tary annoyance; but it strangely revived all his
previous suspicions, and set him to thinking. Was the singular
sagacity displayed by the orator in his search purely intuitive? Could
any one have disclosed to him the secret of the passengers' hoards?
Was it possible for HER while sitting alone in the coach to have
communicated with the band? Suddenly the remembrance flashed across
him of her opening the window for fresh air! She could have easily
then dropped some signal. If this were so, and she really was the
culprit, it was quite natural for her own safety that she should
encourage the passengers in the absurd suspicion of himself! His dying
interest revived; a few moments ago he had half resolved to abandon his
quest and turn back at Three Pines. Now he determined to follow her to
the end. But he did not indulge in any further sophistry regarding his
duty; yet, in a new sense of honor, he did not dream of retaliating
upon her by communicating his suspicions to his fellow passengers.
When the coach started again, he took his seat on the top, and remained
there until they reached Jamestown in the early evening. Here a number
of his despoiled companions were obliged to wait, to communicate with
their friends. Happily, the exemption that had made them indignant
enabled him to continue his journey with a full purse. But he was
content with a modest surveillance of the lady from the top of the
coach.

On arriving at Stockton this surveillance became less easy. It was the
terminus of the stage-route, and the divergence of others by boat and
rail. If he were lucky enough to discover which one the lady took, his
presence now would be more marked, and might excite her suspicion. But
here a circumstance, which he also believed to be providential,
determined him. As the luggage was being removed from the top of the
coach, he overheard the agent tell the expressman to check the "lady's"
trunk to San Luis. Key was seized with an idea which seemed to solve
the difficulty, although it involved a risk of losing the clue
entirely. There were two routes to San Luis, one was by stage, and
direct, though slower; the other by steamboat and rail, via San
Francisco. If he took the boat, there was less danger of her
discovering him, even if she chose the same conveyance; if she took the
direct stage,--and he trusted to a woman's avoidance of the hurry of
change and transshipment for that choice,--he would still arrive at San