was in South Africa----"

Berrington's glass clicked as he raised it to his lips. Just for an
instant his face was as pale as that of the man opposite him. With a
gesture Richford motioned the waiter away. Then he rose unsteadily from
the table, and finished the rest of his brandy without any water at all.
He crossed the room like a ghost. Directly he had passed the swinging
doors Berrington rose and followed. He saw Richford in the distance
entering a hansom; he called one himself. Evidently he had no desire for
Richford to see him.

"Where shall I drive, sir?" the cabman asked.

"Keep that cab in sight without being seen," Berrington said hastily.
"Do your work well, and it will be a sovereign in your pocket. Now drive
on."

CHAPTER VIII

The cabman gave a knowing wink and touched his hat. Berrington lay back
inside the hansom abstractedly, smoking a cigarette that he had lighted.
His bronzed face was unusually pale and thoughtful; it was evident that
he felt himself on no ordinary errand, though the situation appeared to
be perfectly prosaic. One does not usually attach a romantic interest to
a well-dressed military man in a hansom cab during broad daylight in
London. But Berrington could have told otherwise.

"Poor little girl," he muttered to himself. "Sad as her fate is, I did
not think it was quite so sad as _this_. We must do something to save
her. What a fortunate thing it is that I have always had a love for the
study of underground human nature, and that I should have found out so
much that appears only normal to the average eye. That innocent patch of
salt in the shape of a bullet, for instance. Thank goodness, I am on my
long leave and have plenty of time on my hands. My dear little grey
lady, even your affairs must remain in abeyance for the present."

The drive promised to be a long one, for half London seemed to have been
traversed before the cabman looked down through the little peep-hole and
asked for instructions, as the hansom in front had stopped.

"The gentleman inside is getting out, sir," he said. "He's stopped at
the corner house."

"Go by it at a walk," Berrington commanded, "and see what house our man
enters. After that I will tell you exactly what to do, driver. Only be
careful as to the right house."

The cab pulled up at length once more, and the house was indicated.
Berrington proceeded a little further, and then sent his own driver away
rejoicing, a sovereign the riche