aid after a little, 'that is, I fancied there
might be something--some clue to her whereabouts in the bag.'

'It was not complete,' I answered. 'When I could not overtake her, and
the brunette did not recommend herself to my confidence, I opened the
bag, after some hesitation.'

'Yes?' The syllable was a direct and eager question.

'I found nothing by way of identification save two letters, both
unsealed, and these, after some reluctance, I opened.'

'Ah!' A trifle stiffly.

'The first was from a lady in Boston to a lady here at the World's
Fair.'

'Indeed!' A freer tone, almost a sigh of relief.

'This gave me so little information that I was obliged to open the
second letter, which was written, I suppose, by the owner of the bag,
and not as yet posted; even this did not give me her address.'

'How strange!'

We had reached the end of his beat, and now I turned with him, and we
sauntered slowly toward the Ferris Wheel. I felt that he was worthy
of a grain of comfort, if I were able to give it, and I said:

'It was like this. The letter from Boston was written on the eve of a
start for this place. The other letter, if posted, would have passed
the lady for whom it was intended upon the road. This last letter,
written supposedly by the owner of the bag, states that she, having
left her New York home some time since, is now in the World's Fair
City in company with an aunt, whom she describes as rustic, but
delightful, and that because they are stopping very near the Fair she
feels safe in coming alone on such days as her aunt elects to pass in
the quiet of her own apartment; and the only clue to an address is the
statement that she enters the grounds by the Fifty-seventh Street
gate.'

'Ah!' It is a sigh of genuine relief. At last he has a clue, if a
slight one. But what does he want of a clue? Having gotten thus far, I
relate briefly my experience of this morning, omitting description and
the name of Monsieur Voisin, whom I describe as a tall dark-haired
gentleman, evidently a foreigner, and then I play my card.

I am here upon business of an important nature; my time is limited; I
do not know the lady; and having committed the folly of holding back
first because of the brunette, and last--well, because I had an
especial reason for not coming under the notice of this strange
man--in short, had I found the lady alone I should have returned her
property; in the presence of a third party I did not wish to do