y
the cause of the disturbance, together with the probable fate of the
spy. She rejoined her husband and his guest in the drawing-room.

"I wonder who the intruder was?" Arnold muttered. There was a look of
worry and anxiety on his face. His fingers nervously locked and
interlocked, and the next moment grasped his chin and rubbed his cheek.
He put his foot upon the stool and took it down again. Then he sat
forward in his chair.

"Reed is behind this," he ejaculated. "You will find out that I am
right. Reed has done this, or has sent one of his lieutenants. Damn him!
He has hounded me."

"I may have been tracked. Perhaps it was I who was sought. My late
movements might have created suspicion, and it is possible that I was
shadowed here."

"No, Anderson. No! It was not you they were seeking. It is I, I tell
you. Reed has been watching me like a sharpshooter from the day I
arrived. He has been the author of the rumors which you have heard about
town, and he would risk his life to be enabled to establish a serious
charge against me. I am sure of it. Reed is behind this; Reed and the
City Council."

"It was a nimble form----"

"Did you say you thought you hit him?" he asked nervously, seeking some
source of comfort and assurance.

"As I live, I hit him," Anderson promised him. "Else I would have
discovered him in the act of swimming. He is in the bottom of the
river."

"That's good, damn him. Oh! If it were but Reed himself! He haunts me."

"He would not haunt you did you but remove yourself from here,"
volunteered Peggy.

"I know it. I know it," he repeated. "But how can I?"

"I suggested one avenue to you," proposed Anderson.

"Which?"

He awaited the answer.

"Via England."

His face glared with a livid red. He brought his fist high above his
head.

"By heavens!" he roared. "I won't hear that again. I won't listen to it,
I tell you. I'm afraid to do it. I cannot do it. I cannot."

He shook his head as he slowly repeated the words.

"Pardon me," Anderson pleaded, "I intended no harm. I apologize most
sincerely for my impertinence. It will not happen again, I assure you."

"That will do. Drop it at that."

"The vessel will be ready next week? The meeting, then, can take place a
week from Thursday."

"Undoubtedly."

"You will assure me of your interest?"

He was on the point of going. Though he had conquered, still, he did not
know that he had conquered. He believed, as he turned and faced hi