she was
ready to recognize almost any description; and the slight lameness and
the fact of his having been in Montana helped along. If we could have
gotten a photograph sooner, the question would have been settled. Only
last week, while I was in Boston, I got word from the detective agency
that a photo had been received. I went to see it immediately. There was
some resemblance, but not enough. Henry Thomas was never Mr. Higgins."

"But--but--they say Thomas has skipped out."

"Yes, he has. That's the queer part of it. At the place where he boarded
we learned that he got a letter from Arizona--trust the average landlady
to look at postmarks--that he seemed greatly agitated all that day, and
left that night. No one has seen him since. Why he went is a puzzle.
Where, we don't care. So long as he keeps out of our way, that's
enough."

Captain Cy did not care, either. He surmised that Mr. Atkins might
probably explain the disappearance. And yet, oddly enough, this
explanation was not the true one. The Honorable Heman solemnly assured
the captain that he had not communicated with Emily's father. He
intended to do so, as a part of the compact agreed upon at the hotel,
but the man had fled. And the mystery is still unsolved. The supposition
is that there really was a wife somewhere in the West. Who or where she
was no Bayporter knows. Henry Thomas has never come back to explain.

"I told Miss Dawes of the photograph and what it proved," went on
Peabody. "She was dreadfully disappointed. She could hardly speak when
she left me. I urged her to come in and see you, but she wouldn't.
Evidently she had set her heart on helping you and the child. It is too
bad, because, practically speaking, we owe everything to her. There
is little doubt that the inquiry set on foot by her scared the Thomas
fellow into flight. And she has worked night and day to aid us. She is
a very clever woman, Captain Whittaker, and a good one. You can't thank
her enough. Here! what are you about?"

Captain Cy strode past him into the dining room. The hat rack hung on
the wall by the side door. He snatched his cap from the peg, and was
struggling into his overcoat.

"Where are you going?" demanded the lawyer. "You mustn't attempt to walk
now. You need rest."

"Rest! I'll rest by and by. Just now I've got business to attend to. Let
go of that pea-jacket."

"But--"

"No buts about it. I'll see you later. So long."

He threw open the door and hurried d