ne Maku, if
or when Orme went through the gate and doubled back, outside the fence,
to the car, there was no sound of steps behind him. He jumped to the
chauffeur's seat.

"Well?" inquired the girl, eagerly.

"Too late," said Orme. "I'm sorry. I caught Maku, but the man with the
envelope got away."

She laid a hand on his arm. "Are you hurt?" There was unconcealed anxiety
in her voice.

To say the things he yearned to say! To be tender to her! But he
controlled his feelings and explained briefly what had happened, at the
same time throwing on the power and driving the car slowly northward.

"I only know that the fellow ran northward," he said. "He may have worked
back or he may have gone on. He may have climbed another tree and
waited."

By this time they had come to the northern limits of the grounds, but he
had seen no one.

Suddenly the girl exclaimed "Listen!"

Orme stopped the car. Somewhere from the distance came a faint hum.
"Another car!" he muttered.

"Yes," she said. "Oh, but I can do no more. I am tired, Mr. Orme. We
cannot catch that car, even if it does hold the man we want--and there is
no way of being sure that it does."

"If there is any place to leave you, I will go after him alone." He had
turned the car as he spoke and was sending it slowly southward.

"No," she said wearily. "We--you must do no more to-night. You have been
so good, Mr. Orme--to help me in a matter of which I could tell you
almost nothing. I won't even try to thank you--except by saying that you
have understood."

He knew what she meant. He had met her need, because he had known its
greatness without her telling him. His recognition of her plight had been
unaccompanied by any suggestion of ignored conventions. No gushing thanks
would have pleased him half so much.

He smiled at her wistfully. "Does it all end here?"

"No," she said, "I will not let it end here. We are friends already; in
fact, Mr. Orme, as soon as I can do so, I will see that we are friends in
name. Can you accept as little a promise as that?"

"I can accept any promise from you," he said gravely. "And now shall I
take you home?"

"Not home. It is too far. But I have some friends a few blocks away who
will take me in. Turn here, please."

Under her guidance he took the car through several streets, drawing up at
last before a large, comfortable-looking place, set back from the street,
with a wide, shrub-dotted lawn before it. Several windows were