the
fact that the animal wore a silken jacket, and I felt the sleeve of it
against my throat. I only regret that the noise, the cries he made,
singularly human in quality, made it necessary for me to leave the place
so precipitately.

"The Ford girl and her sister had evidently just come in, and rushing to
the room found evidences of some one having been there. The monkey had
been shut in a closet, and by opening the door I had, of course,
released it. Fearing discovery, they arranged to flee at once. Jane Ford
went uptown. Her sister remained to pack up her belongings.

"The visit to your hotel, the attack on you, was a crazy inspiration of
the moment. Not knowing that my wife was following her, and having seen
me on the sidewalk on Fifty-seventh Street as she drove away, Miss
Norman naturally felt that if she could get you, Mrs. Morton, out of the
way, she would be perfectly safe in going up to your rooms.

"Even when alone with your daughter, she did not attempt to do her any
serious bodily injury, but contented herself with hurling the ammonia in
her face, counting, no doubt, upon the effect of the shock that would
result. As I have said, the woman is mentally a little unbalanced. The
things she does are not normal."

"Nevertheless, they came very near being fatal," Mrs. Morton remarked
grimly. "The doctor informed me that the fright, the shock of her
experience, might readily have caused Ruth's death, or upset her
reason."

"I do not doubt it," replied Duvall. "The woman has all the cunning of
an insane person. She showed it when, overcome by the sight of the
death's-head seal I had flashed upon the screen at the theater, she so
quickly recovered herself that she was able to deceive me completely
regarding her condition, and subsequently to make her escape.

"Both she and her sister realized that it had become necessary for them
to leave the city. Marcia Ford, taking the monkey with her in a cab,
hastened uptown to join her sister at the latter's apartment. She knew
that I was not following her, for she had seen me drive off to join you,
Mrs. Morton, at my hotel. They both thought themselves quite safe, and
able to leave the city without interference.

"The arrival of my wife at their apartment caused them to hasten their
plans. They realized that we were close upon their heels. Jane Ford knew
that the ring containing the death's-head seal was about the only
evidence that existed against her, yet she hesita