+and when she had picked herself up she turned to find Wolvert stretched
+upon the ground, the great dog standing over him, with every hair
+a-bristle and yellow fangs bared in a snarl, as he hesitated at the
+sound of her voice.
+
+"Demon!"
+
+He turned his shaggy head obediently to glance up into her eyes, but
+one great paw remained planted upon Wolvert's breast.
+
+"Guard him, Demon! If he moves, take him by the throat!" An
+inarticulate murmur issued from the lips of the prostrate man and the
+snarl changed to a growl of menace.
+
+"Don't let him get away! Until your master comes. Demon, on guard!"
+
+The dog's eyes answered her and he dropped his out-thrust jaw upon his
+paws, within an inch of Wolvert's throat.
+
+Betty turned swiftly and walked off among the trees. As she neared the
+house a man came running from the direction of the garage and paused
+beside her, touching his cap.
+
+"Excuse me, Miss, but did you see anything of a dog? He's broke loose,
+and he's that savage that he may hurt somebody."
+
+Betty smiled and extracted a bill from her purse.
+
+"You will find him in that knoll by the drive. He is standing over Mr.
+Wolvert, but he has not hurt him in the least. Understand, no matter
+what orders Mr. Wolvert gives, the dog is not to be ill-treated or
+punished. Demon and I are old friends and he was protecting me from
+annoyance. I called him to my aid. You understand, don't you? I do not
+wish to worry Mrs. Atterbury, but if Mr. Wolvert makes any trouble, I
+will tell the truth. I can rely on you to see that no harm comes to
+Demon?"
+
+"That you can, Miss." The man pocketed his fee with added respect.
+
+"He's no gentleman, that Mr. Wolvert, if you'll excuse me for saying
+so, and I'm glad the dog was loose. I'll see that he don't get hurt."
+
+As she let herself in at the side door and mounted the stairs to her
+room a heavy sense of foreboding descended upon Betty's spirit. She
+had made two powerful enemies in one day, for Herbert Ross, in spite
+of his protestations, she felt to be a potential antagonist. Would she
+alone be able to stand against them, or would she go down to defeat
+with that for which she had entered the lists almost within her grasp?
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+                            _Justice Nods._
+
+
+Jack Wolvert did not put in an appearance at dinner and Mrs. Atterbury
+explained that he was suffering from one of his severe headaches and
+had taken an opiate. Her manner gave no indication that she possessed
+an inkling of the truth, but Betty's apprehensions were not lulled
+into a false security. That Wolvert had not immediately betrayed her
+in blind rage argued that he was biding his own time for a personal
+revenge all the more complete and she realized that when the hour came
+she could expect no mercy.
+
+Madame Cimmino's dull eyes glowered at her in undiminished animosity
+and suspicion, but she forced herself to a show of civility in the
+presence of her hostess; and in the greater danger which menaced her
+Betty gave little heed to the woman who looked upon her as a rival.
+
+The following day, however, Wolvert reappeared, his debonair, ironic
+spirit of raillery unquenched. There was an unaccustomed pallor on his
+dark face and it was noticeable that he held one arm stiffly, but to
+Madame Cimmino's solicitous queries he responded only with a petulant
+shrug.
+
+Throughout the morning meal he kept up a running fire of facetious
+comment directed with suave impertinence at Betty and she seized
+the first opportunity to retire to her work in the library. She had
+anticipated this attitude on his part but her nerves were beginning
+to play her false and she wondered despairingly how long the crisis
+would be delayed. For the first time she felt a doubt of herself; not
+that her resolution should falter but lest her strength fail under the
+strain and at the crucial moment sheer weakness rob her purpose of its
+fulfillment.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury followed her into the library as she seated herself
+before the desk.
+
+"Not that this morning, my dear." She shook her head with a slow smile.
+"The letters must wait. Have you ever been in a courtroom, Betty?"
+
+"No." The girl turned to her, wonderingly. "There is a county
+court house at home, but I have never been inside it. Do people go
+here--women, I mean--unless----?"
+
+She faltered and Mrs. Atterbury completed the question for her.
+
+"Unless they are prisoners or witnesses, you mean? Indeed, yes! There
+are seats apportioned off for spectators and a particularly grewsome
+and revolting murder trial will bring out as many feminine auditors as
+a fashionable divorce. As you know, I personally avoid all horrors, but
+there is a case now before the Bar which presents some very interesting
+features to a student of human nature. A poor wretch named Huston is on
+trial for the murder of his wife, who by all accounts richly deserved
+to be done away with. Would you mind running down there for an hour
+this morning, my dear? Do you think you could venture into the presence
+of a murderer without succumbing to hysterics?"
+
+"I think so," the girl responded quietly. "In all probability I may
+have been in the presence of one before this, without knowing it."
+
+"What a strange thought!" Mrs. Atterbury eyed her keenly. "You have an
+odd philosophy all your own, as I have discovered; but what put such an
+idea into your head, Betty!"
+
+"The very people one passes in the street may have murder in their
+hearts or upon their consciences. Who can tell?" Betty paused and drew
+a deep breath. "Consider the number of murder mysteries which are never
+solved; this Breckinridge case, for instance."
+
+"What do you mean?" Mrs. Atterbury shifted her gaze to the window.
+
+"Haven't you been reading about it in the papers?" persisted the girl,
+inwardly quaking at her own temerity, but determined to discover if
+the woman before her would betray any knowledge of what had taken
+place beneath her roof. "They call it the greatest sensation of years."
+
+"I remember the name, but I carefully avoided the details." Her
+employer observed coolly. "That sort of thing repels me and it is not
+from any interest in this present trial that I am sending you there
+this morning. There will be a man in the courtroom who has a message
+for me and for certain reasons, as on the other occasions when you
+have acted for me, it is inadvisable for me to appear personally in
+the transaction. I have tested you, my dear, and I feel that you
+are to be trusted, at least as far as is compatible with my oath.
+We are all members of a powerful secret organization working for
+broad humanitarian ends. I need not assure you that there is nothing
+unlawful about it, for you can realize that I would not lend my name
+or influence to any purpose no matter how charitable, the methods of
+which could be questioned. It is necessary, however, for diplomatic
+and political considerations, that the work shall proceed as quietly
+as possible until the strained relations which exist between certain
+European powers shall have been adjusted. That is all I am at liberty
+to tell you now, but later everything will be made plain to you, and
+you will never regret the slight services you have rendered."
+
+"I am sure that I shall not," Betty remarked quietly. "It is good of
+you to take me into your confidence, Mrs. Atterbury, and you know that
+I will respect it, but it was unnecessary as far as I am concerned. It
+is enough for me that you wished me to go upon these errands."
+
+"You are a model!" There was unusual warmth in her tone, but her eyes,
+as they rested upon the girl, narrowed with a slow, amused contempt.
+"Unquestioning obedience is rare and you will find it a valuable asset.
+Now, my dear, I shall want you to be in the courtroom by eleven. Dress
+very plainly; your old dark cloak will do. Present this card at the
+door and you will be ushered into a seat which has been reserved for
+you. Remain until court adjourns at the end of the morning session and
+hang back until you are among the last of the spectators to leave. A
+man will approach you as before and give you a letter for me. Take no
+more notice of him than you did of the others, and come straight home.
+You must use the public conveyances, as the car is being overhauled,
+but I will direct you when you are ready."
+
+The route laid down to her was even more circuitous than that of the
+previous Sunday and Betty followed it faithfully, keeping a sharp
+lookout for a possible trailing taxicab, but those which surrounded her
+in the mazes of traffic seemed bent solely on their own affairs and
+nowhere did she glimpse the kindly, keen gray eyes of Herbert Ross.
+
+However, the idle artisan was again beneath the lamp-post at the gate
+and a man in overalls with a plumber's kit emerged from a house midway
+of the block and sauntered after her, boarding the same car. When she
+mounted the steps of the courthouse, after many changes of conveyance
+and crosstown divergencies, a man brushed against her with a swift
+glance at her scarred cheek. Without the kit of tools and buttoned into
+a greatcoat which covered him to his knees, she yet had no difficulty
+in recognizing in him the erstwhile plumber's assistant, and Betty's
+lips tightened.
+
+Others, then, besides Ross held her under espionage, and the mysterious
+words of the little dressmaker, Miss Pope, flashed across her memory:
+"Before you know it you'll be caught, too, and you'll never be able to
+get free!" Had Mrs. Atterbury employed her in these errands not only
+for their accomplishment but to identify her secretary irrevocably with
+the organization of which she had spoken? Was she to be scapegoat as
+well as catspaw? The price she must pay for her temerity was looming
+more sinisterly before her with each passing hour, but her will was all
+the more indomitably fixed. Though she stood within the very shadow of
+the law she would still fight on.
+
+Finding her way with some difficulty to the grand jury room, Betty
+presented her pass to the gray-haired doorman. She had received it in a
+sealed envelope from Mrs. Atterbury and had made no attempt to tamper
+with it, but as the court attendant extricated the card and read the
+words pencilled upon it he eyed her with amazement, in which an added
+respect was mingled, and without a word led her to a seat apart from
+the other spectators.
+
+It was near the press rail, facing the jury box and almost on a line
+with the Bench, beside a narrow aisle leading to a single door. Betty
+seated herself and once again her mission was temporarily forgotten in
+absorbed interest in the scene before her.
+
+She had no difficulty in picking out the prisoner; a mild-faced,
+sandy-haired little man, shrunken and bowed in his place beside his
+lawyers. Just back of him sat a slender woman in rusty black, whose
+face was hidden from Betty's gaze and whose tremulous hand reached out
+in pathetic tenderness to the man before her.
+
+Betty looked again at the prisoner and the puzzled look in her eyes
+gave place to a flash of recognition. She leaned forward in her chair,
+agape with amazement and startled interest, until the consciousness of
+shrewd glances from the assembled representatives of the press made her
+draw back in belated caution.
+
+Vaguely, almost subconsciously, she observed the stolid jury and
+the stern, inflexible countenance of the judge. The faces of the
+spectators, too, passed before her in meaningless review, not one
+impressing itself individually upon her agitated mind.
+
+As the case progressed, and witness succeeded witness, it became
+evident that the whole defense hinged upon an alibi which the
+prisoner's attorneys found difficulty in proving. The testimony offered
+was inconclusive and the prosecutor riddled it with ease or blasted it
+with deftly turned ridicule.
+
+The hideous story was gradually unfolded in all its revolting detail,
+and Betty's heart sank within her as the evidence, circumstantial, but
+damning, was heaped upon the prisoner's bowed head. The little woman
+behind him did not waver in her attitude of protective tenderness and
+something in her tremulous, almost furtive, gestures appealed to Betty
+as being vaguely familiar, although the face was still turned from her.
+
+A particularly brilliant shaft of ironic wit from the prosecutor
+created a stir of amusement among the spectators and as the clerk
+of the court rapped for order, Betty's eyes again sought the judge.
+Beneath the huge mural painting of Justice he sat immovable, his thin
+lips set in a straight line, his cold, gray eyes fastened with grim
+intentness upon the prisoner. No mercy tempered his jurisdiction, she
+felt certain; no slightest benefit of a doubt would be permitted to
+weigh in the scales for any unfortunate mortal whose life might hang
+in the balance. She shuddered, her gaze once more descending to the
+little ignominiously isolated group below and at that instant the woman
+behind the prisoner turned her head and the cold light from the tall
+window fell full upon her face.
+
+It was little Miss Pope! The timid, nervous, self-effacing seamstress
+who had warned her of danger and begged her to leave almost beneath the
+argus eyes of Mrs. Atterbury, and whose strange words had returned to
+the girl's mind within the hour, after a lapse of many eventful days.
+What connection could exist between her and the wretched creature at
+the Bar? Were Mrs. Atterbury's affairs also somehow involved in this
+tragic crisis?
+
+Her employer had declared herself uninterested in the case herself and
+no mention had been made of Miss Pope, yet she must have known the girl
+would recognize her. The letter was to be delivered by a man; could it
+be that it would come from the prisoner himself or one of his friends?
+He seemed singularly alone in his trouble and sat as if hypnotized,
+gazing straight before him in a dull stupor of misery. Once his eyes
+met Betty's and the girl swiftly paled, but there was no consciousness
+of recognition in their fixed stare.
+
+Until the morning session ended the girl sat tense and motionless,
+listening to the testimony, but only receiving a general impression
+of its tenor. A conflict was raging within her, and she faced the
+most vital problem which had ever presented itself for her decision.
+Heretofore her path, beset with difficulties as it was, had been
+plainly marked before her and her will had driven her on relentlessly
+over every obstacle, but now she had reached without warning an
+insurmountable barrier and she hesitated which course to pursue around
+it.
+
+A rustle of papers and shuffling of feet in the press enclosure
+and a concerted movement among the spectators aroused her from her
+thoughts and apprised her that court had adjourned. The judge rose in
+all the awful majesty of his black robes and sweeping down from the
+Bench, came toward her along the narrow aisle. Betty noted the stern
+preoccupation in his averted eyes and the grim, inexorable set of his
+lean, shaven jaw and her vision blurred in pity for the hapless victim
+of circumstances whose doom seemed already sealed.
+
+The judge passed her so closely that his robe fluttered against her
+knee; then he disappeared through the door which led to his private
+chambers. Betty, fumbling for her glove, glanced down into her lap and
+then sat as if petrified with her eyes fairly starting from her head.
+
+There upon her knee, half-hidden by her muff, lay a small thick
+envelope, its square, blank expanse staring up at her in uncompromising
+self-evidence! The judge himself! Mrs. Atterbury's organization must be
+indeed powerful when it could command the services of an administrator
+of justice!
+
+Betty slipped the envelope into the capacious pocket of her cloak and
+rose as if in a trance. The shock of surprise had fairly taken her
+breath away and she strove vainly to collect herself as she lingered in
+obedience to her employer's instructions until only a few stragglers
+remained in the courtroom. Little knots of people had gathered in the
+corridor outside and she was threading her way through them when a
+convulsive clutch fell upon her arm, and looking up hastily, she found
+herself face to face with Miss Pope.
+
+The little dressmaker's eyes were reddened and sunken and she seemed to
+have aged many years in the brief period that had elapsed since their
+last meeting.
+
+"Miss Shaw!" The name fell from her lips in a quivering whisper.
+"You remember me, don't you? I made those dresses for you at Mrs.
+Atterbury's----"
+
+"Yes." Betty took her hand in a little sympathetic squeeze. "I remember
+you, of course, Miss Pope. I recognized you in the courtroom and I am
+so sorry that a friend of yours is in trouble."
+
+"He is my brother, and he is innocent!" The whisper changed to a low
+wail, and she clung to the girl's arm as if for support. "Oh, Miss, you
+don't know what it means to sit there day after day and listen to them
+hounding him to his death, knowing all the time that a word would save
+him! But there's nobody to say it, and they'll send him to the chair;
+him that never hurt a fly, he was so tender-hearted!"
+
+"Your brother!" Betty murmured. "But the name--?"
+
+"My half-brother, I should say. He's fifteen years younger than me, but
+he's all I have in the world and I love him like a mother and sister in
+one. Oh, Miss, if you only knew----!"
+
+"We cannot talk here." Betty interrupted the little woman's
+grief-stricken outburst and drew her aside nervously. "I have not much
+time, I must return almost at once, but I should so like to comfort
+you. You look faint and ill; isn't there a lunchroom near where we can
+get some coffee?"
+
+"There's a little place just around the corner where I usually go, but
+I can't eat. It's just as if my heart had settled up in my throat and
+closed it." Her face was working piteously. "I shall go crazy if I
+can't talk to somebody, Miss. I feel as if each hour was the end; that
+I couldn't go on any longer."
+
+Betty led the way to the modest little restaurant and when they were
+seated opposite each other at the narrow, linoleum topped table and the
+order given, she leaned compassionately toward her sorrowful guest.
+
+"Tell me what you can, Miss Pope. I sympathize with you deeply, more
+deeply than you know, and I would do anything that I could to help you
+in your trouble. I have not forgotten that you tried to do me a good
+turn, even if you could not explain, and I am grateful."
+
+Miss Pope's faded eyes lighted with sudden interest.
+
+"You're still there, in that house? You haven't been dismissed yet, and
+you are free to come and go as you please! Oh, Miss Shaw, keep your
+eyes open and think twice of anything you are asked to do. Don't let
+yourself be led into what you don't understand. I'm talking too much, I
+know, but I can't seem to even think straight these days." She paused,
+and the old look of hopeless misery dulled her eyes once more. "Since
+Robbie's wife was killed, and they took him away, it seems as if I'd
+lived in a nightmare."
+
+"How did it all happen?" asked Betty.
+
+"Robbie and his wife lived apart. She's dead, and the least said about
+her the better, but she was a disgrace to a decent man. One morning,
+about three months ago, they found her dead in her bed with her head
+beaten in. Robbie was questioned, but he didn't know anything about
+it, he hadn't seen her in nearly a year. He was left free then and the
+police went after another man, but, because they couldn't find him,
+they fastened on Robbie again. You heard the evidence this morning,
+Miss. He has a temper, for all he's so meek-looking, and he had cause
+enough to kill her, Heaven knows, but he never did it, never, although
+he had made threats, like anybody who is tried beyond endurance."
+
+She paused in her rapid flow of words and wiped her eyes on a wisp of
+handkerchief while Betty sat silent, with every nerve taut.
+
+"There was a terrible snowstorm, the biggest one of the year, on the
+night she was killed," Miss Pope went on. "Robbie is the chauffeur for
+the King family, of Hempstead; it's Mr. King who is paying for the
+defense. He ordered Robbie to take the car into town that night to meet
+some folks who were arriving from the West, but Robbie never got there;
+he was stalled in a snowdrift all night on a lonely part of the road.
+That's why he's got no alibi."
+
+"Did no one see him or talk to him?" Betty's voice was low and strained.
+
+"Only one person and we can't find her. She won't come forward and
+speak for him; most likely she forgot all about him an hour after,
+although we've advertised and done everything we can."
+
+"Does he know who she is?" Betty asked, her eyes upon her plate.
+
+"No, Miss. It was some little time before he got stalled, when he was
+plowing along in the storm through that string of fashionable colonies
+on the North Shore that run together with no beginning or end. He
+doesn't rightly know where he was, when somebody called out to him and
+he stopped to see a young lady beside the road in a little run-about
+car that had got stuck. The engine was frozen and Robbie offered to tow
+her home, although it would have been a hard job. The young lady said
+it wasn't necessary, she didn't mind leaving the car there all night
+if he would take her to where she was going; that it wasn't far. She
+perched herself up beside Robbie at the wheel and directed him on the
+way, and a couple of miles further on he set her down at a big house.
+He wouldn't know it again if he saw it, because the snow was driving so
+hard against the lights that he could only see a few feet in front of
+him. The young lady offered him some money but he wouldn't take it. Oh,
+if she'd only come forward now!"
+
+Betty looked up slowly.
+
+"Maybe she will. It isn't too late even now."
+
+"We've about given up hope." Miss Pope shook her head. "Robbie was
+in prison waiting for his trial when I came to sew for you, but the
+lawyers were so sure the young lady would be found and his name
+cleared that I wasn't worrying, except about the disgrace of his being
+suspected at all."
+
+"Does Mrs. Atterbury know of your trouble?" The question came as an
+afterthought.
+
+"No. The name being different she wouldn't connect it with me, and I
+guess she's got enough on her own mind. Why should I have told her?
+There would have been no help from her, even if she could have given
+it. She's too careful about keeping her own skirts clean."
+
+There was concentrated bitterness in the dreary voice, and Betty
+regarded her expectantly; but the little woman's thoughts had evidently
+reverted to her own trouble and she said no more.
+
+The girl comforted her as well as she was able, and took leave of her
+at the door of the restaurant, to continue her homeward way, sunk in a
+horrified perplexity which deepened with each passing moment.
+
+The story she had just heard weighed upon her spirit and she shrank
+from thought of the man whose life hung on an unspoken word. Her own
+problem had faded into insignificance in the face of this potential
+tragedy and had she been personally involved in it, she could not have
+hoped more fervently for the prisoner's acquittal, even as she realized
+its futility. Would the mysterious young woman speak? Betty herself
+wondered.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+
+                            _Naked Foils._
+
+
+Detective Joseph P. McCormick was pacing his office like a caged bear,
+and his retinue of aides in the outer strongholds, recognizing the
+storm signals, went about their various tasks as expeditiously as they
+were able without venturing into his presence to discuss the details of
+the day's routine. Once his bell whirred viciously and to the scared
+office boy who reluctantly obeyed the summons the Chief turned a face
+like a thunder cloud.
+
+"Ross shown up yet?" he barked.
+
+"No, sir. He got your message when he 'phoned and he said he'd be here
+at once. There's hardly been time, sir--"
+
+"When I want any observations from you I'll ask for them." The Chief
+brought his hand down smartly on the desk. "Bring Ross here the instant
+he arrives."
+
+The door closed precipitately and the Chief resumed his restless tramp
+about the room, his heavy footsteps making the bronze electrolier
+on his desk vibrate until its dangling chains tinkled a protest.
+The clock ticked off five slow minutes, then ten, and the cigar butt
+between his strong white teeth was chewed to a pulp before the door
+opened quietly once more and Herbert Ross entered.
+
+"You sent for me, sir?" His voice was gravely respectful, and his clear
+eyes were very sober, as he raised them steadily to meet those of his
+superior.
+
+"Where the devil have you been?" McCormick's tone was ominously calm.
+
+"I came as quickly as a taxi would bring me, sir."
+
+"I don't mean now." The chief threw his cigar butt into the cuspidor
+and seated himself with deliberation behind his desk. "I mean since
+your last report; a report, let me remind you, which amounted to
+nothing."
+
+"I have been working on the case, sir, as far as I was able along the
+lines laid down at that time. I thought it was understood that I was
+not to put in an appearance until I had something definite to report."
+
+"When would that have been?" McCormick leaned back in his chair. "Look
+here, Ross, I've sent for you because something is going on that I
+don't understand, or rather I don't want to understand it, the way
+things seem to lie now. I want to give you a chance to explain, if you
+can. I've taken a personal interest in you from the time you walked
+into my office to look for a job, with nothing but your nerve to
+recommend you, and a college education against you, to say nothing of
+the fact that you were born a gentleman. I gave you a chance to show me
+what you could do and you made good, and since then I've come to depend
+on you more than I realized until this thing hit me between the eyes!
+I'd have banked on your honesty as I would on my own, and thank God!
+I've always been square, but, Ross, you've got to speak out now like a
+man!"
+
+"What is it, sir?" Herbert Ross straightened himself and his steadfast
+gaze never wavered. "Are you accusing me of crooked work?"
+
+"I'm accusing you of nothing." The Chief's face had turned a dull,
+mottled red. "You may have good reasons for what you're pulling, but
+whatever they are it's time you let me in on your game. You spotted Ide
+hanging around the gates of that Atterbury house on the North Drive
+and tipped me off. You were sure of yourself and as keen about nabbing
+him as anybody. I didn't ask you then what you were doing in that
+neighborhood, and if I asked you now I know devilish well you'd say you
+had been on your way to see the old lady, Madame Dumois."
+
+Ross looked up quickly.
+
+"It would be the truth," he remarked.
+
+"Well, we'll let that slide, for a minute." The detective waved his
+hand, as if brushing something tangible aside. "The next thing I know
+you come to me with a complete change of front and do your level best
+to make me lay off the Ide matter, claiming to know that the Atterbury
+woman is too high up, socially and every other way, for anybody around
+her place to be mixed in anything shady. When I told you I had enough
+dope already to work on and mentioned the girl with a scar on her face
+you did everything you could to throw me off the trail."
+
+"That is rather a sweeping assertion, Chief." Ross's face had gone
+very white. "Mrs. Atterbury is well known on the Street as one of the
+biggest women traders, powerful enough to swing the market in a crisis,
+and her social connections are irreproachable and of long standing. I
+know nothing about the girl with the scar or any other member of her
+household."
+
+"Don't you?" The Chief eyed him steadily. "When you reported to me in
+the Dumois case, you said you had found one clue that looked promising
+but that it didn't turn out to be the girl you were after. But you
+didn't mention, Ross, that the girl whose trail you dropped so quickly,
+without giving Madame Dumois a chance to identify her, had a scar on
+her face. Don't try to flim-flam me, the old lady herself has tipped me
+off to that, and I tell you the whole thing dovetails too well to be a
+coincidence. Are you shielding that girl?--But no, I should not have
+asked that, Ross. I have never yet had cause to doubt your professional
+honor."
+
+The young man flushed darkly.
+
+"Thank you, sir, I'm not going to make a fool of myself and bring
+ridicule on the office by following a wild goose chase. I hope I am
+experienced enough to know when to drop a false clue! The girl I
+located has had a mark upon her face from birth; the one for whom
+Madame Dumois is searching has no blemish whatever and never had. I
+have the old lady's word for it and that is conclusive enough. As for
+the other girl at Mrs. Atterbury's I have nothing to say about her. She
+may be a daughter, or a dependant for all I know."
+
+"Or a pretty shrewd accomplice!" McCormick banged the desk and swung
+his chair around to face his operative. "You remember the case J.
+Todhunter Crane put in my hands? He'd done business with a girl with a
+scar; Mrs. Haddon Cheever brought a similar affair to my notice, but
+weakened. She knew the result to her if the police got hold of it, but
+she, too, described the girl. I've got enough to take her on suspicion
+now, if I can get her identified, and things are coming to a head. The
+police will beat me to it, if I don't hustle."
+
+"But what is a scar? If you are going to pull a suspect on a serious
+charge with no other evidence than that he or she has a birthmark,
+Chief, you're going to let yourself in for trouble." The young man's
+tone was a shade too eager and McCormick watched him from beneath
+lowering brows. "You can't drag a woman of Mrs. Atterbury's position
+through the mire unless you are mighty sure some of it will cling to
+her skirts."
+
+"What if I tell you that I've got her already? At least, not enough to
+tap her on the shoulder with, but a line that connects her in a way
+she'll find it hard to explain, with a lot that has puzzled us for the
+past five years. In fact, ever since Brooke Hamilton came to me from
+Chicago; you remember the case?"
+
+"Great Lord!" Herbert Ross shrank as if he had received a sudden blow,
+and his voice was a hoarse whisper. "You don't mean that Mrs. Atterbury
+is mixed up in that--?"
+
+"If I'm not mistaken, she's the brains of the whole outfit. I'll have
+to prove it, of course, but I'm pretty confident that I can put it
+over. Oh, it's not just that you spotted Ide outside her gate, or the
+evidence of the girl--"
+
+"Remember, I'm not certain about Ide. I warned you of that!" The young
+man broke in, but his superior smiled.
+
+"I am. I could put my hand on him within an hour, but I'm giving him a
+little more rope. You know that Larne murder out in Denver the other
+day?"
+
+"Of course. 'The Comet' they called her."
+
+"She was deep in the game and just on the point of squealing when 'Red'
+Rathbone put her out of the way in a fit of jealousy, but we got to her
+for a little dope first up in Wyoming, and it's a straight tip to the
+North Drive bunch. Added to that, the Professor is under lock and key
+out in Chicago; we're holding him on the old Hamilton affair, but I'm
+working on him, and I've got a hunch he's in league with the others
+here. In fact, every clue focuses true, and you mark my words, the
+round-up will be the most sensational in years! My boy," McCormick rose
+and circling the desk, laid one hand upon the younger man's shoulder.
+"It's not my habit to talk to my operatives about cases they're not
+concerned with, but I can't help feeling that you're in pretty deep in
+this. You haven't chosen to be frank with me, but my cards are on the
+table, and I'm going to speak plainer still. If you've been fascinated
+by the scarred face, and let yourself be kidded into the knight-errant
+stuff, forget it! They're all tarred with the same brush and it's a
+mighty black one!"
+
+"I--I don't understand, sir!"
+
+"Because you don't want to. Many a good fellow has fallen for the old
+injured innocence gag and come to, to find his job gone, his career
+blasted and no guy willing to trust him with a plugged nickel. If
+there's another reason," the Chief's face hardened perceptibly, "if
+this Atterbury woman's financial resources have dazzled you, just
+remember you're selling what you can't buy back again. A lot of us
+believe we haven't got a price until the offer is put up to us. I'm
+giving you a chance before you close the deal."
+
+"Bribery!" Ross stood as if turned to stone and McCormick studied him
+with an almost paternal anxiety. At length the younger man squared
+himself and said doggedly: "After that, sir, there's only one thing
+left for me to say. Unless you take me off it, I'll finish up the
+Dumois case, and I'll find the girl if she's above ground. I don't
+think you can recall a case that I've relinquished, admitting failure.
+After that, I'm through; I'll hand in my resignation to you and quit
+the game for good."
+
+"I'm sorry," McCormick remarked simply, but his face clouded in
+profound disappointment. "I spoke as man to man, and I didn't think
+you'd fall down this way. If you're on the level, Ross, for God's sake
+prove it! As to your resignation, we'll discuss that later. I'll be the
+first to apologize if I've misjudged you, but you've got to show me. Go
+out now and make good."
+
+There was an unaccustomed blur before Herbert Ross's eyes as for
+the only time in their long association he left the presence of the
+Chief without the cordial handclasp which had conveyed so much of
+trust and understanding. He did not see the red-headed office boy's
+commiserating nod nor the meaning glances cast after him by his fellow
+operatives as he stumbled blindly from the outer office, and he found
+himself hastening along the crowded thoroughfare with no definite
+destination in his mind.
+
+The Chief's voice, gruff with the effort to conceal his emotion, still
+rang in his ears and a wonderment mingled with his self-loathing. Why
+was he so caught in the toils of treachery and double-dealing, he
+who had guarded his professional honor with a jealousy transcending
+that of man to his mate? What was this girl to him, this strange,
+gentle, indomitable little creature with the pitifully marred face and
+soul-searching eyes, that her protection should have come to mean more
+to him than all the world beside?
+
+If McCormick's suspicions concerning Mrs. Atterbury and her friends
+were justifiable, and the girl was being used as a tool to further
+their ends she must be warned without delay! The Chief had said that
+the police authorities would forestall him if he lost much time. Betty
+Shaw might be in actual peril that very day!
+
+Without any clear idea of what he meant to do, Ross hailed a passing
+taxi and directed the chauffeur to the North Drive. He must see her
+at all costs, and a vague notion of presenting himself boldly at the
+house and demanding an interview with her was taking possession of
+his thoughts, when not a block from his destination he came upon Betty
+herself just as she took an envelope furtively from her muff and
+dropped it into a mail-box.
+
+Jumping from the taxi, he dismissed the chauffeur summarily and
+hastened toward her. He fancied that she looked pale and careworn in
+the fresh morning sunlight, but when she saw him an unmistakable light
+leaped into her eyes.
+
+It died instantly, however, and she bowed with cold aloofness,
+affecting not to notice his outstretched hand.
+
+"Miss Shaw, I am not going to pretend that this meeting is not of my
+seeking for I was on my way to try to see you if I could."
+
+She raised her eyebrows.
+
+"I fancied that our last meeting was quite conclusive, Mr. Ross."
+
+"I told you that I meant to be your friend, whether you wished it or
+not, and it is as your friend that I am here." He spoke very gravely.
+"Won't you let me walk with you for a little way? What I have to say is
+vital to you and in speaking I am practically betraying a trust, but I
+am convinced that you stand in a false position; that through no fault
+of your own, you are in actual danger!"
+
+Betty paused, regarding him steadily, but made no comment.
+
+"You know my name, but I can tell you nothing more of myself; I can
+offer you no personal guarantees of my good faith. I only ask you
+to believe that I speak with good authority. You may consider it an
+unwarranted intrusion into your affairs, but I must warn you. Miss
+Shaw, give up this position you hold! Give it up on whatever pretext is
+possible, or run away if you have to, only go at once, before it is too
+late!"
+
+"Mr. Ross, this is a most extraordinary request! Will you be good
+enough to explain? My position is a highly advantageous one; why should
+I relinquish it?"
+
+"For your own safety. You do not know the sort of trap you are in, or
+the people for whom you are working. They are using you as a tool, and
+worse--"
+
+"I think you must be a little mad!" Betty exclaimed. "My employer is
+a most charming and sympathetic person, the salary is high and the
+work very congenial.--But I don't know why I should trouble to defend
+my occupation to you, Mr. Ross. The little I know of you would not
+predispose me in your favor, and your wild assertions are ridiculous!"
+
+"I cannot explain. Oh, won't you understand that my hands are tied, and
+I can only warn you of your danger? Please try to trust me, and believe
+that I am trying to protect you." In his eagerness he laid his hand
+upon her arm, but she shook it off coldly.
+
+"You cannot be in earnest! I am a secretary and companion to a person
+whose reputation is unassailable. Surely you can tell me in what way am
+I being used as a tool?"
+
+"The letters you write, the commissions you execute for her! Are the
+letters always intelligible to you? Do you know the real purpose of the
+errands upon which you are sent and what lies behind them?"
+
+"Mr. Ross, your questions would be impertinent if they could be taken
+seriously. Mrs. Atterbury's correspondence is the usual one of a woman
+with large financial interests and a host of friends." Betty spoke
+hastily, her calmly disdainful attitude giving place to half-suppressed
+eagerness. "Every letter passes through my hands and I may say that her
+private affairs are an open book. Her charities are innumerable and her
+friends come to her with all their troubles, sure of help and comfort.
+The errands I attend to for her are such as anyone who disliked
+shopping would relegate to another. Really, you have been grossly
+misinformed; I am in no trap, I can assure you."
+
+Herbert Ross gazed at her flushed face with eyes that had narrowed
+swiftly. Her change of manner was too palpable to be spontaneous, and
+it had come only when he had betrayed a knowledge of her activities.
+She might be a tool indeed but a willing one, closing her eyes to what
+she did not wish to see. Although his whole nature rebelled against the
+thought, a fertile seed of doubt was sown.
+
+"It can't be!" He seemed to muse aloud. "You are inexperienced,
+trusting, blind! You believe what you are told by this woman, and
+completely under her influence, but you must open your eyes to
+the truth. Surely the thought must have come to you at times that
+everything was not well; have you never had a misgiving?"
+
+She lifted her eyes to his in a bland, wondering stare.
+
+"Misgiving of what? If we are to continue this conversation, Mr. Ross,
+you really must not talk in riddles. What could be wrong?"
+
+His detective instinct was uppermost now and he realized that instead
+of quizzing her, he himself was being shrewdly drawn out. Was she
+trying to discover how much he really knew that she might the better
+arm herself against him? The seed had not taken firm root as yet,
+however, and in a swift revulsion of feeling he inwardly cursed his
+momentary suspicion. Her eyes were as clear and steady as the sun!
+Surely they could mask no scheming, no subterfuge. Yet if McCormick
+had spoken truly, the most innocent and unsophisticated mind must have
+found food for puzzled thought in that house of mystery.
+
+"Nothing has ever occurred, no slightest whisper or suggestion from
+Mrs. Atterbury or her friends to lead you to feel that something was
+going on which you could not understand? Think, Miss Shaw! You are not
+stupid; surely some inkling of the truth must have reached you."
+
+"Mr. Ross, you refuse to speak plainly and I cannot imagine what you
+are hinting, but I can see that you are really in earnest, and there
+is a terrible mistake somewhere. Mrs. Atterbury's friends are people
+of the world, learned men and brilliant women whom it is an education
+as well as a pleasure for a girl like me to meet. Believe me, you are
+laboring under an absurd illusion! I am very happy in my position and I
+would not think of giving it up and going away for no reason."
+
+"I can easily obtain another for you," he pleaded. "You will not suffer
+by the change. This woman is nothing to you; surely you would be
+willing to relinquish this for a better position--"
+
+"Nothing could induce me to leave Mrs. Atterbury." Betty spoke with
+calm finality, but across her face had flitted unbidden that hardened,
+crafty expression which robbed it of its candid charm, and sudden,
+passionate determination flashed from her eyes. It was gone in an
+instant but not before Herbert Ross had grasped its significance and
+his latent suspicion burst into full flower.
+
+'They are all tarred with the same brush.' The Chief had spoken with a
+wisdom which no puerile emotion had stultified, and Ross's heart turned
+to lead within him.
+
+"Then there is nothing further for me to say. I have warned you, I have
+done my utmost to protect you, but if you wilfully refuse to listen to
+me you must abide by the consequences." His voice trembled in spite of
+himself and he cried out in bitter denunciation: "There must be some
+desperate game of your own which you are playing here! If you are not
+an active accomplice of this woman, what hidden purpose holds you to
+this house, what common bond links you with these people? Who are you,
+what have you done that others should hunt you down, and what are you
+doing now?"
+
+The girl's face blanched swiftly, but her eyes blazed a menace and she
+drew herself up to her full height before him.
+
+"I have listened patiently to your vague melodramatic attack upon my
+employer and her friends, but you have gone too far, Mr. Ross, when you
+extend your mad accusations to me! You have followed me, spied upon me,
+but this final insult is too much to be endured! I must ask you not to
+annoy me again. Let me pass, please!"
+
+He stepped back almost mechanically as with her head proudly erect she
+swept by him and on down the Drive. His gaze followed her until she
+disappeared, his thoughts a chaos of conflicting emotion.
+
+The swift light which had glowed in her eyes at the moment of
+their meeting only to be so quickly effaced, her refusal of his
+proffered hand, the attitude of disdainful aloofness which she has
+maintained, until driven to the wall, and then her simulation of naïve
+innocence--what could these changing moods portend? She had striven
+desperately to disarm his suspicion and when that failed had met him
+with passionate defiance.
+
+If she were innocent of deliberate voluntary complicity in the
+machinations of Mrs. Atterbury, would not a girl in her position have
+welcomed the opportunity of fleeing from such a situation? She must be
+more than a mere tool, and yet....
+
+It could not be true! Her little sensitive face, piquant despite
+its scar, rose once more before his mental vision. Her clear steady
+eyes seemed searching his own, proudly yet piteously imploring. He
+must believe in her! In spite of appearances which would have been
+conclusive proof to any other man, he must have faith to the end.
+
+But why should he disdain that proof if anyone else would have accepted
+it? Why should he believe in her? What was she to him that he must
+struggle to find excuses for her in his own mind, champion her against
+all reason, hold desperately to a blind faith where no grounds for it
+existed?
+
+Then all at once a swift self-revelation came and his heart gave a
+mighty leap within him as he realized at last what had been behind his
+vacillation and final renunciation of the scruples which had governed
+his career. Schemer or dupe, criminal or victim of circumstances, he
+loved her! Her safety meant more to him than his professional honor,
+and were she an adventuress of the deepest dye he still would protect
+her if he could against all the world!
+
+As Ross turned, his foot encountered something soft and yielding upon
+the pavement and glancing downward he saw a twisted wisp of limp tan
+suede. For a moment he regarded it, his face a maze of conflicting
+emotion. Then with a gesture that was almost a caress he stooped,
+picked up the little glove and strode rapidly away.
+
+Betty meanwhile had made her way to the house, with one unguarded
+phrase of his ringing in her ears: "What have you done that others
+should hunt you down?" In spite of her trepidation at the knowledge he
+had revealed of her employer's affairs and the part she had played in
+promoting them, that sentence had brought a glow of warmth, strange and
+inexplicable, to her heart.
+
+Her reverie met with a rude awakening on her arrival. Mrs. Atterbury
+confronted her at the door and one glance at her stern, threatening
+face made Betty's blood turn to water in her veins as she obeyed the
+silent gesture and followed her employer to the library.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury closed the door and faced her.
+
+"Where have you been?" There was a menacing undercurrent in the level
+unemotional tones, but the girl chose desperately to ignore it.
+
+"I went for a walk. You gave me permission, Mrs. Atterbury."
+
+"Who is the young man with whom you were talking?"
+
+Betty's eyes opened widely.
+
+"I don't know." Her hand had flown to her breast and chance directed
+her fingers to the little brooch she wore. On a swift inspiration she
+added: "I dropped my scarab and he came along and found it for me. I
+thanked him, naturally."
+
+Mrs. Atterbury hesitated eying the girl's candid face keenly.
+
+"You did not enter into conversation with him? He asked you no personal
+questions, did not seek to draw you out about yourself?" The wrath
+had given place to a cautious repressed note, and Betty took instant
+advantage of the hesitancy.
+
+"Certainly not!" Her tone was the epitome of wounded pride
+and resentment. "I am not in the habit of forming promiscuous
+acquaintances. If I have given you such an impression, Mrs. Atterbury,
+I am very sorry--"
+
+"My dear, you must not be offended." A smile curved the set lips and
+her employer laid a conciliatory hand upon her arm. "I spoke only for
+your well being; I feel responsible for you, you know, and a young
+girl cannot be too careful, especially in a huge city like this. Come,
+we will say no more about it, child, but do not talk to strangers upon
+any pretext whatever, and let me know instantly if anyone tries to
+converse with you or engage your attention."
+
+For the rest of the day Betty maintained an attitude of reproachful
+dignity, however, which enabled her to keep to herself and gave her
+ample time to formulate her immediate plans. Events were rapidly
+approaching a crisis, and she realized that not an hour could be lost.
+
+At midnight she stole forth, the half-consumed candle from her
+dressing-table serving in lieu of her electric torch, and was
+descending the stairs, when a dim flickering glow from the music room
+made her pause in affright. She had assured herself that the household
+had long since retired to slumber; who, then, was this nocturnal
+intruder? Could it be Wolvert, lying in wait for her?
+
+Hastily blowing out her candle flame, she crept down the stairs and
+peered cautiously in at the door of the music room. A huge portrait
+of Beethoven covered a central space in the left wall and before it,
+silent and motionless, stood a tall figure in a straight, white gown.
+
+The girl paused in awed amazement; there was something detached
+and remote about the strange apparition, like a worshipper at some
+mysterious shrine. Then, slowly the figure turned and Betty slipped
+quickly behind the shelter of the grand piano's upraised top, a gasp of
+almost superstitious fear escaped her lips.
+
+The strange figure was that of Mrs. Atterbury and her eyes were fixed
+in a glassy unseeing stare. Rigidly as if hypnotized, she moved toward
+the shrinking girl and Betty grasped the truth in a flash of mingled
+horror and relief. The woman was walking in her sleep.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV.
+
+                     _The Portrait of Beethoven._
+
+
+Betty held her breath as the tall figure in flowing white threaded its
+way unerringly among the grouped furniture and passing her so closely
+that she might have stretched forth her hand and touched it, glided
+through the doorway and up the stairs. The light she carried glimmered
+with diminishing radiance until it was suddenly extinguished and there
+came the echo of a softly-closing door.
+
+The girl waited motionless, her very heartbeats stilled for an
+interminable length of time, but the house remained wrapped in utter
+darkness and no sound disturbed the eerie silence.
+
+At last, convinced that the somnambulist had settled once more to rest
+and that no eye but her own had witnessed the weird visitation, Betty
+ventured from her hiding place, and groping her way to the smokers'
+stand, procured a match. Its flame sputtered angrily in her fingers as
+she applied it to her candle and she glanced about her in fresh terror
+lest its stroke had been heard, but the shadows were empty.
+
+With faltering steps she approached the portrait and stood for long
+gazing into the benign eyes which seemed to meet hers with an almost
+living response. What was there about the huge picture which had so
+impressed itself upon her employer's unquiet mind that her subconscious
+instinct drew her to it? Surely not the subject alone, for Mrs.
+Atterbury had never evinced the slightest interest in it in the girl's
+presence.
+
+Betty stepped back a few paces and regarded the portrait critically.
+Including the massive gold frame which surrounded it, the space it
+occupied was approximately five feet by eight or ten, and it had been
+hung with no consideration of the lighting effect, either from window
+or chandelier. The spacing, too, was bad, and its position was far too
+low upon the wall.
+
+Had there been some special design in placing it there? Was it merely
+for ornamental purposes, or did it serve as a screen for something
+behind? Betty thought of the bookcase in the library which swung out,
+masking the safe that had been built into the wall; could it be that
+within a few paces of her another and more secret repository was
+concealed?
+
+The frame appeared as though it had not been moved from its place for
+years, its dull burnished gold seemingly embedded in the wall and the
+ivory tint of the paper behind it was unsullied by even a finger mark.
+She approached the portrait again and held her candle so that its rays
+swept the oiled surface of the painting, bringing out each brush stroke
+in clear relief. No crevice showed in its broad expanse and it seemed
+as securely fastened in its frame as though a part of it.
+
+The portrait in its entirety was too heavy and cumbersome to be moved
+without tackle. If it were indeed a blind for something which lay
+behind, it must be turned by means of leverage on some secret mechanism
+operated with a touch upon a spring or button, but no such article was
+visible.
+
+Betty turned her attention to the frame. It was old-fashioned and
+heavily carved with a continuous scroll-work with innumerable
+protuberances, but none stood out more prominently than the rest and no
+flaw or disjointure appeared to the most minute scrutiny. The raised
+edges of the scrolls and high convex points of the decoration between
+were brightly burnished, the background lustreless and deepened to a
+brownish shade resembling bronze.
+
+The candle had burned low and was guttering in her fingers when Betty
+suddenly observed that one of the smaller knob-like anaglyphs which
+projected from the lower right hand corner of the frame was more highly
+burnished than the others and the gilt seemed worn as if by friction.
+Impulsively she pressed it.
+
+It gave beneath her hand and she stepped back quickly as the portrait
+itself lurched and swung widely out from the frame, grazing her
+shoulder before she could spring aside from its path. At the same
+instant a bell shrilled loudly through the sleeping house and its echo
+had not died away before a hubbub of voices arose from above.
+
+Betty paused only to give a maddened push with all the strength of
+her terror behind it, to the picture which yawned from the wall, then
+turning, she fled wildly to the stairs.
+
+Her candle was extinguished in the sudden draught, but she had found
+the banisters and glided up as swiftly and silently as a ghost. Lights
+appeared behind her as she rounded the corner of the hall, but she
+reached her room without encountering anyone and turned the key softly
+in the lock behind her.
+
+The steady gleam of the live coals in the grate illuminated the
+room with a rosy glow and Betty thrust her candle end deep into
+the smoldering embers. Then, taking a fresh, unused one from the
+many-branched sconce above the mantel, she placed it in the candlestick
+upon her dressing-table from which she had taken the first.
+
+Loosening her robe, she jumped into bed, and pulling the covers about
+her, lay listening to the hubbub outside. She could clearly distinguish
+in the general uproar the high-pitched staccato voice of Madame
+Cimmino and Welch's deep-throated bellow of rage.
+
+The sounds came nearer and she heard a thundering knock upon a door
+down the hall. A startled cry from Mrs. Atterbury answered it and a
+door was slammed back. An excited babel arose once more, and high above
+it Madame Cimmino shrilled:
+
+"It was you! You have walked again! See, here is your candle half
+burned and still warm, and there are drops of wax upon the floor before
+the picture. Would you ruin us all that you will not have a guard at
+night?"
+
+Another murmur, and then the voice of Wolvert, smooth and silky,
+dominated the others.
+
+"It is all right, Marcia. The portrait is back in its place. You must
+have closed it before you came upstairs, although it is a mystery to
+me how you reached your room so quickly. I thought somnambulists moved
+step by step, but you must have fairly flown. I wonder that the alarm
+did not awaken you, or our lights and yells, but at least no harm has
+been done."
+
+His last words conveyed a swift suggestion to the girl's mind, and
+lest she court suspicion by effacing herself, she sprang from bed, and
+switching on the lights, opened the door.
+
+"What is the matter? Is anyone ill?" She blinked realistically in the
+sudden glare and her clear, young voice rang out above the others.
+Madame Cimmino turned like an avenging fury.
+
+"What is it to you?" she screamed. "Go back to your bed and do not
+meddle! _Sancta Maria!_ Must we find you always at our heels? This
+comes of admitting an outsider--"
+
+"Speranza, you are beside yourself!" Mrs. Atterbury's voice, poised
+and dominant once more, broke in sternly. "You have been startled, I
+know, but that does not excuse your lack of self-control. Everything is
+quite all right, Betty. Welch happened to touch one of the wires of the
+burglar alarm and aroused the house. Don't allow it to disturb you, it
+was just a stupid mistake."
+
+Betty closed her door with a little sigh of relief for her narrow
+escape, and the confusion of voices in the hall gradually subsided
+until silence reigned once more. Mrs. Atterbury's burned candle and
+the wax which had fallen from her own combined to form unassailable
+if falsely corroborative evidence that her employer alone had been in
+the music room, and Betty breathed a prayer of thankfulness for the
+fortuitous chance which had saved her from exposure. The portrait of
+Beethoven was before her eyes when she at length fell asleep, and in
+the darkness, as her heavy lids closed, she seemed again to see it
+swing from its massive frame and in the aperture loomed that which she
+had scarcely noted in the excitement of the moment; the dull sheen of
+a sheet of steel, with the combination knob in the center. The safe was
+there as she had suspected, but would chance, which had served her so
+well that night, enable her to glimpse what lay within it?
+
+Her first waking thought reverted to it in the morning, but when she
+descended at the sound of the breakfast gong she sensed a new tension
+in the atmosphere which put her instantly on her guard.
+
+Mrs. Atterbury was in her accustomed place at the head of the table but
+she avoided the girl's eyes as she bade her good morning and her level
+tones were oddly shaken. Welch turned from the sideboard at the sound
+of her voice and the silver dish-cover which he held clattered to the
+floor. His face was pasty and gray and he stared at Betty in a sort of
+horror until a sharp word from his hostess sent him hastily about his
+duties.
+
+Madame Cimmino pushed back her plate abruptly and swept from the room
+as the girl seated herself, and Wolvert glanced up with a nod, but his
+usually facile tongue was stilled and his eyes seemed to blaze as they
+rested upon her. Into his expression Betty read a shadow of that terror
+which had lurked there on two previous occasions and when she turned in
+growing wonder to her employer she found stamped upon her face also a
+look of dazed consternation akin to fear.
+
+She drank her coffee and essayed to eat with her face averted, feeling
+that their eyes were fixed upon her in an intensity which seemed to
+burn into her consciousness. Had they discovered some clue to her
+presence in the music room on the previous night? Did they know that
+it was she who had tampered with the portrait and were they even now
+planning her punishment?
+
+The food choked her and the ghastly pretense of a meal seemed unending,
+but at last Mrs. Atterbury rose.
+
+"You need not attend to the mail this morning, my dear." She tried to
+speak casually, but the odd quaver persisted in her tones. "I shall be
+too busy to dictate replies, and it will have to wait until another
+time. There is a pile of mending in the sewing room, however, which I
+wish you would go over carefully."
+
+Betty accepted her dismissal and ascended to the secluded room on the
+top floor, where she spent a lonely and anxious morning. The hours
+dragged and the silence wrought upon her nerves until she bit her lips
+to keep from shrieking out in the sheer agony of protracted suspense.
+Why were they waiting to visit their vengeance upon her if they were
+assured of her guilt? Anything would be better than this hideous
+uncertainty.
+
+That the task which had been arranged for her was the most transparent
+of subterfuges for getting her out of the way became apparent when
+she examined the work laid out upon the table. The linen was of the
+coarsest variety, evidently from the servants' quarters, and it had
+long outlived its usefulness. It was yellowed, too, and creased, as
+though it had been laid away, forgotten in some musty recess, and she
+made but little progress, her thread tearing through the frail, worn
+fabric with each stitch.
+
+What was going on below? Her window opened upon a rear view and from it
+she could see only the tops of the cedars, and the garage roof, but no
+sound of a motor approaching or leaving the house came to her in her
+solitude and she felt cut off from all the world.
+
+The silence within doors remained unbroken, save once when she fancied
+that the echo of faint, hysterical sobbing reached her ears, but she
+could not be sure that her overstrained nerves were not playing her
+false.
+
+Gradually the conviction grew within her that the ill-suppressed
+excitement and dismay were due to some cause other than the event of
+the night before, yet something which concerned her vitally. She could
+not forget the glances of horror and fear which had been directed
+at her. What could it be? What contingency had arisen of which she
+herself was in ignorance, yet which wrought the others to a condition
+bordering on panic? Was it that through her they dreaded interference
+and possible disaster from an outside source?
+
+Betty anticipated that her lunch would be brought to her and her
+virtual isolation continued indefinitely, and she was surprised when
+Welch came to summon her to the meal. He still regarded her furtively
+and his huge, hairy hands clenched and unclenched as he stood before
+her. She gazed at them, repelled yet fascinated as if she could feel
+them already closing about her throat. Had they wielded the knife which
+had slain Breckinridge? She passed him with a shudder and descended.
+
+A further surprise awaited her; there was a marked change in the
+attitude of Mrs. Atterbury and her guests. The former was again her
+well-poised self, serene and calmly detached. Madame Cimmino exhibited
+a volatile gayety of temperament bordering on hysteria and Wolvert was
+in his most reckless, brilliant vein.
+
+Sheer amazement held the girl dumb before his raillery, but she made
+a supreme effort to flog her failing spirit into a response to the
+general lightness of mood, forced though she instinctively knew it to
+be. The hour passed more easily than Betty could have dared to hope
+and at its conclusion as she paused in the doorway, uncertain whether
+to return to her task or await other instructions, Mrs. Atterbury came
+and slipped her arm in the girl's in a rare gesture that was almost a
+caress.
+
+"Come up to my sitting-room, my dear. I have a suggestion to make to
+you which I think will please you very much, and we will have an
+opportunity to talk privately there."
+
+Betty turned obediently and side by side they went up the stair. In
+spite of the indulgent tone, the girl was filled with foreboding, but
+Mrs. Atterbury was still smiling as she closed the door and motioned
+Betty to a low chair near the window.
+
+"I want to speak to you, Betty, about the birthmark on your cheek."
+She began without preface. "I am afraid that you must have thought me
+needlessly tyrannical in ordering you to go unveiled, but it was the
+only way to put a stop to the self-consciousness which was growing upon
+you and would only have increased until your life became a burden.
+When I engaged you, you assured me that you did not mind the mark, and
+scarcely ever thought of it, but you were unaccustomed to the city and
+did not realize that strangers will stare at anything unusual in your
+appearance. Have you ever made an attempt to have the blemish removed?"
+
+Betty gazed at her in wordless astonishment for a moment before she
+found her voice.
+
+"Oh, yes, but it could not be done, and the doctors tell me that only
+a worse disfigurement would result from tampering with it. I did try
+once, but I hurt myself dreadfully. I really don't mind going unveiled
+now, Mrs. Atterbury."
+
+"But you would be glad if the blemish did not exist?" Her tone was
+beguilingly insinuating. "It cannot be wholly eradicated, of course,
+but I have learned of a method of treatment by which it could be
+rendered almost invisible. I was interested on your account, child, and
+procured the necessary materials. I have them here."
+
+"Oh, please, no!" Betty cried in genuine alarm. "I would not dare use
+acids or anything of that sort! When I attempted it before, it nearly
+caused blood-poisoning. Nothing could induce me to expose myself to
+such danger a second time."
+
+"But, my dear, this is absolutely harmless. Do you think I would
+suggest or even permit you to run any risk of injury?" She opened a
+drawer of her dressing-table and took from it several small jars and
+a camel's hair brush. "It does not act upon the birthmark itself and
+would not irritate the most sensitive skin. It is merely a covering
+which almost defies detection. This solution of wax forms a sort of
+enamel and the other jars contain merely paint to produce a natural
+effect. I do not approve of cosmetics for young girls on general
+principles, but this is a different matter, and you will marvel at the
+result. The birthmark will seem to have disappeared absolutely."
+
+"But won't that militate against my usefulness, Mrs. Atterbury?" The
+girl looked unflinchingly into her eyes. "The people you send me to
+meet identify me by means of this mark. How will they recognize me if
+it is covered?"
+
+Mrs. Atterbury drew her breath in sharply between her teeth, and her
+fingers tightened about the little jar, but she replied coolly:
+
+"You will not be called upon to go on any errands of that sort for some
+time to come. In describing your appearance the scar was naturally
+mentioned but it is not essential for your identification. Remember
+I am not asking you to hide it solely for your own benefit, Betty. I
+find that it has a disagreeable effect upon my guests and those about
+us in the household and I am considering their feelings as well as
+yours when I insist that you disguise it as much as possible. This may
+seem brutally frank to you, but you know that the blemish makes no
+difference to me personally, nor to anyone who really cares for you.
+Come, sit here, and let me show you what a magical change I can effect."
+
+Betty drew back and stood very straight and tall before her employer.
+
+"I am sorry, Mrs. Atterbury, but I cannot allow anyone to touch my
+face. You are very kind to have taken this interest in me and I
+appreciate it. I will gladly accept the preparations and use them
+myself if you will give me the directions, but if anyone else attempted
+it I should go mad with nervous torture. I hope you understand; I may
+seem abnormally sensitive to you, but I really could not endure it."
+
+Mrs. Atterbury, with a shrug, capitulated:
+
+"Very well, my dear, you must do as you like, of course. The directions
+are upon each jar. Use it this afternoon and let me see at dinner how
+much it has improved your appearance."
+
+Betty took the articles murmuring her thanks and went to her own room.
+There she carefully extracted a small quantity of their contents from
+each of the jars, wrapped it in paper and burnt it in the grate. This
+done she seated herself before her dressing-table, and with cosmetics
+of her own applied herself to her task.
+
+She worked long and painstakingly, but at length the result was
+achieved to her satisfaction and she sat back and surveyed herself in
+the mirror.
+
+The mark was almost obliterated, only the faintest shadow of deeper
+color showing beneath the rose-pink glow which tinted her cheeks from
+brow to neck, and with the disfigurement banished her whole expression
+changed. It was as if a different personality were reflected before
+her, and Betty's first gleam of pleasure at her handiwork gave place to
+a little frown of doubt and uncertainty, not unmixed with trepidation.
+What motive lay behind this suggestion from Mrs. Atterbury?
+
+At dusk when Betty descended the stairs she discovered a man standing
+in the shadowed doorway of the drawing-room. At first she though it
+was Wolvert, but a second glance showed that the intruder was of more
+slender build and younger, and his face seemed overspread with an
+unhealthy greenish pallor.
+
+He stood motionless staring glassily at her and when she was half way
+down he stepped forward.
+
+"Who are you? What are you doing here?" His high-pitched quavering
+voice shrilled just as the firelight fell full upon his face, and Betty
+recognized him at once. It was the pale, overdressed, foppish youth
+of the dinner party on the night when Wolvert had uttered his strange
+toast.
+
+"Mr. Ide! Don't you remember me? I am Mrs. Atterbury's companion."
+
+"Oh--er--of course! Stupid of me, but my nerves are a bit on edge and
+seeing you so suddenly in the half-light--"
+
+His voice trailed off into silence and he still stood with his eyes
+fixed in wondering perplexity on her face.
+
+"It was a natural mistake, Mr. Ide. You are waiting for Mrs. Atterbury?
+I will go to her--"
+
+"Thank you, Welch has taken my message." He spoke as if dazed. "It is
+extraordinary, but do you know I fancied for a moment that you were
+someone else? There was something about you, Miss--Miss--"
+
+"My name is Betty Shaw," the girl interrupted quietly. "I happen to
+be of quite a usual type, I believe, except for this birthmark on my
+cheek. I have powdered it over tonight, so it is no wonder you did not
+recognize me at once. No doubt Mrs. Atterbury will be down in a few
+minutes."
+
+She nodded and turning abruptly entered the library, leaving the young
+man gazing after her with vacant eyes, and jaws agape.
+
+The library was empty and in darkness, even the hearth fire having
+died, and a chill dampness pervaded the air. Betty switched on the
+lights and looked about her. The morning's correspondence was still
+heaped untouched upon the desk, but the rest of the room was in order
+save that a huge mass of fluffy charred fragments, as of burned paper,
+choked the chimney opening, smothering the logs beneath.
+
+What could have been destroyed there in such quantities? The whole
+contents of desk and safe combined would not have produced such a
+mound of ashes. She took up the poker and stirred them about idly, her
+thoughts reverting to the strange manner of the young man in the hall,
+when all at once a scrap of paper fluttered from the rest which showed
+a gleam of white. It was part of the upper half of a news-sheet; the
+date of that morning was plainly visible at the top and just beneath it
+the fragment of a sentence in double heading type caught her eye:
+
+                  "Police Find Promising Clue to B--
+                     Looking For Girl With Scar--"
+
+Betty dropped the paper as if it burned her.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+
+                          _The Closing Net._
+
+
+A light tapping, faint but insistent came to Betty's ears in the midst
+of her consternation and her hands dropped to her sides as she turned
+quickly from the hearth. The sound was brittle and crisp rather than
+metallic and seemed to come from the window which showed a square black
+void against the light of the room.
+
+As she approached, however, a face appeared out of the surrounding
+gloom and flattened itself against the pane. It was that of a man,
+youthful and clean shaven, with a cap pulled low over his eyes, and
+as he perceived that he had succeeded in attracting her attention, he
+beckoned eagerly.
+
+Betty hesitated but as he repeated the gesture with anxious impatience,
+she walked over to the window and opened it.
+
+"Good evening, Miss. I had Demon out for a bit of a run just now and he
+got away from me. I whistled and whistled but he didn't come back and
+finally I found him out by the gate jumping all around a strange man.
+It was funny, for he's pretty fierce usually; you're the only one he's
+taken to that I can remember. Then I saw that the young fellow had a
+glove in his hand, that he was making Demon jump for; this glove, Miss.
+Is it yours?"
+
+"Why, yes!" Betty stammered, flushing warmly. It was the glove she
+had dropped during her last stormy interview with Herbert Ross. Her
+companion she had recognized at once as Demon's keeper whom she
+encountered on the afternoon when the dog rescued her from Wolvert's
+unwelcome attentions. "Did he give it to you for me?"
+
+"And something else besides. We got talking and he asked would I give
+you the glove and this letter. He said it was very private and I was
+to tell nobody, but put it in your own hands the first chance I got,
+so I come straight here and nosed around until I saw you over by the
+fire-place."
+
+"Thank you!" Betty seized the envelope and thrust it in her breast. "I
+will see that you are well paid--"
+
+"Oh, that's all right, Miss. The young gentleman fixed me up, but I'd
+have done it anyway. Demon's a good judge of character, he is! I'll
+beat it now, Miss. It's as much as my place is worth to be seen around
+here."
+
+He vanished into the darkness and Betty closed the window and sank into
+the chair before the desk. The letter lay like a living hand upon her
+heart and she longed for solitude and security to read it in peace,
+but Mrs. Atterbury's voice sounded from the hall and she knew that at
+any moment the others would descend for dinner. Why had Ross taken this
+desperate chance to communicate with her? Was it to implore forgiveness
+for his accusation, or in final warning of disaster?
+
+She fumbled at her breast in a desperate impulse to brave discovery if
+necessary but to glean at all costs the purport of his message, when
+the door opened and Welch stood on the threshold, announcing dinner.
+
+How she managed to struggle through the hour that followed she could
+scarcely remember. The expression of half-startled amazement with which
+the others greeted her changed appearance and the awkward attempt to
+bridge over their surprise lingered but vaguely in her thoughts. She
+could feel their gaze turning to her again and again in the pauses of
+the disjointed conversation, but she kept her face assiduously averted,
+fearing lest they read in her eyes the knowledge she had gained from
+the charred fragment of paper.
+
+To her relief Mrs. Atterbury dismissed her as soon as the meal was
+concluded, drawing her aside at the foot of the stairs to whisper
+commendingly:
+
+"My dear, the improvement is marvellous, as I told you it would be.
+Use the wax regularly in future and you will have no cause to pity
+yourself, I can assure you. No one would believe there was a blemish
+beneath the rouge which you have so cleverly applied, but be careful
+not to overdo it. Your coloring is just a little too brilliant tonight."
+
+Betty glanced at herself hurriedly in the mirror when she reached
+the privacy of her room. Her eyes glittered and her cheeks burned
+feverishly beneath the artificial glow. With trembling fingers she drew
+the envelope from its hiding place and broke the seal.
+
+"Come to me"--it began without form of address, "--if you value your
+safety. I will wait near the gate until midnight. Don't delay, for the
+danger of which I told you is culminating and any hour may precipitate
+the crisis when it will be beyond my power to help or warn you."
+
+The brief note was unsigned and the flowing characteristic hand was
+unfamiliar to her, but no question of evading the command entered her
+thoughts. She must get to him, though it meant running the gauntlet of
+sharp eyes and ears below, and actual peril should she be discovered.
+She threw a dark cloak over her dinner gown, determined if she were
+intercepted to plead a headache and the desire for a turn in the fresh
+air before retiring. Once clear of the house she feared nothing for
+she knew that Demon was held in wholesome awe by even the redoubtable
+Welch. The only danger would be that the dog himself might spring upon
+her in the dark, but that risk she must face.
+
+Opening her door softly, Betty listened to the low murmur of voices
+from below. It seemed to come from the music room, and she waited until
+she had distinguished each voice and assured herself that all three of
+Mrs. Atterbury's guests were with her before venturing down the hall.
+
+The main staircase was out of the question and she chose the one at the
+rear. It descended to the servants' quarters, but she knew that the
+cook had long since retired and the rattle of silverware told her that
+Welch was busied in the dining-room. There remained only Caroline to be
+considered and she was seldom in evidence at this hour.
+
+Betty moved to the head of the stairs and listened again intently.
+No sound penetrated from the lower regions of the house and the hall
+light was dim. Cautiously, with her heart pounding in her throat, she
+descended to a narrow landing midway of the staircase, when the kitchen
+door was suddenly opened emitting a broad stream of light and Caroline
+appeared, bearing a steaming pitcher.
+
+Trapped, Betty glanced wildly about her and saw a small door at the
+left of the landing. Flinging it open she sprang into the black void
+beyond, her forehead striking smartly against the edge of a shelf.
+As she grasped it to steady herself her fingers came in contact with
+glass jars placed solidly in rows; evidently she had stumbled into a
+store-closet.
+
+Behind her she heard slow heavy steps mounting the stairs and she
+scarcely breathed as they paused on the landing within arm's length
+of her refuge. Had the woman seen her? But even as the fear gripped
+her, Betty heard the complaining creak of the stairs once more and the
+ponderous tread ascended, diminishing to silence along the upper hall.
+
+Waiting no longer, she slipped from the closet and fairly flew down to
+the kitchen. Welch had not yet made his rounds and the heavy back door,
+unlatched, swung wide at her touch. With a sob of thankfulness she
+found herself out in the pine-scented darkness, with only the whisper
+of the wind in the evergreens and the distant shriek of whistles upon
+the river to break the silence. She was free!
+
+There was a low light in the upper story of the garage and with it to
+guide her she sped around the corner of the house on the opposite side
+from that on which the music room was located, crouching low beneath
+the window sills and darting from one sheltering clump of trees to
+another. She found the path but the darkness confused her and more than
+once she strayed from it to strike against a wide spreading branch or
+sink to her knees in a tangle of underbrush.
+
+The distance seemed interminable to the gate, and Betty was commencing
+to fear that she had lost her way when a low rumbling growl reached her
+ears, and a cautious masculine voice, silencing it, brought a soft
+little cry from her own lips.
+
+"I knew it must be you!"
+
+Although they had parted in bitterness and anger she seemed to have
+forgotten it, for her hand reached out and found his in the black void
+of the night.
+
+For a long minute they stood silently together, then a pleading paw
+raked at her knee, and Demon's eyes glistened up to her in reproachful
+greeting. With a murmured laugh that was half a sob Betty released her
+hand and stooping, patted the great shaggy head.
+
+"You had my note?" Ross's tone was breathless. "I thought that fellow
+was to be trusted! The dog came to me a half-hour ago but he remembered
+my voice and I kept him here for fear he would mistake you in the
+dark and attack you. You must listen to me. Whatever you think of me,
+whether you are still resentful or not makes no difference now. You are
+in frightful danger and you must escape from these people while you
+can. Come! We have no time to lose. There is a car waiting around the
+corner and your absence from the house may be discovered at any moment."
+
+Betty slowly drew back.
+
+"Come where?" she asked. "My place is here."
+
+"Here? In this den of criminals? Here to wait until the house is
+surrounded and you are captured with the rest to face the hideous
+ignominy of a trial? Do you know what you are guilty of in the eyes
+of the law? Not only compounding a felony but being accessory after
+the fact to a murder! Not the most adroit counsel could save you from
+imprisonment, if not worse!"
