n back since. Want to
leave message?"

McCoy snapped up the receiver and walked slowly into his room. So it was
Gregory. Where had he been going at this time of night? And on the run,
too. The forgetting of the paper was only a frame-up. Dick had acted
funny. Now he knew it was because she wanted to get rid of him.

He sat on the bed, making no effort to remove his clothes. You're a poor
fish, something whispered. Why don't you go and find out if they're
double-crossing you? McCoy tried not to listen. For a long time he
stared moodily at the floor. Then he rose and threw off his coat.
Hastily replaced it and hurried to the door. He was ashamed of his
suspicions. But he simply had to find out.

* * * * *

There was a light still burning in the Lang cottage when Gregory turned
into the walk. Perhaps he was foolish to have returned. Still it would
do no harm to warn the girl.

As he went up the steps he saw Miss Lang walking up and down the little
hall. Tapping loudly, he summoned her to the door.

"Could I speak to Miss Dickie a moment?" he shouted. "It is something
important."

Aunt Mary came out on the porch.

"If you wait a moment," she said, "my niece will be back. She left some
time ago to take some medicine over to one of our neighbor's sick
babies."

Gregory's fears multiplied.

"Where did she go?"

"To the Swanson place just over the hill. It's the first place you'll
come to before you reach the Russian Valley."

"I'll go meet her."

He turned quickly and hurried down the path.

Reaching the brow of the hill, he saw the lights of the Swanson cottage
and slowed down to a walk. His fears for the girl's safety were
apparently groundless. The valley lay before him, steeped in moonlight.
No sound disturbed the stillness save the far-off cry of the screaming
gulls and the monotonous murmur of the distant sea. Walking slowly down
the road, grown high on both sides with sage and cactus, he caught a
glimpse of a bulky figure in the path ahead.

Looking again to the cottage only a few hundred yards down the road,
Gregory saw the light flash out from an open door. For a moment it shone
brightly, then disappeared.

As the man in the roadway heard the sound of footsteps behind him, he
stepped quickly to the brush and faced about. Keeping well in the center
of the path, Gregory went steadily on with his eyes fixed upon the clump
of sage which sheltered the disappearing figure