ned the city.

CHAPTER XXII

THE USUAL THING

"Hello, Mr. Hold-up Man!" The girl seized Mr. Magee's proffered hand and
leaped down from the truck to his side.

"Bless the gods of the mountain," said Magee; "they have given me back
my accomplice, safe and sound."

"They were black lonesome gods," she replied, "and they kept whispering
fearful things in my ear I couldn't understand. I'm glad they didn't
keep me."

"So am I." The crowd surged about them; many in it smiled and spoke
admiringly to the girl. "It's great to be acquainted with the heroine of
the hour," Mr. Magee continued. "I congratulate you. You have overthrown
an empire of graft, it seems."

"Alone and unaided," she quoted, smiling mockingly up into his face.

"Absolutely alone and entirely unaided," said Billy Magee. "I'll swear
to that in court."

Mrs. Norton panted up to them.

"Hello, dearie!" she cried. "Thank heaven you're safe. Have you been up
to the house? How's Sadie getting along? I just know everything is
topsyturvy."

"Not at all," replied Miss Rhodes. "Breakfast passed off like clockwork
at seven, and even Mr. Golden had no complaints to offer. Dear, I must
thank you for all you've done for me. It was splendid--"

"Not now," objected Mrs. Norton. "I got to get up to the house now. What
with Christmas only two days away, and a lot of shopping to be done, I
can't linger in this drafty station for thanks. I want you to bring Mr.
Magee right up to the house for lunch. I'll have a meal ready that'll
show him what suffering must have been going on inside me while I sat
still watching that hermit man burlesquing the cook business."

"Delighted," said Magee. "I'll find you a cab." He led the way to a row
of such vehicles, Mrs. Norton and the girl following.

"Seems like you're always putting me in a cab," remarked the older woman
as she climbed inside. "I don't know what Mary and me would have done if
it hadn't been for you. You're a mighty handy person to have around, Mr.
Magee. Ain't he, dearie?" She winked openly at Magee.

"And a delightful one," agreed the girl, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Mrs. Norton was driven away up the snowy street. As Mr. Magee and the
girl turned, they beheld the Hermit of Baldpate staring with undisguised
exultation at the tall buildings of Reuton.

"Why, it's Mr. Peters!" the girl cried.

"Yes," replied Magee. "His prediction has come true. We and our
excitement proved too much for him. He's