+
+"Murder!" Betty's voice was a mere whisper.
+
+"Do you know that a man was done to death beneath that roof even while
+it sheltered you? That the police and every detective in the country
+have been moving heaven and earth to find a clue to his murderers and
+a trail has been picked up which leads unmistakably here? Even if you
+know nothing about it you must have seen it in the papers; they've
+been full of the case for nearly three weeks, ever since the body was
+found--"
+
+"I know." She spoke in unguarded haste. "You mean Breckinridge. I saw
+his picture in a paper which I bought downtown and I recognized him--"
+
+"Recognized him!" repeated Ross, aghast. "Do you mean that you were
+dragged into even this? You knew him?"
+
+"I saw him once." Betty hesitated and then went on impetuously as if
+glad to rid herself of the hideous burden she had borne so long. "I
+came downstairs alone at midnight, and I found him lying dead upon the
+floor. I don't know how he got in or who killed him. There wasn't the
+slightest trace left in the morning and it all seemed like an awful
+dream."
+
+Ross groaned.
+
+"And you told no one? You kept it to yourself and stayed on? Good
+God, what is it that has held you here? What obsession controls
+you, stronger than the fear of death!! How could you, a tender,
+highly-strung girl, force yourself to intimate association with
+desperate criminals whom you knew had not hesitated to take human life?
+What manner of woman are you?"
+
+"I don't know," Betty answered truthfully enough. "If anyone had told
+me that I could endure what I have gone through I should have fancied
+them quite mad, but I have not given up my purpose and I cannot leave
+while a single chance remains for its fulfillment. You must think what
+you please of me. I shall not attempt to explain or defend myself to
+you, and if the worst comes and I am taken with the others, I will face
+the consequences. No one can help me, and no one can stop me."
+
+"I mean to take you away now, tonight, if I have to do it by force!"
+Ross spoke through set teeth. "I know who you are and everything about
+you except the mission which brought you here, and that I can guess. I
+mean to save you from yourself and the result of your mad recklessness!"
+
+"You know?" Betty echoed faintly.
+
+"Oh, my dear, give it up and come away with me!" He had drawn close to
+her and the thrilling tenderness in his tone made the blood leap in her
+veins. "I will take you where you will be safe, where not a breath of
+this hideous monster of crime can touch you. You are the bravest little
+woman in the world but you are acting from a mistaken sense of loyalty,
+I know, I feel it. Dear, I love you! Whatever you think of me, whatever
+the future may hold, I love you! When I have seemed to be hounding you
+down I was trying always to protect you. Before I knew the truth, when
+everything seemed blackest against you and I believed the worst I loved
+you. Criminal or not, I wanted to hold you against all the world! Won't
+you trust me, dear? Won't you let me save you while there is yet time?"
+
+"Oh, please!" Betty cried a trifle breathlessly. "You cannot realize
+what you are saying. You know nothing of me, nothing, and as to my
+leaving here, I--I am not free to go."
+
+"And do you think that I will allow you to remain here another hour?"
+he cried. "Do you think that I will let you face this unspeakable
+danger, you whom I love?--For I do love you, Betty! Whether you believe
+me or not, whether you listen or turn from me, I love you! That is
+why I trusted you from the first, believed in you when appearances
+were blackest, had faith, blindly, instinctively against reason and
+logic and circumstantial evidence of the most conclusive kind! The
+net is closing around this horrible high priestess of crime and her
+accomplices; it will be only a matter of hours now before the end. Oh,
+my dear, drive this mad, quixotic idea from your thoughts and come with
+me!"
+
+Betty slowly retreated a step or two from him.
+
+"I do believe in you--in your friendship, I mean. I know that you want
+to help me, that you have my interests, my very safety at heart and I
+am grateful. But there is something stronger than the fear of death.
+Don't make it any harder for me than it is. I realize my position; I
+know the danger in which I stand alone, the end that waits for me if
+they discover my purpose, or the consequences if the police come. And
+still I must remain! No power on earth can move me!"
+
+"I can't believe you do fully realize your danger!" Ross pleaded. "I
+did not mean to tell you, I did not want to frighten you until I had
+taken you to a place of safety, but dear, you must know the truth. It
+is not the Atterbury creature or the others of her gang for whom the
+police are searching, but you--you! The newspapers today fairly blazed
+with it and every detective in the city is out after 'the girl with the
+scar'! Do you know what you have been doing, what you have been guilty
+of on these commissions as the tool of this woman?"
+
+"Yes," answered Betty quietly. "I knew, but if I had refused, someone
+else would have gone in my place and I would have been dismissed, my
+own plan thwarted. I suppose I was hard and bitter, but it seemed to
+me that the ends justified any means. Those people came voluntarily
+to meet me; they had an alternative but they made their choice. If I
+had gone to the police myself I would not only have defeated my own
+purpose, but theirs also. Let the detectives search for the girl with
+the scar! I am safe until they trace me here and by that time I may
+have succeeded in my plan. No one can know where I am to be found but
+you, and I am not afraid that you will betray me!"
+
+"But I have!" he groaned. "My chief knows. As a private detective
+myself I was employed in the first place to find you, you can guess by
+whom. My chief learned that I was on the trail of a girl with a scar
+and he thinks I've double-crossed him and gone crooked in trying to
+protect you. He's honest and he's got bull-dog courage; you can't bluff
+him or buy him."
+
+"Not even with information?" Betty asked on a swift inspiration. "Will
+he hold off for only a day or two, just to give me another chance, if
+you can tell him something that will be of great value to him?"
+
+"What do you mean, dear? What have you learned?" The question sprang
+eagerly from his lips. "I could not bribe McCormick, but I might stall
+him until I can take you out of his reach--"
+
+"McCormick!" A sentence she had read a week before stood out across the
+girl's consciousness in letters of fire. "Listen! There's a man who
+uses the title of Professor--Professor Stolz, they called him here--who
+has just been arrested in Chicago."
+
+Ross uttered a startled exclamation, but she went on:
+
+"I believe he has escaped or broken parole before, because he is being
+held on an old verdict concerning someone named Hamilton, but your
+Mr. McCormick is trying to find new evidence against him. He's an
+accomplice of Mrs. Atterbury and the evidence is in this house. Have
+you ever heard of a woman called 'The Comet'?"
+
+"Yes! Maisie Larne! She was murdered in Denver, in a fit of jealousy,
+by a man nicknamed 'Red' Rathbone--"
+
+"She was murdered because she sold out Mrs. Atterbury's accomplice,
+this person called 'Red,' to detectives in Laramie, Wyoming, and they
+communicated with the federal authorities in Washington, and spoiled
+that particular plot. 'Red' escaped to Denver, she followed him and she
+was killed by a man known as 'Bud'--"
+
+"Bud Malone! And we never suspected it! The Chief will get him--"
+
+"He's on his way to Japan," interrupted Betty.
+
+"Then he is as good as in our hands! We will have all the ports watched
+and he can't escape," Ross cried. Then impetuously he held out his
+hands to her. "I can't endure it that all this hideous knowledge should
+have come to you! It is as if you were being steeped in defilement! You
+know that you can trust me! Tell me what this impossible task is which
+you have set your hand to. Let me undertake it for you, let me bear the
+burden!"
+
+"Please, please don't ask me! You cannot help me, no one can. I must
+see it through alone!"
+
+"Then you--you mean that I am to leave you here?" His arms dropped to
+his sides. "Nothing can move you? I may not even stay to protect you,
+lest I draw suspicion upon you! I can't! No man could leave the woman
+he loved in such peril! What if I were to take you away now by sheer
+force?"
+
+"But you will not." Betty spoke softly but with absolute finality. "I
+trusted you, I came to you here because you asked it, you will not take
+advantage of my faith to destroy it. And you must not mention--love.
+I am grateful to you for risking your chief's displeasure, your very
+career for my sake, but I must stand alone. There is stern work ahead
+of me and I shall succeed; I feel it in my very heart and nothing can
+make me turn from that which lies before me."
+
+Herbert Ross drew a deep breath and his voice was husky with pent-up
+emotion as he said solemnly:
+
+"Then may God keep you, dear! It may be that you are right; such
+bravery as yours should have its reward, no matter what your object may
+be. Remember that day and night I shall be on guard as near as I can
+get to you without bringing harm upon your head. Take this and wear it;
+do not leave it for an instant out of reach, and if danger threatens
+you blow as loudly as you can upon it. A man will be stationed where
+he can hear it and pass the signal along, and you will find me at your
+side. I must not keep you now, but God! how I dread to let you go back
+into their clutches!"
+
+Betty fingered the slender chain he had placed about her neck. A
+whistle hung upon it and she thrust it quickly beneath her cloak.
+
+"I shall not forget, nor be afraid, knowing that you are here. I am
+glad, too, that you do not think me a criminal, even if I have broken
+the law. When I thought that you were trailing me, spying upon me, I
+felt that I hated you, but now--"
+
+"'Now'?" he repeated gently, as she hesitated.
+
+"I am deeply grateful, and we--we shall be friends." Betty held out her
+hand once more, but shyly this time. "Thank you, oh, thank you for all
+that you have done for me, for all that you would do, and--goodnight."
+
+He took her small hand in both his own and held it tightly for a
+moment without words. Then she slowly withdrew it and turning moved off
+into the darkness with the great dog trotting noiselessly at her heels.
+
+For the first time since she had entered that house her spirit was
+light within her and a great peace and contentment filled her heart.
+Despite the danger in which she stood, all fear had fallen from her,
+for was not he there, on guard? Surely nothing would harm her now, no
+power of darkness or evil would touch her while he waited there, while
+that little whistle hung about her neck to summon him to her aid. He
+had believed in her when all the world would have doubted, because he
+cared for her. And she?
+
+Betty stopped in the wintry path and her clasped hands flew to her
+breast. What could this strange feeling of happiness mean, which had
+come to her in the face of her danger, and why had that danger itself
+become minimized at the mere thought of his watchful presence. Why did
+she trust him so wholly? Could it be that her faith, her trust in turn,
+was rooted in something deeper than friendship?
+
+Even as she asked herself the question, the girl's own heart, awakened
+and singing, gave her answer. It was love!
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII.
+
+                           _Turned Tables._
+
+
+Betty reached the house in safety but there an unforeseen difficulty
+confronted her. In her haste to obey the summons, she had given no
+thought as to how she might gain re-entrance, if Welch had made his
+rounds and locked up for the night. She knew with what caution the
+house was guarded and if she encountered one of the alarm wires all
+would be lost. Even that would presuppose a window or door left
+unfastened and that was a contingency too remote to be considered.
+
+The lower floor was still lighted and moving shadows blurred against
+the curtains of the windows as she skirted the side of the house on
+which the music room was located. Betty had taken no account of time
+but she felt that it must be very late and it was with a forlorn hope
+that she tried the kitchen door.
+
+To her surprise it yielded against her hand and she pushed it slowly
+open, halting upon the threshold in sudden dread. A low light was still
+burning in the room and she saw a man seated at the table. His head
+rested upon his outflung arms and from where the girl stood she could
+hear his heavy stertorous breathing. The face was turned sidewise
+toward her and she had no difficulty in recognizing Welch, although
+his expression was oddly distorted and his heavy jowls were tinged a
+mottled purplish hue.
+
+Betty tiptoed past him, scarcely daring to breathe, but he did not
+awaken and his rasping snore followed her as she fled silently up
+the stair. Her own room was reached at last and bolting the door she
+removed her damp, chilling garments, heavy with the night's dew and
+prepared for the task which remained to her when the household should
+finally retire.
+
+The slender chain clung reassuringly to her neck and she drew out
+the little whistle and examined it. It was of silver, delicately
+chased, and bore upon a plain oval shield the initials H. R. It seemed
+incredible that so fragile and toylike an instrument could summon aid
+and yet upon it might sometime depend life or death for her. It was
+Ross's own that he had given to her, and she pressed it to her breast
+fervently as though it were a talisman to keep all danger and evil from
+her.
+
+The hour dragged, but at length she heard the rustle of feet upon the
+stair and a murmur of voices which grew less and less as doors closed
+until silence fell once more.
+
+Betty was in a fever of impatience, but she resolutely fixed her eyes
+upon the tiny clock on the mantel and waited in an excess of caution
+until the hands pointed to half-past one. Then with her dark robe
+girded about her and her felt-covered feet making no sound, she opened
+her door.
+
+The next moment she started back in amazement. A chair had been placed
+a short distance down the hall near the entrance to Mrs. Atterbury's
+bedroom but it was empty and an oddly huddled figure lay beside it upon
+the floor. It was a woman, collapsed as though she had been overcome by
+slumber and slipped from her chair, but there was something about the
+inert, helpless figure and hoarse stertorous breath not unlike that of
+the other downstairs which warned Betty that this was no ordinary sleep.
+
+Holding her breath she drew near the recumbent form and recognized
+Caroline. The woman's face was empurpled like that of Welch and her
+relaxed chin had fallen upon her breast giving her an expression of
+repellant brutish vacuity. Betty had always considered her a stolid
+unintelligent creature whose chief virtue was faithfulness, but now it
+was as if something malevolent and bestial had made itself manifest,
+betraying her real nature in her unconsciousness.
+
+Hesitating no longer, Betty stole to the stairs and was descending as
+on the previous night, when again a light in the music room warned
+her of an alien presence. This time, however, it was not dim and
+flickering but a slender, dazzlingly brilliant ray, like the dart of a
+rapier, which swept the doorway in a flash and was gone, leaving behind
+a shimmering hazy glow.
+
+Betty crept down, her unlighted candle and box of matches clutched to
+her breast. The glow still remained as that of a searchlight which has
+been shifted in another direction and while she paused breathless, the
+clink of metal and a low-muttered ejaculation in an unknown masculine
+voice came to her ears.
+
+Step by step, with her heart fluttering like a wild thing, the girl
+advanced to the doorway and cautiously reconnoitred. The portrait of
+Beethoven was in its place, but before it knelt a man in rough dark
+clothes, the soles of his boots upturned and glistening with fresh
+gobbets of mud. A canvas bag open on the floor beside him displayed
+odd shapes of metal whose edges caught the light, and the bull's-eye
+lantern in the intruder's hand cast a steady stream of radiance about
+the benign pictured face above.
+
+While his back was still turned, Betty slipped silently across the
+doorsill and to her hiding place of the night before where she crouched
+peering out from beneath the upraised piano top. The man was passing
+his hands hurriedly over the lower part of the frame, grunting in his
+impatience as the secret spring eluded his search. Once he turned his
+head slightly and she caught a glimpse of a heavy, protruding, unshaven
+jaw and flattened nose. The low visor of his cap concealed the forehead
+and eyes, but the profile was startling in its ferocity and sullen
+strength.
+
+Although she realized that the clumsy fingers might at any moment touch
+the knob and a shrill alarm peal through the house the girl lingered,
+held by a slender thread of hope. Welch was sleeping, perhaps drugged,
+and there was a chance that he might not have attached the alarm system
+for the night before unconsciousness descended upon him. In that case,
+if she could but remain undiscovered until the burglar had accomplished
+his purpose and was gone, she could examine the rifled safe for herself.
+
+"You're ahead of time, Mike. Admiring the portrait?" A low, sarcastic
+drawl sounded from the doorway and the man turned with an oath, holding
+something in his free hand which glittered ominously. Betty cowered
+back, her fluttering heart still and cold within her breast.
+
+Leaning nonchalantly against the wall by the door, his hands in the
+pockets of his dressing gown and his dark face wreathed with a derisive
+smile, stood Jack Wolvert.
+
+The man before the picture swore again, but in a relieved fashion.
+
+"You don't mind taking chances, do you?" he growled. "I might have
+plugged you full of holes without lookin' first."
+
+"Oh, no you wouldn't!" retorted Wolvert amiably. "If you'd been quick
+on the trigger you wouldn't have done your stretch at St. Quentin.
+Nifty portrait that, isn't it? Serves a two-fold purpose; immortalizes
+the likeness of the gentleman who composed what may be your funeral
+march, if you are lucky, and--"
+
+"Say, cut the comedy, an' let's get down to business!" the other
+interrupted gruffly. "You'll have Welch lumberin' in on us before you
+know it."
+
+"Not he!" Wolvert shrugged and strolled over to the picture. "He is
+sleeping the sleep of one who finishes off the wine-glasses left from
+dinner. I prepared one for his especial benefit."
+
+"God!" The man called "Mike" recoiled. "You don't mean--"
+
+"Of course not!" The languid tone was edged sharply. "I don't go in for
+anything crude! Caroline, too, is _hors de combat_ or, as you would
+express it, dead to the world. Her midnight cup of tea before she went
+on guard outside Marcia's door was of specific brewing. Our beloved
+Marcia, I may add, has resumed her Macbethan promenades."
+
+"Walkin' again in her sleep?" Mike paused uneasily. "I don't like that!
+It always means bad luck for some of us! I ain't stuck on this job
+anyway; we could drop it now an' stick to the old game, fifty-fifty--"
+
+"Forget it!" Wolvert snatched the lantern from the other's hand and
+trained its single ray upon the right hand corner of the frame. "Watch
+me, and duck when the big swing starts."
+
+Betty watched also, her heart racing once more as Wolvert's facile
+fingers found the spring and the portrait swung out in a mighty sweep,
+revealing the square steel sheet built compactly into the wall. The
+buzzer of the alarm whirred impotently and was still, and Mike dropped
+to his knees before the aperture with a grunt of satisfaction, his
+suddenly aroused scruples forgotten in professional interest.
+
+His bullet-shaped head completely blocked Betty's view of the
+combination, but she heard the clink of the knob as it whirled under
+his hand. At length Mike sat back on his heels, swearing softly.
+
+"It's no go!" he breathed. "Can't feel the drop of the tumblers. I'll
+have to use the soup, after all."
+
+"Go to it," responded Wolvert savagely. "It's a tough layer but thin;
+look out she doesn't eat through."
+
+Then followed an interminable age while Betty crouched, tense and
+cramped, listening to the click of tools and pressing a fold of her
+gown across her mouth and nostrils to keep out the pungent fumes which
+stole upon the air. Would they penetrate the closed doors above and
+give warning that treachery was afoot?
+
+"Ha!" Wolvert's ejaculation of triumph broke the protracted tension,
+just as the heavy door, with a grating jar, split like a crust before
+their eyes and fell outward, yawning upon one hinge.
+
+"Got it!" Mike pushed back his cap and wiped his brow. "Armor plate's
+made of cheese compared to that! Now which is the pay dirt?"
+
+Wolvert knelt beside him and threw the light upon the gaping cavity.
+Betty's eyes were watering but the fumes were gradually passing away
+and she could see that the interior of the safe was filled with packets
+of paper, neatly pigeon-holed in rows.
+
+"Three hundred thousand!" Wolvert crooned, gloatingly. "Three hundred
+thousand and maybe more! God, what a haul! Think of it, Mike, the
+pickings of five years, salted down and waiting for us, to say nothing
+of rich veins that have scarcely been tapped yet!"
+
+"I can lick my chops over 'em just as well when I've got 'em safe away
+from here!" Mike glanced apprehensively over his shoulder and Betty
+could see his eyes glistening like those of a cat in the shadow of his
+visored cap. "Hurry up and pick out the live wires from the dead ones.
+The old girl may take it into her head to walk again!"
+
+"You can drop her with the blackjack if she does," Wolvert returned
+carelessly. His long, slender hands were darting in and out among the
+pigeonholes, sorting the various packets deftly and ranging them in two
+piles. "Got the wallets?"
+
+"Here!" Mike produced oblong leather folders from each of his breast
+pockets. "Sure you don't overlook any good bets, Jack."
+
+"No fear!" Wolvert passed over package after package of envelopes as he
+talked. "Here's the dope on the Texas matter; that's good for thirty
+or forty thousand to start with; this is the certificate for those two
+hundred shares of copper you've heard about. To the right party they're
+worth twenty thousand. These we might take on speculation; lumping
+them together we may figure on realizing a hundred thousand from them,
+roughly speaking."
+
+"Some dough!" Mike chuckled, stowing away the packets as fast as they
+were handed to him. "What's this bunch?"
+
+"Can't stop now to go over them, Mike, but I know what they are and
+I'll open your eyes when we sort them out over at your joint. Now, if
+I can only lay my hands on that Crane contract; I wonder where our
+careful Marcia cached it?"
+
+"What's this, any good?" Mike had stuffed one bulging wallet back into
+his pocket and drawn a long envelope from one of the upper pigeonholes.
+
+Wolvert glanced over his shoulder at the label and shrugged.
+
+"Small change, a thousand or so, but take it along if you want it. It's
+easy money."
+
+"A thousand cold iron men look good to me. I can feel 'em rolling into
+my hand right now, but those big figures make me afraid the alarm
+clock's liable to go off any minute an' wake me up. Say, get a move on,
+Jack. I'm gettin' a cold chill like someone was watchin' me!"
+
+Betty gasped inaudibly and shrank still further back in her retreat,
+but Wolvert only shrugged in impatience.
+
+"That Crane contract is the main thing; it's worth more than all the
+rest put together, to us!" he grumbled. "Get your head out of the
+light, Mike!"
+
+"Is this it, in the long blue envelope?" The other had overcome his
+momentary uneasiness and resumed his search. "Feels kinder thick."
+
+"No, don't pay dividends any more. It's the West--what's that?"
+
+Betty had caught at the leg of the piano as her cramped limbs wavered
+beneath her and a little silver ring which she wore rapped smartly upon
+the polished surface of the wood. For one thrilling moment she held her
+breath, but the lantern swept around the opposite side of the room to
+the door and then flashed back and Mike swore once more.
+
+"I've had enough of this, I tell you! I don't feel right and I've got
+a hunch that I'd better be movin'. Let the bloomin' contract go if you
+can't find it; we've got enough as it is!"
+
+"Nothing doing!" Wolvert spoke through set teeth in a tone which the
+listening girl remembered with a shudder. "You don't beat it unless you
+take that with you!"
+
+"Oh, don't I?" snarled Mike, leaping to his feet in swift rage. "I'll
+show you, my fine gentleman, that you ain't dealin' with a skirt now,
+to bully or soft-soap as you feel like it! I wouldn't be here if I
+wasn't through takin' orders from nobody--!"
+
+"Easy there with the bluff!" Wolvert interrupted coolly. "You can't get
+along without me, you know. What you've got there is just so much waste
+paper to you, if I don't negotiate it for you. Don't be a quitter!"
+
+"Nobody ain't ever called me that yet, but I'm hep that there's
+somethin' wrong. Give it up, Jack, an' let's lay the plant--"
+
+"Here it is!" Wolvert swooped down upon a single folded paper and waved
+it exultantly. "Take it, Mike, and keep it well; it's a gold mine! Now
+come on and set the stage."
+
+Before Betty's amazed eyes a curious scene was enacted. Seizing one
+after another of the heavy leather chairs which were grouped about
+the room, Wolvert and his accomplice noiselessly overturned them,
+easing them gently to the floor where they lay at grotesque angles.
+Next they turned their attention to the smokers' stand, rolling the
+smaller articles upon it in every direction until the rug was strewn
+with cigarettes and matches. The stand itself they placed upon its side
+against the wall as if it had been flung there with violence.
+
+"How about the piano?" Mike's eyes travelled speculatively to the
+shadowed corner and Betty's senses reeled. "Gonna bang it up a little?"
+
+"No, don't overdo the wreckage. Just move the center table over against
+it." Wolvert was busy scattering the remaining contents of the safe
+about before it. "Too bad we can't smash that bit of crockery; it would
+be the last finishing touch."
+
+He gestured toward a priceless Royal Worcester vase which stood upon a
+teakwood taboret near the portrait, and Mike grinned.
+
+"That's easy! Watch me knock it to smithereens!"
+
+"And have the house about our ears?" Wolvert sneered, but the other
+paid no heed.
+
+He had caught up a small silk prayer rug and, wrapping it about the
+vase, laid it upon the floor. Then, raising a sausage-like roll of
+cloth heavily weighed which he took from his bag, he struck it a blow
+with all the force of his brawny arm behind it. There was a dull thud
+and a soft, shivery tinkle, and when the rug was unwrapped a heap of
+jagged, richly-colored fragments was revealed. It was, as Wolvert had
+said, the finishing touch to a scene of havoc which seemingly only a
+hand-to-hand struggle could have wrought.
+
+"Now for the rough stuff." Wolvert rose from his knees and with one
+quick, muscular jerk, ripped his dressing gown from thigh to shoulder,
+tearing one sleeve loose. Then he coolly turned his back to Mike and
+crossed his wrists behind him. "Tie them good and tight, Mike. We don't
+want to fake this part of the game."
+
+Mike obeyed with alacrity, twisting the cord until Betty could see the
+slender wrists writhe.
+
+"Now my ankles." Wolvert gritted his teeth, and in the light from the
+lantern beads of perspiration glittered on his forehead. He knelt again
+and then lay flat upon his back, facing the safe, his outstretched feet
+almost within the aperture.
+
+Mike lashed them firmly and turning to his bag, produced a sponge and a
+small phial with which he approached his victim, grinning slyly.
+
+"Easy on that!" warned Wolvert. "Don't put me out, Mike. Use just
+enough to leave the scent on my hair and shirt."
+
+"I hate to beat it without my kit." Mike cast a reluctant eye on the
+bag at his feet. "Prettiest set of tools I ever had!"
+
+"You won't need it again after we've turned this trick," responded his
+co-conspirator. "It's got to look as though you were scared off, you
+know. Don't forget to leave the chloroform too. Come on with it, I'm
+ready."
+
+"Remember, Two Forty-seven Porter Street. I'll wait till midnight
+and if you don't show up by then I'll clear for the old hang-out in
+Baltimore. Here goes, pleasant dreams!"
+
+He pulled the cork from the phial and a cloying sweetish odor choked
+the air. Producing a grimy handkerchief, Mike poured a few drops upon
+it and applied it to the head and throat of the prostrate man.
+
+"Not--too--much!" The smothered tones died away in a mumble, and
+placing the phial upon the floor beside the recumbent figure Mike gave
+one last sweeping glance about the room and slipped like an eel through
+the door, the flash of his lantern vanishing with him into the gloom.
+
+Waiting only until the rasp of a softly opening window had assured her
+that the intruder was gone, Betty crept from her hiding place, her
+pulses leaping madly. She had made a desperate resolve and realized
+that she must put it into immediate execution, before the fumes of the
+anæsthetic had cleared from the momentarily dulled brain of the man
+lying before her.
+
+Lighting her candle, she placed it upon the floor and crept on her
+hands and knees toward the phial, keeping well out of the possible
+upward range of Wolvert's vision.
+
+The half-stupefied man stirred and muttered as her fingers closed about
+the phial, but she dared not hesitate. With a shaking hand she poured
+an ounce of the pungent liquid over the grimy handkerchief which lay
+beneath her hand, and creeping to Wolvert, suddenly dropped it like a
+cone down over his upturned face, holding the sides drawn tightly down.
+
+His limbs twitched and his head moved feebly, but she did not
+relinquish her pressure until the muscular action ceased and the body
+lay limp and flaccid as that of the dead. Then, with a little sob
+of exultation, she flung herself upon the safe and seizing the blue
+envelope of which Mike had spoken, she tore it open.
+
+A swift glance over the single folded sheet of letter paper and long
+narrow slip, much creased and yellowed with age, which formed its
+contents, and Betty clasped it convulsively to her breast. Her face
+was transfigured as she crept to her candle and with it crossed to the
+hearth.
+
+A moment more and a clear flame sprang up, flaring fitfully in her
+trembling hands, then died and only a tiny heap of fluffy black flakes
+among the heavier wood ashes told of her desperate plan's consummation.
+
+She turned to escape, but a glance at the motionless form halted her
+in mid-flight. Suppose she had killed him!
+
+Betty's heart contracted and fearfully she approached him once more.
+The handkerchief had slipped from his face and its deathlike pallor
+seemed to confirm her misgiving.
+
+Kneeling beside him, she had placed her hand upon his breast, when a
+lurching shuffle in the hall made her recoil.
+
+Stumbling and clinging to the wall for support, Welch reeled in at
+the doorway, and his drug-dulled eyes burst into sudden flame as they
+lighted upon her.
+
+"D---- you!" he bellowed. "Got you with the goods at last!"
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+                              _Unmasked._
+
+
+Betty sprang to her feet and in a swift inspiration born of her
+extremity, tottered toward Welch with outstretched arms.
+
+"Help!" she shrieked, her clear ringing voice echoing through the
+silent house. "Burglars! Thieves! Help!"
+
+Muffled screams answered her from above and lights began to waver down
+the stairway. Welch seized the girl roughly by the shoulder.
+
+"What's the game!" His thick tones rumbled in her ear, and he pointed
+with a shaking hand. "Is that your work?"
+
+"They've killed him!" she cried, wrenching herself from his grasp. "I
+heard a struggle and came down and found him--oh; Mrs. Atterbury! Mrs.
+Atterbury!"
+
+A fresh chorus of shrieks told of the finding of Caroline and mingling
+with them sounded a deeper masculine note. Who could it be? The only
+male members of the household were there before her.
+
+"Betty, where are you? What has happened?" Mrs. Atterbury rushed
+down the stairs with Madame Cimmino clinging to her gown and behind
+them appeared two pajama-clad forms which the girl did not at first
+recognize.
+
+Someone turned the wall-switch, flooding the room with light and Welch
+lurched dazedly to Wolvert's recumbent figure, toppling down to his
+knees beside him.
+
+Although every nerve in her body recoiled from the contact, Betty
+nevertheless precipitated herself upon her employer's unresponsive
+form, sobbing as if in genuine hysteria. Mrs. Atterbury, after one
+swift comprehensive glance about the wrecked room stood as if turned to
+stone, her eyes fixed immovably upon the yawning safe, a bluish tinge
+slowly overspreading her waxen pallor.
+
+Madame Cimmino, however, passed her like a white flame and cast herself
+shrieking upon Wolvert's unconscious breast. One of the pajamaed
+figures halted aghast in the doorway, but the other stepped forward and
+with an added shock Betty recognized Doctor Bayard's venerable head
+even before his commanding tones dominated the tumult.
+
+"What does this mean? Who first discovered this affair? Welch! Young
+woman!"
+
+"I found her here!" Welch pointed an accusing finger at Betty but his
+head lolled drunkenly upon his short bull neck. "She was kneelin'
+beside him. He ain't dead, only put to sleep. Ask her how it happened!"
+
+"We're sold out!" A high-pitched male voice squeaked like that of a
+cornered rat from the doorway and Ide's glassy eyes fastened venomously
+on the girl. She became conscious, too, that Madame Cimmino's cries
+were stilled, the tumult had subsided and she herself was the cynosure
+of all eyes.
+
+Straightening, her hands fell to her sides and she stepped forward.
+
+"Something woke me," she began unsteadily. "I didn't know what it
+was at first, then I heard a thumping, banging noise down here as if
+furniture was being moved around. I got up and opened my door just as
+there came a heavy thud like the sound of a body falling and terrible
+groans that died slowly away.
+
+"I was frightened and I didn't know what to do. Mrs. Atterbury had told
+me not to venture downstairs late at night for Welch might mistake
+me for a burglar and injure me, but I did not want to disturb her
+unnecessarily and I thought I had better investigate.
+
+"I lighted my candle and crept downstairs. There was a funny sweetish
+odor on the air and I traced it to this door. When I looked in I saw
+Mr. Wolvert lying there and all the room upset, but no sign of anyone
+else. I ran to him and was kneeling beside him, trying to feel if his
+heart was still beating, when Welch stumbled into the room and accused
+me. Oh, have the burglars killed him?"
+
+It was superb acting but the girl was wrought up to such an emotional
+pitch that she was scarcely conscious of its effect. She lived in her
+vivid imagination each phase of the story she was narrating and it bore
+the impress of truth.
+
+The rest looked at one another, reading in each face the belief which
+confirmed their own. It was Madame Cimmino, however, who broke the
+silence crying out in a paroxysm of jealous fury:
+
+"What is it to you if he lives or dies? He is not yours, but mine! My
+husband!"
+
+"Betty." Mrs. Atterbury spoke for the first time and her tones were
+dull and lifeless as she wrenched her eyes with an almost visible
+effort from the rifled safe. "You had better go to your room, if you
+are not afraid of being alone. You might try to revive Caroline if you
+will; she is lying ill in the hall upstairs. Cook is a heavy sleeper,
+but should she awaken and attempt to come down, please detain her; we
+must have no more excitement."
+
+Betty accepted her dismissal with a swift leap of her heart. Her task
+was accomplished; there remained only to make her escape and the way
+seemed clear before her.
+
+"I am not afraid, Mrs. Atterbury," she said quietly. "If you need me,
+please call."
+
+She slipped up the stairs and past the still unconscious form of
+Caroline with feet that trod on air. To throw on her cloak and boots
+and steal out the kitchen door by which she had entered only a few
+short hours before would be a simple matter and the man who loved her
+would be waiting, on guard.
+
+Removing her felt slippers, she had picked up her shoes, when an
+imperative rap on her locked door made her drop them hastily, her
+spirit sinking in a premonition of further trouble.
+
+"Who's there?" she demanded in a trembling voice.
+
+"It is I; Madame Cimmino." The tones were repressed and oddly civil
+after the tempestuous outburst of a few minutes previous. "Open the
+door, please; I have a message from Mrs. Atterbury."
+
+Betty drew on her slippers and, wondering, obeyed. The sallow face
+of the Italian was still flushed and her dull eyes glowed with
+undiminished resentment, but she essayed a faint smile.
+
+"You must not mind what I have said to you just now. I was quite mad!
+My nerves are shattered by this sudden calamity and I, too, feared that
+Mr. Wolvert had been killed." She spoke reluctantly with an obvious
+effort, and Betty realized at whose instigation the halting apology was
+tendered. "Mrs. Atterbury requests that you sleep in her room for the
+rest of the night. She will join you presently and does not wish to be
+left alone. You need not trouble about Caroline. I, myself, will attend
+to her. Come at once, please."
+
+There was a veiled command beneath her studied courtesy and she had
+placed herself upon the threshold so that the door could not be closed
+again barring her out.
+
+Betty's gleam of hope died within her, but she forced herself to reply
+composedly:
+
+"Certainly, Madame Cimmino. If you will wait a moment I shall be with
+you."
+
+Her simple preparations made before the unwavering eyes of the other
+woman, she followed docilely down the hall to Mrs. Atterbury's room.
+The bed was in disorder and the embers dying in the grate, but her
+companion replenished them and closed and locked the windows, drawing
+the heavy parted curtains tightly together.
+
+"Sleep if you can, Miss Shaw." She paused in the doorway, a little
+triumphant gleam lighting her eyes. "There is nothing now to fear. No
+intruder can enter for he will be shot on sight. I hope you will rest
+comfortably."
+
+She closed the door and the lock clicked as a key was deliberately
+turned in it and withdrawn. Betty was a prisoner!
+
+For a time the girl stood motionless in the middle of the floor where
+the other had left her. She was trying to fathom the motive for this
+sudden move. What had occurred, what suspicion had arisen the instant
+she had left the room, for Madame Cimmino to be despatched upon
+her very heels to intercept and guard her? Had Jack Wolvert been
+conscious enough to realize her swift attack on him, and recovering,
+denounce her? In terror at the thought her hands flew to her breast
+and encountered the whistle hanging from its slender chain beneath
+her gown. Her fingers closed convulsively upon it and a little sob of
+gratitude tore its way from her throat. If actual peril came there
+was one chance left to her; she was not utterly at the mercy of these
+wolves.
+
+When Mrs. Atterbury unlocked the door and entered an hour later, she
+found the girl curled up on the couch seemingly asleep. She stood over
+her for a long moment staring down at the tranquil face upon which the
+birthmark glowed in the light from the grate, and listening to the
+gentle regular breathing. At last she turned away and Betty, opening
+her eyes cautiously, beheld her employer crouching before the hearth,
+her dark, unbound hair increasing the pallor of her waxen face and her
+inscrutable gaze fixed upon the gleaming coals. The girl fell into a
+troubled slumber at dawn, but when she awakened the other still sat
+immovable, staring into the dead embers with unseeing eyes.
+
+"You are awake, Betty? Run to your own room and dress and then come
+back to me quickly. We have much to do today." She barely glanced at
+the girl, and her tones were lifeless.
+
+"Was--was the burglar caught?" Betty stammered as she rose to obey.
+"Did you lose very much of value?"
+
+"The man whoever he was escaped, but the police have been notified,"
+Mrs. Atterbury replied without turning her head. "I cannot tell how
+much has been taken until I have made an inventory of what is left.
+Hurry, please."
+
+Betty returned to her room, to find Caroline on the couch at the bed's
+foot. The woman seemed dazed and shaken, but her eyes followed Betty
+craftily and the girl realized that her presence meant continued
+surveillance.
+
+Wolvert appeared little the worse for his experience of the previous
+night when he joined the others at breakfast and he greeted Betty with
+perfect sang-froid, but she fancied that a speculative gleam lightened
+his pale eyes when they rested on her; and as the day wore on, he
+attached himself to her with an assiduity which left her in no doubt of
+his lurking suspicion.
+
+Although the subject of the burglary was avoided as much as possible,
+there was a tension in the atmosphere which no one attempted to
+disguise, an air of repressed apprehension greater than the exigency
+demanded. In spite of Mrs. Atterbury's assertion that the day would be
+a busy one, a state of enforced idleness prevailed and Betty wandered
+about like an unquiet ghost with some one of the household inevitably
+at her heels.
+
+As dusk drew down the espionage became more openly manifest and the
+girl's self-control faltered beneath the protracted strain. Was
+she destined to be held in duress until the raid which Herbert had
+predicted took place and escape was forever cut off? A new anxiety
+was added to the rest; if she were to continue this ghastly farce
+indefinitely a few minutes of absolute privacy in her own room would be
+essential, but how was this to be obtained?
+
+No suggestion of leaving the house had been made by anyone during the
+day, but toward evening Welch was dispatched with a telegram to the
+nearest office. He went with marked reluctance, a furtive look of fear
+in his heavy-lidded eyes, still dazed from the effects of the drug.
+Betty watched his departing figure in bitter envy from behind the
+library curtains. Would her moment never come?
+
+"You are very quiet, Little Mouse." Wolvert had come up silently behind
+her in the gathering gloom of the room. "Last night's excitement has
+depressed you?"
+
+"On the contrary," she responded coolly. "I am sorry, of course, for
+Mrs. Atterbury's loss, but I am quiet because I have been thinking. So
+many things about the affair puzzle me."
+
+"Indeed? What, for instance?" He flung himself into a chair and smiled
+up at her.
+
+"Why it was that I did not hear the smash of that vase in your
+struggle, and why, although your hands were tied after you were
+chloroformed, of course, the burglar did not also gag you. It was no
+doubt an oversight on his part, but it impressed me as being odd."
+
+The mocking smile had vanished and he was staring at her with a
+narrowed intensity of gaze as if to read her very soul. When he replied
+it was in a hurried, uneasy tone distinctly at variance with his usual
+aplomb.
+
+"It was the crash of the vase that awakened you, perhaps, and the thief
+must have been frightened away. He left his tools, you know, and he
+probably did not dare stop to finish his work with me.--But I did not
+realize that we had such an efficient detective in our midst!"
+
+He added the last sentence with deliberate intent and Betty met his
+gaze with a little mocking light in her own eyes.
+
+"I think the burglar finished his work with you very thoroughly, Mr.
+Wolvert!"
+
+Leaving him to ponder over the ambiguity of her remark she passed out
+to the hall just as Welch burst in at the side door, his ratlike eyes
+fairly starting from his head. Sheer panic was written upon his pasty
+face and he charged headlong up the stairs like a maddened beast.
+
+Betty was torn with the conflict of hope and fear. Had he encountered
+Herbert on guard, or was the house already surrounded by officers of
+the law?
+
+No comment was made upon his abrupt return, but Betty sensed a
+redoubled tension in the air. To her relief, however, the onus of
+suspicion seemed to have been lifted from her, although the house was
+so palpably under guard by the masculine members of the group that
+immediate escape was out of the question.
+
+Betty had no need, as the hours lengthened, to feign fatigue. Her
+nervous exhaustion was manifest in her drawn face, and Mrs. Atterbury
+at length laid her hand upon the girl's arm.
+
+"You are tired, my dear. Go to bed if you like but you will be obliged
+to sleep, for a while at least, with closed windows. Welch has
+connected all those on the second floor with the alarm system down
+here, and if one is raised during the night the whole house will be
+aroused again."
+
+Betty understood the covert warning, but rejoiced that the privacy so
+vital to her was assured. Murmuring good night she ascended the stairs
+and disappeared around the gallery.
+
+Scarcely had the soft thud of her closing door broken the silence, when
+Welch entered from the dining-room and approached the circle seated
+about the hearth, took his place uninvited among the rest.
+
+"How're we going to make our get-away?" he demanded gruffly. "That's
+what I want to know, with the place surrounded--"
+
+"Rot!" interrupted Wolvert. "For a thorough-going coward, commend me
+to a strong-arm bully every time. Yes, I mean you, Welch, don't try to
+bluff me, my man! You're in a blue funk and you'd conjure up a copper
+behind every tree! Why haven't they closed in on us, if the bulls are
+on the job?"
+
+Welch muttered sullenly beneath his breath, but Doctor Bayard leaned
+forward in his chair.
+
+"That is a reasonable conclusion," he remarked in his quiet, well-bred
+tones. "I admit, however, that taken in conjunction with the crowning
+misfortune which has come to us, the possibility is disquieting.
+You have examined the papers thoroughly, Marcia? You are sure that
+practically everything of value has been taken?"
+
+"Everything." Mrs. Atterbury spread out her hands in an eloquent
+gesture. "We are cleaned! The result of five years of planning and
+scheming and desperate risk has vanished in an hour!"
+
+"Except what we may have saved from our individual profits," Wolvert
+observed smoothly. "You at least will not starve, my dear Marcia."
+
+Mrs. Atterbury darted a vicious glance at him, as Madame Cimmino said
+with a shudder:
+
+"Unless the end has come, and we are lost! As for me I shall kill
+myself before again the doors of a hideous American prison close on me!"
+
+"Don't be morbid, Speranza." Mrs. Atterbury shrugged impatiently. "I am
+not even thinking of that. I am concerned only with one question:--Who
+among us is the traitor?"
+
+Wolvert raised his eyebrows.
+
+"Us?" he queried. "You speak with painful directness, Marcia! Surely
+you except our own immediate circle!"
+
+"If you ask me, it was an inside job," asserted Welch bluntly. "I was
+doped and so was Caroline. There's no gettin' around that!"
+
+Ide coughed nervously.
+
+"I hope the loyalty of none of us is in question." His thin high voice
+quavered. "Personally I--"
+
+"Personally, you're absolved!" interrupted Wolvert with a sneer. "You
+wouldn't have the nerve to chloroform a blind kitten!"
+
+"Someone has betrayed us," Mrs. Atterbury re-iterated. "Only one who
+possessed the most intimate knowledge of our plans and the deals we are
+working on now could have chosen so well among all the papers in the
+safe. With one trifling exception everything missing was negotiable."
+
+Wolvert darted a keen glance at her.
+
+"'One exception'?" he repeated. "What was that?"
+
+"The packet containing the Westcote documents," replied Mrs. Atterbury.
+"That has vanished with the rest."
+
+"Impossible!" Wolvert started visibly. "He didn't take that!"
+
+"What does it matter?" Dr. Bayard shrugged. "It was worthless!"
+
+"But he didn't take it, I know!" insisted Wolvert, caution forgotten in
+his surprise. "It must be there! There's some mistake--"
+
+"Why are you so sure?" Mrs. Atterbury flashed at him. "How can you know
+that it was not stolen?"
+
+"Because I was certain it was there when we first went through the safe
+after I recovered consciousness, don't you remember?" he stammered,
+taken aback. "I distinctly saw a blue envelope----"
+
+"There was no blue envelope in the safe." Mrs. Atterbury spoke with
+absolute finality. "It had disappeared."
+
+"Then by God! it is an inside job!" Wolvert sprang from his chair. "And
+I know who is back of it--that girl!"
+
+"What!" Doctor Bayard exclaimed, as the rest sat spellbound. "The young
+woman upstairs?"
+
+"The young spy, d--n her!" retorted Wolvert, his dark face ablaze. "I
+had a hazy idea that I saw her last night while the thief was pressing
+the sponge over my mouth but I laid it to delirium. I tell you she was
+in league with him, and what is more, I don't think he was one of our
+gang gone crooked. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want to
+throw you all into a panic but I'm convinced he's a 'tec and she was
+working in with him. He heard Welch coming and beat it, but she didn't
+have a chance and we've kept too close a watch on her for her to get
+away since!"
+
+"I knew it!" Madame Cimmino shrilled. "I knew there was something wrong
+when she came!"
+
+"I, too!" exclaimed Ide. "I've had a deucedly queer feeling since I
+first met her at your dinner, Marcia, as if I had seen her before
+somewhere."
+
+"She's the only outsider!" Welch put in dazedly. "I always said no good
+would come of draggin' in strange girls and usin' them for a blind, but
+you knew it all!"
+
+He glared at Mrs. Atterbury who sat gazing intently straight before her.
+
+"It is impossible," she said at last. "I chose the girl myself, and she
+has kept her position perfectly--"
+
+"Too perfectly!" Wolvert snarled. "She was too good to be true, going
+wherever you sent her without question. You've been a blind fool! She
+was planted here, I tell you! That advertisement was a trick and you
+fell for it! 'Stranger in city and without relatives!' Bah! it was too
+easy!"
+
+Mrs. Atterbury's immobile face was distorted with gathering menace but
+her voice was still controlled.
+
+"She is not a detective. I have encountered a few of them and I know
+the earmarks. Whose game could she be playing?"
+
+"The game of someone with whom we are doing business, perhaps. How can
+we know?" Ide squeaked. "Remember I 'phoned you only two days ago that
+I saw her talking with a man up the Drive! She's sold us out!"
+
+"What was she nosing around the house at night for, with an electric
+torch?" demanded Wolvert savagely. "Is that a usual part of a social
+secretary's equipment?"
+
+"A torch!" Mrs. Atterbury turned on him in sudden fury. "She told me
+you had it when she came upon you in the library and you corroborated
+her story afterward by saying it was yours!"
+
+"I lied," he admitted through set teeth. "This is no time to defend
+myself or dodge the facts. I'm not the first infatuated ass!"
+
+"Infatuated! A-ah!" Madame Cimmino leaped for him like a tigress,
+but Welch seized her roughly and dragged her back. "That simpering
+she-devil with the brand upon her face! For her you have betrayed us
+all!"
+
+"Cut it out!" Welch admonished roughly. "Forget the sentiment stuff!
+This is business!"
+
+"I'll make a clean breast of it," Wolvert shrugged. "I suspected her
+vaguely from the first. There was something about her that baffled me
+but it fascinated me, too. I had her number from that night in the
+library, but I thought she was playing a lone hand and I could handle
+her. I even had a notion I could win her over and get her to go in
+with us, but she's beaten us at our own game!"
+
+"Not yet!" Mrs. Atterbury rose and even Welch shuddered at the new
+ominous note in her voice. "Don't forget that something else has taken
+place beneath this roof since she came. She cannot leave it to bear
+witness against us! I will go to her and wring the truth from her!"
+
+She mounted the stairs, the others following silently in her wake. The
+rigid emotionless poise with which she had maintained her domination
+over them all for years had in a moment been swept aside and the real
+woman stood revealed in all the nakedness of her sinister malevolent
+passion.
+
+Like a vengeful fury she crouched before the girl's locked door and
+motioned savagely to Welch to break it down. He put his massive
+shoulder against it and with a single mighty heave crashed it in.
+
+A startled cry echoed in their ears and the girl seated before her
+dressing-table turned her face to them, full in the glare of the
+boudoir lights. It was a blanched terror-stricken face, but they, too,
+paused aghast, for the birthmark had vanished utterly and the girl who
+rose slowly before them was like yet vastly unlike the personality they
+had known.
+
+For a tense moment they paused and then Ide's trembling voice cried:
+
+"I know her now! I was sure I'd seen her before! It's old Westcote's
+daughter!"
+
+The girl's hand flashed from her breast to her lips and a shrill,
+ear-splitting whistle cleaved the air as Welch sprang upon her with a
+bull-throated roar.
+
+The world crashed down about her head and darkness came; a darkness
+filled with shots and shouts and vague struggling forms. Then all at
+once a shaft of brilliant light seemed to break over her and full in
+its radiance the face of Herbert Ross hovered close.
+
+"Herbert!" It was little more than a whisper but her weak, hot hands
+fluttered out and clutched him convulsively and in her eyes shone the
+light of a faith which had not faltered. "I knew--I knew that you would
+come!"
+
+"My wonderful, brave dear!" His voice had a curious, throaty catch in
+it. "You have been in frightful danger but you are safe now, thank God!"
+
+Betty smiled wanly.
+
+"I was not afraid, for I knew that you were there. No harm could come
+to me while you waited."
+
+"You mean that?" His arms tightened about her. "Oh, my dearest, you had
+such faith in me?"
+
+"As you trusted me, believed in me through everything. And--and for the
+same reason."
+
+"You mean that you care?" he whispered close to her ear. "Dear, is it
+that? Is it--love?"
+
+Her eyes gave him his answer and for a moment he lowered his head upon
+her breast as she lay propped up in his arms.
+
+Then she became dimly aware of lights once more, low moving lights
+which revealed shadowy tense forms and a jumble of wrecked furniture.
+
+As Herbert raised his head a strange freak of vagrant memory darted
+through her numbed brain and a still, small voice which she did not
+recognize as her own gasped:
+
+"Mike has the evidence! Porter Street, two forty-seven. Before
+midnight!"
+
+Herbert's face wavered and blurred before her eyes, a whirling,
+crashing void encompassed her and darkness descended again.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIX.
+
+                       _The Honor of the Name._
+
+
+Chief McCormick's honest face beamed as he sat back in his office chair
+and regarded the pale young girl before him with the frank, genuine
+admiration of one colleague for another.
+
+"It was wonderful! I couldn't have engineered it better myself. You've
+pulled off the greatest stunt in years, Miss Shaw."
+
+"Westcote," she corrected him, smilingly. "I'm glad to drop my friend's
+name at last, and sail under no more false colors. But I did very
+little, Mr. McCormick. If it hadn't been for Herbert I would have been
+murdered as poor George Breckinridge was, and the man called 'Mike'
+would have escaped."
+
+"'Herbert,' eh?" The detective glanced quizzically at the
+self-conscious young man who stood beside the girl's chair. "I suppose
+congratulations are in order, but first let us get down to business.
+You used the name of some friend, Miss Westcote?"
+
+"And her birthmark. It proved to be a frightful nuisance, wearing off
+and having to be renewed every day. That was what ultimately betrayed
+me, you know. But I want to tell you my story from the beginning; I
+know you will respect my confidence and you have earned it by your
+kindness in saving me from the police.
+
+"My real name is Ruth Westcote, and I am the daughter of Alden
+Westcote, a retired broker. My mother died years ago, and we lived
+alone together in Bruce Manor, an exclusive colony on Long Island. As
+I grew up I noticed that father was aging rapidly and seemed breaking
+in spirit and it was borne in upon me that something was preying on his
+mind. I watched him and observed that his nervous depression reached
+an acute state regularly every three months on the arrival of certain
+visitors who came late at night and were received privately in his
+study.
+
+"When I insisted upon knowing their errand he put me off on the plea
+of a confidential business transaction which I would not understand,
+and he had become so unapproachable of late that I dared not press the
+matter, although it worried me to distraction.
+
+"One night about three months ago--it was the eighth of December, and
+the first big snowstorm of the year--I returned home late. I had been
+spending a day or two with a girl friend who lived on the South Shore
+and was motoring back in my own little car when I stuck in a snowdrift
+and the engine froze. A chauffeur came along with a big limousine just
+as I was on the point of freezing, myself, and took me home. I noticed
+the huge bulk of another limousine with gaudy wide stripes standing
+beneath our _porte-cochère_ and there was a light in father's study
+window. My heart sank, for it was about the time for those mysterious
+visitors to call once more. I had never seen them, but I had heard
+their voices raised in dispute on several occasions.
+
+"To my surprise, that night it was the murmur of a woman's voice
+which drifted out to me as I started up the stairs to my room, and on
+a sudden impulse I turned and ran down to the library to wait until
+she had gone. She seemed to be urging father to something and once
+I thought I heard him groan. A low choking cough interrupted her
+constantly and when at last the door opened and she came out into the
+hall, I could see at a glance from where I was standing behind the
+library portieres, that she was very ill.
+
+"Father followed her from the study but he did not speak to her again;
+instead he turned and groped his way up the stairs, bowed and shaking
+as if he had received a blow.
+
+"The woman tottered toward the door, but she had taken only a few steps
+when she reeled, gasping, with her hands tearing at her breast, and
+would have fallen if I had not rushed out and caught her. I managed
+to get her to the couch in the library and brought her the water she
+begged for, but I knew the meaning of her terrible thirst. I had had
+pneumonia myself and no matter what misfortune her visit had brought to
+father, I could not help being sorry for her.
+
+"She was a tall, dark, willowly creature and must have been very
+handsome in her youth. Her eyes were bright with fever and the hectic
+patches on her thin cheeks heightened their glitter, but she had a
+hardened expression which made the general effect she produced coarse
+and repellent.
+
+"She seemed half delirious and kept moaning that she must go, but it
+would have been death to her to face the storm, even if she had not
+been too weak to rise from the couch. I told her that she would have to
+remain and let me send for a doctor, and at length she realized herself
+the futility of further effort.
+
+"'Who are you?' she gasped, clinging to my hand. I told her and she
+stared long at me before she spoke again.
+
+"'I have a letter here, a message from your father which must be
+delivered tonight, or the consequences for him will be disastrous. I
+cannot go; I feel as if I were dying! Will you take my place? Your
+father must not know, he would sacrifice himself and his own vital
+interests rather than have you brave the storm. My car is waiting. Can
+you do this? Remember, it means much to him!'
+
+"Her eyes were burning into mine and something in her deadly
+earnestness decided me. I nodded and she fell back in relief. When she
+had gathered her remaining strength together, she went on:
+
+"'You have only to permit my chauffeur to take you to a certain house
+and deliver this letter to the man servant who opens the door. The
+chauffeur will explain what is necessary to him, and then bring you
+home immediately. I will accept your hospitality for tonight because I
+must, but I shall be able to go in the morning. No doctor is necessary
+and I forbid you to send for one. I will not see him! You must lose
+no time, but go at once. Call my chauffeur in and I will give him his
+instructions.'
+
+"I aroused the housemaid to prepare a bed and get the stranger into it
+without disturbing father, and then I started on my journey. I shall
+never forget that ride! For hours we plowed through drifts and over
+hummocks, the car swaying and rocking like a ship and the intense cold
+penetrating my very bones.
+
+"The miles seemed endless and I was so numb and dazed that I scarcely
+realized when we entered the city, the string of lights were a
+meaningless blur.
+
+"We drew up at last before a big house and I managed to descend,
+although my limbs were half frozen. The door opened before I could
+ring, and the man servant stared at me as if he saw a ghost, but the
+chauffeur called sharply to him and he ran down bareheaded in the snow
+and talked to him. Then he returned and conducted me into the hall
+where a great hearth fire was burning, and I gave him the square,
+blank, sealed envelope which the woman had handed to me. He took it and
+ascended the stairs, to return presently with a goblet of mulled wine.
+His manner was respectful enough, but I thought the way he stared at
+me was very strange and he was evidently relieved when he conducted me
+outside and saw me once more safely in the car.
+
+"I slept nearly all the way home and the chauffeur had difficulty in
+rousing me. The dawn had come, clear, but intensely cold, as I stumbled
+up to bed.
+
+"When I awakened, the woman was raving in delirium and I was compelled
+to call a doctor in spite of her prohibition. Of course, I had to tell
+father of our strange guest and he flared out in fury and would have
+driven her from the house if he could. I was horrified, for he is the
+dearest, most tender-hearted man in the world, but no inkling of the
+truth came to me. He asked if she had sent anything back to town by her
+chauffeur, and he looked utterly crushed when I told him the man had
+taken a letter to deliver for her.
+
+"The doctor looked very grave when he came and said he would send a
+nurse, but when she arrived I had to dismiss her. Mr. McCormick, I sat
+by that woman for an hour and I knew that no one else must learn from
+her lips what she disclosed in her delirium!
+
+"There was no hope for her from the first, but she lingered, and I
+nursed her day and night, not even allowing the housemaid to relieve me
+for an hour. Her raving filled me with loathing and bitter resentment,
+but she was a fellow creature dying and I could not help doing all that
+was possible, in sheer humanity.
+
+"The night before she died consciousness returned to her and she
+realized everything and knew the end was approaching. She tried
+brokenly to thank me for the kindness I had shown her, and in gratitude
+told me the whole truth.
+
+"Years ago, when father was in a desperate financial strait, he forged
+a check. Oh, if it is hard for me to tell you now, think how hard it
+must have been for me to learn of it from that wretched woman's lips.
+Father had great provocation, for the man whose name he used had
+defrauded him, but the dreadful fact remained. He made full restitution
+anonymously long ago, and the other man is dead, but somehow the forged
+check and a letter proving father's guilt had fallen into the hands of
+a blackmailing gang, through a dishonest law clerk, who found them in
+going over the man's private papers to settle up his estate.
+
+"The blackmailers had for years preyed on father and he was broken and
+on the verge of ruin from the continued strain. Imagine how I felt when
+I realized that I had been used as a tool to deliver to his enemies the
+very money wrung from my own father!
+
+"The check and letter denouncing him were in the possession of this
+Mrs. Atterbury, who was the leader of the greatest band of criminals
+ever organized in America. Their operations covered every state in the
+Union and they had extorted hundreds of thousands from unhappy victims
+all over the country. It was to Mrs. Atterbury's house that I had been
+sent, but the dying woman would not tell me the address. She admitted,
+however, that it was the meeting place for the sub-leaders of the gang
+and the incriminating documents were kept there.
+
+"A wild idea came to me to get into that house somehow and destroy that
+check and letter which held father in such hideous bondage, and the
+woman's next words showed me the way.
+
+"It appeared that Mrs. Atterbury always employed a private secretary
+who was not a member of the gang as a blind, and chose a girl who was
+alone and friendless. If she proved really stupid but trustworthy, she
+was frequently sent to collect money from victims so that if she later
+became suspicious she would be technically guilty with the rest and
+they could hold that as a weapon over her. That had not yet occurred,
+because Mrs. Atterbury dismissed each one after a short period and
+replaced her with another young and fairly unintelligent stranger. The
+time had come for the present incumbent to be sent away before she
+learned too much, and I made up my mind to take her place, if I could.
+
+"The woman was sinking rapidly and I begged her to tell me her name.
+
+"'I have come into your life unknown and in a cruel, base fashion; let
+me go out of it a stranger. A stranger, that is it! Once I was called
+Lucille and that will do for the end; Lucille L'Etrangere! Only, if you
+have still more compassion left for me in your warm, young heart, save
+me from burial at their hands! Put me away quietly somewhere, I beg of
+you, in an unmarked grave!'
+
+"She died at dawn and then I went down and had it out with father. I
+hope never to live through another such hour! His grief and shame were
+pitiful, but he seemed relieved, too, that I knew the truth at last. He
+had been driven to the wall, and was almost mad.
+
+"He arranged for the woman's burial in a little forgotten graveyard
+nearby. The coroner was an old friend and everything was managed very
+quietly and without question.
+
+"When it was over I told father that I would be able to save him from
+further persecution if he would consent to go to a sanitarium and
+spread the rumor that his mind was permanently wrecked so that the gang
+would cease their activities in his direction until my purpose was
+accomplished. I withheld the details of my plan, for he would never
+have consented to my facing the danger, but his tortured mind was on
+the verge of giving way and he agreed helplessly to my proposal.
+
+"In the meantime I had received a letter from an old school friend,
+Betty Shaw, who is like me in type and coloring, but has a huge
+birthmark like a clutching hand upon her cheek. She had moved West
+ages ago, but when her mother died she went to Chicago to earn her
+living, and there received a proposal from an old sweetheart who is
+now in British Columbia. Her letter was to tell me that she had gone
+out there to marry him, and I resolved to take her name and imitate
+her appearance, so that if I succeeded in gaining a position with Mrs.
+Atterbury and she wrote for reference out to the Western town where
+Betty had lived, my supposed identity could be established beyond
+question.
+
+"I closed our house, leaving no address, painted the scar on my face
+and, as Betty Shaw, went to a cheap boarding house in the city. From
+there I inserted an advertisement in the papers, asking for a position
+as secretary and emphasizing my friendlessness as much as I dared.
+
+"It succeeded, for Mrs. Atterbury herself was one of the applicants
+for my services. I cannot describe my sensations when I saw the very
+car in which I had made that memorable trip draw up before the door! I
+went back with her to the house I had visited that night, but the man
+servant I had interviewed was gone and I have never encountered him
+since.
+
+"Much of the rest of my story must have been told to you by Herbert;
+how I searched every night that I dared for the check and letter, and
+how I found the murdered man on the floor of the dining-room.
+
+"There was a little dressmaker whom Mrs. Atterbury hired during the
+first days of my stay to make some things for me, and she tried to warn
+me that I was in danger of being led into a trap, and begged me to go.
+She was afraid to explain, however, and her visits soon ceased. No one
+else tried to help me but her.
+
+"I felt that I was being watched and tested, and although I was on my
+guard I came very near betraying myself more than once.
+
+"When at last they were convinced that I was as stupid as I tried to
+appear, I was sent on my first errand to collect money from another
+victim. Looking back now, I can scarcely realize the mood in which I
+accepted such a horrible task, but my own suffering and the threatened
+disgrace to my father had hardened me to the troubles of others. That
+initial experience was at the opera, and a man in the next box handed
+me an envelope; he had a round, plump face and a little downy mustache,
+and a woman companion spoke of him as 'Toddie.'"
+
+"J. Todhunter Crane!" exploded McCormick, interrupting for the first
+time. "They had him on a fraudulent government contract and could have
+got to him for a huge sum in time! But go on, please."
+
+She told of her meeting with the beautiful golden-haired woman in the
+art shop and her response to Herbert's advertisement for an Egyptian
+translator. During this portion of her recital the young gentleman
+in question carefully avoided the eyes of his chief and the latter
+forebore to interrupt again, but when the girl told of her fruitless
+visit to the Café de Luxe and subsequent encounter with the blonde
+lady of the art shop at the Hotel Rochefoucauld, he could not contain
+himself.
+
+"Mrs. Haddon Cheever!" he ejaculated. "Young wife of a rich, jealous,
+old husband, and the Atterbury crew got hold of a bunch of silly
+letters she wrote to that Willie-boy who tried to stall you in the
+Carnival Room. Ten thousand cold she handed over to you in the hotel!"
+
+"I had another disquieting experience on the same afternoon at the Café
+de Luxe. The girl from whose house I returned home on the night of the
+storm came up and greeted me, and I was obliged to cut her, fearing
+some spy would hear her call me by my own name. She was one of my most
+intimate friends, and I felt ashamed.
+
+"I had other worries, too. The man Wolvert, whom you have just placed
+in custody, had begun to annoy me with his attentions and would not
+be snubbed. Then I seemed to be forever dodging people I knew! On
+my second visit to the museum, Herbert introduced me to a dear old
+professor whom I had met previously in Cairo, where I was studying
+under the great Mallory. He remembered me, in spite of the birthmark,
+and he was suspicious enough to trap me later with a papyrus I had
+seen, but I admitted nothing.
+
+"My search for the incriminating documents continued whenever an
+opportunity presented itself, but I seemed no nearer finding them. One
+night I came face to face with Wolvert in the library, but I reached
+Mrs. Atterbury first with a plausible story and she believed me.
+
+"The next place to which I was sent to receive the blackmail was the
+very last I could have anticipated--a church. It was the aristocratic
+St. Jude's, on Brinsley Square, and the envelope containing the money
+was presented to me on the collection plate!"
+
+She described the event in detail and when she had finished the
+detective asked eagerly:
+
+"It was a fat, smug-faced little man, with heavy pouches under his eyes
+and a cocky air about him? That's Hobart Wallace, or I'm a Dutchman!
+Among the papers we found in Mike Hannigan's bag when we nabbed him at
+the Porter Street address on your plucky tip, were two hundred shares
+in a fake copper mine with his endorsement. He would have let himself
+be bled dry rather than have an inkling of that reach the press!"
+
+"I was sent on one more errand," the girl continued, "to the courtroom
+where the Huston trial was in progress. I recognized the prisoner as
+the young chauffeur who had rescued me in the storm and brought me home
+the night the strange woman came, and as I listened to the testimony
+and learned that the murder of his wife had been committed on that
+night and his life depended on the alibi which I alone could supply,
+I faced the worst moment of all! Seated with him was poor Miss Pope,
+the dressmaker, who had risked everything to warn me to leave Mrs.
+Atterbury. I met her afterward in the corridor, and when she told me
+that Huston was her half-brother, all she had in the world to care for,
+and I heard his story from her lips, I did not know what to do! My
+father's good name was very dear to me, but here was a human life at
+stake. All that night I fought my battle, but in the morning I wrote a
+letter to Huston's lawyers, signing my real name and assuring them that
+I would appear if necessary and testify on a certain date. I had just
+placed the letter in the postbox that morning when I met you on the
+North Drive, Herbert."
+
+She turned to Ross and he answered her with a quick pressure of her
+hand, but his eyes twinkled as he remarked:
+
+"You haven't told the Chief yet who paid the blackmail to you in the
+courtroom, dear!"
+
+"It was the judge, himself," she exclaimed. "He dropped the envelope in
+my lap as he passed out to his chambers when court adjourned."
+
+"Judge Garford!" McCormick started in his chair. "What on earth could
+they have on him? It doesn't seem possible!"
+
+"Don't forget there was more than a suspicion of bribery in connection
+with the Taylor case," Ross reminded him. "The opposition made a lot
+of it at the last election. The Atterbury crowd may have held some
+evidence of that over his head."
+
+"Lord! They didn't mind who they tackled, did they?" McCormick
+chuckled. "It took just one little woman, though, to put the whole
+bunch out of business! Go on, Miss Westcote; I am anxious to hear the
+rest."
+
+The girl told her story to the end, and when she had finished dusk
+was fast settling down outside the office windows. The Chief's eyes
+sparkled with admiration as she told of her desperate venture in the
+music room and the chloroforming of Wolvert, but his bluff, kindly
+face grew grave when he learned of the concerted rush upon her by the
+conspirators and the blast of the whistle which meant life or death to
+the girl who had dared all, and won out in the face of inconceivable
+odds.
+
+"You ought to have taken me into your confidence, Ross." He turned
+reproachfully to his operative. "When you came to me with all that
+inside dope about the murder of 'the Comet' and the rest of it, and
+told me to round the boys up for a raid on the North Drive at the
+signal of a whistle, I agreed to let you boss the job, but if you'd
+given me an inkling that this young lady was in danger at the hands of
+that pack of thugs--!"
+
+"You might have pulled them too soon and spoiled her game, Chief." Ross
+smiled slyly. "Besides, you had said something about being tarred with
+the same brush, remember, and I wanted to prove to you who was crooked
+and who wasn't."
+
+McCormick reddened.
+
+"My boy, I told you I'd be the first to apologize, and I do, most
+heartily. But what could I think? You were shielding the young lady
+with the scar at every turn, double-crossing me, and--say!" He broke
+off and faced the girl. "Did you ever hear of a peppery old lady named
+Madame Dumois?"
+
+"Oh, yes!" She dimpled, delightfully. "Herbert is going to produce me
+in--in a little while!"
+
+Then her face clouded and she shuddered.
+
+"There is one question I have not dared to ask, although it has beaten
+into my brain day and night since that awful hour. Who killed George
+Breckinridge?"
+
+"Jack Wolvert," the Chief responded slowly. "He has confessed, and will
+pay the penalty of his crime."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XX.
