ss," he asked, "who else is here to-day besides you?"

"No one to-day, sir."

"Just as well, perhaps," Quest observed. "Listen, Ross. I am going out now
for an hour or two, but I shall be back at mid-day. Remember that. Mrs.
Rheinholdt and Inspector French are to be here at twelve o'clock. If by
any chance I should be a few moments late, ask them to wait. And, Ross, a
young woman from the Salvation Army will call too. You can give her this
cheque."

Ross Brown, who was Quest's secretary-valet and general factotum, accepted
the slip of paper and placed it in an envelope.

"There are no other instructions, sir?" he enquired.

"None," Quest replied. "You'll look out for the wireless, and you had
better switch the through cable and telegraph communication on to
headquarters. Come along, Lenora."

They left the house, entered the waiting automobile, and drove rapidly
towards the confines of the city. Quest was unusually thoughtful. Lenora,
on the other hand, seemed to have lost a great deal of her usual self
composure. She seldom sat still for more than a moment or two together.
She was obviously nervous and excited.

"What's got hold of you, Lenora?" Quest asked her once. "You seem all
fidgets."

She glanced at him apologetically.

"I can't help it," she confessed. "If you knew of the many sleepless
nights I have had, of how I have racked my brain wondering what could have
become of James, you wouldn't really wonder that I am excited now that
there is some chance of really finding out. Often I have been too
terrified to sleep."

"We very likely shan't find out a thing," Quest reminded her. "French and
his lot have had a try and come to grief."

"Inspector French isn't like you, Mr. Quest," Lenora ventured.

Quest laughed bitterly.

"Just now, at any rate, we don't seem to be any great shakes," he
remarked. "However, I'm glad we're on this job. Much better to find out
what has become of the fellow really, if we can."

Lenora's voice suddenly grew steady. She turned round in her place and
faced her companion.

"Mr. Quest," she said, "I like my work with you. You saved me from
despair. Sometimes it seems to me that life now opens out an entirely new
vista. Yet since this matter has been mentioned between us, let me tell
you one thing. I have known no rest, night or day, since we heard of--of
James's escape. I live in terror. If I have concealed it, it has been at
the expense of my nerves and my strength. I t