Nedra

with his back toward the door, and he seemed to be in no especial haste to attract the attention of the bartender. As they gave their order for drinks, Hugh

to the watcher, surprised that he could be doi

was rattling on, heaving intermittent breaths of relief as he s

ind anything just so it helps to make a comf

e subject as if it were the proverbial st

he oldes

, I'll bet. Nothing like c

officer, looking

Hugh, recovering himself quic

e hung onto this job all these years just because it might

uck him as probable that this man was to lose his position the next morning. A

think of and not the childr

lain-clothes man shivered as he swallowed the fiery stuff. He looked thin and haggard

y saved up by this time," he said, tryin

everything. Besides, I've been too d---- honest. I

name?" demande

ien

ll that. But wh

orge Friend--S

the way, I want to write a short note." He secured envelope, paper and stamp from the bar and hastily wrote a brief letter. The inscription on the outside of the envelope

thes man shivering as if he were congealing. Mr. Ridgeway dashed across the paveme

ug-store below, sir,"

hrough the puddles and mudholes. He heard shouts in the distance and he did not decrease his speed until he neared the street opening below. There he ran into some one and fell. Besmeared and bespattered, he quickly picked himself up; and when, a moment later, he gained the sidewalk, no one would hardly have recognized in the dilapidated-looking creatu

rs to drive as quickly as possible to the Twenty-third Street Ferry. Then he

past, but I stared back just as hard. It took nerve to face him. Hang it all, I'm sorry for him. H

r leaving the cab he ventured into an all-night shop and bought a cheap raincoat, slouch hat and umbrella. Then, like a thief, he stole forth and warily

ence. By Jove, this has been a corking star

d itself. It would be wise to approach the liner by stealth, taking no chances. They were sailing by one o

He was cursing himself for permitting her to rush off alone in a night like this, into a quarter that reeked with uncertainty and disorder. Vague horrors presented themselves to his distressed mind; calamity stared at him from the mouth of every dark alley; outrage, crime, misfortune, danced in every sh

he trembled in his boots. The sudden, overpowering recollection that he had the passage tickets in his pockets with the reservations and the lug

d she presented herself at the dock during the evening. Hugh's jaw dropped and a sick, damp perspiration started on his forehead. Hardly knowing what he did, he

ore he gave up all hope and distractedly made up his mind to institute a search for the missing girl. He conjectured all manner of mishaps, even to the most dreadful of catastrophes. Runaway accident, robbery, abduction, even murder harassed his imagination until it became unbearable. The only ch

nd then the door of a cab that had been s

n his long legs did the same--repeatedly. As he brought up beside the c

grinned scornfully from his private box above, the only wi

y. "Oh, oh, oh! You'll never know how I felt all that time. It se

Great Jehoshaphat! You

e been. Pay the man, dear, and take me--take me any place where the

er on board the Saint Cloud. She tried to explain as they hu

an extent that he feared it would cling to him through life. "Go to your stateroom, dearest, and I'll send you somethi

alling you things, too. And I've been so worrie

here in the library in half an h

. You're frightfully wet. Send my s

so unbecoming in a strong man that the baggage master smiled in derision and imagined he was looking upon a "greenie" who was making his first voyage and was afraid of the sea. Off

at on one of the wide sofas and drank the toddy tha

with returning reason. "They'

ut of the question to act like brother and s

. How did it all work out

the cab a man rushed past me and I flew back into my seat like a bullet. He was a tall, slouchy fellow, with a sly look. All at once it came to me that he was a detective. You know, they're always mysterious looking. So I stayed in

I was for Mr. Plain Clothes and what I di

e k

s.

queerly that I was sure of it. He was after you and me. Of course, I nearly fainted. All the time I was afraid you would run right into his arms, so I w

laughing so loud that the s

she asked anxiously. "The tru

enderly, soberly. "We

us," she sa