+
+                           _Treasure Trove._
+
+
+"You see the murder of Breckinridge was an unexpected complication in
+the plans of the gang," McCormick explained, when the girl's first
+intense horror at the knowledge of the slayer's identity had been
+partially overcome. "They had never before gone so far as to take
+life. Breckinridge had the reputation of being pretty swift and he's
+been mixed up in more than one scandal. He must have been meat for
+the Atterbury gang until he revolted, but he made a big mistake then.
+Instead of going to the police and braving a public inquiry, or coming
+to me, he chose to play a lone hand against the blackmailers, and
+lost. He traced the ringleaders to the Atterbury house and attempted
+to confront them single-handed. How he managed to elude the watchdog
+isn't known, but he got in through a dining-room window which Welch had
+left unfastened. It was only after the murder that the crook who played
+butler was so careful to lock up the house at night.
+
+"Breckinridge had unfortunately taken a bracer or two before he
+started on his foolhardy expedition and when he found himself face to
+face with Wolvert he let his feelings get the better of him and in his
+resentment blustered out how much he knew against the gang. If he had
+only realized it he was confirming his own death-warrant, for he had
+found out too much to go free. Wolvert didn't wait to consult the head
+of the gang, Mrs. Atterbury, but seized a knife from the sideboard and
+a fight for life began. It must have been a silent one and quickly
+over, for no one heard it except Welch who slept on the ground floor
+at the back. He arrived on the scene in time to see Wolvert plunge the
+knife in Breckinridge's breast.
+
+"Afterward, in desperation, they consulted as to the best method of
+disposing of the body and Wolvert suggested taking it up the road and
+leaving it. Welch tied up the dog and then went off to a junk dealer
+and fence whom he knew, and hired a horse and cart which he brought
+back to the gate.
+
+"Wolvert, meanwhile, had gone to tell Mrs. Atterbury the truth and it
+must have been at that time you discovered the body, Miss Westcote.
+
+"When Welch returned, the two men between them carried the body wrapped
+in an old rug down to the gate, where they loaded it on the wagon and
+drove to the secluded spot on Vanderduycken Road."
+
+"The body must have been discovered very soon," the girl murmured with
+a little shiver. "I heard the extras announcing the murder in the
+early afternoon."
+
+"It was found at dawn. The junk dealer's wagon had been seen and it
+was traced down finally and spots found which the chemists proved were
+human blood. The man wouldn't confess who had used his wagon, though he
+was put through the third degree. He claimed that if it was out at all
+he had known nothing of it and easily proved his own alibi.
+
+"The case was at a standstill when one of Breckinridge's friends, to
+whom he had hinted that he was being besieged for hush-money came to
+me. With what I already knew of the Atterbury gang I put two and two
+together, but the police were not far from the truth. If we hadn't
+forestalled them it would only have been a matter of hours before they
+knocked at the gates on the North Drive and in the cellar of the house
+they would have found convincing proof; pieces of a rug, blood-stained
+and charred, where an unsuccessful attempt had been made to destroy it
+in the furnace. Shreds from the same rug were found twisted about the
+buttons of the dead man's coat, and clotted in his wound.
+
+"But let us have done with that, Miss Westcote," the detective added
+hastily as he saw her pale lips quiver. "There are still a few points
+to be cleared up in my mind. How did you get all that information about
+the outside members of the gang?"
+
+"From one queer abbreviated note and two cipher letters," the girl
+responded. "The note was the first and I remember it word for word.
+It read: 'Five thousand sheep no go. Bulls instead. Pink wash fed.
+Clearing den. Tail comet yellow.' I couldn't understand it then, but
+later when I had solved the cipher letters I realized the general drift
+of it. It evidently meant that five thousand dollars could not be
+gotten out of somebody although I don't comprehend the significance of
+the word 'sheep.'"
+
+"Slang among them for shearing the sheep, or blackmail," McCormick
+explained. "What did you make out of the rest of it?"
+
+"That the police were after them, and detectives had communicated with
+the federal authorities at Washington," she went on. "The writer was
+clearing for Denver and he advised Mrs. Atterbury to 'tail' or trace
+the movements of 'The Comet,' that she was 'yellow' or crooked."
+
+"Well done!" The detective thumped the desk in his enthusiasm. "There's
+a place here for you if ever you want to take it, Miss Westcote! That
+letter was written by 'Red' Rathbone."
+
+"What does he look like?" the girl asked suddenly.
+
+"Tall and shambling, bright red hair," McCormick replied with an
+inquiring look. "No eyebrows or lashes; they were burned off in a
+prison fire the last time he was sent up. Got a curious way of
+carrying his head on one side----"
+
+"Then I know him, too!" she exclaimed. "His soubriquet 'Red' reminded
+me. He must have been the manservant who opened Mrs. Atterbury's door
+to me on my first visit! I wonder I did not think of him when I read
+the cipher letters."
+
+"What were they?"
+
+"I have them here." She produced two papers from her handbag and placed
+them before him. "The first is a copy of a letter which Mrs. Atterbury
+dictated to me."
+
+"'My dear Shirley,'" read McCormick. "'Your letter received. Send me
+ten of the thousand circulars quoting sheep prices for March. Home
+market good this week for forty or fifty and even more points rise if
+my brokers handled the situation properly.' H--m! I don't quite get it."
+
+"You will if you read every third word, eliminating the two between."
+The girl rose and bent over the desk. "You see? It really means:
+'Received ten thousand sheep. March good for fifty more if handled
+properly.'
+
+"I was convinced that this could only be read aright by choosing
+certain combinations of words, and I tried all that I could think of,
+backward and forward, until I came upon the key."
+
+"Good Lord! So somebody named March fell for a ten thousand dollar jolt
+and was willing to disgorge fifty thousand more under pressure, eh?
+Let's see what the rest of it says." He picked out the words slowly
+with a thick forefinger: "'Laramie game up. Comet sold us out to pink.
+Bud killed her; safe on way Japan. Red held in Denver, alibi straight.
+Meet Professor Chicago Saturday, he has instructions. New substitute
+success, blockhead but conscientious. No danger discovery so use this
+code in letting us know result Westcote affair. End.' So she calls you
+a blockhead, does she? Whoever 'Shirley' may be, he didn't meet the
+professor after all, for I got to him first."
+
+"Yes. 'Shirley' replied to her in the same code. This is his original
+letter. Mrs. Atterbury dropped it in the hallway and I took possession
+of it. Stripped of the superfluous words, it reads:--'Professor caught
+Chicago. Held on old Hamilton verdict but McCormick getting evidence
+new trouble. Marked letters seized. Hear Westcote sanitarium for good.
+Nothing doing, refuses communicate. Trust nobody, but lie low. Business
+dead. End.'"
+
+"They felt the net closing!" McCormick brought his great fist down upon
+the desk. "One by one we were gathering them in: Red in Denver, the
+'Professor' in Chicago, Mortimer Dana here--"
+
+"Oh, then it was you?" cried the girl. "Mrs. Dana came rushing to the
+house one day crying out that her husband was caught, but they quieted
+her and sent her away as quickly as they could, to avert suspicion
+from themselves, I suppose. She fled the city, but I don't know where
+she went--"
+
+"To Bermuda," the detective interrupted grimly. "She's coming back,
+though, under escort. She fought the extradition like a wild-cat, but
+I think she will be in a communicative mood when she reaches here, and
+if she tells us a few things I want to know, I'll see that she gets off
+comparatively easy. She wasn't in it as deep as the rest."
+
+"There is one person I would help if I only could." The girl hesitated.
+"I don't know what she has done, or how closely she is allied to the
+gang, but she did as much as she dared for me. I mean poor little Miss
+Pope. She is in trouble enough about her brother as it is, and she is
+so timid and long-suffering!"
+
+"Don't you worry on her account, Miss Westcote." McCormick smiled
+beneath his short-clipped mustache. "If I can get you off scot free
+I ought to be able to handle her case. She went to Mrs. Atterbury,
+innocently enough, as a visiting seamstress and they roped her in, just
+as they thought they were doing with you, to collect money from their
+victims. When she found out the truth she was in too deep herself to go
+to the police, but she was too broken-spirited to be of any further use
+to them. They didn't let her out of sight, though, you may depend on
+that. She's free from them at last."
+
+"Suppose--suppose they try to drag me in after all, if any of them
+makes a confession." The girl's pallid face whitened still more, but
+the detective laid a reassuring hand on her arm.
+
+"If the police find Betty Shaw, the girl with the scar, they'll find
+her in British Columbia, with a husband and an alibi, won't they? If
+the Atterbury gang try to bring Ruth Westcote into the case, there's
+no shred of evidence left to connect her with it or prove that she or
+any of her people ever had dealings with them. That birthmark was your
+salvation, for not one of those from whom you accepted the blackmail
+would dare swear under oath that you were the same girl. Wolvert's wife
+has already confessed but made no mention of you."
+
+"Wolvert's wife!" The girl repeated aghast, yet a light was breaking
+over her and it scarcely needed his reply to confirm it.
+
+"Yes. The woman you knew as Madame Cimmino. She served her time in the
+West, for pulling off an insurance swindle some years back. She is
+known, and wanted, pretty much all over Europe. Wolvert is the black
+sheep of a good family, half-English, half-Spanish; Welch is a former
+heavy-weight pug, gone to the bad, but Mrs. Atterbury herself is the
+real wonder of the lot. She is the widow of old Jonas Atterbury, one
+of the shrewdest financiers that ever bucked the market. She went
+through the money he left her and then, as luxury was as necessary to
+her as the air she breathed, she went after it in the one way that
+her brilliant, unscrupulous mind suggested. We'll never know how she
+fell in with the gang or became their leader, for she's not the sort
+to confess, if she was put on the rack, but it's a safe bet that she
+planned every successful coup they've made in the last five years, and
+she was foxy enough to realize what an asset her social reputation was
+in averting suspicion. Her aristocratic neighbors on the North Drive
+must have had a sensation when they read the papers after the raid!"
+
+"And Professor Stolz?" the girl asked.
+
+"A thorough-going scoundrel, of brilliant attainments but with a
+crooked twist in his brain. He was expelled from the faculty of
+the University of Leipzig for trying to sponsor fake antiquarian
+discoveries and raise money for research work that was never attempted.
+Doctor Bayard is another scientist gone wrong, and the rest are all
+more or less well known for their criminal operations. You certainly
+showed your pluck, Miss Westcote, when you tackled single-handed the
+most dangerous bunch of crooks on record! It was enough of a miracle
+that you escaped with your life, but to have succeeded in what you set
+out to do, and annihilated their organization besides is an achievement
+almost beyond belief! I take off my hat to you!" The Chief beamed upon
+her. "I thought I knew something about the detective game, but you
+can give me cards and spades and then beat me to it! Don't forget my
+offer; if ever you want to go into the business, there's a partnership
+here for you."
+
+"Thank you," Ruth Westcote responded demurely. "I have already agreed
+to become a partner in a different concern and I think it is going to
+be a success!"
+
+Her eyes, soft and glowing with a new, tender light turned to those of
+Herbert Ross, and he smiled back at her.
+
+"It ought to be," he said, "for it is founded on the greatest thing in
+the world!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Young man!" Madame Dumois fixed her gold _pince-nez_ more firmly
+on her high arched nose and glared at the guileless individual who
+stood before her. "It is a good three weeks since I sent for you, to
+find out if you had made any headway with my case, and your McCormick
+person informed me you were out of town. What have you got to say for
+yourself?"
+
+"Quite a good deal, if you will listen, Madame Dumois." Herbert Ross
+smiled ingratiatingly. "I only learned of your message yesterday, when
+I returned. Very important business called me away; I wonder if you can
+guess what it was?"
+
+"The missing young woman?" she demanded eagerly.
+
+Ross nodded and the smile broadened into a boyish laugh.
+
+"Yes! The young woman you employed me to find!"
+
+"And you have found her?" She eyed him warily, puzzled by his manner.
+
+Ross's face changed and he drew down his lips lugubriously at the
+corners, but the twinkle remained.
+
+"She is a most elusive person!" he sighed.
+
+"I don't need you to tell me that!" the old lady retorted bitterly.
+"And I cannot see any cause for levity! I would not have believed your
+Mr. McCormick capable of finding a lost canary, but I admit I expected
+more of you!"
+
+"You have heard no news of the young woman for whom you are searching?"
+he asked.
+
+A faint spot of color appeared in her faded cheeks and her keen, gray
+eyes snapped.
+
+"Nothing that I consider authentic. Why do you ask that, Mr. Ross?"
+
+"Because I was under the impression that her natural guardian had
+communicated with you." He spoke in bland surprise.
+
+"'Her natural guardian!'" she repeated indignantly. "Her natural
+guardian is a natural born fool, as I've often told him to his face!
+But it appears to me that you have learned more about this affair than
+I meant you to. Just what do you know?"
+
+"That you returned from Europe to find your only brother in a
+sanitarium, his home closed and his daughter missing. You interviewed
+him, but he would give you no satisfaction, and knowing something of
+the independent character of the young lady----"
+
+"Independent!" Madame Dumois drew a deep breath. "She defied me when
+she was three years old! The only member of the family who dared to
+stand up to me!"
+
+"Knowing that she possessed the courage of her convictions," Ross
+continued, "you made up your mind to find out for yourself where she
+was and what she was doing."
+
+"What she was up to!" The old lady corrected him grimly. "Never since
+she was born have I known what she was going to do next!"
+
+"I have seen your brother, Mr. Westcote, and I am happy to be able to
+tell you that his health is much improved."
+
+"I gathered that from his letter--" A flash of her old humor crossed
+her face. "He called me a meddlesome busybody, and that is more spirit
+than he has shown in years! I don't know how you have found out all
+this, but I cannot say that I am sorry. I did not care to put myself
+or my family affairs at the mercy of a detective agency, that was the
+reason why I would not tell you my motive in seeking her, yet I trust
+and like you, Mr. Ross."
+
+"Thank you," he responded gravely.
+
+"Now, if you will only find this perverse, incorrigible, young woman
+for me--"
+
+"What if I have?" his eyes danced. "I did not say that I had failed,
+Madame Dumois."
+
+"You have--you have found her?" The old lady gasped, and her sharp eyes
+blurred. "She hasn't gotten into any trouble, Mr. Ross? Where is she?"
+
+"At home." He caught the two trembling wrinkled hands in his. "At our
+home, breaking in the new cook I believe. I have come to take you to
+her."
+
+Madame Dumois looked long into his happy face and the color slowly came
+back to her own. A dry smile hovered about her lips, and then broke
+into a chuckle.
+
+"Well! I do not usually indulge in slang, but that is one on the
+lawyers! I won't have to change my will again! When I quarreled with my
+brother and made up my mind that Ruth had disgraced the family by this
+unaccountable disappearance, I added a codicil in your favor. You were
+the best type of young American I had encountered in many a long day,
+and as the choice lay between you and a cat asylum, I decided on you.
+Now it is all in the family, and I am proud of you both. She is the
+most provoking, self-willed, irrepressible young woman in the world,
+and the dearest! Take me to her!"
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75240 ***
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+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75240 ***</div>
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<h1>SUSPENSE</h1>
+
+<p class="ph1">By ISABEL OSTRANDER</p>
+
+<p>AUTHOR OF<br>
+"THE CLUE IN THE AIR,"<br>
+"THE PRIMAL LAW,"<br>
+ETC.</p>
+
+<p>NEW YORK<br>
+ROBERT M. McBRIDE &amp; CO.<br>
+1918</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1918, by<br>
+ROBERT M. MCBRIDE &amp; CO.</p>
+
+<p>Published March, 1918</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td class="tdr">I.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">THE GIRL WITH THE SCAR</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">THE SILENT INTRUDER</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THE VELVET GLOVE</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">BLINDFOLD</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">BOX A-46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">A MESSAGE FROM PHARAOH</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">TEN THOUSAND SHEEP</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">THE ORCHID LADY</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CROSSROADS</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">X.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">FACE TO FACE</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">THE FOURTH PEW</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">THE FANGS OF THE WOLF</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">JUSTICE NODS</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XIV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"> NAKED FOILS</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">THE PORTRAIT OF BEETHOVEN</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XVI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">THE CLOSING NET</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XVII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">TURNED TABLES</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">UNMASKED</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XIX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">THE HONOR OF THE NAME</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">XX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">TREASURE TROVE</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+
+<h2>SUSPENSE</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Girl With the Scar.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>"Young woman, well-bred, educated, stranger in city, and without
+relatives, desires situation as companion or social secretary with lady
+of established reputation and position. Good oral reader, pianist,
+quick and accurate household accountant, intelligent amanuensis,
+willing and obliging. Amount of salary optional. Address Miss Betty
+Shaw, 160 Wakefield Avenue."</p>
+
+<p>The girl read the advertisement for the twentieth time, then dropped
+the newspaper upon the shabbily ornate center table with a shrug of
+impatience, a frown gathering between her level brows.</p>
+
+<p>The boarding house parlor was shrouded in gloom, and outside the window
+whirling snowflakes showed white against the deepening dusk. A little
+heap of torn envelopes and a card or two upon the mantel bore evidence
+that the naïve appeal had evoked response, yet it was with a hopeless
+gesture that the girl turned from them and began pacing the floor, her
+brooding eyes fixed as though they would pierce the shadows which crept
+about her.</p>
+
+<p>All at once she paused tense and alert with lifted chin and quickened
+breath. The throbbing purr of a motor had pulsed upon the stillness of
+the snow-enwrapped street, and halted with a dull grinding of brakes
+before the door.</p>
+
+<p>She darted to the window and peered eagerly out between the dingy
+curtains. A massive limousine stood at the curb, its bulk looming
+blackly against the lesser darkness, with broad diagonal lines of white
+striping the lower body, and a rakish torpedo-shaped hood. It was just
+such a car as a person of somewhat bizarre taste and the wealth with
+which to gratify it might have chosen, yet had it been a veritable
+juggernaut its effect upon the girl could have been no more sinister.
+She recoiled from the window, her hands clenched, her breast heaving
+tumultuously, and shadowed as it was, her face seemed distorted into a
+mere mask of malevolent fury akin to triumph.</p>
+
+<p>Then the small hands relaxed, and with a visible effort at control, she
+turned toward the door, as laggard feet shuffled along the passageway
+and a murmur of voices arose.</p>
+
+<p>"'Nother lady to see you, Miss." A frowsy head appeared in the doorway
+and the girl advanced to meet the summons.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask her to come in, please, Susan." Her voice was guilelessly soft and
+low. "No, wait, I must light the gas—"</p>
+
+<p>But the servant had already disappeared and in her place stood a tall,
+commanding figure, swathed in furs and heavily veiled. For a moment the
+girl hesitated, then with a steady hand she struck a match and a flare
+of light streamed from the gas jet. In the full flow of its radiance,
+she turned and faced her visitor.</p>
+
+<p>The woman in the doorway took a step forward and paused involuntarily,
+with a slight murmur of shocked surprise. The girl before her was
+slender and of quite a usual type, with soft brown hair and moderately
+large blue eyes, but a spreading blood-red scar with five curved
+streaks reaching out from it like an angry clutching hand covered her
+left cheek from brow to neck.</p>
+
+<p>If the girl observed the other's momentary loss of poise she gave no
+sign. Her level brows were arched ingenuously, her expression childlike
+in its bland candor, but the smile which parted her lips did not reach
+her shadowed, inscrutable eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Won't you take this chair? You wished to see me regarding my
+advertisement for a position?"</p>
+
+<p>The woman advanced and sank into the seat indicated, loosening her furs
+deliberately before she replied. The heavy veil still obliterated her
+features, but through its meshes her eyes glowed fixedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes." She inclined her head slightly. "You are Miss Shaw?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl nodded in turn.</p>
+
+<p>"I have had no previous experience, but it has become necessary for me
+to earn my own living and I have not had any specialized training. I am
+quite alone in the world—"</p>
+
+<p>The woman leaned suddenly forward.</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask why you stated that in your advertisement, Miss Shaw?
+You are very young and doubtless inexperienced, but you must have
+realized that to announce yourself as alone and friendless would invite
+unsuitable and even dangerous response."</p>
+
+<p>The girl glanced at the cards on the mantel and then back to her
+visitor in wide-eyed amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no!" she exclaimed. "I wanted to make it clear that I could give
+no references except social ones from my own home town, and that my
+object was not so much a matter of salary as a home of refinement where
+I could feel safe and sheltered. It is dreadful to be adrift, with
+no one to take a personal interest, but back in Greenville there was
+nothing for me to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Greenville?"</p>
+
+<p>"In Iowa. My mother and I moved out there to live with an uncle of
+hers when my father died. I was a little girl then. Last year Uncle
+Will died, and six months ago, my mother." She glanced down at the
+simple black gown. "There is no one left belonging to me, and very
+little money, so I came back to the city where I was born to try to
+find a position. I have been here only a few days, but it is more
+difficult than I had thought. You are looking for a companion or
+secretary? I did not put it in the advertisement, but I am quite
+capable of taking charge of a household and managing servants. If—if
+you have children I can amuse them, too, they always take to me."</p>
+
+<p>The woman's eyes searched the flushed, eager face but seemed to linger,
+repelled yet fascinated, on the sinister scar.</p>
+
+<p>"You—er, you have had an accident?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Accident?" The girl repeated. Then with a smile of understanding quite
+free from bitterness she touched her cheek. "You mean—this? It is a
+birthmark and everyone around me is so accustomed to it that I scarcely
+ever think of it. It must be awfully unpleasant to strangers, though. I
+suppose it—it would be a drawback——"</p>
+
+<p>Her tone was wistful, almost pleading, and she paused with a catch in
+her breath. There was a long minute of silence before her visitor spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Not unpleasant. It will merely be necessary, as you so sensibly
+say, for one to become accustomed to it. I am not sure that it is
+a disadvantage—" she caught herself up abruptly. "You spoke of
+social references from Greenville. You have friends there to whom I
+can write, if we come to an understanding? You realize that I, too,
+must be careful about whom I take into my household in so intimate a
+relationship as that of companion."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," the girl assented quickly. Then she hesitated. "You live
+here in the city?"</p>
+
+<p>"On the North Drive. I am Mrs. Atterbury." The woman spoke as if the
+mere mention of her name sufficed to establish her status, and with
+a deliberate gesture she threw back her veil. The face revealed to
+the girl's frankly curious gaze was colorless, the thin, arched nose
+and firm, straight lines of her lips as immobile as if carved from
+marble. Only the eyes, sloe-black and glittering, gave a semblance of
+life to the flawless, masklike expression. The smooth, dark hair was
+coiled tightly about her head and brought low over the ears, but did
+not cover them sufficiently to conceal their peculiar formation. Small
+and delicately pink, they were lobeless and narrowed toward the top so
+sharply that the girl wondered if beneath the hair they might not be
+pointed, like a cat's.</p>
+
+<p>As if intuitively aware of the other's scrutiny, the woman drew her
+furs more closely about her neck and spoke hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p>"I forgot for a moment that you were a stranger here. My husband was
+one of the most prominent financiers in the city, but since his death
+I have lived very quietly, receiving only a few old friends quite
+informally. I am childless, and, like you, alone in the world." She
+paused, with a slight suggestion of a smile and the girl's intent gaze
+shifted and dropped. "My home is one which you would perhaps consider
+luxurious, but it needs a youthful presence. I want the companionship
+of a bright, cheerful young girl, gently reared, who can amuse and
+interest me, and assist in the occasional entertainment of my guests.
+Practically the only duty you would have would be to attend to my
+correspondence, which is large as I have financial interests and
+property all over the country. I would require your time unreservedly,
+however. That is why I prefer a stranger, with no affiliations to
+distract her. For such services I am willing to pay well, but there are
+certain conditions I should impose."</p>
+
+<p>The girl had listened without a change of expression, but now she
+glanced up quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"Mourning depresses me. Would you be willing to lay it aside and dress
+in colors, such colors as I choose for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes. I thought of that, in any event."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you speak any foreign language?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"There were no foreigners in Greenville but the Italian road builders."</p>
+
+<p>"You are prepared to place yourself absolutely at my disposal? There
+will, of course, be hours when I will not need you, but I shall want
+you within call. Moreover, if I make you a member of my household I
+shall feel responsible for you. You must not attempt to go about the
+city alone without consulting me first. That is understood?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl's eyes narrowed and for an instant her lips compressed, but
+she replied quietly:</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. I appreciate the interest you take in me, Mrs. Atterbury,
+and I am grateful for it. I shall do my best to please you."</p>
+
+<p>A few details followed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we will consider the matter settled." The women glanced at the
+jeweled watch on her wrist. "How long will it take you to pack?"</p>
+
+<p>"You mean you wish me to go with you at once?" The girl's face had
+whitened until the scar stood out in cruel clarity upon her cheek. "I
+had thought of taking a few days to prepare—"</p>
+
+<p>"Anything you need can be purchased tomorrow." There was a hardened
+note of dominance in the cold voice which brooked no denial. "I am
+a person of quick decisions, as you will discover, Betty—that is
+your name, isn't it? I came to take you home with me if I found you
+suitable, but I cannot keep my car waiting long in this storm."</p>
+
+<p>Betty rose submissively.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no trunk, only two bags. It will take me only a few minutes to
+pack, if you will excuse me."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury sat immovable until the sound of the girl's footsteps
+had died away upon the creaking stairs far overhead. Then she rose and
+gliding swiftly to the mantel, glanced over the cards and notes of her
+predecessors. Tossing them aside contemptuously, her eyes fell upon
+an open desk between the windows. A sheet of note-paper half covered
+with writing lay upon it and picking it up she scanned it deliberately,
+nodding in evident satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"'Reverend Doctor Slade,'" she repeated aloud. "Greenville, Iowa."</p>
+
+<p>A quarter of an hour later, two figures emerged from the dingy
+vestibule and descended to the waiting car, the girl cringing in her
+thin black cloak against the icy blast which swirled about them, the
+older woman erect as if the very elements themselves could not compel
+her to bow her head.</p>
+
+<p>With her foot upon the step the girl hesitated and her eyes swept the
+bleak snowy darkness in swift terror, like a trapped animal. The look
+was gone as quickly as it had come, however, and into her face crept
+a trace of the sinister, resolute triumph which had crossed it while
+she waited behind the curtains of her window for the entrance of this
+woman in whose hands she had placed herself.</p>
+
+<p>In silence she seated herself beside her new employer, the footman
+closed the door with a snap and they glided swiftly away through the
+snow-muffled streets. Few words were spoken during the brief journey,
+and they were mere commonplaces, but beneath the casual banality ran an
+undercurrent of sharp tension almost tangible enough to be felt. It was
+as if, unconsciously, they were adversaries, pausing by tacit consent
+to take breath for a second encounter. The girl lay back relaxed with
+half-closed eyes, the woman sat with her veiled face averted, and each
+seemed buried in her own thoughts, yet each was aware of the sly,
+furtive glances of mutual speculative appraisal which passed between
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The droning wind arose to a shrieking gale when they turned into the
+North Drive, the merging strands of electric light breaking into widely
+detached clusters as compact rows of brick and stone gave place to
+exclusive residences, each sequestered within its private park. The
+whistles of the river boats rose eerily above the blast of the storm
+and the girl shuddered and drew the straggling fur collar more closely
+about her throat.</p>
+
+<p>"You must have warmer clothing." The woman spoke without turning
+her head. "You will need one or two dinner frocks also. That can be
+arranged tomorrow, and I will supply them, as you are disposing of
+your mourning at my request. We are home at last."</p>
+
+<p>The car swerved from the broad avenue and turning in between two high
+gate-posts, followed a short winding drive to a brilliantly lighted
+<i>porte-cochère</i>. Light streamed, too, from the opened doorway, upon the
+threshold of which stood a thick-set man in the conventional black of a
+butler.</p>
+
+<p>"Welch," Mrs. Atterbury spoke with curt authority, "Miss Shaw will take
+Miss Harly's place. Show her to her room, please." Turning, she added
+to her companion: "We dine at seven. You need not change."</p>
+
+<p>The butler bowed obsequiously, but his beady eyes surveyed the girl
+deliberately from head to foot in a coolly impudent stare before he
+picked up her bags and started for the staircase.</p>
+
+<p>The hall was square and of spacious dimensions, with a gallery
+encircling the second floor landing, from which rare tapestries were
+hung. The leaping flames of the hearth played upon their soft, mellow
+hues and glancing off in darting rays from the brass andirons, turned
+the dull brown of the leather wall paneling into burnished gold.</p>
+
+<p>Betty Shaw mechanically noted the general effect as she followed her
+surly guide. There was little surprise and no curiosity in her gaze,
+which had flown straight to the door opposite the hearth. As she
+reached the foot of the stairs this door was flung violently open, and
+a man sprang forward, confronting her employer.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God, where have you been?" he demanded, his voice grating harshly
+with anxiety. "'Ranza has been trying to locate you all the afternoon.
+She saw him, but he has broken! He's going to—"</p>
+
+<p>No countering exclamation from the woman had interrupted him, yet he
+paused with a strangling gasp, as if a hand had been laid suddenly upon
+his throat.</p>
+
+<p>Betty glanced over her shoulder. Mrs. Atterbury stood silently drawn up
+to her full height regarding the intruder with eyes which blazed from a
+face that might well have given pause. The impassivity which had masked
+it was gone, the brows were drawn and knotted and the lips curled back
+in a distortion of silent rage so that her strong, white teeth gleamed
+menacingly in the firelight. The girl caught one swift glimpse of the
+man who cringed in the doorway, then turned and fairly fled up the
+stair.</p>
+
+<p>The hall was dimly lighted but a rosy glow came from an opened door
+around a turning, and approaching, Betty found herself in a veritable
+bower of a room, spacious but cozy, with flowered chintz draperies and
+soft, rose-shaded lamps.</p>
+
+<p>"If you want the maid, Miss, there's the bell." Welch had deposited
+her bags beside the dressing-table, and was again surveying her with
+his curiously intent, lowering gaze. "Should you be liking a cup of
+tea, now,—"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I shall require nothing before dinner." Her quiet tone was
+in itself a dismissal, yet the man still lingered as if on the point of
+further speech. Before her steady eyes, however, his own shifted and
+fell, and turning, he shambled from the room.</p>
+
+<p>Betty waited until his stealthy, cat-like footsteps had passed
+well down the hall, then closed her door softly and began a minute
+examination of her apartment. It faced the side of the house, with two
+long French windows opening on a narrow balcony. A door in each wall
+led presumably to connecting rooms, but upon examination the first
+proved to be fastened, evidently by a bolt on the farther side, for
+the keyhole was plugged with a hard substance resembling sealing wax.
+The opposite door disclosed a well-appointed bathroom, with no opening
+other than a ventilator, high up in the wall.</p>
+
+<p>Completing her simple preparations for dinner, the girl sank in a low
+chair before the glowing coals in the English grate and chin in hand,
+lost herself in a reverie. The eager, childishly trustful expression
+had vanished when she found herself alone and in its place had crept
+a hardened, crafty look which robbed her face of its youthful charm.
+The scar leaped again into prominence, and seemed to throb as if its
+clutching fingers were tightening in a relentless grip, and in her
+somber eyes abiding passion brooded.</p>
+
+<p>The silver tones of a gong echoing up from below aroused her and she
+sprang to her feet, her clenched hands pressed to her burning temples.
+For an instant she stood swaying in the intensity of some all but
+overmastering emotion. Then her hands fell to her sides, revealing
+again the mask of disingenuousness.</p>
+
+<p>But behind it there lurked, not wholly concealed, an air of joyous
+triumph, and she glanced exultantly about her as if out of all the
+world, the shelter of this roof had been her goal, and in winning
+her way into the household she had brought some deep-laid plan to
+consummation.</p>
+
+<p>While she hesitated at the stair's foot, Mrs. Atterbury's voice
+summoned her to the drawing-room, where she found beside her employer a
+sallow little woman, dull-eyed and slender to the point of angularity,
+who was presented as Madame Cimmino. As Betty responded timidly to
+the conventional greeting another figure came forward from a shadowed
+corner and paused, smiling and urbane.</p>
+
+<p>"Betty, this is an old friend, Mr. Wolvert." An odd smile twisted Mrs.
+Atterbury's attenuated lips. "Don't make love to Miss Shaw, Jack. She
+seeks sanctuary with me from the world, the flesh and the devil."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear lady!" He raised a deprecating hand before extending it to the
+shrinking girl. "You malign me! Let me assure you of your immunity from
+evil here, Miss Shaw. Our hostess tolerates no serpents in her garden,
+as you will find."</p>
+
+<p>The man's tone was smooth and unctuous, but there was an undercurrent
+deeper than mere mockery in the careless words, and Mrs. Atterbury's
+eyes glittered dangerously, although she shrugged in cold distaste.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we go in? Cook times her soufflés to the instant and she is the
+only mortal before whom I quail. Come, Speranza."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino laid her hand lightly on Jack Wolvert's arm as she
+passed him, but his gaze was riveted upon the girl, and followed her
+slim figure curiously until the curtains fell behind her.</p>
+
+<p>"She is attractive, this new little one, eh?" Madame Cimmino had halted
+in the doorway and there was a hard ring in her voice. "It is an added
+charm, perhaps, that brand upon her face!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be absurd, 'Ranza." The man frowned impatiently. "There's
+something queer about that girl, something oddly reminiscent. I could
+almost swear I had seen her before, or at least heard her voice."</p>
+
+<p>During the simple but perfectly served meal, Betty unobtrusively
+studied the two guests seated at either hand. Madame Cimmino was
+evidently of Latin birth, although her quick, impulsive speech was
+interlarded with ejaculations in many tongues. Huge opal hoops dragged
+at the lobes of her ears and her brown, clawlike hands were loaded
+with rings which glistened barbarically in her ceaseless gesturing.
+She ignored the newcomer as far as courtesy permitted, snubbed Wolvert
+with a proprietary air, which failed to carry weight before his bland
+equanimity, but showed an anxious almost fawning deference to her
+hostess.</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert made a half-playful attempt to draw out the little companion,
+but finding no encouragement in her shy, monosyllabic replies, he
+devoted himself to his dinner, and Betty found opportunity to observe
+him at her leisure. He was a man of approximately forty, lean and wiry
+with olive skin and curiously light eyes in grotesque contrast with his
+crisply curling, black hair and small, military mustache. The man's
+whole personality seemed oddly at variance. His hands were slender and
+shapely, with the tapering, sensitive fingers of an artist, yet the
+high Slavic cheekbones, spreading nostrils and heavy jaw belied a finer
+sensibility, and his face in repose was saturnine.</p>
+
+<p>Regarding him, Betty could scarcely bring herself to believe that he
+was the same man who had burst upon the scene at the moment of her
+arrival with his impassioned outcry. The inexplicable words still rang
+in her ears. "'Ranza," was evidently Madame Speranza Cimmino, but why
+had she tried so frantically to ascertain Mrs. Atterbury's whereabouts
+during the long afternoon? Who was the man she had seen, and what was
+the meaning of the phrase that he had broken?</p>
+
+<p>Dinner concluded, they returned to the drawing-room, and after a brief
+desultory conversation Betty was dismissed, to her infinite relief.
+Wolvert sprang forward gallantly to open the door for her departure and
+stood staring after her until she disappeared around the turning at the
+stair's head, the same puzzled, questioning look in his eyes with which
+he had regarded her at their meeting.</p>
+
+<p>Her light extinguished, Betty lay motionless and seemingly relaxed, but
+her sleepless eyes were fixed as though they would pierce the darkness,
+and her ears strained for the slightest sound. The storm swirled
+unabated outside the windows, and the tall clock on the stairs droned
+out the hours at all but interminable intervals.</p>
+
+<p>Midnight came, and with it the hum of a high-powered motor on the
+drive. A subdued murmur of voices floated up to her from the hall, the
+front door closed with a thud and the motor snorted its way through
+the piling snowdrifts to the gate. A few minutes later there was a
+faint silken rustle of skirts past her door, then the cat-like tread
+of Welch as he went his final rounds and darkness and utter silence
+reigned supreme.</p>
+
+<p>One o'clock struck, then two, and as the echo of the second stroke died
+away, Betty threw back the covers, and slipping from bed stole to her
+dressing bag. She fumbled for a moment and then a tiny, thread-like
+ray of light leaped from her hand. With the electric torch carefully
+shielded, she enveloped herself in a dark kimona, thrust her feet into
+soft felt slippers, and unbolting her door, crept silently out into
+the hall. The gleaming strand of light wavered, then steadied and
+moved slowly along to the turning into the gallery. Its pale afterglow
+lingered like a nimbus for a minute and then vanished, and darkness
+descended once more about the sleeping house.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Silent Intruder.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>The storm ceased with the coming of day, and when Betty awoke a
+glistening expanse of diamond-encrusted snow met her gaze between the
+parted curtains of her window. Softened by sleep, her face was flushed
+and girlishly winsome as she lay with the cruel scar pressed deep into
+her pillow, her bewildered eyes roving the unfamiliar room. Then,
+with returning consciousness, the shadow descended once more and her
+expression perceptibly hardened.</p>
+
+<p>Rising, she walked to the window and flung the curtains wide. The view
+of park and clustering, frost-spangled cedars was intersected sharply
+with vertical bars of iron and she gave a little involuntary gasp of
+dismayed surprise at the discovery that the narrow balcony beyond her
+windows was stoutly enclosed, like a huge cage.</p>
+
+<p>The same trapped look of terror which had leaped to the girl's eyes
+on the previous day when she faltered at the door of the limousine
+returned anew, but she steeled herself against the sudden tide of
+emotion which all but overwhelmed her and moved resolutely to her
+mirror. The birthmark flamed back angrily at her, but she touched it
+almost caressingly as if the knowledge of it gave her strength, and an
+enigmatic smile wreathed her lips.</p>
+
+<p>She breakfasted alone in the sunny morning room, attended by Welch,
+whose scrutiny of her at her arrival seemed to have satisfied him, for
+his bearing was that of a mere well-trained automaton. Betty observed
+him surreptitiously as he moved about the room, his heavy-jowled face
+and massive bulk incongruous with the light, springing, silent tread
+and his shifting eyes obsequiously lowered.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, miss," he coughed apologetically, as she rose, "Mrs.
+Atterbury will see you in the library."</p>
+
+<p>Betty submissively followed him to a door at the left of the entrance
+hall. A voice bade her enter and she found her employer seated at an
+official-looking desk, already deeply engrossed in her correspondence.
+Her dress was severely plain, her hair coiffed low over the lobeless
+ears and to the girl's shy morning greeting she turned a face waxen in
+its pallor but inscrutable as on their first meeting.</p>
+
+<p>"You are not late, my dear," she responded to Betty's contrite query.
+"I rose unusually early and have been sorting my mail in order to show
+you just what your task will be."</p>
+
+<p>She motioned to a chair by the desk, and Betty eyed with inward
+misgiving the formidable heap of unopened envelopes which still
+remained.</p>
+
+<p>"Any letters which may be marked with a small cross in the corner,
+like this, for instance," Mrs. Atterbury held one out for inspection,
+"you may put aside. The rest you are to open and read, dividing them
+into two separate piles, business and purely social, for me to glance
+over later. Begging letters, even from personal friends for charity
+subscriptions, belong in the financial stack. Do you think you can
+manage now with these?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mrs. Atterbury. Do you wish me to reply to them?"</p>
+
+<p>"At my dictation. I will come back in an hour and we can go over them
+together." Mrs. Atterbury rose. "My seamstress will be here this
+afternoon to measure you for some new frocks."</p>
+
+<p>When the door had closed behind her, Betty applied herself to her task.
+The social letters were few and formal in tone without intimate detail.
+Four of the remainder bore crosses and these she laid obediently aside.
+The others were palpably business communications and from their tenor
+it would have appeared that Mrs. Atterbury's financial interests were
+amazingly varied, and of a magnitude which even the luxury of her
+environment had not conveyed.</p>
+
+<p>Mines, oil wells, railroads, stock companies and enterprises of every
+sort were represented in the heterogeneous collection, from the latest
+invention to live stock on the hoof. One letter, evidently concerning
+the latter, made Betty pause with a puzzled frown. It began without
+any form of address and was unsigned, its few lines being hurriedly
+scrawled, but unmistakably legible, although they conveyed no sense to
+the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"Five thousand sheep no go," she read. "Bulls instead. Pink wash fed.
+Clearing den. Tail comet yellow."</p>
+
+<p>In bewilderment she took up the envelope; the superscription was in the
+same irregular hand, and it was postmarked Laramie, Wyoming.</p>
+
+<p>The desk telephone rang as she laid it aside, and hesitatingly she
+picked up the receiver.</p>
+
+<p>"Marcia!" It was unmistakably the voice of Wolvert, but the bantering
+derisive note was gone, and stark fear rasped in every syllable. "Some
+one has squealed! He's got the dope and it's all—"</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon." Betty's tones were cool and steady, but her heart
+stood still, for her quick ear had caught the rustle of a skirt just
+behind her. "This is Mrs. Atterbury's secretary. To whom did you wish
+to speak?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a smothered exclamation at the other end of the wire, and
+Mrs. Atterbury snatched the receiver from the girl's hand.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" she demanded in a voice which she strove in vain to
+control.</p>
+
+<p>"I-I don't know," Betty murmured. "The person spoke so quickly I could
+not distinguish a word." "Mrs. Atterbury speaking.... Oh, the market
+has broken? Well, sell the shares I hold in that company at whatever
+price you can obtain, do you understand? At whatever price! There will
+be no panic, tell your partner not to lose his head. It must be made
+clear that I will trade no more in that stock.... It will be enough, it
+must be. Remember, I look to you to settle the matter absolutely. Let
+me have an accounting by tonight."</p>
+
+<p>She hung up the receiver and turned with a shrug but Betty saw that her
+lips were white.</p>
+
+<p>"My broker," she remarked, with studied carelessness. "Conscientious
+man, but not resourceful. By the way, my dear, I neglected to tell you
+that you need never answer this telephone. It is my own private wire.
+Call me if it rings when I am at home, but pay no attention to it if I
+am not here."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry—" began Betty, but the other silenced her.</p>
+
+<p>"It is of no consequence. We will take up the letters now. You did not
+find them difficult?"</p>
+
+<p>"No-o," Betty responded hesitatingly. "There is one, however, which I
+could not understand at all. It seems to be a business matter, but the
+wording doesn't make any sense; it's something about sheep."</p>
+
+<p>"Sheep?" Mrs. Atterbury's level tones sharpened. "Where is the
+envelope? Was there no cross upon it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. At least I didn't see any, and I am quite sure I looked carefully.
+This is the one."</p>
+
+<p>"Idiot!" The ejaculation was clearly not intended for the girl, as Mrs.
+Atterbury looked vainly for the distinguishing mark, and filliped the
+envelope angrily aside. "Give me the letter, please."</p>
+
+<p>She glanced over it rapidly, without comment or change of expression
+and put it on the little heap of private letters.</p>
+
+<p>"We will get rid of the social ones first—" she was beginning, when
+Betty suddenly interrupted her.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a motor car coming up the drive."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, it is Mme. Cimmino." Mrs. Atterbury arose, her glance following
+the trim little electric brougham as it lurched over the hillocks of
+snow. "She will probably stay to lunch, and that means the letters will
+have to be held over until tomorrow. Amuse yourself as well as you can,
+my dear. You'll find plenty of books here and there is a phonograph in
+the corner."</p>
+
+<p>But Betty did not turn to the well-filled bookcases which lined the
+walls. Instead she sat with the strange letter spread out before her,
+reading and re-reading it as if to memorize every word. That it was a
+code of some sort she did not doubt, and without the key it would seem
+a hopeless task to attempt to decipher it, yet the young girl pored
+over it as eagerly as though its possible solution contained a message
+of vital import to herself as well as her employer.</p>
+
+<p>Welch brought her lunch upon a tray and the afternoon was well advanced
+before the summons came for her to go to the sewing room. She spent the
+intervening hours in a searching examination of the library itself, but
+it yielded nothing of seeming interest or import to her. There was no
+sign of Mme. Cimmino, but her car had not left the drive and a subdued
+murmur as of several voices came from behind the tightly-closed door
+of the drawing-room as the girl passed. Welch ushered her to a large
+sunny room at the top of the house where she found Mrs. Atterbury deep
+in consultation with a faded little woman of indeterminate age who
+fluttered nervously on being presented.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Pope knows what you require, I think," observed Mrs. Atterbury.
+"Everything must be as simple as possible, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Pope nodded, her mouth full of pins which she was sticking with
+mathematical precision into the little flat cushion that hung from her
+belt. When the last was in place, she took up her tape measure.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, miss, if you please."</p>
+
+<p>Betty stood patiently, marvelling at the odd tremulousness of the
+withered hands which fumbled about her. Could it be merely nerves, or
+was the worn, pallid, little creature under the spell of some emotion
+too strong to be wholly controlled?</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury had strolled to the window with a fashion book and the
+seamstress dropped to her knees before Betty to measure the skirt
+length. Glancing down, the girl met the tired eyes of the older woman
+and found them fixed on hers with a mute insistent appeal in their
+depths.</p>
+
+<p>Involuntarily she started, and Miss Pope, with a warning gesture,
+turned over the pincushion at her belt. Upon the under side worked out
+in rough irregular letters formed by the pin heads, Betty read the
+words, "Go away."</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes sought those of the seamstress once more in puzzled
+questioning, but the woman, after a vehement nod, evaded her glance,
+and her quivering fingers plucked at the pins until the strange message
+was obliterated.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you finished?" Mrs. Atterbury's calm tones cut the pregnant
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am. I will come tomorrow for the lining fitting." The
+seamstress barely breathed the words, as she scrambled to her feet, but
+there seemed a shade of significance as she added: "I-I hope the young
+lady will be satisfied."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>I</i> shall be," Mrs. Atterbury responded with good-humored but
+unmistakable emphasis. A faint flush mounted in Miss Pope's wan cheeks
+and she did not glance again toward Betty, even as she bowed herself
+out.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, I shall not need you again this afternoon. Would you care to
+go out for a little while?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty's eyes eagerly turned to the window were sufficient answer.</p>
+
+<p>"You will find several paths leading around the grounds if you don't
+mind the snow, but do not go beyond the gate." Mrs. Atterbury smiled,
+but she watched the girl's face keenly. "You look pale, and the fresh
+air will do you good. We must not keep you cooped up in the house too
+much, but I do not want you to go about the city aimlessly until you
+learn your way."</p>
+
+<p>"I will not leave the grounds," promised Betty.</p>
+
+<p>"One thing more," Mrs. Atterbury paused at the door. "Don't go near the
+garage, for Demon may be unleashed. He is the watch dog and underfed to
+keep him savage. Be sure you come in at dusk."</p>
+
+<p>When Betty, as warmly clad as her meagre wardrobe would allow, slipped
+out at the side door, the pale wintry sun was already sinking in the
+West and the still air nipped her sharply, bringing a tingling glow to
+her cheeks. She set out jauntily down the first path which led among
+the cedars, her footsteps ringing on the hard packed snow and the
+frosty vapor of her breath floating like a veil before her.</p>
+
+<p>The events of the past twenty-four hours, culminating in the
+inexplicable attitude of the seamstress, had wrought upon her nerves
+and the sense of freedom and solitude was grateful, illusive though
+she knew it to be. No doubt of Miss Pope's good will or sanity came to
+her, but she wondered what part the faded little creature was called
+upon to play in the strange scene of which she herself had become a
+supernumerary.</p>
+
+<p>What crisis had arisen in the mysterious affairs of her new employer
+and why were her friends, Mme. Cimmino and the man Wolvert, so deeply
+concerned for her? The voice of the latter over the telephone that
+morning had revealed a frenzy of emotion which his debonair assurance
+on the previous evening had utterly belied. Then his impetuous outburst
+at the moment of her arrival returned to her mind. Who was the
+mysterious "he?" The frantic telephone message of a few hours before
+had concerned the same man. Who could he be, and through him what
+menace threatened the quiet woman with the inscrutable face to whom her
+services were bound?</p>
+
+<p>So engrossed was Betty in her maze of thought, that she had followed
+the path unheedingly and only paused when she found her way blocked
+by a square granite post. She had reached the entrance gates beyond
+which she might not stray. For a moment she lingered, her eyes turned
+wistfully down the broad, bleak avenue, a mad, incomprehensible impulse
+to escape surging up within her, as if tangible bonds held her to her
+voluntarily assumed duty, and danger lurked for her in the house behind
+the cedars. The next minute she had turned resolutely and started to
+retrace her steps.</p>
+
+<p>The early dusk was already descending and Betty quickened her pace lest
+she prolong the hour of freedom beyond the time allotted her. Midway,
+the path entered a thick clump of trees, and all at once she became
+aware of the rapid thud of feet on the snow behind her. Someone was
+running toward the house.</p>
+
+<p>The thought that she was being pursued flashed into her mind, but
+she banished it, and turning hastily aside, concealed herself behind
+a screen of tangled evergreens. Scarcely had she done so, when a
+man appeared around a turn in the path, and passed her with almost
+incredible speed.</p>
+
+<p>The single fleeting glimpse she obtained of his gray, set face,
+however, had sufficed for recognition. It was Wolvert, and some
+unnameable terror sped with him through the eerie gloom.</p>
+
+<p>Betty shivered and looked blindly about her for another way out of the
+grove. She dared not enter the house on the heels of this visitor, nor
+from the same direction in which he had come, lest she seem to have
+been spying upon him, and she desired above all else to reach her own
+room unobserved.</p>
+
+<p>At length she discerned a break in the trees at her right and
+approaching found a second path branching off in a curve which promised
+to lead around the house. Mrs. Atterbury's warning had passed from
+her memory and only when the low square bulk of the garage loomed up
+before her and a rumbling growl assailed her ears, did she remember the
+presence of the dog.</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated, a new and very tangible fright gripping her, but it
+was too late to turn back. Even as she paused, the growl changed to
+a deep, full-throated cry, and a huge shape bounded toward her out
+of the shadows. To attempt escape would only betray her fear to the
+brute intelligence and precipitate an attack upon her. Betty knew and
+understood canine nature and she realized that her safety depended on
+coolness now.</p>
+
+<p>Motionless, she waited until the dog was almost upon her, and then held
+out her hand, palm uppermost. The great beast halted in his tracks, his
+slavering jaws agape and every hair bristling on his neck.</p>
+
+<p>"Demon! Good Demon!" she called softly. "Steady, old boy. Come here."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the fire died out of his gleaming eyes and he approached warily,
+step by step, while her own eyes held his unwaveringly. He sniffed at
+her hand, gazed up at her in mute question and reading confidence and
+mastery in her face, dropped obediently in the snow at her feet.</p>
+
+<p>The wave of relief which swept over her was checked by a fresh
+disquieting thought. Was the dog merely guarding her until his keeper
+appeared to relieve him of his charge? The slightest movement on her
+part might bring him up with a spring at her throat, but to wait until
+help came would mean the discovery of her disobedience.</p>
+
+<p>Chance solved the problem for her before many minutes had passed. A
+shrill whistle sounded from the direction of the garage, and the dog,
+lifting his head, gave tongue in response. The whistle was repeated,
+followed by a hoarse, blasphemous command. Demon rose reluctantly,
+brushed against her knee in friendly farewell, and loped away in the
+fast-gathering darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Demon!" The girl breathed a sobbing little cry after him.
+"Remember me well, the sound of my voice and the scent of me. Sometime
+I may need you!"</p>
+
+<p>Then ashamed of the momentary, hysterical weakness, Betty turned and
+fairly flew to the house. Slipping in at the side door by which she had
+left, she reached her room, breathless, but unobserved, and sank into a
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>The house was oddly silent. No sound of voices had met her ears, but
+a narrow streak of light had shone from under the library door as
+she passed, and her overwrought imagination pictured for her a tense,
+constrained group within. In spite of Mrs. Atterbury's specious
+explanation, Betty knew beyond question whose voice had come to her
+over the telephone, and no mere financial crisis could have brought to
+Wolvert's face the look which she had seen upon it when he unwittingly
+crossed her path among the trees.</p>
+
+<p>A half-hour went slowly by and then the whirring of the electric
+brougham broke the stillness and droned diminishingly into the
+distance. Mme. Cimmino had evidently taken her belated departure. Had
+Wolvert accompanied her? Betty shrank from encountering him at dinner
+and the effort to meet his forced banter serenely, conscious of what
+lay beneath it seemed beyond her power.</p>
+
+<p>When she obeyed the gong's summons, however, she found the table laid
+only for two, and Mrs. Atterbury already in her place.</p>
+
+<p>"You enjoyed your walk, my dear?" The latter raised imperturbable eyes
+to greet the girl. "You did not find it too cold?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, the air was wonderfully bracing," Betty replied at random,
+scarcely aware of what she was saying. "I very nearly lost my way,
+though. There are so many paths and the trees quite hide the house."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I purchased the property mainly because of the privacy and
+seclusion it promised. I am not a hermit," Mrs. Atterbury added, with
+the shadow of a smile, "but the rush and turmoil of an active social
+existence bore me. You will, perhaps, find it rather monotonous here,
+Betty, but there will be more tasks for you to do when you have settled
+down and learned your way about the city. I shall have many errands for
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad," Betty responded with nervous eagerness. "The thought of
+the city doesn't frighten me any more, now that I feel anchored, Mrs.
+Atterbury, and I want to do anything I can. You know I have been idle
+all day and it does not seem as if I were earning my salary."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury scrutinized the girl's face, and her own relaxed for
+an instant and sagged into deeply graven lines of utter weariness and
+exhaustion. The necessity for rigid self-command had faltered before
+Betty's seemingly innocent candor; the mask had slipped momentarily
+and from beneath it peered a shadow of the anxiety and dread which had
+beset her unexpected guest of the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>With the next breath, however, she had herself again in hand.</p>
+
+<p>"You will not complain of that tomorrow." Her voice was amusedly
+tolerant. "We shall have a double amount of correspondence to attend
+to, remember, and I will positively be at home to no one until it is
+finished. I think I shall retire almost immediately after dinner, my
+dear, for I have a slight headache."</p>
+
+<p>The warmth of the house after the sharp, nipping atmosphere outdoors
+brought an early drowsiness to Betty, who went directly to her room
+after the meal. In spite of the puzzling events of the day, and the air
+of mystery which seemed to envelop the household, a lassitude stole
+over her and her heavy eyelids drooped and fell.</p>
+
+<p>The dropping of coals in the tiny grate awakened her and she started up
+to find that it was close on to midnight. Stumbling softly to the door
+she opened it and listened, but the silence was unbroken.</p>
+
+<p>Disrobing, she laid her dressing gown and slippers ready to hand,
+extinguished the lamp and crept into bed. Her first deep sleep was over
+and Betty lay wide-eyed, staring into the darkness. A vague sensation
+of suspense set her brain a-tingle and she felt as if she were waiting
+with every nerve taut for something which she could not name.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually, however, the feeling was dispelled and she was sinking
+into an uneasy slumber when all at once she started up in bed with a
+shivering gasp, her heart leaping wildly and the very hair upon her
+brow seeming to stir and rise as though an unseen hand were lifting
+it. A sudden, muffled crash had pierced her consciousness and the very
+air seemed to quiver with the jar of impact, although no further sound
+broke the stillness. Betty listened with bated breath for a moment,
+then rose, impelled by an impulse stronger than her power to combat.</p>
+
+<p>Throwing her gown about her, she snatched the electric torch from the
+drawer of her dressing-table and made her way to the door. Impenetrable
+darkness greeted her as before, but it seemed to her overwrought fancy
+that a shuddering tension filled the air and the ticking of the tall
+clock beat like a tocsin upon her brain.</p>
+
+<p>As one in a trance she moved mechanically to the stairs and down,
+the thread of light which played from her hand guiding her cautious
+footsteps. The doors of the library and drawing-room were closed, but
+that of the dining-room was opened wide and a frigid draft blew through
+it, whipping the gown about her bare ankles.</p>
+
+<p>Betty flashed her light upon the aperture and the outline of the
+heavily carved dining table leaped into view, while all about it on the
+floor lay fragments of something which scintillated in the shaft of
+radiance like scattered diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly she approached the door, the darting rays from her torch
+piercing the sinister darkness, the very breath hushed in her throat.
+On the threshold she paused and stood transfixed.</p>
+
+<p>The dining table had been slewed to one side, chairs were overturned,
+draperies pulled from their rings and the great glass punch bowl lay
+shattered on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not upon these signs of violence that her eyes were fastened
+in a glaze of horror. A man lay stretched before the hearth with
+upturned face and arms flung wide, a man whose eyes stared with tragic
+vacuity and from whose breast a sluggish crimson stream had flowed to
+form a spreading pool upon the rug.</p>
+
+<p>For a long minute the girl stood staring with eyes as fixed as those of
+the dead. She opened her lips, but no sound issued from them to raise
+an alarm or summon aid. Instead she lifted her hands jerkily to her
+throat as if struggling to draw breath, and turning, fled silently for
+her very life up the stairs.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Velvet Glove.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Betty was seated before her mirror, gazing somewhat doubtfully from
+the small round box of rouge in her hand to her wan reflection. Dare
+she hope successfully to conceal the ravages of a sleepless, tortured
+night? Her cheeks and very lips were blanched and her eyes sunken and
+heavily circled. Only the birthmark, like a scarlet stain, glowed
+sullenly and served but to accentuate her pallor. It were better by far
+that her employer's keen eyes should note a condition which she could
+attribute to illness than that her effort to conceal it would be so
+palpable as to invite suspicion of a graver nature.</p>
+
+<p>How she had managed to reach her room after the shock of her tragic
+discovery, she could not have told. No memory remained with her of
+that swift silent flight from the room of death. She only knew that
+she found herself back in bed once more, trembling in every limb and
+with an icy, pulseless void in her breast where her heart had been.
+Reason itself seemed to have fled, and her thoughts become a whirling
+phantasmagoria of horror in which but one thing stood out as if stamped
+indelibly upon her mind: the face of the slain man.</p>
+
+<p>It floated before her in the darkness as distinctly as the pitiless
+glare of her torch had revealed it, strangely calm and detached amid
+the debris of the devastated room below, and the girl cowered as if
+once more in its dread presence.</p>
+
+<p>For hours which seemed like years she lay in an agony of expectancy,
+waiting for a cry of alarm when the inevitable discovery should be
+made. But no sound broke the tomb-like stillness save once, when a
+vague muffled thud came to her ears. Even that she could not be sure
+of, for her senses were tottering on the verge of hysteria, and the
+night passed in the hideous unreality of a dream.</p>
+
+<p>With the dawn came utter exhaustion, but she desperately combatted its
+lethargy, in fear lest sleep bring a nightmare which would wring from
+her unconscious lips a shriek of betrayal.</p>
+
+<p>The hazy patch of light at her window broadened into day and at last
+faint but unmistakable sounds came to her from below. The servants were
+stirring, and surely now, at any moment, the alarm would be raised.</p>
+
+<p>Wonder succeeded expectancy as the minutes passed and the normal
+tranquility of the house remained unbroken. At length, unable to endure
+the torture of inaction, she had arisen. Whatever the immediate future
+held in store, she, at least, must appear ignorant of all that had
+occurred during the silent watches of the night.</p>
+
+<p>The breakfast gong sounded as she replaced her rouge unused in the
+drawer, and with leaden feet she descended the stairs. The door of the
+dining-room was open and from within it issued the cheerful clatter of
+silver and purr of the coffee urn.</p>
+
+<p>As if hypnotized, Betty made her way down the hall but paused
+involuntarily on the threshold. The room was in perfect order, the
+furniture arranged as usual; even the great cut-glass bowl, which she
+had seen only a few hours before shattered into a score of fragments,
+stood whole and unmarred in its accustomed place upon the sideboard.</p>
+
+<p>The girl's eyes turned incredulously to the hearth where the ghastly
+figure had lain. It was spic and span, and the pale gray of the silken
+rug showed no slightest trace of the sinister pool which had reddened
+it a few short hours before. The bright sunlight, streaming in between
+the curtains at the window, added the last touch of solid reality to
+the scene, and Betty felt that her sanity was rocking in the balance.
+Had she indeed been the victim of some fearful hallucination? Was the
+tragedy upon which she had stumbled but the figment of a dream?</p>
+
+<p>All at once she became conscious of eyes upon her and turned sharply.
+Mrs. Atterbury stood just behind her, smiling her calm, inscrutable
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning, my dear. Did you sleep well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not very." Betty forced her stiffened lips to frame the words. "I
+awoke toward morning with a terrific headache, but it is better now."</p>
+
+<p>She stood boldly, with a shaft of sunlight full upon her face,
+conscious of the keen scrutiny to which she was being subjected, but
+determined to avoid possible suspicion by as realistic a semblance of
+candor as she could command.</p>
+
+<p>The pause seemed interminable, but Mrs. Atterbury broke it at last.</p>
+
+<p>"You are very pale. I must give you a headache powder before your
+coffee. Welch!"</p>
+
+<p>A figure moved in the shadowed corner of the china closet, and Betty
+all but cried out in dismay. Had the sly, soft-footed butler been
+standing there, silently noting her hesitation on the threshold, and
+her significant glances about the room?</p>
+
+<p>"Madame?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tell Caroline to give you one of the powders from the blue box in my
+medicine chest; remember, the blue box."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Madame."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury seated herself in her accustomed place, and Betty took
+the chair opposite. She dared not refuse the proffered medicine but a
+hideous fear gripped her. Suppose her subterfuge had been suspected
+and she was now to be done away with, like that other whose body she
+had seen! Or had he really never existed, save in her distraught
+imagination?</p>
+
+<p>She managed to drink her coffee, but the food repelled her. As her
+nerves steadied and self-command returned to her, she furtively studied
+the faces of her employer and the butler. There was no mistaking the
+significance of their suddenly acute espionage. She could not account
+to herself for the magic rehabilitation of the room, but as the chaos
+of her mind subsided one fact resolved itself irrefutably; the event of
+the night had been no dream or vision born of hysteria.</p>
+
+<p>Upon that rug so miraculously cleansed had lain the body of the
+murdered man. How it had been spirited away, or how, indeed, the
+intruder had gained entrance, and the violent struggle which the
+condition of the room had indicated could take place without its noise
+alarming the house, were mysteries Betty made no attempt to solve.</p>
+
+<p>Every sense was alert to her own danger, and she realized that her
+very life depended now upon her powers of dissimulation. The watchers
+had become the watched, and she noted that Welch's pasty face was gray
+in the strong light of morning and his shifty, ratlike eyes darted
+furtively over his shoulder when he crossed before the hearth.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury, too, left her food practically untouched, and the hand
+with which she raised her cup shook visibly, but her indomitable brain
+was evidently schooled to the utmost concentration, for immediately
+after the farce of breakfast was concluded she conducted Betty to the
+library and dictated steadily for more than two hours.</p>
+
+<p>The social letters were devoid of interest to the girl, and under the
+stress of the moment seemed curiously banal. Those concerning financial
+matters were for the most part unintelligible, but she strove to fix
+her mind on them and banish the hideous vision which still obsessed
+her. No allusion was made to the private letters marked with a cross,
+nor did Mrs. Atterbury dictate any reply to the cryptic communication
+concerning five thousand sheep which had arrived on the previous day.</p>
+
+<p>However, when the voluminous correspondence had been seemingly disposed
+of and Betty's eyes were turning longingly toward the crisp sunshine
+beyond the window, Mrs. Atterbury rose and going to a tall, narrow
+bookcase built in a corner of the wall, swung it nonchalantly outward
+with a light practised touch.</p>
+
+<p>A compact steel safe was revealed, imbedded in the solid brick of the
+wall, and Betty watched eagerly, striving to note each twirl and stop
+of the combination as the other woman swiftly manipulated it. With a
+final click the door swung open, disclosing row after row of numbered
+pigeonholes like a post-office rack, each containing its quota of long,
+legal-looking envelopes.</p>
+
+<p>The girl's gaze was riveted, tense and fascinated upon the movements of
+her employer, and unhidden there crossed her face once more that sly,
+subtle look of Machiavelian cunning and triumph, maturing yet debasing
+its artless charm.</p>
+
+<p>Had Mrs. Atterbury turned at that moment she might have read a warning
+in the silent strained figure, but she was engrossed in her occupation.
+When at length she selected a packet and closing the safe carefully
+came back to her desk, the girl was rearranging its contents, her face
+averted.</p>
+
+<p>"Here are rough drafts of some letters which I want you to copy for
+me. Be careful that you transcribe them exactly; I think you will find
+them readily legible. When you have finished, mark the envelopes with a
+cross and place them with the others, for Welch to mail."</p>
+
+<p>The new task occupied Betty until lunch time, and when Welch appeared
+with her tray, as on the previous day, she ate with relish, grateful
+to escape the ordeal of another hour in that room of mystery under the
+Argus eyes of Mrs. Atterbury and her servitor.</p>
+
+<p>The former returned as she concluded her simple meal.</p>
+
+<p>"You have finished the letters? Good! I can see that you are going to
+be a valuable aid. Your predecessor, Inez Harly, was a conscientious
+girl, but stupid—!" Mrs. Atterbury rolled her eyes with an expressive
+shrug. "My dear, have you ever done any library work at home in—let me
+see, where did you come from?—Greenville, Iowa?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Library work'?" Betty repeated with a smile. "Our community was not
+important enough to have attracted the attention of Mr. Carnegie, but
+we had quite an extensive library of our own, and I always took care of
+it for my—my mother."</p>
+
+<p>If Mrs. Atterbury noted the odd hesitation in the last words she gave
+no sign.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you understand the rearrangement, classification and listing
+of books? I wonder if you will attend to mine? There are, I believe,
+over four hundred in this room alone and many others are scattered
+practically all over the house. The sets are all in a jumble and I
+never seem able to put my hand on any particular volume when I want it."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I can do it." Betty's eyes had turned again wistfully to the
+window and her heart sank. "It will take me several days, I am afraid,
+but if you have nothing more pressing for me to do—"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't at the moment." Mrs. Atterbury moved toward the door. "I
+shall be glad if you will begin this afternoon. Take all the time you
+require and when the books are arranged, please catalogue them for me.
+There are a few rare volumes among them which may interest you, if you
+are a student. I will send for you when Miss Pope comes."</p>
+
+<p>The books were in an almost hopeless state of confusion and Betty had
+no mind for her task. She was still shaken with the horror of the
+previous night's discovery, and the imperturbability of the other woman
+had suggested to her a new and startling train of thought. What if Mrs.
+Atterbury herself were ignorant of the tragedy which had taken place
+beneath her roof? Could it have been the work of Welch? The girl had
+read the evidence of his guilty knowledge unmistakably stamped upon his
+elemental, brutish face that morning, but Mrs. Atterbury's inscrutable
+countenance defied analysis.</p>
+
+<p>The continued strain was telling upon the girl and she longed
+unspeakably for the cold, bracing air of out of doors, but it was
+evident that her employer intended to grant her no leisure that day.
