Orme decided quickly to get away from
this neighborhood. But just as he was about to bid the life-saver a
casual good-night, two men came around the corner of the building. One
was a policeman, the other a young Japanese. Orme unobtrusively seated
himself on the edge of the little veranda.

"How is he?" asked the policeman.

"All right, I guess," replied the life-saver. "I looked in a few minutes
ago, and he was sitting up. Hello, Asuki."

"Hello, there," responded the little Japanese.

"Come," said the policeman, after an unsuspicious glance at Orme, and,
mounting the steps, he led his interpreter into the station.

Now, indeed, it was time for Orme to slip away. Maku might be brought out
at any moment. But Orme lingered. He was nearer to the solution of the
secret if he kept close to Maku, and he realized, for that matter, that
by watching Maku closely and, perhaps, following him home, he might be
led straight to the other man. If Maku accused him, it should not, after
all, be hard to laugh the charge away.

A murmur of voices came from within the station, the policeman's words
alone being distinguishable.

"Ask him," the policeman said, "if he knows who hit him."

The undertones of a foreign jargon followed.

"Well, then," continued the policeman, "find out where he came from and
what he was doing on the campus."

Again the undertones, and afterward an interval of silence. Then the
policeman spoke in an undecided voice.

"If he don't know anything, I can't do anything. But we might as well get
a few more facts. Something might turn up. Ask him whether he saw anybody
following him when he went into the campus."

Orme had been straining his ears in a vain endeavor to catch the words of
Asuki. But suddenly his attention was diverted by a sound from the lake.
It was the "puh-puh-puh-puh" of a motor-boat, apparently a little
distance to the northward. The explosions followed one another in rapid
succession.

He turned to the life-saver.

"What boat is that?" he asked.

"I don't know. Some party from Chicago, probably. She came up an hour or
so ago--at least, I suppose she's the same one."

The explosions were now so rapid as to make almost one continuous roar.

"She's a fast one, all right," commented the life-saver. "Hear her go!"

"Are there many fast boats on the lake?"

"Quite a number. They run out from Chicago harbor now and then."

Orme was meditating.

"Exactly how long ago did this boat