ond before his eyes.

In a twinkling he knew what had been done, and what he should do. When
the Tadmor came up, he caught the hand-rail and boarded the train
without so much as a thought for his belongings left behind at the
up-town hotel. The Tadmor's smoking-room was deserted, and he went in to
burn a reflective cigar, and to ponder over the probable outcome of this
latest proof of the President's resentment.

Having failed to get speech with Gertrude, he could only guess at the
result of her interview with her father, but the sudden change in the
itinerary spoke for itself, and thus far the guess was twin brother to
the truth. But two hours had intervened between Mr. Vennor's hasty
decision and the departure of Train Number 103, and many things may
befall in two hours.

XXVI

A BLIND SIDING

When the President went back to the Naught-fifty after his visit to the
despatcher, he meant to tell Gertrude at once what he had done, and the
reason therefore; but she had retreated to her stateroom, and in reply
to his tap at the door had begged to be excused. After that, there was
ample time for reflection, and the President walked the floor of the
central compartment, smoking many cigars, and dividing the time
impartially between wondering what had become of the other members of
the party, and speculating as to the probable effect upon Gertrude's
hallucination of the sudden and unannounced flitting.

Almost at the last moment, when he had begun to fear they had gone to
the theatre, Mrs. Dunham and the young people returned, full to the lips
with suppressed excitement; and in the midst of the bustle of departure
the two young women made a descent upon Gertrude's room, while Mrs.
Dunham took the President aside. What passed between them, Quatremain,
who was pretending to be asleep in the nearest chair, could not
overhear; but that Mrs. Dunham's news was startling and not altogether
unpleasant was plainly evident to the secretary.

By this time the private car had been switched to its place in the
train, and when the steady rumbling of the wheels betokened the
beginning of the westward journey, Gertrude appeared with the two young
women, and there was a dramatic little scene in the central compartment,
through which the secretary did not even pretend to sleep. The
President's daughter demanded to know where they were going, and why she
had not been told, ending by throwing herself into Mrs. Dunham's arms
and c