+Could the rearrangement of the books have been merely an expedient
+to keep her occupied and close at hand? Mrs. Atterbury had shown her
+nothing but kindness, yet she was conscious of the woman's dominant
+character, and that beneath all her suavity lurked the pitiless tyranny
+of an inflexible will. She was beginning to feel the iron hand within
+the velvet glove, and she shuddered at the mere fancy that it might
+some time close about her.</p>
+
+<p>It was significant that no thought of escape came to her. She had met
+the new danger as something which must be faced and lived down, and
+the natural alternative of notifying the authorities of the foul play
+to which she had been an unwitting accessory after the fact never
+entered her mind. Instead, with a singleness of purpose which seemed
+inexplicable she resolutely forced her thoughts into other channels
+than those which led to the appalling mystery, and strove to focus her
+attention on the books.</p>
+
+<p>Through the long afternoon Betty plodded on at her tedious task, for
+it was dusk when Welch came to announce the seamstress' arrival. The
+silence in the house had remained unbroken, but as she left the library
+the girl became aware of distant and confused shouting in the street
+beyond the great gates. It sounded upon her ears like the clamor of an
+approaching mob, and her heart beat fast as she hurried upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>"What can it be?" she voiced her query aloud as Mrs. Atterbury met her
+at the door of the sewing room. "Those cries upon the street! Did you
+hear them? Could there have been a—an accident?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is just the news-sellers crying an 'extra'," the other responded,
+adding with an amused smile, "No wonder it startled you! I suppose they
+are unknown in your home town. They are an unmitigated nuisance, but
+the public feeds on cheap sensation—"</p>
+
+<p>"There's been a murder!" the little dressmaker croaked suddenly
+from the corner where she had been waiting. "A gentleman was found
+stabbed—"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury's lips tightened and she lifted an authoritative hand.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, Miss Pope!" Her voice was as cold as the ringing of
+steel on steel. "Horrors do not appeal to me, and I am averse to
+discussing them."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm very sorry, I'm sure." Miss Pope fluttered in distress, her pallid
+face flushing darkly. "I didn't think when I spoke, but I saw it in
+big staring headlines in a man's paper on the car, and the words just
+popped out of my mouth. I wouldn't say anything to upset anybody for
+the world——"</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't." Mrs. Atterbury stemmed the quick, nervous flow of
+speech, and her own voice had sunk to its normal unemotional level. "I
+do not believe in encouraging a tendency to morbidity, especially in
+the young. We all know, unfortunately, that crime exists, but we who
+do not come in contact with it should spare ourselves the revolting
+details. Now let us see how the gown will fit."</p>
+
+<p>Tremblingly, the cowed little creature busied herself about the girl's
+slender figure. Betty stood like an automaton, turning obediently at a
+touch of the seamstress' hand, but oblivious to all that went on about
+her. Miss Pope's inadvertent words had seared themselves on her brain
+in letters of fire and for an instant everything grew black before her
+eyes. Then out of the whirling darkness had come a fleeting glimpse of
+Mrs. Atterbury's face and all doubt of her knowledge of the midnight
+tragedy was gone forever. Stunned by the confirmation of her own secret
+fears, Betty gave no heed to the seamstress, until Welch appeared to
+call his mistress to the telephone.</p>
+
+<p>When they were alone, Miss Pope glanced up with a strange intensity in
+her lack-lustre eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You—stay?" The words were barely formed by the woman's shaking lips.</p>
+
+<p>"I think so," Betty murmured in response. "If Mrs. Atterbury likes me."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she'll like you, fast enough." Miss Pope looked fearfully behind
+her as if the shadow of her employer lingered in the doorway. "Before
+you know it you'll be caught, too, and you'll never be able to get
+free. Why didn't you go yesterday when I warned you?"</p>
+
+<p>"What did you mean? Mrs. Atterbury is kind and I must earn my living.
+Why should I leave this place?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you are young, with all your life before you! I can't explain.
+I'm taking an awful chance now, but oh! believe me, miss, and go! You'd
+be better off homeless, in the streets, than here!"</p>
+
+<p>"You must tell me more!" Betty urged. "What is wrong here? What harm
+can come to me? I cannot give up a good position without even knowing
+why!"</p>
+
+<p>The seamstress' hands fluttered in a little hopeless gesture, and she
+laid one finger warningly on her lips. When she spoke, it was in an
+altered tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Miss, as you say, a little more fullness here. Mrs. Atterbury
+will advise me about the draping."</p>
+
+<p>Her ear had been quicker than the girl's, for even as she paused the
+rustle of a skirt came to them down the hall and the mistress of the
+house appeared in the doorway. She darted a keen glance from one to
+the other, but Betty met her eyes calmly, and the seamstress' face was
+averted.</p>
+
+<p>The fitting concluded and Miss Pope dismissed, Mrs. Atterbury turned to
+the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"A few friends are dining with me tonight and I do not want you to
+appear in that sombre black. I have had Caroline put one of my waists
+in your room which I think you can manage to wear. Come down to the
+drawing-room early, please."</p>
+
+<p>Betty obeyed, but found that some of the guests had already arrived.
+Mme. Cimmino was curled up felinely in a corner of the great davenport,
+a cigarette between her fingers and a spot of red glowing in each
+sallow cheek. She was talking rapidly with shrugs and darting, nervous
+gestures, to a tall, white-haired, distinguished stranger who was
+introduced as Doctor Bayard.</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert stood alone, with one arm resting on the mantel. He was gazing
+into the fire and his face in the flickering glare seemed aged and
+shrunken, the high cheek bones glazed like those of a skull and the
+pale eyes shadowed.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury was conversing with two other men by the door and as
+Betty was presented she took furtive note of them. The first, Leonard
+Ide, was a mere youth with a receding chin and vacant, glassy eyes. His
+dinner coat was extreme to the point of foppishness, but its dashing
+lines could not conceal the narrow stooped shoulders and hollow chest
+beneath. The hand he extended was cold and clammy to the girl's touch,
+and his high, thin voice grated unpleasantly on her ear.</p>
+
+<p>The other was in appearance almost humorously antithetical. Short and
+stocky, with a rotund paunch, and bushy, iron-gray hair, he stood with
+his plump legs set wide apart and his eyes twinkled benignly behind
+huge rimmed glasses as he bowed his salutations. His voice was deep
+and gutteral with a decided accent and his ruddy face glowed in the
+firelight. Betty did not catch his name, but the others called him
+"Professor."</p>
+
+<p>The pale youth attempted to engage her in conversation with an air of
+bored patronage which would have amused her under other circumstances,
+but as she looked from face to face, one question rang insistently
+through her brain. Did they know? The old gentleman with the air of an
+aristocrat, the jovial Professor, the spineless youth—could they bear
+the burden of guilty knowledge in common with the rest?</p>
+
+<p>There was an undercurrent of perfect understanding, a veiled intimacy
+about the scattered group, ill-assorted as it was, which suggested a
+closer bond than that of old acquaintanceship. Betty could not have
+defined the sensation which assailed her but she felt that her every
+move and intonation were being weighed in the balance, as one brought
+before a tribunal.</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert had turned from the fire-place and was approaching her, when
+the door was once more flung open, and Welch announced:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. and Mrs. Dana."</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing distinctive at first glance about the couple who
+entered. The man was smooth shaven and of middle-age, slightly florid,
+slightly bald with lines of fatigue or dissipation about his eyes. The
+woman, a trifle younger, carried herself with a certain indolent grace,
+but her complexion was a shade too brilliant, her hair meretriciously
+yellow, and her voluptuous figure in its shimmering gown resembled a
+gorgeous over-blown flower.</p>
+
+<p>The others addressed them familiarly as "Mortie" and "Louise," but with
+their entrance Betty noted a perceptible change in the spirit of the
+assembled party. The talk became disjointed, but more general in tone,
+and the note of intimacy was lacking.</p>
+
+<p>At dinner, Betty was seated between the fatuous young man and Mr. Dana,
+with Wolvert again facing her across the table, as on the evening
+of her arrival. The debonair, bantering manner was gone, and he sat
+in moody silence, the food untouched before him, but his wine glass
+emptied as quickly as Welch could replenish it. A dull red gathered
+beneath his cheek bones, and his eyes glowed fitfully as the dinner
+progressed.</p>
+
+<p>Betty could feel his gaze fastened upon a point just back of her,
+and involuntarily she glanced over her shoulder. The table had been
+enlarged to accommodate the augmented circle, and she realized with a
+start that she was seated directly in front of the hearth, almost upon
+the very spot where the body of the dead man had lain.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino leaned over swiftly with her hand on Wolvert's arm, and
+whispered a few words in his ear, then deliberately she reached across
+for his wine glass and placed it beside her own plate.</p>
+
+<p>He straightened as if suddenly awakened and flashed a lightening glance
+around the table, and at that moment the nasal tones of Mrs. Dana were
+raised in lazy derision.</p>
+
+<p>"Ghosts! They went out of fashion with moated granges and secret
+panels. Good Lord, who believes in 'em nowadays?"</p>
+
+<p>The professor shook his shaggy gray head.</p>
+
+<p>"There is much that not yet scientifically explained has been," he
+remarked argumentatively. "It is the talk of a child to say, 'This
+cannot be,' because we know it not. I, myself, haff seen——"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Professor!" Doctor Bayard lifted a slim, blue-veined hand in
+deprecation. "I suffer from insomnia. Do not present me, I beg of you,
+with a group of shades to evoke about my bed! If the ghosts of men
+live after them, it can be only in the thoughts of those who are left
+behind."</p>
+
+<p>"Household pets, eh!" Wolvert's voice rang out in a strident laugh and
+he seized the wine glass from Madame Cimmino's detaining hand. "Let's
+drink to them! To the ghosts of yester-year! May their shadows never
+grow less!"</p>
+
+<p>Watching, Betty saw his eyes stray past her once more, and the glass
+halted half-way to his lips. For an instant a sick horror stole over
+her and then she heard Mrs. Atterbury's calm, level tones.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a toast for Hallowe'en, Jack, but not apropos now. Why drag in
+bogies when you can pledge other things more to your taste?"</p>
+
+<p>"Beauty, my boy, and youth. That's the ticket, eh?" Mortie Dana looked
+up from the hothouse pear he was peeling with placid precision. "Me
+for the youth thing every time—until Louise tries to teach me the new
+dance steps. Then I pass."</p>
+
+<p>Under cover of the titter which ran around the table, Mrs. Atterbury
+collected the eyes of her women guests, and they retired to the
+drawing-room for coffee. Betty hesitated in the doorway, declining
+Welch's proffered tray and her employer smiled tolerantly.</p>
+
+<p>"You are tired? My dear, run along to bed, if you like. You have been
+indoors all day and busy, and I forgot that your head ached. If you
+cannot sleep, ring for Caroline, and she will give you a bromide."</p>
+
+<p>Betty thankfully availed herself of the opportunity and made her
+escape, but sleep was furthest from her thoughts. The hideous mystery
+still hammered at the gates of her brain, and could not be dismissed,
+but she was grateful at least for solitude that she might relax from
+the strain of dissimulation.</p>
+
+<p>She wrapped a loose robe about her, unbound her hair and extinguishing
+the light threw herself on the <i>chaise longue</i> before the hearth. A
+pale moon rode high in the sky, glinting on the frost-laden cedars
+beyond her window, and the smouldering coals in the grate cast a
+cheerful ruddy glow about her. In the tranquil reality, it seemed
+incredible that tragedy and crime could have lurked beneath that roof
+so short a time before. In a swift revulsion of feeling the girl
+wondered if the suspicion and watchfulness which she had read on every
+face save those of the Danas, could have been, after all, but the
+product of her imagination.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden sharp scream, muffled but unmistakable, brought her to her
+feet with her heart beating wildly. How long she had lain there, in
+the lethargy of a complete reaction, she had no means of knowing. The
+cry was not repeated, but the silence seemed pregnable with unnameable
+horror, and unable to control herself, Betty stole to her door and
+opened it. Then she paused, rigid with surprise. A few paces away, the
+maid, Caroline, sat on guard.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you want something, Miss?" The woman rose respectfully, but her
+eyes did not meet the girl's. "Mrs. Atterbury said you might need me."</p>
+
+<p>Betty started indignantly to speak, but checked the words which had
+risen to her lips. After a pause, she said quietly:</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I fancied someone called."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that was just somebody laughing, Miss. They're playing cards,
+Welch tells me."</p>
+
+<p>Betty bade the woman a brief goodnight and closing her door, locked it
+with an emphatic click. The cry still echoed in her ears. Muffled as it
+had been, she recognized the voice of Mrs. Dana, and knew that no mirth
+had sounded in its shrill crescendo, but stark terror. Was a fresh
+tragedy being enacted below?</p>
+
+<p>One point, at least, was clear beyond further doubt; the espionage and
+surveillance had been no vain imagining. The woman outside her door was
+there as jailor, not servitor. She herself, was a virtual prisoner!</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Blindfold.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>The offices of the Joseph P. McCormick Detective Agency, Incorporated,
+occupied the entire nineteenth floor of the Leicester Building and
+more nearly resembled those of a potentate of finance than a private
+investigator. The Chief's sanctum was protected by a series of smaller
+communicating offices presided over by subordinates of ascending rank
+and importance, through whose hands the visitor, client or culprit,
+must pass before gaining audience with the great man himself; a process
+which tended either to crush or irritate the stranger, according to his
+temperament.</p>
+
+<p>The lady who sent in her card to the Chief on a certain crisp morning
+in late winter, however, seemed to find food for amusement in the
+ceremonious progression. She was of the type which proclaims rather
+than admits age, but in spite of her snow-white hair, her tall figure
+was as erect as that of a girl and her snapping gray eyes behind the
+gold <i>pince-nez</i> were neither dimmed nor mellowed by time.</p>
+
+<p>A dry smile tightened the fine lines about her lips as she was ushered
+into the last of these offices, which served as an ante-chamber to the
+supreme consulting room. A slim, mild-looking youth with the face of a
+student was seated behind a typewriter table and raised his eyebrows
+superciliously as he greeted her with the question which through
+reiteration had appealed to her sense of humor.</p>
+
+<p>"You wish to see Mr. McCormick himself?"</p>
+
+<p>"That fact should be self-evident even to a detective, since I
+have gained admittance as far as this." Her tone was pleasant, but
+peremptory, as if she were addressing an inquisitive schoolboy, and the
+young man gasped, but preceded doggedly with the formula.</p>
+
+<p>"You have no appointment?"</p>
+
+<p>"None. I have already stated that to a red-headed boy, two totally
+uninterested young ladies and several men, as you are doubtless aware."</p>
+
+<p>A harassed look was creeping into the eyes of her inquisitor.</p>
+
+<p>"If you will kindly state the nature of your business, Madame—"</p>
+
+<p>"I came here to consult a private detective, not to discuss my affairs
+with his subordinates or shout them from the housetops." A sharper note
+had penetrated her tones as if a smooth weapon were suddenly turned
+edge upwards. "If your Mr. McCormick is too busy to talk to me in
+person, I prefer not to waste further time."</p>
+
+<p>The young man rose resignedly.</p>
+
+<p>"I think the Chief is at liberty now. Step this way, Madame."</p>
+
+<p>He threw back a door at the farther end of the office, revealing a huge
+corner room walled on two sides by windows, from which a dazzling glare
+shone full upon their faces. A heavy-set, brawny figure, with keen eyes
+beneath beetling brows and a straight-clipped black mustache, rose
+impressively to receive her as the door closed behind her guide.</p>
+
+<p>The old lady brusquely forestalled his opening remark.</p>
+
+<p>"Young man," the Chief was at least forty-five, "I've been presented at
+five European courts with less fuss and bother than I have experienced
+in trying to reach you. Let us come to the point. I want someone found;
+if you think you can accomplish it for me, name your price."</p>
+
+<p>The Chief smiled slightly as he glanced at her card on the desk before
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"It is possible that I can be of service, Madame Dumois." His voice was
+blandly ingratiating. "Take this seat and give me the particulars. Is
+the missing person a relative?"</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois seated herself as he had indicated and her lips set in a
+straight line.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not come here to be cross-examined, my good man, and I haven't
+said the person was missing. I mean there has been no mysterious
+disappearance, if that is what you are getting at. I will tell you
+as much as I have a mind to and no more, and if you do not find it
+sufficient to work on, we can stop right here. I have lost track of a
+certain young woman, and I want to locate her. Never mind why, or what
+our relations have been. I'd pay a good price to lay eyes on her again."</p>
+
+<p>Her voice hardened perceptibly and a faint, angry flush mounted in her
+faded cheeks and boded ill for the unfortunate object of her search.
+Detective McCormick leaned forward persuasively in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"But my dear Madame, I must have a few personal details or I shall not
+know what type of operative to assign to the case. I take it that it is
+strictly confidential?"</p>
+
+<p>"I congratulate you!" Her lips twitched again in grim humor. "I seemed
+unable to convey that impression to your various secretaries. Your
+operative will have to be a person of intelligence and tact, and if
+he is to come in personal contact with this young woman, he must be a
+gentleman. She is what you would call a lady, I'll say that much for
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not care to give me her name?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is immaterial."</p>
+
+<p>The detective lifted his shaggy brows.</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask if this young woman is a fugitive? Is there a likelihood
+that you will bring charges, criminal or civil, when she is located?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is possible, under certain conditions." Madame Dumois' tones
+trembled for the first time, then steadied and she added in a sharper
+key. "That is beside the point. I want her found; your case ends there.
+The rest is my affair. Call in your operative and I will put him in
+possession of such facts as I consider essential."</p>
+
+<p>"It is absolutely essential that I should know more, myself, before I
+can assign anyone to the case." The detective squared himself firmly in
+his chair. "Have you any idea where this young woman may be found? Any
+possible clue? Where and when was she last seen?"</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois rose majestically.</p>
+
+<p>"I will not take up more of your valuable time, Mr. McCormick. I see
+that we will be unable to come to an understanding. Good morning."</p>
+
+<p>She turned to the door, but he extended a swift detaining hand.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Madame Dumois! I am prepared to do anything that is possible
+to be of service to you, but you must realize that you have given me no
+data whatever to work upon."</p>
+
+<p>"I was under the impression that you would not undertake this matter
+personally in any event." She had halted, but there was no yielding in
+her tone. "If you have a moderately clever, discreet operative with
+the bearing and appearance of a gentleman, I will talk with him. I do
+not wish to discuss the details of the case any more than is absolutely
+necessary. I will give him a description of the young woman, nothing
+more. The rest will be in his hands."</p>
+
+<p>The detective reflected.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I have just the man for you," he announced at last.
+"Unfortunately, he is out on a case at the present moment, but I will
+recall him and send him up to see you this afternoon, if you will leave
+your address."</p>
+
+<p>"I will meet him here," Madame Dumois replied hastily. "If he has tact
+enough to accept what information I am prepared to give him, and brains
+enough to turn it to account, it will be all I shall ask. At what hour
+can you have him here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we say three o'clock? I am confident that you will find Mr. Ross
+eminently suitable for your purposes. He is young, good-looking and
+discreet, with great personal magnetism—"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not requesting him to make love to the girl." A flash of her old
+humor returned. "And now, Mr. McCormick, what are your terms?"</p>
+
+<p>The business arrangement was briefly concluded and the detective bowed
+his visitor out with grudging admiration in his eyes. He waited until
+her firm, methodical footsteps had died away down the corridor,
+and then pressed a button upon the under edge of his desk top. The
+studious-looking young man made his appearance almost instantaneously
+from the adjoining office.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Disappearance. Young woman, good standing. Probable social scandal.
+Detail Clark to tail Madame Dumois and get what info he can. Try the
+hotels, the old-fashioned conservative ones first. Wire Ross, 192-A.
+Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, to return immediately earliest
+train and report here at two-thirty. Send Luders out to take his place."</p>
+
+<p>The young man whipped out a pad, wrote rapidly and then paused with an
+inquiring glance. His chief nodded, chuckling.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all. Peppery old lady, but she knows her business. Ross is the
+chap to handle her."</p>
+
+<p>At precisely half-past two a young man bounded up the steps of the
+Leicester Building and, elbowing his way good-naturedly into the
+already packed elevator, shot up to the nineteenth floor. He was
+boyish-looking and slim, but his broad, straight shoulders and lithe
+hips betokened the athlete and his laughing eyes had a habit of
+narrowing suddenly in keen intensity.</p>
+
+<p>He nodded a careless greeting to the red-headed boy and the burly
+strong-arm man who guarded the outer office, and made his way
+unceremoniously into the presence of his chief.</p>
+
+<p>The latter explained the reason for his recall and told him succinctly
+of the morning's interview.</p>
+
+<p>"Tactful and brainy and a gentleman; that's what the old lady says
+she wants, and I guess you fill the bill, Bert," McCormick added.
+"You're the gentleman, all right, because you were born one, and that's
+something you never lose and can't fake. For kid glove cases no one
+stands in the same class with you, but you'll need more than that in
+handling Madame Dumois; asbestos gloves would be safer. She wants to
+find the girl, but she's dead scared of our getting a line on her.
+Sharp as a steel trap, she is—a regular Tartar!"</p>
+
+<p>"Um—French?" Herbert Ross seemed in no wise perturbed by the
+formidable description.</p>
+
+<p>"No. Yankee accent, but there's a Paris look to her clothes. Dressy old
+party, in spite of her widow's cap. Shouldn't wonder if she's just back
+from the other side. That's why I had her looked up at the hotels, but
+I couldn't smoke her out. Don't antagonize her by asking questions or
+you're a goner. Just let her do the talking and pick up what scraps of
+data you can. I'm not worrying about your ability to make a success of
+it, Bert, if you can only get enough out of the old lady to work on,
+but blood from a stone would be a cinch in comparison."</p>
+
+<p>"Any hint as to why she wants the subject located?"</p>
+
+<p>Ross lighted a cigarette and leaned forward in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Not in words, but from her manner I judge it is not from any desire
+to remember the young woman in her will," the Chief responded dryly.
+"Looks more like a scandal than anything else, as she's so anxious to
+keep the girl's identity a secret. I tried my level best to worm some
+information from her, but she flared up and threatened to call it all
+off. The best I've got is that the subject is young, refined and to
+all appearances a lady, although Madame Dumois seemed to grudge that
+fact. You go to it, Bert, and see what you can do." The young operator
+pondered for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir," he began at last, "I can't hope to succeed where you have
+failed, if I work along the same lines. In your official capacity you
+have had the bad luck to antagonize her, so I think I shall try another
+scheme. May I have the reference library for an hour? I'll receive her
+there instead of here."</p>
+
+<p>"Take the whole shop if you want it, but get the right dope from her
+about the girl!" The detective brought his hand down on the desk in a
+resounding slap. "It will be a long step up the ladder for you if you
+can start to make a reputation for yourself of successful discreet work
+among conservative people of the sort the old lady belongs to. That's
+why I put you on this; I haven't the time to go after it myself and it
+requires class as well as brains. The woods are full of refined young
+ladies who have turned one trick or another; a chance word may give
+you a line on how to locate this one. Try any scheme you like, but get
+results. That's all we're after."</p>
+
+<p>The reference library was more like a club room than the sanctum of a
+private detective. A long, mahogany table surrounded by heavily carved
+chairs occupied the center of the room, and the walls were lined with
+bookcases, interspersed with tall glass cabinets filled with curios. A
+few prints and signed photographs hung above them and over the mantel
+was mounted a neat arrangement of firearms and various weapons.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing remarkable about the room or its appointments at
+first glance, save its obvious incongruity with the rest of the
+suite, but a closer inspection would have revealed the fact that all
+the volumes—with the exception of those in a small case between two
+windows—dealt with one subject; crime. The curios in the cabinets, the
+weapons above the mantel, each had its individual history, tragic or
+sordid, to bear mute testimony to the futility of defiance of the law.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois' return was punctual to the moment and she was ushered
+without delay to the apartment, where Ross awaited her. She stared
+critically at the slim, straight, immaculate figure as he turned
+toward her from the low bookcase, a quaint vellum-covered volume open
+in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Madame Dumois?" he bowed low with continental courtesy over her hand.
+"I have come from Philadelphia to be of what service to you I may; I am
+Herbert Ross."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. McCormick suggested you—" she began, but he interrupted her
+swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, while awaiting you I have come upon a real treasure here?
+The collected verse of Nizami!"</p>
+
+<p>Mme. Dumois stepped backward, blinking.</p>
+
+<p>"Poetry!" she ejaculated faintly, in blank amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! I see you are interested." His face lightened in boyish eagerness.
+"Nothing so appeals to the woman of rare discernment and feeling as the
+lilting charm of the early Persians. The casual reader knows only the
+Bacchanalian philosophy of Omar, but you, I am sure are familiar with
+Rumi and this greatest of lyricists, Nizami, to say nothing of Hafiz—"</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my soul!" Mme. Dumois had backed until the table barred her
+retreat. "You are a most extraordinary young man!"</p>
+
+<p>"Should one permit the ugliness of life to blind one to the beauties
+of expression? But I see you have not done so. You possess that rarest
+of all gifts, sympathetic appreciation, Madame Dumois!" He beamed
+upon her. "Do you remember this lament of Majnun over the grave of
+Laili? Where even in the exquisite love letters of your own Abelard to
+Heloise, can you find such haunting beauty? Listen, I beg of you:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">"<i>Oh, bower of joy, with blossoms fresh and fair,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse indent0"><i>But doomed, alas! no ripened fruit to bear.</i></div>
+    <div class="verse indent0"><i>Where shall I find thee now in darkness shrouded!</i></div>
+    <div class="verse indent0"><i>Those eyes of liquid fire forever clouded—</i>"</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>He sighed dramatically and closed the book. "Your French poets—but I
+forgot; I had fancied from your name that you were a native of France—"</p>
+
+<p>"I am American—" Madame Dumois stammered, still dazed from his
+unexpected onslaught.</p>
+
+<p>"That I realized at once when I saw you. I knew even the part of the
+country from which you came, Madame." He bowed again. "Only the women
+of New England retain their girlhood grace and beauty of form with
+their native charm of manner through years of cosmopolitan life, as
+this little volume has retained its beauty of thought and inspiration
+in spite of the fact that it was discovered in the pocket of an arch
+murderer when he was searched in the death house."</p>
+
+<p>A faint flush had risen to the faded cheeks of the old lady at his
+daring flattery, but she paled again with an involuntary shudder.</p>
+
+<p>"Mercy! Put the horrid thing away!"</p>
+
+<p>He laid the book upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive the digression, Madame Dumois. I am at your service."</p>
+
+<p>For once she seemed at a loss.</p>
+
+<p>"You are really a detective?" Her eyes searched his face keenly, as he
+pulled out a chair for her.</p>
+
+<p>"That is my profession," responded Ross, with a touch of quiet dignity.</p>
+
+<p>"This McCormick person has told you what I require?"</p>
+
+<p>"You wish to find a certain young lady, whom you will describe to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely." Madame Dumois' tone was gracious. "I think, Mr. Ross, that
+we shall get on. This young woman appears refined, well-bred and rather
+more comprehensively educated than the average girl of today, but in
+appearance she is quite a usual type, neither blonde nor brunette, not
+actually pretty nor strikingly plain."</p>
+
+<p>Ross nodded encouragingly as if he found valuable points in the
+negative description, and the old lady warmed to her task.</p>
+
+<p>"She has brown hair and blue eyes, and her taste in dress is
+conservative, but her manner when last I saw her was altogether too
+self-reliant; pert, it would have been considered when I was a girl.
+There is very little more that I can tell you about her, but I believe
+her to be in the city somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"Your description is remarkably clear." The young detective preserved
+an inscrutable face as he added blandly: "No doubt you have a
+photograph of her?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I had, young man, I should not exhibit it," the old lady retorted.</p>
+
+<p>"Only to me," he smiled persuasively, then dodged the issue. "You say,
+Madame Dumois, that the young woman is well educated. Is she also
+accomplished? Music, art, languages?"</p>
+
+<p>"A mere smattering of music, but she is a perfect parrot in picking
+up strange tongues; a born linguist." She caught herself up abruptly.
+"However, I did not come here to answer questions, Mr. Ross, as I
+explained very definitely this morning. I want this young woman found.
+You have her description; now go ahead and find her."</p>
+
+<p>"I will do my best." His smile had not wavered, and he bent forward
+ingratiatingly. "But will you permit one solitary question? It will
+not be an impertinent one, and it would simplify matters greatly. It
+has been said, you know, that the most passive, idle-minded of us has
+one pet enthusiasm, one hobby or talent, call it what you will, which
+interests us above all other things. Has this young woman any special
+predilection?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hadn't thought of that!" Madame Dumois exclaimed. "Of course, she
+has, and a most ridiculous one for a gentlewoman: Egyptology."</p>
+
+<p>The detective gave no sign that at last a clue lay within his grasp,
+but remarked with studied carelessness:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that sort of thing is a fad nowadays, to acquire the patter
+of some science or art and pose as a savant or connoisseur. In all
+probability the young woman has no real knowledge of the subject."</p>
+
+<p>"If she hasn't it is her own fault." The old lady returned in unguarded
+haste. "She was a pupil of the greatest authority of the age, Professor
+Mallory, of Cairo."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed. I have not heard of him." Ross brushed the information aside
+with a slight gesture, as if it were of no moment. "I think, however,
+that I shall be able to proceed with the data you have given me."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois rose, and her sharp eyes flashed in a sort of grim
+exultation.</p>
+
+<p>"In that case, I can only wait for your success. If you can lay
+your hands on that young woman, Mr. Ross, you will not find me
+unappreciative. You will report to me——?"</p>
+
+<p>"But not here!" he expostulated. "The atmosphere, you know, for a
+person of your delicate sensibility in frequent visits to a detective
+agency would be too repellent to be borne. I will be delighted to
+come to you, Madame Dumois. I do not anticipate any insurmountable
+difficulty in the case, but if I find myself in a quandary I am sure
+your opinion and advice would be of inestimable value."</p>
+
+<p>The broad touch of flattery proved the final straw to break the back of
+her prejudice, and the old lady capitulated.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you may call, if you like. I am staying with an old friend, Mrs.
+Hemmingway, on the North Drive, but I do not care to have my address
+bandied about this office, Mr. Ross."</p>
+
+<p>"I quite understand." As he held the door open for her to depart he
+added coolly: "I will come tomorrow for the photograph."</p>
+
+<p>"Which you will not get!" She chuckled in frank enjoyment of his
+pertinacity. Then the stern lines tightened about her mouth. "Find this
+young woman with the information I have given you, Mr. Ross, or drop
+the case. You have wormed more out of me than I meant you to, but I
+think I can trust you not to take advantage of it in any way other than
+to promote my object. The girl must be found."</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Box A-46.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>On the morning after Mrs. Atterbury's dinner party, Betty awoke from
+a deep sleep of mental and physical exhaustion to find that a fresh
+snowstorm was raging. The fine, hard-driven flakes swirled past her
+windows like a heavy meshed veil, obscuring even the cedars just
+outside and piling in soft drifts between the iron bars of the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>The terrified scream which had aroused her from her reverie at midnight
+still rang in her ears. She was sure that it had been the voice of Mrs.
+Dana, and she dared not allow her thoughts to dwell on what it might
+portend.</p>
+
+<p>Her own position in the household, now clearly defined by her discovery
+that she was indeed under surveillance, left her no alternative but to
+disarm the suspicion directed against her at all costs. An instant off
+guard would be fatal and she summoned all her self-command to her aid.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, it was with a sinking heart that she dragged herself
+downstairs in response to the breakfast gong, dreading lest she come
+upon evidences of a second tragedy. The sedate, seemingly tranquil
+house had become for her an abode of horror, and with each reluctant
+step fear gripped her more tenaciously by the throat.</p>
+
+<p>To her unspeakable relief, however, she heard Mrs. Dana's high, nasal
+tones issuing from the dining-room and entered to find the lady herself
+already seated opposite her hostess. She was attired in a teagown
+belonging to the latter, beneath which her ample figure sagged, and her
+face in the cold light was ghastly and drawn.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, my dear." Mrs. Atterbury nodded her good-morning from behind
+the coffee urn. "You slept well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, thank you. My headache has quite disappeared," Betty murmured,
+adding deliberately: "It was kind of you to have Caroline at hand, but
+I did not need her services."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment they looked squarely into each other's eyes; Mrs.
+Atterbury's were the first to fall.</p>
+
+<p>"I kept Mrs. Dana with me as you see, because of the storm. Mr. Dana
+stayed over night, too, of course, but he left for his office half an
+hour ago. We played bridge until very late."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm a wreck this morning," Mrs. Dana remarked fretfully, but there was
+a curious quiver in her voice. "Mortie says I am the original daylight
+saver; I only make use of the night hours."</p>
+
+<p>"The moon was ever so bright when I went to bed," ventured Betty. "The
+storm must have come very quickly."</p>
+
+<p>"Quickly enough to give me quite a house party," Mrs. Atterbury
+replied. "Madame Cimmino remained also, and Professor Stolz, but they
+have not risen yet. I hope you will have an opportunity to talk with
+the Professor, Betty, you would find him most interesting. He is an
+eminent scientist and justly celebrated in his own country."</p>
+
+<p>Betty would have liked to ask what branch of science had claimed him,
+but she discreetly remained silent, with a mental reservation to find
+out for herself, if possible.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino appeared shortly, looking more sallow and shrunken than
+ever, and while her hostess greeted her, Betty slipped away to the
+library to sort the morning's mail.</p>
+
+<p>The room had not yet been put in order for the day, and the girl's
+attention was caught by a heap of torn papers, half charred, on the
+cold hearth. The writing upon the scraps seemed oddly familiar, and she
+stopped hastily and examined them. They were the letters she herself
+had painstakingly copied from the originals which Mrs. Atterbury
+had taken from the safe and given to her on the previous day. Like
+the rearrangement of the bookcases, the letters had been merely a
+subterfuge to keep her employed and under watchful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, she doggedly assailed her uncongenial task and was midway
+through the morning's mail, when a heavy foot sounded in the hall, and
+Professor Stolz stuck his shaggy head in the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon. I a book would wish to have and Mrs. Atterbury says it here
+is," he translated idiomatically from his native tongue. "I disturb
+you, no?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all." Betty rose. "Perhaps I can help you, Professor. What sort
+of book are you looking for?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is Egyptian—a history of the twelfth dynasty."</p>
+
+<p>"Egyptian!"</p>
+
+<p>The professor had been peering along the bookshelves, but at her
+exclamation he turned.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Professor of Egyptology I have been for fifteen years already, in
+the University of Leipzig. The book you have perhaps seen, Fräulein.
+Very old and rare it is, with the cover much stained—"</p>
+
+<p>"Is this it?" Betty held out a quaint, time-worn volume, which he
+seized with avidity.</p>
+
+<p>"In here an inscription is, from the tomb of Ameni-emhat, at
+Beni-Hasan, for which long looking have I been." He turned the pages
+eagerly, then paused with a snort of satisfaction, and read in a
+mumbling undertone: "'<i>Renpit XLIII Xer hen en Horu anx mest suten net
+xeper-ka-Ra anx Petta—</i>'"</p>
+
+<p>"Year forty-three, under the Majesty of Horus, living one of births,
+king of the North, Kheper-ka-Ra, living forever—" Betty translated
+softly, in utter self-forgetfulness.</p>
+
+<p>"Himmel! What is this?" The professor stared at her over his
+huge-rimmed glasses. "You know Egyptian!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty flushed.</p>
+
+<p>"I—I knew a young man in my home town who had studied it abroad, and
+he taught me a little," she stammered hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"A little? Donnerwetter! For my assistant I should like you, so
+fluently you translate!" His eyes shone with the fire of an enthusiast.
+"After my own heart you are, Fräulein, and to teach you more, proud I
+should be!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Professor, but I—I have no time at present." Betty turned
+back to her desk with a determined air and after futile efforts to
+engage her further in conversation he departed, shaking his head in
+stupefaction.</p>
+
+<p>For several days thereafter no untoward incident disturbed the surface
+monotony of the household routine, and only the unobtrusive but
+persistent surveillance to which she was subjected remained to keep the
+tragic mystery uppermost in Betty's thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>Of her knowledge of the espionage she gave no sign, but went about her
+daily tasks with winning docility and an outward serenity of bearing
+which brought the hoped-for reward. After the third night, Caroline
+was no longer installed on guard outside her door, and before the week
+was out the girl felt that she had at last lulled all suspicion. Mrs.
+Atterbury had not suggested that she walk again in the grounds of the
+estate, however, and although the confinement was telling upon her,
+Betty feared to risk a direct refusal by seeking permission.</p>
+
+<p>However, from the hour that Caroline's vigil ceased, Betty had pursued
+her secret exploration of the home. As on the first night after her
+arrival, and the second, when she made her gruesome discovery, she had
+continued her mysterious quest throughout the sleeping house and every
+spare moment during the day, when she could escape detection, found
+her delving in odd nooks and corners. She managed in time to visit
+each of the sleeping apartments and even penetrated to the attic, but
+her efforts continued to be fruitless. The object of her clandestine
+activities seemed still to elude her.</p>
+
+<p>She attended to the correspondence each morning and completed the
+rearrangement of the books in the library. Miss Pope appeared on two
+subsequent occasions, but made no further effort to communicate by
+stealth with the girl even upon the day she delivered the finished
+gowns. Whatever her motive had been, her courage was not equal to a
+second attempt.</p>
+
+<p>The Danas made no reappearance, nor did the pale, foppish youth, Jordan
+Ide, but Mme. Cimmino and the ubiquitous Wolvert were constant visitors
+and on more than one occasion Betty heard Dr. Bayard's measured tones
+issuing from the drawing-room. By tacit arrangement, she now retired to
+her own room immediately after dinner on such evenings as there were
+guests present and the silent hours of readjustment and utter mental
+relaxation gave her renewed strength to play her daily part.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the week a thaw set in which swept the cedars bare of
+frost and turned the unbroken expanse of white into a veritable sea of
+mud. Mrs. Atterbury herself had not left the house since she acquired
+her new companion, but early one morning she entered the library where
+Betty sat wearily anticipating her secretarial duties, with a proposal
+which made the girl's eyes dance.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, I wonder if you will undertake an errand for me? The walking
+is atrocious, I know, but you have been cooped up indoors quite long
+enough and the fresh air will do you good."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I shall be glad to go!" Betty cried warmly, adding in haste, "Of
+course, I don't know my way about, but if you will direct me I am sure
+I shall not make any mistake."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think there is a likelihood of your getting lost," Mrs.
+Atterbury smiled. "But if you do, you can always reach a telephone, you
+know, and I will send the car to conduct you home. I want you to go
+to Madame Cimmino's and bring back a package which she will give you
+for me. She lives in the Lorilton Apartments on Falmouth Avenue; walk
+three blocks across town from the corner here, and take a southbound
+red 'bus. Tell the conductor your destination and he will see that you
+reach it safely."</p>
+
+<p>"That seems quite clear, Mrs. Atterbury." Betty rose with alacrity. "Do
+you wish me to go at once?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you will, please. The mail can wait until later, but this is rather
+important."</p>
+
+<p>The air was as mild as on a spring day and Betty's heart leaped as she
+passed out of the gateway to the broad, untrammeled avenue. She glanced
+back sharply at the house, but no one was visible, and its windows
+stared blankly at her.</p>
+
+<p>Rounding the corner, she set out across town at a brisk pace, her blood
+tingling in her veins and the soft wind bringing a flush to her pale
+cheeks. Her gaze was introspective rather than curious and she boarded
+the southbound omnibus almost mechanically, although she scrutinized
+her fellow passengers with grave intentness.</p>
+
+<p>A ride of some twenty minutes brought her to the doors of the Lorilton,
+which proved to be a huge, ornately constructed apartment house in a
+somewhat less exclusive locality than the North Drive.</p>
+
+<p>A gaudily upholstered elevator deposited Betty on the tenth floor and
+in response to her ring, the apartment door was opened by a smug-faced
+Japanese butler who ushered her silently into the drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>She took a swift mental inventory of her surroundings as she waited.
+The room presented an odd mixture of real artistic treasures, and the
+basest of imitations; rare tapestries hung upon the walls between
+wretched copies of masterpieces, a hideous terra cotta statuette
+overshadowing a Ming vase, and an exquisite Buhl cabinet was filled
+with the most trumpery of knickknacks.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino made her appearance in a gorgeous but somewhat soiled
+kimona. Her sallow cheeks were highly rouged and the jeweled hoops
+which tugged at her ears seemed oddly garish in the light of day.</p>
+
+<p>"The packet? Ah, yes, I have it," she murmured in response to Betty's
+request. "You came alone? You are learning, then, to find your way in
+this strange city; that is well."</p>
+
+<p>She clapped her hands, and when the butler appeared, jabbered rapidly
+to him in his native tongue, while Betty sat with her face averted. The
+functionary disappeared, to return almost immediately bearing a small
+package which Madame Cimmino placed in the girl's hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Be careful that you do not lose it, my dear," she warned her at the
+door, adding with a flash of her white teeth, "Some day when you have
+leisure, little mouse, you shall come and have tea with me, if Mrs.
+Atterbury permits. I like American young girls."</p>
+
+<p>Betty thanked her and departed. She thrust the precious package in her
+muff without a second glance, and a peculiar, hard light glowered in
+her eyes until she reached once more the house in the cedars.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury accepted the package without comment, and thereafter
+Betty roamed the grounds at will. Her position save for the morning's
+correspondence had become a sinecure, but she felt a presentiment of
+impending change, and awaited developments with keen expectancy.</p>
+
+<p>They ensued more quickly than she had anticipated. She was summoned
+to Mrs. Atterbury's room late one afternoon, to find her employer
+critically examining a gown which had just arrived; an exquisite affair
+of filmy tulle and creamy lace.</p>
+
+<p>Betty could not suppress a little cry of admiration, and Mrs. Atterbury
+smilingly held it out to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you to try this on, my dear. If it fits you, it is yours."</p>
+
+<p>Wondering, Betty placed herself in Caroline's hands and when the
+change had been effected Mrs. Atterbury herself gasped. In the simple
+blouse and skirt Betty had been winsomely attractive in spite of the
+disfiguring birthmark, but the delicate beauty of the gown transformed
+her as if some fairy godmother had touched her with a magic wand.</p>
+
+<p>"Really, you are quite wonderful!" There was amazement mingled with the
+unfeigned admiration in Mrs. Atterbury's tones. "I had no idea that
+you would develop such possibilities, Betty. I did well to select this
+model for you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is really mine?" The girl turned her flushed face from the mirror.
+"I—I don't know how to thank you, Mrs. Atterbury, but when shall I
+have an occasion to wear it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tonight." The reply came with startling brevity and promptitude. "You
+are going to hear 'Aida'. Have you ever been to the opera?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aida!" gasped Betty. There was a pause, and then she added with a
+change of tone, "No, I—I have never heard any opera except on a
+phonograph. It will be like a dream come true."</p>
+
+<p>And as if in a dream she completed her toilet for the evening. She
+had schooled herself to accept without visible surprise anything
+which might eventuate, but to appear at the opera in company with
+Mrs. Atterbury and her probable guests, was a move she had not in her
+wildest fancy anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>A fresh surprise awaited her when she descended to the dining-room.
+Only Mrs. Atterbury was present, and she was still attired in the
+somber gray gown she had worn throughout the day.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I should have waited to dress later, also," Betty murmured,
+glancing down at her own shimmering elegance. "I did not know we would
+have sufficient time after dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going with you," Mrs. Atterbury replied to the implied
+question with calm directness. "I am sending you quite alone, Betty.
+The car will take you, and wait to bring you home when you have
+accomplished your errand."</p>
+
+<p>"'My—errand?'" faltered Betty, off guard in her amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"You will occupy Box A-48, in the grand tier," the older woman
+continued as if she had not heard the interjection. "In A-46, on your
+left, there will be seated a party of ladies and gentlemen. You will
+take no apparent notice of them—I can depend upon your breeding to
+prohibit your staring—but be sure to take a chair close to the rail
+which separates the two boxes and allow your arm to rest upon it. At
+some time during the singing of the opera, one of the gentlemen in
+the next box will place an envelope in your hand. Do not betray any
+surprise, whatever you do, but remain quietly for a few minutes longer,
+then slip away as unobtrusively as possible and descend immediately
+to the carriage entrance, where the car will be awaiting you. This is
+a confidential matter, but you are discreet and I am sure that I can
+trust you, my dear. It is really quite simple; do you think you will be
+able to carry it through successfully?"</p>
+
+<p>"I—I think so," responded Betty, faintly. She was dazed, but a new
+light had broken over her consciousness and much that had puzzled her
+was made clear. She shrank from the task before her, yet no thought of
+a refusal entered her mind. She had voluntarily placed herself in this
+woman's hands, and whatever commands were given her, she was prepared
+to obey.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not seem very confident." Mrs. Atterbury's level tone had
+become suddenly stern. "If you follow my directions carefully you can
+make no mistake. I do not find it convenient to go myself, but if you
+object—"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it isn't that!" cried Betty in haste to cover her momentary
+hesitation. "I'm sure I shall not have any difficulty in merely
+accepting the envelope and bringing it to you, but I never went to the
+opera before or sat in a box, and I shall feel as if everyone were
+looking at me. I am afraid that I am a trifle self-conscious, after
+all, about the birthmark on my face."</p>
+
+<p>The lines about Mrs. Atterbury's mouth relaxed, and she smiled
+tolerantly.</p>
+
+<p>"So that is all! You need not think of it, my dear, for I assure you
+it is rather attractive than otherwise. It serves to render you
+distinctive, at all events, and that is what everyone is striving for,
+nowadays. The car will be brought around to the door for you at ten,
+when you will be in time for the last act. You will have only one thing
+to remember; be sure that you seat yourself on the extreme <i>left</i> of
+the box, and that your hand is within reach."</p>
+
+<p>"If you will describe the gentleman to me—" Betty began, but the other
+interrupted quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"That is quite unnecessary, as you are to make no advances, nor indeed
+appear cognizant of his existence. Permit him to place the envelope
+in your hand, but do not even glance in his direction. That is quite
+clear?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes!" laughed Betty ingenuously. "I should be an adept at
+that sort of thing; I have had practice enough at school, passing
+surreptitious notes."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury permitted herself to laugh softly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall take your success for granted. Come to me before you
+start, my dear. I have some flowers for you to wear, and I am going to
+lend you a string of my pearls."</p>
+
+<p>When Betty, wrapped in an ermine cloak the value of which she dared not
+attempt to compute, drew up before the opera house she was tingling
+with excitement, but her brain was clear, and her nerves steady. She
+had realized in a swift flash of comprehension that she was assuming
+the first of her real tasks. Whatever was written in the mysterious
+letter which was to be entrusted to her, and whoever the stranger might
+be from whose hand she would receive it, she was convinced it was for
+this and no other purpose that she had been engaged. The secretarial
+work, the companionship, were mere subterfuges to conceal her true
+mission, although she could not fathom its meaning.</p>
+
+<p>The third act was drawing to a close as she entered her box and Aida's
+exquisite pleading cry: "<i>Ah no! ti calma—ascoltami</i>," thrilled her
+very soul. A daring idea came to her. She had been directed to return
+as soon as she received the letter, but why could she not delay its
+delivery until the very end of the opera? She longed to hear the final
+aria, and it would be a simple matter to keep out of arm's reach.</p>
+
+<p>The box on her left was occupied, for although she did not glance
+toward it, a rustling and soft murmur reached her ears as if her
+entrance had occasioned comment, unobtrusive though it had been.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment she hesitated, then obeying the swift impulse she dropped
+her cloak and seated herself in a chair well to the right, her face
+averted. Scarcely had she composed herself when the curtain fell.</p>
+
+<p>Betty sat motionless in the sudden blaze of light, her eyes idly
+sweeping the glittering horseshoe which extended at her right, her
+heart beating wildly. She was conscious only of one pair of eyes upon
+her and she fought down an almost irresistible impulse to turn and meet
+them. Someone was staring at her from the box at her left, staring as
+if mutely compelling her gaze and she flushed darkly beneath the scar
+upon her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>Whoever they were, it was evident that this man and his companions were
+well known, for from the fall of the curtain until its rise again, a
+constant stream of visitors eddied about their box and scraps of gay
+chatter and soft tinkling laughter came to her ears. One chance phrase,
+in a vivacious feminine voice made her breath catch in her throat:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't mind Toddie! He is fuming inwardly, although he won't tell
+why. Anyway, it's a positive comfort to know that there's something on
+his mind beside his hat. How were the ducks in North Carolina?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty stirred uneasily in her chair. If "Toddie" were the man who had
+come to deliver the letter into her hands she could well understand
+the reason for his ill humor. What must he think of her presence yet
+deliberate evasion of him? Her determination did not falter, however.
+Come what might, she meant to drain to its dregs this cup of unalloyed
+happiness which so unexpectedly had been held to her lips.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the lights were lowered, and the first soft strains of Amneris'
+lamentation swelled from the orchestra, she ventured a swift glance at
+the box on her left.</p>
+
+<p>A portly, gray-haired dowager was directly beside Betty with two
+younger women on her left, and all three were glittering with jewels
+like miniature constellations. Behind them an obese elderly gentleman
+dropped his lowest chin upon his broad expanse of shirt bosom in
+well-calculated repose, a younger one bent forward to whisper into
+the ear of the girl in front of him, and a third, a round-faced man
+with a downy blond mustache turned squarely and met Betty's eyes, with
+exasperation glowering in his own.</p>
+
+<p>She permitted her gaze to rest on him impersonally for a moment then
+slowly shifted it to the stage as the curtain rose.</p>
+
+<p>The scene held her, and the beauty of the music so enthralled her
+senses that she forgot herself and the strange errand which had brought
+her there until a chair rasped against the box rail in unmistakable
+signal. With a start she threw off the spell which had entranced her,
+and just as the divine notes of Aida's "<i>Vedi? di morte l'angelo—</i>"
+rose winging through the vast house, she moved silently to the chair at
+her left and rested her arm upon the barrier.</p>
+
+<p>There was a sound very like a sigh from the next box, and an envelope
+was thrust almost roughly beneath her fingers.</p>
+
+<p>For a space of interminable minutes she sat as motionless as if carved
+from stone, save that the hand holding the letter was clenched to her
+breast, crushing the cluster of white roses which she wore, and feeling
+like a pulseless lump of ice. The perfume of the flowers, cloyingly
+sweet, all but suffocated her, and the band of pearls seemed to tighten
+about her throat.</p>
+
+<p>The strains of "<i>O Terra Adio</i>" were dying away in haunting sadness as
+she rose, and snatching up the ermine cloak, slipped from the box and
+down the promenade like a wraith.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>A Message From Pharaoh.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>On the morning following her visit to the opera, Betty sat at her
+desk in the library, with a copy of the <i>Literary Digest</i>, which had
+just arrived in the mail spread out before her. The waiting heap of
+correspondence was forgotten, and she read and reread as if hypnotized
+the chance advertisement which had caught her eye:</p>
+
+<p>"Wanted:—Translator of Egyptian inscriptions and papyri of later
+dynastic periods. Scholar conversant with Mallory method preferred.
+Exceptionally high rates, tripling those ever previously paid in
+America will be given for accurate authentic work. No immediate time
+limit. Call office nine, National Egyptological Museum."</p>
+
+<p>A gray haze of exuding frost arose from the bare dun lawns stretching
+before the window and the cedars drooped their branches as if weary
+of the long wait for spring, but she was blind to the somber prospect
+before her. Instead rose gorgeous pictures of the East and her vision
+was peopled with the glory of long-buried kings.</p>
+
+<p>Her own precarious position, the inexplicable shadow which lay like a
+pall over the house, even the dead man upon whom she had stumbled on
+that never-to-be-forgotten night had faded alike from her thoughts, and
+her eyes glowed with an eagerness almost fanatical.</p>
+
+<p>If only she dared to reply in person to the advertisement! Aside from
+the emolument, which might prove an asset by no means to be despised in
+her straitened circumstances, the work would relieve her mind from the
+terrific strain under which she had placed herself.</p>
+
+<p>Why should she not avail herself of this opportunity to pursue a study
+which possessed for her an irresistible fascination? In spite of her
+preoccupation, time hung heavily upon her hands and she had come to
+dread the many hours during which she was left to her own devices with
+only the wretched treadmill of her thoughts to bear her company.</p>
+
+<p>It might be that with the successful accomplishment of her strange
+mission at the opera house she would enter upon a new phase of her
+present situation, with exciting adventures in store for her, on like
+mysterious errands, but she looked forward to that contingency with no
+lightening of her spirit. It would be merely a part of the task which
+she had assumed, and was constrained to carry through.</p>
+
+<p>But to feel again the rustle of ancient papyrus beneath her fingers; to
+decipher the messages pictured in quaint hieroglyphs by patient hands
+long since turned to dust, that the unborn legions of the future might
+sit at the feet of ageless philosophy; to delve once more into a past
+which was of a bygone age even when three wise men journeyed out of the
+East—the desire became an obsession which she tried vainly to exorcise.</p>
+
+<p>She did indeed thrust the idea from her while the letters demanded
+her attention, but it returned again with unabated force with the
+first moment of leisure. Why should she not at least investigate the
+advertisement?</p>
+
+<p>At luncheon, Mrs. Atterbury herself precipitated her decision.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, I wish you would go to Jennings' Art Shop for me this
+afternoon and select a Colonial frame for that tall mirror which hangs
+in my room. They sent me a gilt monstrosity when I ordered by 'phone,
+and I don't want the bother of going myself. If you walk straight
+across town until you come to the park, and follow its wall around the
+southern end to the east side you cannot miss it. The Egyptian Museum
+is on the opposite corner. By the way, Professor Stolz tells me that
+you, too, are interested in Egyptology. How did you ever acquire a
+liking for that sort of thing in the middle west?"</p>
+
+<p>"Through a neighbor, who had made a study of it in Egypt," Betty
+replied readily enough. "It is really fascinating, like a grown-up
+picture puzzle. But about the mirror, does the shopman know the size
+you require?"</p>
+
+<p>With the details of her commission carefully pigeon-holed in her mind,
+the girl started upon her errand. She walked briskly, for she realized
+that her time must be accounted for, and she had determined to use a
+portion of it for her own ends. Reaching the park, she struck boldly
+through it instead of following the longer way around, and no one who
+had known its every path could have chosen a more direct course than
+she, a self-confessed stranger.</p>
+
+<p>The purchase was quickly consummated and she had turned to leave the
+shop, when a figure barred her way. She glanced up to find herself
+confronted by a tiny, fairy-like creature wrapped in sables with a
+great bunch of livid purple orchids at her belt. Her hair shimmered
+like spun gold beneath the fur toque and her face, innocent of
+cosmetics, was exquisitely fair.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant the stranger visibly hesitated and then as if resolutely
+checking her impulse, turned and walked to a distant counter.</p>
+
+<p>Betty, too, halted in uncontrollable surprise, then made her way to the
+street as if in a daze. She had never, to her knowledge, encountered
+the other before, yet the stranger's face had blanched at sight of her
+and in the round, babyish blue eyes which for a fleeting moment had
+met hers, she read unmistakable repulsion and an underlying desperate
+fear. For whom had the woman mistaken her? She was veiled, but the
+birthmark must have been plainly discernible. Could it be that her
+disfigurement was so great as to cause such repugnance and almost
+hysterical fear in a chance observer?</p>
+
+<p>The sight of the museum, however, drove all thought of the odd
+encounter from her mind, and as she ascended the low, broad steps
+to the revolving entrance door she resolved to accept the proffered
+opportunity, whatever the result should Mrs. Atterbury discover her
+dereliction.</p>
+
+<p>The gray-haired attendant directed her to an upper floor where in a
+broad echoing marble corridor she found a double row of office doors.
+Number nine was ajar, and when she knocked a pleasant, masculine voice
+bade her enter.</p>
+
+<p>The office was small, with files and glass cases lining the walls above
+which hung framed sections of parchment, time-frayed and shrunken.
+The westering sun shone through the single window full upon the desk,
+behind which sat a boyish-looking young man, with merry twinkling eyes
+and more than a suspicion of red in his chestnut hair.</p>
+
+<p>Betty had been prepared to confront a sedate philologist of settled age
+and perhaps stern demeanor, and she came forward rather shyly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am looking for the person who advertised in the current issue of
+the <i>Literary Digest</i> for an Egyptian translator," she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>The young man rose from the chair, his eyes still fixed on hers, and
+she observed that they had narrowed swiftly with a keen intensity which
+lent maturity to his expression.</p>
+
+<p>"Please be seated." His tone was quietly courteous. "I placed the
+advertisement in the magazine you mention. Do you understand the
+Mallory method?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you mean the system employed by Professor Mallory, of Cairo, and
+the form of transliteration used by him so that the ancient phraseology
+might be retained, I can claim to be thoroughly conversant with it."
+Betty sank into the chair indicated, her breath ending in a little
+gasp. For all her self-possession, the young man's impersonal but fixed
+regard had a disturbing effect, and in the attempt to combat it her
+manner grew strained. "I have made practical use of it in translations
+for the Museum at Gizeh—"</p>
+
+<p>She paused, biting her lip, but the young man appeared unobservant of
+her sudden check.</p>
+
+<p>"You have studied under Professor Mallory?" The question was casually
+uttered, yet it brought a swift blush to her brow.</p>
+
+<p>"I was a pupil of an associate of his." She spoke slowly as if choosing
+her words with care. "You mention the later dynastic periods in
+your advertisement; you refer doubtless to the era of the Persian
+influence?"</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely. One papyrus in particular which we wish translated as
+literally as possible for purposes of record is believed to be a
+message from one of the kings of the twenty-seventh dynasty, who was
+called 'the Great Pharaoh'." The young man diverted his gaze at last,
+as he fumbled in a desk drawer. "I have a copy here. He isn't the same
+chap as the one mentioned in the Bible, whose daughter found Moses in
+the bulrushes, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Betty could scarcely believe her ears. The flippant display of
+ignorance on the part of one who must be an important official of the
+museum seemed incredible, and a dim suspicion came to her that she was
+being made the victim of a hoax.</p>
+
+<p>"I am aware of that fact," she responded frigidly. "The twenty-seventh
+dynasty was inaugurated only some five hundred years before Christ. Two
+of its rulers were known as 'the Great Pharaoh'; Xerxes and Artaxerxes.
+By which was this papyrus believed to have been inscribed?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will let you judge that." He smiled in winning friendliness, quite
+unabashed by her icy tone. "To tell you the truth, I am not very well
+posted on it."</p>
+
+<p>If this were indeed a hoax, Betty determined to obtain some personal
+satisfaction from it.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you tell me, however, if an interlinear transliteration is
+required, as well as a translation?"</p>
+
+<p>The young man lifted his hands in a gesture of helplessness almost
+comic.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean," she explained, dimpling behind her veil, "do you wish the
+corresponding letter in our alphabet placed beneath each pictured
+letter or hieroglyph, with the translation of the whole phrase on a
+third line? That is the form used by Professor Mallory."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I presume that is what will be required. I am not going to try to
+impose on you by any false display of a knowledge I do not possess,"
+he said with engaging candor. "As a matter of fact, I am lamentably
+ignorant of Egyptology in general, but I happen to be a sort of
+honorary member of the board of directors governing the museum, and the
+task of finding a translator was delegated to me, with instructions to
+obtain, if possible, a pupil of Professor Mallory for the work. The
+official translator for the museum is in Egypt at the present time.
+Here is the photographic copy of the papyrus in question."</p>
+
+<p>He opened a portfolio and took from it several large sheets which he
+passed to her across the desk. Her momentary resentment was forgotten
+and a little exclamation of fervid interest escaped her lips as she
+spread the pages out before her and threw back her veil the more
+clearly to scrutinize them.</p>
+
+<p>The young man leaned slightly forward studying her face, then quietly
+he touched a button in the wall and the room was suddenly flooded with
+light.</p>
+
+<p>"That is better, isn't it?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Betty glanced up, blinking in the sudden glare, then nodded
+abstractedly and bent again over the hieroglyphic scrawl. Several
+minutes passed while she sat absorbed, no sound breaking the stillness
+but the occasional rustle of the papers beneath her hand. At length she
+rearranged them with a sigh of satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"This purports to be a message from Khshiarsha, or Xerxes, the first
+ruler of the twenty-seventh dynasty to be called 'the Great Pharaoh'
+and if the date of the original papyrus has been authenticated, it is
+a wonderful find, and a valuable addition to Egyptiana. This copy will
+serve perfectly for translation, but I should like very much to see the
+original sometime, if it is in the possession of the museum——"</p>
+
+<p>The eager words died on her lips, and her glowing face paled, then
+flushed hotly. She had looked up to find that the young man's eyes were
+fixed with an expression which she could not fathom upon the birthmark
+on her cheek, and it burned her like a newly-seared brand. With a swift
+gesture she lowered her veil.</p>
+
+<p>"I will see that you have access to it." The young man rose. "I could
+place it in your hands now, but the curator is out. However, if, as you
+say, this copy is suitable for translation, do you care to undertake
+the work? I cannot, of course, judge of your proficiency, but I am
+willing to take it for granted."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," Betty responded, simply. "I am confident that my
+translation will be satisfactory. It will take me a few days to
+complete it; shall I bring it here to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you will, please. Should I not be here, leave it with the assistant
+curator for Mr. Ross. The fee for translation will be fifty dollars.
+Now, if you will give me your name and address——?" He paused
+expectantly, and Betty's heart sank.</p>
+
+<p>This was a contingency which had not occurred to her. To name her
+present abode would mean that letters or instructions might be
+forwarded to her there, and inevitable discovery on Mrs. Atterbury's
+part would ensue with the probable consequence of immediate dismissal.
+This risk despite the shadow of tragic mystery which enveloped the
+house and her own undoubted peril should the extent of her knowledge
+become known, she would not hazard. A determination stronger than fear
+of death itself bound her to Mrs. Atterbury's service.</p>
+
+<p>But the pause was lengthening, and the young man eyed her in puzzled
+inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Shaw—Betty Shaw," she stammered, adding with a sudden
+inspiration: "I live at 160 Wakefield Avenue. Have you any special
+instructions for me, Mr. Ross?"</p>
+
+<p>"None. I will leave the work entirely in your hands. You say you will
+require a few days in which to complete it. Can you bring it here to me
+by Tuesday afternoon, at this time?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will try." Betty flushed behind her veil. "My time is not absolutely
+my own, so I cannot make a definite appointment, but I shall make every
+effort to be here."</p>
+
+<p>"There will be more work when this is finished, you know; inscriptions
+from tombs and that sort of thing," he added, as if on a sudden
+inspiration. "By the way, have you done any translating from the modern
+languages—French, German?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty shook her head, and although the young man waited, she vouchsafed
+no further response.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we are in no hurry for this." He opened the door for her at last
+and held out his hand smilingly. "We only want to file the translations
+before the originals are placed on exhibition. Good afternoon, Miss
+Shaw."</p>
+
+<p>Betty hurried from the museum, now grim and shadowy in the gathering
+dusk and started south toward Wakefield Avenue with the precious
+transcript clasped tightly in her muff. Late as it was she felt that
+she must arrange to have her change of address concealed should
+the exceedingly frank young man with the laughing eyes attempt to
+communicate with her. His personality had impressed her so strongly
+that the oddity of the whole interview did not present itself to her
+mind. If the translations to be placed on record in a National museum
+were left to the discretion of a young man who was avowedly ignorant
+of the work, it was a proceeding which aroused no suspicion in her
+mind. She knew nothing of the directorship of similar institutions
+in America, and gave it no thought. Her chief concern was that her
+subterfuge should not be discovered.</p>
+
+<p>The work itself, fascinating though it would prove, shrunk to
+insignificance beside the interest the strange young man had aroused
+in her. Isolated as was her voluntarily assumed position, hedged in
+by mystery and distrust and even danger, the candid, disinterested
+friendliness of his attitude had made an appeal to which her lonely
+spirit responded joyously. The crafty, scheming expression which
+sometimes hardened her face was gone as if it had never existed, and
+her eyes glowed with a new unconscious happiness as she turned the
+corner of Wakefield Avenue, and ran lightly up the dingy steps of the
+once familiar house.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the young man upon whom her thoughts were centered had also
+left the museum and was hastening across the park as fast as a taxi
+could carry him. Blue eyes, brown hair, education, refinement, youth;
+every attribute tallied with the rather vague description furnished to
+him, and the knowledge of Egyptology which the girl had displayed,
+unless it were the most improbable of coincidences, seemed the last
+detail needed to prove the identification complete.</p>
+
+<p>And yet his client had made no mention of the one salient point which
+would render the girl who had just left his presence distinctive in a
+multitude; the strange scar or birthmark, like a clutching hand upon
+her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>The sincerity of Madame Dumois' search, whatever her ultimate motive
+might be, was unquestionable. She could serve no object by deliberately
+eliminating so conspicuous a detail from her description, and it was
+incredible that she could have forgotten it, had the young woman she
+sought possessed such a means of recognition.</p>
+
+<p>His taxi slewed recklessly through the mud as it rounded a corner into
+the North Drive and he glanced idly out of the window at a square stone
+house, half-hidden in a grove of cedars past which he was being rapidly
+whirled. A figure which appeared to be loitering beside the gate turned
+at the sound of the motor and for an instant his face loomed with
+almost grotesque distinctness against the enveloping dusk.</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross uttered a sharp exclamation, and starting forward in his
+seat, reached for the speaking tube. The next moment he had checked
+the impulse and sunk back once more, but his round, candid eyes had
+narrowed to mere slits in each of which a steely point glittered and
+his jaw was set in a grim line of dogged relentlessness.</p>
+
+<p>Some half-mile further down the Drive, his taxi turned in at the modest
+ivy-clad gate of an estate smaller than its pretentious neighbors, but
+surrounded with an air of solid, unchanging antiquity which they could
+not boast.</p>
+
+<p>A white-haired butler opened the door and ushered Herbert Ross
+ceremoniously into the drawing-room. It was a long, narrow apartment,
+stiff and ugly with the prim austerity of the mid-Victorian period from
+which it obviously dated, and the conservative handful of coals in the
+grate served only to accentuate the chill and gloom in the lurking
+shadows beyond its proscribed radius.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois appeared with businesslike promptitude.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you news for me, Mr. Ross?" She regarded him shrewdly as she
+extended her hand. "Or are you going to try to wheedle some more
+information from me? If you are, you may spare yourself the trouble. I
+admit that the surprise of encountering a detective who talked Persian
+poetry loosened my tongue the other day but you have all the data I
+can give you to help you locate the young woman, and what takes place
+between us when you have found her, will be my affair."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure that I really have all the data, Madame Dumois?" he
+asked earnestly. "Is there not something that you have forgotten or
+purposely withheld, which would be a distinctive means of recognition?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what you mean!" Her voice was guarded, but her eyes
+snapped with sudden fire. "You have a description of the young woman's
+appearance, together with a lot of quite irrelevant detail which I was
+a babbling fool to disclose—"</p>
+
+<p>"Have I?" he insisted. "You have given me a description which would
+fit probably four-fifths of the young women one meets, without a
+single distinguishing feature. Has she none? Think, please. The
+smallest scar, or physical peculiarity would be of inestimable value in
+identification."</p>
+
+<p>He watched her narrowly, but her expression did not change an iota.</p>
+
+<p>"She is unfortunately not branded, like Western cattle!" The old lady
+snorted contemptuously. "Nor is she, as far as I know, six toed like
+a cat. She is just an average, normal, young person, with an abnormal
+amount of duplicity."</p>
+
+<p>"Then she possesses no scar, or birthmark?" Ross inquired slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Good heavens, no!" Madame Dumois exclaimed. "I wouldn't consider her
+actually pretty, but she has no disfigurement or blemish unless she has
+been injured recently."</p>
+
+<p>"How recently?" He shot the question at her, but she was on her guard.</p>
+
+<p>"It would have to be a comparatively fresh scar." She smiled grimly
+at his discomfiture. "No, Mr. Ross. The young woman for whom I am
+searching has absolutely no feature to distinguish her from a thousand
+and one others. I see your point, and I regret that I can give you no
+fuller information concerning her."</p>
+
+<p>She rose as if to terminate the interview, and he was constrained to
+accept the hint.</p>
+
+<p>"You still could aid me greatly, Madame Dumois, if you would." The
+detective spoke in his most persuasive manner. "Let me see the
+photograph of her, which I am sure you possess."</p>
+
+<p>The old lady drew herself up to her full commanding height.</p>
+
+<p>"There are no grounds for your assurance, sir," she declared coldly. "I
+have no photograph of the young woman."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will not detain you longer." He bowed. "I cannot accost a
+stranger, claiming her as the girl you seek, unless I can be absolutely
+certain of my ground, no matter how conclusive my suspicions are."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that you have found some one who answers the description,
+only that she has a scar?" Madame Dumois spoke with rigid control.
