ances
may demand. But do not grieve--I shall return eftsoons or
thereabouts.

"Yours in the interests of pure crime--

"WHIFF.

"P. S.--And of course neither of us had the sense to ask: If
Miss S. was bound here from the St. Regis, how did her taxi
manage to break down in Central Park?"

Prompt investigation revealed the truth of Mr. Iff's assertion: the
bill-fold with its remaining two-hundred dollars was safely tucked away
in the waistcoat pocket. Furthermore, the two twenty-pound notes were
unquestionably genuine. The tide of Staff's faith in human nature began
again to flood; the flower of his self-conceit flourished amazingly. He
surmised that he wasn't such a bad little judge of mankind, after all.

He breakfasted with a famous appetite, untroubled by Iff's aspersion on
his sense of hearing, which was excellent; and he had certainly heard
Miss Searle aright: she had named the St. Regis not once, but twice, and
each time with the clearest enunciation. He could only attribute the
mistake to her excitement and fatigue; people frequently make such
mistakes under unusual conditions; if Miss Searle had wished to deceive
him as to her whereabouts, she needed only to refrain from communicating
with him at all. And anyway, he knew now where to find her and within
the hour would have found her; and then everything would be cleared up.

He was mildly surprised at the sense of pleasant satisfaction with which
he looked forward to meeting the girl again. He reminded himself not to
forget to interview a manager or two in her interests.

Just to make assurance doubly sure, he telephoned the St. Simon while
waiting for Shultz to fetch a taxicab. The switchboard operator at that
establishment replied in the affirmative to his enquiry as to whether or
not Mrs. Ilkington and Miss Searle were registered there.

On the top of this he was called up by Alison.

"I'm just starting out--cab waiting," he told her at once--"to go to
Miss Searle and get your--property."

"Oh, you are?" she returned in what he thought a singular tone.

"Yes; she called me up last night--said she'd discovered the mistake and
the--ah--property--asked me to call today at noon."

There was no necessity that he could see of detailing the whole long
story over a telephone wire.

"Well," said Alison after a little pause, "I don't want to interfere
with your amusements, but ... I've s