his manner that said he was a willing captive.
She lurched forward and hurled Murk back, sprang after him, crashed the
butt of the weapon against the side of his head, and then, while he was
a trifle groggy from the blow, she grasped him with her powerful hands
and piloted him toward the street with strength and determination.

"Never try to play them child's tricks on me!" she announced.

Murk regarded her with mingled admiration and chagrin, and spoke with
enthusiasm.

"Some woman!" he commented.

CHAPTER XIX

COADLEY QUITS

Murk, compelled to ride back to the city in the taxicab with Marie,
spent the time in ordinary conversation with the amazon, and told
himself repeatedly that she was a great woman, a dangerous state of mind
for a bachelor.

The only reason Murk wanted to remain in the vicinity of the cottage was
to catch a sight of the countenance of the man who had worn the mask. As
far as the cottage itself was concerned, he had noticed a signboard on a
street corner not far from it, and he would be able to locate it again
if Sidney Prale or Jim Farland thought it necessary.

Marie stopped the taxicab near the Park, and Murk got out and gallantly
offered to pay the bill for his enemy, but Marie would not allow it.

"Hope to see you often and get to know you better when this little scrap
is over," Murk made bold to say, and then, chuckling at her retort, he
started walking down the street.

He did not care to ride, for it was not so very many blocks to the
hotel, and Murk wanted time to formulate in his mind the report he
intended to make to his employer.

Prale was waiting for him, and Murk told his story in detail and without
embellishment.

"So Kate Gilbert had you freed, did she?" Prale said. "And she told the
others that she would quit them if they used any more violence? Murk,
old boy, when our foes begin fighting in their own camp it is time for
us to begin to hope. A house divided against itself cannot stand, as you
probably have heard."

"She certainly panned the man who wore the handkerchief over his face,"
Murk said. "I think I'd know him again, boss. He talked a good deal,
remember, and he got careless toward the last and used his regular
voice. And I watched his hands--boob didn't have sense enough to wear
gloves. Anybody but a boob would know that a hand can be recognized as
easy as a face."

"Let us hope that they make a lot of mistakes like that, Murk," Prale
replied. "