+"Take me where I can see her, and I will soon tell you whether your
+suspicions are correct or not."</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately, that would be impossible." Mr. Ross shook his head
+gravely. "If I should prove to have been mistaken, explanations might
+involve you in the very notoriety you are seeking to avoid. But if you
+can obtain a likeness of her the question will be settled once and for
+all."</p>
+
+<p>He paused and there was a brief silence while the old lady seemed to
+hesitate. At length she said grudgingly:</p>
+
+<p>"I will try to get one. In the meantime, Mr. Ross, do not lose sight of
+the person you suspect."</p>
+
+<p>He reassured her on that score and departed. He was confident that
+his client would produce the photograph at his next interview with
+her, but a grave doubt filled his mind that the girl who had come to
+him that afternoon was the one sought. The old lady's astonishment at
+the suggestion of a scar or birthmark had been unfeigned, and that
+single incontrovertible fact would overthrow the whole structure of his
+theory. The case which he had assumed practically blindfold seemed no
+nearer a solution and no other translator had risen to the bait offered
+by the advertisement who could by any possibility have been associated
+with his subject.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, Betty had concluded a satisfactory arrangement with her
+former landlady and was hastening homeward. A confused babel of voices
+arose as she crossed the avenue, and amid the raucous shouts one phrase
+beat upon her brain:</p>
+
+<p>"Wuxtry! Wuxtry! Latest news about the big murder! Coroner's inquest
+adjourned. Wuxtry!"</p>
+
+<p>She purchased a paper from the first newsboy who accosted her, and
+stopped in the rosy reflected glow from a drugstore window to scan the
+headlines. The light shining through a crimson globe dyed the page a
+sinister hue and from it there stared out at her the face of a man in
+the prime of life, with a square, determined chin and fine eyes, albeit
+there clustered about them the unmistakable lines of world knowledge
+and satiety.</p>
+
+<p>Beneath it in double type she read:</p>
+
+<p>"Breckinridge inquest adjourned. Coroner holds case open for further
+evidence. Rumor that detectives are working on new and startling clue.
+Close friend of George W. Breckinridge, millionaire clubman whose body
+stabbed to the heart was found in a secluded spot on Vanderduycken
+Road, declares that he has for some time been under a cloud—"</p>
+
+<p>The letters ran together and blurred before Betty's eyes, and crumpling
+the sheet convulsively, she dropped it at her feet. Then as if suddenly
+conscious of the conspicuous spot in which she stood, the girl slipped
+quickly away into the shadows. Her pulse pounded in her ears and her
+brain seemed reeling, but one fact stood out in terrible, relentless
+clarity; the pictured face was that of the man who had lain dead in the
+dining-room of the house among the cedars.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Ten Thousand Sheep.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>For several days thereafter Betty was kept closely confined to the
+house. Mrs. Atterbury had accepted her statement that she lost her way
+in attempting a short cut through the park as the explanation of her
+late return and attributed her own agitation to anxiety over the young
+girl's welfare. The mask was lifted for an instant, however, and Betty
+had a glimpse of the sullen fury which seethed beneath her employer's
+calm austerity.</p>
+
+<p>She was in no sense made to feel like a virtual prisoner once more, but
+Mrs. Atterbury made constant demands upon her which practically filled
+her hours of daylight, and no further errands were broached.</p>
+
+<p>The evenings were usually her own, however, and she spent them in
+fascinated study of the Egyptian translation. Her enthusiasm grew with
+its development, but she resolutely banished it from her mind during
+the daily routine, for fear her abstraction be noticed and questioned.
+Yet always, with every hour of freedom from espionage, she continued
+her protracted search. Whatever her object she sought it in every
+place of concealment which suggested itself to her. Betty learned
+quickly to know when the servants' tasks would lead them to various
+parts of the house, and managed skilfully to elude them. It was from
+her employer herself that she most feared discovery, but in this
+eventuality fortune had so far been with her.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury's correspondence continued to prove negative and devoid
+of interest, but one morning she dictated a letter which caught Betty's
+wandering attention. It was evidently in reply to one which had not
+passed through the girl's hands, and the oddity of its phrasing
+impressed her so acutely that when her employer went to receive a
+caller, she sorted it from the pile of envelopes and read it again:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>"My dear Shirley:</p>
+
+<p>Your letter received. Send me ten of the thousand circulars quoting
+sheep prices for March. Home market good this week for forty or
+fifty and even more points rise if my brokers handled the situation
+properly. State Senator Laramie advocates strict game laws now up
+before house. Comet, my horse, sold. Speranza invited us last Thursday
+out for week-end to see her pink hothouse roses bud. The frost killed
+them, however. Her sister is safe from submarines on the northern
+way home from Japan. Demon won red ribbon show held last month in
+Littleton, near Denver. Mrs. Ardmore's 'Alibi' beat him straight.
+John will meet your friend Professor Blythe, of Chicago University,
+on Saturday at eight. He says he has obeyed your instructions about
+buying new machinery; to substitute old endangers success. He fears
+block contracts will head off buyers, but he is conscientious. There
+is no longer any danger of piracy, discovery now patented so you can
+use the invention this year. Unwritten code among manufacturers in
+America is letting unions ruin us. Do you know what the result was out
+West in the Cote vs. Williams affair? Was the end satisfactory to all
+concerned?</p>
+
+<p>Write soon.</p>
+
+<p class="ph4">Sincerely,<br>
+Marcia Atterbury."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The abrupt change of subject matter throughout, the short sentences and
+inconsistent style of the missive—now terse with telegraphic brevity,
+then verbose in unexpected and seemingly irrelevant detail—was utterly
+unlike her employer's usual concise mode of expression, and Betty's
+wonderment grew.</p>
+
+<p>What had game laws to do with the market value of sheep, and who were
+"Professor Blythe," and "John" and the mysterious "Shirley" to whom
+the puzzling letter was addressed? The girl had not known that Mrs.
+Atterbury owned horses, or Mme. Cimmino a country residence; surely the
+latter had no conservatory in which to raise hothouse roses connected
+with her stuffy, overcrowded town apartment!</p>
+
+<p>A minor point, too, stood out in challenging mendacity; Betty was too
+discriminating a judge of dogs to credit Demon with having taken a
+ribbon at any show. He might possess many traits which would render him
+invaluable as a watchdog, but his mixed breeding was too evident to
+admit of his qualifying on points.</p>
+
+<p>As she further analyzed the letter two coincidences sprang to her mind,
+which brought back vividly the mysterious communication in code that
+she had opened on the first morning of her secretarial work. That, too,
+had contained a reference to sheep, but the number mentioned had been
+five thousand. The last sentence contained the word "comet," and Mrs.
+Atterbury had made use of it also in her present letter.</p>
+
+<p>Another code! Betty stifled an exclamation as the truth burst upon her.
+It would be compatible with her employer's imperturbable daring to
+dictate a private and possibly incriminating letter to her unconscious
+amanuensis, secure in the belief that it would never occur to her to
+question its superficial meaning or seek to solve it without the key.
+Then, too, it might be that for certain cogent reasons, Mrs. Atterbury
+did not wish her own handwriting to appear in the communication,
+although she had said she would address the envelope herself. Betty had
+even signed the former's name, at her request.</p>
+
+<p>If only she might hit upon the key! Concentration was impossible with
+the imminent fear of discovery before her, but she felt that she could
+not relinquish this rare opportunity to pierce the web of mystery
+without at least an effort.</p>
+
+<p>Transcribing the letter hastily, she thrust the copy in her blouse, and
+when her employer returned she found the girl apparently deep in a book.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon, for the first time since her recent escapade, a
+suggestion was made that she go for a walk, and Betty eagerly availed
+herself of the permission.</p>
+
+<p>"Be sure you do not get lost again!" Mrs. Atterbury warned her, with a
+smile which struck a chill to the girl's heart. "If you go beyond the
+gates, turn only in one direction and when you are tired, retrace your
+steps. I shall expect you home in an hour."</p>
+
+<p>There was more than a hint of spring in the languorous, humid air, and
+the sight of a venturesome robin preening his scarlet breast on the
+lawn made the blood leap in her veins. In spite of the dark shadows
+which surrounded her, and the problematic future looming ahead, the
+youth in Betty responded joyously to the burgeoning year and she
+quickened her pace as she passed out of the tall gate.</p>
+
+<p>Chance led her to turn southward along the drive and at the corner
+she came face to face with a man lounging against a lamp-post. He was
+smooth shaven and respectable in appearance, but the cap pulled low
+over his eyes gave him a furtive air and his burly figure and truculent
+bearing made her think somehow of a policeman, although the clothes
+he wore resembled those of an artisan. He glanced at her sharply and
+moved on, but the trail of cigarette stubs about the lamp-post told of
+a lengthy vigil, and Betty's heart contracted in sudden apprehension.</p>
+
+<p>Could he be a detective watching the house? Had the law already found a
+trail from that secluded spot on Vanderduycken Road to the place where
+George Breckinridge had so mysteriously come to his end? Would swift
+retribution descend and engulf her also, the innocent with the guilty,
+while yet her position had availed her nothing?</p>
+
+<p>She walked on quickly without looking back, conscious of the stranger's
+scrutiny. Her step was still brisk, although the buoyancy had died out
+of it as the momentary, carefree happiness was blotted from her face.
+The future, black and uncertain, stretched forth tentacles of doubt and
+dismay which dragged at her spirit and the bright day seemed suddenly
+lowering and chill.</p>
+
+<p>A half-mile further on, she came to a low, square, ivy-covered
+gate-post, and paused almost wistfully to examine the springing green
+of the new shoots, when a sedate step upon the stone flagging made her
+glance upward.</p>
+
+<p>A woman was coming toward her down the path which flanked the driveway
+from the house; an erect, elderly woman with smooth, white hair beneath
+her severe toque and a figure as trim as that of a girl. She was
+peering about her with an alert, bird-like movement of her head as if
+unaccustomed to viewing the world without artificial aid for her eyes
+and she had evidently not as yet observed the girl at the gate.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Betty stood rooted to the spot, staring as though she
+could scarcely credit the evidence of her senses. Slowly the blood
+receded from her face, leaving it blanched and ghastly, and into her
+eyes, dulled with introspection but a moment since, there crept a look
+of livid fear.</p>
+
+<p>She swayed, then with a sobbing gasp turned blindly and fled as if the
+very fiends of darkness were pursuing her, back toward the doubtful
+haven of the house among the cedars.</p>
+
+<p>She had scarcely traversed a hundred yards, however, when she collided
+violently with a young man whose approach she had not been conscious
+of in her supreme agitation. She clutched at him instinctively as the
+impact threatened to sweep her off her feet and he put out a steadying
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon—" His tone was conventionally contrite, but he
+broke off in unfeigned surprise when she raised her head. "Why, Miss
+Shaw!"</p>
+
+<p>It was the young man from the museum!</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ross!" she gasped. "How stupid of me! I must have run full tilt
+into you."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not seriously injured," he assured her gravely, although his eyes
+twinkled. "But you were going at a most extraordinary pace. Tell me
+what villian was pursuing you and I will cheerfully annihiliate him."</p>
+
+<p>Betty laughed with a note of sheer hysteria in her trembling tones.</p>
+
+<p>"I have an appointment for which I am late." She lowered her tell-tale
+eyes. "I did not see you coming and the long deserted avenue tempted me
+to run for it. I—I cannot wait—"</p>
+
+<p>"You are a long way from home." He had caught the dismayed, hunted
+look which she cast involuntarily over her shoulder. "If anyone has
+annoyed or frightened you, won't you allow me to walk with you to your
+destination?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no!" Her alarm at the suggestion was unmistakable. "Thank you, but
+I shall be quite all right, and I must go on alone. Nothing frightened
+me, Mr. Ross, I was only surprised at meeting you so unexpectedly in
+this part of town."</p>
+
+<p>"And the Egyptian translation?" He was studying her face.</p>
+
+<p>"I will bring it to you on Tuesday. Good bye."</p>
+
+<p>Betty nodded in farewell, and turning, sped lightly off down the Drive,
+the fear that he might follow lending wings to her feet. The broad
+avenue stretched straight away for miles to the northward without a
+curve or obstruction which would serve to screen her destination from
+view, but she felt that in any event she could have gone no farther.</p>
+
+<p>The close confinement of her position had ill prepared her for a
+test of physical endurance and when she reached the gateway of home
+her limbs were trembling beneath her and her panting breath came
+in agonized strangling sobs. Reckless of the young man's possible
+observation she turned in between the high gates, and staggering up
+the side path to a little knoll ringed with low-growing holly bushes,
+she sank breathlessly upon a stone bench, and crouched waiting, but
+her solitude was undisturbed and no tread of an approaching footstep
+sounded upon the graveled walk. Gradually her composure returned
+and with the gathering of her scattered forces she remembered her
+employer's final warning. Whatever the future held in store, she must
+play the game.</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross had watched the girl until she disappeared within the
+gates, then slowly proceeded on his way. The surprise in their meeting
+had been mutual, but he made no attempt to fathom the reason for her
+presence in the neighborhood. His thoughts were busied with the cause
+of her evident terror. From whom or what was she flying when chance
+precipitated her into his arms?</p>
+
+<p>She had recovered herself quickly, but her attempt to dissemble had
+been vain. The detective had read aright the hunted, cowering look in
+her eyes. What had so changed her from the confident, self-assured
+young woman of a few days previous to the trembling, terrified creature
+who had shrunk from him in dismay and attempted so vainly to conceal
+her consternation?</p>
+
+<p>The solution of the enigma was approaching even as he cogitated, but
+so unprepared was he for the revelation that it was with a distinct
+sensation of shock he beheld Madame Dumois coming toward him down the
+avenue. The full significance of the scene burst upon his brain and the
+momentary flash of self-disgust for his stupidity was followed by the
+exultation of achievement. He had solved the case!</p>
+
+<p>With the slenderest of clues to work upon and the most difficult of
+clients to handle; blindfold, knowing nothing of his subject's past or
+her relations with the stern old woman who was so relentlessly running
+her to earth, without even a name to guide him, he had found her!
+Nothing remained but to produce her and take his fee.</p>
+
+<p>Then, unaccountably, the girl's face, as he had last seen it, rose
+before him, frightened, appealing in its very helplessness and
+despair. What would be her fate at the hands of his grim client? She
+was so young, with a sufficiently long future before her in which to
+atone for any mistake of the past. He shrank even in thought from the
+suggestion of crime in connection with her, and for the first time in
+his professional career he hesitated in the face of his duty.</p>
+
+<p>And the scar! If indeed it was a birthmark as he had concluded, why
+had Madame Dumois not only eliminated it from her description, but
+deliberately denied its existence when he himself had referred to it?
+What had Betty Shaw to fear from her?</p>
+
+<p>If he could only have felt assured of his client's motive in seeking
+out the girl, his course would have been clearly defined, but his
+experience forced him to conclude it could only be in a spirit of
+retribution for some real or fancied offense. If she were trying to
+find a missing relative, a daughter, perhaps, who had disappeared, her
+anxiety would have been more marked in spite of her iron self-control,
+and why would the other have flown from her? There could have been no
+reason for her secrecy with one professionally bound to preserve her
+confidence, save in the incredible contingency that the young girl was
+a fugitive from justice.</p>
+
+<p>An impulse came to him to turn and flee, even as the girl herself had
+done; to put off the interview until he had made up his mind to face
+the issue. The next moment he banished the thought resolutely and
+stepped forward with extended hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Madame Dumois! This is a fortunate meeting. I was just on my way to
+call upon you, although I rather fancied you could not resist the lure
+of this wonderful spring day!"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't the weather which has brought me out, young man." She spoke
+dryly, but her sharp eyes softened and her smile was one of unalloyed
+welcome. "When you reach my age you will remember your rheumatism and
+think twice before you venture out in this wonderful humid atmosphere.
+You have news?"</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"If you have an engagement, and I am detaining you——" he began
+weakly, raging within himself in self-contempt at his irresolution, but
+the old lady placed her hand upon his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Mr. Ross. I have no interests which supersede in importance the
+case on which you are working. Come back to the house and tell me why
+you wished to see me. Where is the young woman you mentioned? You have
+not lost sight of her?"</p>
+
+<p>Her voice trembled with eagerness and the angular gloved hand upon
+his coat sleeve trembled too. It was the first sign of emotion she
+had betrayed in the detective's presence, but whether anxiety or
+vindictiveness actuated it, he was at a loss to determine.</p>
+
+<p>"The resemblance can only be a casual one, on the strength of your
+description." He evaded the direct question. "Then, too, remember that
+the young woman whom I have seen bears a mark upon her face. That would
+seem to prove my mistake, would it not?"</p>
+
+<p>They had turned and were walking together up the path which led to the
+house and for a short space the old lady maintained silence. When she
+replied her voice was low, but quite steady once more.</p>
+
+<p>"But as you suggested it might be a fresh scar." She gave him a shrewd
+sidelong glance. "If my description of her appearance were so casual,
+and the mark would seem to disprove it, you must have surer grounds on
+which to base your theory."</p>
+
+<p>He flashed one of his rare, winning smiles upon her.</p>
+
+<p>"Madame Dumois, if you were not beyond the necessity of making a career
+for yourself, permit me to say quite without impertinence that you
+would have been an ornament to my profession."</p>
+
+<p>A delicate flush tinted her cheeks like old ivory and a spark twinkled
+in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a most refreshing young man!" She tapped his arm with a long
+forefinger. "But you have not replied to my question."</p>
+
+<p>"I have based my theory on more than the young woman's appearance,"
+Herbert Ross admitted quietly. "Some of the data which you considered
+irrelevant furnished me with a clue to work from. But that is beside
+the point. I came this afternoon to find if you have been able to
+secure the photograph we talked of."</p>
+
+<p>They had mounted the steps and the old lady rang the bell before she
+replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I will get it for you at once."</p>
+
+<p>While he waited in the gloom of the drawing-room he tried again to
+force his mind to a decision, and once more the girl's face loomed
+before his mental vision, but this time with a haunting entreaty in her
+soft eyes, and the pitiful scar seemed to plead for at least a respite
+from final judgment. He cursed himself for a soft-hearted weakling,
+a susceptible fool to be swerved from his course by the girl's
+unconscious appeal to the innate chivalry he had believed to have been
+burned out long ago by the fire of his experiences and vicissitudes in
+his chosen profession. If only the photograph would prove him mistaken!</p>
+
+<p>The rustle of Madame Dumois' gown sounded upon the stair and in another
+moment she had entered the room and silently placed in his hand a
+cabinet size square of cardboard. He walked over to the lamp ostensibly
+to obtain a better light, but he paused with his shoulder turned to
+her. Trained as he was to disguise his own thoughts, he dared not trust
+himself to the old lady's keen scrutiny.</p>
+
+<p>The lower part of the photograph had been cut away, perhaps to destroy
+a tell-tale inscription, but the upper portion disclosed the picture
+of a young girl seated in a high cathedral-backed chair, with her head
+turned sharply to the left, so that only her profile and the right side
+of her face were visible.</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross drew a long breath and Madame Dumois' voice grated
+hoarsely upon the stillness.</p>
+
+<p>"Well? Is it the girl?"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot tell." He turned and faced her squarely. "The scar I spoke of
+is on the young lady's left cheek, which as you see, does not show in
+this photograph. I only succeeded in obtaining a casual glimpse of her,
+and although there is a general resemblance, the scar changes the whole
+expression, and I cannot be certain until I have had an opportunity to
+observe her more closely."</p>
+
+<p>The old lady seated herself heavily in the nearest chair and the lines
+seemed suddenly to deepen in her face.</p>
+
+<p>"You're not sure?" She clenched her hands upon the chair arms until the
+knuckles showed white beneath the soft lace frills which fell from her
+sleeves. "But there is a resemblance, you say. It must be the girl I am
+searching for! Go to her at once, Mr. Ross. I cannot endure the strain
+of waiting longer!"</p>
+
+<p>"One must have patience, Madame Dumois, in a case of this sort. If the
+young woman knows of your search, and is hiding from you; if she has
+committed a wrong and fears retribution——"</p>
+
+<p>"That is beside the point!" She glared at him. "Never mind what I want
+of the girl, Mr. Ross. That is not your province. Only produce her for
+me and I will be responsible for the consequences."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois set her jaws with a snap, although her breath came
+quickly and her old eyes flashed.</p>
+
+<p>The detective rose.</p>
+
+<p>"I will see the subject I have in mind at the earliest possible
+opportunity, and if my suspicions are verified, I will bring her to
+you."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>Late that night, Betty, all unconscious of the meeting between the two
+people who had so unexpectedly crossed her path that day, sat before
+the fire in her room, with a paper spread out between her hands. It was
+not the Egyptian translation tonight, however, which held her absorbed,
+but the copy of Mrs. Atterbury's strange letter.</p>
+
+<p>She knew nothing of codes or ciphers and racked her brains vainly for
+a clue which would enable her to glean the hidden meaning from the
+cryptic sentences. The word "sheep" she felt intuitively would prove
+a starting point, since it had appeared in the first secret message;
+"comet," too, must have been indispensable, for the wording of the
+letter was obviously forced to give it space. But "ten of the thousand
+circulars quoting sheep prices for March" read lucidly enough and
+seemed devoid of any suggestion of ambiguity, yet——</p>
+
+<p>All at once Betty started forward in her chair and with parted lips and
+eyes shining with repressed excitement she scanned the page once more.
+She had found it! The key which she had sought so vainly lay revealed
+and the words of the hidden message leaped out at her as in letters of
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>Her mobile face in the light from the glowing hearth reflected each
+successive emotion as she read, and her expression changed from avid
+interest to a dawning horror. Then quite suddenly she threw back her
+head and laughed silently, in a convulsion of ironic mirth which ended
+in a little sob; and she sat staring at the name "Marcia Atterbury,"
+which she herself had obediently signed to the note that morning, with
+a slowly gathering menace in her eyes. As the firelight flared and died
+again, the spreading birthmark upon her cheek seemed to move as if the
+five curved tentacles which radiated from it were writhing to grasp
+their prey and her small hands clenched until the paper tore.</p>
+
+<p>At last she rose with a determined air, and thrusting the letter into
+the bosom of her loose, dark robe, she took her electric torch from its
+hiding place behind a loosened tile of the hearth.</p>
+
+<p>Then extinguishing her lamp, she crept to the door, unbolted it softly
+and stood for a moment listening with every nerve tense. No sound
+echoed back to her from the sleeping house, no light pierced the
+darkness save the thread-like ray which played from her hand, and with
+cautious, silent footsteps she descended the stairs, and entering the
+library, closed the door behind her.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Orchid Lady.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>"I shall return in time for lunch." Mrs. Atterbury paused in the
+doorway. "You have quite enough work to keep you occupied, I imagine.
+Don't leave the house until I return, Betty, for you may be called
+to the other telephone. Welch is so stupid I dare not trust him with
+messages and I am expecting a rather important one from Doctor Bayard."</p>
+
+<p>"I doubt if I shall be able to finish before lunch, but I'll try."
+Betty glanced rather ruefully at the loose assortment of letters
+scattered about the desk top.</p>
+
+<p>"Do, please, for this afternoon I shall want you to go on an errand for
+me which may keep you until late. Don't tire yourself, though, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>She nodded a careless farewell, and a few moments later her car whirled
+off down the drive.</p>
+
+<p>Betty waited until its rather bizarre stripes had disappeared and then
+resolutely applied herself to her task. Seated there at the desk in her
+severely simple morning frock, with every hair in place and a serene,
+intent expression masking all emotion, she made a vastly different
+picture from that of a few hours earlier when she had crept into that
+very room in the darkness just before the dawn, trembling with fear of
+discovery yet urged on as if hypnotized by a stronger will than her own.</p>
+
+<p>If her thoughts reverted to that hour and what she had accomplished
+therein, she gave no outward sign, but worked systematically until
+order resolved itself from the chaos before her, and two neatly
+arranged piles of envelopes marked the result of her labors.</p>
+
+<p>A light knock interrupted her and before she could speak the door
+opened and Jack Wolvert entered, smiling in bland assumption of his
+welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"I felt sure I should find somebody about!" he remarked. "Welch left me
+to cool my heels in the drawing-room, but I am not over fond of my own
+society. Do be charitable and give me permission to bore you a little,
+Miss Shaw!"</p>
+
+<p>He lounged with easy grace over to her desk and rested his elbows
+upon its top staring boldly down into her eyes. She averted them and
+leaned back in her chair, an unpleasant sensation, almost of repulsion,
+tingling to her fingertips.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Atterbury will not be back until lunch time, Mr. Wolvert." Her
+voice was coolly impersonal. "If you care to wait until then, however,
+there are books here and Welch will bring you the morning papers or
+anything else you may require."</p>
+
+<p>"But I much prefer to talk to you." The smile deepened and an impish,
+mocking light danced in his pale eyes. "It really is time that we
+became better acquainted, now that we are to see so much more of each
+other."</p>
+
+<p>Betty gasped. She did not understand the final observation but the
+man's audacity disconcerted her. Instinctively disliking him from
+the moment of their first meeting, his appearance on the occasion
+of Mrs. Atterbury's dinner party had not tended to raise him in the
+girl's estimation. His immoderate drinking, the strange toast he had
+proposed like a challenge flung into the spirit world, and his reckless
+abandonment to whatever mood swayed him lingered disquietingly in
+Betty's mind, and she longed to be rid of his presence.</p>
+
+<p>"I am very busy, as you see." She took up her pen suggestively. "Mrs.
+Atterbury will expect me to have finished with her letters——"</p>
+
+<p>"Busy? By Jove, I should think you were! What an industrious little
+person! Our charming hostess certainly believes in Satan's influence
+over idle hands, and has guarded you well against him." He reached down
+deliberately and picked up one of the letters. "Quite distinctive, your
+handwriting; like your personality, it baffles by its lucidity."</p>
+
+<p>Betty's quick eye had followed the action and noted the purpose beneath
+his studied carelessness.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me that letter, please." She spoke courteously, but there was a
+hint of underlying firmness in her tone.</p>
+
+<p>"But there is no harm." He smiled. "Surely you know that Mrs. Atterbury
+consults me about all her affairs. Whatever you may write for her, I
+may read."</p>
+
+<p>"That is for Mrs. Atterbury to say," retorted Betty, flushing with
+resentment at the man's insolence. "I will ask her on her return.
+Meanwhile, her correspondence is in my charge."</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert shrugged and the smile changed to a snarl which showed his
+long, white teeth like suddenly bared fangs, but the letter fluttered
+from his fingers to the desk.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Atterbury is to be congratulated on her choice of a secretary.
+Your honesty exceeds your tact, my dear young lady. You are
+inexperienced and in a strange position; do not handicap yourself by
+making enemies. A friend at court might be very useful to you, more
+useful than you can realize."</p>
+
+<p>He had bent still lower, until his dark saturnine face was within a few
+inches of her own, and he spoke with calculated significance. For the
+first time a little shudder of fear swept over her, but she met his
+eyes calmly.</p>
+
+<p>"I have need of no one's friendship, Mr. Wolvert, on the score of
+usefulness, for I ask no favors and grant none. Mrs. Atterbury is my
+employer and I serve her interests."</p>
+
+<p>He straightened and, thrusting his hands in his pockets, strolled to
+the window, where he stood with his back turned to the room, whistling
+softly between his teeth.</p>
+
+<p>Betty pulled a fresh sheet of paper toward her and when he wheeled
+about, she was apparently absorbed once more in her work.</p>
+
+<p>"I, too, am wholly at Mrs. Atterbury's service." He strode back to her
+side. "You must not doubt that, Miss Shaw. I like you for your loyalty,
+even if you are ungracious to me. Will you not give me your hand, and
+say that we shall be friends?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you insist." Betty forced a smile. "I am sorry if I appeared
+ungracious, but I am really very busy. Rudeness to any friend of Mrs.
+Atterbury is furthest from my thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>She placed her hand shrinkingly in his, and he raised it to his lips in
+exaggerated gallantry.</p>
+
+<p>"'The friends of my friends are my friends,'" he quoted. "You will
+find me at your service also, Miss Shaw. I will leave you now to your
+labors, and see if I am sufficiently in Welch's good graces to coax a
+cocktail from him."</p>
+
+<p>When the door had closed behind him Betty rubbed her hand resentfully
+as if a stain remained from contact with his lips. Her thoughts were
+disquieting. What if she had indeed made an enemy of him? Was the
+extent of his influence in the household great enough to sow seeds of
+suspicion against her, and render her already difficult position all
+but intolerable? Was a new obstacle to be added to those which even now
+crowded everywhere about her path?</p>
+
+<p>At luncheon she learned from Mrs. Atterbury's own lips what the visitor
+had meant about their seeing more of each other. Both Jack Wolvert and
+Madame Cimmino were to be house guests for a time, the latter having
+temporarily closed her apartment, and Wolvert coming on the plea of
+quiet and seclusion in which to finish a new composition.</p>
+
+<p>Betty glanced at him with fresh interest. She had frequently heard
+snatches of brilliantly executed melody from the music room during the
+evening and knew that a master hand was touching the keys, but she had
+never entertained the idea that it might be Wolvert.</p>
+
+<p>All idle thoughts were driven from her mind, however, when at the
+conclusion of the meal, Mrs. Atterbury summoned her to her room. As on
+the occasion of her appearance at the opera, a new costume was spread
+out before her, this time a gown and cloak of daintiest gray, with soft
+silvery furs.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, I am sending you to execute another errand for me, since you
+were so successful with the last. This should be no more difficult than
+the other, and it will give you a glimpse of a new side of city life.
+Here are some furs and a suit of which you have been in need."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Mrs. Atterbury, I really cannot accept these costly things from
+you," Betty stammered. "The salary you are paying me——"</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, child! Consider them as commission for the extra work which
+is apart from our original understanding, and for your rare discretion.
+The last errand must have seemed strange to you and this one will
+doubtless be more of an enigma, but I can assure you that when I am
+free to explain it to you fully you will appreciate the reason for my
+reticence, as well as the necessity for putting to use all your finesse
+and diplomacy."</p>
+
+<p>"I had no thought of prying or curiosity, Mrs. Atterbury." The girl's
+face flushed. "I am ready to do whatever you require, as I told you
+when you engaged me. Where am I to go this afternoon?"</p>
+
+<p>"To the Carnival Room at the Café de Luxe. A table for two has been
+reserved in your name, but you will go alone, as before. You will find
+a tea dance in progress and presently a lady will join you at the
+table."</p>
+
+<p>"A lady?" Betty murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes." Mrs. Atterbury paused, and then went on carefully. "A young lady
+with golden hair and very richly gowned. She has a letter to deliver to
+you. You will be able to identify her absolutely by the enormous bunch
+of purple orchids which she will wear. Please remember this carefully,
+Betty, for it is imperative. Should any persons approach you except
+the lady I describe, cut them, absolutely. If they persist, conduct
+yourself just as you would if accosted by any stranger and return home
+immediately. Do you understand quite clearly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite, Mrs. Atterbury. When shall I be ready?"</p>
+
+<p>"The car will be brought around for you at four and will wait to bring
+you home."</p>
+
+<p>When, at the hour named, Betty descended the stairs, demure but
+radiant in the dovelike costume, Mrs. Atterbury intercepted her at the
+drawing-room door.</p>
+
+<p>"Charming, my dear! But why do you wear a veil? It really spoils the
+whole effect and you do not need it."</p>
+
+<p>"My face!" Betty seemed to shrink within herself. "The birthmark, you
+know. I—I find the people here look at me so strangely."</p>
+
+<p>Her employer shot a keen glance at her.</p>
+
+<p>"You must not permit yourself to grow self-conscious. The mark is not
+an absolute disfigurement, as I have told you, and even if it were,
+it is irremediable. You can only make yourself needlessly wretched by
+thinking morbidly of it." Her level tones sharpened with the note of
+stern authority which the girl remembered. "Remove the veil at once
+and do not wear it when you go on an assignment for me."</p>
+
+<p>Betty's fingers trembled as she obeyed. Could Mrs. Atterbury have
+divined her subterfuge? When she raised her eyes, however, the other
+woman was smiling graciously.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! that is better. The fur brings out your color, my dear. Remember
+to hold no communication with anyone except the lady you are going to
+meet."</p>
+
+<p>The Café de Luxe was the most cosmopolitan of the newer establishments
+which had sprung up mushroomlike throughout the theatre district of the
+city to meet the latest demands of an amusement-crazed public. Garishly
+appointed, it was as blatant in character as the clientele to whom for
+the most part it catered. The many mirrors and dazzling-colored lights,
+combined with the blare of the orchestra and the heated, heavily
+perfumed air, confused Betty for a moment and a sensation of faintness
+stole over her.</p>
+
+<p>Through the parted lobby curtains she beheld a vista of crowded tables
+each with its mutually engrossed couple, and behind them in a roped-off
+square the dancers, jerking and swaying like marionettes. As she
+hesitated, a small, white-gloved hand was laid upon her arm and a merry
+voice, glad with surprise, sounded in her ears.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruth! Where have you been all this while? Everyone is asking about
+you! Fancy meeting you here! Isn't this simply fascinating?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty turned slowly. A plump, fair-haired girl with a pretty, doll-like
+face stood beside her. She was dressed in the extreme of fashion but
+valley lilies instead of orchids were clustered at her belt. Betty
+bestowed upon her a slow, deliberate stare of non-recognition, which
+the other returned in wide-eyed bewilderment which swiftly changed
+to confusion and dismay when her eyes encountered the birthmark.
+With a crimson face, she murmured a halting apology and turning,
+fled precipitately. Betty watched the stranger until she vanished in
+the congested group at the entrance door, then made her way into the
+restaurant.</p>
+
+<p>The headwaiter bowed profoundly and with elaborate circumstance led her
+to a retired spot behind a cluster of palms, where covers had been laid
+for two. A low bowl of purple orchids graced the center of her table,
+but she noted that all those nearby were decorated only with daffodils
+in tall vases. Were the flowers meant for a sign by which her own
+identity was to have been disclosed to the mysterious other woman?</p>
+
+<p>The waiter hovered obsequiously about and Betty ordered tea to be
+rid, for the moment at least, of his unwelcome attention. Her eyes
+mechanically swept the moving kaleidoscope of faces about her, but all
+seemed too preoccupied to give a passing glance to the solitary figure
+half-hidden behind the towering palms.</p>
+
+<p>The tea, long since placed before her, grew cold untasted; the
+tintinabulation of the orchestra ceased, then after an interval
+recommenced, and still Betty sat alone. The hands she clenched beneath
+the tablecloth were icy, but her cheeks burned and her heart pounded
+suffocatingly.</p>
+
+<p>How long must she wait? She had not been told the hour of this strange
+appointment, but Mrs. Atterbury had remarked that morning that the
+errand might keep her out until late. The incident of the girl with
+the valley lilies kept recurring to her thoughts, and as the minutes
+lengthened into a half-hour she felt an all but overmastering impulse
+to spring up and run from the chattering, inconsequent throng to the
+seclusion of the waiting car, even if it meant facing the unleashed
+fury of her employer.</p>
+
+<p>All at once she became conscious that a young man had appeared
+beside her; a strange young man, with a clean-cut face and square
+shoulders beneath an irreproachably fitting coat. Betty's swift glance
+encompassed his general appearance, but her eyes fixed themselves upon
+his lapel where nodded a single orchid of a livid purple hue.</p>
+
+<p>The young man bowed stiffly and without waiting for an invitation,
+pulled out the opposite chair and seated himself.</p>
+
+<p>"So sorry to have been late, but I was unavoidably detained," he began
+in a loud, forced voice. Then bending swiftly across to her he added
+in a rapid undertone: "The lady could not come, but I am here in her
+place. Put your muff on the table and I will slip the packet into it."</p>
+
+<p>Betty eyed him steadily.</p>
+
+<p>"You have made some mistake." She spoke in a low voice with quiet
+distinctness. "I do not know you."</p>
+
+<p>"Good heavens, don't make a scene! It is all right, I tell you! Can't
+you understand? The lady was unable to come in person but she sent me
+to deliver it to you. Look! Don't you recognize this?" He spoke with
+half-savage insistence and the girl noticed that beads of perspiration
+had started upon his brow. He touched the flower in his buttonhole,
+then pointed to the others in the bowl between them, but she gave no
+sign of comprehension.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know who you are, or what you are talking about," Betty said
+coldly. "I must ask you to leave my table at once."</p>
+
+<p>"What sort of a game are you trying to play?" he demanded. "You are
+the woman I came here to find. I recognized you at once from the
+description—"</p>
+
+<p>Betty rose.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait!" The young man put out a detaining hand. "What is the good of
+all this bluff? I give you my word of honor that I am acting in good
+faith with you—"</p>
+
+<p>"You must be mad!" Her eyes flashed with unfeigned resentment and
+indignation. "If you attempt to follow or annoy me further, sir, I
+shall complain to the management."</p>
+
+<p>Turning, she swept from the restaurant and out to where the car awaited
+her at the curb, but as it rolled swiftly away, she sank back and
+buried her burning face among the cushions.</p>
+
+<p>When the strangely pertinacious young man had declared his recognition
+of her, his eyes had been upon the birthmark on her cheek. This, then,
+was the reason for Mrs. Atterbury's peremptory command to her to remove
+her veil. Her very infirmity was being made to serve her employer's
+ends!</p>
+
+<p>Betty laughed softly, bitterly, and struck her small, clenched fist
+against the window frame, in impotent anger. Then her head drooped upon
+her arm and for the first time since she had entered Mrs. Atterbury's
+service, she broke down utterly. Sobbing the weary, heartbreaking sobs
+of a forsaken child, she cowered in her corner, while street after
+street flitted by in the ghostly gray dusk.</p>
+
+<p>At length, spent with the storm of her emotion she lay back, exhausted
+but calm once more. The dusk was deepening to darkness and as she
+watched the chain of lights twinkling past, Betty suddenly came to a
+realization of the flight of time. Surely she should have reached the
+house on the North Drive long before this! Had an hour gone by while
+she sat huddled there, weakly giving way to tears?—</p>
+
+<p>Tears! Betty's very heart stood still for a moment in deathly fear.
+Then she switched on the light and seized the mirror from the leather
+case before her. The face which stared back at her was pale, the eyes
+puffed and reddened, but a dab of cosmetic and powder would conceal the
+ravages of her emotion from even Mrs. Atterbury's keen eyes until she
+could reach the haven of her own room.</p>
+
+<p>The necessary articles were in her wristbag and she applied them
+quickly, then turned off the light once more and peered again from the
+window. The streets were narrow and unfamiliar, even squalid; where was
+she being taken?</p>
+
+<p>Pressing a button, she caught up the speaking tube.</p>
+
+<p>"I wished to go directly home and I cannot understand why we have not
+reached there. Did Mrs. Atterbury give any different instructions?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, miss, only to drive back along the Western Parkway, but I find the
+streets are closed for repairs, and I have to go around. I'm sorry;
+I'll hurry, miss."</p>
+
+<p>The car zig-zagged for several blocks further, then turned a corner
+sharply and swung into the North Drive, shooting forward with
+lightning speed. Betty held her breath as the car skidded between the
+towering entrance gates and she drew a deep sigh of relief when it
+swooped under the <i>porte-cochère</i> and came to a jarring halt before the
+lighted doorway.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury was awaiting her and drew her into the library.</p>
+
+<p>"What has happened?" Her tone was low but vibrating as if she spoke
+with bated breath. "The lady did not appear?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"A man came instead. He wore an orchid boutonniere, and he tried to
+make me listen to him. He had your letter with him, and wanted to put
+it in my muff but I pretended not to understand, but to be insulted at
+his daring to address me. He would not go, so I left him."</p>
+
+<p>She described her experience of the afternoon in detail, omitting
+only to mention the girl who had accosted her in the lobby, and Mrs.
+Atterbury heard her without interruption to the end, then placing her
+hand beneath the girl's chin, she lifted her face to the light.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been crying, my child. Is there something which you have not
+told me?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty was thankful for the burning blush which swept to her brow.</p>
+
+<p>"I did cry a little, in the car coming home," she admitted. "It was
+silly of me, I know, but the man frightened me, he was so persistent,
+and rather fierce. I'm very sorry I failed, Mrs. Atterbury."</p>
+
+<p>"'Failed!' My dear, you have succeeded! You carried out my instructions
+to the letter, and no one could ask more. I regret that you were
+annoyed, but the gentleman who came to meet you did not himself
+understand the situation. I can promise you that you will not have that
+sort of thing to contend with another time." Mrs. Atterbury's black
+eyes flashed ominously, but they softened when they rested again upon
+the girl's face. "Now run and dress, Betty, for we dine very shortly.
+And remember, child, that I am very well pleased with what you have
+done, and I shall not forget it."</p>
+
+<p>Betty's heart was heavy, nevertheless, as she obeyed. The adventure
+at the opera had brought a thrill of excitement and she had given
+little thought to its possible consequences, but the afternoon through
+which she had just passed brought a swift revulsion of feeling and she
+tore off the costly furs as if they stifled her. She was filled with
+loathing of her task and its instigators and a growing dread of the
+future. Why was she singled out to be the bearer of these mysterious
+missives? She had been prepared to carry out the agreement under which
+she had been engaged, but she shrank from the role of confidential
+messenger and hoped fervently that she would not soon again be called
+upon to play it.</p>
+
+<p>The hope was vain, however, for on the following afternoon she found
+herself again in the car and speeding toward the lower part of town.
+Her destination on this occasion was not the garish Café de Luxe, but
+the old Hotel Rochefoucauld on Jefferson Square, whose conservative
+roof sheltered now only the elect of an older regime, which still clung
+to the aristocratic purlieus of a bygone generation.</p>
+
+<p>"But if the lady with the orchids does not come this time," Betty had
+faltered to her employer, when she received her parting instructions,
+"if the man who met me yesterday appears again, what shall I say to
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>"He will not, never fear." Mrs. Atterbury had smiled, but the cold
+light glinted in her eyes once more. "The lady will be there herself,
+and you need exchange no words with her; just take my letter from her
+hands and bring it to me."</p>
+
+<p>Betty made her way down the wide, dim corridor of the ancient hostelry
+to the writing-room to which she had been directed. The heavy velvet
+curtains at the windows almost wholly obscured the light and she
+fancied at first that the room was deserted, but as her eyes became
+accustomed to the gloom she descried a small figure half-hidden in a
+huge leather chair.</p>
+
+<p>As she approached it, she was conscious only of a heap of soft, brown
+fur with a deep purple blur of orchids nestling in it, but she halted
+abruptly a few feet away. The other rose slowly and for a moment the
+two young women stared at each other.</p>
+
+<p>It was the girl of the art shop! The blonde, fairy-like creature who
+had regarded her with such evident repulsion and fear! Betty stood
+rigid with amazement and then the truth came to her in a flash of
+understanding.</p>
+
+<p>The purchase of the mirror was a mere subterfuge to get her to the shop
+at a certain hour, where this other woman had doubtless been directed
+to note her appearance for future recognition. She remembered how the
+stranger's eyes had lingered on her birthmark, which she evidently
+described to the man who had attempted to take her place on the
+previous day. Every action, no matter how trivial, which was suggested
+by Mrs. Atterbury must be a part of some deep-laid, far-reaching plan.</p>
+
+<p>The same look of fear was intensified now in the eyes fastened upon her
+and a tiny gloved hand was extended as if to ward off a blow.</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't come yesterday, for I was really ill." The stranger spoke
+in a low, fluttering voice. "I sent him, I played fair, why would you
+not deal with him? Here is what you have come for; take it, and let me
+go!"</p>
+
+<p>She drew from her breast a long, sealed, blank envelope and held it
+out, but Betty's fingers had not closed upon it before the other's
+touch was withdrawn as though contaminated. She glided quickly to the
+door, but paused upon its threshold and turned, her golden head erect.</p>
+
+<p>"Remember!" she cried, her flute-like tones suddenly shrill. "Tell
+those who sent you that I shall have nothing more to do with this
+affair. If a further attempt is made to drag me into it I shall kill
+myself. I will accept no more commands, expose myself to no future
+danger. I am almost mad now, but I shall have enough sanity left to
+take myself beyond your reach. I have kept my wretched compact; see to
+it that you keep yours."</p>
+
+<p>The doorway was empty, but a faint elusive perfume lingered in the air,
+and upon the floor at Betty's feet lay a crushed and trampled orchid,
+its livid petals outspread like the wings of some wounded tropic bird.</p>
+
+<p>Betty stood staring down at it for a moment, then abruptly thrusting
+the envelope into her muff, she turned and made her way to the street.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Crossroads.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>The rain was falling in torrents, hard driven before the gusty March
+wind, and turning the gutters into miniature foam-crested freshets when
+Betty struggled up the steps of the Egyptological Museum, with the
+completed translation beneath her arm.</p>
+
+<p>The attendant who took possession of her dripping umbrella stared
+curiously at her unveiled face and his gaze followed her as she
+ascended to the upper floor, but Betty was oblivious to the interest
+her presence created. Her thoughts were travelling ahead of her
+down the corridor to the office numbered nine, and the friendly,
+laughing-eyed young man who awaited her there.</p>
+
+<p>The hour of her previous visit was the one bright spot in the gloom and
+mystery which had surrounded her since she made her entrance into Mrs.
+Atterbury's service, and his protective concern when she had rushed
+blindly into his arms at that unexpected meeting almost at the gates of
+her new home, lingered comfortingly in her memory.</p>
+
+<p>As she entered, Herbert Ross rose from behind his desk with extended
+hand and a beaming smile of welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"You are punctual, Miss Shaw, in spite of the rain. How is the work
+coming on?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is finished." Betty laid the roll of manuscript upon the desk
+before him. "I hope that it will prove satisfactory, Mr. Ross."</p>
+
+<p>"You found it difficult?" He spread the papers out, glancing over them
+rapidly as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"No. I have translated almost literally as you can see—But I forgot
+that you were not an Egyptologist yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Nevertheless, I am sure this will be an admirable addition to our
+collection of translated papyri. What sonorous, mouthfilling phrases
+the old chaps used in those days!" He quoted from her page: "'Hail ye
+living ones upon earth, ye who pass on the Nile, scribes all, readers
+and priests of the ka all, this the great Pharaoh and royal Xerxes,
+triumphant.'—I will place this at once in the hands of the keeper of
+antiquities."</p>
+
+<p>He pressed a button in the wall beside him, then abruptly swung his
+chair around until he faced her. His eyes had narrowed slightly and
+there was no longer a hint of a smile about his firm lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Shaw, you told me when you were last here that your time was not
+wholly your own. Does that mean that you are employed at indeterminate
+hours? I ask this in reference to future work, of course."</p>
+
+<p>Betty nodded, and moistened her lips nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"I did most of this translating at night."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! You are free, then, in the evenings? What is the nature of your
+work, if I may ask? Are you a teacher?"</p>
+
+<p>A knock upon the door saved her from an immediate reply. A uniformed
+attendant entered and to him Herbert Ross entrusted the manuscript with
+instructions to take it to Professor Carmody. When the door had closed
+once more he turned to her inquiringly, and noted a swift pallor which
+seemed to have blotted all the wind-blown color from her face.</p>
+
+<p>"You teach?" he repeated.</p>
+
+<p>Betty shook her head. She dared not risk his asking where she taught if
+she took refuge in that evasion. The truth, or at least as much of it
+as was possible under the circumstances, would be safest.</p>
+
+<p>"I am a—a visiting secretary."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed. That explains your presence on the North Drive the other day
+when you literally ran into me." His lips relaxed. "You told me you
+were late for an appointment, I remember. You are not living at present
+at the address which you gave me, Miss Shaw."</p>
+
+<p>It was neither question nor accusation, but a mere statement of fact
+casually uttered, and yet a bomb-shell could not more effectively have
+stunned the girl. Could her former landlady have betrayed her? Her head
+whirled and it seemed another voice than hers which replied quietly:</p>
+
+<p>"No. I am staying temporarily at the home of my employer, but I have my
+mail sent to my permanent address."</p>
+
+<p>"I see. You are not a native of the city, then? Your home is not here?"</p>
+
+<p>What did this continued catechism portend? In so far as the translating
+provided an excuse for this insistent young man's questions she would
+reply, but her personal affairs and former life were surely no concern
+of a museum director.</p>
+
+<p>"No, my home is not here." She paused deliberately. "Perhaps, if this
+translation proves satisfactory and you have other work for me, Mr.
+Ross, you will mail it. I will arrange to have it forwarded—"</p>
+
+<p>She got no farther for the door was suddenly flung wide and a
+shrivelled grey little man precipitated himself into the room. With
+bent shoulders and head thrust forward, he peered eagerly at the
+younger man through thick tortoise-shell glasses and demanded in a high
+voice crackling with nervous excitement:</p>
+
+<p>"Ross, who is she? The young woman you said had undertaken this
+translation for you? I must see her—"</p>
+
+<p>"She is here." The young man rose. "Miss Shaw, allow me to present
+Professor Carmody."</p>
+
+<p>The girl bowed distantly, but the little professor advanced to her with
+outstretched hands.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear young lady, I want to congratulate—" He stopped abruptly,
+amazement and a dawning recognition in his eyes. "It can't be—is it
+possible——?"</p>
+
+<p>"You find my translation satisfactory then, Professor Carmody?" Betty
+darted a swift glance at him, and then turned her head sharply as
+if to gaze from the window. This move presented her profile to the
+nearsighted eyes bent upon her, and brought the birthmark out with
+cruel distinctness upon her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Carmody halted, stammering, and the look of expectancy died
+from his weazened face.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon. I fancied for a moment that I had met you before. I
+intruded just now, Miss—Miss—"</p>
+
+<p>"Betty Shaw." The girl prompted him steadily.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Shaw, I wanted to tell you that your work is admirable! The
+translation is masterly and I doubt if even my friend Professor Mallory
+himself could have improved upon it. You have kept to the text with
+extraordinary fidelity, and retained the spirit as well as the letter
+to a marked degree!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you." In spite of herself Betty flushed at the fervent praise,
+but she kept her face averted. "The work was intensely interesting,
+but I feared I had forgotten a great deal."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Shaw studied with an associate of Professor Mallory," Ross
+remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"Really. I should have believed her to have been a pupil of the great
+man himself." Professor Carmody's eyes still glistened with enthusiasm.
+"I shall be happy to show you several original papyri of profound
+interest, if you will call some morning, my dear Miss Shaw. In this
+intensely modern age, it is a genuine pleasure to encounter a young
+person who appreciates the wisdom and greatness of the past."</p>
+
+<p>He bowed and had turned to the door when Herbert Ross stopped him with
+a reminder.</p>
+
+<p>"You, er—you have the check, Professor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bless me, of course!" The little man fumbled in his pocket for a
+moment, then drew out a narrow slip of paper which he laid upon the
+desk. "There are one or two inscriptions from tombs of the eleventh
+dynasty, I believe, which have been awaiting translation. You will find
+them in that drawer, there. Good afternoon, Miss Shaw."</p>
+
+<p>When the sound of his quick, nervous footsteps had died away down the
+corridor, Ross handed the check to Betty. It was made out for fifty
+dollars and signed by the secretary of the Egyptological Society.
+Murmuring a conventional expression of thanks, the girl placed it in
+her handbag and rose.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you care to undertake some more translation immediately?" the
+young man asked, opening the drawer tentatively.</p>
+
+<p>"I should, very much," Betty responded, her eyes alight with eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>"In that case, it will be necessary for me to have your present
+address, Miss Shaw." There was no mistaking the businesslike finality
+in his tone, and Betty hesitated. If she refused, she would not only
+forfeit the translating which was a fascinating study, but she might
+never again see this young man, her only link with the world beyond
+Mrs. Atterbury's forbidding gates. On the other hand, her reticence
+would undoubtedly arouse his curiosity and suspicion and if he were
+sufficiently interested, he might institute awkward inquiries and
+precipitate the very crisis she sought to avoid. Would frankness be her
+wisest course? She hesitated only a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ross, I gave you the address of my boarding house because I have
+undertaken this translation unknown to my present employer. I work at
+it only in my leisure hours, but I do not think she would approve of my
+doing anything which lay outside of her own immediate interests. She is
+Mrs. Atterbury, of Three Hundred and Thirty-five North Drive. However,
+I should like all communications sent to the first address I gave you."</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross drew his hand quickly across his forehead and there was
+an odd, repressed note in his voice.</p>
+
+<p>"I quite understand. You will remain for some little time in your
+present position? I believe you said it was temporary."</p>
+
+<p>"I—I cannot tell." Betty's tone was very low and her eyes wandered
+restlessly to the door. "I shall have finished this translation, at any
+rate, before I leave."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well." He arose and held out his hand to her. "Bring it to me,
+please, when it is completed. The terms will be the same as before. I
+wish you the best of luck with it, Miss Shaw."</p>
+
+<p>When she had gone he dropped back into his chair and sat for some
+minutes lost in a profound reverie which, judging by his frown, was not
+a happy one. At length he struck the desk an emphatic blow with his
+fist as if to register some vital decisions and springing to his feet,
+he started precipitately for the sanctum of Professor Carmody.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Ross!" The grey little man glanced up in mild deprecation
+from a heap of yellowed parchments as the other burst in upon him. "I
+trust my abrupt intrusion on your conference did not complicate matters
+for you. I had completely forgotten, in my enthusiasm over the young
+woman's remarkable work, that she was a subject for your own especial
+study."</p>
+
+<p>"On the contrary, Professor, your entrance was fortunate; it lent
+verisimilitude to the little farce I have been playing with your
+valuable assistance. But I want to ask you a question upon which much
+depends. For whom did you mistake Miss Shaw, when you first saw her?"</p>
+
+<p>Professor Carmody pondered for a space.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know," he responded at length, thoughtfully. "I cannot recall
+her name, but I was forcibly reminded of a young girl whom I had met
+in Cairo some two years ago, who was studying under Professor Mallory.
+When Miss Shaw turned her head I realized my mistake at once, for the
+girl I speak of had no blemish upon her face. It is rather odd, as
+the translation bears unmistakable earmarks of Professor Mallory's
+tutelage, but the association of ideas is undoubtedly responsible for
+my misapprehension."</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly," echoed Ross. "Nevertheless, if you can recall the name
+of the young woman in Cairo, by any chance, I shall be grateful."</p>
+
+<p>It was Professor Carmody's turn to halt his visitor at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"This Miss Shaw to whom you just presented me—I trust that, er, she is
+not under your professional interest as a suspect? A young person of
+such a high order of intelligence, of intellectuality——"</p>
+
+<p>"By no means, Professor. She is merely an unimportant witness in a
+civil case; rather curious, but with no criminal features. I'll look in
+on you tomorrow. Try to remember the other girl's name for me; the one
+in Cairo."</p>
+
+<p>Twenty minutes later, when the young detective was ushered into the
+presence of Madame Dumois, even that astute lady could read nothing in
+his grave non-committal face.</p>
+
+<p>"You have found her?" The aged voice quivered with the tension of her
+control, but there was no hint of a tenderer emotion. "The young person
+you suspected, is she the original of the photograph I showed you?"</p>
+
+<p>Ross shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been unable to determine." His voice was very low. "She has
+succeeded in eluding me, Madame Dumois. I am sorry to be obliged to
+confess it, but I was too confident. Either I have underestimated
+her intelligence and inadvertently put her on the defensive, or
+circumstances have combined to effect her disappearance a second time.
+She has slipped from my grasp."</p>
+
+<p>The old lady uttered an exclamation of bitter disappointment and anger.</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you not take me to her at once?" she demanded. "A fig for your
+conscientious scruples, sir! Had she not proved to be the young woman I
+am looking for, what harm could it have done?"</p>
+
+<p>"None, save precipitate the notoriety you wish to avoid, Madame
+Dumois." He leaned toward her with a ring of passionate earnestness in
+his tones. "Why will you not be frank with me? What is your interest
+in this girl? What do you mean to do with her when you have found her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I repeat, that is solely my affair." She fixed him with a shrewd
+glance. "I might answer your question by another, young man. What
+interest have you in my motive for instituting this search? You have
+found someone whom you believe to be the one I wish to see, yet you
+claim to be unable to produce her. What has my object to do with your
+chances of locating her once more?"</p>
+
+<p>His interrogator's keen directness took the young detective by
+surprise, but he countered swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>"Everything, my dear Madame! If I were assured that her disappearance
+was a purely voluntary one, resulting from inclination alone, rather
+than any sinister or criminal cause, I could prosecute my search along
+far different lines than those I am compelled to adopt, as long as I am
+working in the dark."</p>
+
+<p>"You have not entirely lost track of your suspect, then?" The old lady
+leaned forward in her chair. "You will be able to find her again?"</p>
+
+<p>"I firmly believe that I shall, but it may require some little time,"
+he responded cautiously.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois straightened herself with an air of conscious triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"In that case, Mr. Ross, our original compact holds, unless you
+voluntarily relinquish it. Find her with the information I have
+already given you, or drop the case. That is positively my last word
+in the matter. I decline to take you or anyone into my confidence.
+What I have to say to that young woman shall be said to her alone, and
+what disposition I shall make of her will be strictly according to her
+deserts. If I did not believe you to be above suspicion, upon my soul,
+I should accuse you of knowing more than you will admit and actually
+trying to shield her!"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear lady!" He raised protesting hands. "I shall not refer you to
+my chief, or call upon my record to witness my utter singlemindedness
+in this, as in every other case I have handled. It is one of the
+generally accepted prejudices against those engaged in my profession
+that we are devoid of any finer feeling and insensible to injustice,
+but I had believed myself immune from such a suspicion, especially in
+the eyes of a person of your rare discernment."</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't accused you of bribery, young man!" There was a softer,
+almost contrite note in her dry tones. "But a baby stare has forced
+many a hasty conclusion. However, we won't quarrel about it. I can
+assure you of one thing; in placing that young woman in my hands you'll
+be saving her from far worse ones. Whether she has dabbled in crime or
+not, the quicker she is located the better for her."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall do my best," Ross said earnestly. "Be assured that I have
+no interest in this but to serve you. My questions may have seemed
+impertinent, but they were not prompted by idle curiosity, you know. I
+shall not intrude again until I have something definite to report."</p>
+
+<p>He bowed over her hand and her withered fingers tightened about his in
+a cordial clasp.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope it will be soon, Mr. Ross," she added in impulsive candor.
+"Call whenever you wish and I shall be at home. I won't promise you any
+further information, but I am a lonely old woman and I find our little
+tilts highly diverting. If you have not yet succeeded in my quest you
+have at least brought me a new interest in life, and I positively look
+forward to your visits."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you." He smiled boyishly. "I will avail myself of your
+invitation gladly, Madame Dumois, but remember I mean to succeed, even
+if I must work blindfold."</p>
+
+<p>The smile did not linger as he made his way down the path to the Drive.
+The old lady's shrewd instinct had divined his procrastination and
+unerringly probed its cause, and his chief, too, would be clamoring for
+a report. Why should he hesitate? The girl was within reach of his hand
+and his duty was clear. Scar or no scar, he could not blind himself to
+the conviction that in Betty Shaw his search was ended. What was it
+that, stronger than his will, deeper-rooted than his loyalty still held
+him back from the step which sooner or later would be inevitable?</p>
+
+<p>As the toils closed tighter about the girl and the clouds which
+encompassed her grew darker and more sinister, her face shone clearer
+before his mental vision and her steady eyes seemed to meet his in
+sorrowful questioning.</p>
+
+<p>He was a detective, but he was also a man; must he in willful ignorance
+of the consequences, deliver her to the tender mercies of Madame
+Dumois? She had trusted him, she had replied in simple faith to the
+decoy advertisement and placed herself in his hands. Madame Dumois had
+also given him her confidence, relying upon his professional honor.
+Which would be the greater betrayal?</p>
+
+<p>Detective McCormick was in the best of humors, and shook hands heartily
+with his young operative.</p>
+
+<p>"My boy, that was the finest bit of sheer luck that has come our way in
+many a long day!" he exclaimed. "Your running into Ide hanging around
+the gates of that place out on the North Drive has given the whole
+investigation a new turn, and I shouldn't wonder if the results would
+be sensational."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't be too sanguine, sir." Ross spoke with curious repression.
+"It was dusk, as I told you, and I only had a momentary glimpse as I
+flashed past in a taxi. I may have been mistaken."</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't think so the other day." The Chief turned in his swivel
+chair and stared up at him. "You were sure enough then of the
+identification, and I think myself that you were right. I've had the
+place covered ever since, and there's something queer doing there, as
+sure as shooting!"</p>
+
+<p>"Doesn't seem likely." Ross shook his head. "People of the social
+standing of those who live on the North Drive couldn't be mixed up in
+any game of Ide's. What did you mean 'queer,' sir? Who's on the job?"</p>
+
+<p>"Clark. The house is owned by a woman named Atterbury; lived there for
+years and seems to rate A1 in the neighborhood, but she's laying mighty
+low, too low for a person who is on the level. She's comparatively
+young and a good looker, but she lives like a hermit, and there's a
+young girl in the household, a girl with a scar on her face, who will
+bear watching."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's a mistake, sir, it must be." Ross spoke with all the
+assurance he could command. "There's nothing wrong with the Atterbury
+woman, and as for the girl—"</p>
+
+<p>"As for her, what?" demanded his chief, as he paused. "What do you know
+about them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, except in a general way," he hedged lamely. "But if she's the
+Mrs. Atterbury I imagine, Clark is barking up the wrong tree and he'll
+only make a fool of himself if you let him push this matter. Ide—if it
+was really Ide whom I saw—may have been passing by. That is a blind
+trail, Chief."</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, Ross, what's got into you?" McCormick blustered. "You were
+as keen on the scent as Clark is now and all of a sudden you back down.
+The fellow was Ide, all right; I've never known you to make a mistake
+yet in spotting a man, and I tell you this Atterbury woman, whoever she
+is, has an ace in the hole, somewhere. What's the dope?"</p>
+
+<p>"Simply that she is too well known, too prominent. You couldn't touch
+her, sir. It's out of the question."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it?" McCormick swore a vigorous oath. "Nobody ever flew so high yet
+that I couldn't bring 'em down when I had the goods on them. And I'll
+get it, Ross, don't make any mistake about that! This is the first time
+you've laid down on anything, but Clark will stick like a burr and even
+if Ide is out of it, there's some other little game being pulled off up
+there, you mark my words. We'll get to the bottom of it before I call
+Clark off it. But what's the good word in your own case?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing doing." Ross raised his eyes with an effort to those of his
+chief. "I've been stalling Madame Dumois and trying to kid her into
+giving me enough data to work on, but you know how it was with you. She
+is fighting so shy of possible notoriety that she won't loosen, but I
+haven't given up hope. I found one clue that looked promising, but I
+was on the wrong track. It wasn't the right girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, keep after the old lady." McCormick resumed the cigar butt he
+had relinquished at the other's appearance. "You can get around her in
+time if anyone can. Let me know when something turns up."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, sir." Ross accepted the hint and departed, but long after
+the door had closed behind him, McCormick sat gazing reflectively
+before him with a startled half-incredulous query in his eyes.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Face to Face.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Betty attacked the new translation that evening with undiminished
+enthusiasm but her mind wandered and when midnight came a few meager
+lines proved to be the result of her labors. She paused to read them
+over before putting them away and the quaint phraseology fell strangely
+from her lips upon the stillness of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"To the Stele of Abu I have come in peace to sepulchre this of eternity
+which I have made in the horizon western of the home of Abydos—"</p>
+
+<p>Her voice halted and trembled into silence and she stood listening
+with every nerve strained. A dull jarring crash had sounded from below
+accompanied by the muffled but harsh tones of a man's voice raised in
+anger or expostulation.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily disposing of her work she extinguished the light and
+groping her way to the door, opened it. The voice had sunk to an
+indistinguishable rumble, and mingled with it was a murmur in a higher,
+clearer tone which she had no difficulty in recognizing as that of Mrs.
+Atterbury.</p>
+
+<p>The girl hesitated, then crept to the head of the stairs. The house
+was in darkness save for a narrow shaft of light which glowed from the
+open door of the music room. Clinging to the banisters and keeping well
+in shadow, Betty made her way down the staircase and from behind the
+shelter of the newel post she peered into the room.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Wolvert was crouched half over the table, both fists full of
+crumpled papers and his dark face, half-defiant, half-cringing, leered
+up at his hostess who stood before him drawn up to her full height in
+imperious disdain.</p>
+
+<p>"You're crazy!" he ejaculated. "What's the good of playing a waiting
+game? Come out in the open and make one big bluff, that's my idea."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll find it decidedly dangerous, my man, to execute your ideas
+without my sanction." Mrs. Atterbury's quiet tones dominated his
+blustering whine. "Remember, I am master and I will not brook any
+rebellion against my authority. I might remind you that the last time
+you took matters into your own hands the result was unfortunate."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah-h!" The sound which issued from his lips was between a snarl and
+a groan, and Betty saw his whole body quiver as he cowered back. Mrs.
+Atterbury advanced a step and her cameo-like face suddenly hardened.</p>
+
+<p>"We're all in this for life or death. If one succeeds, all succeed; if
+one fails, he fails alone. That was my rule, but once I broke it for
+you. Hereafter you fare with the rest. You have your uses, I admit, but
+no one is indispensable to me. You know what happened to the Comet;
+remember her luck when you are tempted to play a lone hand, my friend."</p>
+
+<p>Betty waited to hear no more, but turned and fled silently up the
+stair, her heart beating tumultuously. The level unemotional voice of
+Mrs. Atterbury had not raised in pitch or increased in volume, yet
+there had been something far more sinister in its measured utterance
+than any display of ungoverned wrath could have evidenced.</p>
+
+<p>The girl sank trembling upon her couch and for the first time a vision
+came to her of her own possible fate should the extent of her knowledge
+be even suspected by the ruthless woman downstairs. She had learned
+from the cipher letter of the retribution which had overtaken "The
+Comet," and once again the stark face of Breckinridge rose before her,
+his sightless eyes fixed on hers in mute warning.</p>
+
+<p>She covered her face with her hands, striving to shut out the dread
+picture imagination conjured for her. She, like the Comet, was playing
+a lone hand, but the stakes were worth the hazard! At that thought her
+momentary weakness dropped from her like a cloak and she straightened,
+her eyes aflame with resolution. She would win, she must!</p>
+
+<p>Disrobing in the dark, she lay for long listening intently, but no
+sound reached her from below, and the strained effort brought its
+own reaction of fatigue. She slept at last, to awaken only when the
+sunlight of broad day streamed through the uncurtained window and
+flooded her face.</p>
+
+<p>There was no hint of the previous night's quarrel in the genial
+camaraderie of Mrs. Atterbury's attitude toward Wolvert, but Betty
+fancied that Madame Cimmino regarded them both with ill-concealed
+anxiety and the girl was glad to escape to the seclusion of the library.</p>
+
+<p>The morning's correspondence awaited her, and she opened the first
+letter in listless abstraction, her thoughts still centered on the
+implacable words she had overheard. One glance at the sheet of
+note-paper in her hand, however, and everything else was banished from
+her mind.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>"My dear Marcia:</p>
+
+<p>"Professor Blythe has caught pneumonia in Chicago. Doctor's
+consultation held over him on Monday. Too old for recovery, Hamilton
+says is verdict. Much grieved but still hope. McCormick has been
+getting orders which evidence strong market. New machinery no trouble
+to operate. Marked Mary's improved letters; she has seized her
+opportunity. Hear from out west that John Cote won appeal. Sanitarium
+being planned for consumptives here. Good air but nothing can be doing
+if Mayor refuses permit. Please communicate in care Trust Company.
+Give nobody business confidence but me. They lie who say low prices
+ruin business. It is dead if the end of the superfluous stock is not
+sold out regardless of cost.</p>
+
+<p>"With kindest regards,</p>
+
+<p class="ph4">"Yours,<br>
+"Shirley."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>With a curious set smile Betty read and reread the missive, then laid
+it aside, and sat for some minutes staring out of the window. The
+hidden message was pregnant with meaning and a shade of anxiety crossed
+her face. The man whom she had seen loitering under the lamp-post just
+outside the gates a few days before loomed up as a possibility more to
+be dreaded than any present contingency within the house and she felt
+that she was being irresistibly carried forward in a chain of events
+forged by circumstance which she could not break if she would.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Atterbury came to her, Betty watched surreptitiously for her
+reception of the cipher letter and saw that after a quick glance her
+employer thrust it without a perusal into her belt. The girl marveled
+anew at her stoicism; she must at least have gleaned the purport of
+the first sentence, yet her eyes were as clear and her voice as steady
+as though it had been the most casual of communications.</p>
+
+<p>Her dictation was interrupted by the abrupt entrance of Madame Cimmino.</p>
+
+<p>"Look!" the latter exclaimed with an excited gesture toward the window.
