ly observed
that Timmins really knew nothing.

They were both, however, on their guard when the oily face of Adolph
Lilienthal suddenly appeared at the soda fountain.

The picture-dealer's crafty face shone with a benevolent smile
as he said to Timmins, "I've mislaid Mr. Braun's address, the last
one he gave me!" The two young men exchanged startled glances, but
Timmins resolutely answered, "You must find it out for yourself.
The boss didn't even tell me what steamer he sailed on. I was to
see you about all."

And finally Adolph Lilienthal retired crestfallen. He dared not
admit to the clerk the quarrel which had left him in Braun's power.
"You'll have a letter surely, from him in a week or so," smoothly
answered the cockney, finally.

And then the owner of the Newport Art Gallery sadly departed.

"I am in his power," he musingly said. "He knows all about me; and
I nothing of him. He is a fiend, that fellow; and he will perhaps
keep clear of my friends on the other side. He is too smart to
commit himself." The only clue possible lay in watching the doltish
London clerk. And on his way home the picture-dealer gave that up
as hopeless. "Braun would never trust that fool. He's only a human
sponge, a confirmed soak."

Far out on the waters the "Mesopotamia" was plowing along, the blue
water curling merrily away from her bows. Mr. August Meyer, blithe
and light-hearted, gaily waved his cigar in answer to the lights
of a passing steamer bound homeward. "My compliments to Mr. Randall
Clayton!" he laughed, as he strode along the quarter deck, the only
cabin passenger. "We have given Fate a clean pair of heels. I defy
the Devil to touch me now. It was simply to hold the bag open.
That fool ran his head into it. The stroke of a lifetime!

"God! What a row there'll be; but it will take a month to find out
that he has not skipped. I will be in hiding; but to-morrow I must
face this Magyar fool. What shall I tell her?"

Mr. August Meyer tramped the deck alone until he hit upon a plausible
explanation of the awakening which would arouse the Magyar songbird's
gravest suspicions. "When she awakes and finds herself far out at
sea, there will be a devil of a racket, unless I can find a way
to control her. Should she denounce me, I might be detained by the
Captain, subject to an examination. And the money; it would have
to go overboard or else I would go to the electric chair."

He gave up his surest way of stopping the un