port is true?" said Dolly.

"Not quite sure," he replied; "but I wish I had greater reason to doubt
it."

Recurring mentally to the little scene she had witnessed on the street
only an hour or so previously, and remembering Mollie's blushes and
drooping eyes, and the look they had won from Mr. Gerald Chandos as he
took her half-reluctant hand in his, Dolly bit her lips hard, feeling
her blood grow hot within her. She waited just a minute to cool herself,
and then spoke.

"Mr. Gowan," she said, "in the first place I ought to thank you."

"Nay," he said, "I promised to help you to care for Mollie."

"I ought to thank you," she repeated. "And I do. But in the second place
I am going to ask you to do something for me which may be disagreeable."

"You may be sure," he replied, "that I shall not hesitate."

"Yes," she said, "I think I am sure of that, or I should not ask you. I
am so eager about the matter, that I could not bear to waste the time.
I want you to help me. On Thursday afternoon I am going home. Can you
trace this report to its source before then, and let me know whether it
is a true or a false one?"

"I can try."

She clasped both her gloved hands together on the small table before
her, and lifted to his such a determined young face and such steadfast
eyes, that he was quite impressed. She would rise in arms against the
world for poor, unwise Mollie, it was plain. It was not so safe a matter
to trifle in Vagabondia, it would seem,--that Gerald Chandos would find
to his cost.

"If you bring word to me that what you have heard is a truth," she said,
"I can go to Mollie with my weapon in my hand, and I can end all at one
blow. However wilful and incredulous she may have been heretofore, she
will not attempt to resist me when I tell her that. It is a humiliating
thing to think he has insulted her by keeping his secret so far; but we
meet with such covert stings now and then in Vagabondia, and perhaps it
will prove a blessing in disguise. If we had used our authority to make
her dismiss him without having a decided reason to give her, she might
only have resented our intervention as being nothing but prejudice. As
it is, she will be frightened and angry."

So it was agreed upon that he should take in hand the task of sifting
the affair to the bottom. His time was his own, and chance had thrown
him among men who would be likely to know the truth. As soon as he had
gained the necessary information, Dolly w