+"It is Louise Dana, but in what haste! Without a hat, too, in this most
+detestable of climates! Is it that something has happened? An accident?"</p>
+
+<p>She spoke lightly, but her eyes smouldered as they met Mrs.
+Atterbury's, and the rouge stood out in patches of vivid scarlet
+against the sudden pallor which blanched her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Dana was running swiftly up the path from the gate, her
+meretriciously golden head bare and gleaming in the sunlight. A cloak
+had been flung carelessly about her figure, but as she sped past the
+window Betty noted that her feet were encased in the thinnest of
+boudoir slippers.</p>
+
+<p>With a murmured ejaculation Mrs. Atterbury hurried from the room
+followed by Madame Cimmino, and the girl was left to her own thoughts.
+A bell pealed wildly through the house and its echo had not died
+away when there came a slam of the front door and a piercing cry
+which reached even to the secluded library, although Betty could only
+distinguish a word or two.</p>
+
+<p>"Mortie—caught—help—!"</p>
+
+<p>"Good God!" It was unmistakably Wolvert's voice but shaken with the
+same craven fear which had actuated it on the day of Betty's arrival.
+"What do you mean by coming here? Do you want to give us all—"</p>
+
+<p>"Silence!" Mrs. Atterbury dominated him and after a confused murmur
+from which not a separate word could be gleaned another door closed and
+the hysterical sobs of Louise Dana were hushed.</p>
+
+<p>What had happened to bring that woman in terror to the house? For it
+was mortal terror which had distorted her face as she passed the window
+and had rung in her desperate cry. She had come for help, but what
+help could she find there? Betty remembered her single meeting with
+the florid middle-aged man whose eyes were lined with weariness and
+dissipation. What had he "caught," or was it that he himself had been
+caught in some difficulty?</p>
+
+<p>For half an hour Betty restlessly paced the library, fearing to
+venture forth lest she be suspected of eavesdropping yet longing to
+escape to her own room. The hum of a motor drew her to the window, and
+she reached it in time to see the familiar bizarre stripes of Mrs.
+Atterbury's own car whirl past and down the drive, with a fleeting
+glimpse of a golden head within it. Whatever her trouble, the woman had
+not remained to add its shadow to those already clustering about the
+household.</p>
+
+<p>It was with somewhat of a shock that Betty turned to find her employer
+standing on the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, she has gone." Mrs. Atterbury nodded, following the girl's
+glance. "Such a ridiculously nervous, excitable, young woman!
+Just fancy, my dear! Mr. Dana—you met him at my last dinner, if
+you remember—has been ailing for some days, and this morning the
+physician was called and found that he was suffering an acute attack of
+diphtheria. It is very sad, of course, although I do not doubt that he
+will pull through, but that silly wife of his rushed out of the house
+just as she was with only a cloak over her negligee, jumped into a taxi
+and came straight to me. Unfortunately, the car broke down a short
+distance beyond our gates and what the neighbors will think of her
+running about bareheaded I cannot imagine!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry about Mr. Dana," Betty remarked in a lowered tone.
+"Diphtheria is very dangerous, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not since medicine has become the science that it is today," responded
+the other, indifferently. "Mr. Wolvert was quite annoyed. Did you hear
+him? He is an arrant coward about contagion, like most men, and he
+feared she would give the disease to all of us! It really was stupid of
+her, but they are strangers here, you know, and I am practically the
+only friend she has. I arranged by 'phone for Mr. Dana's reception in a
+private hospital and she has gone back to him with her nerves steadied.
+What empty-headed fools most modern women are!"</p>
+
+<p>Her tone was a skillful blend of indignation and amusement but she bent
+her eyes upon the girl in a keen, unwavering scrutiny as if to satisfy
+herself that the explanation was received in good faith.</p>
+
+<p>Betty smiled back at her steadily.</p>
+
+<p>"People are apt to lose their heads when someone they love is in
+trouble, don't you think?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Some people, not those with any self-control. I don't believe that you
+would, for instance, my dear. I think that you could be counted upon
+to act in any emergency which presented itself with quick decision and
+courage if you were sufficiently interested."</p>
+
+<p>Betty flushed but she replied without a tremor.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I should. I hope so. We never can tell until the moment comes."</p>
+
+<p>Luncheon was a constrained meal. Madame Cimmino maintained a
+non-committal silence and her nervous fluttering hands were still,
+but Wolvert's mood had changed to a mocking frivolity which Betty
+had learned to recognize as the reaction of his lawless nature from
+any emotional stress. Divining the girl's aversion, he directed his
+witticisms at her, and sought in impish perversity to compel her
+response. Madame Cimmino listened and watched with sombre eyes and Mrs.
+Atterbury flashed an ominous warning to him as they rose.</p>
+
+<p>For the better part of the afternoon her employer kept Betty beside
+her, busied with the mending of household linen, while from the music
+room came strange intermittent bursts of melody, rippling, elusive,
+hauntingly sweet. Long moments of silence would ensue and then a
+thunderous crash of chords as if in very fury the musician sought to
+smother the softer, tenderer strain.</p>
+
+<p>Betty was fascinated in spite of herself. It was as though the man's
+inmost soul were revealed racked with the storm of his passions yet
+alluring in its reckless gay abandon. A dangerous man to himself as
+well as to others she felt, and to her own heart there came again that
+thrill of fear.</p>
+
+<p>When she descended the stairs at dusk, she found Wolvert standing
+before the great hearth in the hall staring moodily into the flames.
+She would have passed him with a mere nod, but he stepped forward
+impulsively.</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been hiding yourself since lunch? I looked for you in
+every corner, but you had vanished."</p>
+
+<p>"For me?" Betty paused in unguarded surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"For you, mademoiselle!" he mimicked her slyly. "Why will you not be
+kind and talk to me? I know that you disapprove of me most heartily,
+but you have promised to be friendly and I am bored with my own
+exclusive society. Come and sit here and tell me what goes on behind
+those grave, wise, young eyes of yours."</p>
+
+<p>He pushed a chair forward coaxingly but she shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"I—I have a message for Welch—" she began.</p>
+
+<p>"A plague take Welch!" Wolvert interrupted. "In all this great house,
+where no one ever does anything and nothing ever happens, must you
+alone be always busy, you who alone are worth talking to? You could
+tell me much, if you would."</p>
+
+<p>There was a note of studied intent in his tone which held her as much
+as the choice of phrase piqued her curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, Mr. Wolvert? What could I tell you?"</p>
+
+<p>He shrugged, laughing lightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why you are always so still, for one thing, like a little mouse. Your
+silence intrigues me. Why your glance is always so distrait as if
+you were listening to a far-off voice." He knelt upon the chair his
+arms folded across its back and brought his dark face close to hers.
+"Perhaps you will tell me also why your smile is so sad and so bitter.
+What has life taught you, Little Mouse?"</p>
+
+<p>"To keep my own counsel, Mr. Wolvert." Betty retreated a step or two,
+but her eyes met his gravely. "To walk warily, and to do my appointed
+work."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a wise creed." He seemed to muse aloud. "But is this your
+appointed work? To write at another's dictation, to fetch and carry,
+to serve and wait and to be finally dismissed! You are so demure, so
+docile, so perfectly in the picture, that I sometimes wonder if you are
+not playing a part."</p>
+
+<p>He paused and she waited breathlessly seeking to read in his sardonic
+smile how much of serious purpose lay behind the facetious drawl.</p>
+
+<p>"Your work is still new to you, but are you content?" He rose and
+strode around the chair to face her. His manner had changed and the
+words fell in a rapid, insistent undertone from his lips. "Will you
+be satisfied always to stay in the background, to occupy the extra
+chair, to be commanded when you might command? You have too much
+intelligence to be without ambition, too much common sense to work for
+a mere pittance when you might share, too much personality to remain a
+nonentity. You are quick-witted and discreet, you would go far if you
+were shown the way, and I——"</p>
+
+<p>"Jack!" Madame Cimmino's querulous voice sounded from the stairs, and
+Betty shrank guiltily. Wolvert straightened and uttered an oath beneath
+his breath, but the next instant the little mocking smile was curling
+about his lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Speranza! Now that I have ceased torturing the piano, you come
+forth from your refuge! I have been trying to beguile Miss Shaw from
+her duty and succeeded only in boring her. Come down and tell me how
+you liked my concerto; you must have heard it for I thundered it to the
+gods."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Shaw does not look bored." Madame Cimmino flashed a look of
+unconcealed hostility at the girl, her usually dull eyes snapping fire.
+"Marcia has sent me for you. She is in her private sitting-room."</p>
+
+<p>"At your service, Madame." He shrugged, glanced at Betty from beneath
+lowered lids and bounded lightly up the stair. Midway he passed the
+woman and she caught his arm, murmuring something in a staccato patter
+of Italian. He shook himself free and laughing vanished around the
+gallery overhead.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you be satisfied always to be commanded when you might command?"
+His words still rang in Betty's ears and his dark face, sinister and
+insurgent rose before her mental vision. Had he not spoken as much to
+himself as to her? He, too, appeared to be at Mrs. Atterbury's command
+and the girl recalled his half-cringing defiance in that secret quarrel
+of the previous evening. Was he contemplating revolt?</p>
+
+<p>All at once she was aware that Madame Cimmino stood staring with
+insolent hauteur into her face.</p>
+
+<p>"I must find Welch; I have a message for him." She stammered and was
+turning away when the other woman detained her with a gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely a further delay will make but little difference, Miss Shaw."
+Her tones were silky. "There is something I wish to say to you and you
+would do well to listen to me. You are clever even for an American
+young girl, but you rely too much upon your ability to take care of
+yourself. For your own good I speak; do not try to play with Jack
+Wolvert."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand you, Madame," Betty said coldly. "What have I to do
+with any guest of Mrs. Atterbury?"</p>
+
+<p>"What indeed?" The woman came close and thrust her sallow pointed chin
+forward. "Do you think I have no eyes, that I have not seen your sly
+crude efforts to engage his attention? <i>Mille tonneres!</i> You are but a
+conceited, over confident child! Your very gaucherie may amuse him for
+the moment but you could not hold him a day. Do I not know him? Have
+I not studied his every mood these many years? Could you think in the
+insolence of your youth to take him from me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are mistaken, Madame." The girl spoke in quiet control, but she
+met the snakelike glitter in the other's eyes with an answering gleam.
+"I have no interest whatever in Mr. Wolvert and his inclinations and
+prejudices are alike of no moment to me. In any case I am accountable
+to my employer alone for my conduct and I have received no complaint
+from Mrs. Atterbury. Let me pass, please."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I warn you!" Madame Cimmino turned livid. "You are treading
+on dangerous ground, more dangerous than you know. Keep your silly
+schoolgirl wiles for others, but leave Jack Wolvert to me or I will
+make you wish that the earth had opened and engulfed you before you
+crossed my path!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Your threats do not interest me, Madame Cimmino. I shall accept
+censure only from Mrs. Atterbury, and I beg that you will go to her. I
+really cannot listen any longer to these unfounded accusations."</p>
+
+<p>She turned and left the other inarticulate with rage. Her own heart
+was filled with a dull ache of resentment, not against the hysterical
+virago and her absurd charge, but against the perverse fate which
+through no act or fault of hers, seemed rearing difficulty after
+difficulty in the way of her purpose. She did not underestimate the
+intelligence of Wolvert or the danger of arousing his suspicions, while
+she realized that the jealous animosity of Madame Cimmino might at any
+moment precipitate a crisis. She must walk warily, indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Her message delivered to Welch, she ascended the back stairs to avoid
+a second encounter with the woman who had become her enemy, and was
+rounding the gallery shadowed in the gathering dusk, when a blotch of
+white lying against the baseboard caught her eye.</p>
+
+<p>It was a folded paper, crumpled in the center and even before she
+opened it, a premonition warned her of its contents. The cipher letter!
+The significant words leaped out at her anew from the irrelevancies
+with which they were cloaked and on a swift impulse she thrust the
+letter into her breast.</p>
+
+<p>Late that night when all was still Betty crept from her room and down
+the stairs like an unquiet wraith intent upon the secret motive which
+actuated her, yet on her guard for the slightest warning of discovery.</p>
+
+<p>The darting ray from her electric torch played before her, dancing in a
+diminutive circle of light upon the wall and piercing the almost opaque
+darkness like a flash of forked lightning. The midnight silence was
+oppressive in its intensity and for the first time there seemed to be a
+brooding menace in the soundless void.</p>
+
+<p>The girl's nerves were tingling and the torch wavered fitfully in her
+hand. A hallucination, vague but terrible, took possession of her
+that something unnameable lurked in the shadows watching, crouched to
+spring. In vain she summoned her resolute will to her aid, lashing
+herself with scorn for her weakness. A swift unreasoning fear clutched
+her by the throat and her trembling limbs all but refused her support.</p>
+
+<p>Doggedly she forced herself to go on but the distance from stair foot
+to library door seemed interminable and when she had traversed it Betty
+paused, an unexplainable reluctance staying her hand upon the knob.</p>
+
+<p>At length she set her teeth and with an impatient jerk opened the door.
+Her torch light circled about the familiar room, the desk with its
+orderly array of papers, the center table, the bookcases—</p>
+
+<p>Her breath caught in a strangling gasp. One bookcase was swinging
+loosely on its secret hinge and the safe in the aperture behind was
+open, a handful of documents scattered upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly her light travelled along the wall creeping ever nearer and
+nearer to the hearth. The brass andirons glittered dazzlingly from the
+darkness and the outline of a massive chair leaped into prominence.
+Something lay relaxed upon its arm, and the wavering light stopped.</p>
+
+<p>It was a black coatsleeve, motionless but seemingly vibrant with life
+and from it protruded a pallid hand shapely and slender, its tapering
+fingers loosely extended.</p>
+
+<p>There was a roaring as of many waters in Betty's ears and her heart
+seemed to have ceased to beat, but mechanically she trained the light
+upward. Jack Wolvert's face, diabolic in triumph, leered at her.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Fourth Pew.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>For a long moment Betty stood transfixed with the electric torch rigid
+in her hand and her eyes held by the insolent challenging ones so near
+hers. Then with an almost physical effort she wrenched her gaze away
+just as his cynical voice, drawling no longer, but keen with malign
+exultation, cut the silence like a knife thrust.</p>
+
+<p>"So, Little Mouse! You venture forth from your hiding place at night
+when all are sleeping, to nibble at forbidden dainties, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>He sprang from his chair with the agility of a cat and seized her wrist
+in a viselike grip which forced her tortured fingers to relax their
+hold and the torch clattered to the hearth. His hot breath, laden with
+the fumes of wine, played upon her neck, and she felt, rather than
+realized, the menace in his low, breathed words.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought there was a traitor in camp! Who sent you here to spy upon
+us, girl? In whose pay are you? Quick, or I'll—"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what you mean!" Betty whimpered into the darkness. "Let
+me go, you are hurting me, Mr. Wolvert! I—I—could not sleep, I came
+down for a book I left unfinished and you frightened me!"</p>
+
+<p>"That doesn't go; it's too thin!" he growled harshly. "Young ladies
+don't prowl about at night with electric torches for any innocent
+purpose. What's the lay?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand!" Betty reeled against him, then shrank away. "I—I
+feel faint—"</p>
+
+<p>His grip insensibly relaxed and the girl, seizing her opportunity,
+tore herself from his grasp and vanished into the black void of the
+hall. She could hear the crash of the massive chair behind her as he
+overturned it in his stumbling pursuit and a rumble of oaths followed
+her up the stair. Miraculously she cleared every obstacle and her alert
+brain out-paced her flying feet. One desperate move was left her to
+turn certain exposure into possible victory. Its failure could not
+increase the peril of her present position and success would serve to
+entrench her more firmly in the confidence of the woman who would be
+her judge.</p>
+
+<p>She groped her way noiselessly to her own door, found the switch in the
+wall and flooded the room with light. A pink boudoir candle stood upon
+her dressing-table and seizing it she thrust it into the live coals in
+the grate until it was partly consumed. Then shielding its flickering
+flame, she went straight to her employer's door and knocked boldly.</p>
+
+<p>A murmur responded, a light flared up within and Mrs. Atterbury stood
+on the threshold. In her white robe with her long, dusky hair in two
+heavy plaits upon her shoulders and her waxen expressionless face, she
+might have been an effigy taken from some ancient place of worship; all
+but her eyes which gleamed like banked fires suddenly revealed.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" she asked calmly. "You are not well, my dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it isn't that. I am quite well, but I thought you would wish to
+know that your safe is open downstairs," Betty whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"My safe!" Mrs. Atterbury fell back a step and her pale face grayed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the one in the library. I suppose it is all right, as Mr. Wolvert
+is there, but I felt that I could not sleep without telling you."</p>
+
+<p>"And what were you doing in the library at this hour?" The woman's
+scrutiny fairly burned into Betty's brain, but her wide ingenuous eyes
+did not flinch nor her voice falter.</p>
+
+<p>"I was restless and wakeful and I remembered a book I had left there,
+so I lighted my candle and went down. Everything was dark, but when I
+opened the library door I saw a man with an electric torch in his hand.
+He sprang forward and seized me and I thought it must be a burglar,
+until he spoke and I recognized Mr. Wolvert's voice. The safe was open
+and papers all scattered about, and somehow his manner frightened me.
+I—I thought I had better come straight to you."</p>
+
+<p>"An electric torch?" Mrs. Atterbury repeated and paused, her lips
+pursed thoughtfully. Betty waited in an agony of suspense. Would the
+slender thread of her fabrication bear the weight of this woman's
+keen analysis or would it snap beneath her swift inexorable judgment?
+Freedom, perhaps life itself, hung upon the issue.</p>
+
+<p>"You did the proper thing, my dear, and I am very glad that I can
+rely on you to let me know at once if anything seems wrong in the
+household." Mrs. Atterbury's smile announced the verdict. "But in this
+instance, everything is quite all right. Mr. Wolvert was going over
+some private accounts for me at my request, and doubtless you startled
+him by your sudden appearance as much as his presence surprised you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry I disturbed you—" Betty began in well-simulated
+contrition, but the other stopped her with a gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"You did not, but in any case it would have been your duty, my dear.
+However, I do not approve of your going about the house so late at
+night, for Welch has an inordinate apprehension of burglars and is
+likely to blaze away promiscuously with his revolver if he hears any
+untoward sound. Be careful in future. And now good night, Betty, and
+thank you."</p>
+
+<p>The reaction from the strain through which she had passed was so great
+that the girl all but collapsed when her own door had been closed once
+more behind her. She had forestalled Wolvert's betrayal, but would
+her version of the evening's encounter prevail against his narration,
+bearing as it must the stamp of truth?</p>
+
+<p>Then another contingency presented itself to her mind. What if
+Wolvert's visit to the library had been, like her own, a surreptitious
+one? She remembered his significant phrase of the afternoon: "You
+have too much common sense to work for a mere pittance when you might
+share." She had fancied then that he was but voicing his own inmost
+thought, the aftermath of his open rebellion which Mrs. Atterbury had
+so imperiously quelled on the previous night. Had he turned traitor
+to the mysterious compact that bound him and all of their circle in a
+sinister secret alliance? Had she, by this betrayal, made of him an
+implacable enemy? Even if she had succeeded in lulling her employer's
+possible suspicion, her presence in the library had disclosed her true
+position in the household to Wolvert and she realized that a powerful
+weapon lay within his reach if it were to be war to the knife between
+them.</p>
+
+<p>To her amazement, the matter was not again referred to in the days that
+immediately ensued and if Wolvert had gone to Mrs. Atterbury with his
+tale, or learned of the girl's disclosure, he gave no sign. While he
+did not openly avoid her, he made no effort to arrange a tête-à-tête,
+only his gaze burning with a strange intensity of questioning, filled
+her with troubled unrest.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino treated the girl with frigid indifference, but
+unconsciously played into her hands by constant demands upon Wolvert's
+time and attention.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury's manner did not betray an iota of change and the days
+followed one another in an unbroken routine until the following Sunday,
+when there occurred an event which plunged Betty deeper than ever into
+the toils of difficulty and danger.</p>
+
+<p>The breakfast gong, sounding a full hour earlier than usual, aroused
+the girl from slumber and she descended to find Mrs. Atterbury already
+at the table, the coffee urn bubbling at her elbow.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, I am going to send you to church this morning," she began,
+nodding as Betty lifted inquiring eyes to hers. "It is another letter
+which I wish you to obtain from one of our outstanding members, and he
+has arranged to meet you there. You may object to making use of a house
+of worship for a mundane transaction, even though the cause be a worthy
+one, but the better the day, the better the deed, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no scruples." Betty smiled slightly. "It will be interesting to
+see what the churches here are like; I have not attended service since
+coming East."</p>
+
+<p>"St. Jude's is one of the most prominent in the city. The minister is
+noted and the congregation representative of the best society. I am not
+a church-goer myself, as you have seen, but laziness, not prejudice,
+is responsible for my dereliction. You won't be bored, I promise you,
+and the incidental errand will not be complicated by any such annoying
+misunderstanding as on the last occasion. You will enter by the door
+leading to the center aisle and tell the usher that you wish to be
+placed in the fourth pew from the back of the church on the right as
+you face the altar. Be careful of this, as the location is of the
+utmost importance. Seat yourself at the end of the pew next the aisle
+and pay no attention to anyone. When an envelope is presented to you,
+no matter in what manner or from what quarter, accept it without a word
+and at the conclusion of the service bring it home to me."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall remember, the fourth pew from the back," Betty repeated. "The
+service commences at eleven, does it not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. The car will be here for you at a quarter before the hour, but it
+will be necessary for you to return without it. However, I will direct
+you explicitly and you will be in no danger of losing your way a second
+time. Come to me when you are ready."</p>
+
+<p>Betty's pulse quickened in spite of her inward reluctance to perform
+the task before her. That it had been given her, proved to her own
+satisfaction that her daring move on the night of her discovery had
+really achieved the result she had hoped for, and that she was more
+firmly established than ever in her employer's confidence.</p>
+
+<p>Attired in the gray suit and silvery furs, she presented herself for
+Mrs. Atterbury's final instructions, and the latter regarded with
+approval her dainty appearance and unveiled face.</p>
+
+<p>"You have determined like a sensible girl to overcome that absurd
+self-consciousness about your birthmark? That is well." She placed an
+ivory-bound prayer book in the girl's hands. "This adds the finishing
+touch to your costume, my dear. You look quite like a modern Puritan.
+Now as to the directions for finding your way home. St. Jude's is on
+the corner of Carlton Avenue and Brinsley Square. Walk five blocks
+north and two east and you will come to the terminus of the Highmount
+trolley line. Take a green car and ride to Wellesley Place. There you
+can connect with a red bus which will drop you three blocks from the
+corner here, at the same spot you alighted when returning from Madame
+Cimmino's apartment. Do you think you will be able to remember?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so," Betty replied slowly. "About the letter, Mrs. Atterbury;
+it makes no difference who offers it to me in this instance, I am to
+accept it without question?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. There will be no difficulty about that. There is the car,
+now. Remember, Betty, the fourth pew."</p>
+
+<p>The girl nodded reassuringly and started upon her way. To her relief,
+there had been no sign of either of the house guests that morning and
+it was with freer breath that she found herself departing even for an
+hour from their vicinity. The gloom and apprehension which enveloped
+her and insensibly sapped her nerves in the environment of mystery
+and repression within the house, lifted as soon as she was beyond the
+gates, although a little frown gathered upon her brow.</p>
+
+<p>Beneath the lamp-post stood the same idly-lounging figure she had
+seen on the day of her unexpected encounter with Herbert Ross, and he
+peered keenly into the limousine as it whirled by, making no attempt to
+cloak his eager interest. Whatever the motive of his protracted vigil,
+his presence alone indicated that it had not yet borne result, yet it
+served as a goad to her own secret intent.</p>
+
+<p>A short, shrill whistle sounded upon the air as the car rounded the
+corner, but Betty was only subconsciously aware of it, so preoccupied
+was she with her own thoughts. Since the night of her encounter with
+Wolvert in the library and Mrs. Atterbury's adroitly conveyed command
+that she indulge in no future nocturnal wanderings, she had not
+ventured to leave her room in the small hours, but now the realization
+came to her that if she were not to be forestalled she must risk all.</p>
+
+<p>The car took its place in the decorous line and Betty alighted before
+the doors of the imposing edifice, mingling with the brilliant
+stream which eddied about the vestibule. The measured chant of the
+processional welled forth when the inner door was opened and the
+girl waited until the others had preceded her to their places before
+venturing into the nave.</p>
+
+<p>A tall, tow-haired usher, very young and very self-important, bowed
+stiffly and turned to conduct her down the aisle, when she touched his
+arm and whispered:</p>
+
+<p>"The fourth pew on the right, please, if it is vacant. I have a
+particular reason for wishing to occupy that seat."</p>
+
+<p>Betty fancied that his expression changed; it was patent, at any rate,
+that he regarded her curiously, although he responded with ready
+courtesy:</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, madam. The rear pews are all reserved for strangers."</p>
+
+<p>She slipped into the pew designated and knelt for a moment in silent
+prayer before taking her seat. Her mind was filled with unrest but the
+quiet and solemn peace which pervaded the atmosphere was like balm
+upon her troubled spirit and insensibly she relaxed beneath its gentle
+influence.</p>
+
+<p>The vaulted arches high above, shadowy and vague in the half-light,
+rang with the clear, swelling notes of the white-robed choir which
+she could glimpse above the sea of heads before her; and when their
+echo had died away, the sonorous well-rounded tones from the pulpit
+fell with soothing monotony upon her ear, lulling her to a temporary
+forgetfulness of her errand.</p>
+
+<p>Not for long, however. A late comer, a woman, was ushered into the
+pew beside her and Betty's drugged senses awoke to instant alertness.
+She had been given no hint as to what manner of person would keep the
+strange appointment with her and no one could so unobtrusively pass an
+envelope to her as an occupant of the same pew.</p>
+
+<p>She darted a furtive glance at her unknown companion, but could form no
+conclusion. The woman was of middle-age, neatly but plainly dressed in
+contrast with the brilliant assemblage about her, and her comely serene
+face bore no indication of one engaged upon a secret mission.</p>
+
+<p>The seat behind Betty was occupied by a governess and three restive
+children; that before her contained two elderly ladies, an anæmic youth
+and a bent old man, his white head nodding above a gold-topped cane.
+Surely none of these could have entered the church with an ulterior
+motive.</p>
+
+<p>Betty had been placed so that the left side of her face was turned to
+the aisle and the birthmark prominently visible. She realized that this
+must have been planned to proclaim her identity, but the woman seated
+beside her politely ignored her existence and as the lengthy sermon
+drew to a close, the girl was forced to conclude that the unknown
+associate in the transaction would approach her on the way out.</p>
+
+<p>A hymn, a prayer, and then from the pulpit the familiar: "Let your
+light so shine before men—" proclaimed the collection. The opening
+notes of the offertory sounded from the choir and Betty abstracted some
+money from her purse and idly watched the approach of the smug-faced
+rotund little man who minced down the aisle, pausing at each pew to
+extend apologetically his felt-lined silver salver.</p>
+
+<p>She heard the rustle of banknotes and clink of coins as he drew nearer,
+and when he had reached the pew immediately in front of her, Betty saw
+that the salver was heaped high with offerings.</p>
+
+<p>The bearer paused over long and she glanced up to find that his small
+pouched eyes were fixed as though fascinated upon her face. A swift
+forewarning of the truth darted across her mind, even before she
+observed that with surprising dexterity he had whipped from his pocket
+of his frock coat an envelope which he laid upon the pile of currency.</p>
+
+<p>Two short strides brought him to her side and he thrust the salver
+nervously before her. She had no need to glance again into his face
+to confirm her thought for upon the envelope had been scrawled an
+odd, fantastic mark, meaningless to others but of unmistakable
+significance to her. It was the outline of an irregular formless blotch
+with five curving tentacles reaching out from it; a crudely sketched
+representation of the scar upon her cheek!</p>
+
+<p>With a hot flush mounting to her brow, Betty dropped her offering upon
+the salver and deftly palmed the envelope, not daring to raise her
+eyes. The woman beside her was intently fumbling in her purse and the
+swift furtive movement of the girl had been unobserved.</p>
+
+<p>The bearer of the salver emitted a gasping breath that was almost a
+snort, and as the stranger's bank-note was added to the rest he bowed
+and passed on with obvious relief to the next pew.</p>
+
+<p>Wedging the envelope between the pages of her prayer book, Betty
+watched as the smug-faced man joined his colleague who had passed down
+the opposite row and marched beside him with grave dignity back to the
+altar rail. The solemnity, the calm spiritual peace had vanished for
+the girl and the warm, incense-laden air stifled her as the recessional
+died away in the dim recesses of the vestry, and she knelt mechanically
+for the final prayer.</p>
+
+<p>The slow, crowded egress from the edifice tortured her beyond measure
+and when at length she stood in the dazzling sunshine on the steps she
+drew a deep breath of profound relief.</p>
+
+<p>It was a blustery day and the treacherous March wind caught her roughly
+in its grasp, but she faced it boldly as though welcoming the physical
+exertion.</p>
+
+<p>Amazement at the daring manner in which the missive had been placed in
+her hands had momentarily numbed her faculties. Its donor was the last
+person from whom she would have expected to receive it. His strutting
+importance, his bland, patronizing air of conscious dignity and social
+eminence accorded ill with her preconceived idea of the type of person
+she would meet.</p>
+
+<p>His predecessors passed in quick, mental review before her; the
+weak-chinned, downy-mustached scion of society in the opera box, the
+timorous, fragile, exquisite lady with the orchids, and now this
+rotund, pragmatical pillar of the church! What mysterious bond held
+these three, widely diversified as they were, in a common fellowship
+with Mrs. Atterbury and her coterie?</p>
+
+<p>So absorbed was she in her reflections that Betty gave only a passing
+glance at a man who had elbowed his way through the throng at the
+church steps and in apparent inadvertence followed her as she walked
+north from Brinsley square and turned eastward in her footsteps. She
+was vaguely aware that someone boarded the Highmount car when she
+did, alighting behind her at Wellesley Place. Ignorant of the city
+as she had claimed to be, she could not fail in the realization that
+the directions given her to follow were curiously roundabout ones and
+had taken her several unnecessary miles out of her way. Why had Mrs.
+Atterbury chosen this route for her?</p>
+
+<p>Her mind was filled with this new problem and she did not observe her
+pursuer enter a taxicab as she boarded a red bus. It was only when she
+noted that the smaller vehicle deliberately stalked the larger, halting
+when the bus stopped and following it doggedly through the mazes of
+Sunday traffic, that her interest was aroused, and as one after another
+of the passengers descended until she was left in sole possession of
+the conveyance and still the taxi cab clung tenaciously behind, a
+suspicion came to her that she might be the subject of espionage.</p>
+
+<p>A memory came to her of the circuitous route followed by the limousine
+in bringing her home from the Café de Luxe. Could the motive have been
+to elude pursuit? Had the same purpose prevailed in Mrs. Atterbury's
+mind when she issued these devious directions for her messenger's
+return?</p>
+
+<p>Betty alighted at her corner and walked swiftly off toward the North
+Drive without a backward glance, but her acute ear told her that the
+taxicab had turned and was trailing slowly in her wake.</p>
+
+<p>Deliberately she slackened her pace and the machine stopped, hastening
+on she heard it start again. The first cross street was but a few yards
+away, and on a sudden inspiration Betty started to run, turning the
+corner sharply, and darting into a narrow tradesman's alley between two
+houses. There she crouched motionless while the taxicab veered around
+the corner, stopped with a harsh grating of brakes and then chugged
+uncertainly on and out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>Betty's face was scarlet, and her eyes ablaze, but her heart was turned
+to lead within her breast, for her pursuer had leaned for an instant
+from the cab window and she had recognized the face of Herbert Ross.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Fangs of the Wolf.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>"Misfortune seems to be treading upon the heels of our friends more
+relentlessly this season than before." Doctor Bayard looked up from
+his salad with a sympathetic sigh. "Our poor dear Professor dying in
+Chicago, Mortimer dangerously ill, and yet another gone down under the
+strain of financial worries and cares."</p>
+
+<p>Betty glanced quickly at his grave ascetic face crowned with its wealth
+of snowy hair and then her eyes wandered to her employer.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury was sitting very straight in her chair, her expression
+as immobile as ever, but the girl fancied that a shade of weariness
+had clouded the glitter of the keen, black eyes and the fine lines had
+deepened about the firm, chiselled lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Professor Blythe will recover." There was a finality in her tone which
+brooked no argument. "He has been in a far more critical condition than
+this and regained his health almost miraculously."</p>
+
+<p>"But consider the attendant circumstances, my dear Marcia." Wolvert's
+voice, coolly ironical, intervened. "The previous illnesses must have
+weakened his constitution, and—er—complications may set in at any
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"As a diagnostician, Jack, let me remind you that your conclusions have
+been erroneous more than once." Mrs. Atterbury raised her eyebrows
+significantly. "As for Mortie Dana, we have every reason to believe
+that he will pull through. The doctor's report is highly satisfactory,
+although of course he is likely to be quarantined for some time to
+come."</p>
+
+<p>"That would seem to be a foregone conclusion." Wolvert was in no wise
+abashed by the snubbing he had received. "Louise is in no danger of
+contagion, however, and the change of air will do her good."</p>
+
+<p>Betty could not repress a little gleam of interest. She had wondered
+why Mrs. Dana did not come again to the house, but had not previously
+heard of her departure from town.</p>
+
+<p>"Personally, I shall be pleased if she remains away indefinitely."
+Madame Cimmino shrugged. "She gets upon one's nerves, with her
+hysterics. One never knows when she may make a scene."</p>
+
+<p>"To say nothing of the possibility of contagion—" Wolvert caught his
+hostess' eye and turned in obvious haste to Doctor Bayard. "But of whom
+were you speaking just now, Doctor, who has gone to pieces?"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor held his wineglass up to the light and gazed into its amber
+depths reflectively as he replies.</p>
+
+<p>"My old friend—Cote. I had heard depressing reports of his mental
+condition, but I would not believe them until I had investigated
+personally." He shook his venerable head. "I returned only a few days
+ago from a visit to him and I seriously fear that his usefulness is
+passed. He is unable to handle his financial affairs and his permanent
+retirement is all that can be looked for."</p>
+
+<p>"But surely the others in his firm will assume his obligations!"
+Wolvert's bantering tone had sharpened. "It is almost as vital to them
+that his affairs should be straightened out as it was to him. They must
+be made to understand the situation."</p>
+
+<p>"You talk like a child!" exclaimed Madame Cimmino. "What is to
+prevent them from going into voluntary bankruptcy, now that he is
+incapacitated? Others have done that before, when driven to the wall."</p>
+
+<p>Betty sat with downcast eyes and a politely detached air but her hands
+were clenched tightly in her lap and her breath came quickly. If those
+about her at the luncheon table remembered her presence they must have
+believed their conversation unintelligible to her, yet every word was
+fraught with meaning, and she waited with leaping pulses for the next
+disclosure.</p>
+
+<p>"That would scarcely be possible in this instance." There was an
+implacable note in the old Doctor's measured tones. "His is not a
+corporation, you know; he has one silent partner who without doubt
+will carry out the contract entered into by my friend when he learns of
+it. Unfortunately, it will be necessary to locate this partner first
+and I have not the address."</p>
+
+<p>"That can be arranged." Mrs. Atterbury rose. "Jack, come and play the
+new concerto for Doctor Bayard."</p>
+
+<p>Betty had been granted permission to go out for an hour but her heart
+was heavy as she dressed. The discovery of the previous day that the
+supposed museum director was shadowing her had come with a shock which
+had benumbed her brain, but the reaction aroused all her faculties to
+the alert against this new threatened danger. Through the long hours of
+the night she lay in silent combat between the dictates of common sense
+and a strange, incomprehensible influence which sought to undermine her
+surer judgment and defy the evidence of her reason.</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross a spy! It was unthinkable! His merry, candid eyes, his
+grave sympathetic manner, the latent boyishness and straightforward
+simplicity—all belied the possibility of such a role, and yet her
+coolly analytical mind forced her to the contemplation of hitherto
+unconsidered trifles which, viewed in the light of her discovery,
+assumed new and alarming proportions.</p>
+
+<p>His confessed ignorance of Egyptiana in contradistinction to his avowed
+position of museum official; the readiness with which he had assigned
+the work of translation to her with no assurance of her qualifications,
+seeking only to learn her address; the personal questions he had later
+plied her with and his discovery that she no longer resided at the
+boarding house she had claimed as her home, all puzzled her and seemed
+to point at some ulterior motive in his conduct.</p>
+
+<p>Could the advertisement itself have been a bait to draw her into
+his net? If so, from whom could he have learned of her penchant for
+Egyptology?</p>
+
+<p>The grim, old woman whose unexpected presence in the neighborhood
+had so disconcerted her flashed across Betty's thoughts. Was Ross in
+her employ or was he in turn making a tool of the woman, using her
+knowledge to aid in snaring his prey for other and more desperate
+opponents?</p>
+
+<p>Reason won in the unequal contest with the emotion which she could not
+name, and instinct warned her that no alternative remained but to sever
+all relations with the young man who had occupied her thoughts more
+than she realized until the decisive moment came.</p>
+
+<p>With the completed translation secreted in her muff, she let herself
+out of the side door and proceeded to the gates from whence she chose
+a widely deviating course to the museum. In the maze of suspicion
+and distrust through which she walked she must guard herself on all
+sides and the knowledge that she might be trailed from the house at
+Wolvert's instigation or perhaps by the man on his own initiative led
+her to exercise all precaution.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ross was absent when she reached the museum and to her inward
+dismay she was ushered into the study of Professor Carmody. The
+shrivelled little man greeted her with flattering warmth and reviewed
+the inscription from the Stele of Abu in glowing terms, but she felt
+his nearsighted eyes upon her in recurring perplexity and doubt and she
+longed to bring the interview to an end.</p>
+
+<p>The tinkle of a telephone in an adjoining office interrupted her
+tentative move of departure and Professor Carmody returned from it
+rubbing his withered hands in obvious relief.</p>
+
+<p>"That was our young friend, Ross," he announced in high feather. "He
+will be here directly and he begs that you will wait. In the meantime,
+I have here a genuine papyrus of rare antiquity, presented to me by
+Professor Mallory himself. It dates from the pre-dynastic period and
+some of the symbols, as you see, are Sammarian in form."</p>
+
+<p>"But it has been restored!" Betty cried protestingly, resentment of
+the sacrilege overruling her caution. "What a pity! The word 'suten'
+or king, has been inserted here where the text would clearly indicate
+'priest' and the whole tenor of the theme is changed. Surely Professor
+Mallory did not sanction such a desecration!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then you have seen the papyrus before?" Professor Carmody spoke in
+quiet satisfaction as if a mooted question had been settled in his own
+mind. "I was under the impression that I had met you in Cairo, but your
+name had escaped me. You know the great man himself?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I studied with an associate of his, in this country," Betty
+stammered desperately. "I have never been in Cairo and I do not know
+Professor Mallory, but I have seen a copy of the papyrus before this
+attempt was made to restore it."</p>
+
+<p>"I myself presented it to the museum here, and the restoration was
+done at another's suggestion, overruling my objection." The professor
+returned the ancient scroll to its glass case as he added, dryly: "I
+was not aware that a copy was in existence."</p>
+
+<p>Betty writhed, but resolutely turned the conversation to some
+newly-discovered monoliths which had created a mild sensation in
+archeological circles, and the arrival of Ross on the heels of his
+message shortly brought the disquieting interview to a close.</p>
+
+<p>The young man ushered Betty into his private office, but she declined
+the chair he indicated and stood before him with her grave eyes
+fastened upon his in cold disdain.</p>
+
+<p>"There really was no need of my waiting to see you, Mr. Ross," she
+observed. "The translation is finished and approved by Professor
+Carmody and the matter is closed."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand!" he exclaimed in haste, adding lamely: "I have
+other work for you, you know. There is more translating to be done—"</p>
+
+<p>Betty shook her head decisively.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall undertake no more at present." There was finality in her tone,
+and her expression had hardened. "As I have explained, my time is not
+at my own disposal and I am late now for an engagement. If you will
+permit me—"</p>
+
+<p>"But surely you will not relinquish the work without a reason! If your
+other duties interfere, perhaps some arrangement can be made—"</p>
+
+<p>"My other duties concern no one but myself!" Betty retorted, in a flash
+of temper which instantly subsided. "I do not wish, for reasons of my
+own, to continue with this work and nothing further remains to be said.
+Good afternoon, Mr. Ross."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait, please." His tone was quiet, but there was a compelling quality
+in it which halted Betty against her will. "Something has occurred to
+annoy you and make the work distasteful. Won't you tell me what it is
+that I may take steps to remedy it? Surely you owe me an explanation."</p>
+
+<p>"The work is not distasteful; it has merely ceased to interest me. In
+undertaking it I assumed no obligations to continue it indefinitely,
+Mr. Ross, and I do not feel that any explanation is due from me."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it that meddling old fool Carmody?" Ross demanded. "Has he offended
+you in any way?"</p>
+
+<p>"By no means. I am not offended in the least, I have simply changed my
+mind. My secretarial work is sufficient occupation."</p>
+
+<p>"But you were so absorbed, so enthusiastic about the translation." His
+eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. "I cannot believe that it has
+ceased to interest you; it must be more suitable for a young woman of
+your attainments, more congenial than the task to which you have been
+assigned."</p>
+
+<p>There was no mistaking the deliberate intent in his tone and Betty
+countered swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ross, may I ask why you are so solicitous in this matter? On
+my last interview with you, you asked me many irrelevant and highly
+personal questions. I responded to your advertisement, I came in good
+faith to accept the work if it were offered me. I did not anticipate a
+cross-examination, or interference with my private affairs." Resentment
+was fast getting the better of her discretion and she spoke with all
+the bitterness of a lost illusion. "I might ask you in turn how long
+you have been officially connected with this museum, and whether that
+advertisement was really inserted in good faith or with an ulterior
+motive. I would demand also to know why you have been following me
+about the streets, but the motive for your annoyance does not interest
+me. I decline absolutely to have anything further to do with this
+work, and I must request that you let me go at once."</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross sprang from his chair and placed himself between her and
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Shaw, you shall not leave until one thing is plain to you. I
+have tried to be your friend. You have repelled every overture from
+me, but believe it or not as you please, my only desire is to protect
+you. If I have followed you in the street, it was from a motive far
+removed from any intention to annoy you." The young man, too, seemed in
+danger of losing his self-control. His face flushed and his voice grew
+hoarse. "Suppose I were to tell you that I have followed you because
+I could not help myself, because in spite of appearances, in spite of
+my certain knowledge, I believe in you, I want your friendship, your
+confidence, your—your liking—"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot suppose you would venture such an assertion, Mr. Ross; you
+are far too shrewd to insult my intelligence." Betty made as if to pass
+him but he suddenly laid his hands upon her shoulders and looked deep
+into her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you at least try to believe this? I mean to be your friend
+whether you desire it or not. If the time ever comes when you need the
+help of a man, call me up here. Professor Carmody can reach me, and you
+will find me at your side."</p>
+
+<p>His hands fell and he walked swiftly to the window where he stood with
+his shoulders turned to her and his head bowed.</p>
+
+<p>Betty regarded him thoughtfully, a little soft gleam of compunction
+appearing unbidden in her eyes. She opened her lips to speak, but
+paused uncertainly and in another moment she had slipped silently from
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>She stumbled down the steps of the museum and entered the park,
+her feet mechanically seeking the right path. The naked trees and
+clustering skeletons of shrubbery upon the brown patches of lawn were
+blurred and shapeless before her and she seemed to see again the face
+of Herbert Ross as he wistfully proffered his friendship, the stab of
+pain in his clear eyes when she refused it.</p>
+
+<p>Once she hesitated and turned as if to go back, but the vague impulse
+died and she pressed resolutely on. He had found her by a trick, a
+mere subterfuge; perhaps his offer of friendship was another trap to
+gain her confidence now. He had sought her out, followed her, spied
+upon her, and for what purpose than to serve those who were working
+against her, who might even now be planning a coup which would mean the
+demolition of her own hopes and drag her down into the ruins?</p>
+
+<p>Matters were in a state of armed truce now between them. When they met
+again—if they met—it must be open war.</p>
+
+<p>Betty had taken no note of distance or direction and she came to a
+realization of her surroundings only when the roar of traffic sounded
+in her ears, and she found that she had traversed the park and was
+within a few blocks of the North Drive. As she hurried homeward she
+forced her thoughts resolutely to the future and the work which still
+lay to her hand, but the long hours of early evening loomed before
+her, robbed of the absorbing study which had proved such a stimulating
+relief from the continuous mental strain; and the days to come would
+be empty indeed with the budding friendship, which had come to mean so
+much to her, brought so swiftly to an end.</p>
+
+<p>She was dispirited, tired in mind and body as she entered the gates
+of home, and her feet lagged wearily along the path. The house looked
+blank and forbidding, and the wind soughed dismally in the sagging
+branches of the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Faintly the high-strung wailing note of a dog's whine reached her and
+she remembered her encounter with Demon when first she walked in the
+snowy garden. Would the dog know her again, if chance should deliver
+her to his mercy?</p>
+
+<p>Memory returned to her also of that other encounter in the same hour
+when, unconscious of her presence, Wolvert had passed her place of
+concealment as if racing with the very fiends of darkness, cowardly
+fear stamped upon every lineament of his dark face. Why had he avoided
+her since their mutual surprise meeting in the library? Was he
+deliberately evading the issue or delaying it for some sinister purpose
+of his own?</p>
+
+<p>She had reached the clump of trees through which the path wound, and
+even as her thoughts were centered on Wolvert the man himself stepped
+from the tangle of evergreens which had screened her on the former
+occasion, and confronted her. It was evident from his smile and air
+of easy assurance that he had lain in wait for her, and Betty's first
+feeling of dismay was superseded by a sensation of relief that the
+long anticipated moment had arrived and the contest between them at
+immediate issue.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been long upon your foraging expedition, Little Mouse, and
+you have strayed far from your hiding place." He laid his hand upon
+her arm in an insolent assumption of familiarity. "Not so fast, my
+dear. The mistress you serve so conscientiously is not in need of your
+presence and the time has come for an understanding between us."</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to say to you, Mr. Wolvert." She met his sneering smile
+with one of calm defiance. "I think we understand each other fairly
+well."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps, but the knowledge has not yet accrued to our mutual
+advantage. We have been working at cross purposes and that means
+disaster. I warned you once that a friend at court is not to be
+despised, but as an enemy you would not find it advisable to cross
+swords with me. I do not underestimate your pluck and resourcefulness;
+sheer admiration for your audacity has stayed my hand against you
+so far. Your move in carrying the war into my camp by going to Mrs.
+Atterbury with your naïve little story was a bold one. Gad, you even
+explained away the evidence against you, the electric torch, better
+than I did later, I don't mind confessing; but do you suppose I could
+not have smashed your transparent subterfuge to atoms if I had wished?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you not, in that case?" Betty asked coolly. "I am not in the
+least afraid of you or what you can do. Come now to Mrs. Atterbury
+if you care to; I will go with you to face her and she shall choose
+between us."</p>
+
+<p>His grip upon her arm tightened.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think that I am imbecile enough to call your bluff?" he
+demanded. "When I find you seriously in my way I shall crush you like
+this! Until then, my dear, you will prove mildly amusing. You interest
+me as I never thought to be interested again in a woman. Your eyes,
+your smile are branded upon my brain even as that brand is upon your
+cheek like a hand reaching out for the unattainable. You might set a
+man's blood on fire, sear his very soul and drive him to madness, but
+you would never bore him. Little, quiet, inscrutable mouse, with you
+beside him there is nothing that a man who gambles with life might not
+win!"</p>
+
+<p>"You talk in riddles, Mr. Wolvert." Betty disengaged her arm and
+stepped back from the savage light in his empassioned eyes. "Your
+opinion of me is flattering, but if you are detaining me for further
+expression of it, I must beg leave to continue on my way to the house."</p>
+
+<p>"You may go when you have answered one question: what is your game? I
+knew from the moment I saw you that you were superior to the position
+you chose to occupy, but not until I encountered you in the library did
+I guess the truth. How much do you know? Are you a free lance or in
+someone's pay?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I had an ulterior motive in entering Mrs. Atterbury's service, is
+it likely that I would make a confident of you whether you are her ally
+or a traitor?" Betty shrugged. "Your attitude is a matter of absolute
+indifference to me; why should I reply to your questions?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you may find me useful." He came close to her once more. "What
+is it you desire within those walls that you court danger to obtain?
+Perhaps I can get it for you. What is your purpose? It may be that I
+can aid in its accomplishment. Traitor or not, I am at your service!"</p>
+
+<p>"But why?" A swift thrill of fear darted through her, and she glanced
+about, but the tall bushes ringed them on all sides and they seemed
+as isolated as in a wilderness. "Suppose that another purpose actuated
+me than to fulfill the duties for which I was engaged—and I do not
+for a moment admit that there is any truth in your wild assertion—why
+should you offer me your aid? Why should you, Mrs. Atterbury's guest
+and friend, conspire with one you profess to regard as a deceitful and
+dishonest servant?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you have driven me mad!" He seized her, dragging her into a
+half-savage embrace. "Because I want you as I've never wanted any other
+woman!"</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go!" Betty panted struggling with all her strength, but her
+heart sank within her for no help could reach her from the house and
+her efforts to free herself were unavailing against the man's brute
+grasp.</p>
+
+<p>He laughed exultantly and drew her closer.</p>
+
+<p>"'Little Mouse,' I called you; Little Wild-Cat! But I'll tame you, or
+break you with my hands! What I want I take, and you're mine, do you
+understand; you're mine!"</p>
+
+<p>All at once a new sound broke upon Betty's ears. The dog's continuous
+whine, of which she had been dimly aware like an undercurrent in the
+swift torrent of Wolvert's words, had changed suddenly to a deep,
+full-throated cry which seemed to her excited fancy to be drawing
+nearer and nearer. A swift thought like a prayer mounted in her brain
+and by a supreme effort she extricated her head from the stifling folds
+of her captor's coat where he had crushed her to his breast.</p>
+
+<p>The cry came again and with it the soft rush of padded feet on moist
+yielding ground. Betty drew a deep breath and screamed with all the
+power of her pent-up fear.</p>
+
+<p>"Demon! Here! Come here!"</p>
+
+<p>With an oath, Wolvert's arms dropped from about her and he sprang
+backward as a huge, dark shape lunged through the undergrowth and
+sprang full at his throat. The force of the impact hurled Betty aside
+and when she had picked herself up she turned to find Wolvert stretched
+upon the ground, the great dog standing over him, with every hair
+a-bristle and yellow fangs bared in a snarl, as he hesitated at the
+sound of her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Demon!"</p>
+
+<p>He turned his shaggy head obediently to glance up into her eyes, but
+one great paw remained planted upon Wolvert's breast.</p>
+
+<p>"Guard him, Demon! If he moves, take him by the throat!" An
+inarticulate murmur issued from the lips of the prostrate man and the
+snarl changed to a growl of menace.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let him get away! Until your master comes. Demon, on guard!"</p>
+
+<p>The dog's eyes answered her and he dropped his out-thrust jaw upon his
+paws, within an inch of Wolvert's throat.</p>
+
+<p>Betty turned swiftly and walked off among the trees. As she neared the
+house a man came running from the direction of the garage and paused
+beside her, touching his cap.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, Miss, but did you see anything of a dog? He's broke loose,
+and he's that savage that he may hurt somebody."</p>
+
+<p>Betty smiled and extracted a bill from her purse.</p>
+
+<p>"You will find him in that knoll by the drive. He is standing over Mr.
+Wolvert, but he has not hurt him in the least. Understand, no matter
+what orders Mr. Wolvert gives, the dog is not to be ill-treated or
+punished. Demon and I are old friends and he was protecting me from
+annoyance. I called him to my aid. You understand, don't you? I do not
+wish to worry Mrs. Atterbury, but if Mr. Wolvert makes any trouble, I
+will tell the truth. I can rely on you to see that no harm comes to
+Demon?"</p>
+
+<p>"That you can, Miss." The man pocketed his fee with added respect.</p>
+
+<p>"He's no gentleman, that Mr. Wolvert, if you'll excuse me for saying
+so, and I'm glad the dog was loose. I'll see that he don't get hurt."</p>
+
+<p>As she let herself in at the side door and mounted the stairs to her
+room a heavy sense of foreboding descended upon Betty's spirit. She
+had made two powerful enemies in one day, for Herbert Ross, in spite
+of his protestations, she felt to be a potential antagonist. Would she
+alone be able to stand against them, or would she go down to defeat
+with that for which she had entered the lists almost within her grasp?</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Justice Nods.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Jack Wolvert did not put in an appearance at dinner and Mrs. Atterbury
+explained that he was suffering from one of his severe headaches and
+had taken an opiate. Her manner gave no indication that she possessed
+an inkling of the truth, but Betty's apprehensions were not lulled
+into a false security. That Wolvert had not immediately betrayed her
+in blind rage argued that he was biding his own time for a personal
+revenge all the more complete and she realized that when the hour came
+she could expect no mercy.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino's dull eyes glowered at her in undiminished animosity
+and suspicion, but she forced herself to a show of civility in the
+presence of her hostess; and in the greater danger which menaced her
+Betty gave little heed to the woman who looked upon her as a rival.</p>
+
+<p>The following day, however, Wolvert reappeared, his debonair, ironic
+spirit of raillery unquenched. There was an unaccustomed pallor on his
+dark face and it was noticeable that he held one arm stiffly, but to
+Madame Cimmino's solicitous queries he responded only with a petulant
+shrug.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the morning meal he kept up a running fire of facetious
+comment directed with suave impertinence at Betty and she seized
+the first opportunity to retire to her work in the library. She had
+anticipated this attitude on his part but her nerves were beginning
+to play her false and she wondered despairingly how long the crisis
+would be delayed. For the first time she felt a doubt of herself; not
+that her resolution should falter but lest her strength fail under the
+strain and at the crucial moment sheer weakness rob her purpose of its
+fulfillment.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury followed her into the library as she seated herself
+before the desk.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that this morning, my dear." She shook her head with a slow smile.
+"The letters must wait. Have you ever been in a courtroom, Betty?"</p>
+
+<p>"No." The girl turned to her, wonderingly. "There is a county
+court house at home, but I have never been inside it. Do people go
+here—women, I mean—unless——?"</p>
+
+<p>She faltered and Mrs. Atterbury completed the question for her.</p>
+
+<p>"Unless they are prisoners or witnesses, you mean? Indeed, yes! There
+are seats apportioned off for spectators and a particularly grewsome
+and revolting murder trial will bring out as many feminine auditors as
+a fashionable divorce. As you know, I personally avoid all horrors, but
+there is a case now before the Bar which presents some very interesting
+features to a student of human nature. A poor wretch named Huston is on
+trial for the murder of his wife, who by all accounts richly deserved
+to be done away with. Would you mind running down there for an hour
+this morning, my dear? Do you think you could venture into the presence
+of a murderer without succumbing to hysterics?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so," the girl responded quietly. "In all probability I may
+have been in the presence of one before this, without knowing it."</p>
+
+<p>"What a strange thought!" Mrs. Atterbury eyed her keenly. "You have an
+odd philosophy all your own, as I have discovered; but what put such an
+idea into your head, Betty!"</p>
+
+<p>"The very people one passes in the street may have murder in their
+hearts or upon their consciences. Who can tell?" Betty paused and drew
+a deep breath. "Consider the number of murder mysteries which are never
+solved; this Breckinridge case, for instance."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" Mrs. Atterbury shifted her gaze to the window.</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you been reading about it in the papers?" persisted the girl,
+inwardly quaking at her own temerity, but determined to discover if
+the woman before her would betray any knowledge of what had taken
+place beneath her roof. "They call it the greatest sensation of years."</p>
+
+<p>"I remember the name, but I carefully avoided the details." Her
+employer observed coolly. "That sort of thing repels me and it is not
+from any interest in this present trial that I am sending you there
+this morning. There will be a man in the courtroom who has a message
+for me and for certain reasons, as on the other occasions when you
+have acted for me, it is inadvisable for me to appear personally in
+the transaction. I have tested you, my dear, and I feel that you
+are to be trusted, at least as far as is compatible with my oath.
+We are all members of a powerful secret organization working for
+broad humanitarian ends. I need not assure you that there is nothing
+unlawful about it, for you can realize that I would not lend my name
+or influence to any purpose no matter how charitable, the methods of
+which could be questioned. It is necessary, however, for diplomatic
+and political considerations, that the work shall proceed as quietly
+as possible until the strained relations which exist between certain
+European powers shall have been adjusted. That is all I am at liberty
+to tell you now, but later everything will be made plain to you, and
+you will never regret the slight services you have rendered."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure that I shall not," Betty remarked quietly. "It is good of
+you to take me into your confidence, Mrs. Atterbury, and you know that
+I will respect it, but it was unnecessary as far as I am concerned. It
+is enough for me that you wished me to go upon these errands."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a model!" There was unusual warmth in her tone, but her eyes,
+as they rested upon the girl, narrowed with a slow, amused contempt.
+"Unquestioning obedience is rare and you will find it a valuable asset.
+Now, my dear, I shall want you to be in the courtroom by eleven. Dress
+very plainly; your old dark cloak will do. Present this card at the
+door and you will be ushered into a seat which has been reserved for
+you. Remain until court adjourns at the end of the morning session and
+hang back until you are among the last of the spectators to leave. A
+man will approach you as before and give you a letter for me. Take no
+more notice of him than you did of the others, and come straight home.
+You must use the public conveyances, as the car is being overhauled,
+but I will direct you when you are ready."</p>
+
+<p>The route laid down to her was even more circuitous than that of the
+previous Sunday and Betty followed it faithfully, keeping a sharp
+lookout for a possible trailing taxicab, but those which surrounded her
+in the mazes of traffic seemed bent solely on their own affairs and
+nowhere did she glimpse the kindly, keen gray eyes of Herbert Ross.</p>
+
+<p>However, the idle artisan was again beneath the lamp-post at the gate
+and a man in overalls with a plumber's kit emerged from a house midway
+of the block and sauntered after her, boarding the same car. When she
+mounted the steps of the courthouse, after many changes of conveyance
+and crosstown divergencies, a man brushed against her with a swift
+glance at her scarred cheek. Without the kit of tools and buttoned into
+a greatcoat which covered him to his knees, she yet had no difficulty
+in recognizing in him the erstwhile plumber's assistant, and Betty's
+lips tightened.</p>
+
+<p>Others, then, besides Ross held her under espionage, and the mysterious
+words of the little dressmaker, Miss Pope, flashed across her memory:
+"Before you know it you'll be caught, too, and you'll never be able to
+get free!" Had Mrs. Atterbury employed her in these errands not only
+for their accomplishment but to identify her secretary irrevocably with
+the organization of which she had spoken? Was she to be scapegoat as
+well as catspaw? The price she must pay for her temerity was looming
+more sinisterly before her with each passing hour, but her will was all
+the more indomitably fixed. Though she stood within the very shadow of
+the law she would still fight on.</p>
+
+<p>Finding her way with some difficulty to the grand jury room, Betty
+presented her pass to the gray-haired doorman. She had received it in a
+sealed envelope from Mrs. Atterbury and had made no attempt to tamper
+with it, but as the court attendant extricated the card and read the
+words pencilled upon it he eyed her with amazement, in which an added
+respect was mingled, and without a word led her to a seat apart from
+the other spectators.</p>
+
+<p>It was near the press rail, facing the jury box and almost on a line
+with the Bench, beside a narrow aisle leading to a single door. Betty
+seated herself and once again her mission was temporarily forgotten in
+absorbed interest in the scene before her.</p>
+
+<p>She had no difficulty in picking out the prisoner; a mild-faced,
+sandy-haired little man, shrunken and bowed in his place beside his
+lawyers. Just back of him sat a slender woman in rusty black, whose
+face was hidden from Betty's gaze and whose tremulous hand reached out
+in pathetic tenderness to the man before her.</p>
+
+<p>Betty looked again at the prisoner and the puzzled look in her eyes
+gave place to a flash of recognition. She leaned forward in her chair,
+agape with amazement and startled interest, until the consciousness of
+shrewd glances from the assembled representatives of the press made her
+draw back in belated caution.</p>
+
+<p>Vaguely, almost subconsciously, she observed the stolid jury and
+the stern, inflexible countenance of the judge. The faces of the
+spectators, too, passed before her in meaningless review, not one
+impressing itself individually upon her agitated mind.</p>
+
+<p>As the case progressed, and witness succeeded witness, it became
+evident that the whole defense hinged upon an alibi which the
+prisoner's attorneys found difficulty in proving. The testimony offered
+was inconclusive and the prosecutor riddled it with ease or blasted it
+with deftly turned ridicule.</p>
+
+<p>The hideous story was gradually unfolded in all its revolting detail,
+and Betty's heart sank within her as the evidence, circumstantial, but
+damning, was heaped upon the prisoner's bowed head. The little woman
+behind him did not waver in her attitude of protective tenderness and
+something in her tremulous, almost furtive, gestures appealed to Betty
+as being vaguely familiar, although the face was still turned from her.</p>
+
+<p>A particularly brilliant shaft of ironic wit from the prosecutor
+created a stir of amusement among the spectators and as the clerk
+of the court rapped for order, Betty's eyes again sought the judge.
+Beneath the huge mural painting of Justice he sat immovable, his thin
+lips set in a straight line, his cold, gray eyes fastened with grim
+intentness upon the prisoner. No mercy tempered his jurisdiction, she
+felt certain; no slightest benefit of a doubt would be permitted to
+weigh in the scales for any unfortunate mortal whose life might hang
+in the balance. She shuddered, her gaze once more descending to the
+little ignominiously isolated group below and at that instant the woman
+behind the prisoner turned her head and the cold light from the tall
+window fell full upon her face.</p>
+
+<p>It was little Miss Pope! The timid, nervous, self-effacing seamstress
+who had warned her of danger and begged her to leave almost beneath the
+argus eyes of Mrs. Atterbury, and whose strange words had returned to
+the girl's mind within the hour, after a lapse of many eventful days.
+What connection could exist between her and the wretched creature at
+the Bar? Were Mrs. Atterbury's affairs also somehow involved in this
+tragic crisis?</p>
+
+<p>Her employer had declared herself uninterested in the case herself and
+no mention had been made of Miss Pope, yet she must have known the girl
+would recognize her. The letter was to be delivered by a man; could it
+be that it would come from the prisoner himself or one of his friends?
+He seemed singularly alone in his trouble and sat as if hypnotized,
+gazing straight before him in a dull stupor of misery. Once his eyes
+met Betty's and the girl swiftly paled, but there was no consciousness
+of recognition in their fixed stare.</p>
+
+<p>Until the morning session ended the girl sat tense and motionless,
+listening to the testimony, but only receiving a general impression
+of its tenor. A conflict was raging within her, and she faced the
+most vital problem which had ever presented itself for her decision.
+Heretofore her path, beset with difficulties as it was, had been
+plainly marked before her and her will had driven her on relentlessly
+over every obstacle, but now she had reached without warning an
+insurmountable barrier and she hesitated which course to pursue around
+it.</p>
+
+<p>A rustle of papers and shuffling of feet in the press enclosure
+and a concerted movement among the spectators aroused her from her
+thoughts and apprised her that court had adjourned. The judge rose in
+all the awful majesty of his black robes and sweeping down from the
+Bench, came toward her along the narrow aisle. Betty noted the stern
+preoccupation in his averted eyes and the grim, inexorable set of his
+lean, shaven jaw and her vision blurred in pity for the hapless victim
+of circumstances whose doom seemed already sealed.</p>
+
+<p>The judge passed her so closely that his robe fluttered against her
+knee; then he disappeared through the door which led to his private
+chambers. Betty, fumbling for her glove, glanced down into her lap and
+then sat as if petrified with her eyes fairly starting from her head.</p>
+
+<p>There upon her knee, half-hidden by her muff, lay a small thick
+envelope, its square, blank expanse staring up at her in uncompromising
+self-evidence! The judge himself! Mrs. Atterbury's organization must be
+indeed powerful when it could command the services of an administrator
+of justice!</p>
+
+<p>Betty slipped the envelope into the capacious pocket of her cloak and
+rose as if in a trance. The shock of surprise had fairly taken her
+breath away and she strove vainly to collect herself as she lingered in
+obedience to her employer's instructions until only a few stragglers
+remained in the courtroom. Little knots of people had gathered in the
+corridor outside and she was threading her way through them when a
+convulsive clutch fell upon her arm, and looking up hastily, she found
+herself face to face with Miss Pope.</p>
+
+<p>The little dressmaker's eyes were reddened and sunken and she seemed to
+have aged many years in the brief period that had elapsed since their
+last meeting.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Shaw!" The name fell from her lips in a quivering whisper.
+"You remember me, don't you? I made those dresses for you at Mrs.
+Atterbury's——"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes." Betty took her hand in a little sympathetic squeeze. "I remember
+you, of course, Miss Pope. I recognized you in the courtroom and I am
+so sorry that a friend of yours is in trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"He is my brother, and he is innocent!" The whisper changed to a low
+wail, and she clung to the girl's arm as if for support. "Oh, Miss, you
+don't know what it means to sit there day after day and listen to them
+hounding him to his death, knowing all the time that a word would save
+him! But there's nobody to say it, and they'll send him to the chair;
+him that never hurt a fly, he was so tender-hearted!"</p>
+
+<p>"Your brother!" Betty murmured. "But the name—?"</p>
+
+<p>"My half-brother, I should say. He's fifteen years younger than me, but
+he's all I have in the world and I love him like a mother and sister in
+one. Oh, Miss, if you only knew——!"</p>
+
+<p>"We cannot talk here." Betty interrupted the little woman's
+grief-stricken outburst and drew her aside nervously. "I have not much
+time, I must return almost at once, but I should so like to comfort
+you. You look faint and ill; isn't there a lunchroom near where we can
+get some coffee?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's a little place just around the corner where I usually go, but
+I can't eat. It's just as if my heart had settled up in my throat and
+closed it." Her face was working piteously. "I shall go crazy if I
+can't talk to somebody, Miss. I feel as if each hour was the end; that
+I couldn't go on any longer."</p>
+
+<p>Betty led the way to the modest little restaurant and when they were
+seated opposite each other at the narrow, linoleum topped table and the
+order given, she leaned compassionately toward her sorrowful guest.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me what you can, Miss Pope. I sympathize with you deeply, more
+deeply than you know, and I would do anything that I could to help you
+in your trouble. I have not forgotten that you tried to do me a good
+turn, even if you could not explain, and I am grateful."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Pope's faded eyes lighted with sudden interest.</p>
+
+<p>"You're still there, in that house? You haven't been dismissed yet, and
+you are free to come and go as you please! Oh, Miss Shaw, keep your
+eyes open and think twice of anything you are asked to do. Don't let
+yourself be led into what you don't understand. I'm talking too much, I
+know, but I can't seem to even think straight these days." She paused,
+and the old look of hopeless misery dulled her eyes once more. "Since
+Robbie's wife was killed, and they took him away, it seems as if I'd
+lived in a nightmare."</p>
+
+<p>"How did it all happen?" asked Betty.</p>
+
+<p>"Robbie and his wife lived apart. She's dead, and the least said about
+her the better, but she was a disgrace to a decent man. One morning,
+about three months ago, they found her dead in her bed with her head
+beaten in. Robbie was questioned, but he didn't know anything about
+it, he hadn't seen her in nearly a year. He was left free then and the
+police went after another man, but, because they couldn't find him,
+they fastened on Robbie again. You heard the evidence this morning,
+Miss. He has a temper, for all he's so meek-looking, and he had cause
+enough to kill her, Heaven knows, but he never did it, never, although
+he had made threats, like anybody who is tried beyond endurance."</p>
+
+<p>She paused in her rapid flow of words and wiped her eyes on a wisp of
+handkerchief while Betty sat silent, with every nerve taut.</p>
+
+<p>"There was a terrible snowstorm, the biggest one of the year, on the
+night she was killed," Miss Pope went on. "Robbie is the chauffeur for
+the King family, of Hempstead; it's Mr. King who is paying for the
+defense. He ordered Robbie to take the car into town that night to meet
+some folks who were arriving from the West, but Robbie never got there;
+he was stalled in a snowdrift all night on a lonely part of the road.
