er, he would find them and understand. She would
accept nothing more from his hands. Yet, with all her pride and her
sense of injured dignity, she wept half the night at the thought that he
was suffering and that she could do nothing to alleviate his pain.

She set off the next morning, between nine and ten o'clock, with a
little black bag in her hand. It was larger than she needed it to be for
mere conveyance of the jewelry which she wanted to restore; but she
meant to fill it with fruit--black tempting grapes and red-cheeked
hot-house peaches--for the invalid before she reached the house. She
left word with Mary that she did not know when she would return, and
that Madame was not to wait luncheon or dinner on her account. This
message, and the fact of her carrying away a bag, led some persons to
believe that she was acting a part in a long-premeditated scheme when
she left Madame della Scala's house that morning. But no scheme was
present in any shape or form to Cynthia's mind.

She did not at once see a hansom, and therefore she walked for a few
yards along the broad pavement of the Bayswater Road, where at that hour
not many passers-by were to be encountered. And here, to her great
surprise, she met her father--but a father so changed, so utterly
transformed in appearance, that she would not have known him but for his
voice. He wore an overcoat that she had never seen before, and a tall
hat; he had got rid of the white hair and beard, and had even shaved off
his whiskers; he remained a lean, brown-faced, resolute-looking man,
more refined, but decidedly more commonplace, than he had been before.
This man would pass easily in a crowd; people used to stop and gaze
after Reuben Dare.

"Oh, I am so thankful--so glad!" cried Cynthia, when the meaning of the
change burst upon her. "Nobody would recognise you now, father; your own
face is a greater disguise than any amount of snowy hair. What made you
alter yourself in this way?"

"Cynthia," said her father, drawing her into a quiet little side-street,
and speaking in low earnest tones, "I have been a great fool! I wish I
had taken your advice earlier. That woman Meldreth suspects me. For
aught I know, I am already watched and followed. There is not a moment
to lose. If I mean to escape, I'd better get out of the country as fast
as I can--or find some snug corner where I can lie close until they have
left off looking for me. There is a cab--a four-wheeler. Let us get in