her sweet lips parted; but she waited.

And now I found it really essential to put my arm around her and draw
her to me--she was too agitated to hear otherwise what I had to say. I
hastened to explain how impossible it was for me to leave the city just
at the time, what with my anxiety to recover the ruby and the necessity
of keeping in close touch with Burke.

"I require only one more piece to complete the answer to our riddle," I
affirmed,--I really thought so at the time,--"and you can get it for
me. Don't bother your aunt; she will keep back all essentials, anyway.
Your uncle and aunt and Felix Page all came from the same town, and
there you can find plenty of old gossips who can--they 'll be only too
willing to--give you all the information you want. They 'll give you
more; but we can winnow the wheat from the chaff after you get back.
Do you feel equal to such an undertaking?"

The proposal appeared to overcome her. She considered for a time, then
turned to me, her eyes dancing, her cheeks flushed.

"Yes," she said, with bated breath. "I can't do Belle any good; she
only wants to be alone. What do you want me to do?"

"Dig up every scrap of family history that you can--the Pages', the
Fluettes', and the Coopers'; especially as they affect one another.
Being a Cooper yourself, the task should be easy for you; you are
compiling a family-tree, you know."

Genevieve gave me a sly look, and retorted:

"'When first we practise to deceive'--"

"Oh, no," I assured her. "If you do your work thoroughly, you
certainly will have a complete family-tree. So there 's no deception
about it."

Well, it was finally settled that she would go, and that she would
report the result of her journey to me as soon as possible.

She then elicited a confession of my inability to solve the
cipher--which confession was yielded up to the accompaniment of an
exceedingly sour smile.

"That old house is a hoodoo," I said bitterly. "I have failed in
everything I ever undertook inside its walls. The rest of the chase
will be pursued on the outside."

"And you did n't even find the little daisy what-you-may-call-'ems--the
originals, I mean?" She meant the crazy designs on the cipher.

"I did not."

Genevieve laughed.

"Wait till I get back. I mean to have a try at our cryptograph. If
the daisies are in the old Page place, I 'll find them."

"They 're there, all right. I 'm sure you 're welcome to try--if you
'll le