+That's why he's got no alibi."</p>
+
+<p>"Did no one see him or talk to him?" Betty's voice was low and strained.</p>
+
+<p>"Only one person and we can't find her. She won't come forward and
+speak for him; most likely she forgot all about him an hour after,
+although we've advertised and done everything we can."</p>
+
+<p>"Does he know who she is?" Betty asked, her eyes upon her plate.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Miss. It was some little time before he got stalled, when he was
+plowing along in the storm through that string of fashionable colonies
+on the North Shore that run together with no beginning or end. He
+doesn't rightly know where he was, when somebody called out to him and
+he stopped to see a young lady beside the road in a little run-about
+car that had got stuck. The engine was frozen and Robbie offered to tow
+her home, although it would have been a hard job. The young lady said
+it wasn't necessary, she didn't mind leaving the car there all night
+if he would take her to where she was going; that it wasn't far. She
+perched herself up beside Robbie at the wheel and directed him on the
+way, and a couple of miles further on he set her down at a big house.
+He wouldn't know it again if he saw it, because the snow was driving so
+hard against the lights that he could only see a few feet in front of
+him. The young lady offered him some money but he wouldn't take it. Oh,
+if she'd only come forward now!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty looked up slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe she will. It isn't too late even now."</p>
+
+<p>"We've about given up hope." Miss Pope shook her head. "Robbie was
+in prison waiting for his trial when I came to sew for you, but the
+lawyers were so sure the young lady would be found and his name
+cleared that I wasn't worrying, except about the disgrace of his being
+suspected at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Does Mrs. Atterbury know of your trouble?" The question came as an
+afterthought.</p>
+
+<p>"No. The name being different she wouldn't connect it with me, and I
+guess she's got enough on her own mind. Why should I have told her?
+There would have been no help from her, even if she could have given
+it. She's too careful about keeping her own skirts clean."</p>
+
+<p>There was concentrated bitterness in the dreary voice, and Betty
+regarded her expectantly; but the little woman's thoughts had evidently
+reverted to her own trouble and she said no more.</p>
+
+<p>The girl comforted her as well as she was able, and took leave of her
+at the door of the restaurant, to continue her homeward way, sunk in a
+horrified perplexity which deepened with each passing moment.</p>
+
+<p>The story she had just heard weighed upon her spirit and she shrank
+from thought of the man whose life hung on an unspoken word. Her own
+problem had faded into insignificance in the face of this potential
+tragedy and had she been personally involved in it, she could not have
+hoped more fervently for the prisoner's acquittal, even as she realized
+its futility. Would the mysterious young woman speak? Betty herself
+wondered.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Naked Foils.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Detective Joseph P. McCormick was pacing his office like a caged bear,
+and his retinue of aides in the outer strongholds, recognizing the
+storm signals, went about their various tasks as expeditiously as they
+were able without venturing into his presence to discuss the details of
+the day's routine. Once his bell whirred viciously and to the scared
+office boy who reluctantly obeyed the summons the Chief turned a face
+like a thunder cloud.</p>
+
+<p>"Ross shown up yet?" he barked.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. He got your message when he 'phoned and he said he'd be here
+at once. There's hardly been time, sir—"</p>
+
+<p>"When I want any observations from you I'll ask for them." The Chief
+brought his hand down smartly on the desk. "Bring Ross here the instant
+he arrives."</p>
+
+<p>The door closed precipitately and the Chief resumed his restless tramp
+about the room, his heavy footsteps making the bronze electrolier
+on his desk vibrate until its dangling chains tinkled a protest.
+The clock ticked off five slow minutes, then ten, and the cigar butt
+between his strong white teeth was chewed to a pulp before the door
+opened quietly once more and Herbert Ross entered.</p>
+
+<p>"You sent for me, sir?" His voice was gravely respectful, and his clear
+eyes were very sober, as he raised them steadily to meet those of his
+superior.</p>
+
+<p>"Where the devil have you been?" McCormick's tone was ominously calm.</p>
+
+<p>"I came as quickly as a taxi would bring me, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mean now." The chief threw his cigar butt into the cuspidor
+and seated himself with deliberation behind his desk. "I mean since
+your last report; a report, let me remind you, which amounted to
+nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"I have been working on the case, sir, as far as I was able along the
+lines laid down at that time. I thought it was understood that I was
+not to put in an appearance until I had something definite to report."</p>
+
+<p>"When would that have been?" McCormick leaned back in his chair. "Look
+here, Ross, I've sent for you because something is going on that I
+don't understand, or rather I don't want to understand it, the way
+things seem to lie now. I want to give you a chance to explain, if you
+can. I've taken a personal interest in you from the time you walked
+into my office to look for a job, with nothing but your nerve to
+recommend you, and a college education against you, to say nothing of
+the fact that you were born a gentleman. I gave you a chance to show me
+what you could do and you made good, and since then I've come to depend
+on you more than I realized until this thing hit me between the eyes!
+I'd have banked on your honesty as I would on my own, and thank God!
+I've always been square, but, Ross, you've got to speak out now like a
+man!"</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, sir?" Herbert Ross straightened himself and his steadfast
+gaze never wavered. "Are you accusing me of crooked work?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm accusing you of nothing." The Chief's face had turned a dull,
+mottled red. "You may have good reasons for what you're pulling, but
+whatever they are it's time you let me in on your game. You spotted Ide
+hanging around the gates of that Atterbury house on the North Drive
+and tipped me off. You were sure of yourself and as keen about nabbing
+him as anybody. I didn't ask you then what you were doing in that
+neighborhood, and if I asked you now I know devilish well you'd say you
+had been on your way to see the old lady, Madame Dumois."</p>
+
+<p>Ross looked up quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be the truth," he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll let that slide, for a minute." The detective waved his
+hand, as if brushing something tangible aside. "The next thing I know
+you come to me with a complete change of front and do your level best
+to make me lay off the Ide matter, claiming to know that the Atterbury
+woman is too high up, socially and every other way, for anybody around
+her place to be mixed in anything shady. When I told you I had enough
+dope already to work on and mentioned the girl with a scar on her face
+you did everything you could to throw me off the trail."</p>
+
+<p>"That is rather a sweeping assertion, Chief." Ross's face had gone
+very white. "Mrs. Atterbury is well known on the Street as one of the
+biggest women traders, powerful enough to swing the market in a crisis,
+and her social connections are irreproachable and of long standing. I
+know nothing about the girl with the scar or any other member of her
+household."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you?" The Chief eyed him steadily. "When you reported to me in
+the Dumois case, you said you had found one clue that looked promising
+but that it didn't turn out to be the girl you were after. But you
+didn't mention, Ross, that the girl whose trail you dropped so quickly,
+without giving Madame Dumois a chance to identify her, had a scar on
+her face. Don't try to flim-flam me, the old lady herself has tipped me
+off to that, and I tell you the whole thing dovetails too well to be a
+coincidence. Are you shielding that girl?—But no, I should not have
+asked that, Ross. I have never yet had cause to doubt your professional
+honor."</p>
+
+<p>The young man flushed darkly.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir, I'm not going to make a fool of myself and bring
+ridicule on the office by following a wild goose chase. I hope I am
+experienced enough to know when to drop a false clue! The girl I
+located has had a mark upon her face from birth; the one for whom
+Madame Dumois is searching has no blemish whatever and never had. I
+have the old lady's word for it and that is conclusive enough. As for
+the other girl at Mrs. Atterbury's I have nothing to say about her. She
+may be a daughter, or a dependant for all I know."</p>
+
+<p>"Or a pretty shrewd accomplice!" McCormick banged the desk and swung
+his chair around to face his operative. "You remember the case J.
+Todhunter Crane put in my hands? He'd done business with a girl with a
+scar; Mrs. Haddon Cheever brought a similar affair to my notice, but
+weakened. She knew the result to her if the police got hold of it, but
+she, too, described the girl. I've got enough to take her on suspicion
+now, if I can get her identified, and things are coming to a head. The
+police will beat me to it, if I don't hustle."</p>
+
+<p>"But what is a scar? If you are going to pull a suspect on a serious
+charge with no other evidence than that he or she has a birthmark,
+Chief, you're going to let yourself in for trouble." The young man's
+tone was a shade too eager and McCormick watched him from beneath
+lowering brows. "You can't drag a woman of Mrs. Atterbury's position
+through the mire unless you are mighty sure some of it will cling to
+her skirts."</p>
+
+<p>"What if I tell you that I've got her already? At least, not enough to
+tap her on the shoulder with, but a line that connects her in a way
+she'll find it hard to explain, with a lot that has puzzled us for the
+past five years. In fact, ever since Brooke Hamilton came to me from
+Chicago; you remember the case?"</p>
+
+<p>"Great Lord!" Herbert Ross shrank as if he had received a sudden blow,
+and his voice was a hoarse whisper. "You don't mean that Mrs. Atterbury
+is mixed up in that—?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I'm not mistaken, she's the brains of the whole outfit. I'll have
+to prove it, of course, but I'm pretty confident that I can put it
+over. Oh, it's not just that you spotted Ide outside her gate, or the
+evidence of the girl—"</p>
+
+<p>"Remember, I'm not certain about Ide. I warned you of that!" The young
+man broke in, but his superior smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I am. I could put my hand on him within an hour, but I'm giving him a
+little more rope. You know that Larne murder out in Denver the other
+day?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. 'The Comet' they called her."</p>
+
+<p>"She was deep in the game and just on the point of squealing when 'Red'
+Rathbone put her out of the way in a fit of jealousy, but we got to her
+for a little dope first up in Wyoming, and it's a straight tip to the
+North Drive bunch. Added to that, the Professor is under lock and key
+out in Chicago; we're holding him on the old Hamilton affair, but I'm
+working on him, and I've got a hunch he's in league with the others
+here. In fact, every clue focuses true, and you mark my words, the
+round-up will be the most sensational in years! My boy," McCormick rose
+and circling the desk, laid one hand upon the younger man's shoulder.
+"It's not my habit to talk to my operatives about cases they're not
+concerned with, but I can't help feeling that you're in pretty deep in
+this. You haven't chosen to be frank with me, but my cards are on the
+table, and I'm going to speak plainer still. If you've been fascinated
+by the scarred face, and let yourself be kidded into the knight-errant
+stuff, forget it! They're all tarred with the same brush and it's a
+mighty black one!"</p>
+
+<p>"I—I don't understand, sir!"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you don't want to. Many a good fellow has fallen for the old
+injured innocence gag and come to, to find his job gone, his career
+blasted and no guy willing to trust him with a plugged nickel. If
+there's another reason," the Chief's face hardened perceptibly, "if
+this Atterbury woman's financial resources have dazzled you, just
+remember you're selling what you can't buy back again. A lot of us
+believe we haven't got a price until the offer is put up to us. I'm
+giving you a chance before you close the deal."</p>
+
+<p>"Bribery!" Ross stood as if turned to stone and McCormick studied him
+with an almost paternal anxiety. At length the younger man squared
+himself and said doggedly: "After that, sir, there's only one thing
+left for me to say. Unless you take me off it, I'll finish up the
+Dumois case, and I'll find the girl if she's above ground. I don't
+think you can recall a case that I've relinquished, admitting failure.
+After that, I'm through; I'll hand in my resignation to you and quit
+the game for good."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry," McCormick remarked simply, but his face clouded in
+profound disappointment. "I spoke as man to man, and I didn't think
+you'd fall down this way. If you're on the level, Ross, for God's sake
+prove it! As to your resignation, we'll discuss that later. I'll be the
+first to apologize if I've misjudged you, but you've got to show me. Go
+out now and make good."</p>
+
+<p>There was an unaccustomed blur before Herbert Ross's eyes as for
+the only time in their long association he left the presence of the
+Chief without the cordial handclasp which had conveyed so much of
+trust and understanding. He did not see the red-headed office boy's
+commiserating nod nor the meaning glances cast after him by his fellow
+operatives as he stumbled blindly from the outer office, and he found
+himself hastening along the crowded thoroughfare with no definite
+destination in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>The Chief's voice, gruff with the effort to conceal his emotion, still
+rang in his ears and a wonderment mingled with his self-loathing. Why
+was he so caught in the toils of treachery and double-dealing, he
+who had guarded his professional honor with a jealousy transcending
+that of man to his mate? What was this girl to him, this strange,
+gentle, indomitable little creature with the pitifully marred face and
+soul-searching eyes, that her protection should have come to mean more
+to him than all the world beside?</p>
+
+<p>If McCormick's suspicions concerning Mrs. Atterbury and her friends
+were justifiable, and the girl was being used as a tool to further
+their ends she must be warned without delay! The Chief had said that
+the police authorities would forestall him if he lost much time. Betty
+Shaw might be in actual peril that very day!</p>
+
+<p>Without any clear idea of what he meant to do, Ross hailed a passing
+taxi and directed the chauffeur to the North Drive. He must see her
+at all costs, and a vague notion of presenting himself boldly at the
+house and demanding an interview with her was taking possession of
+his thoughts, when not a block from his destination he came upon Betty
+herself just as she took an envelope furtively from her muff and
+dropped it into a mail-box.</p>
+
+<p>Jumping from the taxi, he dismissed the chauffeur summarily and
+hastened toward her. He fancied that she looked pale and careworn in
+the fresh morning sunlight, but when she saw him an unmistakable light
+leaped into her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>It died instantly, however, and she bowed with cold aloofness,
+affecting not to notice his outstretched hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Shaw, I am not going to pretend that this meeting is not of my
+seeking for I was on my way to try to see you if I could."</p>
+
+<p>She raised her eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>"I fancied that our last meeting was quite conclusive, Mr. Ross."</p>
+
+<p>"I told you that I meant to be your friend, whether you wished it or
+not, and it is as your friend that I am here." He spoke very gravely.
+"Won't you let me walk with you for a little way? What I have to say is
+vital to you and in speaking I am practically betraying a trust, but I
+am convinced that you stand in a false position; that through no fault
+of your own, you are in actual danger!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty paused, regarding him steadily, but made no comment.</p>
+
+<p>"You know my name, but I can tell you nothing more of myself; I can
+offer you no personal guarantees of my good faith. I only ask you
+to believe that I speak with good authority. You may consider it an
+unwarranted intrusion into your affairs, but I must warn you. Miss
+Shaw, give up this position you hold! Give it up on whatever pretext is
+possible, or run away if you have to, only go at once, before it is too
+late!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ross, this is a most extraordinary request! Will you be good
+enough to explain? My position is a highly advantageous one; why should
+I relinquish it?"</p>
+
+<p>"For your own safety. You do not know the sort of trap you are in, or
+the people for whom you are working. They are using you as a tool, and
+worse—"</p>
+
+<p>"I think you must be a little mad!" Betty exclaimed. "My employer is
+a most charming and sympathetic person, the salary is high and the
+work very congenial.—But I don't know why I should trouble to defend
+my occupation to you, Mr. Ross. The little I know of you would not
+predispose me in your favor, and your wild assertions are ridiculous!"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot explain. Oh, won't you understand that my hands are tied, and
+I can only warn you of your danger? Please try to trust me, and believe
+that I am trying to protect you." In his eagerness he laid his hand
+upon her arm, but she shook it off coldly.</p>
+
+<p>"You cannot be in earnest! I am a secretary and companion to a person
+whose reputation is unassailable. Surely you can tell me in what way am
+I being used as a tool?"</p>
+
+<p>"The letters you write, the commissions you execute for her! Are the
+letters always intelligible to you? Do you know the real purpose of the
+errands upon which you are sent and what lies behind them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ross, your questions would be impertinent if they could be taken
+seriously. Mrs. Atterbury's correspondence is the usual one of a woman
+with large financial interests and a host of friends." Betty spoke
+hastily, her calmly disdainful attitude giving place to half-suppressed
+eagerness. "Every letter passes through my hands and I may say that her
+private affairs are an open book. Her charities are innumerable and her
+friends come to her with all their troubles, sure of help and comfort.
+The errands I attend to for her are such as anyone who disliked
+shopping would relegate to another. Really, you have been grossly
+misinformed; I am in no trap, I can assure you."</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross gazed at her flushed face with eyes that had narrowed
+swiftly. Her change of manner was too palpable to be spontaneous, and
+it had come only when he had betrayed a knowledge of her activities.
+She might be a tool indeed but a willing one, closing her eyes to what
+she did not wish to see. Although his whole nature rebelled against the
+thought, a fertile seed of doubt was sown.</p>
+
+<p>"It can't be!" He seemed to muse aloud. "You are inexperienced,
+trusting, blind! You believe what you are told by this woman, and
+completely under her influence, but you must open your eyes to
+the truth. Surely the thought must have come to you at times that
+everything was not well; have you never had a misgiving?"</p>
+
+<p>She lifted her eyes to his in a bland, wondering stare.</p>
+
+<p>"Misgiving of what? If we are to continue this conversation, Mr. Ross,
+you really must not talk in riddles. What could be wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>His detective instinct was uppermost now and he realized that instead
+of quizzing her, he himself was being shrewdly drawn out. Was she
+trying to discover how much he really knew that she might the better
+arm herself against him? The seed had not taken firm root as yet,
+however, and in a swift revulsion of feeling he inwardly cursed his
+momentary suspicion. Her eyes were as clear and steady as the sun!
+Surely they could mask no scheming, no subterfuge. Yet if McCormick
+had spoken truly, the most innocent and unsophisticated mind must have
+found food for puzzled thought in that house of mystery.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing has ever occurred, no slightest whisper or suggestion from
+Mrs. Atterbury or her friends to lead you to feel that something was
+going on which you could not understand? Think, Miss Shaw! You are not
+stupid; surely some inkling of the truth must have reached you."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ross, you refuse to speak plainly and I cannot imagine what you
+are hinting, but I can see that you are really in earnest, and there
+is a terrible mistake somewhere. Mrs. Atterbury's friends are people
+of the world, learned men and brilliant women whom it is an education
+as well as a pleasure for a girl like me to meet. Believe me, you are
+laboring under an absurd illusion! I am very happy in my position and I
+would not think of giving it up and going away for no reason."</p>
+
+<p>"I can easily obtain another for you," he pleaded. "You will not suffer
+by the change. This woman is nothing to you; surely you would be
+willing to relinquish this for a better position—"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing could induce me to leave Mrs. Atterbury." Betty spoke with
+calm finality, but across her face had flitted unbidden that hardened,
+crafty expression which robbed it of its candid charm, and sudden,
+passionate determination flashed from her eyes. It was gone in an
+instant but not before Herbert Ross had grasped its significance and
+his latent suspicion burst into full flower.</p>
+
+<p>'They are all tarred with the same brush.' The Chief had spoken with a
+wisdom which no puerile emotion had stultified, and Ross's heart turned
+to lead within him.</p>
+
+<p>"Then there is nothing further for me to say. I have warned you, I have
+done my utmost to protect you, but if you wilfully refuse to listen to
+me you must abide by the consequences." His voice trembled in spite of
+himself and he cried out in bitter denunciation: "There must be some
+desperate game of your own which you are playing here! If you are not
+an active accomplice of this woman, what hidden purpose holds you to
+this house, what common bond links you with these people? Who are you,
+what have you done that others should hunt you down, and what are you
+doing now?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl's face blanched swiftly, but her eyes blazed a menace and she
+drew herself up to her full height before him.</p>
+
+<p>"I have listened patiently to your vague melodramatic attack upon my
+employer and her friends, but you have gone too far, Mr. Ross, when you
+extend your mad accusations to me! You have followed me, spied upon me,
+but this final insult is too much to be endured! I must ask you not to
+annoy me again. Let me pass, please!"</p>
+
+<p>He stepped back almost mechanically as with her head proudly erect she
+swept by him and on down the Drive. His gaze followed her until she
+disappeared, his thoughts a chaos of conflicting emotion.</p>
+
+<p>The swift light which had glowed in her eyes at the moment of
+their meeting only to be so quickly effaced, her refusal of his
+proffered hand, the attitude of disdainful aloofness which she has
+maintained, until driven to the wall, and then her simulation of naïve
+innocence—what could these changing moods portend? She had striven
+desperately to disarm his suspicion and when that failed had met him
+with passionate defiance.</p>
+
+<p>If she were innocent of deliberate voluntary complicity in the
+machinations of Mrs. Atterbury, would not a girl in her position have
+welcomed the opportunity of fleeing from such a situation? She must be
+more than a mere tool, and yet....</p>
+
+<p>It could not be true! Her little sensitive face, piquant despite
+its scar, rose once more before his mental vision. Her clear steady
+eyes seemed searching his own, proudly yet piteously imploring. He
+must believe in her! In spite of appearances which would have been
+conclusive proof to any other man, he must have faith to the end.</p>
+
+<p>But why should he disdain that proof if anyone else would have accepted
+it? Why should he believe in her? What was she to him that he must
+struggle to find excuses for her in his own mind, champion her against
+all reason, hold desperately to a blind faith where no grounds for it
+existed?</p>
+
+<p>Then all at once a swift self-revelation came and his heart gave a
+mighty leap within him as he realized at last what had been behind his
+vacillation and final renunciation of the scruples which had governed
+his career. Schemer or dupe, criminal or victim of circumstances, he
+loved her! Her safety meant more to him than his professional honor,
+and were she an adventuress of the deepest dye he still would protect
+her if he could against all the world!</p>
+
+<p>As Ross turned, his foot encountered something soft and yielding upon
+the pavement and glancing downward he saw a twisted wisp of limp tan
+suede. For a moment he regarded it, his face a maze of conflicting
+emotion. Then with a gesture that was almost a caress he stooped,
+picked up the little glove and strode rapidly away.</p>
+
+<p>Betty meanwhile had made her way to the house, with one unguarded
+phrase of his ringing in her ears: "What have you done that others
+should hunt you down?" In spite of her trepidation at the knowledge he
+had revealed of her employer's affairs and the part she had played in
+promoting them, that sentence had brought a glow of warmth, strange and
+inexplicable, to her heart.</p>
+
+<p>Her reverie met with a rude awakening on her arrival. Mrs. Atterbury
+confronted her at the door and one glance at her stern, threatening
+face made Betty's blood turn to water in her veins as she obeyed the
+silent gesture and followed her employer to the library.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury closed the door and faced her.</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been?" There was a menacing undercurrent in the level
+unemotional tones, but the girl chose desperately to ignore it.</p>
+
+<p>"I went for a walk. You gave me permission, Mrs. Atterbury."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is the young man with whom you were talking?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty's eyes opened widely.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know." Her hand had flown to her breast and chance directed
+her fingers to the little brooch she wore. On a swift inspiration she
+added: "I dropped my scarab and he came along and found it for me. I
+thanked him, naturally."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury hesitated eying the girl's candid face keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"You did not enter into conversation with him? He asked you no personal
+questions, did not seek to draw you out about yourself?" The wrath
+had given place to a cautious repressed note, and Betty took instant
+advantage of the hesitancy.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not!" Her tone was the epitome of wounded pride
+and resentment. "I am not in the habit of forming promiscuous
+acquaintances. If I have given you such an impression, Mrs. Atterbury,
+I am very sorry—"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, you must not be offended." A smile curved the set lips and
+her employer laid a conciliatory hand upon her arm. "I spoke only for
+your well being; I feel responsible for you, you know, and a young
+girl cannot be too careful, especially in a huge city like this. Come,
+we will say no more about it, child, but do not talk to strangers upon
+any pretext whatever, and let me know instantly if anyone tries to
+converse with you or engage your attention."</p>
+
+<p>For the rest of the day Betty maintained an attitude of reproachful
+dignity, however, which enabled her to keep to herself and gave her
+ample time to formulate her immediate plans. Events were rapidly
+approaching a crisis, and she realized that not an hour could be lost.</p>
+
+<p>At midnight she stole forth, the half-consumed candle from her
+dressing-table serving in lieu of her electric torch, and was
+descending the stairs, when a dim flickering glow from the music room
+made her pause in affright. She had assured herself that the household
+had long since retired to slumber; who, then, was this nocturnal
+intruder? Could it be Wolvert, lying in wait for her?</p>
+
+<p>Hastily blowing out her candle flame, she crept down the stairs and
+peered cautiously in at the door of the music room. A huge portrait
+of Beethoven covered a central space in the left wall and before it,
+silent and motionless, stood a tall figure in a straight, white gown.</p>
+
+<p>The girl paused in awed amazement; there was something detached
+and remote about the strange apparition, like a worshipper at some
+mysterious shrine. Then, slowly the figure turned and Betty slipped
+quickly behind the shelter of the grand piano's upraised top, a gasp of
+almost superstitious fear escaped her lips.</p>
+
+<p>The strange figure was that of Mrs. Atterbury and her eyes were fixed
+in a glassy unseeing stare. Rigidly as if hypnotized, she moved toward
+the shrinking girl and Betty grasped the truth in a flash of mingled
+horror and relief. The woman was walking in her sleep.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Portrait of Beethoven.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Betty held her breath as the tall figure in flowing white threaded its
+way unerringly among the grouped furniture and passing her so closely
+that she might have stretched forth her hand and touched it, glided
+through the doorway and up the stairs. The light she carried glimmered
+with diminishing radiance until it was suddenly extinguished and there
+came the echo of a softly-closing door.</p>
+
+<p>The girl waited motionless, her very heartbeats stilled for an
+interminable length of time, but the house remained wrapped in utter
+darkness and no sound disturbed the eerie silence.</p>
+
+<p>At last, convinced that the somnambulist had settled once more to rest
+and that no eye but her own had witnessed the weird visitation, Betty
+ventured from her hiding place, and groping her way to the smokers'
+stand, procured a match. Its flame sputtered angrily in her fingers as
+she applied it to her candle and she glanced about her in fresh terror
+lest its stroke had been heard, but the shadows were empty.</p>
+
+<p>With faltering steps she approached the portrait and stood for long
+gazing into the benign eyes which seemed to meet hers with an almost
+living response. What was there about the huge picture which had so
+impressed itself upon her employer's unquiet mind that her subconscious
+instinct drew her to it? Surely not the subject alone, for Mrs.
+Atterbury had never evinced the slightest interest in it in the girl's
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>Betty stepped back a few paces and regarded the portrait critically.
+Including the massive gold frame which surrounded it, the space it
+occupied was approximately five feet by eight or ten, and it had been
+hung with no consideration of the lighting effect, either from window
+or chandelier. The spacing, too, was bad, and its position was far too
+low upon the wall.</p>
+
+<p>Had there been some special design in placing it there? Was it merely
+for ornamental purposes, or did it serve as a screen for something
+behind? Betty thought of the bookcase in the library which swung out,
+masking the safe that had been built into the wall; could it be that
+within a few paces of her another and more secret repository was
+concealed?</p>
+
+<p>The frame appeared as though it had not been moved from its place for
+years, its dull burnished gold seemingly embedded in the wall and the
+ivory tint of the paper behind it was unsullied by even a finger mark.
+She approached the portrait again and held her candle so that its rays
+swept the oiled surface of the painting, bringing out each brush stroke
+in clear relief. No crevice showed in its broad expanse and it seemed
+as securely fastened in its frame as though a part of it.</p>
+
+<p>The portrait in its entirety was too heavy and cumbersome to be moved
+without tackle. If it were indeed a blind for something which lay
+behind, it must be turned by means of leverage on some secret mechanism
+operated with a touch upon a spring or button, but no such article was
+visible.</p>
+
+<p>Betty turned her attention to the frame. It was old-fashioned and
+heavily carved with a continuous scroll-work with innumerable
+protuberances, but none stood out more prominently than the rest and no
+flaw or disjointure appeared to the most minute scrutiny. The raised
+edges of the scrolls and high convex points of the decoration between
+were brightly burnished, the background lustreless and deepened to a
+brownish shade resembling bronze.</p>
+
+<p>The candle had burned low and was guttering in her fingers when Betty
+suddenly observed that one of the smaller knob-like anaglyphs which
+projected from the lower right hand corner of the frame was more highly
+burnished than the others and the gilt seemed worn as if by friction.
+Impulsively she pressed it.</p>
+
+<p>It gave beneath her hand and she stepped back quickly as the portrait
+itself lurched and swung widely out from the frame, grazing her
+shoulder before she could spring aside from its path. At the same
+instant a bell shrilled loudly through the sleeping house and its echo
+had not died away before a hubbub of voices arose from above.</p>
+
+<p>Betty paused only to give a maddened push with all the strength of
+her terror behind it, to the picture which yawned from the wall, then
+turning, she fled wildly to the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>Her candle was extinguished in the sudden draught, but she had found
+the banisters and glided up as swiftly and silently as a ghost. Lights
+appeared behind her as she rounded the corner of the hall, but she
+reached her room without encountering anyone and turned the key softly
+in the lock behind her.</p>
+
+<p>The steady gleam of the live coals in the grate illuminated the
+room with a rosy glow and Betty thrust her candle end deep into
+the smoldering embers. Then, taking a fresh, unused one from the
+many-branched sconce above the mantel, she placed it in the candlestick
+upon her dressing-table from which she had taken the first.</p>
+
+<p>Loosening her robe, she jumped into bed, and pulling the covers about
+her, lay listening to the hubbub outside. She could clearly distinguish
+in the general uproar the high-pitched staccato voice of Madame
+Cimmino and Welch's deep-throated bellow of rage.</p>
+
+<p>The sounds came nearer and she heard a thundering knock upon a door
+down the hall. A startled cry from Mrs. Atterbury answered it and a
+door was slammed back. An excited babel arose once more, and high above
+it Madame Cimmino shrilled:</p>
+
+<p>"It was you! You have walked again! See, here is your candle half
+burned and still warm, and there are drops of wax upon the floor before
+the picture. Would you ruin us all that you will not have a guard at
+night?"</p>
+
+<p>Another murmur, and then the voice of Wolvert, smooth and silky,
+dominated the others.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all right, Marcia. The portrait is back in its place. You must
+have closed it before you came upstairs, although it is a mystery to
+me how you reached your room so quickly. I thought somnambulists moved
+step by step, but you must have fairly flown. I wonder that the alarm
+did not awaken you, or our lights and yells, but at least no harm has
+been done."</p>
+
+<p>His last words conveyed a swift suggestion to the girl's mind, and
+lest she court suspicion by effacing herself, she sprang from bed, and
+switching on the lights, opened the door.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter? Is anyone ill?" She blinked realistically in the
+sudden glare and her clear, young voice rang out above the others.
+Madame Cimmino turned like an avenging fury.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it to you?" she screamed. "Go back to your bed and do not
+meddle! <i>Sancta Maria!</i> Must we find you always at our heels? This
+comes of admitting an outsider—"</p>
+
+<p>"Speranza, you are beside yourself!" Mrs. Atterbury's voice, poised
+and dominant once more, broke in sternly. "You have been startled, I
+know, but that does not excuse your lack of self-control. Everything is
+quite all right, Betty. Welch happened to touch one of the wires of the
+burglar alarm and aroused the house. Don't allow it to disturb you, it
+was just a stupid mistake."</p>
+
+<p>Betty closed her door with a little sigh of relief for her narrow
+escape, and the confusion of voices in the hall gradually subsided
+until silence reigned once more. Mrs. Atterbury's burned candle and
+the wax which had fallen from her own combined to form unassailable
+if falsely corroborative evidence that her employer alone had been in
+the music room, and Betty breathed a prayer of thankfulness for the
+fortuitous chance which had saved her from exposure. The portrait of
+Beethoven was before her eyes when she at length fell asleep, and in
+the darkness, as her heavy lids closed, she seemed again to see it
+swing from its massive frame and in the aperture loomed that which she
+had scarcely noted in the excitement of the moment; the dull sheen of
+a sheet of steel, with the combination knob in the center. The safe was
+there as she had suspected, but would chance, which had served her so
+well that night, enable her to glimpse what lay within it?</p>
+
+<p>Her first waking thought reverted to it in the morning, but when she
+descended at the sound of the breakfast gong she sensed a new tension
+in the atmosphere which put her instantly on her guard.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury was in her accustomed place at the head of the table but
+she avoided the girl's eyes as she bade her good morning and her level
+tones were oddly shaken. Welch turned from the sideboard at the sound
+of her voice and the silver dish-cover which he held clattered to the
+floor. His face was pasty and gray and he stared at Betty in a sort of
+horror until a sharp word from his hostess sent him hastily about his
+duties.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino pushed back her plate abruptly and swept from the room
+as the girl seated herself, and Wolvert glanced up with a nod, but his
+usually facile tongue was stilled and his eyes seemed to blaze as they
+rested upon her. Into his expression Betty read a shadow of that terror
+which had lurked there on two previous occasions and when she turned in
+growing wonder to her employer she found stamped upon her face also a
+look of dazed consternation akin to fear.</p>
+
+<p>She drank her coffee and essayed to eat with her face averted, feeling
+that their eyes were fixed upon her in an intensity which seemed to
+burn into her consciousness. Had they discovered some clue to her
+presence in the music room on the previous night? Did they know that
+it was she who had tampered with the portrait and were they even now
+planning her punishment?</p>
+
+<p>The food choked her and the ghastly pretense of a meal seemed unending,
+but at last Mrs. Atterbury rose.</p>
+
+<p>"You need not attend to the mail this morning, my dear." She tried to
+speak casually, but the odd quaver persisted in her tones. "I shall be
+too busy to dictate replies, and it will have to wait until another
+time. There is a pile of mending in the sewing room, however, which I
+wish you would go over carefully."</p>
+
+<p>Betty accepted her dismissal and ascended to the secluded room on the
+top floor, where she spent a lonely and anxious morning. The hours
+dragged and the silence wrought upon her nerves until she bit her lips
+to keep from shrieking out in the sheer agony of protracted suspense.
+Why were they waiting to visit their vengeance upon her if they were
+assured of her guilt? Anything would be better than this hideous
+uncertainty.</p>
+
+<p>That the task which had been arranged for her was the most transparent
+of subterfuges for getting her out of the way became apparent when
+she examined the work laid out upon the table. The linen was of the
+coarsest variety, evidently from the servants' quarters, and it had
+long outlived its usefulness. It was yellowed, too, and creased, as
+though it had been laid away, forgotten in some musty recess, and she
+made but little progress, her thread tearing through the frail, worn
+fabric with each stitch.</p>
+
+<p>What was going on below? Her window opened upon a rear view and from it
+she could see only the tops of the cedars, and the garage roof, but no
+sound of a motor approaching or leaving the house came to her in her
+solitude and she felt cut off from all the world.</p>
+
+<p>The silence within doors remained unbroken, save once when she fancied
+that the echo of faint, hysterical sobbing reached her ears, but she
+could not be sure that her overstrained nerves were not playing her
+false.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually the conviction grew within her that the ill-suppressed
+excitement and dismay were due to some cause other than the event of
+the night before, yet something which concerned her vitally. She could
+not forget the glances of horror and fear which had been directed
+at her. What could it be? What contingency had arisen of which she
+herself was in ignorance, yet which wrought the others to a condition
+bordering on panic? Was it that through her they dreaded interference
+and possible disaster from an outside source?</p>
+
+<p>Betty anticipated that her lunch would be brought to her and her
+virtual isolation continued indefinitely, and she was surprised when
+Welch came to summon her to the meal. He still regarded her furtively
+and his huge, hairy hands clenched and unclenched as he stood before
+her. She gazed at them, repelled yet fascinated as if she could feel
+them already closing about her throat. Had they wielded the knife which
+had slain Breckinridge? She passed him with a shudder and descended.</p>
+
+<p>A further surprise awaited her; there was a marked change in the
+attitude of Mrs. Atterbury and her guests. The former was again her
+well-poised self, serene and calmly detached. Madame Cimmino exhibited
+a volatile gayety of temperament bordering on hysteria and Wolvert was
+in his most reckless, brilliant vein.</p>
+
+<p>Sheer amazement held the girl dumb before his raillery, but she made
+a supreme effort to flog her failing spirit into a response to the
+general lightness of mood, forced though she instinctively knew it to
+be. The hour passed more easily than Betty could have dared to hope
+and at its conclusion as she paused in the doorway, uncertain whether
+to return to her task or await other instructions, Mrs. Atterbury came
+and slipped her arm in the girl's in a rare gesture that was almost a
+caress.</p>
+
+<p>"Come up to my sitting-room, my dear. I have a suggestion to make to
+you which I think will please you very much, and we will have an
+opportunity to talk privately there."</p>
+
+<p>Betty turned obediently and side by side they went up the stair. In
+spite of the indulgent tone, the girl was filled with foreboding, but
+Mrs. Atterbury was still smiling as she closed the door and motioned
+Betty to a low chair near the window.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to speak to you, Betty, about the birthmark on your cheek."
+She began without preface. "I am afraid that you must have thought me
+needlessly tyrannical in ordering you to go unveiled, but it was the
+only way to put a stop to the self-consciousness which was growing upon
+you and would only have increased until your life became a burden.
+When I engaged you, you assured me that you did not mind the mark, and
+scarcely ever thought of it, but you were unaccustomed to the city and
+did not realize that strangers will stare at anything unusual in your
+appearance. Have you ever made an attempt to have the blemish removed?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty gazed at her in wordless astonishment for a moment before she
+found her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, but it could not be done, and the doctors tell me that only
+a worse disfigurement would result from tampering with it. I did try
+once, but I hurt myself dreadfully. I really don't mind going unveiled
+now, Mrs. Atterbury."</p>
+
+<p>"But you would be glad if the blemish did not exist?" Her tone was
+beguilingly insinuating. "It cannot be wholly eradicated, of course,
+but I have learned of a method of treatment by which it could be
+rendered almost invisible. I was interested on your account, child, and
+procured the necessary materials. I have them here."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, please, no!" Betty cried in genuine alarm. "I would not dare use
+acids or anything of that sort! When I attempted it before, it nearly
+caused blood-poisoning. Nothing could induce me to expose myself to
+such danger a second time."</p>
+
+<p>"But, my dear, this is absolutely harmless. Do you think I would
+suggest or even permit you to run any risk of injury?" She opened a
+drawer of her dressing-table and took from it several small jars and
+a camel's hair brush. "It does not act upon the birthmark itself and
+would not irritate the most sensitive skin. It is merely a covering
+which almost defies detection. This solution of wax forms a sort of
+enamel and the other jars contain merely paint to produce a natural
+effect. I do not approve of cosmetics for young girls on general
+principles, but this is a different matter, and you will marvel at the
+result. The birthmark will seem to have disappeared absolutely."</p>
+
+<p>"But won't that militate against my usefulness, Mrs. Atterbury?" The
+girl looked unflinchingly into her eyes. "The people you send me to
+meet identify me by means of this mark. How will they recognize me if
+it is covered?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury drew her breath in sharply between her teeth, and her
+fingers tightened about the little jar, but she replied coolly:</p>
+
+<p>"You will not be called upon to go on any errands of that sort for some
+time to come. In describing your appearance the scar was naturally
+mentioned but it is not essential for your identification. Remember
+I am not asking you to hide it solely for your own benefit, Betty. I
+find that it has a disagreeable effect upon my guests and those about
+us in the household and I am considering their feelings as well as
+yours when I insist that you disguise it as much as possible. This may
+seem brutally frank to you, but you know that the blemish makes no
+difference to me personally, nor to anyone who really cares for you.
+Come, sit here, and let me show you what a magical change I can effect."</p>
+
+<p>Betty drew back and stood very straight and tall before her employer.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry, Mrs. Atterbury, but I cannot allow anyone to touch my
+face. You are very kind to have taken this interest in me and I
+appreciate it. I will gladly accept the preparations and use them
+myself if you will give me the directions, but if anyone else attempted
+it I should go mad with nervous torture. I hope you understand; I may
+seem abnormally sensitive to you, but I really could not endure it."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury, with a shrug, capitulated:</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, my dear, you must do as you like, of course. The directions
+are upon each jar. Use it this afternoon and let me see at dinner how
+much it has improved your appearance."</p>
+
+<p>Betty took the articles murmuring her thanks and went to her own room.
+There she carefully extracted a small quantity of their contents from
+each of the jars, wrapped it in paper and burnt it in the grate. This
+done she seated herself before her dressing-table, and with cosmetics
+of her own applied herself to her task.</p>
+
+<p>She worked long and painstakingly, but at length the result was
+achieved to her satisfaction and she sat back and surveyed herself in
+the mirror.</p>
+
+<p>The mark was almost obliterated, only the faintest shadow of deeper
+color showing beneath the rose-pink glow which tinted her cheeks from
+brow to neck, and with the disfigurement banished her whole expression
+changed. It was as if a different personality were reflected before
+her, and Betty's first gleam of pleasure at her handiwork gave place to
+a little frown of doubt and uncertainty, not unmixed with trepidation.
+What motive lay behind this suggestion from Mrs. Atterbury?</p>
+
+<p>At dusk when Betty descended the stairs she discovered a man standing
+in the shadowed doorway of the drawing-room. At first she though it
+was Wolvert, but a second glance showed that the intruder was of more
+slender build and younger, and his face seemed overspread with an
+unhealthy greenish pallor.</p>
+
+<p>He stood motionless staring glassily at her and when she was half way
+down he stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you? What are you doing here?" His high-pitched quavering
+voice shrilled just as the firelight fell full upon his face, and Betty
+recognized him at once. It was the pale, overdressed, foppish youth
+of the dinner party on the night when Wolvert had uttered his strange
+toast.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ide! Don't you remember me? I am Mrs. Atterbury's companion."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh—er—of course! Stupid of me, but my nerves are a bit on edge and
+seeing you so suddenly in the half-light—"</p>
+
+<p>His voice trailed off into silence and he still stood with his eyes
+fixed in wondering perplexity on her face.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a natural mistake, Mr. Ide. You are waiting for Mrs. Atterbury?
+I will go to her—"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Welch has taken my message." He spoke as if dazed. "It is
+extraordinary, but do you know I fancied for a moment that you were
+someone else? There was something about you, Miss—Miss—"</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Betty Shaw," the girl interrupted quietly. "I happen to
+be of quite a usual type, I believe, except for this birthmark on my
+cheek. I have powdered it over tonight, so it is no wonder you did not
+recognize me at once. No doubt Mrs. Atterbury will be down in a few
+minutes."</p>
+
+<p>She nodded and turning abruptly entered the library, leaving the young
+man gazing after her with vacant eyes, and jaws agape.</p>
+
+<p>The library was empty and in darkness, even the hearth fire having
+died, and a chill dampness pervaded the air. Betty switched on the
+lights and looked about her. The morning's correspondence was still
+heaped untouched upon the desk, but the rest of the room was in order
+save that a huge mass of fluffy charred fragments, as of burned paper,
+choked the chimney opening, smothering the logs beneath.</p>
+
+<p>What could have been destroyed there in such quantities? The whole
+contents of desk and safe combined would not have produced such a
+mound of ashes. She took up the poker and stirred them about idly, her
+thoughts reverting to the strange manner of the young man in the hall,
+when all at once a scrap of paper fluttered from the rest which showed
+a gleam of white. It was part of the upper half of a news-sheet; the
+date of that morning was plainly visible at the top and just beneath it
+the fragment of a sentence in double heading type caught her eye:</p>
+
+<p class="ph3">"Police Find Promising Clue to B—<br>
+Looking For Girl With Scar—"</p>
+
+<p>Betty dropped the paper as if it burned her.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Closing Net.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>A light tapping, faint but insistent came to Betty's ears in the midst
+of her consternation and her hands dropped to her sides as she turned
+quickly from the hearth. The sound was brittle and crisp rather than
+metallic and seemed to come from the window which showed a square black
+void against the light of the room.</p>
+
+<p>As she approached, however, a face appeared out of the surrounding
+gloom and flattened itself against the pane. It was that of a man,
+youthful and clean shaven, with a cap pulled low over his eyes, and
+as he perceived that he had succeeded in attracting her attention, he
+beckoned eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Betty hesitated but as he repeated the gesture with anxious impatience,
+she walked over to the window and opened it.</p>
+
+<p>"Good evening, Miss. I had Demon out for a bit of a run just now and he
+got away from me. I whistled and whistled but he didn't come back and
+finally I found him out by the gate jumping all around a strange man.
+It was funny, for he's pretty fierce usually; you're the only one he's
+taken to that I can remember. Then I saw that the young fellow had a
+glove in his hand, that he was making Demon jump for; this glove, Miss.
+Is it yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes!" Betty stammered, flushing warmly. It was the glove she
+had dropped during her last stormy interview with Herbert Ross. Her
+companion she had recognized at once as Demon's keeper whom she
+encountered on the afternoon when the dog rescued her from Wolvert's
+unwelcome attentions. "Did he give it to you for me?"</p>
+
+<p>"And something else besides. We got talking and he asked would I give
+you the glove and this letter. He said it was very private and I was
+to tell nobody, but put it in your own hands the first chance I got,
+so I come straight here and nosed around until I saw you over by the
+fire-place."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" Betty seized the envelope and thrust it in her breast. "I
+will see that you are well paid—"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that's all right, Miss. The young gentleman fixed me up, but I'd
+have done it anyway. Demon's a good judge of character, he is! I'll
+beat it now, Miss. It's as much as my place is worth to be seen around
+here."</p>
+
+<p>He vanished into the darkness and Betty closed the window and sank into
+the chair before the desk. The letter lay like a living hand upon her
+heart and she longed for solitude and security to read it in peace,
+but Mrs. Atterbury's voice sounded from the hall and she knew that at
+any moment the others would descend for dinner. Why had Ross taken this
+desperate chance to communicate with her? Was it to implore forgiveness
+for his accusation, or in final warning of disaster?</p>
+
+<p>She fumbled at her breast in a desperate impulse to brave discovery if
+necessary but to glean at all costs the purport of his message, when
+the door opened and Welch stood on the threshold, announcing dinner.</p>
+
+<p>How she managed to struggle through the hour that followed she could
+scarcely remember. The expression of half-startled amazement with which
+the others greeted her changed appearance and the awkward attempt to
+bridge over their surprise lingered but vaguely in her thoughts. She
+could feel their gaze turning to her again and again in the pauses of
+the disjointed conversation, but she kept her face assiduously averted,
+fearing lest they read in her eyes the knowledge she had gained from
+the charred fragment of paper.</p>
+
+<p>To her relief Mrs. Atterbury dismissed her as soon as the meal was
+concluded, drawing her aside at the foot of the stairs to whisper
+commendingly:</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, the improvement is marvellous, as I told you it would be.
+Use the wax regularly in future and you will have no cause to pity
+yourself, I can assure you. No one would believe there was a blemish
+beneath the rouge which you have so cleverly applied, but be careful
+not to overdo it. Your coloring is just a little too brilliant tonight."</p>
+
+<p>Betty glanced at herself hurriedly in the mirror when she reached
+the privacy of her room. Her eyes glittered and her cheeks burned
+feverishly beneath the artificial glow. With trembling fingers she drew
+the envelope from its hiding place and broke the seal.</p>
+
+<p>"Come to me"—it began without form of address, "—if you value your
+safety. I will wait near the gate until midnight. Don't delay, for the
+danger of which I told you is culminating and any hour may precipitate
+the crisis when it will be beyond my power to help or warn you."</p>
+
+<p>The brief note was unsigned and the flowing characteristic hand was
+unfamiliar to her, but no question of evading the command entered her
+thoughts. She must get to him, though it meant running the gauntlet of
+sharp eyes and ears below, and actual peril should she be discovered.
+She threw a dark cloak over her dinner gown, determined if she were
+intercepted to plead a headache and the desire for a turn in the fresh
+air before retiring. Once clear of the house she feared nothing for
+she knew that Demon was held in wholesome awe by even the redoubtable
+Welch. The only danger would be that the dog himself might spring upon
+her in the dark, but that risk she must face.</p>
+
+<p>Opening her door softly, Betty listened to the low murmur of voices
+from below. It seemed to come from the music room, and she waited until
+she had distinguished each voice and assured herself that all three of
+Mrs. Atterbury's guests were with her before venturing down the hall.</p>
+
+<p>The main staircase was out of the question and she chose the one at the
+rear. It descended to the servants' quarters, but she knew that the
+cook had long since retired and the rattle of silverware told her that
+Welch was busied in the dining-room. There remained only Caroline to be
+considered and she was seldom in evidence at this hour.</p>
+
+<p>Betty moved to the head of the stairs and listened again intently.
+No sound penetrated from the lower regions of the house and the hall
+light was dim. Cautiously, with her heart pounding in her throat, she
+descended to a narrow landing midway of the staircase, when the kitchen
+door was suddenly opened emitting a broad stream of light and Caroline
+appeared, bearing a steaming pitcher.</p>
+
+<p>Trapped, Betty glanced wildly about her and saw a small door at the
+left of the landing. Flinging it open she sprang into the black void
+beyond, her forehead striking smartly against the edge of a shelf.
+As she grasped it to steady herself her fingers came in contact with
+glass jars placed solidly in rows; evidently she had stumbled into a
+store-closet.</p>
+
+<p>Behind her she heard slow heavy steps mounting the stairs and she
+scarcely breathed as they paused on the landing within arm's length
+of her refuge. Had the woman seen her? But even as the fear gripped
+her, Betty heard the complaining creak of the stairs once more and the
+ponderous tread ascended, diminishing to silence along the upper hall.</p>
+
+<p>Waiting no longer, she slipped from the closet and fairly flew down to
+the kitchen. Welch had not yet made his rounds and the heavy back door,
+unlatched, swung wide at her touch. With a sob of thankfulness she
+found herself out in the pine-scented darkness, with only the whisper
+of the wind in the evergreens and the distant shriek of whistles upon
+the river to break the silence. She was free!</p>
+
+<p>There was a low light in the upper story of the garage and with it to
+guide her she sped around the corner of the house on the opposite side
+from that on which the music room was located, crouching low beneath
+the window sills and darting from one sheltering clump of trees to
+another. She found the path but the darkness confused her and more than
+once she strayed from it to strike against a wide spreading branch or
+sink to her knees in a tangle of underbrush.</p>
+
+<p>The distance seemed interminable to the gate, and Betty was commencing
+to fear that she had lost her way when a low rumbling growl reached her
+ears, and a cautious masculine voice, silencing it, brought a soft
+little cry from her own lips.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew it must be you!"</p>
+
+<p>Although they had parted in bitterness and anger she seemed to have
+forgotten it, for her hand reached out and found his in the black void
+of the night.</p>
+
+<p>For a long minute they stood silently together, then a pleading paw
+raked at her knee, and Demon's eyes glistened up to her in reproachful
+greeting. With a murmured laugh that was half a sob Betty released her
+hand and stooping, patted the great shaggy head.</p>
+
+<p>"You had my note?" Ross's tone was breathless. "I thought that fellow
+was to be trusted! The dog came to me a half-hour ago but he remembered
+my voice and I kept him here for fear he would mistake you in the
+dark and attack you. You must listen to me. Whatever you think of me,
+whether you are still resentful or not makes no difference now. You are
+in frightful danger and you must escape from these people while you
+can. Come! We have no time to lose. There is a car waiting around the
+corner and your absence from the house may be discovered at any moment."</p>
+
+<p>Betty slowly drew back.</p>
+
+<p>"Come where?" she asked. "My place is here."</p>
+
+<p>"Here? In this den of criminals? Here to wait until the house is
+surrounded and you are captured with the rest to face the hideous
+ignominy of a trial? Do you know what you are guilty of in the eyes
+of the law? Not only compounding a felony but being accessory after
+the fact to a murder! Not the most adroit counsel could save you from
+imprisonment, if not worse!"</p>
+
+<p>"Murder!" Betty's voice was a mere whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know that a man was done to death beneath that roof even while
+it sheltered you? That the police and every detective in the country
+have been moving heaven and earth to find a clue to his murderers and
+a trail has been picked up which leads unmistakably here? Even if you
+know nothing about it you must have seen it in the papers; they've
+been full of the case for nearly three weeks, ever since the body was
+found—"</p>
+
+<p>"I know." She spoke in unguarded haste. "You mean Breckinridge. I saw
+his picture in a paper which I bought downtown and I recognized him—"</p>
+
+<p>"Recognized him!" repeated Ross, aghast. "Do you mean that you were
+dragged into even this? You knew him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I saw him once." Betty hesitated and then went on impetuously as if
+glad to rid herself of the hideous burden she had borne so long. "I
+came downstairs alone at midnight, and I found him lying dead upon the
+floor. I don't know how he got in or who killed him. There wasn't the
+slightest trace left in the morning and it all seemed like an awful
+dream."</p>
+
+<p>Ross groaned.</p>
+
+<p>"And you told no one? You kept it to yourself and stayed on? Good
+God, what is it that has held you here? What obsession controls
+you, stronger than the fear of death!! How could you, a tender,
+highly-strung girl, force yourself to intimate association with
+desperate criminals whom you knew had not hesitated to take human life?
+What manner of woman are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," Betty answered truthfully enough. "If anyone had told
+me that I could endure what I have gone through I should have fancied
+them quite mad, but I have not given up my purpose and I cannot leave
+while a single chance remains for its fulfillment. You must think what
+you please of me. I shall not attempt to explain or defend myself to
+you, and if the worst comes and I am taken with the others, I will face
+the consequences. No one can help me, and no one can stop me."</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to take you away now, tonight, if I have to do it by force!"
+Ross spoke through set teeth. "I know who you are and everything about
+you except the mission which brought you here, and that I can guess. I
+mean to save you from yourself and the result of your mad recklessness!"</p>
+
+<p>"You know?" Betty echoed faintly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my dear, give it up and come away with me!" He had drawn close to
+her and the thrilling tenderness in his tone made the blood leap in her
+veins. "I will take you where you will be safe, where not a breath of
+this hideous monster of crime can touch you. You are the bravest little
+woman in the world but you are acting from a mistaken sense of loyalty,
+I know, I feel it. Dear, I love you! Whatever you think of me, whatever
+the future may hold, I love you! When I have seemed to be hounding you
+down I was trying always to protect you. Before I knew the truth, when
+everything seemed blackest against you and I believed the worst I loved
+you. Criminal or not, I wanted to hold you against all the world! Won't
+you trust me, dear? Won't you let me save you while there is yet time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, please!" Betty cried a trifle breathlessly. "You cannot realize
+what you are saying. You know nothing of me, nothing, and as to my
+leaving here, I—I am not free to go."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you think that I will allow you to remain here another hour?"
+he cried. "Do you think that I will let you face this unspeakable
+danger, you whom I love?—For I do love you, Betty! Whether you believe
+me or not, whether you listen or turn from me, I love you! That is
+why I trusted you from the first, believed in you when appearances
+were blackest, had faith, blindly, instinctively against reason and
+logic and circumstantial evidence of the most conclusive kind! The
+net is closing around this horrible high priestess of crime and her
+accomplices; it will be only a matter of hours now before the end. Oh,
+my dear, drive this mad, quixotic idea from your thoughts and come with
+me!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty slowly retreated a step or two from him.</p>
+
+<p>"I do believe in you—in your friendship, I mean. I know that you want
+to help me, that you have my interests, my very safety at heart and I
+am grateful. But there is something stronger than the fear of death.
+Don't make it any harder for me than it is. I realize my position; I
+know the danger in which I stand alone, the end that waits for me if
+they discover my purpose, or the consequences if the police come. And
+still I must remain! No power on earth can move me!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't believe you do fully realize your danger!" Ross pleaded. "I
+did not mean to tell you, I did not want to frighten you until I had
+taken you to a place of safety, but dear, you must know the truth. It
+is not the Atterbury creature or the others of her gang for whom the
+police are searching, but you—you! The newspapers today fairly blazed
+with it and every detective in the city is out after 'the girl with the
+scar'! Do you know what you have been doing, what you have been guilty
+of on these commissions as the tool of this woman?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered Betty quietly. "I knew, but if I had refused, someone
+else would have gone in my place and I would have been dismissed, my
+own plan thwarted. I suppose I was hard and bitter, but it seemed to
+me that the ends justified any means. Those people came voluntarily
+to meet me; they had an alternative but they made their choice. If I
+had gone to the police myself I would not only have defeated my own
+purpose, but theirs also. Let the detectives search for the girl with
+the scar! I am safe until they trace me here and by that time I may
+have succeeded in my plan. No one can know where I am to be found but
+you, and I am not afraid that you will betray me!"</p>
+
+<p>"But I have!" he groaned. "My chief knows. As a private detective
+myself I was employed in the first place to find you, you can guess by
+whom. My chief learned that I was on the trail of a girl with a scar
+and he thinks I've double-crossed him and gone crooked in trying to
+protect you. He's honest and he's got bull-dog courage; you can't bluff
+him or buy him."</p>
+
+<p>"Not even with information?" Betty asked on a swift inspiration. "Will
+he hold off for only a day or two, just to give me another chance, if
+you can tell him something that will be of great value to him?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, dear? What have you learned?" The question sprang
+eagerly from his lips. "I could not bribe McCormick, but I might stall
+him until I can take you out of his reach—"</p>
+
+<p>"McCormick!" A sentence she had read a week before stood out across the
+girl's consciousness in letters of fire. "Listen! There's a man who
+uses the title of Professor—Professor Stolz, they called him here—who
+has just been arrested in Chicago."</p>
+
+<p>Ross uttered a startled exclamation, but she went on:</p>
+
+<p>"I believe he has escaped or broken parole before, because he is being
+held on an old verdict concerning someone named Hamilton, but your
+Mr. McCormick is trying to find new evidence against him. He's an
+accomplice of Mrs. Atterbury and the evidence is in this house. Have
+you ever heard of a woman called 'The Comet'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes! Maisie Larne! She was murdered in Denver, in a fit of jealousy,
+by a man nicknamed 'Red' Rathbone—"</p>
+
+<p>"She was murdered because she sold out Mrs. Atterbury's accomplice,
+this person called 'Red,' to detectives in Laramie, Wyoming, and they
+communicated with the federal authorities in Washington, and spoiled
+that particular plot. 'Red' escaped to Denver, she followed him and she
+was killed by a man known as 'Bud'—"</p>
+
+<p>"Bud Malone! And we never suspected it! The Chief will get him—"</p>
+
+<p>"He's on his way to Japan," interrupted Betty.</p>
+
+<p>"Then he is as good as in our hands! We will have all the ports watched
+and he can't escape," Ross cried. Then impetuously he held out his
+hands to her. "I can't endure it that all this hideous knowledge should
+have come to you! It is as if you were being steeped in defilement! You
+know that you can trust me! Tell me what this impossible task is which
+you have set your hand to. Let me undertake it for you, let me bear the
+burden!"</p>
+
+<p>"Please, please don't ask me! You cannot help me, no one can. I must
+see it through alone!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then you—you mean that I am to leave you here?" His arms dropped to
+his sides. "Nothing can move you? I may not even stay to protect you,
+lest I draw suspicion upon you! I can't! No man could leave the woman
+he loved in such peril! What if I were to take you away now by sheer
+force?"</p>
+
+<p>"But you will not." Betty spoke softly but with absolute finality. "I
+trusted you, I came to you here because you asked it, you will not take
+advantage of my faith to destroy it. And you must not mention—love.
+I am grateful to you for risking your chief's displeasure, your very
+career for my sake, but I must stand alone. There is stern work ahead
+of me and I shall succeed; I feel it in my very heart and nothing can
+make me turn from that which lies before me."</p>
+
+<p>Herbert Ross drew a deep breath and his voice was husky with pent-up
+emotion as he said solemnly:</p>
+
+<p>"Then may God keep you, dear! It may be that you are right; such
+bravery as yours should have its reward, no matter what your object may
+be. Remember that day and night I shall be on guard as near as I can
+get to you without bringing harm upon your head. Take this and wear it;
+do not leave it for an instant out of reach, and if danger threatens
+you blow as loudly as you can upon it. A man will be stationed where
+he can hear it and pass the signal along, and you will find me at your
+side. I must not keep you now, but God! how I dread to let you go back
+into their clutches!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty fingered the slender chain he had placed about her neck. A
+whistle hung upon it and she thrust it quickly beneath her cloak.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not forget, nor be afraid, knowing that you are here. I am
+glad, too, that you do not think me a criminal, even if I have broken
+the law. When I thought that you were trailing me, spying upon me, I
+felt that I hated you, but now—"</p>
+
+<p>"'Now'?" he repeated gently, as she hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>"I am deeply grateful, and we—we shall be friends." Betty held out her
+hand once more, but shyly this time. "Thank you, oh, thank you for all
+that you have done for me, for all that you would do, and—goodnight."</p>
+
+<p>He took her small hand in both his own and held it tightly for a
+moment without words. Then she slowly withdrew it and turning moved off
+into the darkness with the great dog trotting noiselessly at her heels.</p>
+
+<p>For the first time since she had entered that house her spirit was
+light within her and a great peace and contentment filled her heart.
+Despite the danger in which she stood, all fear had fallen from her,
+for was not he there, on guard? Surely nothing would harm her now, no
+power of darkness or evil would touch her while he waited there, while
+that little whistle hung about her neck to summon him to her aid. He
+had believed in her when all the world would have doubted, because he
+cared for her. And she?</p>
+
+<p>Betty stopped in the wintry path and her clasped hands flew to her
+breast. What could this strange feeling of happiness mean, which had
+come to her in the face of her danger, and why had that danger itself
+become minimized at the mere thought of his watchful presence. Why did
+she trust him so wholly? Could it be that her faith, her trust in turn,
+was rooted in something deeper than friendship?</p>
+
+<p>Even as she asked herself the question, the girl's own heart, awakened
+and singing, gave her answer. It was love!</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Turned Tables.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Betty reached the house in safety but there an unforeseen difficulty
+confronted her. In her haste to obey the summons, she had given no
+thought as to how she might gain re-entrance, if Welch had made his
+rounds and locked up for the night. She knew with what caution the
+house was guarded and if she encountered one of the alarm wires all
+would be lost. Even that would presuppose a window or door left
+unfastened and that was a contingency too remote to be considered.</p>
+
+<p>The lower floor was still lighted and moving shadows blurred against
+the curtains of the windows as she skirted the side of the house on
+which the music room was located. Betty had taken no account of time
+but she felt that it must be very late and it was with a forlorn hope
+that she tried the kitchen door.</p>
+
+<p>To her surprise it yielded against her hand and she pushed it slowly
+open, halting upon the threshold in sudden dread. A low light was still
+burning in the room and she saw a man seated at the table. His head
+rested upon his outflung arms and from where the girl stood she could
+hear his heavy stertorous breathing. The face was turned sidewise
+toward her and she had no difficulty in recognizing Welch, although
+his expression was oddly distorted and his heavy jowls were tinged a
+mottled purplish hue.</p>
+
+<p>Betty tiptoed past him, scarcely daring to breathe, but he did not
+awaken and his rasping snore followed her as she fled silently up
+the stair. Her own room was reached at last and bolting the door she
+removed her damp, chilling garments, heavy with the night's dew and
+prepared for the task which remained to her when the household should
+finally retire.</p>
+
+<p>The slender chain clung reassuringly to her neck and she drew out
+the little whistle and examined it. It was of silver, delicately
+chased, and bore upon a plain oval shield the initials H. R. It seemed
+incredible that so fragile and toylike an instrument could summon aid
+and yet upon it might sometime depend life or death for her. It was
+Ross's own that he had given to her, and she pressed it to her breast
+fervently as though it were a talisman to keep all danger and evil from
+her.</p>
+
+<p>The hour dragged, but at length she heard the rustle of feet upon the
+stair and a murmur of voices which grew less and less as doors closed
+until silence fell once more.</p>
+
+<p>Betty was in a fever of impatience, but she resolutely fixed her eyes
+upon the tiny clock on the mantel and waited in an excess of caution
+until the hands pointed to half-past one. Then with her dark robe
+girded about her and her felt-covered feet making no sound, she opened
+her door.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment she started back in amazement. A chair had been placed
+a short distance down the hall near the entrance to Mrs. Atterbury's
+bedroom but it was empty and an oddly huddled figure lay beside it upon
+the floor. It was a woman, collapsed as though she had been overcome by
+slumber and slipped from her chair, but there was something about the
+inert, helpless figure and hoarse stertorous breath not unlike that of
+the other downstairs which warned Betty that this was no ordinary sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Holding her breath she drew near the recumbent form and recognized
+Caroline. The woman's face was empurpled like that of Welch and her
+relaxed chin had fallen upon her breast giving her an expression of
+repellant brutish vacuity. Betty had always considered her a stolid
+unintelligent creature whose chief virtue was faithfulness, but now it
+was as if something malevolent and bestial had made itself manifest,
+betraying her real nature in her unconsciousness.</p>
+
+<p>Hesitating no longer, Betty stole to the stairs and was descending as
+on the previous night, when again a light in the music room warned
+her of an alien presence. This time, however, it was not dim and
+flickering but a slender, dazzlingly brilliant ray, like the dart of a
+rapier, which swept the doorway in a flash and was gone, leaving behind
+a shimmering hazy glow.</p>
+
+<p>Betty crept down, her unlighted candle and box of matches clutched to
+her breast. The glow still remained as that of a searchlight which has
+been shifted in another direction and while she paused breathless, the
+clink of metal and a low-muttered ejaculation in an unknown masculine
+voice came to her ears.</p>
+
+<p>Step by step, with her heart fluttering like a wild thing, the girl
+advanced to the doorway and cautiously reconnoitred. The portrait of
+Beethoven was in its place, but before it knelt a man in rough dark
+clothes, the soles of his boots upturned and glistening with fresh
+gobbets of mud. A canvas bag open on the floor beside him displayed
+odd shapes of metal whose edges caught the light, and the bull's-eye
+lantern in the intruder's hand cast a steady stream of radiance about
+the benign pictured face above.</p>
+
+<p>While his back was still turned, Betty slipped silently across the
+doorsill and to her hiding place of the night before where she crouched
+peering out from beneath the upraised piano top. The man was passing
+his hands hurriedly over the lower part of the frame, grunting in his
+impatience as the secret spring eluded his search. Once he turned his
+head slightly and she caught a glimpse of a heavy, protruding, unshaven
+jaw and flattened nose. The low visor of his cap concealed the forehead
+and eyes, but the profile was startling in its ferocity and sullen
+strength.</p>
+
+<p>Although she realized that the clumsy fingers might at any moment touch
+the knob and a shrill alarm peal through the house the girl lingered,
+held by a slender thread of hope. Welch was sleeping, perhaps drugged,
+and there was a chance that he might not have attached the alarm system
+for the night before unconsciousness descended upon him. In that case,
+if she could but remain undiscovered until the burglar had accomplished
+his purpose and was gone, she could examine the rifled safe for herself.</p>
+
+<p>"You're ahead of time, Mike. Admiring the portrait?" A low, sarcastic
+drawl sounded from the doorway and the man turned with an oath, holding
+something in his free hand which glittered ominously. Betty cowered
+back, her fluttering heart still and cold within her breast.</p>
+
+<p>Leaning nonchalantly against the wall by the door, his hands in the
+pockets of his dressing gown and his dark face wreathed with a derisive
+smile, stood Jack Wolvert.</p>
+
+<p>The man before the picture swore again, but in a relieved fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mind taking chances, do you?" he growled. "I might have
+plugged you full of holes without lookin' first."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no you wouldn't!" retorted Wolvert amiably. "If you'd been quick
+on the trigger you wouldn't have done your stretch at St. Quentin.
+Nifty portrait that, isn't it? Serves a two-fold purpose; immortalizes
+the likeness of the gentleman who composed what may be your funeral
+march, if you are lucky, and—"</p>
+
+<p>"Say, cut the comedy, an' let's get down to business!" the other
+interrupted gruffly. "You'll have Welch lumberin' in on us before you
+know it."</p>
+
+<p>"Not he!" Wolvert shrugged and strolled over to the picture. "He is
+sleeping the sleep of one who finishes off the wine-glasses left from
+dinner. I prepared one for his especial benefit."</p>
+
+<p>"God!" The man called "Mike" recoiled. "You don't mean—"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not!" The languid tone was edged sharply. "I don't go in for
+anything crude! Caroline, too, is <i>hors de combat</i> or, as you would
+express it, dead to the world. Her midnight cup of tea before she went
+on guard outside Marcia's door was of specific brewing. Our beloved
+Marcia, I may add, has resumed her Macbethan promenades."</p>
+
+<p>"Walkin' again in her sleep?" Mike paused uneasily. "I don't like that!
