of the party. The men were following us in the dark; they would
have to guess at the direction we had taken, and they would most likely
assume (in such weather as we had) that we should choose the shortest
way across the lake. At my suggestion we changed our course, and made
for a large town, higher up on the shore, called Tawley. We landed, and
waited for events, and made no discovery of another boat behind us. The
fools had justified my confidence in them--they had gone to Brightfold.
There was half-an-hour to spare before the next train came to Tawley;
and the fog was beginning to lift on that side of the lake. We looked at
the shops; and I made a purchase in the town."

"Stop a minute," said Randal. "Is Brightfold on the railway?"

"No."

"Is there an electric telegraph at the place?"

"Yes."

"That was awkward, wasn't it? The first thing those men would do would
be to telegraph to Tawley."

"Not a doubt of it. How would they describe us, do you think?"

Randal answered. "A middle-aged gentleman--two ladies, one of them
elderly--and a little girl. Quite enough to identify you at Tawley, if
the station-master understood the message."

"Shall I tell you what the station-master discovered, with the message
in his hand? No elderly lady, no middle-aged gentleman; nothing more
remarkable than _one_ lady--and a little boy."

Randal's face brightened. "You parted company, of course," he said; "and
you disguised Kitty! How did you manage it?"

"Didn't I say just now that we looked at the shops, and that I made a
purchase in the town? A boy's ready-made suit--not at all a bad fit for
Kitty! Mrs. Linley put on the suit, and tucked up the child's hair under
a straw hat, in an empty yard--no idlers about in that bad weather. We
said good-by, and parted, with grievous misgivings on my side, which
proved (thank God!) to have been quite needless. Kitty and her mother
went to the station, and Mrs. Presty and I hired a carriage, and drove
away to the head of the lake, to catch the train to London. Do you know,
Randal, I have altered my opinion of Mrs. Presty?"

Randal smiled. "You too have found something in that old woman," he
said, "which doesn't appear on the surface."

"The occasion seems to bring that something out," the lawyer remarked.
"When I proposed the separation, and mentioned my reasons, I expected
to find some difficulty in persuading Mrs. Presty to give up the
adventurous journey with her daughter and her