mpathized with his voice, and the eyes below
them were little and gray and twinkling, and altogether he was the sort of
man who is termed--according to a certain style of phrasing--"above
suspicion." But she liked him, oh! immensely, and he liked her. And when
they were riding up in the carriage together she felt how thoroughly
trustworthy his gray eyes and good smile declared him to be, and had no
hesitation in telling him what she wanted to do, and in asking him what
she wanted to know.

Mitchell certainly had a talent for plotting, for when they reached the
house where the culprits were temporarily domiciled, Burnett had gone out
to give his mended ribs some exercise, and Jack was reading alone in the
room where they shared one another's liniments with friendly generosity.

The arch-conspirator went upstairs, came down, and then, seeking the lady
whom he had left in the parlor, said to her:

"Denham's up there and you can go up and say whatever you have to say. You
know 'In union there is strength.' Well you've got him alone now, and
he'll prove weakly as a consequence or I miss my guess."

Then he walked straight over by the window and picked up a magazine as if
it was all settled, and she only hesitated for half a second before she
turned and went upstairs.

There was a door half open in the hall above, and she knew that that must
be the door. She tapped at it lightly, and a man's voice (a voice that she
knew well), called out gruffly:

"Come in!"

She pushed the door open at that and entered, and saw Jack, and he saw
her. He turned very pale at the sight, and then the color flooded his
face, and he rose from his chair abruptly, and put his hand up to the
strips that held the bandage on his head.

"Burnett isn't here," he said quickly. "He went out just a few minutes
ago."

His tone was hard, and yet at the same time it shook slightly.

She approached him, holding out her hand.

"I'm glad of that," she said, "because it was to see you that I came."

To her great surprise something mutinous and scornful flashed in his eyes
as he rolled a chair forward for her.

"You honor me," he said, and his tone and manner both hardened yet more.
His general appearance was that of a man ten years older; he had changed
terribly in the weeks since she had last seen him. She took the chair and
sat down, still looking at him. He sat down too, and his eyes went
restlessly around the room as if they sought a hold that sh