+It always means bad luck for some of us! I ain't stuck on this job
+anyway; we could drop it now an' stick to the old game, fifty-fifty—"</p>
+
+<p>"Forget it!" Wolvert snatched the lantern from the other's hand and
+trained its single ray upon the right hand corner of the frame. "Watch
+me, and duck when the big swing starts."</p>
+
+<p>Betty watched also, her heart racing once more as Wolvert's facile
+fingers found the spring and the portrait swung out in a mighty sweep,
+revealing the square steel sheet built compactly into the wall. The
+buzzer of the alarm whirred impotently and was still, and Mike dropped
+to his knees before the aperture with a grunt of satisfaction, his
+suddenly aroused scruples forgotten in professional interest.</p>
+
+<p>His bullet-shaped head completely blocked Betty's view of the
+combination, but she heard the clink of the knob as it whirled under
+his hand. At length Mike sat back on his heels, swearing softly.</p>
+
+<p>"It's no go!" he breathed. "Can't feel the drop of the tumblers. I'll
+have to use the soup, after all."</p>
+
+<p>"Go to it," responded Wolvert savagely. "It's a tough layer but thin;
+look out she doesn't eat through."</p>
+
+<p>Then followed an interminable age while Betty crouched, tense and
+cramped, listening to the click of tools and pressing a fold of her
+gown across her mouth and nostrils to keep out the pungent fumes which
+stole upon the air. Would they penetrate the closed doors above and
+give warning that treachery was afoot?</p>
+
+<p>"Ha!" Wolvert's ejaculation of triumph broke the protracted tension,
+just as the heavy door, with a grating jar, split like a crust before
+their eyes and fell outward, yawning upon one hinge.</p>
+
+<p>"Got it!" Mike pushed back his cap and wiped his brow. "Armor plate's
+made of cheese compared to that! Now which is the pay dirt?"</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert knelt beside him and threw the light upon the gaping cavity.
+Betty's eyes were watering but the fumes were gradually passing away
+and she could see that the interior of the safe was filled with packets
+of paper, neatly pigeon-holed in rows.</p>
+
+<p>"Three hundred thousand!" Wolvert crooned, gloatingly. "Three hundred
+thousand and maybe more! God, what a haul! Think of it, Mike, the
+pickings of five years, salted down and waiting for us, to say nothing
+of rich veins that have scarcely been tapped yet!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can lick my chops over 'em just as well when I've got 'em safe away
+from here!" Mike glanced apprehensively over his shoulder and Betty
+could see his eyes glistening like those of a cat in the shadow of his
+visored cap. "Hurry up and pick out the live wires from the dead ones.
+The old girl may take it into her head to walk again!"</p>
+
+<p>"You can drop her with the blackjack if she does," Wolvert returned
+carelessly. His long, slender hands were darting in and out among the
+pigeonholes, sorting the various packets deftly and ranging them in two
+piles. "Got the wallets?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" Mike produced oblong leather folders from each of his breast
+pockets. "Sure you don't overlook any good bets, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>"No fear!" Wolvert passed over package after package of envelopes as he
+talked. "Here's the dope on the Texas matter; that's good for thirty
+or forty thousand to start with; this is the certificate for those two
+hundred shares of copper you've heard about. To the right party they're
+worth twenty thousand. These we might take on speculation; lumping
+them together we may figure on realizing a hundred thousand from them,
+roughly speaking."</p>
+
+<p>"Some dough!" Mike chuckled, stowing away the packets as fast as they
+were handed to him. "What's this bunch?"</p>
+
+<p>"Can't stop now to go over them, Mike, but I know what they are and
+I'll open your eyes when we sort them out over at your joint. Now, if
+I can only lay my hands on that Crane contract; I wonder where our
+careful Marcia cached it?"</p>
+
+<p>"What's this, any good?" Mike had stuffed one bulging wallet back into
+his pocket and drawn a long envelope from one of the upper pigeonholes.</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert glanced over his shoulder at the label and shrugged.</p>
+
+<p>"Small change, a thousand or so, but take it along if you want it. It's
+easy money."</p>
+
+<p>"A thousand cold iron men look good to me. I can feel 'em rolling into
+my hand right now, but those big figures make me afraid the alarm
+clock's liable to go off any minute an' wake me up. Say, get a move on,
+Jack. I'm gettin' a cold chill like someone was watchin' me!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty gasped inaudibly and shrank still further back in her retreat,
+but Wolvert only shrugged in impatience.</p>
+
+<p>"That Crane contract is the main thing; it's worth more than all the
+rest put together, to us!" he grumbled. "Get your head out of the
+light, Mike!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is this it, in the long blue envelope?" The other had overcome his
+momentary uneasiness and resumed his search. "Feels kinder thick."</p>
+
+<p>"No, don't pay dividends any more. It's the West—what's that?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty had caught at the leg of the piano as her cramped limbs wavered
+beneath her and a little silver ring which she wore rapped smartly upon
+the polished surface of the wood. For one thrilling moment she held her
+breath, but the lantern swept around the opposite side of the room to
+the door and then flashed back and Mike swore once more.</p>
+
+<p>"I've had enough of this, I tell you! I don't feel right and I've got
+a hunch that I'd better be movin'. Let the bloomin' contract go if you
+can't find it; we've got enough as it is!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing doing!" Wolvert spoke through set teeth in a tone which the
+listening girl remembered with a shudder. "You don't beat it unless you
+take that with you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't I?" snarled Mike, leaping to his feet in swift rage. "I'll
+show you, my fine gentleman, that you ain't dealin' with a skirt now,
+to bully or soft-soap as you feel like it! I wouldn't be here if I
+wasn't through takin' orders from nobody—!"</p>
+
+<p>"Easy there with the bluff!" Wolvert interrupted coolly. "You can't get
+along without me, you know. What you've got there is just so much waste
+paper to you, if I don't negotiate it for you. Don't be a quitter!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody ain't ever called me that yet, but I'm hep that there's
+somethin' wrong. Give it up, Jack, an' let's lay the plant—"</p>
+
+<p>"Here it is!" Wolvert swooped down upon a single folded paper and waved
+it exultantly. "Take it, Mike, and keep it well; it's a gold mine! Now
+come on and set the stage."</p>
+
+<p>Before Betty's amazed eyes a curious scene was enacted. Seizing one
+after another of the heavy leather chairs which were grouped about
+the room, Wolvert and his accomplice noiselessly overturned them,
+easing them gently to the floor where they lay at grotesque angles.
+Next they turned their attention to the smokers' stand, rolling the
+smaller articles upon it in every direction until the rug was strewn
+with cigarettes and matches. The stand itself they placed upon its side
+against the wall as if it had been flung there with violence.</p>
+
+<p>"How about the piano?" Mike's eyes travelled speculatively to the
+shadowed corner and Betty's senses reeled. "Gonna bang it up a little?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, don't overdo the wreckage. Just move the center table over against
+it." Wolvert was busy scattering the remaining contents of the safe
+about before it. "Too bad we can't smash that bit of crockery; it would
+be the last finishing touch."</p>
+
+<p>He gestured toward a priceless Royal Worcester vase which stood upon a
+teakwood taboret near the portrait, and Mike grinned.</p>
+
+<p>"That's easy! Watch me knock it to smithereens!"</p>
+
+<p>"And have the house about our ears?" Wolvert sneered, but the other
+paid no heed.</p>
+
+<p>He had caught up a small silk prayer rug and, wrapping it about the
+vase, laid it upon the floor. Then, raising a sausage-like roll of
+cloth heavily weighed which he took from his bag, he struck it a blow
+with all the force of his brawny arm behind it. There was a dull thud
+and a soft, shivery tinkle, and when the rug was unwrapped a heap of
+jagged, richly-colored fragments was revealed. It was, as Wolvert had
+said, the finishing touch to a scene of havoc which seemingly only a
+hand-to-hand struggle could have wrought.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for the rough stuff." Wolvert rose from his knees and with one
+quick, muscular jerk, ripped his dressing gown from thigh to shoulder,
+tearing one sleeve loose. Then he coolly turned his back to Mike and
+crossed his wrists behind him. "Tie them good and tight, Mike. We don't
+want to fake this part of the game."</p>
+
+<p>Mike obeyed with alacrity, twisting the cord until Betty could see the
+slender wrists writhe.</p>
+
+<p>"Now my ankles." Wolvert gritted his teeth, and in the light from the
+lantern beads of perspiration glittered on his forehead. He knelt again
+and then lay flat upon his back, facing the safe, his outstretched feet
+almost within the aperture.</p>
+
+<p>Mike lashed them firmly and turning to his bag, produced a sponge and a
+small phial with which he approached his victim, grinning slyly.</p>
+
+<p>"Easy on that!" warned Wolvert. "Don't put me out, Mike. Use just
+enough to leave the scent on my hair and shirt."</p>
+
+<p>"I hate to beat it without my kit." Mike cast a reluctant eye on the
+bag at his feet. "Prettiest set of tools I ever had!"</p>
+
+<p>"You won't need it again after we've turned this trick," responded his
+co-conspirator. "It's got to look as though you were scared off, you
+know. Don't forget to leave the chloroform too. Come on with it, I'm
+ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Remember, Two Forty-seven Porter Street. I'll wait till midnight
+and if you don't show up by then I'll clear for the old hang-out in
+Baltimore. Here goes, pleasant dreams!"</p>
+
+<p>He pulled the cork from the phial and a cloying sweetish odor choked
+the air. Producing a grimy handkerchief, Mike poured a few drops upon
+it and applied it to the head and throat of the prostrate man.</p>
+
+<p>"Not—too—much!" The smothered tones died away in a mumble, and
+placing the phial upon the floor beside the recumbent figure Mike gave
+one last sweeping glance about the room and slipped like an eel through
+the door, the flash of his lantern vanishing with him into the gloom.</p>
+
+<p>Waiting only until the rasp of a softly opening window had assured her
+that the intruder was gone, Betty crept from her hiding place, her
+pulses leaping madly. She had made a desperate resolve and realized
+that she must put it into immediate execution, before the fumes of the
+anæsthetic had cleared from the momentarily dulled brain of the man
+lying before her.</p>
+
+<p>Lighting her candle, she placed it upon the floor and crept on her
+hands and knees toward the phial, keeping well out of the possible
+upward range of Wolvert's vision.</p>
+
+<p>The half-stupefied man stirred and muttered as her fingers closed about
+the phial, but she dared not hesitate. With a shaking hand she poured
+an ounce of the pungent liquid over the grimy handkerchief which lay
+beneath her hand, and creeping to Wolvert, suddenly dropped it like a
+cone down over his upturned face, holding the sides drawn tightly down.</p>
+
+<p>His limbs twitched and his head moved feebly, but she did not
+relinquish her pressure until the muscular action ceased and the body
+lay limp and flaccid as that of the dead. Then, with a little sob
+of exultation, she flung herself upon the safe and seizing the blue
+envelope of which Mike had spoken, she tore it open.</p>
+
+<p>A swift glance over the single folded sheet of letter paper and long
+narrow slip, much creased and yellowed with age, which formed its
+contents, and Betty clasped it convulsively to her breast. Her face
+was transfigured as she crept to her candle and with it crossed to the
+hearth.</p>
+
+<p>A moment more and a clear flame sprang up, flaring fitfully in her
+trembling hands, then died and only a tiny heap of fluffy black flakes
+among the heavier wood ashes told of her desperate plan's consummation.</p>
+
+<p>She turned to escape, but a glance at the motionless form halted her
+in mid-flight. Suppose she had killed him!</p>
+
+<p>Betty's heart contracted and fearfully she approached him once more.
+The handkerchief had slipped from his face and its deathlike pallor
+seemed to confirm her misgiving.</p>
+
+<p>Kneeling beside him, she had placed her hand upon his breast, when a
+lurching shuffle in the hall made her recoil.</p>
+
+<p>Stumbling and clinging to the wall for support, Welch reeled in at
+the doorway, and his drug-dulled eyes burst into sudden flame as they
+lighted upon her.</p>
+
+<p>"D—— you!" he bellowed. "Got you with the goods at last!"</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Unmasked.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Betty sprang to her feet and in a swift inspiration born of her
+extremity, tottered toward Welch with outstretched arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Help!" she shrieked, her clear ringing voice echoing through the
+silent house. "Burglars! Thieves! Help!"</p>
+
+<p>Muffled screams answered her from above and lights began to waver down
+the stairway. Welch seized the girl roughly by the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the game!" His thick tones rumbled in her ear, and he pointed
+with a shaking hand. "Is that your work?"</p>
+
+<p>"They've killed him!" she cried, wrenching herself from his grasp. "I
+heard a struggle and came down and found him—oh; Mrs. Atterbury! Mrs.
+Atterbury!"</p>
+
+<p>A fresh chorus of shrieks told of the finding of Caroline and mingling
+with them sounded a deeper masculine note. Who could it be? The only
+male members of the household were there before her.</p>
+
+<p>"Betty, where are you? What has happened?" Mrs. Atterbury rushed
+down the stairs with Madame Cimmino clinging to her gown and behind
+them appeared two pajama-clad forms which the girl did not at first
+recognize.</p>
+
+<p>Someone turned the wall-switch, flooding the room with light and Welch
+lurched dazedly to Wolvert's recumbent figure, toppling down to his
+knees beside him.</p>
+
+<p>Although every nerve in her body recoiled from the contact, Betty
+nevertheless precipitated herself upon her employer's unresponsive
+form, sobbing as if in genuine hysteria. Mrs. Atterbury, after one
+swift comprehensive glance about the wrecked room stood as if turned to
+stone, her eyes fixed immovably upon the yawning safe, a bluish tinge
+slowly overspreading her waxen pallor.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Cimmino, however, passed her like a white flame and cast herself
+shrieking upon Wolvert's unconscious breast. One of the pajamaed
+figures halted aghast in the doorway, but the other stepped forward and
+with an added shock Betty recognized Doctor Bayard's venerable head
+even before his commanding tones dominated the tumult.</p>
+
+<p>"What does this mean? Who first discovered this affair? Welch! Young
+woman!"</p>
+
+<p>"I found her here!" Welch pointed an accusing finger at Betty but his
+head lolled drunkenly upon his short bull neck. "She was kneelin'
+beside him. He ain't dead, only put to sleep. Ask her how it happened!"</p>
+
+<p>"We're sold out!" A high-pitched male voice squeaked like that of a
+cornered rat from the doorway and Ide's glassy eyes fastened venomously
+on the girl. She became conscious, too, that Madame Cimmino's cries
+were stilled, the tumult had subsided and she herself was the cynosure
+of all eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Straightening, her hands fell to her sides and she stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Something woke me," she began unsteadily. "I didn't know what it
+was at first, then I heard a thumping, banging noise down here as if
+furniture was being moved around. I got up and opened my door just as
+there came a heavy thud like the sound of a body falling and terrible
+groans that died slowly away.</p>
+
+<p>"I was frightened and I didn't know what to do. Mrs. Atterbury had told
+me not to venture downstairs late at night for Welch might mistake
+me for a burglar and injure me, but I did not want to disturb her
+unnecessarily and I thought I had better investigate.</p>
+
+<p>"I lighted my candle and crept downstairs. There was a funny sweetish
+odor on the air and I traced it to this door. When I looked in I saw
+Mr. Wolvert lying there and all the room upset, but no sign of anyone
+else. I ran to him and was kneeling beside him, trying to feel if his
+heart was still beating, when Welch stumbled into the room and accused
+me. Oh, have the burglars killed him?"</p>
+
+<p>It was superb acting but the girl was wrought up to such an emotional
+pitch that she was scarcely conscious of its effect. She lived in her
+vivid imagination each phase of the story she was narrating and it bore
+the impress of truth.</p>
+
+<p>The rest looked at one another, reading in each face the belief which
+confirmed their own. It was Madame Cimmino, however, who broke the
+silence crying out in a paroxysm of jealous fury:</p>
+
+<p>"What is it to you if he lives or dies? He is not yours, but mine! My
+husband!"</p>
+
+<p>"Betty." Mrs. Atterbury spoke for the first time and her tones were
+dull and lifeless as she wrenched her eyes with an almost visible
+effort from the rifled safe. "You had better go to your room, if you
+are not afraid of being alone. You might try to revive Caroline if you
+will; she is lying ill in the hall upstairs. Cook is a heavy sleeper,
+but should she awaken and attempt to come down, please detain her; we
+must have no more excitement."</p>
+
+<p>Betty accepted her dismissal with a swift leap of her heart. Her task
+was accomplished; there remained only to make her escape and the way
+seemed clear before her.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not afraid, Mrs. Atterbury," she said quietly. "If you need me,
+please call."</p>
+
+<p>She slipped up the stairs and past the still unconscious form of
+Caroline with feet that trod on air. To throw on her cloak and boots
+and steal out the kitchen door by which she had entered only a few
+short hours before would be a simple matter and the man who loved her
+would be waiting, on guard.</p>
+
+<p>Removing her felt slippers, she had picked up her shoes, when an
+imperative rap on her locked door made her drop them hastily, her
+spirit sinking in a premonition of further trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's there?" she demanded in a trembling voice.</p>
+
+<p>"It is I; Madame Cimmino." The tones were repressed and oddly civil
+after the tempestuous outburst of a few minutes previous. "Open the
+door, please; I have a message from Mrs. Atterbury."</p>
+
+<p>Betty drew on her slippers and, wondering, obeyed. The sallow face
+of the Italian was still flushed and her dull eyes glowed with
+undiminished resentment, but she essayed a faint smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You must not mind what I have said to you just now. I was quite mad!
+My nerves are shattered by this sudden calamity and I, too, feared that
+Mr. Wolvert had been killed." She spoke reluctantly with an obvious
+effort, and Betty realized at whose instigation the halting apology was
+tendered. "Mrs. Atterbury requests that you sleep in her room for the
+rest of the night. She will join you presently and does not wish to be
+left alone. You need not trouble about Caroline. I, myself, will attend
+to her. Come at once, please."</p>
+
+<p>There was a veiled command beneath her studied courtesy and she had
+placed herself upon the threshold so that the door could not be closed
+again barring her out.</p>
+
+<p>Betty's gleam of hope died within her, but she forced herself to reply
+composedly:</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, Madame Cimmino. If you will wait a moment I shall be with
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Her simple preparations made before the unwavering eyes of the other
+woman, she followed docilely down the hall to Mrs. Atterbury's room.
+The bed was in disorder and the embers dying in the grate, but her
+companion replenished them and closed and locked the windows, drawing
+the heavy parted curtains tightly together.</p>
+
+<p>"Sleep if you can, Miss Shaw." She paused in the doorway, a little
+triumphant gleam lighting her eyes. "There is nothing now to fear. No
+intruder can enter for he will be shot on sight. I hope you will rest
+comfortably."</p>
+
+<p>She closed the door and the lock clicked as a key was deliberately
+turned in it and withdrawn. Betty was a prisoner!</p>
+
+<p>For a time the girl stood motionless in the middle of the floor where
+the other had left her. She was trying to fathom the motive for this
+sudden move. What had occurred, what suspicion had arisen the instant
+she had left the room, for Madame Cimmino to be despatched upon
+her very heels to intercept and guard her? Had Jack Wolvert been
+conscious enough to realize her swift attack on him, and recovering,
+denounce her? In terror at the thought her hands flew to her breast
+and encountered the whistle hanging from its slender chain beneath
+her gown. Her fingers closed convulsively upon it and a little sob of
+gratitude tore its way from her throat. If actual peril came there
+was one chance left to her; she was not utterly at the mercy of these
+wolves.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Atterbury unlocked the door and entered an hour later, she
+found the girl curled up on the couch seemingly asleep. She stood over
+her for a long moment staring down at the tranquil face upon which the
+birthmark glowed in the light from the grate, and listening to the
+gentle regular breathing. At last she turned away and Betty, opening
+her eyes cautiously, beheld her employer crouching before the hearth,
+her dark, unbound hair increasing the pallor of her waxen face and her
+inscrutable gaze fixed upon the gleaming coals. The girl fell into a
+troubled slumber at dawn, but when she awakened the other still sat
+immovable, staring into the dead embers with unseeing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You are awake, Betty? Run to your own room and dress and then come
+back to me quickly. We have much to do today." She barely glanced at
+the girl, and her tones were lifeless.</p>
+
+<p>"Was—was the burglar caught?" Betty stammered as she rose to obey.
+"Did you lose very much of value?"</p>
+
+<p>"The man whoever he was escaped, but the police have been notified,"
+Mrs. Atterbury replied without turning her head. "I cannot tell how
+much has been taken until I have made an inventory of what is left.
+Hurry, please."</p>
+
+<p>Betty returned to her room, to find Caroline on the couch at the bed's
+foot. The woman seemed dazed and shaken, but her eyes followed Betty
+craftily and the girl realized that her presence meant continued
+surveillance.</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert appeared little the worse for his experience of the previous
+night when he joined the others at breakfast and he greeted Betty with
+perfect sang-froid, but she fancied that a speculative gleam lightened
+his pale eyes when they rested on her; and as the day wore on, he
+attached himself to her with an assiduity which left her in no doubt of
+his lurking suspicion.</p>
+
+<p>Although the subject of the burglary was avoided as much as possible,
+there was a tension in the atmosphere which no one attempted to
+disguise, an air of repressed apprehension greater than the exigency
+demanded. In spite of Mrs. Atterbury's assertion that the day would be
+a busy one, a state of enforced idleness prevailed and Betty wandered
+about like an unquiet ghost with some one of the household inevitably
+at her heels.</p>
+
+<p>As dusk drew down the espionage became more openly manifest and the
+girl's self-control faltered beneath the protracted strain. Was
+she destined to be held in duress until the raid which Herbert had
+predicted took place and escape was forever cut off? A new anxiety
+was added to the rest; if she were to continue this ghastly farce
+indefinitely a few minutes of absolute privacy in her own room would be
+essential, but how was this to be obtained?</p>
+
+<p>No suggestion of leaving the house had been made by anyone during the
+day, but toward evening Welch was dispatched with a telegram to the
+nearest office. He went with marked reluctance, a furtive look of fear
+in his heavy-lidded eyes, still dazed from the effects of the drug.
+Betty watched his departing figure in bitter envy from behind the
+library curtains. Would her moment never come?</p>
+
+<p>"You are very quiet, Little Mouse." Wolvert had come up silently behind
+her in the gathering gloom of the room. "Last night's excitement has
+depressed you?"</p>
+
+<p>"On the contrary," she responded coolly. "I am sorry, of course, for
+Mrs. Atterbury's loss, but I am quiet because I have been thinking. So
+many things about the affair puzzle me."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed? What, for instance?" He flung himself into a chair and smiled
+up at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Why it was that I did not hear the smash of that vase in your
+struggle, and why, although your hands were tied after you were
+chloroformed, of course, the burglar did not also gag you. It was no
+doubt an oversight on his part, but it impressed me as being odd."</p>
+
+<p>The mocking smile had vanished and he was staring at her with a
+narrowed intensity of gaze as if to read her very soul. When he replied
+it was in a hurried, uneasy tone distinctly at variance with his usual
+aplomb.</p>
+
+<p>"It was the crash of the vase that awakened you, perhaps, and the thief
+must have been frightened away. He left his tools, you know, and he
+probably did not dare stop to finish his work with me.—But I did not
+realize that we had such an efficient detective in our midst!"</p>
+
+<p>He added the last sentence with deliberate intent and Betty met his
+gaze with a little mocking light in her own eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I think the burglar finished his work with you very thoroughly, Mr.
+Wolvert!"</p>
+
+<p>Leaving him to ponder over the ambiguity of her remark she passed out
+to the hall just as Welch burst in at the side door, his ratlike eyes
+fairly starting from his head. Sheer panic was written upon his pasty
+face and he charged headlong up the stairs like a maddened beast.</p>
+
+<p>Betty was torn with the conflict of hope and fear. Had he encountered
+Herbert on guard, or was the house already surrounded by officers of
+the law?</p>
+
+<p>No comment was made upon his abrupt return, but Betty sensed a
+redoubled tension in the air. To her relief, however, the onus of
+suspicion seemed to have been lifted from her, although the house was
+so palpably under guard by the masculine members of the group that
+immediate escape was out of the question.</p>
+
+<p>Betty had no need, as the hours lengthened, to feign fatigue. Her
+nervous exhaustion was manifest in her drawn face, and Mrs. Atterbury
+at length laid her hand upon the girl's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"You are tired, my dear. Go to bed if you like but you will be obliged
+to sleep, for a while at least, with closed windows. Welch has
+connected all those on the second floor with the alarm system down
+here, and if one is raised during the night the whole house will be
+aroused again."</p>
+
+<p>Betty understood the covert warning, but rejoiced that the privacy so
+vital to her was assured. Murmuring good night she ascended the stairs
+and disappeared around the gallery.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the soft thud of her closing door broken the silence, when
+Welch entered from the dining-room and approached the circle seated
+about the hearth, took his place uninvited among the rest.</p>
+
+<p>"How're we going to make our get-away?" he demanded gruffly. "That's
+what I want to know, with the place surrounded—"</p>
+
+<p>"Rot!" interrupted Wolvert. "For a thorough-going coward, commend me
+to a strong-arm bully every time. Yes, I mean you, Welch, don't try to
+bluff me, my man! You're in a blue funk and you'd conjure up a copper
+behind every tree! Why haven't they closed in on us, if the bulls are
+on the job?"</p>
+
+<p>Welch muttered sullenly beneath his breath, but Doctor Bayard leaned
+forward in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a reasonable conclusion," he remarked in his quiet, well-bred
+tones. "I admit, however, that taken in conjunction with the crowning
+misfortune which has come to us, the possibility is disquieting.
+You have examined the papers thoroughly, Marcia? You are sure that
+practically everything of value has been taken?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everything." Mrs. Atterbury spread out her hands in an eloquent
+gesture. "We are cleaned! The result of five years of planning and
+scheming and desperate risk has vanished in an hour!"</p>
+
+<p>"Except what we may have saved from our individual profits," Wolvert
+observed smoothly. "You at least will not starve, my dear Marcia."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury darted a vicious glance at him, as Madame Cimmino said
+with a shudder:</p>
+
+<p>"Unless the end has come, and we are lost! As for me I shall kill
+myself before again the doors of a hideous American prison close on me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be morbid, Speranza." Mrs. Atterbury shrugged impatiently. "I am
+not even thinking of that. I am concerned only with one question:—Who
+among us is the traitor?"</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert raised his eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>"Us?" he queried. "You speak with painful directness, Marcia! Surely
+you except our own immediate circle!"</p>
+
+<p>"If you ask me, it was an inside job," asserted Welch bluntly. "I was
+doped and so was Caroline. There's no gettin' around that!"</p>
+
+<p>Ide coughed nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope the loyalty of none of us is in question." His thin high voice
+quavered. "Personally I—"</p>
+
+<p>"Personally, you're absolved!" interrupted Wolvert with a sneer. "You
+wouldn't have the nerve to chloroform a blind kitten!"</p>
+
+<p>"Someone has betrayed us," Mrs. Atterbury re-iterated. "Only one who
+possessed the most intimate knowledge of our plans and the deals we are
+working on now could have chosen so well among all the papers in the
+safe. With one trifling exception everything missing was negotiable."</p>
+
+<p>Wolvert darted a keen glance at her.</p>
+
+<p>"'One exception'?" he repeated. "What was that?"</p>
+
+<p>"The packet containing the Westcote documents," replied Mrs. Atterbury.
+"That has vanished with the rest."</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible!" Wolvert started visibly. "He didn't take that!"</p>
+
+<p>"What does it matter?" Dr. Bayard shrugged. "It was worthless!"</p>
+
+<p>"But he didn't take it, I know!" insisted Wolvert, caution forgotten in
+his surprise. "It must be there! There's some mistake—"</p>
+
+<p>"Why are you so sure?" Mrs. Atterbury flashed at him. "How can you know
+that it was not stolen?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I was certain it was there when we first went through the safe
+after I recovered consciousness, don't you remember?" he stammered,
+taken aback. "I distinctly saw a blue envelope——"</p>
+
+<p>"There was no blue envelope in the safe." Mrs. Atterbury spoke with
+absolute finality. "It had disappeared."</p>
+
+<p>"Then by God! it is an inside job!" Wolvert sprang from his chair. "And
+I know who is back of it—that girl!"</p>
+
+<p>"What!" Doctor Bayard exclaimed, as the rest sat spellbound. "The young
+woman upstairs?"</p>
+
+<p>"The young spy, d—n her!" retorted Wolvert, his dark face ablaze. "I
+had a hazy idea that I saw her last night while the thief was pressing
+the sponge over my mouth but I laid it to delirium. I tell you she was
+in league with him, and what is more, I don't think he was one of our
+gang gone crooked. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want to
+throw you all into a panic but I'm convinced he's a 'tec and she was
+working in with him. He heard Welch coming and beat it, but she didn't
+have a chance and we've kept too close a watch on her for her to get
+away since!"</p>
+
+<p>"I knew it!" Madame Cimmino shrilled. "I knew there was something wrong
+when she came!"</p>
+
+<p>"I, too!" exclaimed Ide. "I've had a deucedly queer feeling since I
+first met her at your dinner, Marcia, as if I had seen her before
+somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"She's the only outsider!" Welch put in dazedly. "I always said no good
+would come of draggin' in strange girls and usin' them for a blind, but
+you knew it all!"</p>
+
+<p>He glared at Mrs. Atterbury who sat gazing intently straight before her.</p>
+
+<p>"It is impossible," she said at last. "I chose the girl myself, and she
+has kept her position perfectly—"</p>
+
+<p>"Too perfectly!" Wolvert snarled. "She was too good to be true, going
+wherever you sent her without question. You've been a blind fool! She
+was planted here, I tell you! That advertisement was a trick and you
+fell for it! 'Stranger in city and without relatives!' Bah! it was too
+easy!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Atterbury's immobile face was distorted with gathering menace but
+her voice was still controlled.</p>
+
+<p>"She is not a detective. I have encountered a few of them and I know
+the earmarks. Whose game could she be playing?"</p>
+
+<p>"The game of someone with whom we are doing business, perhaps. How can
+we know?" Ide squeaked. "Remember I 'phoned you only two days ago that
+I saw her talking with a man up the Drive! She's sold us out!"</p>
+
+<p>"What was she nosing around the house at night for, with an electric
+torch?" demanded Wolvert savagely. "Is that a usual part of a social
+secretary's equipment?"</p>
+
+<p>"A torch!" Mrs. Atterbury turned on him in sudden fury. "She told me
+you had it when she came upon you in the library and you corroborated
+her story afterward by saying it was yours!"</p>
+
+<p>"I lied," he admitted through set teeth. "This is no time to defend
+myself or dodge the facts. I'm not the first infatuated ass!"</p>
+
+<p>"Infatuated! A-ah!" Madame Cimmino leaped for him like a tigress,
+but Welch seized her roughly and dragged her back. "That simpering
+she-devil with the brand upon her face! For her you have betrayed us
+all!"</p>
+
+<p>"Cut it out!" Welch admonished roughly. "Forget the sentiment stuff!
+This is business!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll make a clean breast of it," Wolvert shrugged. "I suspected her
+vaguely from the first. There was something about her that baffled me
+but it fascinated me, too. I had her number from that night in the
+library, but I thought she was playing a lone hand and I could handle
+her. I even had a notion I could win her over and get her to go in
+with us, but she's beaten us at our own game!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet!" Mrs. Atterbury rose and even Welch shuddered at the new
+ominous note in her voice. "Don't forget that something else has taken
+place beneath this roof since she came. She cannot leave it to bear
+witness against us! I will go to her and wring the truth from her!"</p>
+
+<p>She mounted the stairs, the others following silently in her wake. The
+rigid emotionless poise with which she had maintained her domination
+over them all for years had in a moment been swept aside and the real
+woman stood revealed in all the nakedness of her sinister malevolent
+passion.</p>
+
+<p>Like a vengeful fury she crouched before the girl's locked door and
+motioned savagely to Welch to break it down. He put his massive
+shoulder against it and with a single mighty heave crashed it in.</p>
+
+<p>A startled cry echoed in their ears and the girl seated before her
+dressing-table turned her face to them, full in the glare of the
+boudoir lights. It was a blanched terror-stricken face, but they, too,
+paused aghast, for the birthmark had vanished utterly and the girl who
+rose slowly before them was like yet vastly unlike the personality they
+had known.</p>
+
+<p>For a tense moment they paused and then Ide's trembling voice cried:</p>
+
+<p>"I know her now! I was sure I'd seen her before! It's old Westcote's
+daughter!"</p>
+
+<p>The girl's hand flashed from her breast to her lips and a shrill,
+ear-splitting whistle cleaved the air as Welch sprang upon her with a
+bull-throated roar.</p>
+
+<p>The world crashed down about her head and darkness came; a darkness
+filled with shots and shouts and vague struggling forms. Then all at
+once a shaft of brilliant light seemed to break over her and full in
+its radiance the face of Herbert Ross hovered close.</p>
+
+<p>"Herbert!" It was little more than a whisper but her weak, hot hands
+fluttered out and clutched him convulsively and in her eyes shone the
+light of a faith which had not faltered. "I knew—I knew that you would
+come!"</p>
+
+<p>"My wonderful, brave dear!" His voice had a curious, throaty catch in
+it. "You have been in frightful danger but you are safe now, thank God!"</p>
+
+<p>Betty smiled wanly.</p>
+
+<p>"I was not afraid, for I knew that you were there. No harm could come
+to me while you waited."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that?" His arms tightened about her. "Oh, my dearest, you had
+such faith in me?"</p>
+
+<p>"As you trusted me, believed in me through everything. And—and for the
+same reason."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that you care?" he whispered close to her ear. "Dear, is it
+that? Is it—love?"</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes gave him his answer and for a moment he lowered his head upon
+her breast as she lay propped up in his arms.</p>
+
+<p>Then she became dimly aware of lights once more, low moving lights
+which revealed shadowy tense forms and a jumble of wrecked furniture.</p>
+
+<p>As Herbert raised his head a strange freak of vagrant memory darted
+through her numbed brain and a still, small voice which she did not
+recognize as her own gasped:</p>
+
+<p>"Mike has the evidence! Porter Street, two forty-seven. Before
+midnight!"</p>
+
+<p>Herbert's face wavered and blurred before her eyes, a whirling,
+crashing void encompassed her and darkness descended again.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>The Honor of the Name.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Chief McCormick's honest face beamed as he sat back in his office chair
+and regarded the pale young girl before him with the frank, genuine
+admiration of one colleague for another.</p>
+
+<p>"It was wonderful! I couldn't have engineered it better myself. You've
+pulled off the greatest stunt in years, Miss Shaw."</p>
+
+<p>"Westcote," she corrected him, smilingly. "I'm glad to drop my friend's
+name at last, and sail under no more false colors. But I did very
+little, Mr. McCormick. If it hadn't been for Herbert I would have been
+murdered as poor George Breckinridge was, and the man called 'Mike'
+would have escaped."</p>
+
+<p>"'Herbert,' eh?" The detective glanced quizzically at the
+self-conscious young man who stood beside the girl's chair. "I suppose
+congratulations are in order, but first let us get down to business.
+You used the name of some friend, Miss Westcote?"</p>
+
+<p>"And her birthmark. It proved to be a frightful nuisance, wearing off
+and having to be renewed every day. That was what ultimately betrayed
+me, you know. But I want to tell you my story from the beginning; I
+know you will respect my confidence and you have earned it by your
+kindness in saving me from the police.</p>
+
+<p>"My real name is Ruth Westcote, and I am the daughter of Alden
+Westcote, a retired broker. My mother died years ago, and we lived
+alone together in Bruce Manor, an exclusive colony on Long Island. As
+I grew up I noticed that father was aging rapidly and seemed breaking
+in spirit and it was borne in upon me that something was preying on his
+mind. I watched him and observed that his nervous depression reached
+an acute state regularly every three months on the arrival of certain
+visitors who came late at night and were received privately in his
+study.</p>
+
+<p>"When I insisted upon knowing their errand he put me off on the plea
+of a confidential business transaction which I would not understand,
+and he had become so unapproachable of late that I dared not press the
+matter, although it worried me to distraction.</p>
+
+<p>"One night about three months ago—it was the eighth of December, and
+the first big snowstorm of the year—I returned home late. I had been
+spending a day or two with a girl friend who lived on the South Shore
+and was motoring back in my own little car when I stuck in a snowdrift
+and the engine froze. A chauffeur came along with a big limousine just
+as I was on the point of freezing, myself, and took me home. I noticed
+the huge bulk of another limousine with gaudy wide stripes standing
+beneath our <i>porte-cochère</i> and there was a light in father's study
+window. My heart sank, for it was about the time for those mysterious
+visitors to call once more. I had never seen them, but I had heard
+their voices raised in dispute on several occasions.</p>
+
+<p>"To my surprise, that night it was the murmur of a woman's voice
+which drifted out to me as I started up the stairs to my room, and on
+a sudden impulse I turned and ran down to the library to wait until
+she had gone. She seemed to be urging father to something and once
+I thought I heard him groan. A low choking cough interrupted her
+constantly and when at last the door opened and she came out into the
+hall, I could see at a glance from where I was standing behind the
+library portieres, that she was very ill.</p>
+
+<p>"Father followed her from the study but he did not speak to her again;
+instead he turned and groped his way up the stairs, bowed and shaking
+as if he had received a blow.</p>
+
+<p>"The woman tottered toward the door, but she had taken only a few steps
+when she reeled, gasping, with her hands tearing at her breast, and
+would have fallen if I had not rushed out and caught her. I managed
+to get her to the couch in the library and brought her the water she
+begged for, but I knew the meaning of her terrible thirst. I had had
+pneumonia myself and no matter what misfortune her visit had brought to
+father, I could not help being sorry for her.</p>
+
+<p>"She was a tall, dark, willowly creature and must have been very
+handsome in her youth. Her eyes were bright with fever and the hectic
+patches on her thin cheeks heightened their glitter, but she had a
+hardened expression which made the general effect she produced coarse
+and repellent.</p>
+
+<p>"She seemed half delirious and kept moaning that she must go, but it
+would have been death to her to face the storm, even if she had not
+been too weak to rise from the couch. I told her that she would have to
+remain and let me send for a doctor, and at length she realized herself
+the futility of further effort.</p>
+
+<p>"'Who are you?' she gasped, clinging to my hand. I told her and she
+stared long at me before she spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"'I have a letter here, a message from your father which must be
+delivered tonight, or the consequences for him will be disastrous. I
+cannot go; I feel as if I were dying! Will you take my place? Your
+father must not know, he would sacrifice himself and his own vital
+interests rather than have you brave the storm. My car is waiting. Can
+you do this? Remember, it means much to him!'</p>
+
+<p>"Her eyes were burning into mine and something in her deadly
+earnestness decided me. I nodded and she fell back in relief. When she
+had gathered her remaining strength together, she went on:</p>
+
+<p>"'You have only to permit my chauffeur to take you to a certain house
+and deliver this letter to the man servant who opens the door. The
+chauffeur will explain what is necessary to him, and then bring you
+home immediately. I will accept your hospitality for tonight because I
+must, but I shall be able to go in the morning. No doctor is necessary
+and I forbid you to send for one. I will not see him! You must lose
+no time, but go at once. Call my chauffeur in and I will give him his
+instructions.'</p>
+
+<p>"I aroused the housemaid to prepare a bed and get the stranger into it
+without disturbing father, and then I started on my journey. I shall
+never forget that ride! For hours we plowed through drifts and over
+hummocks, the car swaying and rocking like a ship and the intense cold
+penetrating my very bones.</p>
+
+<p>"The miles seemed endless and I was so numb and dazed that I scarcely
+realized when we entered the city, the string of lights were a
+meaningless blur.</p>
+
+<p>"We drew up at last before a big house and I managed to descend,
+although my limbs were half frozen. The door opened before I could
+ring, and the man servant stared at me as if he saw a ghost, but the
+chauffeur called sharply to him and he ran down bareheaded in the snow
+and talked to him. Then he returned and conducted me into the hall
+where a great hearth fire was burning, and I gave him the square,
+blank, sealed envelope which the woman had handed to me. He took it and
+ascended the stairs, to return presently with a goblet of mulled wine.
+His manner was respectful enough, but I thought the way he stared at
+me was very strange and he was evidently relieved when he conducted me
+outside and saw me once more safely in the car.</p>
+
+<p>"I slept nearly all the way home and the chauffeur had difficulty in
+rousing me. The dawn had come, clear, but intensely cold, as I stumbled
+up to bed.</p>
+
+<p>"When I awakened, the woman was raving in delirium and I was compelled
+to call a doctor in spite of her prohibition. Of course, I had to tell
+father of our strange guest and he flared out in fury and would have
+driven her from the house if he could. I was horrified, for he is the
+dearest, most tender-hearted man in the world, but no inkling of the
+truth came to me. He asked if she had sent anything back to town by her
+chauffeur, and he looked utterly crushed when I told him the man had
+taken a letter to deliver for her.</p>
+
+<p>"The doctor looked very grave when he came and said he would send a
+nurse, but when she arrived I had to dismiss her. Mr. McCormick, I sat
+by that woman for an hour and I knew that no one else must learn from
+her lips what she disclosed in her delirium!</p>
+
+<p>"There was no hope for her from the first, but she lingered, and I
+nursed her day and night, not even allowing the housemaid to relieve me
+for an hour. Her raving filled me with loathing and bitter resentment,
+but she was a fellow creature dying and I could not help doing all that
+was possible, in sheer humanity.</p>
+
+<p>"The night before she died consciousness returned to her and she
+realized everything and knew the end was approaching. She tried
+brokenly to thank me for the kindness I had shown her, and in gratitude
+told me the whole truth.</p>
+
+<p>"Years ago, when father was in a desperate financial strait, he forged
+a check. Oh, if it is hard for me to tell you now, think how hard it
+must have been for me to learn of it from that wretched woman's lips.
+Father had great provocation, for the man whose name he used had
+defrauded him, but the dreadful fact remained. He made full restitution
+anonymously long ago, and the other man is dead, but somehow the forged
+check and a letter proving father's guilt had fallen into the hands of
+a blackmailing gang, through a dishonest law clerk, who found them in
+going over the man's private papers to settle up his estate.</p>
+
+<p>"The blackmailers had for years preyed on father and he was broken and
+on the verge of ruin from the continued strain. Imagine how I felt when
+I realized that I had been used as a tool to deliver to his enemies the
+very money wrung from my own father!</p>
+
+<p>"The check and letter denouncing him were in the possession of this
+Mrs. Atterbury, who was the leader of the greatest band of criminals
+ever organized in America. Their operations covered every state in the
+Union and they had extorted hundreds of thousands from unhappy victims
+all over the country. It was to Mrs. Atterbury's house that I had been
+sent, but the dying woman would not tell me the address. She admitted,
+however, that it was the meeting place for the sub-leaders of the gang
+and the incriminating documents were kept there.</p>
+
+<p>"A wild idea came to me to get into that house somehow and destroy that
+check and letter which held father in such hideous bondage, and the
+woman's next words showed me the way.</p>
+
+<p>"It appeared that Mrs. Atterbury always employed a private secretary
+who was not a member of the gang as a blind, and chose a girl who was
+alone and friendless. If she proved really stupid but trustworthy, she
+was frequently sent to collect money from victims so that if she later
+became suspicious she would be technically guilty with the rest and
+they could hold that as a weapon over her. That had not yet occurred,
+because Mrs. Atterbury dismissed each one after a short period and
+replaced her with another young and fairly unintelligent stranger. The
+time had come for the present incumbent to be sent away before she
+learned too much, and I made up my mind to take her place, if I could.</p>
+
+<p>"The woman was sinking rapidly and I begged her to tell me her name.</p>
+
+<p>"'I have come into your life unknown and in a cruel, base fashion; let
+me go out of it a stranger. A stranger, that is it! Once I was called
+Lucille and that will do for the end; Lucille L'Etrangere! Only, if you
+have still more compassion left for me in your warm, young heart, save
+me from burial at their hands! Put me away quietly somewhere, I beg of
+you, in an unmarked grave!'</p>
+
+<p>"She died at dawn and then I went down and had it out with father. I
+hope never to live through another such hour! His grief and shame were
+pitiful, but he seemed relieved, too, that I knew the truth at last. He
+had been driven to the wall, and was almost mad.</p>
+
+<p>"He arranged for the woman's burial in a little forgotten graveyard
+nearby. The coroner was an old friend and everything was managed very
+quietly and without question.</p>
+
+<p>"When it was over I told father that I would be able to save him from
+further persecution if he would consent to go to a sanitarium and
+spread the rumor that his mind was permanently wrecked so that the gang
+would cease their activities in his direction until my purpose was
+accomplished. I withheld the details of my plan, for he would never
+have consented to my facing the danger, but his tortured mind was on
+the verge of giving way and he agreed helplessly to my proposal.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meantime I had received a letter from an old school friend,
+Betty Shaw, who is like me in type and coloring, but has a huge
+birthmark like a clutching hand upon her cheek. She had moved West
+ages ago, but when her mother died she went to Chicago to earn her
+living, and there received a proposal from an old sweetheart who is
+now in British Columbia. Her letter was to tell me that she had gone
+out there to marry him, and I resolved to take her name and imitate
+her appearance, so that if I succeeded in gaining a position with Mrs.
+Atterbury and she wrote for reference out to the Western town where
+Betty had lived, my supposed identity could be established beyond
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"I closed our house, leaving no address, painted the scar on my face
+and, as Betty Shaw, went to a cheap boarding house in the city. From
+there I inserted an advertisement in the papers, asking for a position
+as secretary and emphasizing my friendlessness as much as I dared.</p>
+
+<p>"It succeeded, for Mrs. Atterbury herself was one of the applicants
+for my services. I cannot describe my sensations when I saw the very
+car in which I had made that memorable trip draw up before the door! I
+went back with her to the house I had visited that night, but the man
+servant I had interviewed was gone and I have never encountered him
+since.</p>
+
+<p>"Much of the rest of my story must have been told to you by Herbert;
+how I searched every night that I dared for the check and letter, and
+how I found the murdered man on the floor of the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>"There was a little dressmaker whom Mrs. Atterbury hired during the
+first days of my stay to make some things for me, and she tried to warn
+me that I was in danger of being led into a trap, and begged me to go.
+She was afraid to explain, however, and her visits soon ceased. No one
+else tried to help me but her.</p>
+
+<p>"I felt that I was being watched and tested, and although I was on my
+guard I came very near betraying myself more than once.</p>
+
+<p>"When at last they were convinced that I was as stupid as I tried to
+appear, I was sent on my first errand to collect money from another
+victim. Looking back now, I can scarcely realize the mood in which I
+accepted such a horrible task, but my own suffering and the threatened
+disgrace to my father had hardened me to the troubles of others. That
+initial experience was at the opera, and a man in the next box handed
+me an envelope; he had a round, plump face and a little downy mustache,
+and a woman companion spoke of him as 'Toddie.'"</p>
+
+<p>"J. Todhunter Crane!" exploded McCormick, interrupting for the first
+time. "They had him on a fraudulent government contract and could have
+got to him for a huge sum in time! But go on, please."</p>
+
+<p>She told of her meeting with the beautiful golden-haired woman in the
+art shop and her response to Herbert's advertisement for an Egyptian
+translator. During this portion of her recital the young gentleman
+in question carefully avoided the eyes of his chief and the latter
+forebore to interrupt again, but when the girl told of her fruitless
+visit to the Café de Luxe and subsequent encounter with the blonde
+lady of the art shop at the Hotel Rochefoucauld, he could not contain
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Haddon Cheever!" he ejaculated. "Young wife of a rich, jealous,
+old husband, and the Atterbury crew got hold of a bunch of silly
+letters she wrote to that Willie-boy who tried to stall you in the
+Carnival Room. Ten thousand cold she handed over to you in the hotel!"</p>
+
+<p>"I had another disquieting experience on the same afternoon at the Café
+de Luxe. The girl from whose house I returned home on the night of the
+storm came up and greeted me, and I was obliged to cut her, fearing
+some spy would hear her call me by my own name. She was one of my most
+intimate friends, and I felt ashamed.</p>
+
+<p>"I had other worries, too. The man Wolvert, whom you have just placed
+in custody, had begun to annoy me with his attentions and would not
+be snubbed. Then I seemed to be forever dodging people I knew! On
+my second visit to the museum, Herbert introduced me to a dear old
+professor whom I had met previously in Cairo, where I was studying
+under the great Mallory. He remembered me, in spite of the birthmark,
+and he was suspicious enough to trap me later with a papyrus I had
+seen, but I admitted nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"My search for the incriminating documents continued whenever an
+opportunity presented itself, but I seemed no nearer finding them. One
+night I came face to face with Wolvert in the library, but I reached
+Mrs. Atterbury first with a plausible story and she believed me.</p>
+
+<p>"The next place to which I was sent to receive the blackmail was the
+very last I could have anticipated—a church. It was the aristocratic
+St. Jude's, on Brinsley Square, and the envelope containing the money
+was presented to me on the collection plate!"</p>
+
+<p>She described the event in detail and when she had finished the
+detective asked eagerly:</p>
+
+<p>"It was a fat, smug-faced little man, with heavy pouches under his eyes
+and a cocky air about him? That's Hobart Wallace, or I'm a Dutchman!
+Among the papers we found in Mike Hannigan's bag when we nabbed him at
+the Porter Street address on your plucky tip, were two hundred shares
+in a fake copper mine with his endorsement. He would have let himself
+be bled dry rather than have an inkling of that reach the press!"</p>
+
+<p>"I was sent on one more errand," the girl continued, "to the courtroom
+where the Huston trial was in progress. I recognized the prisoner as
+the young chauffeur who had rescued me in the storm and brought me home
+the night the strange woman came, and as I listened to the testimony
+and learned that the murder of his wife had been committed on that
+night and his life depended on the alibi which I alone could supply,
+I faced the worst moment of all! Seated with him was poor Miss Pope,
+the dressmaker, who had risked everything to warn me to leave Mrs.
+Atterbury. I met her afterward in the corridor, and when she told me
+that Huston was her half-brother, all she had in the world to care for,
+and I heard his story from her lips, I did not know what to do! My
+father's good name was very dear to me, but here was a human life at
+stake. All that night I fought my battle, but in the morning I wrote a
+letter to Huston's lawyers, signing my real name and assuring them that
+I would appear if necessary and testify on a certain date. I had just
+placed the letter in the postbox that morning when I met you on the
+North Drive, Herbert."</p>
+
+<p>She turned to Ross and he answered her with a quick pressure of her
+hand, but his eyes twinkled as he remarked:</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't told the Chief yet who paid the blackmail to you in the
+courtroom, dear!"</p>
+
+<p>"It was the judge, himself," she exclaimed. "He dropped the envelope in
+my lap as he passed out to his chambers when court adjourned."</p>
+
+<p>"Judge Garford!" McCormick started in his chair. "What on earth could
+they have on him? It doesn't seem possible!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't forget there was more than a suspicion of bribery in connection
+with the Taylor case," Ross reminded him. "The opposition made a lot
+of it at the last election. The Atterbury crowd may have held some
+evidence of that over his head."</p>
+
+<p>"Lord! They didn't mind who they tackled, did they?" McCormick
+chuckled. "It took just one little woman, though, to put the whole
+bunch out of business! Go on, Miss Westcote; I am anxious to hear the
+rest."</p>
+
+<p>The girl told her story to the end, and when she had finished dusk
+was fast settling down outside the office windows. The Chief's eyes
+sparkled with admiration as she told of her desperate venture in the
+music room and the chloroforming of Wolvert, but his bluff, kindly
+face grew grave when he learned of the concerted rush upon her by the
+conspirators and the blast of the whistle which meant life or death to
+the girl who had dared all, and won out in the face of inconceivable
+odds.</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to have taken me into your confidence, Ross." He turned
+reproachfully to his operative. "When you came to me with all that
+inside dope about the murder of 'the Comet' and the rest of it, and
+told me to round the boys up for a raid on the North Drive at the
+signal of a whistle, I agreed to let you boss the job, but if you'd
+given me an inkling that this young lady was in danger at the hands of
+that pack of thugs—!"</p>
+
+<p>"You might have pulled them too soon and spoiled her game, Chief." Ross
+smiled slyly. "Besides, you had said something about being tarred with
+the same brush, remember, and I wanted to prove to you who was crooked
+and who wasn't."</p>
+
+<p>McCormick reddened.</p>
+
+<p>"My boy, I told you I'd be the first to apologize, and I do, most
+heartily. But what could I think? You were shielding the young lady
+with the scar at every turn, double-crossing me, and—say!" He broke
+off and faced the girl. "Did you ever hear of a peppery old lady named
+Madame Dumois?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes!" She dimpled, delightfully. "Herbert is going to produce me
+in—in a little while!"</p>
+
+<p>Then her face clouded and she shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>"There is one question I have not dared to ask, although it has beaten
+into my brain day and night since that awful hour. Who killed George
+Breckinridge?"</p>
+
+<p>"Jack Wolvert," the Chief responded slowly. "He has confessed, and will
+pay the penalty of his crime."</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ph2"><i>Treasure Trove.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>"You see the murder of Breckinridge was an unexpected complication in
+the plans of the gang," McCormick explained, when the girl's first
+intense horror at the knowledge of the slayer's identity had been
+partially overcome. "They had never before gone so far as to take
+life. Breckinridge had the reputation of being pretty swift and he's
+been mixed up in more than one scandal. He must have been meat for
+the Atterbury gang until he revolted, but he made a big mistake then.
+Instead of going to the police and braving a public inquiry, or coming
+to me, he chose to play a lone hand against the blackmailers, and
+lost. He traced the ringleaders to the Atterbury house and attempted
+to confront them single-handed. How he managed to elude the watchdog
+isn't known, but he got in through a dining-room window which Welch had
+left unfastened. It was only after the murder that the crook who played
+butler was so careful to lock up the house at night.</p>
+
+<p>"Breckinridge had unfortunately taken a bracer or two before he
+started on his foolhardy expedition and when he found himself face to
+face with Wolvert he let his feelings get the better of him and in his
+resentment blustered out how much he knew against the gang. If he had
+only realized it he was confirming his own death-warrant, for he had
+found out too much to go free. Wolvert didn't wait to consult the head
+of the gang, Mrs. Atterbury, but seized a knife from the sideboard and
+a fight for life began. It must have been a silent one and quickly
+over, for no one heard it except Welch who slept on the ground floor
+at the back. He arrived on the scene in time to see Wolvert plunge the
+knife in Breckinridge's breast.</p>
+
+<p>"Afterward, in desperation, they consulted as to the best method of
+disposing of the body and Wolvert suggested taking it up the road and
+leaving it. Welch tied up the dog and then went off to a junk dealer
+and fence whom he knew, and hired a horse and cart which he brought
+back to the gate.</p>
+
+<p>"Wolvert, meanwhile, had gone to tell Mrs. Atterbury the truth and it
+must have been at that time you discovered the body, Miss Westcote.</p>
+
+<p>"When Welch returned, the two men between them carried the body wrapped
+in an old rug down to the gate, where they loaded it on the wagon and
+drove to the secluded spot on Vanderduycken Road."</p>
+
+<p>"The body must have been discovered very soon," the girl murmured with
+a little shiver. "I heard the extras announcing the murder in the
+early afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"It was found at dawn. The junk dealer's wagon had been seen and it
+was traced down finally and spots found which the chemists proved were
+human blood. The man wouldn't confess who had used his wagon, though he
+was put through the third degree. He claimed that if it was out at all
+he had known nothing of it and easily proved his own alibi.</p>
+
+<p>"The case was at a standstill when one of Breckinridge's friends, to
+whom he had hinted that he was being besieged for hush-money came to
+me. With what I already knew of the Atterbury gang I put two and two
+together, but the police were not far from the truth. If we hadn't
+forestalled them it would only have been a matter of hours before they
+knocked at the gates on the North Drive and in the cellar of the house
+they would have found convincing proof; pieces of a rug, blood-stained
+and charred, where an unsuccessful attempt had been made to destroy it
+in the furnace. Shreds from the same rug were found twisted about the
+buttons of the dead man's coat, and clotted in his wound.</p>
+
+<p>"But let us have done with that, Miss Westcote," the detective added
+hastily as he saw her pale lips quiver. "There are still a few points
+to be cleared up in my mind. How did you get all that information about
+the outside members of the gang?"</p>
+
+<p>"From one queer abbreviated note and two cipher letters," the girl
+responded. "The note was the first and I remember it word for word.
+It read: 'Five thousand sheep no go. Bulls instead. Pink wash fed.
+Clearing den. Tail comet yellow.' I couldn't understand it then, but
+later when I had solved the cipher letters I realized the general drift
+of it. It evidently meant that five thousand dollars could not be
+gotten out of somebody although I don't comprehend the significance of
+the word 'sheep.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Slang among them for shearing the sheep, or blackmail," McCormick
+explained. "What did you make out of the rest of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That the police were after them, and detectives had communicated with
+the federal authorities at Washington," she went on. "The writer was
+clearing for Denver and he advised Mrs. Atterbury to 'tail' or trace
+the movements of 'The Comet,' that she was 'yellow' or crooked."</p>
+
+<p>"Well done!" The detective thumped the desk in his enthusiasm. "There's
+a place here for you if ever you want to take it, Miss Westcote! That
+letter was written by 'Red' Rathbone."</p>
+
+<p>"What does he look like?" the girl asked suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Tall and shambling, bright red hair," McCormick replied with an
+inquiring look. "No eyebrows or lashes; they were burned off in a
+prison fire the last time he was sent up. Got a curious way of
+carrying his head on one side——"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I know him, too!" she exclaimed. "His soubriquet 'Red' reminded
+me. He must have been the manservant who opened Mrs. Atterbury's door
+to me on my first visit! I wonder I did not think of him when I read
+the cipher letters."</p>
+
+<p>"What were they?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have them here." She produced two papers from her handbag and placed
+them before him. "The first is a copy of a letter which Mrs. Atterbury
+dictated to me."</p>
+
+<p>"'My dear Shirley,'" read McCormick. "'Your letter received. Send me
+ten of the thousand circulars quoting sheep prices for March. Home
+market good this week for forty or fifty and even more points rise if
+my brokers handled the situation properly.' H—m! I don't quite get it."</p>
+
+<p>"You will if you read every third word, eliminating the two between."
+The girl rose and bent over the desk. "You see? It really means:
+'Received ten thousand sheep. March good for fifty more if handled
+properly.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was convinced that this could only be read aright by choosing
+certain combinations of words, and I tried all that I could think of,
+backward and forward, until I came upon the key."</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord! So somebody named March fell for a ten thousand dollar jolt
+and was willing to disgorge fifty thousand more under pressure, eh?
+Let's see what the rest of it says." He picked out the words slowly
+with a thick forefinger: "'Laramie game up. Comet sold us out to pink.
+Bud killed her; safe on way Japan. Red held in Denver, alibi straight.
+Meet Professor Chicago Saturday, he has instructions. New substitute
+success, blockhead but conscientious. No danger discovery so use this
+code in letting us know result Westcote affair. End.' So she calls you
+a blockhead, does she? Whoever 'Shirley' may be, he didn't meet the
+professor after all, for I got to him first."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. 'Shirley' replied to her in the same code. This is his original
+letter. Mrs. Atterbury dropped it in the hallway and I took possession
+of it. Stripped of the superfluous words, it reads:—'Professor caught
+Chicago. Held on old Hamilton verdict but McCormick getting evidence
+new trouble. Marked letters seized. Hear Westcote sanitarium for good.
+Nothing doing, refuses communicate. Trust nobody, but lie low. Business
+dead. End.'"</p>
+
+<p>"They felt the net closing!" McCormick brought his great fist down upon
+the desk. "One by one we were gathering them in: Red in Denver, the
+'Professor' in Chicago, Mortimer Dana here—"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, then it was you?" cried the girl. "Mrs. Dana came rushing to the
+house one day crying out that her husband was caught, but they quieted
+her and sent her away as quickly as they could, to avert suspicion
+from themselves, I suppose. She fled the city, but I don't know where
+she went—"</p>
+
+<p>"To Bermuda," the detective interrupted grimly. "She's coming back,
+though, under escort. She fought the extradition like a wild-cat, but
+I think she will be in a communicative mood when she reaches here, and
+if she tells us a few things I want to know, I'll see that she gets off
+comparatively easy. She wasn't in it as deep as the rest."</p>
+
+<p>"There is one person I would help if I only could." The girl hesitated.
+"I don't know what she has done, or how closely she is allied to the
+gang, but she did as much as she dared for me. I mean poor little Miss
+Pope. She is in trouble enough about her brother as it is, and she is
+so timid and long-suffering!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you worry on her account, Miss Westcote." McCormick smiled
+beneath his short-clipped mustache. "If I can get you off scot free
+I ought to be able to handle her case. She went to Mrs. Atterbury,
+innocently enough, as a visiting seamstress and they roped her in, just
+as they thought they were doing with you, to collect money from their
+victims. When she found out the truth she was in too deep herself to go
+to the police, but she was too broken-spirited to be of any further use
+to them. They didn't let her out of sight, though, you may depend on
+that. She's free from them at last."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose—suppose they try to drag me in after all, if any of them
+makes a confession." The girl's pallid face whitened still more, but
+the detective laid a reassuring hand on her arm.</p>
+
+<p>"If the police find Betty Shaw, the girl with the scar, they'll find
+her in British Columbia, with a husband and an alibi, won't they? If
+the Atterbury gang try to bring Ruth Westcote into the case, there's
+no shred of evidence left to connect her with it or prove that she or
+any of her people ever had dealings with them. That birthmark was your
+salvation, for not one of those from whom you accepted the blackmail
+would dare swear under oath that you were the same girl. Wolvert's wife
+has already confessed but made no mention of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Wolvert's wife!" The girl repeated aghast, yet a light was breaking
+over her and it scarcely needed his reply to confirm it.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. The woman you knew as Madame Cimmino. She served her time in the
+West, for pulling off an insurance swindle some years back. She is
+known, and wanted, pretty much all over Europe. Wolvert is the black
+sheep of a good family, half-English, half-Spanish; Welch is a former
+heavy-weight pug, gone to the bad, but Mrs. Atterbury herself is the
+real wonder of the lot. She is the widow of old Jonas Atterbury, one
+of the shrewdest financiers that ever bucked the market. She went
+through the money he left her and then, as luxury was as necessary to
+her as the air she breathed, she went after it in the one way that
+her brilliant, unscrupulous mind suggested. We'll never know how she
+fell in with the gang or became their leader, for she's not the sort
+to confess, if she was put on the rack, but it's a safe bet that she
+planned every successful coup they've made in the last five years, and
+she was foxy enough to realize what an asset her social reputation was
+in averting suspicion. Her aristocratic neighbors on the North Drive
+must have had a sensation when they read the papers after the raid!"</p>
+
+<p>"And Professor Stolz?" the girl asked.</p>
+
+<p>"A thorough-going scoundrel, of brilliant attainments but with a
+crooked twist in his brain. He was expelled from the faculty of
+the University of Leipzig for trying to sponsor fake antiquarian
+discoveries and raise money for research work that was never attempted.
+Doctor Bayard is another scientist gone wrong, and the rest are all
+more or less well known for their criminal operations. You certainly
+showed your pluck, Miss Westcote, when you tackled single-handed the
+most dangerous bunch of crooks on record! It was enough of a miracle
+that you escaped with your life, but to have succeeded in what you set
+out to do, and annihilated their organization besides is an achievement
+almost beyond belief! I take off my hat to you!" The Chief beamed upon
+her. "I thought I knew something about the detective game, but you
+can give me cards and spades and then beat me to it! Don't forget my
+offer; if ever you want to go into the business, there's a partnership
+here for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," Ruth Westcote responded demurely. "I have already agreed
+to become a partner in a different concern and I think it is going to
+be a success!"</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes, soft and glowing with a new, tender light turned to those of
+Herbert Ross, and he smiled back at her.</p>
+
+<p>"It ought to be," he said, "for it is founded on the greatest thing in
+the world!"</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>"Young man!" Madame Dumois fixed her gold <i>pince-nez</i> more firmly
+on her high arched nose and glared at the guileless individual who
+stood before her. "It is a good three weeks since I sent for you, to
+find out if you had made any headway with my case, and your McCormick
+person informed me you were out of town. What have you got to say for
+yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite a good deal, if you will listen, Madame Dumois." Herbert Ross
+smiled ingratiatingly. "I only learned of your message yesterday, when
+I returned. Very important business called me away; I wonder if you can
+guess what it was?"</p>
+
+<p>"The missing young woman?" she demanded eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Ross nodded and the smile broadened into a boyish laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes! The young woman you employed me to find!"</p>
+
+<p>"And you have found her?" She eyed him warily, puzzled by his manner.</p>
+
+<p>Ross's face changed and he drew down his lips lugubriously at the
+corners, but the twinkle remained.</p>
+
+<p>"She is a most elusive person!" he sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't need you to tell me that!" the old lady retorted bitterly.
+"And I cannot see any cause for levity! I would not have believed your
+Mr. McCormick capable of finding a lost canary, but I admit I expected
+more of you!"</p>
+
+<p>"You have heard no news of the young woman for whom you are searching?"
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p>A faint spot of color appeared in her faded cheeks and her keen, gray
+eyes snapped.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing that I consider authentic. Why do you ask that, Mr. Ross?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I was under the impression that her natural guardian had
+communicated with you." He spoke in bland surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"'Her natural guardian!'" she repeated indignantly. "Her natural
+guardian is a natural born fool, as I've often told him to his face!
+But it appears to me that you have learned more about this affair than
+I meant you to. Just what do you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"That you returned from Europe to find your only brother in a
+sanitarium, his home closed and his daughter missing. You interviewed
+him, but he would give you no satisfaction, and knowing something of
+the independent character of the young lady——"</p>
+
+<p>"Independent!" Madame Dumois drew a deep breath. "She defied me when
+she was three years old! The only member of the family who dared to
+stand up to me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Knowing that she possessed the courage of her convictions," Ross
+continued, "you made up your mind to find out for yourself where she
+was and what she was doing."</p>
+
+<p>"What she was up to!" The old lady corrected him grimly. "Never since
+she was born have I known what she was going to do next!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have seen your brother, Mr. Westcote, and I am happy to be able to
+tell you that his health is much improved."</p>
+
+<p>"I gathered that from his letter—" A flash of her old humor crossed
+her face. "He called me a meddlesome busybody, and that is more spirit
+than he has shown in years! I don't know how you have found out all
+this, but I cannot say that I am sorry. I did not care to put myself
+or my family affairs at the mercy of a detective agency, that was the
+reason why I would not tell you my motive in seeking her, yet I trust
+and like you, Mr. Ross."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," he responded gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, if you will only find this perverse, incorrigible, young woman
+for me—"</p>
+
+<p>"What if I have?" his eyes danced. "I did not say that I had failed,
+Madame Dumois."</p>
+
+<p>"You have—you have found her?" The old lady gasped, and her sharp eyes
+blurred. "She hasn't gotten into any trouble, Mr. Ross? Where is she?"</p>
+
+<p>"At home." He caught the two trembling wrinkled hands in his. "At our
+home, breaking in the new cook I believe. I have come to take you to
+her."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dumois looked long into his happy face and the color slowly came
+back to her own. A dry smile hovered about her lips, and then broke
+into a chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>"Well! I do not usually indulge in slang, but that is one on the
+lawyers! I won't have to change my will again! When I quarreled with my
+brother and made up my mind that Ruth had disgraced the family by this
+unaccountable disappearance, I added a codicil in your favor. You were
+the best type of young American I had encountered in many a long day,
+and as the choice lay between you and a cat asylum, I decided on you.
+Now it is all in the family, and I am proud of you both. She is the
+most provoking, self-willed, irrepressible young woman in the world,
+and the dearest! Take me to her!"
+</p>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75240 ***</div>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #75240 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75240)