stone. It is unusually
clear and white, and exquisitely cut. I should say it was worth at
least"--he paused and then named a sum which startled Dunham, even
accustomed as he was to counting values in high figures. He took the jewel
back with a kind of awe. Where had his mysterious lady acquired this
wondrous bauble which she had tossed to him for a trifle? In a tumult of
feeling, he went on to his office more perplexed than ever. Suspicions of
all sorts crowded thickly into his mind, but for every thought that
shadowed the fair reputation of the lady, there came into his mind her
clear eyes and cast out all doubts. Finally, after a bad hour of trying
to work, he slipped the ring on his little finger, determined to wear it
and thus prove to himself his belief in her, at least until he had
absolute proof against her. Then he took up his hat and went out, deciding
to accept Judge Blackwell's invitation to visit his office. He found a
cordial reception, and the Judge talked business in a most satisfactory
manner. His proposals bade fair to bring about some of the dearest wishes
of the young man's heart, and yet as he left the building he was thinking
more about the mysterious stranger who had disappeared from the Judge's
office the day before than about the wonderful good luck that had come to
him in a business way.

They had not talked much about her. The Judge had brought out her hat--a
beautiful velvet one, with exquisite plumes--her gloves, a costly leather
purse, and a fine hemstitched handkerchief, and as he put them sadly away
on a closet shelf, he said no trace of her had as yet been found.

On his way toward his own office, Tryon Dunham pondered the remarkable
coincidence which had made him the possessor of two parts of the same
mystery--for he had no doubt that the hat belonged to the young woman who
had claimed his help the evening before.

* * * * *

Meantime, the girl who was speeding along toward Chicago had not forgotten
him. She could not if she would, for all about her were reminders of him.
The conductor took charge of her ticket, telling her in his gruff, kind
way what time they would arrive in the city. The porter was solicitous
about her comfort, the newsboy brought the latest magazines and a box of
chocolates and laid them at her shrine with a smile of admiration and the
words, "Th' g'n'lmun sent 'em!" The suit-case lay on the seat opposite,
the reflection of her face